AN- Sorry that this took so long! I'll try and update quicker in the future, but I can't promise anything! As always, kind reviews would be welcome, along with helpful criticism, but flames will be reported. Thank you!

Disclaimer: Yu-gi-oh does not belong to me!

"Oh, this is good!" Marik said to himself sarcastically, running over to Serenity and pulling his young friend over to a sheltered corner where they would be safer from the destruction. First, there's an earthquake, then his Yami appears, and now there's an aftershock that threatens to take the building down to the ground!

Cowering by Marik, Serenity curled herself into a protective ball, whimpering as she heard things falling to the floor and breaking due to the tremors. She had a feeling that this was only going to make things harder for them. She whispered frantically under her breath, praying for it to be over soon.

As quickly as it had come, the aftershock died down, leaving all-out destruction in its wake. It had almost been as bad as the original earthquake itself! Uncurling herself slowly, Serenity lifted her head slightly and pulled herself onto her knees, looking around the wreckage with growing dread and horror. She dreaded to think of how many more people had been hurt now.

Sighing with relief, Marik stood up slowly, using the wall as support. Lucky this place was here… he thought to himself grimly as he glanced around. Just about everywhere else in the room-like corridor had been covered in dust and new debris from the latest assault. Looking over at where they had been a few moments before, he winced.

A bookcase now lay across the place, with the books that it had once held scattered around randomly on the dust covered floor, which was creaking in a dangerous way.

"What do we do now?" Serenity asked worriedly, eyeing the floor near the corridor they had to pass through nervously. It wasn't too far from them, and the bookcase was even closer, just a few meters away. The flooring looked as if it could give way at any time.

Taking a few cautious steps forward, Marik shook his head slightly at his companion. "We have no choice but to try and get through the corridor," he said, sighing when Serenity trembled. "It's our only hope of getting out of here alive," he added, a determined glint in his eyes, "and that, we will."

Serenity looked convinced, even going so far as hopping very carefully over to the bookcase and looking down at the papers and books that were strewn around it. Kneeling down, she picked up a small one curiously.

It was a leaflet about the shop, giving details about its business and even better; it had a map showing all the routes out of the building from all of its floors! Her eyes widening, Serenity scanned it over quickly, immediately noticing that the corridor they were going to try and get down did indeed lead to a way out, leading to a back exit with a staircase to get down from, considering that it was on the second floor of the shop. With the rest of the building now blocked off, this indeed was their only hope of getting out of there.

Standing up and brushing herself off, she looked at the leaflet once more before handing it over to Marik, who had been watching with curiosity, "I hope this helps," She said, looking around with a half sad, half nervous expression, "I want to get out of this place and get back to my big brother… I need to know that he's okay!"

Nodding in agreement, Marik folded the leaflet carefully and pocketed it for safe keeping, just in case it would be needed later. "Likewise," he said quietly, helping the child over some of the weaker parts of the floor and closer to the adjoining corridor, making sure to try and stick to the stronger parts. "I have to find out if they were hurt." If they are, he added to himself silently, I'll never forgive myself for not being there for them.

Serenity looked up at him tearfully. "You don't believe what he said, do you?" she asked, surprised and a little upset.

Jumping a little, Marik gave her a quick look. "You were listening, Weren't you?" It wasn't that he was angry at all, it was just that what happened wasn't exactly something he'd want anybody to have to witness. Nobody should have to see and go through things like that.

Nodding slowly, Serenity sniffled and looked at the floor, carefully walking past a gaping hole in the floor as they finally entered the corridor. "I couldn't help it," she mumbled, her heart breaking for her friend. They didn't know each other overly well, but they still talked when they saw each other, usually when everyone gathered at the Gameshop and sometimes when they saw each other on the streets. She looked up to him as somebody she could trust and talk to. Somebody to go to when she needed help and Joey wasn't there. "Did you believe him?"

"I did at first," Marik admitted, pulling Serenity away quickly as part of the floor caved in. "Are you alright?"

Looking quite shocked, Serenity pulled herself together enough to reply, doing so just as they dodged around yet another hole and the weak flooring around it, "I'm fine," she gasped, "What happened there!" She looked dismayed at the thought of the floor falling through without any warning whatsoever; she had thought that something would happen to let them know it was going to collapse! That had been so unexpected.

"I guess the floor is weaker than I expected it to be." Frowning a little, Marik moved to the side of the treacherous corridor, skirting around most of the holes and pulling the wide-eyed girl carefully along with him. This seemed like a much safer route, the floor seeming to be more supported around the walls and away from the centre of dilapidated pathway that was their only way out.

Out of nowhere, the entire building seemed to waver, groaning under the pressure it was being put through. The cracks, which had been large to begin with, widened even further, leaving a sizeable gap for them to attempt to jump over.

Serenity cried out in shock, staring at the seemingly gigantic hole in the 'floor'. "We'll never get across that!" she said shakily, taking a small step backwards.

Marik smiled and looked back at her, reminding himself that they both had to get back to there families. "Have faith. We can do it," he encouraged gently, "just believe in yourself and remember that you're never alone. Even if he isn't there in person, your brother will always be there for you in heart."

"Y-you're right... And you, you're my friend, Marik… All the others…" Serenity closed her eyes, picturing all of her friends and her big brother all standing there and waiting for her at the other side of the gap. "I-I'll go!" she was still nervous, but at least now she had hope once again.

Marik smiled again, pleased that she hadn't given hope. "Right! You can do this." He looked around and found a place where it would be easier to jump across, right in the middle… He just prayed that the building didn't decide to go and play a few more tricks on them, maybe split in the middle and fall into two halves? That would be rather bad…

Shakily, Serenity peered over to the other side, trying to calculate how far it was. She didn't have much luck and she closed her eyes tightly, forcing herself to remember that she needed to get out of here and to her brother. She only had one shot at this… but she would make it! She shuddered and looked back at Marik, who was standing about a pace behind her. "I'll go first…" she said, trying to keep the fear out of her voice.

"Are you sure?" Marik asked, concerned. There was still a chance that something could go wrong. It would be more than disastrous.

Nodding, she looked ahead again. "I wanna get this over with and then get to my big brother…"

"I understand," Marik replied, a quieter tone to his voice. He knew what it was like for her, as he was feeling the same way. Who knows what could have happened to their siblings? What if, by some chance, his Yami hadn't been lying? It didn't bear thinking about. Silently, he moved back several paces, giving her room to be able to make a leap across.

Swallowing hard, Serenity forced herself not to tremble and moved backwards. Gathering all her courage, she ran forward and threw herself towards the other side.