Author's Notes:

Hey there minna-san! Sorry about my prolonged absence! I moved out of my apartment after the hurricane season ended in Florida and had a little bit of a hard time getting online in my new place. Thanks to everyone who's waited so patiently for these stories and their chapters! I hope I'm getting lots of fun feedback on these stories! I love getting reviews! P.S. Next time you all leave feedback, let me know if you think a Halloween story starring this cast of characters sounds like fun! Keep your eyes and mind sharp in this chapter, for the underlying plot and all its subsequent jealousy, rage, love, and hope start soon become apparent! Thanks to everyone who's reviewed and given me the drive to keep writing!

Quick Reference: Almalexia is the name of the one goddess that's part of the Tribunal, the main religion centered on three gods, in Morrowind. I'm a big Morrowind fan and I've worked on several of my own mods. Anyone who's played the Tribunal expansion knows that Almalexia ultimately turns out to be a goddess gone mad who tries to make mincemeat of your player character. I never did like her, and her floating bit in the game always annoyed the heck out of me. So, I used her name here in a negative context. Sorry if I've offended anyone, but it's my fic, so I'll make my own rules!

'italics' -signifies thoughts
(...) -signifies Yami Yugi speaking to Yugi
:...: -signifies Yugi speaking to Yami Yugi

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of its subsequent plots and characters. All of these wonderful things belong to Kazuki Takahashi.

Here's translations of the Japanese I use in my fics:
Iie- no

Nani? -What?
Aa,Un -Yes,yeah (first is men only, second women only)
Ja ne – See you later

Ne – equivalent of 'hey!' or 'no?' meaning, "Don't you agree?" or "Don't you think?"

Oe - hey
Urusai -shut up
Minna-san -everyone
Arigato gozaimasu -thank you very much

Enjoy!

-Pharaohess Yami Anzu

From Whence We Came

Chapter 2-The Colors of Rage

It was near two in the afternoon when Rasma, Téa, and Jade finally made their way through the crowded streets of the shopping district to the Sakura School Uniforms store. It was a hot afternoon, and the inside of the store was packed with middle school and high school teenagers enjoying their brief respite from the heat as they donned various school uniforms in air-conditioned comfort. Ricky, Kaiba, and Yugi waved at the three girls from the base of the glass escalators, whom hastened to join them. Jade sported an almost obscene grin when she saw that Kaiba's nose was jammed with tissues, making it perfectly clear that he was still attempting to bring his nosebleed under control. Rasma smirked when she caught Kaiba's eyes, and wasted no time in promptly pouncing on him, hugging him hard enough to collapse his chest cavity.

Ricky gave his significant other a quick kiss on the cheek, whispering something impish in her ear, which gave her a reason to slap his chest and waggle her finger at him teasingly. Yugi glanced shyly at Téa, smiling as he gave her a quick wink. Téa felt herself blushing as she smiled back, murmuring greetings under her voice.

"Where are the others?" Téa asked, trying to save herself from going full red in the face.

Ricky jammed his thumb, pointing upward. "Our school uniforms are on Level 20, top floor, East Section A. Joey and Tristan are up there with Susan and Cori. Robert and Mokuba are there too." He grinned. "It might be worth it to get up there as quickly as possible and see if anyone's throwing a fit yet."

"Why?" Téa asked, startled.

"You know that girl in our class, Almalexia?" Ricky asked.

Jade groaned. "Miss Bitch?" she asked, her tone venomous. Seeing Téa's startled expression, Jade elaborated. "You're lucky you haven't had to deal much with her. She's in a couple of our classes, and the biggest, vainest airhead in this hemisphere. Her family's pretty well off, and she buys the most expensive stuff she can and brings it to school to show off. She sits in calculus with us, all the way to the left, in the front row."

"The one with the puke green hair and washy lime green eyes?" Rasma said, her tone insulting.

"That would be the one," Ricky agreed. "She's harassing the saleswoman upstairs about the school uniforms, complaining about how the uniforms clash with her hair and that some changes have to be made."

