Well now, aren't we all just feelin' swell? Welcome new reviewers!
Blue Bunny 2: I thank you for your review. I'm glad to be labeled 'kewl'!
Triana 2: Thanks so much for the review. I send you my gratitude for your advice. I think I got the anonymous thingie working now. Not sure. Please inform me if I don't. I'm horrible with computers…and basically every machine….(sigh)
DragonLady 222: Ummm…well, he won't get them back…in time….heh…Thanks for the review!
Satra: No thanksgiving? How sad!...the plot's surprising you? Good. That's my plan. Love you dear! (kowtows) If you look on my profile page, I mention my most devoted fan: YOU! (hugs)
All of you who hope Bakura will get his memories back before anything bad…heh…Well why would I take his memories in the first place unless I was going to do something cruel? (grins wickedly) What can I say?
I don't own Yugioh. (sigh)
Thin Ice
Ice cracks under tentative feet
As needles fall in sheets of sleet.
Whispers howl in freezing air,
Tormenting, warning all: Beware!
Chapter 9: Loose in Domino
"Oh man oh man!" Jou muttered as they stood amidst the rubble of the room.
"Grandpa's not going to be happy about this," Yugi mumbled.
"Screw the room! We have an ancient Egyptian psycho-lunatic running around Domino!" Honda stated, still shell-shocked at having a ball of Shadow magic blasted at his head.
"Shit…" Jou mumbled, running a hand through disheveled blond hair.
"We have to find him as soon as possible, far everyone's sake," Honda stated, brushing ashes off his shirt.
"Brilliant. And just what do you plan on doing when you do find him?" Marik retorted, staring out the window.
"Well…" Jou began, voice trailing off.
"Marik, you take the Millenium rod and we'll split into two groups," Yami instructed.
"Like hell! We have to find how to give his memories back! You and I both need to search the ancient scriptures!" Marik replied crossly.
"We can't have people without Millennium items going after him!" Yami argued. "You know ancient Egyptian better than I do. You search for a way to retrieve his memories from the puzzle. I'll go search for him. The puzzle's power far surpasses that of the ring or the rod's."
"But Bakura hates you. I know you saw the way he looked at you; besides, we aren't even sure his memories are in the puzzle. They might have been destroyed, they might be in the Shadow Realm,…heck, they might be in the ring somewhere! What we need is the Millennium Key," Marik replied worriedly.
"And how do you expect me to get it?" Yami seethed, losing his temper.
"You'd better find a way!" Marik shot back.
"SHUT UP!"
Everyone stared at Ryou who stood in the doorway, face beet red.
"We aren't getting anywhere," he stated boldly. "Bakura's mind link is open. I don't want to talk to him because it'll freak him out. Plus, he won't understand anything that I'm saying…"
"We could tell you what to say," Marik said excitedly.
"How would you like to be in a place where you don't recognize anything and have voices in your head?" Honda pointed out.
"Dammit!" Marik yelled, bringing his fists down on the remains of a chair.
Everyone was quiet. Marik muttered under his breath, turning back to the window.
"Bakura will be confused when he doesn't recognize anything. Knowing him, he'll seek us out," he said suddenly. "Besides, if he doesn't want to be found he won't be."
"What do you recommend then?" Yami nodded.
"We wait for him to come back to us. Don't go anywhere by yourself. He'll show himself when he's run out of options. Be prepared, he'll use threats. I can't imagine him killing any us though; he needs us alive…needs answers…"
"That's comforting," Honda snorted, but didn't argue.
"In the meantime we'll search for a way to get his memories back," Yami agreed.
"All right, we have a plan!" Jou said, grinning slightly.
Ryou walked over to Marik who was still staring out the window. "He'll be all right," the white-haired boy said softly, placing a hand on Marik's shoulder.
"I've no doubt. He can take care of himself," Marik agreed. He motioned toward the outdoors with his violet eyes. "It's the people out there I'm worried about."
"Let's skip school Monday!" Jou grinned, stretching out on the couch.
"Jou, we have the whole weekend to find Bakura," Honda sighed as he picked up pieces of chair.
"Correction: he'll find us," Jou replied cracking his knuckles.
"He'd better not find us at school," Yugi mumbled as he took a sponge to the burns on the wall.
"Yugi, that's not going to work," Ryou told his shorter friend. "We'll need to repaint it. Do you have any paint this color?"
"Let's check the basement," Yugi stated, leaving the room with the paler boy behind him.
"It's amazing gramps didn't hear any of this," Jou mused, scratching his head.
"He's a deep sleeper," Yami smiled as he swept the remains of the lamp into a dustpan.
"Shit yeah!" Jou laughed.
"Jou, you could help us," Anzu said, annoyed.
"But you guys are doin' so…Ack!" he yelled as Anzu hit him over the head with a broom.
"I'll have to be getting home soon," Honda said glancing at his watch.
"Yeah, how should we do that?" Jou asked as he brushed the dirt from his hair.
"You could all spend the weekend," Yami suggested. "We could keep an eye on each other. Plus, we could use some help getting the room put back together."
