The reader's of this fic have come upon a room of stark whiteness, in fact it's not really a room but more of an endless void of nothing, save for a computer and a pile of textbooks reaching a good ten feet in the air. Suddenly a hand reaches out desperately and a body scrambles out of the 'mini mountain'.
Author's note: Whew… I thought it would take me years to get out of that! To much homework / projects / research papers. Well as you probably can guess by that little intro I've been stuck into the never-ending vortex of schoolwork for the past couple of months. And guessing by the lateness of this chapter…you readers are probably all after my blood. (Sidesteps a particularly large brick) The good news is that I think (emphases on think) that I'll have more time to write now. (Snaps fingers and a chair appears near the computer) I'm really sorry for the lateness.
A minor note I'm upping the rating of this story because of this chapter, I really didn't think it be this violent, but I think I'm already cutting it close with the language so now it's rated T for Teens (What happened to the ratings? I really have been gone a long time! But seriously what's with the letter K? What happened to good old PG-13?)
Another thing I have read through the chapter's I've already uploaded and I think I've managed to fix all the grammatical errors. I'll set up the corrected versions whenever I get the time, hopefully tomorrow. So if there's any spelling errors in the character's dialog its there for a reason. And I'll re-read my new chapters twice just to be sure.
On a brighter note, Guest Character! Those are always fun right?
Just wanted to warnyou guys the story will be shifting to another character within the main hall very often for this chapter.
One final note, to sort of make up for the utter lateness this chapter will be gianormose (using made up words is fun!) and tomorrow I shall update the next one. One, because you guys deserve it, and two, because I feel you shall actually hunt me down and beat me to a pulp after reading how this one ends. Not so much humor lot of drama. Sorry comedy fans!
Reviewers:
Computerfreak101: Glade you're enjoying it.
gohan11: Hmm…pretty good guess, but your going to have to read to find out, and again sorry for making you wait.
Daikaio: Yeah more praise! Unfortunately after the essay my teachers decided to pile on three more, but that's all in the past and now I'm free to write again! Thanks for your review.
Nightmare Terror: Yikes! An essay for chem.? I hated the subject to begin with now there making people right boring speeches on it? You're right that is insane. And the knock out gas, well you're just going to have to read to find out.
Marjorarm: Glade you think so, to bad this chapter's kind of a puppy-downer. I think I might have gone over board on the drama.
dolphinsaturngirl: Again sorry for making you people wait so long. But hopefully this nice long one will make up for it.
butterflybg: Well by now Waking the Dragons is over and we have to wait for the next season, oh well. But I'm glade to hear your brother's hair grew back. (Guess that means there's more to ripe out now huh? He, he!) You must be like me; I once turned a one page writing assignment into a twelve-page (front and back) story. Even this story was only supposed to be about ten chapters! Yeah sorry about going back on that two-chapter bit, I had thought I would have the time to write two chapters in a week but then I got pummeled by schoolwork. But there will be a new chapter tomorrow, no if, ands, or buts!
S. Chensu and Luff: Yep, if I write something it has to make at least a little sense, but I'm happy people still find it funny at the same time. I am starting to feel a bit sad since it's coming to a close, especially since I spent so much time working on it, but I can't just leave it as is either.
oreosarecool: Wow, that's quite a list, sorry I couldn't update sooner, and thanks for reviewing.
storm101-Mononoke's Sister: Sorry! Schoolwork is a pain. And why do I like cliffhangers so much? Cause I like to see you people squirm. Just kidding, I just think a little suspense is a good way to break up the chapters.
Warnings: Major violence! Cursing! Injuries! Use of Weapons! You have been warned.
Disclaimer: Don't own, but I wish I did.
Ok, you guys have waited long enough. On with the fic!
All I Want for Christmas
Chapter 14: Redemption
'This is it, I'm gonna die.' Duke thought solemnly as he was dragged into the main hall. 'So many things I'll never get to do…Hey wait, Joey still owes me fifteen bucks!'
From the little alcove near the kitchen Mai, Mokuba, Tea, and Odion watched as several suspicious characters enter the room. Tea let out a small gasp when she noticed that a particularly large man had Duke in a confining grasp.
"Look!" Tea whispered and the others took notice of Devlin's plight.
"Well that's never good." Mai breathed pointing out a firearm a red-haired man held right out in open.
"What do we do?" Mokuba asked the three older people.
"You stay out of sight. It's far to dangerous for a child." Odion said sternly.
'This from the guy who once kidnapped me.' The raven-haired boy thought dryly. "But what about Seto? I need to find him to make sure he's alright!" Mokuba demanded just a little to loud for Mai's liking.
"Quiet kid! You want them to find us?" The violet-eyed woman hissed.
In the hall several of the guests had taken notice of the shady group.
"Ladies and Gentlemen." Leon, the slim, blond, leader announced as if he were the host of the party, "If you rich snobs aren't as stupid as you look," Here he paused at the shuts of protests echoing through the hall of upset guests. "Then you have probably realized that me and my associates are holding you up."
Several guests stood up and made to move toward the slim man, but the criminal soon put a stop to their advance. "Now, I wouldn't do that if I were you." He then pointed at Duke, "After all his blood will be on your hands."
After Leon's chilling words, those brave enough to have stood up sat back down not willing to risk the life of another.
'Well this just plan sucks.' Duke thought, 'I don't think this could get any worse…'
"Ahh!"
The emerald-eyed teen turned his head to the screamer and his breath caught in his throat. 'I just had to jinx it, didn't I?'
Serenity had been busy checking coats when a man with greasy black hair had approached her. The poor girl let out a scream as the man grabbed and dragged her back to the main hall by her hair.
"Serenity! Let her go you bastards!" Duke yelled and began to lash out against his better judgment.
"Shut you trap, worm!" the big man, Sal ordered laying a heavy arm against Duke's throat, nearly strangling the poor boy.
"Duke no!" Serenity gasped, tears streaming down her face.
"Now, just be quiet girly if you know what's good for you, and for your little Romeo over there." The greasy haired man hissed in the frightened girl's ear.
"Everyone get to that side of the room!" The brown-spiky haired man, Jake, yelled to the crowd, "Hey Carl, get the bags." He then ordered to the red head.
"Ok, I think it's time we call the cops." Mai said backing up further into the alcove.
"How? I left my cell phone in my normal clothes." Tea whispered to the blond.
"I know where there's a phone." Mokuba said backing up.
That one event caused a chain reaction. First Mokuba tripped over Tristan's outstretched leg, who was still passed out on the floor. This caused the brunet to tip over. Odion, Tea, and Mai all held their breaths, as Tristan's head bumped into Ryou's.
Tristan slowly opened his eyes, still being effected slightly by the knock out gas, he slowly moved to a sitting position and was about to complain about the splitting headache he had, but thought better of it when he noticed Tea, Mai, and Odion motioning to keep his mouth shut.
