At last! Just took Fowstie to the vet! It's an eye infection!..well...two eye infections! It looks like he'll be fine though. $107 later...o.O... my mom's not going to tell my dad or brother about the cost though. Heh...-.-;
Capricious Purple Clarity: Yay! A new reviewer for the story! (hugs tightly) Yay! You like the Jou not being a complete moron and seeing inside Kura's head! (claps) Wonderful. I thank thee for the compliments. Sounds like you're hooked. (smirk) Yesss! Please don't stop reviewing now, dear. I want to hear from you again, understand? Can't wait for the sequel? O.O...ummm...I've only written the first chappie...(laughs nervously.) I've been focusing on my other fic lately. DON'T LEAVE!...heh. Okay, that sounded slightly desperate...Review again! This chappie's all for you! Love ya!
Satra: Yes, they're off the Egypt. Didn't see it coming? Good. I don't like character deaths either. (sighs miserably) But I hate disney endings even more...(frowns) I know I should be grateful to be an American (and I am) it's just so many of these people are such pains in the guzitsas (serbian for "butt") Especially in Florida. Bunch of racists down there. I'm not trying to diss all the people down there! Some of our best friends live there. Wow. I've got off topic. Sorry. Review again! Love ya!
Silver Mirror: Every trip's a road trip, eh? I like your style. Let's go! (puts on sunglasses and bathing suit) Review again, dear! (hugs)
dragonlady222: (cackles) Yeah, it would be funnier if Kura couldn't keep up the barrier. However, that would take away from the blood and drama coming up. (evil smirk) I've already said too much. Review again! (kowtows)
Dreaming Child: Too much angst for you, eh? Sorry to hear that...this chappie's got comedy...next chappie? a bit...the one after that...you might see some if you squint...(smiles) Hope you find some nice fluff! (holds out sheep) Review again! Love ya!
Freak in the Shadows:Hi honey! I'm always happy to see your enthusiastic reviews! Love ya!
Bluegrass Elf: Don't die don't die! (attempts mouth to mouth) BAM! Ow...suppose I deserved that. ...look at all the stars... Anyhoo, thanks for the reviews. Do so again! Love ya!
blackalbino: Umm..."sevvy poo"?...(thoroughly disturbed)...I'm a Lupin fan myself...lupinlupinlupin!...You like Marik/Bakura interactions? How could one not love two slightly demonic guys like them? Review again, dear! Love ya!
Wishfull Thinker: (laughs) I can just picture you staring at the computer monitor until I updated the other story...except I don't know what you look like...so I guess I can't really picture you...(smacks head) I'm confusing myself. Anyhoo, I hope you got my e-mail I sent you about your confusion with the last chappie...I hope you got it. If not, just say so again in your next review and I'll make certain to contact you. Review again, dear! (kowtows)
I'm dedicating this chappie to Capricious Purple Clarity cause they're new and have a kick-butt name...and because my rat loves you!
Lies
I'm running from a fear,
A phantom I can't see.
It shreds apart my dreams
I stumble as I flee.
As the years pass by
Its strength and power grows
How much longer can I hide
Before the whole world knows?
There isn't much time left,
It all started in my youth.
I'm not afraid of lies,
The phantom is the truth.
Chapter 19: Airport Adventures
Yami struggled to get the suitcase closed, his fingers trembling uncontrollably. Letting out a groan of frustration he jumped up and down on the bag, clothes dangling out of the corners of it.
"Need a hand?" Honda grinned upon entering the bedroom.
He quickly leaned over and slammed the lid shut with a heavy blow. The brunette deftly did the clasp on the front of the suitcase.
"I…thanks," Yami sighed, sitting on the bed.
"You're pale, man. Nervous?" Honda smiled kindly when the monarch nodded mournfully. "It'll be fine. We're all here for you."
"I know. It's just…we're actually going to Egypt," the monarch said in a dazed voice etched with uncontainable excitement.
Honda laughed. "You'd better believe it! Now let's get going. Mr. Mutou's already called the cab. Everyone's waiting."
"Thank you," Yami said taking a wavering breath. "All right. Let's go."
"All right, now that our bags are being loaded let's get through all the security checks," Mr. Mutou said hurriedly bustling the group along.
"Slow it, pops!" Jou stated, trying to finish his bag of chips.
"Get in line! Hurry and get in line!" Mr. Mutou shooed them to a line which people were waiting to go through the metal detector.
"Please put all metal items here," a security guard droned.
A row of plastic boxes were being moved along so that after a person passed through the detector they could retrieve their possessions. Yami and Marik looked at one another dubiously.
"I—I'm not sure about this," Yami whispered, glancing down worriedly at the bag he was carrying that contained four of the Millennium items: the puzzle, the eye (which Bakura had reluctantly handed over), the necklace, and the rod.