"Knew that would come up," Jou laughed. "Still, it sounds like a plan. Don' want our families getting' involved."
"Good point," Honda agreed.
"Let's all call our parents then," Anzu whipped out her cell phone from her purse.
"Good news!" Yugi announced upon re-entering the room. "We found the paint!" Ryou came in after him holding a bucket and two paint brushes.
"Ryou, do you need to call home? We're all staying over for the weekend." Anzu held out her cell phone.
"Says who?" Marik asked from the kitchen where he was most likely raiding the refrigerator.
"Says us, dat's who!" Jou yelled angrily.
"Hmm…I don't remember this conversation," Marik smirked, leaning against the doorframe.
"Marik, we need your help recovering the tomb robber's memories," Yami began.
"He has a name," Ryou said coolly.
"What?" Yami asked, caught off guard.
"My yami. He has a name. He doesn't like being referred to as 'the tomb robber'," Ryou replied.
"Since when have we cared what he likes or doesn't like?" Jou grinned.
He didn't have time to react as the white-haired boy strode over to him in about two steps.
"Since he's my yami and I care about him," the boy whispered fiercely.
"K'," Jou squeaked, intimidated by the hikari's sudden boldness.
Marik smirked to himself as he watched this. Ryou knew how to stand up for those he cared about.
"I'll remember that, and I will try not to call him that anymore," Yami said softly.
Ryou nodded thankfully. He turned back to Yugi who was studying the walls.
"This is going to take a while," the tri-colored haired boy stated wearily.
There was a cold wind rushing through the streets as the sun began to set. There were large posts lining roads; large clear sacks were attached at the top of each. The buildings were like nothing Bakura had ever seen. There were long, thick ropes linked from roof to roof.
Bakura crouched behind a huge, strange tree as a metallic beast zoomed by. It eyes were illuminated, letting off an immense amount of light and deep in its body it roared. The thief shivered, eyes wide in disbelief.
"Ra, pharaoh, what have you done?" he whispered venomously.
He jumped as the sacks on the posts all burst into light.
"What the?"
He wandered further down the street, avoiding any people passing by. Almost all of them had pale skin. Extremely pale skin.
He glanced down at his hands and saw they too were white. His golden brown tan he bore was gone. His hands were smaller and smoother as well.
Scowling, he inspected the pockets of the constricting garments he wore. He found a small knife in one pocket. Too small to do much damage. It certainly wouldn't do in hand-to-hand combat.
'Find shelter first,' he reasoned to himself, glancing around his surroundings.
Stealthily, he approached what appeared to be a house. It was completely dark, save for a light on the far side. Deciding that for the present moment he would avoid confrontation, he crept across the cold ground, amazed at how much grasses there was.
'An extremely fertile place indeed,' he mused.
Coming to a window he put his hand up only to feel it rub against a cold, hard surface. Glass.
"What the hells? Who puts glass on their windows!" he growled, annoyed but not discouraged in the least.
In fact, if anything, he was intrigued. He hadn't had a challenge in breaking into anything for quite some time. Most places were a cinch to get into, making his job rather boring at times.
"Let's see just what kind of place you've brought me to, Pharaoh," he grinned sadistically, licking the knife's tip, blood from his tongue slowly crawling down the blade.
"I don't like this at all," Anzu muttered as they sat in the living room for dinner.
"You crazy? It's delish!" Jou smiled broadly, munching on at mouthful of foods.
"Not the food! The situation," Anzu replied crossly, taking a sip of water from her glass.
"Gramps is missin' out. Think we should wake 'im?" Jou asked.
"Probably," Yugi sighed.
"Kids, what on earth?" Mr. Mutou exclaimed from the stairs.
"Uh…hey gramps! Hungry?" Jou grinned nervously.
"What happened in here? Is that…paint?" the elderly man asked, sniffing the air.
"Umm…yes?" Yugi said innocently.
"Where's my chair?...And the lamp?...Is that smoke I smell? Have you been smoking?" he rounded on Yugi and Yami.
"Grandpa, you remember that gold book from Egypt?" Yugi asked.
Mr. Mutou stared, confused, at his grandson. "What about it?"
"Yasha, come help set the table!" Mrs. Tye yelled from the kitchen of the Tye household.
"One minute!"
"No not one minute! That'll turn into two minutes! Yasha, get in here Now!" she ordered, turning the burner off.
"One minute!"
"Yasha!"
"All right, all right!" he grumbled, switching off the television and stomping into the room.
"Where's your brother?"
"He's still in there," Yasha replied grudgingly, opening the cupboard that held the drinking glasses.
"And Anaya?"
"I dunno! Geez!" the boy grumbled sourly, placing five glasses on the table.
"Don't use that tone with me, young man. Go find your sister," Mrs. Tye said, entering the t.v. room where four year old Jance was dozing on the couch. "Come on, honey. It's time to wake up. You'll never get to sleep tonight if you snooze through dinner," she said sternly, picking the child up and carrying him into the kitchen.
"But, I wath dweaming…." the boy yawned, burying his face against his mother's shoulder.