While that was happening the British teen quickly woke up, due to the head collision, however Ryou's cry of distress was stopped by Mokuba, who reached over and slapped a hand over the brown-eyed boy's mouth.
Unfortunately, Mokuba could not stop Ryou's hand from flying up and whacking Malik on the nose.
"Oww! What the hell! (Yelling in Arabic) Who did that! (More yelling in Arabic.) That friggen hurt! (Extremely loud yelling in Arabic.)"
"Well look what I found." Spoke a normal built man with a hooknose. "All right everyone up!" he yelled brandishing a gun.
"Jesus Christ! Did I miss something?" Tristan gasped slowly getting up.
"Holy Isis!" Malik breathed.
"Oh, I really wish I was still asleep." Ryou moaned.
The hook-nosed man then noticed Mokuba in the throng of people. "Hey aren't you Kaiba's brother? Come here!"
The small boy gulped, "Does this count as a kidnapping?" he asked meekly up at the taller man.
"I guess so, know come on." The robber said gruffly.
"I can't believe this! This is the forth time this month!" the blue-eyed boy muttered angrily as he was lead away with the others.
A Hallway
Yugi and Joey continued down a long hallway.
"Hey Money Bags!"
"Kaiba!"
Having deciding that it would be best for them to locate the C.E.O. to possibly find some answers, the two were oblivious to the fact that the others were in such dire trouble. Well almost.
"Hold on Yug." Joey said turning around.
"What is it Joey?" the shorter teen asked.
"I don't know, I got this feeling in my gut…"
"Mokuba!"
The two teens jumped at the sudden yell, and turned to find Kaiba blaring down the hall.
"At least we found Kaiba." Yugi said.
"Yeah, and he's going to run us over!" Joey yelled as he and Yugi pressed against one side of the hall.
As soon as the blur, formally known as Kaiba passed the two friends, Joey bounded after the young billionaire. "No way I'm letten him get away with almost plowing us over! Kaiba! What's your problem?"
"Not now mutt, my brother's been kidnapped!"
"Again! Hey wait, how do you know? We haven't seen anyone go down this hall sept you?"
Normally Seto Kaiba wouldn't give him the time of day, but since he was in a rush the CEO figured a simple explanation would get the blond off his back. He quickly replied, "Mokaba hit the panic button." With that the brunet pulled open the side of the white tux he wore, (Now smudged with oil from the valve incident.) revealing a small, square grid with an even smaller red blinking light.
"Wait," Yugi huffed having caught up to the two running teens. "You put a tracker on your brother?"
"It was well worth it, this is the fourth time this month." Kaiba said before speeding up further down the hall, leaving the other teens behind to catch their breaths.
"I know I'm short, but what's you excuse?" Yugi sighed, watching Kaiba fade away.
"Maybe I should cut back to only five cheeseburgers a day." Joey said solemnly.
Main Hall
The hook-nosed man, Dave, lead the six older hostages along to the wall where the other guests were being held.
"Isizue!" Malik whispered to his sister who was lined up next to an elderly woman in a red evening gown.
The elder sibling was about to answer, but instead winced as the hook-nosed robber shoved Malik roughly to the wall. "Quit your yapping! You got that?" He then left, dragging a helpless Mokuba behind him.
Near the Main Halls Entrance
Seto Kaiba stealthily looked around the corner to the hall. His eyes gazed over the people the room held when he saw a very noticeable sleazebag dragging Mokuba toward a man, who in Kaiba's opinion was the greasiest slime-ball of the lot. He quickly pushed his back further to the wall as the two men and child walked closer towards it. Kaiba hardly had to strain his ears as the two conversed on the other side of the barrier.
"Dave, what's with the kid?" Leon asked in a manner as if he were addressing a five year old.
"He's Seto Kaiba's brother boss." The hook-nosed man explained.
"Hmm…the Kaiba heir ehh?" Leon said out load, mulling the information over. "Good work, go back to your post and leave the kid with me."
From his hiding spot Kaiba snuck a glance at the hall once more; his steal orbs caught sight of the upper floors and his quick thinking mind formulated a plan. 'There is no way I'm going to let these bastards get away with this!' With that the young billionaire took off towards a flight of steps.
A Hallway
"I think Kaiba went this way…" Joey trailed off, as two men both armed, turned a corner down to were the two friends stood. Joey let out a soft hiss of breath before grabbing Yugi by the arm and concealing them both before the two men found them.
Yugi held his breath as the criminals made their way slowly towards them, his heart pounding a mile a minuet.
"You know this is all your fault Luke." A tan well fit man said matter-of-factly. "If it weren't for your cheap knock-out gas then we wouldn't have left any witnesses."
"Hey!" A stubby, balding man said defensively. "That gas works fine, it puts me to sleep when ever I go to the dentist to get fillings. Besides, Leon said he wanted some publicity for the gang."
The more fit man gave a sideways glance at his partner. "You took laughing gas from your dentist for the heist?"
"It was inexpensive Ray."
"Like I said, Cheap!"
"Achoo!"
"Hey, did you hear that?" Luke asked motioning towards a pair of drapes concealing more then just a window.
"Yeah…"
From the other side of the curtains Yugi through an apologetic glance at Joey.
The blond merely flashed the shorter teen a quick peace sign before watching the floor, as the shadows of two pair's of feet got closer to the edge of the drapes.
With a sudden jerk Joey ripped the curtains off their hanging and threw it over the heads of the tow crooks; a swift kick sent both tumbling towards the ground. Not sparing a second glance at the heap on the ground, Joey grabbed Yugi once again and yelled, "Run!"
Main Hall
The red-headed robber, Carl had long since returned with a few cloth bags, which he passed out to two others of the group, a tall man with dread-locks with eyes so black and sunken in it gave him an almost dead look, and to Jake the groups technical expert. The three started down the line taking anything of value from the guests.
Ryou watched solemnly from his spot neat Malik. 'What are we going to do? I could ask Bakura but would he even bother helping us? I'd doubt he'd ever throw himself into harms way just for me.' Thoughts of his darker half left his mind as he spared a glance at the others next to him.
Tea had her eyes shut and stood as straight as a pole. Her hands were clenched at her side and her eyes lids twitched slightly at the effort of closing them so tight. It was almost as if she was attempting to wish herself away from the place.
Tristan, who stood next to the shorter brunet stared straight ahead of him, his eyes fixed on the man who held Serenity on the other end of the room.
Ryou then turned his attention towards Mai; her eyes were gazing over every little niche of the hall. 'No doubt trying to figure out how to get out of this mess.' The white-haired boy thought.
As one of the crooks reached Isizue, who was a little ways further down the line Ryou could feel Malik tense beside him.
Odion stood helplessly in line, unable to move for fear of causing more harm then good. 'Helplessness,' he thought 'I do not care for this feeling.'
