-Redemption-
Walking down the cobblestone path way, Amethyst eyes glanced down at the now empty spot where a gold upside down pyramid once rested. Feeling lost without the ancient relic and its comforting weight, small alabaster white hands clutched at the vacant spot.
"Yugi!"
Startled at the sudden shout, Yugi jumped lightly before whirling around to see three familiar figures coming toward him. The figure in the middle was a tall and lanky boy with tousled blond hair and friendly honey brown eyes while the figure beside him was a slightly shorter boy with long pale blond hair, lilac colored eyes and nicely tanned skin and the last figure was a pale skinned boy with long snowy white hair and gentle chocolate brown eyes.
"Oh hey guys," he smiled, dropping his hands away from chest to grip the straps of his loaded backpack. "I was wondering where you all were."
"We were looking for you, but the 'bottomless pit' here couldn't get past the campus diner," the lilac eyed boy stated, earning a pout and side glare from the tall blond.
"Malik, be nice," the white haired boy reprimanded.
"Yah, listen ta Ryou an' be nice," Jou stated, to only receive an eye roll from Malik.
"Whatever," Malik muttered, waving a hand at Jou and Ryou before looking back at Yugi and cocking an eyebrow lightly as he noticed the tense way that Yugi was standing. "Are you okay, Yugi?"
At the question, Yugi frowned lightly. "… I'm fine," he finally mumbled out, keeping his head down to stare down at the empty spot and inwardly picturing the puzzle back in its place.
"Eh… where's ya puzzle?"
Biting his lip lightly, Yugi looked up at Jou to see him looking back at him curiously along with Malik and Ryou. Shrugging his shoulders lightly, he sighed. "It's in Egypt," he breathed, causing a pair of lilac, chocolate, and honey eyes to widen in surprise.
"Why is it in Egypt?" Ryou asked cocking his head to watch sadly as Yugi once again clutched at the empty spot.
"It's a long story," Yugi muttered, idly running a hand through his hair. "To make a long story short… the lady that grandpa got the puzzle from wanted it back to do something… and I have her word that she'll return the puzzle afterwards."
Malik frowned lightly while crossing his arms. "I wouldn't have let her have it, not unless I got to go too," he stated. "I mean she could run off with it and you'd never get it back… or loose it while she's over there an--"
"And yet she promised to return it to him," Ryou interrupted, catching the fearful look on Yugi's face at the mention of never seeing the gold pyramid again. Giving Malik a side glare, he quickly turned back to Yugi and offered him a warm smile. "I'm sure she'll keep it safe for you. I mean your grandfather trusts her so that should count for something."
"Maybe, but den again Gramps is always a sucker for da ladies," Jou muttered before letting out a yelp as Ryou stomped his left foot. "Gah! What da hell was dat for?" he wailed while hopping up and down lightly and holding the injured foot, earning a few amused looks from passing students.
"You're not helping," Ryou muttered, shooting the other a side glare before looking back at Yugi and forcing another smile. "I'm sure everything will be fine."
"Yeah," Malik agreed, not wanting Ryou to hit him as he did Jou. "You said yourself that the lady was the one that gave it to your grandpa to begin with… so I'm sure that everything will be as Ryou says."
Smiling, Yugi looked over at Jou to make sure the other was alright. Seeing that he was, he felt a lot better in having his friends telling him that his puzzle would be safe and returned to him soon. Glancing back down at the empty spot once again, he sighed briefly before jumping back as Jou's sudden outburst startled him.
"Damn! I'm late again!" Jou yelled causing a few more curious looks before growling as his cheeks reddened under their odd stares. Groaning, he gave his friends a quick wave before running off and taking a flight of stairs two at time. "Outta da way! Move ya asses people, I'm late!"
Watching their blond companion disappear into the crowd, Ryou and Malik shook their heads before looking down at Yugi to see him chuckling lightly.
"Well I guess we better go and get to our classes as well, because I doubt any of you want to pull a 'Jou' and do a mad dash across the campus," Ryou chuckled, earning agreeing nods from his companions.
Yugi smiled before offering the two a small wave. "I'll see you guys later," he stated watching Ryou and Malik wave back before disappearing into the crowd as well. Left alone once again, he took a deep breath before walking down a set of stairs leading down into the campus diner as well as bookstore while clutching at his backpack strap. 'I wonder why they really needed my puzzle anyways.'
