Hey everyone! Ok, this chappy ain't as violent as I first thought, but hopefully you'll like it!

Thankies muchly to the peeps who reviewed, you guys are the best! One thing, though. How can the last chapter have gotton 25 hits and only 4 reviews O.o; I don't get it, but meh, enjoy peeps!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

"This is talking"
"These are thoughts"

Chapter Eight - Destroyed in an Instant

Bakura jerked awake and sat up quickly at the sound of his hikari's cry, throwing the blanket that was covering him away and pushing himself to his feet. In the second it had taken to get to his feet, the night had gone deathly quiet, causing Bakura's heart to pound with anxiety. "Ryoura!" he called through their mind link as he threw the front part of his tent open, cursing slightly when he remembered the barriers Ryoura had set around his mind, preventing any contact.

He darted across the camp, lit only by the quickly setting moon, and burst into his hikari's tent, freezing when he found no one there. Looking up, he noticed the back of the tent was shredded open, and quickly darted through it, but there was still no sign of his hikari. In little more then ten seconds, his lighter half had completely disappeared.

"What's going on?" Steve called as he stumbled out of his own tent, looking around in bewilderment. Joe stumbled out of his tent also, tripping over his over his discarded shoes and landing face-first in the sand. Steve was already pulling on his jacket and had his shoes on by the time he was out of the tent. He caught sight of Bakura a short distance away, looking around quickly. "Bakura what's going on?" he called, running towards him.

"I don't know where he is..." Bakura whispered, spinning around and looking to the east, then turning again and looking west. He tried desperately to sense Ryoura's consciousness, but he found nothing, not a trace in any direction. "I don't know where he is!" he yelled frantically, shutting his eyes tight and clenching his fists as he threw magic out in all directions. "Ryoura? Ryoura!" he screamed in his mind, but there was no response from the being at the other end of his link.

"Bakura, calm down!" Steve grabbed Bakura's shoulders as the spirit began to look around frantically again.

"Don't," Bakura yelled, hitting Steve's arm away and glaring at the teen, "tell me what to do!"

"Guys! Yugi and Ryoura are gone!" Joe called from the camp as he darted away from Yugi's tent towards Ilia, who had not yet appeared. Pulling the tent door back Joe froze for a moment then turned towards the others. "Steve, get over here! Ilia's hurt" he called before he slipped into the tent.

Fear struck Steve hard when he heard Joe call him, and he quickly darted towards his girlfriend's tent. He nearly tore the tent down in his rush to get in, dropping to Ilia's side. The girl was unconscious and lying on her side, with a small line of blood running down her face from a cut somewhere under her hair. Her Millennium Necklace was nowhere to be seen. "Ilia?" Steve whispered softly, brushing a few strands of hair away from her face and placing his hand lightly on her head, trying to find the injury without hurting her. He could feel a small amount of blood oozing from a deep cut in the side of her head. "What happened?"

"I think I found the 'weapon'," Joe said, lifting up a rock about the size of a baseball and showing it to Steve. Sure enough, it had a small amount of blood on it. From the deepness of the injury and the size of the rock, both teens feared her skull might have been broken by the force that knocked her unconscious.

Sickened, but more worried, Steve leant closer to Ilia and frowned. "Ilia? Ilia can you hear me?" he whispered, trying to get a reaction out of her. He received none. He slid an arm under her thin form and lifted her up slowly, letting her head lean against his chest as he hugged her lightly. "Ilia?" he tried again, "Ilia, please wake up..."

Joe growled and pushed his way out of the tent. "Bakura!" he called towards the tomb-robber at the other side of the camp, but the spirit didn't respond. "Bakura, get over here! We need your help, Ilia's hurt!"

"Ryoura!" Bakura called through his mind, using enough force to try and shatter the barrier between him and his hikari. He gasped when he met another force blocking his connection, a completely different signature of magic. "Whoever took him has very powerful magic." he thought, getting more worried with each passing second. He had enough sense to know he couldn't run blindly into the desert in search of his hikari and Yugi, but logic was quickly fading. He couldn't stand still much longer.

"Bakura!" Joe yelled again, grabbing Bakura's arm and spinning him around angrily. He earned a glare from the tomb-robber, who pulled his arm away from Joe with ease, but the blond didn't falter in the slightest. "Are you deaf? Ilia's hurt! Get your ten-thousand-year-old butt over there and help her!"

"I don't have time! Ryoura's in danger and Yugi may be too!" Bakura yelled, though admittedly he had almost forgotten about Yugi. He was worried about Yugi, yes, but only a fraction of the amount of worry he felt for Ryoura's safety.