"Isizue." Malik spoke in a whisper and took a slight step forward.
"All right lady put all that pretty gold in the bag." Carl demanded as the woman undid the gold bands around her hair. With a calm face she handed them over, however the man was not finished hounding her. "And the necklace."
"No." Isizue replied in a voice to match her calm exterior.
"Excuse me! Do you have any idea who we are?"
"Does it matter?"
"We are Domino's up and coming criminal master minds, Hell Fire. Now give up that necklace!" The red head's temper snapped and grabbed her shoulder roughly.
"Hmm, lovely name." Isizue replied dryly. "You heard me, I said 'no'." this time the reply had a bit of venom in her words. "It is my birth right to protect it and I shall."
"You stupid…"
"Isizue just give it to him!" Malik interrupted, pleading to his sister. The teen was silenced by a blow to the gut from the sunken-eyed man.
"Malik!" The only thing keeping Odion in place was the threat of further endangering his siblings.
"Are you all right?" Ryou asked gingerly to the stunned Egyptian.
"Yes…but…Isizue…"
"Keep your mouth shut!" The man proceeded to kick Malik while he was still hunched over on the ground, causing the already injured boy to gasp for air.
'If only I had my rod.' He thought desperately.
"And you!" The sunken-eyed man then turned on Ryou. "Come here." With that the man seized the British teen's hair and pulled him some paces away, "I'm going to make an example of you."
From the balcony Kaiba watched on in horror, 'I do not like the way this is turning out. These people may piss me the hell off, but that doesn't mean I want their corpses on the floor.' The C.E.O. took a sharp breath. 'What I wouldn't give for a diversion right now."
"Ahh!"
"Gang way!"
"Hmm…" Kaiba spoke with slight amusement "Ask and thou shall receive."
Yugi and Joey quickly stopped their mad dash into the hall when they noticed the many men with guns.
"Ahh, crap!" Joey fumed as he realized there was no way to escape.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" Leon sneered at the two teens.
"We found them boss." The man called Ray said as he and his chubby companion entered the hall. "They were hiding behind some drapes."
As all eyes were on the two new captives, Kaiba took the opportunity to pounce.
Pier
"We're wasting time Marik!" Yami yelled for the umpteenth time in ten minuets. "So stop rummaging through your damn pockets and lets go!"
"Will you be patient!" Marik yelled back at the former Pharaoh, hand still in one of his cargo pants. "I know I brought some with me." He spoke to himself as he still fished around for the elusive 'something or other'.
Yami just let out an exasperated growl, raked a hand through his tri-colored hair and began to pace.
Bakura stood a little ways off, becoming more and more frustrated at the other darker halves bickering and growing uneasiness on his own hikari's safety. (Although he wasn't about to admit that.)
"That's it!" Crimson eyes flashed dangerously. "I'm going on without you!"
Squeak!
Yami jumped slightly at Mecomid's sudden outburst from Marik's shoulder. "Stop yelling! See you've frightened my hamster!"
Yami suppressed most of a snarl, then tried to calm down. 'Relax, you'll do more harm then good if you don't calm down.'
The spirit of the puzzle unclenched his fists and reached inward for the dark magic that lived within him. Yami caught hold of the link that connected him to Yugi and began to wave a spell out of the darkness to form a pathway to his hikari.
All this took mere seconds to complete and soon a mental walkway that stretched from a dark tunnel to a well-lighted hallway began to form.
Nearly ready to end the enchantment that gave him physical from, the darker half took a confident stride across the pathway. One step, two, then a great tremble spread through the cobble stone path when Yami took his third.
The walkway groaned before shattering into nothingness. Yami jerked back completely to his physical form and hissed softly as a sharp wave of pain flooded his mind.
Bakura gave the former Pharaoh a quizzical look. The thief had easily guessed what Yami had tried to do but it bothered him why the spirit of the puzzle was not able to perform the simple task of merging his spirit with that of his hikari's.
"Why didn't that work?" Yami asked softly.
Bakura gazed at Yami and let his eyes give the fellow darker half a quick once-over. When the tomb robber's eyes caught the slight hint of gold between the folds of Yami's jacket his eyes widened, "There's no anchor." The thief said simply and pointed to the Pharaoh's chest.
Yami gave Bakura a quick glance and then looked down. There was the puzzle; around his neck was the link that joined Yugi and himself. While Yami had the puzzle, he would be unable to reach Yugi quickly; he'd have to get to Town Hall by foot. That's when a truly terrifying thought occurred to him. He had been using enchantments to keep himself solid nearly all day, and he did not know how much longer before his spiritual being was only able to travel less then a five foot radius from where the puzzle dropped. He'd be trapped again until he got his strength back or someone picked it up.
"I'll go own ahead Pharaoh, catch up when you can." Bakura called over before his body seeped into the shadows and vanished completely.
Yami shook his head in an attempt to get his thoughts in order. Fear radiated from his eyes as he swore softly; he had no idea where Town Hall was.
"Ah Ha!" Marik gave a triumphant cry as he pulled a small vile from his pocket containing a glowing green liquid. "Now we can go."
"Marik…Wait! You memorized the city's maps! Tell me where Town Hall is!"
"For someone who was in such a rush…" Marik started, while examining his fingernails.
"Marik, please just tell me!" Desperation clearly showed in Yami's voice as he grasped the dark soul's shoulders, careful to avoid the rodent still perched there.
The mad-man was unnerved by this sudden display coming from the Pharaoh, and normally he would have thought of a way to take advantage of it, but instead Marik stared for a few seconds before answering, "From here take a left, go down five blocks to Main Street, take the first right and it will be the big brick building at the end of the Town Square. Now get your hands off me!"
"Thank you." With that Yami took off down the pier.
Marik stood dumb-founded, "I did something nice again! Gahh, what is it with this season of giving?" The dark soul yelled into the night before he too headed towards Town Hall through the shadows.
Town Hall
It happened in a flash, one minuet it looked as though there was no hope for any of them, when suddenly Duel Monsters cards rained down on the crowd of guests, workers, and robbers. Surprisingly enough these cards in no way or form hurt the crowd, but they did manage to land with perfect accuracy, in between each of the hammers of the guns held by the crooks, effectively jamming the deadly weapons.
Joey watched in shock as Kaiba took the opportunity to swing in on the cord of the hall's main chandler. While the blond thought he had never been happier to see the C.E.O. he chose to voice his relief in a different manner, "Quit showen off Tarzan and help us out!"
"Actually Joey, I think he is." Yugi managed to yell before being separated from the blond as the crowd of guests broke from the one wall and made a mad dash for the exit.
"Yugi!" Joey called out, but to no avail as he was almost bowled over by a frantic guest. Not finding anyway to help the shorter teen, his eyes then traveled to the greasy haired man still holding Serenity. "Hey creep! Let her go now!" The teen let out a vicious snarl and ran forward.