Jade's clenched her jaw in anger. "I swear, if she even looks at me funny I'm going to break her fixed nose and rip off that fake rack of hers." She gave an impatient snort as she started toward the escalator.

Téa felt a sudden jarring of memory. "Is she the same one who's tried out for the team these last two years?"

Jade nodded. "And failed miserably, I might add. No flexibility. Can't even touch her toes. No experience, and she seems to think that all we do is wave pom-poms and shake our butts at the audience, which is total nonsense…we could have trained her, of course, but she thought herself above such petty tutoring and walked out. The bossiest little bitch I've ever met. She even said that she'd make a better captain than me, at her miserable tryout. Coach Mana threw her out of the gym."

Téa blinked, startled. "I had no idea she was so horrid."

"Lucky you," Jade muttered darkly. They went up the express escalator, stopping on the fifth floor as Jade glanced scornfully at several cheerleading uniforms that were displayed. Rasma spotted them too, and stopped clinging to Kaiba's arm long enough to point excitedly at the uniforms.

"Oooooh! Look! Izumada High's cheerleading uniforms! They've got full pleats!"

Jade snorted. "Yeah, in crimson and grey. Awful colors…it's like a funeral every time their girls go out on the floor. Besides…they eat our dust," she said with a disdainful sniff.

Téa giggled and gave Jade a dig in the ribs. "Wasn't it you who said that pride never did anyone any good?"

Blandly, the taller girl replied, "I'm not being vain. I'm telling the truth."

Yugi and Ricky laughed. "You girls really are quite good, though," Yugi said, gazing at Téa with obvious admiration, earning a soft, flattered smile as she bent her head and blushed.

Ricky nodded. "Pumps me up for our games, that's for sure."

Kaiba gave a smug nod. "I remember that time Rasma kicked that other cheerleader's butt right in front of the whole audience. I've never laughed so hard in my entire life."

"She called me a geek! And she was a complete slut! She had it coming!" Rasma said defensively, quieting immediately when Kaiba gave her a soothing kiss.

Jade snickered. "Well, in any case, our new uniforms are bound to be better than Izumada High's this year. We allotted more cash to the uniform fund this year, and Coach Mana went to the seven hells and back to make sure that our uniforms will be the best-looking in the entire country. All the clubs and teams got lots of money for the uniforms this year, thanks to all the competitions that the school won last year."

Yugi nodded. "We were able to get a whole new Duelist arena with the best technology available from Kaiba Corporation," he added, giving Kaiba a brief nod.

"Ahh, finally!" Ricky exclaimed, as they emerged onto the twentieth floor. Suddenly hyperactive and giggly, Jade grabbed Ricky's hand and shot forward, hauling him along with her. Rasma followed a split second later, dragging Kaiba by the arm, her squeals resounding off the vaulted ceiling. Yugi glanced at Téa hopefully, and his hand twitched, wishing Téa would grab it and haul him forward the way her friends had. Téa blushed, and a delighted smile spread over her features when Yugi extended his hand to her. Without further delay, her hand slipped into his, grabbed on, and with excited laughs, the lovely pair dashed forward to follow their friends.

"Oooh, Ras, Téa, check out the pins and badges for this year!" Jade exclaimed, grabbing both girls by the arms and hauling them over to a small glass display case. Inside it were various pins and uniform ornaments, meant to denote class, rank, and club membership. Two happy shouts momentarily called their attention away from the case, and the three girls looked up to find Cori and Susan, with Tristan and Joey in tow, making their way to their friends.

All five girls crowded around the display case, letting out muted giggles as they pointed at the different pins and badges.

"Oooh, look at the chorus pins!" Susan exclaimed happily. Indeed, the chorus pins this year were quite pretty, a treble clef on a musical staff with four notes, one for each part, Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass, set on a gold background and inlaid with lapis lazuli.