Meanwhile…
The surface was blinding as rays of sunlight beamed down across the Egyptian sand. A few travelers on camels covered their face as the sand around them flew up in the air by powerful gusts of wind. Hearing a series of loud whirling noise over the roar of the wind and rolling dunes, the travelers looked up to see a large black helicopter descending toward them.
As the helicopter came to a landing, the whirling blades soon came to a halt allowing the sand to die down once again. The camels groaned and grunted as they were pulled to their feet just as the doors to the helicopter slid open.
"Land!"
The travelers blinked in mild amusement as a rather pale looking youth with spiky white hair and a tan youth with pale spiky blond hair darted out of the helicopter to promptly kneel on the sand as if it were the most beautiful thing on the planet.
"Would you two knock it off! It wasn't that bad!" Damon barked, jumping out of the helicopter to glare at the two currently kneeling on the sand.
Bakura growled as he shot his leading officer a dark look. "Not bad? What the hell did you call that then… a fucking joy ride!" he wailed, clenching his fists in frustration as he shot a glare at the helicopter.
Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Damon shook his head. "We don't have time for this," he growled, throwing a glare of his own.
Bakura growled and was getting ready to retort when he noticed the travelers from earlier looking at him in pure amusement.
"I take it you don't like flying," one said softly, earning a glare from Bakura.
"I don't mind flying… just as long as Kaiba's not driving," Bakura countered, shooting a glare over his shoulder at the helicopter just as Seto stepped out of the pilot's seat.
"Bunch of wimps," Seto smirked, earning a glare from both Bakura and Marik.
"Are all of you colleagues of Ms. Mushira?" another one of the travelers's asked with a deeper accented voice.
"Unfortunately, yes they are."
At the sudden voice of their superior officer, Bakura and Marik quickly got to their feet and darted over to the other side of the helicopter to unload the box carrying the special items that had been brought with them.
Watching them, Seto crossed his arms and smirked lightly. It was so fun watching those two avoid having to deal with their odd and mysterious superior.
Jumping off the helicopter, Destiny greeted the two travelers. "Thank you for agreeing to help us," she said with a small smile, causing Bakura and Marik to twitch and Damon to frown. "It's been a long time."
The tallest of the travelers nodded. "It has, but I do hope you know what you are getting into," he warned, narrowing his dark eyes.
"He's our only hope," Destiny countered, narrowing her own eyes behind the dark sunglasses.
The man nodded before walking over to his camel and retrieving a golden box out of one of the bags and carefully handing it to Destiny. "You know what he will need, don't you."
Damon frowned at the conversation. There was something extremely weird going on and it was nagging the hell out of him for not knowing it. Retrieving his own pair of sunglasses, he shifted his gaze to blink as he spotted Kaiba right beside him also giving Destiny and the travelers and odd, suspicious look.
"Should I even ask—or are you alone in the dark with the rest of us?" he asked, barely giving Damon a look as he watched the exchange.
"In the dark," Damon grumbled, crossing his arms. "There's more to this than what she's telling us and I'm about to--"
"Mother Fu—Dammit, Marik that's my foot!"
"Well don't leave it lying around!"
"Where the hell am I supposed to keep it? In the freaking air!"
At the constant bickering, Kaiba actually chuckled while Damon rolled his eyes and groaned before running behind the helicopter to find Bakura ready to lunge at Marik.
"You two are hopeless," he growled, glaring at the both of them before checking on the large silver case that carried all the items. "I just hope you didn't damage any of the items or you two will definitely have your asses roasted."
"Feh, the items are fine," Bakura growled, glaring at Marik. "My foot broke their damn fall."
Marik glared back.
"What did I do to deserve this?" Damon muttered, glaring at the pair before watching Destiny wave off the travelers and turn toward them.
Turning in time to see Destiny, Bakura inwardly twitched before eyeing the chest cradled in her arms warily. "More junk?" he asked, flinching as a glare was thrown at him.
"No," Destiny countered, running a finger over the box. "Just something to protect the rest of you," she stated, giving them all a rather odd look before making her way to the ancient structure that they could just now make out protruding out from the ground.
Marik shuddered lightly as he looked at the others just as Kaiba came around to join them, "Protect us from what?" he asked, not sure if he really wanted to know or not.
Bakura shrugged before grabbing the large case and half dragging it across the sand.
