1Twill: Well, I've waited long enough to update this. I'm a tiny bit sad that no one reviewed the last chapter. Where has everyone gone? Hopefully this one will generate a response. It's only two POV's, and there may be a little oocness. I'm just not used to writing anyone other than Ryou or Bakura.
Bakura: Twill doesn't own Yugioh. If she did, she wouldn't have to worry about her university tuition.
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Star of Sirius: The Guard Steps Forward
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-Jou's POV-
For a long moment, there was nothing but silence in the limo. Bakura glared at Seto, who glared at Yami, who glared at Bakura. I was thankful that none of their piercing gazes rested on me. The shock at finding me, sitting happily next to the ellusive CEO of Kaiba Corp. had been enough.
As they played their foolish games of superiority, I watched the sky darken outside as we raced endlessly through Domino. The sun was practically disappearing in the face of unnatural clouds that moved too quickly and hung too low. This was something bad. It reminded me all too closely of the appearance of Shadow monsters during the time when Atlantis attempted to be reborn.
"Yami, really, what's happening?" I met his eyes levelly. He had counted on me in the past for such battles. If this was another thing that had to do with evil and taking over the world, he could count on me again.
Bakura snorted. "The Pharaoh doesn't have a clue." Carefully, he moved Marik so that the other spirit was propped up against the limo door. "Hell, I saw it happen and I don't even believe it." His eyes flicked momentarily to Yami and then narrowed once more into a glare. "You should've gotten here faster, Kaiba."
Seto rolled his eyes. "I don't cater to the likes of you, thief. You're lucky I'm here at all." He crossed his arms firmly, giving off the impression that he didn't care. To me, he was just as frustrated as everyone else. "If you know so much, then why don't you explain to me why I had to rush to your rescue?"
"Ryou opened up a gate to the Shadow Realm," said Bakura bluntly. We all blinked. "He used Malik... he might've even killed him." For once, Bakura was as quiet as his hikari. He refused to meet anyone's eyes. "I barely got out of there alive myself."
Yami was stunned. "Ryou opened a gate? But how would he know how to do that! I can't even remember, outside of a duel..."
Seto scoffed. "Not everything revolves around you. Ryou's obviously a lot smarter than any of you thought."
I nodded. "Well, he's definitely good in school. Maybe he found out some stuff about the items on his own, wanting to learn more." I shrugged. "I'd wanna know more if I had a yami. Heck, I wanna know more anyway, seeing as I know three."
Bakura shook his head. "Ryou's smart, but I don't think he would've done that. At least, not without asking me first." He still wasn't meeting anyone's eyes. "He's possessed, and the monster responsible for that is the one who knew how to connect the two worlds."
"Like that Ra thing earlier?" The twisted face of human Ra wasn't an image I'd be soon forgetting. Both spirits nodded and then turned their heads sharply to Marik, who groaned loudly.
He covered his face with both hands, bending over as if he was going to be sick. Beside me, Seto stiffened but said nothing. After a few minutes, Marik straightened and turned to look out the window at the gathering darkness. His eyes were slightly hollow and he looked as if he hadn't slept in several days. He refused to say anything.
Finally, after prodding Marik for the seventh time, Bakura rounded on me. "So what's up with you? I thought you hated the rich boy, and he hated you." I tried desperately to stop the blush I felt heating up my face.
"It's none of your damn business," growled the brunette beside me, turning up his glare.
I ran a hand through my hair, taking a deep breath. "We got over it."
"Obviously."
"What the mutt means is he came banging at my door, shouting nonsense about how he deserved respect and that he wanted to challenge me to a duel to prove his worth. I, naturally, refused." I was tempted to wipe the smug look off of Seto's face. "He argued, I countered expertly, and finally-"
"We kissed and made up," I cut in. It was Seto's turn to blush. I grinned self consciously. "Or something like that, anyway." I crossed my arms to mirror Seto. "Make fun all you want. I'll beat you up and then Seto'll sue you."
There was another long stretch of silence. Bakura didn't seem remotely interested, Marik was unchanged, and Yami just seemed stunned. The puzzle glowed and Yugi appeared. "Good for you, Jou," he said, smiling. My grin widened.
"Thanks, Yugi."
-Bakura's POV-
All this lovey dovey nonsense was disgusting. "Can we move on or do you two need to make out and get it out of your system?" When there was no response, only embarrassed silence, I continued. "In case none of this has sunk in what with the world coming to an end out side, but we've got problems. Why am I the only one who seems to care that Malik might be dead and that Ryou is the one responsible for this?"
"We care, Bakura.But you said yourself that he's possessed. So Ryou really isn't in control of his own actions. And Marik seems... okay. Malik's probably still alive." Jou, grudgingly, had a point. Perhaps I needed to move on.
"The question is, what do we do about this? Naturally, the gate has to be closed. To do this, we need to defeat Ra and confront whatever is in Ryou." The Pharaoh appeared deep in thought. Was he even considering the rest of us or did he think that everything would be done by him? I couldn't believe I had ever been friends with someone so egotistical.
Yugi simply ignored him. "I think we should rescue Malik first. If he was as badly hurt as Bakura suggests, he could still die." He sighed. "The only thing is, how do we do that? If he's near the gate, then he'll probably be watched or guarded."
"By Ra," I murmured, reflecting on the scene I had been witness to. "I wouldn't be surprised if they could detect magic or spiritual energy, too. They homed in on Ryou and Malik pretty quickly." Not to mention knew how to subdue Marik and myself.