"Yeah, and check out the cheerleading pin!" Jade exclaimed proudly, tapping her right index finger on the glass at the large gold pin that displayed, oddly enough, two bases holding up a flier in the Liberty pose, holding pom-poms and a megaphone, inlaid with rose quartz and lapis lazuli. The five girls at the display case giggled, their laughter and animated chatter carrying easily to the ears of the boys who stood a few feet away, who shook their heads and sighed, slouching off to look at their new school uniforms.

Cori blinked, and stood up, turning around sharply. "Tristan!" she snapped. Flinching as though he had been hit, Tristan turned back around, slouching slightly as he apologetically shuffled back to Cori's side. Cori tilted her elegant head, seeming to contemplate for a moment, before she firmly grabbed Tristan's ear, hauled him down, and gave him a firm kiss on the lips before she turned her attention back to the display case. The tall brown-haired boy practically melted into the floor, and with a dreamy expression on his face, fairly oozed back to the other guys, who eyed him with varying expressions of mixed concern, amusement, and disgust, before they made a beeline for the racks of neatly hanging boys uniforms.

Jade felt a small tingle of unease trickle through her, and with the distinct feeling that she was being watched, straightened up and turned around. Sure enough, Almalexia, with her lime green eyes eyeing them, was standing a few feet away, idly twirling a lock of her horrid-colored hair around her left index finger. Jade felt a surge of anger when she saw the girl, but she quickly tamped it down.

Almalexia, for her part, was idly observing the girls at the display case, her green eyes resting on Téa for a long moment before she met Jade's silent gaze. Then, as if she just recognized her, flashed her a smile through heavily lipsticked red lips. The taller girl did not return the smile, and her eyes held a cold fury.

"So, we're going to be cheering up the ante this year, ne, Jade-sama?" Almalexia said. Jade winced at the girl's awful screeching voice. "What 'we'?" Jade said, her voice forbidding and angry. "You're not on the team." Almalexia gave a simpering laugh., the fake, high-pitched chortle that Jade hated so much. "I'm sure I'll make it on this year! After all, I've got all the perfect features to be a cheerleader! I'm gorgeous, I have a cute butt, big boobs, and I can yell at the top of my voice!" Almalexia flipped a lock of her awful hair, flashing her obnoxious fake teeth in a smile, and for a single moment, Jade seriously considered murdering her and hiding her body somewhere in the bowels of the store.

The other girls had turned around from gazing into the display case, and were eyeing the confrontation with mixed expressions of interest and wariness. Almalexia's eyes flashed to Téa again, this time blazing with anger and hate. Jade stepped in Almalexia's line of vision, effectively shielding Téa. "You think you have all the features of a cheerleader?" Jade snarled, her anger finally erupting. "You have a fake rack, an equally fake nose, a heinous head of hair, a voice that could shatter windows, the flexibility of a brick, and the IQ of a slug, and you think you're good enough to be on the best cheerleading team in the world? You've got about as many features as a blank wall, you empty-headed slut! Waste my time at tryouts and I'll break that slab of plastic surgery you call your face!"

The four girls behind Jade stared at her in shock. They had never heard her speak to anyone so harshly. Almalexia stumbled backward, as if she'd been slapped, and then recovered, balling her ludicrously manicured two-inch nails into fists, raising her arm to strike the girl who had just insulted her.

"Go ahead, hit me," Jade said, her voice dangerously menacing. "I'd love nothing more than to rip you apart and decorate the store with your insides. You're a vain, petty, pathetic excuse for a human being, and if you lay a finger on me or one of my friends, I promise you, you will not live to the next daybreak to boast about it in the school corridors. You think your money and snobbery will protect you. I fear neither. So go ahead. Hit me, if you can."