Seto rolled his eyes before looking over at Damon with an arched brow. "I wonder what she meant by that?" he asked, watching as Damon gave him a rather odd look before shrugging.
"I don't know," he stated, raking a hand through his streaked hair. "Just be prepared for anything."
"As always," Seto smirked before walking in behind Marik and Bakura while reaching down to retrieve his gun and loading it with the new specially modified ammunition while Damon trailed behind him.
THUMP!
"Dammit Frosty, watch where you're going!"
"I would if I could, but I can't even see my own hand in front of my face much less see your ugly ass."
With a sudden crack, causing both agents to jump the darkness was dispelled by the sudden illumination coming from some flare sticks.
"Idiots," Seto muttered, stalking by the pair to walk on down the narrow corridor.
"Rich Prick," Bakura grumbled, glaring at the retreating brunet before turning to find Damon handing him and Marik a flare stick as well.
"C'mon you two, we don't have time to toss insults… especially since our superior officer has disappeared," Damon stated, casting a wary glance across the ancient walls surrounding them. "And stay close, if this tomb is as deadly as we were told then there's bond to be a few nasty surprises waiting for us."
Grabbing the flare stick, Bakura snorted before tossing the other flare to Marik. "I hope she got lost somewhere," he smirked, satisfied with the sour look that crossed Damon's face. "Hey, I can wish, can't I?"
Smirking, Marik looked over at Bakura. "If that's the case I wish she was here to hear you say that," he chuckled, earning a glare from the other.
"Keep it up and this tomb will have you as a permanent resident," Bakura growled as his left eye twitched lightly.
Rubbing the bridge of his nose with his free hand, Damon groaned lightly at the forming headache. Getting ready to yell at the two agents, his attention was diverted by the echoing shots of gunfire. "Shit!" he cursed as he quickly darted down the corridor where Seto had disappeared.
"Hey, wait for us!" Marik called out, running after the other as Bakura groaned and rolled his eyes before following after him.
"This better not be some sort of--"
"… Trap…" Marik finished off, slightly awed at what was happening before him.
From their position the corridor had led them out onto a balcony type of structure with stone steps spiraling down into a large room with sweeping ceilings and many torches that looked to be lit up by black flames. Below them though they could see Kaiba firing at something that they were still having a hard time believing in what they were seeing.
Creatures of obsidian and gold growled as they lunged at Seto while he continued to shoot at them to only have his bullets ricochet off their obsidian hide. "What the hell are these things?" he yelled, jumping back as another one of the creatures lunged at him.
"They're bullet proof," Marik replied before letting out a yelp as Bakura whapped him on the back of the head.
"Moron."
Ignoring the two quarreling agents, Damon raised his flare a bit higher to dispel a little bit more of the darkness shrouding the room. "They're… statues," he breathed, nearly dropping his flare in shock as he watched the living statues continue their attack on Kaiba.
Exchanging glances, Marik and Bakura both looked over to see if their leading squad leader was telling truth. Finding the truth for themselves, their eyes widened.
"Ok, we've dealt with werewolves, ghouls, demons, golems, and sirens… but living statues- that we haven't covered!" Bakura stated while watching as Kaiba ducked as one of the statues lunged at him allowing the creature to jump over him.
Marik blinked as the statue was totally revealed in the scattered illumination coming from their flares. The body was carved in black obsidian accented in gold lines to reveal a gold collar, and braces around the legs while the eyes were also outlined in gold as well as the inner parts of sharp pointed ears. "They're statues of Jackals," he stated, his voice wavering in mild awe as Bakura and Damon both glanced at him curiously.
"It doesn't matter, Seto needs our help," Damon countered, vaulting over the second landing to land with a light thud against the ground, glad that the sand within the chamber cushioned his fall as he quickly ran over to Seto while retrieving his own specially loaded gun.
Shaking his head, Bakura followed the other's example and rushed to help their cornered agent. "I don't think guns are going to help with this, since Kaiba has unloaded a few rounds on these things already," he grated while running alongside Damon.
"I know, but its only to divert their attention away from Seto," Damon replied, cocking the gun before firing it at one of the statues to only wince as the bullet ricocheted off its hide to bounce back and graze his left cheek.
"I tried to warn you," Bakura taunted, choosing to ignore the glare thrown at him before nimbly dodging to the left as one of the statues leaped at him.