"I'll do it." The mutt was looking hard out the window, having just come to his decision. "I don't have any magic, and I bet they wouldn't expect me. They'd probably figure Marik or Bakura to go in." He looked between me and Marik, who was still silent.
The CEO was instantly on alert. "No. It's their problem, so they should deal with it."
Yami, on the other hand, seemed to accept Jou's application as volunteer. "For it to work, there would have to be a distraction. Ryou and Ra need to be lured out first, then Jou can slip in and grab Malik." He paused, considering. "I'll have to summon monsters directly from the Shadow Realm."
"But Yami, nothing can threaten Ra," Yugi pointed out helpfully
He shook his head. "If you remember, there are two other god cards. I'm just not sure I can summon them in time for this to work."'
"Then use another distraction." Kaiba's expression was one that clearly said he thought us stupid for not coming to this conclusion ourselves. "If I attack with my Blue Eyes' I can buy you some time."
Seto Kaiba was volunteering to help save the world? We must be desperate.
"I'll summon for you," I said, ignoring the surprised glances from pretty much everyone. "Well, unless you've magically uncovered an eighth item and learned to use it, you'll need someone to manifest your lovely dragons, won't you?" Kaiba nodded and we had a plan. He signaled his driver. We were now headed back to the place I'd just escaped from.
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We stopped several blocks away from Ryou's house, to prevent them from sensing us too soon. The dog hugged Kaiba briefly - I nearly lost my lunch - and then scurried off to wait for our distractions to get underway. Yami pulled Seto aside to talk strategy, much to the CEO's disgust, and I took the opportunity to corner Marik.
"You haven't suffered brain damage or anything, have you?"
He shook his head. "I remembered a lot of stuff. You probably did, too." I nodded. "It's just hard taking it all in." He was quiet for a moment. "I know it doesn't seem like I care what happens to Malik but..." Marik struggled for words, "he's mine. He's my hikari, you know? I can't not care about him."
"I bet no one ever imagined you saying something like that." I pulled a half smile, which he returned.
"Not in a million years." Marik paused. "You don't have the ring anymore." He poked my chest for effect.
In the sequence of events that had followed waking up, I had forgotten about it. "It broke when I came out of the coma." I frowned. How was I still able to be walking around?
Marik was thinking the same thing. "How does that work? Shouldn't you disappear back into the real ring or something?" He pulled out his own carbon copy of the rod and looked it over. "Are you going to be able to conjure for Kaiba?"
I shrugged. "I think I still have a connection to the ring. It's mine after all. I can still sense you, the real rod, and the Pharaoh's hikari. Hell, even the Pharaoh, if I care to think about it and I don't." Said royal idiot was still constructing elaborate plans that the CEO didn't seem to be paying attention to.
"Weird." Marik tucked away his rod. "Do you think this might be important?"
Who knew? "Could be," was all I said.
"Then, I think I should go talk to Isis. She might know more about what's going on and you won't need me for this distraction thing." He poked my chest again. "But if anyone screws up, I'm blaming you. You saved me, so save Malik."
"The mutt's the one who needs the pep talk, not me."
"You're the one making sure he doesn't get caught." He smirked darkly, a throwback to his days of megalomania. "Don't screw it up, Bakura."
I rolled my eyes. "Think about who you're talking to."
"I am." He clapped me on the shoulder and then strode toward the Pharaoh's little conference group, presumably to ask for the limo. I shot a glare at him, though there really wasn't anything behind it. I planned to make sure everything went as well as it could.
-Jou's POV-
A small part of me wonder why I was creeping through bushes to rescue someone who had, not that long ago, been trying to take over the world. I reasoned with it, saying that Malik had changed and this would go towards saving the world instead. Still, I had to admit, it was a little strange.
I was across the street from Ryou's house, holding a small dog in a neighbor's yard to keep it quiet. The gathering darkness was thickest here. I was finding it harder and harder to make out the front steps. What was taking Seto and the others so long? It wasn't this hard to summon monsters with the gate wide open, was it? Just as I was beginning to give up hope, there was an echoing roar.
The roar of a Blue Eyes White Dragon.
I would've cheered if it wouldn't give away my position and tip Ryou off to what we were planning. Quietly, I dropped the dog, slipped through the fence and across the street. There was no movement inside that I could see, which wasn't much. I waited a few seconds, then carefully opened the front door. Bakura had said he'd left it unlocked as we drove to his hikari's, and Ryou apparently hadn't bothered to lock it again.
The house was silent. Ra and Ryou had taken the bait, and were out dealing with Seto's dragons. I hoped nothing would go wrong. Stealthfully I crept toward the living room, banging my knee on a table and yelping in pain. Smooth, Jou. It's a good thing no one's home, I thought to myself.
Nervously, afraid of what I'd find, I poked my head around the corner. Malik was still lying sprawled on the carpet, unconcious, and surrounded by a pool of his own blood. I could just barely see the rise and fall of his chest indicating shallow breaths. His wrists and feet were also bound tightly with bright white gauze. The image was bazaar and horrifying at the same time. I moved toward him.
"Stop where you are," said a voice behind me. A second later, something cold and sharp rested against my neck. I turned my head slightly to see what it was. A sword.
I was captured at sword point.
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Twill: Can anyone think why Jounouchi's been captured by someone wielding a sword? But more importantly, will Malik be saved? Will Ra be defeated? Tune in next chapter for all these answers and more in Hearts Change! And be sure to review! If you want some pov's or have any suggestions, I'd like to know!