"Oh really?" the woman smiled, fondly stroking his sandy hair.
"…an' you wa in et…an…an…a stwanger wath en et…." the boy mumbled into her shoulder.
"A stranger, hmm? And what do you do when a stranger talks to you?"
"..an' Washa wath en et…"
"Where is that boy?" She placed her youngest child on a chair.
"Washa es wif da stwanger…" the child mumbled sleepily.
"There's no stranger, honey," Mrs. Tye stated, walking through the television room and into the front living room. "Yasha! Anaya! Get down here! It's time for dinner! Don't make me come up there!" she yelled up the stairs.
No response.
"All right, here I come!" She marched up the stairs.
Jance sat on the edge of the tall kitchen chair. His small, chubby legs dangled over the edge. Humming, he swung them back and forth, impatiently waiting for dinner.
"I…this is incredible!" Mr. Mutou mumbled, dazed.
"Believe me, it's not anything we should repeat ever again," Marik said darkly, study the gold book in his lap.
"Hell no," Jou readily agreed, stuffing a cupcake into his mouth.
"How will he find us again?" Honda asked nervously.
"He'll use the Millennium ring. Damn, why couldn't he hold a different item? We could've used that ring to track him down!" Marik growled in annoyance.
"Fate always seems to help him just enough," Yami said observingly.
"He won't hurt anyone will he?" Mr. Mutou asked, voice etched with concern.
"I don't know," Marik admitted. "The problem is that we know barely anything about what Kura was like in the past."
"He said something about a priest. Did he kill one of my priests?" Yami asked Marik.
"No idea, again," the blond Egyptian slumped on the couch, exhausted.
"Another problem is we don't know how versed he was in Shadow magic," Yami continued.
"Well, he stole the ring. I assure you, Yami, you would not have given it to a lowly commoner. Besides, Kura's a thief. That thing he mentioned about the priest; he probably attacked one of them," Marik rubbed his eyes, yawning.
"Marik, you should get some rest; you've been through a lot today," Ryou stated, leaning forward slightly to view the other boy's face.
"How's your jaw?" Yugi asked.
"The ice got the swelling to go down a bit," Marik replied assuringly. "Man, he's got quite a swing."
"We should all be getting to bed," Mr. Mutou stated, glancing at the clock on the VCR.
"Anzu, you can take my room," Yugi offered.
"All right. Good night everyone," she smiled, heading up the stairs.
"Yugi, you can sleep in my room. We can fit someone on the floor as well," Yami said.
"Dat'd be me!" Jou laughed, jumping to his feet.
"Dibs on the couch!" Marik grinned, stretching out, the book falling to the floor. "ACK!"
Everyone froze in mute horror.
"Whew!" Marik sighed in relief when it didn't shut. "I do not feel like re-opening that thing."
"You should be more careful,' Ryou said in an attempt to scold. It came out more as a moan.
"Don't need to tell me twice," Marik muttered. "Dammit! I sleep on this side!" he complained placing a hand on his jaw that was already turning purple.
The others smiled as they headed up the stairs.
"Good night boys," Mr. Mutou said groggily, switching the lights in the hall off.
Yami put a pillow and some blankets on the floor in his room.
"Thanks man," Jou grinned, settling down.
"Are you sure you'll be comfy enough?" Yugi asked worriedly as he hopped into Yami's bed.
"Hey no sweat, Yug'! This is nothin' compared to Duelist Kingdom! Remember?" Jou smiled, fluffing the pillow.
"That was quite an experience," Yugi agreed. "I'm never going to attempt to use a log as a pillow again."
"All right, enough talking you two. Time to get some sleep." Yami turned off the light.
Mr. Tye yawned as he entered his home. It had been a long day at work, and he had to leave early for a trip the next morning. Taking off his coat, he let out a long breath.
"I'm home!" he called as he took off his shoes in the front hall.
Slightly puzzled when there was no loud response, he began searching the downstairs. The children were usually bouncing off the walls when he got home. Sighing contentedly at the silence, he entered the kitchen.
"Sorry I'm late…" he stopped in the doorway, bewildered by the scene before him.
Yay! Another chappie up! Aren't we all feeling good about this?
Uh, a word of caution: it's gonna get gruesome. Really quickly. (rubs hands together, plotting evil schemes) Not in the next chappie but the one after. Mwahaahaha!
Chella: Hi! I'm back!
Fer: Yes. The insect has returned...
Che: I'm better than the LITTLE bug: )
Fer: - -
Che: Back to the story...It does get really disgusting: (
Fer: what are you frowing for?
Che: There's no little face thingie for looking totally grossed out: )
Fer: You're overreacting. I've read far more bloody fics.
Che: So. This doesn't have to be Yucky, grossly, nastily, stinkily, disgustingly Eew-like.
Fer: oo
Che: I'm really far ahead of you guys and trust me, IT GETS GROSS!
Fer: (rolls eyes) she's exaggerating. Don't worry, peoples. You'll be fine. Say good bye, NOW.
Che: Say good-bye to "nice story" and HELLO EVILNESS!
Fer: - - Please just review, peoples...