While Joey went to the aid of his sibling so too did Kaiba. His eyes shown with pure hatred and contempt as he bore down on Leon, who still grasped Mokuba with his left hand.
Not wanting to ruin his brother's concentration, Mokuba kept silent but the joy could not be removed from his face as Kaiba took a slow step towards them despite the chaos that ensued around the three.
Leon, not wanting to risk the younger brother getting away, kept a bone-crushing grip on the boy's hand. Without both hands he found it difficult to free his gun from the card now caught in the hammer and so decided to simply drop it and pulled out a gleaming switchblade from his coat pocket. "So, you're the famous Seto Kaiba." Leon said with a sly grin.
"Hump." Kaiba replied in a voice as smooth as silk, "I'm going to enjoy wiping that cocky smile off your face, you snake."
It took Odion three seconds tops, to tackle the man threatening Isizue. The red head let out a surprised wheeze as the heaver man pinned him to the cold floor.
Isizue's eyes opened in amazement, "Odion!" A slight smile spread to her lips, "The future had changed."
Knowing he had an advantage with the crowd's sudden dash Tristan took off to where he had last seen Serenity. Finding that the greasy haired man was already being dealt with by a furious Joey and that the girl was being ushered out of the room by Mai and Tea, the burnet turned his attention towards Duke, who was grappling with the big man, Sal.
Although the raven-haired teen was putting up a good fight, it was clear the bigger man was winning due to sheer brute strength. Figuring he'd help even the odds, Tristan propelled himself forward, latched on to the crook's back, and wrapped his arms around Sal's neck.
"Let's see how you like your air cut off." Duke smiled as he felt the bigger man's hold on him loosen slightly.
As the crowd rushed forward, the sunken-eyed man lost his balance, and with speed that even surprised himself, Ryou hefted Malik off the ground and lead the Egyptian behind the bar that was set up in one corner of the hall for the evening. "Are you ok?" Ryou asked breathlessly.
"Yeah, I'm fine. But what about…" Malik trailed off as he peaked over the bar's counter and saw Odion flatten the redheaded bandit, with Isizue standing near by. 'Good they're safe.' "So what do we do now?" Malik asked the British teen.
"Actually, I was hoping you could tell me." Ryou answered sheepishly.
"I'm not going to just hide, I'm going to fight!" The lavender eyed teen announced getting up.
Ryou made a soft choking sound, "I'll help too…I suppose." His tone made it quit clear he was more then a little unsure of himself.
Malik shook his head. While he appreciated his friend's courage, he felt Ryou would better serve the group away from the 'battlefield.' "You're not a fighter, go get help." He replied as gently as he could.
Ryou tried to hide the disappointment in his face, but that was soon replaced by fear as the sunken-eyed man leered over the counter. "Look out!" The brown-eyed boy shoved Malik out of the way just as the criminal attempted to bring down a heavy bottle of liquor on the teen's head. However, instead of connecting with the Egyptian's skull, it smashed into the counter, spraying the three with glass shards and the bottle's contents.
Ryou winced as he received a long, but thankfully shallow cut on his right arm. He looked over and saw that Malik received similar cuts along his hands and arms.
A swift round of vicious cursing accompanied the sound of tinkling glass. The two looked up to see the crook holding a severely cut hand; apparently the bottle's neck also broke while the sunken-eyed man still held it.
Still in shock, Ryou sat at the other end of the counter, attempting to catch his breath when the gruff voice of the bandit cut through his mental daze. "You'll pay for that you little son of a bitch!"
Malik got to his feet, pulling Ryou with him, as he attempted to get the both of them out of danger. The crook ran over to a nearby table, and with nearly super-human strength ripped off one of the wooden legs holding it up.
Ryou froze when he heard the feral cry, and turned to see the sunken-eyed man run towards him. 'No where to run.'
The crook was too caught up in his own anger; he didn't notice the Millennium Ring give off a brief flash of light, didn't notice how the meek boy's stance suddenly became more confident and challenging, didn't notice the boy's eyes grow; darker, colder, and certainly didn't notice the feral smile that spread across Ryou's face.
Outside the main hall
Feeling very frustrated at being pushed and shoved for the umpteenth time in the rush of mad guests, Yugi strained as he tried to make his way to an alcove without getting trampled. Somehow, he had managed the feet without any lasting injury to himself, and after a bit of searching, he noticed the alcove connected the kitchen, to the hall, and the main entrance together. "I need to call the police, and fast…" That thought brought another. 'Where is Yami? He wouldn't leave us here. I hope something didn't happen.'
He reached out for the link and jerked back in shock; he hadn't noticed before, but it felt very strained. "What…"
"Hey you! Don't move."
Yugi looked up to see the man the other members of Hell Fire called Jake. The man had followed the crowd and in an attempt to stop them from exiting went through the alcove to cut them off. Yugi froze, as the man's gun, now free of Kaiba's card, was pointed at his chest.
Yugi held his breath and involuntarily sent one word through the mind link. /Yami/ Then the link shattered.
Town Square (Ten Minuets Earlier)
Christmas, the time of giving; when one has this almost compulsive urge to be nice to another. But there are still those who sin, who hurt others. That is why he was there, to silently judge, and deal out just punishment. He stood at the corner of a building un-seen, the cold and wind did not affect him as it did the other people walking through the busy area.
Shadi stared a few more seconds at the different people passing by, his hazy blue eyes searching for a glimmer of taint while the Millennium Scale rested in his right hand, and the Millennium Key glowed lightly as it hung around his neck, keeping him out of sight from the ordinary citizens of Domino.
He had come here, because he had felt a great well of ill intensions in the area, but upon reaching the square the mysterious Egyptian was unable to pinpoint where it was coming from.
Not entirely discouraged, Shade straightened a little, there were still plenty of people who contained sin, although not in such a large amount as what he first sensed.
Normally those that did not pass the test of the scales had the pleasure of meeting Ammit, the fierce monster that devoured the souls of the un-pure. However since it was a holiday, though not one he personally celebrated, he decided he would give these citizens a break, just this once.
A man turned the corner into the square; the scale tipped. Using the Millennium Key, Shadi peered into the man's mind. 'Cheating on your wife, hmm…' In one fluid movement the Egyptian extended his leg and …
"Whoa!"
… Successfully tripped the man, causing the unsuspecting citizen to land on a patch of ice.
Just then a woman turned the corner; the scale tipped. 'Blackmailing your sister.'
Trip
"Ahh!" and with that, the woman landed on top of the man still struggling to get off the ice.
'Avoiding jury duty.'
Trip
"Gahh!"
'Stealing money from your parents.'
Trip
"Umph!"
'Giving false information on your tax return.'
Trip
"Wahh!"
'That's so horrible!' Shadi thought in disgust as one man turned the corner, 'You deserve a trip and a kick.'
Kick, Trip
"Oww! Someone kicked my butt!"