"So is Ilia! Can't you help her first?"

Steve ignored the argument going on outside and sat with his legs folded and hugging Ilia lightly to himself. He called her again and again, volume rising from the worry building inside him, but she was still deeply unconscious. "Who did this to you...?" he whispered, eyes shining as he looked at Ilia's pained expression.

"She will live."

Steve's head jerked upwards and he almost yelled in shock, but fear stole his voice from him. A man had appeared inside the tent directly in front of him, standing tall and silent save from the monotone voice with which he spoke, a long cream-coloured robe covering his form and a brown bag at his side.

"That is... if you let me help." The man finished, stepping forward. Steve didn't even react when the man reached down, merely following the strange person hand as it rested over the wound on Ilia's head. A soft golden glow emitted from his hand for a few seconds, then he pulled away, the wound completely healed. The man took a step back, a frown still set on his face as he watched Steve run his fingers through Ilia's hair, searching for the injury. "She will awaken soon."

Steve looked up from Ilia and met the man's gaze, deep orbs of icy blue staring right into his darker blue eyes. He shuddered when his eyes met the man's; they were so deep and wise, but completely lifeless, like a corpse. "Who are you?"

The man walked past Steve without uttering a word, pushing the flap covering the entrance to the tent aside and strolling out. On sight of the new arrival, Bakura and Joe fell silent, all eyes locked on him. The man glanced at Joe before letting his gaze land on Bakura, nodding his head in acknowledgement. "Bakura."

"Shadi?" Bakura said, his voice calm but surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I have been trying to summon enough strength to take on a physical form for some months now," Shadi began, ignoring the bewildered looks he was getting from Joe and Steve, who had just moved himself to sit outside the tent, still close enough to keep an eye on Ilia. "I was unable to track you by your Millennium Items, as a barrier had been placed around them, hiding your path, but there was an erratic explosion of magic from one of the items that led me here," he looked around at the camp and his eyes narrowed. "But it seems I was too late."

"Then... you know what's going on?" Joe asked eagerly.

Shadi looked at Joe with his ice-cold eyes, causing the teen to shift uncomfortably, then said, "I believe so. I trust you all know of the Lost Soul that has been following the Pharaoh's successor?"

"You mean Yugi? Ya, we know," Steve answered, glancing back at Ilia before focussing once again on Shadi. There was something unsettling about this person, it was as if he had no life in him at all. "And what did he mean when he said he was trying to get a physical form? Is he a ghost?"

"The soul has taken full control of Yugi's body and taken your friend, Ryoura, to the temple." He paused when Bakura spun around and stared at the building behind him, as did Steve and Joe. "I do not know of the spirit's intentions, but in taking Ryoura he has taken the Millennium Ring, as well as the Millennium Necklace from the girl. Without Millennium Items, your group will never enter further then the second floor below the entrance floor."

Steve blinked and looked back from the temple to Shadi. "Entrance floor? So the real rooms are underneath the building?"

"What do you mean we can't get in?" Bakura interjected, hands clenched by his side.

"When the temple was built ten thousand years ago, the Millennium Item's had been created at the same time. Because entering the temple was so dangerous, it was decided it would be protected by a special seal, which could only be broken by Millennium Magic."

"But Bakura and Ilia have Millennium Magic, don't they?" Joe asked before Bakura could say anything, scratching his head. He was becoming increasing confused about the Millennium Items with each passing day. "Shouldn't that work?"

Shadi shook his head, "They do not require enough power on their own, they would need an Item to channel the correct amount."

"Then what do we do?" Bakura almost yelled in frustration. Every passing second was just more wasted time in his mind. If they couldn't come up with a solution quickly, then he would just go to the temple and find a way to break the accursed seal himself.

"I will accompany you and lend the power of my Millennium Item to your cause." Shadi answered before he turned and strode over to Steve. The teen got to his feet quickly, intent on defending himself if he need to, though he doubted he could stand up to someone with a Millennium Item. Reaching into the bag at his side, however, the man produced something that silenced the entire camp. Even Bakura quietened. "I believe this would do well in your hands."

"How did... you get this?" Steve gawped, looking at the item in Shadi's hands. He didn't reach up to take the item offered to him, but simply stared. "That belongs to Ilia's brother." Shadi looked at the Millennium Rod in his hands, rolling it over in his palm. "I visited Mark Ishtar and retrieved the Item from him. He had been misusing it's powers and no longer deserved to hold it. I also took the Millennium Eye, but I shall not ask you to use that."