Marik sighed as he quickly joined the others while pulling out a few black and silver colored spheres from his pocket. Dodging one of the statues, he threw one of the spheres at one of the fallen pillars that littered the floor to form a sudden cloud of black smoke.
"You brought smoke bombs!" Bakura yelled, rolling his eyes. "How the hell do you expect us to see anything-!" he ranted to only be cut off by a round of coughs as the smoke moved over in his direction.
"If we can't see them then they can't see us!" Marik yelled back before letting out an 'oomph' as he was knocked to the ground. Shaking his head, he winced before the unmistakable sound of a growl echoed through his ears. Opening his eyes, he looked up into bejeweled crimson eyes outlined in gold paint and set into dark obsidian. "Ok, so maybe I was wrong..."
"Marik!"
Hearing the yells of his comrades, his eyes never left the creature looming over him. The statue was absolutely perfect without a single blemish marring its obsidian skin. The elaborate collar around the creature's neck was inlaid with lapis and rubies that almost sparkled in the faint illumination of the scattered flare sticks that had been dropped by his companions.
'They're not just Jackal statues… they're statues of Anubis,' he mused, feeling his heart beat quicken as the statue glared down at him before in a brief moment seemed to morph into a more realistic creature as ivory fangs were revealed and even a drop of drool started to drop from the snarling muzzle. "Not good…"
Bracing himself for the feel of those sharp incisors ripping him apart, Marik started to close his eyes, but immediately changed his mind as the extra weight on him disappeared. Glancing up, he blinked as the creature once more looking like a statue stalked backwards while continuing to snarl lightly.
Bakura blinked as all the statues seemed to pull back and disappear into the darkness that shrouded the corners of the room. Looking in the direction that the statues seemed to glare at, he picked up his flare and threw it in the direction to only jump as something caught it.
From the light of the flare a feminine body was revealed, earning a small sigh of relief from the agents in the room.
"Where the hell have you been?" Bakura snapped, crossing his arms while glaring at the only female in the room.
"I found the chamber that we're looking for," Destiny replied, throwing the flare back to Bakura while motioning them all to follow her. "A few words of advice though, from here on out don't look down."
"Why?" Marik asked, looking down to only let out a yelp and grab the closest thing to him which happened to be Bakura.
"Marik, will you let go of me!" Bakura snapped, trying to squirm out of the death grip Marik had him in. "Oh for the love of Ra!" he growled, finally managing to wiggle free from the other before looking over and having his jaw almost hit the floor at the drop. "Fuck me…"
"No thanks," Seto chimed in, waltzing by the other to earn a sharp a glare.
"Bastard…" Bakura muttered, clenching his fists lightly while stalking behind the taller brunet.
After a few dangerous turns and nearly falling to their deaths, the group soon made it into another large chamber with more black flame torches lining the wall as well asa large gold sarcophagus resting in the center on top of a small island with zigzagging catwalksleading toit.
"I'm not going across that," Bakura stated as he looked over the edge to see nothing but darkness.
"I know you're not, because I am," Destiny stated, earning a few odd looks from the other agents as she started across the narrow catwalk.
Seto frowned as he watched her. The way she was walking was off and unbalanced. "What is she doing? I mean she's right handed so why is she starting with her left foot?"
Damon shrugged lightly.
"Because she knows there's a trap," Bakura chimed in, pointing up at the large beam that was currently holding two rather sharp looking blades that were tucked back into slots.
Marik crossed his arms. "But how did she know?"
Shrugging Damon took in a sharp breath as Destiny made it to the other side and watched as she stepped up to the large sarcophagi before opening the silver briefcase to reveal the six golden items that were resting inside. "Now what?"
With each item placed into its designated spot the torches in the room would spike up and the sounds of clicking locks would echo throughout the chamber as well as a series of growls that seemed to radiate from the shadows that covered the very walls.
Destiny let out a small breath as she carefully pulled out a golden upside down pyramid from the large pouch attached to her waist. Setting the pyramid in place, her vision was cut off by a bright flash of light before once again being submerged in darkness.
"I can't see anything," Bakura grumbled.
"I know," Damon sighed, frowning at the sudden darkness.
"Just a thought… but if that Vampire has been sealed for like the past 3,000 years don't you all think he's about due for something to eat," Marik mused.
"As much as it pains me… the dimwit has a point."
"I hope he drinks you dry, Kaiba," Marik retaliated, glaring in the direction of the voice.