Ah yes, it was good being invisible, but the Egyptian didn't have long to gloat at the increasing pile of people who were trying desperately to untangle themselves from one another, since another man had entered Town Square. The scale did not tip. Intrigued, Shadi gazed into the man's mind.
The man stopped and stared at the number of people pilled up along the entrance of a mini-mart.
'Is going to get a Christmas gift for his elderly mother.' "You may pass."
Hearing the strange disembodied voice startled the man so bad he jumped slightly and slide on the ice, mashing together with the crowd anyway.
'Oh well.' And with a shrug Shadi resumed his task.
Main Street
'I need to hurry. I need to go faster.' That was what the spirit of the puzzle kept telling himself as his legs pumped furiously up a long hill. The link was getting thin, stretched out; soon he would be too tired to keep up a physical body and the link. Yami carefully brushed against the mind link, it felt as though it would shatter at any moment.
'To dangerous to try and send a message.' He thought bitterly as wave after wave of anxiety and fear rushed at him. 'I swear if anything happens to him I'll…' The former Pharaoh lost his train of thought as more of Yugi's emotions flooded through him. Yami wished he could send at least a little comfort to Yugi to let his lighter half know that he was on his way, but he didn't want to risk putting further strain on the link. 'Hang on Yugi, I'm coming.'
/Yami/
The spirit paused half way down the last block; nothing, he felt nothing. 'Oh Re, does that mean that…is Yugi…No! I refuse to believe that!"
With renewed strength, the spirit bolted forward, turned the corner into Town Square and…collided into a huge mass of people.
"What in the name of all that is good and pure!" Yami groaned, managing to pull himself out of the tangled bodies.
Shadi, who was still concealing himself was shocked when he saw the Pharaoh enter Town Square and collided with his ever-expanding pile of 'victims'.
Yami growled softly as he made his way around the obstacle and cursed when he nearly fell on an ice patch.
Wanting to make himself known to the former king, Shadi took a step forward and was about to release the Key's enchantment from himself when he felt the taint rise.
Yami stopped as a large crowd rushed out of a big brick building at the end of Town Square. 'Town Hall. Yugi!'
The crowd came fast, but Yami stood firm, unwilling to be pulled back by the many bodies struggling to get away as fast as they could.
The one bad thing about being invisible, Shadi realized, was that the mad crowd would not even see him when it trampled him. Wanting to avoid that unpleasant outcome, he quickly ducked into the nearby mini-mart.
The threat of an impact from the crowd gave those pilled along the walkway enough incentive to get up and were fortunately swept away with the guests instead of trampled by them.
Yami did his best to advance while still dodging the frantic people, he had made some progress when one heavyset man accidentally pounded into him, knocking the wind out of Yami and sending him rolling in a series of summersaults before he was stopped by a lamp-post connecting with his back.
He groaned as he stood up, and shook his head to clear it. Noticing that the mad rush of people had stopped, Yami pushed his pain aside and sprinted up the stairs leading to Town Hall. He was too focused on protecting his hikari to even notice the sudden lightness around his neck were the puzzle once hung only seconds before.
Town Hall
Bakura's smile widened as the sunken-eyed man came closer, the table leg held like a spear, in the crook's hand ready to impale the spirit. 'How pathetic.' The tomb robber thought as he reached in his pocket for his dueling deck.
/Watch out/ Ryou spoke to his yami in a spirit form next to Bakura.
/Relax I see him. Believe it or not, this isn't my first brawl./
Just as it looked like the wooden leg would puncture the tomb robber, Bakura caught the other end of it and in a fluid movement, pivoted it and gave the sunken-eyed man a quick jab in the gut sending the man sprawling to the ground.
"Now where was I?" The thief asked himself as he continued to finger through his deck.
Ryou let out a sigh of relief.
/Scared already hikari/
/N…no, just that it is my body after all./
/Well I'd be more then happy to let you deal with these idiots yourself./
/Ahh…well since your already in control…/ the hikari trailed off.
Bakura smirked/Just watch my back Ryou./
/Deal./
"Found it." The thief said softly, pulling out a card, "I summon Dark Necrofear!"
The sunken-eyed man shakily got to his feet, but instead of finding a person, he came face to face with a strange blue skinned creature with pointed ears, that held a voodoo doll in its hands. Though it had a feminine figure it defiantly wasn't human.
The creature's eyes glowed a bright pink and shot beams of energy at the crook's feet, leaving two scorch marks on the tiled floor.
"That was a warning shot." Bakura stated, "Next time my pet will scatter your entrails all over the hall."
The crook's eyes twitched, before he turned tail and ran from the hall.
"Come back coward, and face us like a man!" Malik taunted before turning to Bakura, "Thanks."
This resulted in an uninterested, "Humph." from the tomb robber.
Confident that Ryou would be all right now that his darker half was there, Malik headed towards his family, but stopped a few steps as he felt a great darkness well up inside himself. Quick as lightning, Marik entered the body of his hikari and split off from Malik.
"So," the psychopath started, looking around at the chaos ensuing from the hall, "what'd I miss?"
Coat Room
"Hurry! Shut the door!" Mai commanded as Tea and Serenity entered the room.
"Got it." Tea said, hands already on the doorknob.
"What are we doing here Mai?" Serenity asked. "There's no way out of this room."
"We're going to check if one of these coats has a cell phone." The eldest woman replied. "Before I saw one of those jerks messing with the electrical wires, and since they didn't cut off the lights…" Mai trailed off.
"They probably cut the telephone line." Tea finished.
"So the only way to contact the police is by cell phone." Serenity deduced, hastily reaching for the first coat on the rack before going through the contents of its pockets.
"Mai, help me find a way to barricade the door, there's no lock." Tea called over.
Violet eyes quickly scanned the area. 'Counter that's nailed to the floor, metal pole full of coats…' "With what?" Mai shrugged her shoulders helplessly.
Bang!
"Ahh!" Tea gasped in surprise as a heavy body collided with the other side of the door.
"What do we do?" Serenity cried in a panic.
"You keep searching for a phone." Tea answered, bracing herself against the door, along with Mai. "We'll hold them off."
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Both Tea and Mai groaned under the strain of keeping the door shut.
"Hey! I found one!" Serenity cheered while fumbling the phone with shaky fingers.
"That's great Hon…"
Bang! Bang! Crash!
Mai and Tea landed heavily on the ground as the wooden panel gave way.
The fit man named Ray stepped into the room. He took one look at Serenity, and step forward. "Hey you stop!"
Mai threw herself at the man, kneeing him in the gut before taking a swipe at his face with long manicured nails.
The man snarled at the sharp sting left on his face and roughly wiped away the trail of blood that trickled down bellow the scratches.
Tea soon followed Mai's example, trying her best to pin the man's arms to his side while attempting to trip the criminal with her legs.