"But why are you giving it to me?" Steve took a step away from the Rod. He didn't want anything to do with that thing, he had no idea how to use it!

"Because you are the rightful owner of this particular Millennium Item. It's in your blood-line."

"But-"

"Take the item and stop wasting time Kaiba," Bakura growled, storming over and tearing the Rod from Shadi and grabbing Steve's wrist, pressing the item into his palm. "We don't have time for this, we have to go!"

"Steve? What's going on?"

Steve looked behind himself as Ilia emerged from the tent, looking as confused about the situation as he felt. "Ilia! Are you ok?"

Ilia nodded, though she looked flustered. "Ya, I'm fine, but my Necklace is gone!"

"We'll explain that on the way," Bakura said in an edgy tone, it was clear he was trying to keep himself calm. "Let's go!"

"Bakura is correct," Shadi agreed. "The longer we wait the more dangerous our foe becomes. We must move quickly." With that, he turned and began walking quickly towards the temple, followed closely by Bakura, who seemed to be trying to over-take him. "I shall not be able to remain with your group for much longer." Shadi spoke, using the connection he had with his own Items to speak with Bakura through mind.

"Why not?" Bakura's emotions were wide open to Shadi because of his lack of care to protect them, and worry drenched his words along with anger at the amount of time they had wasted.

"The magic I will use to open the door will take the last of my energy. I will not be able to remain in solid for after that. The Millennium Key and Scales, as well as the Eye, will be transported to the nearest holding for them."

"And where's that?"

Shadi remained silent, but that answered Bakura's question.

"In the temple? So whatever spirit has possessed Yugi will be able to use them for himself?" Shadi nodded and Bakura growled. "Don't you think that's a bit careless? Giving three Millennium Items to the enemy while he already holds three himself? We'll only have the Kaiba to rely on and I doubt that's enough!"

"And neither does he have the experience to open the seal. I give him the item because he is the only one able to control it. I would have given it to you, but it would not have worked. As you well know yourself, to use someone else's Millennium Item you must defeat them in a Shadow Game."

"What about the Millennium Eye? The owner of that is dead."

"In which case I claimed ownership of it, and I cannot simply give it to you. Unlike when Ishizu gave her Necklace to Yugi, you do not possess the same power as the Millennium Puzzle, you cannot simply take control of it. I'm sorry, but I cannot give you an item and we do not have time for a Shadow Game."

Bakura cursed under his breath, feet stamping hard on the stone path leading to the temple. Ilia, Joe and Steve followed silently, Steve sticking close to Ilia side and watching her worriedly as she cleaned the drying blood off her face, Millennium Rod clenched tight in his hand.

"Hey guys?" Joe suddenly voiced as the group quickened their pace and ran towards the centre of the temple. "Where's that weird ball of light gone?"


"Stupid... get away from me!" 'Yugi' yelled, swatting the ball of glowing light away as it bounced hard against his head again. It had changed colour slightly, it's white light now holding a light shade of red, showing it was angered. Summoning some magic he sent a wave at the glowing orb, throwing it back against the wall of the temple, where it fell and bounced soundlessly off the ground, where it remained, trying to recover.

Using the Millennium Puzzle to grant himself extra strength, he pulled on the rope in his other hand, pulling Ryoura down the remaining stone steps. The teen's wrists were bound together in a red-hot rope of magic, the end of which the spirit had gripped in his hand, dragging Ryoura along the floor behind him. A long, deep cut ran from the top of Ryoura's upper-arm to his elbow, but no blood seemed to flow from it. It did glow a fiery red, however, giving the impression a line of fire ran down the teens arm. It was cause Ryoura continuous excruciating pain, but no matter how loud or how hard he screamed, not a sound came from his mouth. The spirit had muted his cries the instant he'd injured him.

The spirit stopped when he reached a large stone door, the very door that was closed off to him without access to a Millennium Item. He grinned, looking down at th hand his had hit the orb away with, examining then Ring and Necklace that he held in it. He had more then enough.

Stepping forward, and dragging Ryoura's writhing form with him, he held up the Items in his hand and pressed the Millennium Eye symbol on the Ring into an imprint of the symbol sculpted into the rock. A strong glow erupted from the Item and the spirit grinned as the large stone doors opened wide before him. Pulling the Ring out he walked forward, noting how the doors began to close the instant he removed the item. Magic from the item had lit up the same mist-filled trenches along the walls that Yugi, Ryoura and Bakura had found in the trap, so he didn't need to put effort into using magic to light his way.

