(A/N) So sorry about the wait. You know how things are! Also, I beg you to forgive me for the rather pointless story about myself that I am about to tell you.

I attend Reseda High School, right near the borders of Reseda and Tarzana. As I type this Author's Note, there is a brush fire in the hills surrounding the San Fernando Valley, in other words, where I live. The air quality is so bad that I hesitate to go outside without a make-shift mask (bandana) tied around my mouth and nose, because my sense of smell is very sensitive, and it's literally raining white, gray, and black ashes outside.

My school has a blacktop, like just about every other school out there, but today the blacktop was more like the graytop. See what I mean? It's really, really bad around here; they're even evacuating people.

Of course, it was much worse a couple of years ago. I even missed two days of school because simply going out of the house restricted my breathing, bandana or no, and the ash was falling thick and fast. Not only that, but my school really should have been closed. It was so close to the fires, that if you looked up at the hills, they would be glowing red and orange with flame, and you could see the thick black smoke pouring out over the valley.

When the entire sky is covered in smoke, the sun turns an angry red color, because that's the only shade that can get through. Today, when I was walking around school, everything was tinted red. The cement, papers, even my skin, which is normally the color of peaches or milk, depending on how much sun it gets and the lighting, was an angry red color, as though I'd been burned.

OK, that's enough of my rant on brush fires. On with the fic!

/Ryou to Bakura/

Bakura to Ryou

But…before that, I do not own Yugioh, or Calvin and Hobbs, or Home Alone. OK? Good. Now…. on with the fic!

(B)(S)(O)(D)

Chapter Five

Into the Fire

Calvin jumped up and gave Ryou a hug, and Hobbs wasn't far behind.

"Ryou!" Calvin practically shouted, "you're back!"

"You're OK!"

"You're not hurt!"

"What happened?" Ryou burst in. "Why are yami-sama's knives embedded in the wall? Why is my favorite shirt decimated? How come I have oozing sucker wounds on my abdomen?"

Calvin and Hobbs slowly blinked, then looked at each other. "You explain!" they cried in unison.

"Never mind," Ryou sighed. "Just tell me why the door's open, and we can save the rest for later."

"Err…we…wanted some…fresh air?" Calvin hazarded.

"If you wanted some fresh air, why not pen a window?"

"Because…they were all stuck!" Hobbs exclaimed.

"Why were…" the babysitter trailed off as his eyes slid out of focus, then turned red.

"I'll explain," Bakura growled. "Now, how about we take all the curtains off the windows and close the door so those stupid things can't come back and pretend I'm a wish-bond again?"

"R-right…" Calvin stuttered. Then he, Hobbs, and Bakura ran around the house, taking the curtains off the rods and putting them in boxes.

"Calvin, think carefully," Bakura began, "has this ever happened to you before?"

"No, not the monsters under the bed. Killer mutant snowmen once attacked me, but the monsters under my bed don't come out during the day. Well…they haven't before now. If they could, why didn't they? Why did they wait?"

"They didn't because they couldn't, they waited until they could. And they'll likely try it again, so we'd best be on our guard."

"I've got a question," Hobbs began, not taking the warning of Bakura's expression, "where did they get the ability to do this now? Why not before?"

(B)(S)(O)(D)

Bakura narrowed his eyes, contemplating the tiger's question. "Why now indeed…?" he muttered.

/Yami-sama, what are you talking about/

Shh. The monsters under Calvin's bed used magic to knock you out, then tried to kill us.

/Oh./

(B)(S)(O)(D)

Calvin looked at the spirit nervously. Bakura seemed to be deep in thought. He jumped slightly when the ancient thief took a step toward him.

"Wh-what do you want?" the boy stammered.

"I'm not going to harm you…I just want to see if you natural magic is potent enough to accidentally give those monsters of yours a power boost."

"Hey, wait a second!" Hobbs cried out. "You mean…Calvin can do magic?"

"Yes, of course. I wouldn't have come out in the first place if I hadn't sensed unknown magic." Then he swiftly stepped toward Calvin and picked him up. "Hmmm…" he mumbled as he looked the child over. "No…you couldn't have done that by yourself…"

"C-couldn't have done w-what?" Calvin stuttered, trying not to show how nervous he was.

"Why…unleashed those monsters that nearly broke this body in four," the spirit chuckled darkly, "and if that had happened, I would be in need of a new host…now wouldn't I?"

Calvin swallowed hard as Bakura's red eyes stared directly into his own. At that moment, he felt as though the spirit didn't care whose body it was in.

He was about to speak when Bakura's left arm raised, and proceeded to slap the spirit on the face.

"That's it…" he growled, his tone promising trouble for someone. The his red eyes glazed and slid out of focus.

(B)(S)(O)(D)

Yadonushi, there had better be a good reason for that…

/You threatened to posses a little kid. Yami-sama, he's only six/

So…? You were eight when I first possessed you. Besides, it's true. If you get killed on this little baby-sitting stunt, he is the nearest person with any magic. Besides…he was getting on my nerves.

/Still…scaring him like that…/

(B)(S)(O)(D)

"Hobbs," Calvin hissed, nervously staring at Bakura, "I think we need to do a little 'set up'."

"What do you mean, 'set up'?"

"I mean, we should rig the house so Bakura can't get at us. You know, like in Home Alone."

"Calvin, there's a big difference between this and Home Alone, and that is that in Home Alone it's two bungling burglars. Here, we're dealing with a possessed baby-sitter."

"Aw, c'mon, Hobbs, we can do this!" and with that, Calvin dashed off to find the materials he would need to deter and possibly trap Bakura so that Ryou could come out.

(B)(S)(O)(D)

Bakura's internal conversation ended three hours later. The spirit looked about. The brat and his pet tiger where nowhere in sight! Growling softly to himself, Bakura began to regret his method of winning that little argument.

Yes, that's right…he knocked his host out. Now he would have to find the kid and maybe even make dinner! Great, just great.

Lost in his own thoughts, the spirit stepped forward…and hit a tripwire. His blood red eyes widened in horror as a paint can full of whitewash dropped onto his head, spilling all over his bare chest and splattering onto his jeans.

Bakura growled deep in his throat, already thinking of things to do to that damn stupid brat. He headed for the stairs, deciding to check Calvin's bedroom. He was so furious that he didn't notice the marbles until it was too late.

There was a loud crash as the spirit fell down the stairs, and a snarl as he landed on the sucker wounds.

(B)(S)(O)(D)

Calvin and Hobbs grinned and high-fived each other from their room when they heard a crash and a loud snarl. The plan was working perfectly. With luck, this was one spirit that would never bother them again.

(B)(S)(O)(D)

(A/N) It seems that I cannot say this enough times. Please, please, please review this fic! Yes, it will be updated eventually whether you do or not, but much, much, much sooner if you do!

Besides. Every review I get shapes the way the story goes. The plot itself is flexible, and every review twists it just a little bit, because a straight one is really boring.