"Go for the eyes!" Mai yelled stomping on Ray's foot.
Howling in rage, Ray grabbed the blond by the wrist and tried to shake Tea off himself.
"Hello?" Serenity talked into the receiver from behind the counter, shifting nervously from one foot to the other.
'Hello, you have reached your local emergency headquarters…' went the recorded message. 'If your holiday lights or Menorah have started a fire, press 1.'
"Oh for the love of Pete." Serenity muttered as Mai was thrown to the side.
'If you or a family member have been poisoned by undercooked fruitcake, press 2.'
Tea held on desperately, digging her nails into the flesh of the robber's arm.
'If your cat is stuck in your Christmas tree, press 3.'Ray rammed the brunet into the wall of the room. With a small gasp, Tea crumpled to the floor.
"Oh no!" Serenity gazed on as the fiend stepped away from Tea and towards her.
'If you wish to listen to our wide variety of waiting music, press 4.'
Mai got to her feet as the man advanced towards the younger Wheeler sibling. Noticing a large, red fire extinguisher that was half hidden behind the counter, the blond hefted it up and ran forward.
'If you wish to report any armed robbery or hostage situation, press 5.'
"Finally." Serenity breathed a sigh of relief as she punched in the number.
"Give me that girly." Ray's gruff voice snapped Serenity back to reality.
Wham!
Serenity watched on as the criminal's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, he tittered for a while before finally slumping against the counter, unconscious.
Mai stood behind the man, fire extinguisher posed to strike again if need be. She smiled and discarded the aluminum can when it was clear the crook wasn't going to get up anytime soon.
"That was awesome Mai." Tea commented gingerly picking herself up.
"All in a day's work." The elder woman replied helping the blue-eyed girl to her feet.
Serenity swallowed hard, before turning her attention away from Ray's unconscious form to the receptionist that answered the phone line. "Hello, we need help at Town Hall, right away!"
Main Hall
"What are you doing here?" Malik asked his yami in a mixture of surprise and suspicion.
"I came here to try out my new evil invention."
"Not another one Marik!"
Squeak!
"Is that a hamster on your shoulder?" Malik asked in disbelief, catching sight of Mecomid.
The dark soul only nodded before removing the stopper on a thin vile. Marik proceeded to feed the rodent a few drops of the green liquid within the vile before turning towards Odion and Isizue, who were being threatened by the robber called Luke, who held a knife towards the pair.
"Hey! Only I'm aloud to torment them!" Marik yelled over to the pudgy thief before setting his hamster on the floor. "Ok boy, go sick the overgrown chew-toy." He encouraged to Mecomid who charged forward.
Squeak!
"Your leaving the fate of my family in the hands of a gerbil!" Malik yelled at his darker half.
"Hamster Malik, he's a hamster." Marik corrected his lighter half.
"Gahh!" The hikari yelled in frustration, about to head over to his brother and sister's aid, but stopped short.
The little brown hamster's body started to ripple, then before their eyes, Mecomid grew ten feet taller.
"My Re! What did you do to that thing Marik?" Bakura asked, in the middle of summoning his man-eater bug.
"I've just feed him some liquefied, radioactive broccoli, that's all." The psychopath replied calmly.
In two bounds the transformed hamster reached Luke and the two Ishtar siblings.
"What in the name of Horus!"
"Oh my!"
"What the hell is it!"
Roar!
"That's it Mecomid, attack the fat one!" Marik yelled, whilst his face stretched at an odd angle and let out a mad cackle.
"Ahh!" Luke's terrified screams filled the hall as the ten foot and nine inch hamster chased him.
"Whoa!"
Somehow Sal had flung Tristan off his back and slammed the teen to the ground on top of Duke.
"Dude, get off." Duke gasped from under Tristan, trying to heft himself up with his arms and hands, getting into a push-up position.
The brunet struggled to get up, but a heavy boot slammed on his stomach, bringing both teens down.
"Having fun yet?" Sal taunted as he dug his foot harder into Tristan's gut.
"Urrg…" With all his might, the brown-eyed boy attempted to move the foot off his chest but to no avail.
'Hang on man.' Duke thought as the pressure of the weight sent sheering pain up his spin.
"Man-eater Bug!"
Clearing the red spots from his vision, Tristan became aware that he could once again breath. Picking himself up, both he and Duke looked on as Sal tried to get out of the grasp of a giant green bug.
The raven-haired teen turned to see Bakura stride off while muttering, "Pathetic." under his breath.
"Does this mean we owe him?" Duke asked with a slight grin.
"Let's hope not." Tristan said still breathing heavily, "I'd hate to think about what we'd have to do for him."
"Don't…" Smack! "Ever…" Wham! "Touch…" Pow! "My…" Slam! "Sister…" Bam! "Again!" Joey stopped to catch his breath; then noticed that the greasy haired man he was pounding on was knocked out. Suddenly aware of how much his knuckles ached; the blond let the crook drop and shook his hand in an effort to ride himself of the pain.
"Let that be a lesson to you." He told the unconscious man. "Now, where'd Yugi go?"
Mokuba strained to get away from the criminal that held him, but to no avail. The young boy knew full well that while Leon had him, the creep could use him as leverage against his brother.
"Why don't you fight like a man, and let him go?" Kaiba asked taking another step closer.
Leon brought the blade he held in his free hand threateningly towards the younger brother and Kaiba froze.
Leon sneered, "Fighting fair isn't one of my strong points."
'Come on Seto, you can do this.' Mokuba thought, wincing as the grip on his hand tightened.
Suddenly the blond crook staggered forward, and let his grip loosen.
Mokuba pulled away and saw behind the criminal, a little ways off, stood Malik.
The Egyptian had snuck behind the trio and had kicked a chair across the floor and into Leon's back.
"Mokuba, go now!" Kaiba told his brother, pointing towards the lavender-eyed teen.
"Aww, but I wanted to see Seto kick butt." The raven-haired boy complained to Malik, as he was lead to the coat room.
Alcove
"Alright kid, we're going back to the hall. Hands up and don't try anything."
"Look, I don't have any money on me." Yugi said tentatively, raising his hands to show he would go quietly.
"Just keep your mouth shut and move it!" Jake stepped forward and grabbed the amethyst-eyed teen roughly by the shoulder and led him back towards the hall.
The shouting coming from the hall soon became louder. Both boy and criminal stopped as they saw a wide variety of Duel Monsters and a giant hamster running amuck through the room.
"What the hell?" Jake stood rooted to the floor, staring unblinkingly at the chaos ensuing from within the hall. With a sharp click, Jake cocked his gun at Joey who was busy in a fistfight with the crook called Dan.
"Maybe this will settle things down a bit."
The tri colored-haired teen gasped at seeing where the barrel of the gun was pointed. "No!" Yugi used all his weight and somehow managed to push Jake down; the bullet lodged harmlessly in a nearby doorframe, while the gun slide out of the criminal's hand.