The orb on the floor floated up slowly as it seemed to recollect itself, jumping high when it noticed the closing doors. It darted towards them, but was only just lucky enough to slip through before the doors closed. The spirit was already dragging Ryoura down another flight of steps by the time the orb caught up, and it quickly began it's routine of flying around the spirits head and bouncing off him angrily.

Cursing the spirit once again hit the orb aside. "I don't know what or who you arm," he growled, "but if you don't stop bothering me, I'll just have to make this boys death hurt tenfold." That seemed to slow the orb for a moment, before it bounced hard against the spirits head, like a rock, and knocked him to the floor.

Growling, the spirit summoned a ball of magic and leaned back, throwing his hand against Ryoura's stomach and pushing the ball of magic inside the teens body. He lifted the silencing curse of the teen in time for him to scream in agony at the assault, then silence him again, though his scream echoed about the temple. The orb had frozen in mid-air at that, and the spirit grinned, "Do we have an understanding? You cannot stop me, so you may as well prevent his death from hurting any more then it does."

Another bounce to the head answered his question. The orb wasn't trying to protect Ryoura from pain -though it would have loved to- it was trying to protect his life. It wasn't going to agree to let him die.

The spirit cursed again and blasted the orb back with a blast of magic, pulling himself to his feet and continuing on. He knew the orb would only be immobilised for a minute or two, but any minute he had without a hit from that thing was welcomed.

It only took him a few minutes to find the room he was looking for.

On the fourth floor down he entered a large room, the walls, like all the others, lined with hieroglyphs and painting of images from the book of the dead. But the pictures in this room held no paintings of God's such as Osiris, Hathor, Isis, Thoth or Ma'at, like the rest of the rooms had, but of Seth. The God took up the entire top-half of the back wall, and under him lay a swaying green image that looked like a river. It didn't seem intimidating, until the viewer looked closer and noticed the images of numerous people lying in the river, as if part of the currant, with pained, mournful expression.

Below the painting, though, was a pool of black water. It looked like oil or tar, but it was odourless and far to fluid to be either. Dragging Ryoura across the room, who had resorted to gasping for breath as screaming, though mute, drained his energy, the spirit walked up the few steps leading to the black pool and dragged Ryoura up beside him, peering into the black water. "Time I was rid of you," he stated, glaring down at Ryoura. He blasted the orb away as it darted for him; he didn't want to be interrupted.

Kneeling down on one knee next to Ryoura he hovered a hand over his form and the glow instantly disappeared from his arm, letting Ryoura's body relax slightly as the pain began to subside, though he continued to gasp for breath. He released the boy from the silencing spell, but quickly grabbed the teen by the hair and forced him to his knees, causing him to yelp in pain.

"Do you know what this is?" the spirit asked, pointing at the pool. Ryoura didn't respond until the spirit clenched his hair tighter, then forced out a week 'no'. The spirit had the feeling Ryoura's vision was so blurred he didn't even know what he was pointing at, but he didn't bother questioning him on it. "It's called 'The Doorway of Great Darkness', in your tongue. It's the very thing you and your friends, Yugi and Bakura, have been looking for all this time... This is the place where you can draw a spirit from the Shadow Realm and bring them out."

Ryoura blinked his eyes hard to clear his vision at this news, trying hard to ignoring the burning in his arm as blood began to pour from it now that the spell had been removed. This was the place where they could get Yujhi back?

The spirit chuckled coldly, causing Ryoura to shiver. "But only if used correctly, and I'm afraid I'm not planning on saving your friend." He gripped Ryoura's hair tighter and pulled him forward over the water, so he was looking directly into his darkened reflection on the waters surface. "I'm here to be rid of you... so enjoy your last look at what was the only way to save your friend..." he gripped the side of the pool and smirked, a glint in his red eyes, "because you'll never see it again..."

Ryoura gasped in what air he could in the second he had to react before his vision turned black, the spirit pushing his face into the water. He struggled against the spirits force, trying desperately to get his head above water, but he was easily over-powered. Images of people flashed before his mind; his mother and father, Bakura, Joe, Steve, Yujhi, Yugi and Ilia...

His mind began to slip from him, but into a very strange unconsciousness. It felt more like his mind was slowly being pulled into the water surrounding him, energy leaving his body quickly.

His lungs burned as he struggled to hold his breath, but eventually he could hold it no more. Oxygen escaped him and the black water filled his mouth.

And everything in his world died in that instant.


To Be Continued
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