"Maybe they won't check the bag if you put it in the containers," Marik replied, sighing as they saw a guard searching the objects in the plastic bins.
"Like hell! The rod's a weapon. They'll confiscate it!" Jou said, glancing about nervously.
Bakura looked grimly at the detector, eyeing it up and down.
"Kura, give Yami the ring," Marik whispered urgently.
"Not a chance," the thief growled under his breath, eyes not leaving the machine as they drew closer.
"BAKURA!" Marik hissed as the yami continued forward.
Honda dashed to the thief and roughly grabbed his shoulder. "Look, maybe you're not understanding the modern technology. That will sense metal; as in the Millennium items. It'd be better to just put them all in the bag and into a tray."
The brunette stumbled backward with a yelp as the thief grabbed the hand clamped on his shoulder and twisted it cruelly. People turned around to look, the security guards watching them suspiciously.
"Boys, that's enough!" Mr. Mutou whispered angrily from behind. Anzu passed through the metal detector.
Bakura grasped Honda by the collar, pulling him close so their nosed were almost touching. Honda, who was over a head taller than the yami, stared back in surprise.
"Listen, and listen well. I'm fully aware of the situation and do not need or want your opinion on the matter, so stay out of my way. Got it?" Bakura shoved the boy away, turning back to study the machine.
Marik cursed under his breath, looking back at Ryou for help. The hikari shrugged powerlessly.
"This isn't…what are we going to do?" Yugi whimpered tugging on Yami's arm. Jou passed through the machine.
"Damn it," Yami muttered.
"What's going on?" Mr. Mutou asked behind them.
"Kura's got the ring and won't give it to Yami to put with the other items," Marik muttered.
Mr. Mutou's eyes tripled in size. He stared down at the bag Yami was clutching in horror. Yugi passed through the detector, waiting nervously on the other side.
"You….they're…!" he stuttered.
Bakura casually approached the detector. The group all turned and stared in mute alarm. Waiting.
'Oh Ra. Oh Ra.' Marik thought desperately.
"No! Wait!" Mr. Mutou shouted rushing forward.
Bakura stood at the opposite side of the detector, a "confused" look on his face. The guards looked at him questioningly and the yami shrugged. One guard approached Mr. Mutou.
"Sir, if you'll come over here," he beckoned the man off to the side where people were being questioned and searched.
"But…he…it…" Mr. Mutou stuttered as he allowed himself to be lead off.
"How the hell did he pull it off?" Honda whispered, glaring at the thief who smirked victoriously in response.
Yugi looked curiously at Bakura who turned to a guard. The yami momentarily gave the hikari a look, who continued down the hall as if in a daze.
Bakura turned back to the guard. "You see that brunette with the pointed hair? He was acting very aggressively towards the other passengers and had something in his pocket. I just thought you should know."
The guard nodded, striding over to Honda who'd just passed through the detector. "Sir, please step off to the side here."
Honda blinked in confusion before glancing over at Bakura who was grinning smugly.
"Why that….!"
"Sir, I'm not going to ask you again," the guard growled warningly, waving to his comrades for assistance.
"I'll kill you, you son of a bitch! You hear me? You're DEAD!" Honda shrieked as three guards dragged him off.
"Honda!" Yami yelled, rushing forward.
He froze when an alarm blared in his ears, blurring his senses momentarily. He looked up only to find himself directly under the metal detector, bag in hand.
"Shit."
"Ah, so you all made it," the thief ginned from his seat by the window, idly 'reading' a pamphlet.
"You are soooo dead," Honda began before Ryou tugged him away to avoid a confrontation between the two.
Yami trudged glumly down the plane's aisle. Yugi patted the seat next to him. Marik sat down next to the thief.
"All right, how'd you do it?"
Bakura looked up innocently. "What?"
"You know what. How'd you get through the metal detector with the ring on?"
The thief grinned. "I didn't."
From across the aisle Yami looked over. "What do you mean by that?"
"Quite simple really. I—unlike you who tried to stroll through the machine with a bag full of Millennium items…"
"Wait! Where are the items now?" Yugi cut in, panic edging his voice.
"Mr. Mutou had to call the museum and everything. What a mess. They had to put the items in a package. They're now in a safe place in the storage bunker of the plane," Yami replied nervously.
He was extremely agitated at having the items—particularly the puzzle—out of his sight. He'd just been through so many trials of countless people trying to get their hands on it.
Bakura, Marik, Pegasus…and many more; no doubt it was probably the same in his past.
"Sorry, Bakura, you were saying?" Yugi apologized, turning back to the thief curiously.