"You little brat!" the crook seethed getting to his feet, and turned to reach for his gun.
Yugi took the opportunity to hightail it back through the alcove.
Not really knowing why he chose to go down a side hallway other then going straight to the main hall where most of the noise was coming from, Yami ran through the alcove.
Upon rounding a corner the Pharaoh was knocked off his feet. Yami gazed at the much younger looking version of himself, and let out a sigh of relief. "Yugi, your alright."
The hikari, who was a bit dazed from the collision, realized who he had bumped into, and latched on to the spirit of the puzzle giving his darker half a rib splitting hug. "You came! I was so worried when the link broke…"
"It's ok." Yami said, hefting them both to their feet. "Now tell me what's been going on."
"Where should I start?" Yugi asked, his exhaustion clearly showing when the sound of footsteps reached their ears.
"Where are you brat? I'm going to put a bullet through your little spiky head!"
"Oh no." Yugi tried to swallow despite the sudden dryness in his mouth.
Knowing a threat when he heard it, Yami quickly pushed Yugi behind himself. "Stay behind me."
"But Yami…"
Jake turned the corner, gun posed. Yami took one look at the object in the criminal's hand, the words 'gun' and 'bad' flashed through his mind.
5 minuets later
A single shot rang out through the alcove.
Main Hall
'What was that?' Joey thought as he neatly dodged a clumsy attempt of a punch by Dan. 'Sounded almost like another…' His thoughts trailed as he landed a hard blow to the crook's gut.
Having enough, Dan scrambled from the spot on the floor he landed on, ran out of the hall, and out the building.
"Wimp." Joey stated wiping away a small trickle of blood from his upper lip.
"Joey!"
"Hey man, you all right?"
The blond turned to see Tristan and Duke run up to him. Both looking a little ruffed up around the edges but other wise fine.
"Never better." Joey gave a quick grin; then replaced it with a more serious expression. "Look can you two hold down the fort for a while? I haven't seen Yug and I want to make sure he's ok."
"Sure thing man." Tristan gave a thumbs-up then winced slightly at the sudden movement. His ribs had been bothering him ever since Sal had tried to crush him and Duke.
"Yeah, no problem." Duke turned and headed back through the chaos that was the hall despite the strain on his sore muscles.
Tristan was about to follow when Joey called him back. "Hey Tris, what about Serenity?"
"Fine, she's with the other girls; they're in the coat room with Mokuba and Malik."
"Thanks man."
Trusting the weird feeling in his gut, Joey turned and made for the alcove connecting the kitchen, hall, and entrance together.
Soon after leaving Joey, Duke and Tristan began to notice things start to calm down. A few duel monsters were chasing the remaining criminals from the hall while a giant hamster still chased the man named Luke.
The emerald-eyed boy blinked as the furry rodent passed the two; pretty sure it was not a Duel Monster. "Do we even want to know?" Duke asked raising an eyebrow.
"Probably not." The brunet answered stepping out of the path of the man-eater bug Bakura had unleashed earlier.
"I say we sit down and let the monsters handle the rest of them." Duke proposed, absently rubbing a bruised covered arm.
Tristan, about to agree, noticed something out of the corner of his eye. It was the man named Carl, trying to sneak out of the hall with a sack full of the looted jewels and money taken from the guests. "Not yet." Tristan pointed towards the thief. "Can you get him from here?"
"No problem." The teen reached into his pocket and pulled out a single dice. 'My last one.'
Duke pulled back his hand and released the plastic cube. It whizzed through the air and hit the back of the criminal's head.
Shocked by the sudden pain in the back of his skull, Carl stopped to rub the sore spot.
Tristan took that moment to run up behind the crook and slam Carl as hard as he could into the door he was about to open.
Wincing again at the pain in his chest the brunet stepped down to pick up the sack the crook had dropped. "Now lets sit down."
Duke nodded in agreement and helped the brown-eyed teen drag the loot to the coat room.
Kaiba charged and thrust an elbow into the leader of Hell Fire's stomach. Only slightly fazed the criminal side-stepped out of the C.E.O.'s line of vision and took a horizontal swipe with his blade.
Spinning, Kaiba blocked the knife arm with one of his own, before grabbing Leon by the collar of his shirt and flipping the crook to the ground.
Kaiba was far from done; he then lifted his leg and made to bring his heel crashing down on the criminal's skull.
Nimbly, Leon rolled before the foot made contact with his face. He quickly got to his feet, panting slightly; still grinning he began to move slightly to the side.
Kaiba followed, not allowing his eyes to drift away from the crook, and trying his best to ignore the sweat dripping down his face. 'Here he comes.' He thought watching the blonde's body tense.
Leon took half a step then stopped abruptly. Kaiba raised an eyebrow in curiosity, as the thief's smile became a look of horror.
The C.E.O. became even more confused when the crook turned tail and ran away. 'Hmm…Probably came to his senses and realized that he couldn't win.'
Roar!
"What the…"
The brunet then noticed the large shadow that stretched across the floor. Kaiba turned and came face to face with a giant hamster. The C.E.O. blinked as his mind quickly put the information together. Needless to say it didn't help Kaiba's pride.
"Come on! He was scared of an over grown hamster?" Kaiba seethed.
Mecomid merely twitched his whiskers.
"I didn't need your help!" Kaiba yelled, not really caring he was arguing with a ten foot, nine-inch rodent.
The hamster only hunched over, sniffed the brunet as Kaiba fixed it with a steely gaze. Mecomid went on and licked the one side of the C.E.O.'s face.
"Ugg! Disgusting!" Kaiba stepped back, and glared at the hamster before finding someone else to vent his anger on; unaware of how the hair on the right side of his head now stuck up at odd angles.
Jake staggered out of the alcove, cursing viscously while holding a bloodied arm with his free hand. He ran to the entrance of Town Hall, half expecting the place to be swarming with cops, he was surprised to see Town Square practically deserted, save for several other members of Hell Fire, who were gathered around a limo with a smashed back window; parked off to the side of the building.
"You got it?" Dan asked as he fidgeted on the pavement.
"Keep your shirt on!" Came the gruff reply from Ray, who was trying to hot-wire the vehicle.
Carl and Sal came rushing out the building as soon as the limo started. Doing a quick head count, Jake realized that all nine members of Hell Fire were there.
Quickly the nine piled in, Sal still in a-frenzy from the man-eater bug incident, shoved Dan out of the driver's seat and slammed hard on the gas.
After a few minuets of driving Leon told someone to turn on the radio; a news report was on talking about the incident at Town Hall and how police had just arrived at the scene.
Several members let out a breath of relief. They where a few minuets from the city line, soon they'd be able to ditch the limo and highjack a few less suspicious cars from the next town over.
Stretching his body out, Dan's leg kicked at something on the limo's floor. "What?" The crook bent over and picked up the foil-covered parcel.