The elaborate gold Egyptian pendant that hung on a gold chain around Jade's neck jangled and sent a spark of electricity through its owner. All at once, Jade's eyes were drawn to the heavy pendant around Almalexia's neck. It was a black, malicious eye outlined in white, surrounded by the heads of two snakes bearing venomous fangs. Her vision shifted realities, and for a single instant, the cheerleader saw the evil black aura that surrounded the pendant and its wearer. The gold Egyptian eye around Jade's neck glowed gold, shielding its mistress from the darkness. Just as quickly, the vision vanished, and once more Jade was staring at Almalexia, who gripped the black pendant around her neck convulsively, lowered her hand, and stomped off without another word.

Susan gave an impressed whistle as the five girls stood watching Almalexia's head of green hair vanish into the sea of milling student shoppers. She draped an arm leisurely across Jade's shoulders. "You sure did tell her off," she said with a grin. Cori snickered. Jade glanced at Téa. "She was watching you, you know," she said. "I wonder what she's up to…"

For a moment, Téa looked quite flustered. "But…why should I be of any importance to her…I barely know who she even is."

Susan gave an impatient snort and waved the question away as she started toward the racks of uniforms. "Something blibbering, no doubt. She's always poking her nose in other people's business."

Rasma shook her head. "It's because of Yugi."

Jade turned around, her face incredulous. Téa whirled around with her, both of them staring at Rasma. "WHAT?" Jade yelled.

"It's true. Almalexia thinks that Yugi's perfect for her. She wants him to ask her out."

"But he wouldn't, not ever, right?" Jade demanded.

Cori gave a snort. "No one in their right mind would ask that bitch out on a date. Trust me, every time she's around Yugi always manages to find a way to excuse himself, polite as you please, and make a beeline for the door, leaving her simmering. She knows that Yugi has a crush on Téa, and that's why she's always upsets anytime Téa's around." Téa choked and turned scarlet in the face.

Jade's hands curled into white-knuckled fists. "Oooh, I would just LOVE to have a reason to rip out all her hair! I want to see what kind of stupid guy would go out with a bimbo like her!"

Téa spoke in a much-muted, faint voice. "You guys…you don't have to get so upset on my behalf…"

The other four girls whirled around to face her, the expressions on their faces utterly disbelieving. "Are you kidding?" Susan said, her sky-blue eyes positively sparkling. "Yeah," added Cori, "You're practically our sister. In fact, you ARE our sister…and sisters stick together no matter what, ne?"

"Hai!" Rasma exclaimed, curling her fingers so that her manicured nails flashed like sharp talons. "Someone messes with you, Téa, and I'll rip her freaking eyes out!"

Jade gave a grin, slamming one fist into her palm with a crystal-clear finality. "And I'd make sure that they don't DARE try and do anything…I wouldn't just kick their ass, I'd finish them," she said with an insinuating squint.

"But…but…" Téa began weakly, both flattered by her friends' avowal of their loyalty and slightly disturbed by the fact that they would willingly go to such lengths to secure it.

"Oh come ON, Téa…it's not quite as bad as we're making it out to be…a little insane eradication never hurt anyone!" Susan chimed.

"But…"

"Yeah, we wouldn't really utterly destroy them…that'd take the fun out of it…we'd have to torture them first," Cori said with a grin.

"Besides, it's a VERY good way to let loose a lot of pent-up sexual frustration!" Rasma blurted out.

For a moment, the other four girls went completely, frighteningly silent, turning around to fix Rasma with silent stares. Jade gave Rasma a deeply disturbed look. "Whatever situation in your life inspired that utterly random comment, Ras, I do NOT want to hear the details…" The four walked on ahead, leaving Rasma staring after them for a few seconds before she gave a squeal and bounded after them.

"But it's true!" she piped up, her voice fading as they made their way to the classroom uniforms. "It really is...why else do you think Seto got a nosebleed when he saw me naked!"

Author's Notes:

Well, there you go minna-san! giggles Yes, you're all getting a taste of the girls' temper here. And, just for some of you slower ones out there, YES, Almalexia is the evil enemy in this story, and don't worry! The plot's going to get a LOT more juicy as the chapters progress, especially with this next chapter! Don't forget to send feedback, and let me know what you think of my idea for the Halloween fic starring this cast of characters!