Bakura smirked, reclining in his seat. "It wasn't too difficult, really. You recall Honda saying he threw the ring out back in Duelist Kingdom? Such has happened to me before. And for it, I have a resolution. If the ring is in my possession alone, not in any mortal's grubby hands, I can manipulate where it is. For example, when the spiky-headed dolt threw the ring out into the forest in Duelist Kingdom all I had to do was transfer it back to Ryou. So here at the airport I just waited for someone ahead of me to pass through, then transferred the ring to them once they were on the other side, and then went through myself."
The others stared at him in complete astonishment.
"The…ring is capable of that?" Marik mumbled in awe.
"Much more than that, but like hell I'd tell you anything else," the thief grinned deviously, closing his eyes and relaxing.
"Wait, so who'd you transfer it to?" Yami asked in confusion.
"Oh, you know him," Bakura chuckled, glancing at the smaller version of the pharaoh.
"YUGI!"
The hikari stared in confusion. "No you didn't…I don't remember…"
"Of course you wouldn't. I was in control for a few minutes," Bakura shrugged, turning back to his pamphlet.
Yami stood up in uncontrollable fury. "How dare you! How dare you use my hikari for your own sick…!"
"Oh hush, Yami. Ra, you're acting like I took his bloody innocence or something," the thief sneered.
Marik's head was spinning. Bakura was far more versed in Shadow magic than he. How exactly did the thief know so much about the ring's powers? He definitely hadn't been trained by the priests…
Yami and Bakura continued arguing, the other passengers glaring at them. When a stewardess came over to admonish them all she needed was to have both turn and glare to convince her not to interfere. Yugi, meanwhile, was still staring at Bakura in complete surprise and confusion; still unable to believe the thief had controlled him. It hadn't been for anything bad at least. The boy searched his own mind, attempting to recall any fragments of the incident but couldn't come up with anything.
Ryou sighed. "I should have known this wouldn't be a peaceful flight."
Honda was still scowling about what the tomb robber had done to him. "That stupid, son of a…"
"Honda, relax. I'm sorry my yami did that to you, but if you dwell on it then you're letting him win. Just let it go. Please?" The hikari looked beseechingly at the brunette with large, chocolate eyes.
Honda sighed. "Fine. But if an opportunity comes up to get back at him I won't hesitate."
Ryou snickered, looking out the window as they waited for take off. "I've not doubt."
Jou glanced out the window. A stranger sat next to him, blocking him from the aisle. The man was dressed in a business suit, busily typing away on his laptop. Jou watched the man's fingers fly on the keys for a while before he grew bored and turned back to the window, watching the clouds below them.
The blonde was excited about the trip, that was true enough, but….what he'd heard in Bakura's mind…about having no choice…about never wanting to return to Egypt. Something was definitely wrong. He wasn't sure what, but it made him extremely wary. Just what was it that was drawing the thief back to a place he reviled?
Marik, a few seats forward, was having similar thoughts passing through his mind. Bakura had told the young Egyptian that he was going to finish something. What did that mean exactly? Was it an oath or an action?
The boy felt a sense of dread. They'd all witnessed what the 'past' Bakura was capable of. What was it he hadn't finished? Did Bakura plan on claiming the items once they arrived in Egypt? He knew they were being stored on the plane, away from Yami's protection. Marik shuddered, pushing that thought away.
'I can't let myself think like that. I've got to trust him. I have to believe he knows what he's doing and that he won't harm anyone….' He turned and looked at the thief who was staring out the window with a far-away look in his deep, brown eyes. His expression was dismal, exhaustion visible in his sharp features.
Marik sighed. He wasn't sure how well he knew his friend anymore. The thief had been getting more and more distant since the incident with his memories getting taken. Sure they joked, the yami lightheartedly evading his questions, but something told Marik there was a deeper reason the thief wasn't talking. And it scared him.
He closed his violet eyes. 'I hope you know what you're doing,' he said to himself, allowing sleep to come.
"Hey sleepy, rise and shine." Marik jolted awake as someone dumped freezing water on his head.
"What the hell?" he growled, glaring up at Bakura who was holding an empty cup.
"We're here."
The blonde stared in surprise out the window. They indeed were in the airport in Egpyt. Looking out past the buildings he could make out the desert in the far-off distance. It had been an extremely long ride, Marik having fallen asleep and awoken repeatedly.
The passengers made their way off the plane, meeting the intense heat of the land. Yugi squinted, standing on his toes in order to look about as far as possible. Jou stood beside him, still snacking on a handful of food from the ride. Bakura stood next to Marik, jaw tense. The thief looked around, eyes scouring the area.
"It's been a while," he whispered quietly.
Yay! Four chapters to go! (stares in dread) Must...write...sequel...
I won't be able to though! I've got exams, and no study hall! Argh! (claws madly at hair) Too many A.P. classes...-.o;
Review again! (or for the first time if you want!)