"What you have there?" Sal asked.
"Looks like a fruitcake." Dan replied making a face.
"Give it here, I'm starving." The bigger man said reaching over and taking a hunk out of the cake.
"Disgusting." Dan muttered.
Suddenly the car swerved.
"Hey! What are you doing up there you idiot!" Leon shouted from the back as the car nearly went up over the street's curb.
Dan looked over at Sal; the man's face was turning a slight shade of blue, and both hands reached up to his throat.
"Crap, he's chocking!" Dan yelled grabbing the wheel too late.
The sound of squealing tires and crunching metal was heard through the street as the limo crashed into a fire hydrant.
Main Hall
Now able to rest a bit, Bakura sank to the floor, took a deep breath, and nearly gagged in surprise. 'Vodka?' He took another whiff and discovered the smell of alcohol came from his…or should he say Ryou's clothes. /Dear Re, you were drinking/
/What/ Ryou looked at his darker half, who was still in control of his body. /I…I was not/ the hikari stammered.
/Admit it/ Bakura teased with a wicked grin. /You're just as bad as me./
Isizue was busy explaining things as best she could to the police, while several other members of the group received some medical attention.
"Hmm…Looks like you have a few bruised ribs young man." A paramedic told Tristan while another was putting iodine on Malik's cut hands.
Kaiba took the time to walk past the two on his way towards the police. The C.E.O.'s hair still stuck up oddly on the one side of his head and when Malik tried to point it out he only received a steely glare from Kaiba before he could finish the sentence.
Serenity was talking excitedly about the details of the night with Duke and Mokuba, while Tea and Mai stood off a little, talking quietly to each other in a more serious manner.
Marik was busy petting his hamster, which had now returned to normal size. Commenting on how well the rodent did, and how soon he would rule mankind.
Odion had just finished delivering the stolen items to the police when he did a quick check of who was there. "Where are Mr. Mutou and Mr. Wheeler?"
Several heads snapped up from what ever they were previously doing and began looking around the hall for the two missing teens.
"I thought it was too quiet." Kaiba said under his breath.
"Oh no, Joey isn't here?" Serenity asked gazing around the hall worriedly.
"Don't worry Joey went to look for Yugi, he's fine." Duke reassured her.
"Yeah, but he should have been back by now." Tristan said, looking around the hall in hopes of finding the blond.
"And I haven't seen Yugi in a while." Malik commented before hissing as more disinfectant touched his skin.
"I hope they're all right." Tea whispered.
"We'll send someone to look for them." An officer cut in, signaling two of his men who left the hall immediately. "Now Mr. Kaiba, Miss. Ishtar please continue."
Alcove
'Man, he wasn't in the kitchen either. Yug, where are you?' Joey padded down another hall in the Alcove.
"Please hang on!" came a faint, desperate voice.
Joey stopped and listened. 'That sounded like…' "Yugi! Hold on, I'm coming!"
"Joey? Please get help!"
"One more turn, he's got to be there." Joey told himself as he reached a corner.
The blond nearly chocked on his own breath, the light blue carpet was socked in a small sea of blood that poured from a bullet wound in Yami's chest.
There Yugi kneeled, gripping the hand of his darker half, who lay on the floor, taking shallow breaths, barley moving at all.
Joey knelt down, baffled by the whole scene. "How? Why?" the blond struggled for the right words. "What happened?" 'How can he be hurt this bad.'
Crimson eyes fluttered open briefly before closing once more.
Yugi looked up at the blond, "Please…I can't move him, I'm not strong enough…" The short teen broke off, tears streaming down his face.
The fuzziness in Joey's head cleared slightly, and with hands as steady as he could make them, the blond reached and hefted the darker half up. Carrying Yami bridal style, the brown-eyed boy turned to Yugi. "Let's go Yug."
The amethyst-eyed boy sniffed slightly, getting up shakily, his whole body trembling, as if ready to collapse to the ground again.
"Tears aren't gonna help him." Joey said a bit gruffly, "But don't worry," his voice lightened, "he'll pull through."
Yugi nodded at this, and both ran to the hall.
Joey looked down at the former Pharaoh, 'Don't make a liar out of me.'
Wow, according to Microsoft Word, this bad-boy reached the 46-page marker including all the Author's notes of course.
Told you people it wasn't very funny, sorry about that, but I wanted this one to be a little more dramatic. (Sits down in her chair and stretches when suddenly hordes of angry fans appear in the stark white room.) Oh shoot!
Heh, heh (Author laughs nervously and backs off slowly from crowds of angry fans.) We'll I got to go for now. (Dodges various weapons) But there will be a new chapter tomorrow, I have it typed up and all I need to do is submit it. (Gets whacked by a pillowcase full of bricks.) Oww, oww! I said I was sorry about the lateness what more do you people want? (Author suddenly notices that these are Yami fans) Oh! This is about me seriously injuring and possibly killing off the Pharaoh!
(Horde of angry fans nod and prepares to charge the Author.)
Wait! (Author holds up the 'Mighty Book of Rules for All Fan Fiction Writers' and the crowd stops.) According to paragraph D, section 1.9 under the heading of 'Character Injuries', it says that…all canon characters that are killed off during a fan fiction will be removed and sent forth to the Author's dwelling at the chapter's end. See he can't be dead because he's not here. (Author acts all proud while the angry mob grumbles to themselves.)
Now if you don't mind I need to work on my story. (Crowd is about to leave when a loud cry is heard off in the distance. Suddenly the ceiling to the room opens up and drops a strangely familiar looking character lands at the Author's feet.) Today just isn't my day.
Yami brushes himself off and looks around, "Oh great, I've been written into another fan fiction."
(Mob of angry fans turn; half charge for the Author with the intent to strangle, maim, and impale, while the other half run at Yami like he's one of the members of the newest hot boy band.)
Good thing I have super-human, nearly God-like powers here. (Snaps fingers and a hole opens up underneath the angry crowd's feet.) Whew!
How you get here? Your not suppose to die!
"Hey I'm not the one who left the computer on 'auto type'."
(Author is steamed) Cursed auto type!
Now how do I get you back into the story? (Turns to Yami, who is now peering down the hole the Author had just created.)
"Why are you asking me? I'm not the one writing this story."
Lot of help you are; time to check the 'Mighty Book of Rules…' Do me a favor and tell the fans about the next chapter. (Tosses him a summary of chapter.)
"Fine,"
Next Chapter: The gang discovers the solution to saving Yami; (Strange referring myself in the third person.) the hunt for the puzzle is on while Ryou reflects on a Christmas memory that brings as much joy as pain.
"Is it just me, or has your writing turned a little dark? According to the summary this is supposed to be a comedy not a tragedy."
(Author shrugs shoulders) I'll try to think of a few more laughs before I upload tomorrow.
See you next time people, review please!