As if the darkness was never there the room was revealed in a dim wave of light to reveal their superior officer looking into an open sarcophagi. Not sure what to make of it and curiosity winning them over, the three of them carefully made their way over to the gold tomb and looked inside.
"No way," Damon breathed, taking a small step back in shock at what rested inside the coffin.
Inside the coffin there was a lean, lithe figure with honey-caramel bronzed skin wearing a starched white shenti and a long cape that was tucked across his torso with golden bands graced his wrists, biceps, and calves as well as a beautiful gold and multi-beaded necklace wrapped around his neck. Gravity defying spikes of obsidian trimmed in violet crimson covered the figure's head while a few streaks of gold grew through the spiky mane leaving jagged gold bangs to frame the figure's sharp, chiseled face.
Kohl brought out the sooty eyelashes that outlined resting eyes wile a few smudges of blood marred the figure's lips.
"How did he get blood?" Marik asked, looking at the others curiously.
None answered him though as the figure stirred. A searching tongue darted out between the lips to pick up the last remainder of the blood, revealing an impressive set of canines that would make anyone cringe in fear of their life.
"Hey, how come for a vamp he still has a tan?" Marik asked again, glancing curiously down at the resting vampire before looking up at the others to receive a few eye rolls.
"Moron, it's because… well…." Bakura stalled, looking around the rest of the group.
"You don't know either, do ya Frosty?" Marik asked, with a small smirk.
"Would you two be quiet! It doesn't matter that he still has a tan!" Damon snapped, glaring at the pair of agents before looking back down at the resting vampire. "Though for being buried here for over 3,000 years he looks untouched."
Destiny smiled lightly. "None have succeeded in getting this far to him before," she stated, earning a few baffled looks from the others. "Tell me you haven't already forgotten the Jackals?"
Marik shuddered lightly while unconsciously rubbing his neck. "Oh yeah, those things," he muttered.
Narrowing his eyes down at the vampire, Damon slowly reached out to brush away a few of the golden bangs to get a closer look at the unusual crown resting on the other's brow. His breath hitched however as nimble finger attached to a tan hand clasped around his wrist. "Shit!"
Hearing the word Bakura, Marik, and Seto looked over to see their squad leader's wrist trapped in the vampire's grip. However, they all remained silent as vivid crimson eyes glared up at them.
The crimson eyes glared coldly at the intruders before sniffing the air curiously. Glancing out of the corner of his eyes, he could see the female whose blood had been offered to him. Letting go of the man's wrist, he slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position to pull away the long dark cape.
Damon stumbled back as his wrist was released. 'For just awakening he's not showing any signs of weakness,' he mused, casting a small glance over at his superior officer to arch a brow curiously as he noted the way the vampire started at her.
Shaking it off, he motioned toward the other agents. "Grab the items, I don't think we want to forget them," he ordered, taking a few more steps away from the vampire.
Rolling his eyes, Bakura mocked the order while going over to the lid and kneeling down to start retrieving the items when a dusky hand dropped into his line of vision to snatch the puzzle from its spot. Blinking, he quickly looked up to see the crimson eyed vampire holding the puzzle carefully.
Running his hands across the familiar golden relic, crimson eyes looked down at the white haired male. Narrowing his eyes lightly, he hissed threateningly before turning back to the female and closing his eyes to concentrate, letting his mind piece together the strange new form of language that he had heard earlier, allowing him to learn it in an instant.
"Why have you awoken me?"
Marik jumped at the sudden new voice. He had been ready for the ancient vampire to start spitting out Ancient Egyptian rather than English. "How the hell? He's… I mean he's talking…"
"Breath moron," Bakura muttered, whapping Marik on the shoulder. "Just ignore it."
Destiny smiled while bowing her head lightly. "We needed your help," she replied, keeping her voice soft which surprised all the other agents in the room.
The vampire continued to watch her closely before looking down at the puzzle in his hands. "Where you the one that solved my puzzle?" he asked, glancing back at the female.
"No, but I do know who did," Destiny replied, before raising her head to level her eyes with his. "And if you agree to help us I will take you to the one that solved it."
Damon frowned as he listened to the conversation and not liking the route it was taking. "You can't do that!" he yelled before instantly cringing as crimson eyes glared back at him.
Glaring at the mortal, the vampire snorted before looking back at the female and bowing his head agreement. "You have a deal."
"Then welcome back to the world of the living, Pharaoh Atemu."