A/N: Man, I have got to be the worst updater in the whole world. I haven't posted this since August or something like that. Really sorry for the long wait, this chapter is a tad longer than the others, hopefully that might make up for it. And there is also some angsty stuff in this chapter, at least my version of angst. I'm for of a happy story writer, so I'm not sure if it came out any good or not. But this couldn't exactly be a happy chapter…

Oh, and one more quick note, I know I had Jounouchi talking with his Brooklyn accent in earlier chapters, but I sort of got tired of typing it all the time. I know it's bad to change my writing style mid story like that, but he's just talking regular now. You can just imagine the accent if need be.

Disclaimer: Maybe I'll ask for the rights to Yuugiou for Christmas…

Atemu looked at his watch apprehensively. 10:37. He and Yuugi were supposed to meet here, at his apartment, over half an hour ago. So why wasn't Yuugi there yet?

"Do you think maybe he overslept?" Atemu asked, looking down at Urbi, who was rubbing against his leg. Her big green eyes looked up at him in understanding, as if she knew exactly what was troubling him. She mewled.

"Go to his house? I don't know, what if he was just held up by something? I wouldn't want to seem rude."

She pawed angrily at his leg. "Alright, alright. I'll go, but if he gets mad I'm blaming you." He smirked, knowing full well that Yuugi would never get angry about something like this. Urbi mewled happily and dashed toward the door. Atemu grabbed his helmets and left.

The previous evening…

Yuugi was sleeping peacefully in his bed. Of course, that was to be expected, since it was just past 11:30 in the morning. The cloaked figured looked down at his blissfully ignorant form with a smirk. Yuugi had no idea what he was in for.

Another man, also covered completely by a purple cloak, entered the room. "The old man's sound asleep." He said, a twisted grin crossing his face, "And it's safe to say he won't be waking for quite a while."

The first man looked down at Yuugi worriedly as his companion spoke. He shifted a little, but still remained asleep. He replied to his companion in a hushed tone, "Perfect, Master Malik's sleeping charms never fail, he will be quite pleased. But are you positive this boy is the one we seek? Something doesn't seem right."

"Halim said he has been tracking the boy for a while, and he's positive this is the one. Master Malik agreed, and it is not our place to question his decision."

"You're right, I have spoken out of place. So let's just take the boy and be on our way before he awakens."

He reached down towards the bed, but just as his hand came in contact with Yuugi, he began to stir. The man pulled his hand away.

Yuugi slowly opened his eyes, trying to wake himself from his half-asleep state. He knew it was far too early to wake up, and wondered what had caused him to do so.

The answer was quite a surprise. He bolted upright, his eyes locking with the two mysterious men in his room. Before his brain could completely register the danger he was in, or he could even call to his grandfather for help, the second man said some sort of incantation in a language Yuugi didn't understand. He felt his eyelids begin to droop as a sudden wave of drowsiness came over him. He tried to fight it, but was unable to, and he soon collapsed on his bed, consumed by sleep.

Finishing his incantation, the man smiled triumphantly. That charm had proven extremely helpful, and extremely successful, to him for the second time that night. He watched as his partner lifted Yuugi's prone form off the bed, and began a different incantation.

The three of them disappeared in a wave of shadows.

Atemu's road king skidded to a stop outside the Kame Game Shop. He pulled off his helmet, unable to believe the sight before him. Several police cars, their lights flashing and sirens wailing, were parked outside. The area was blocked off by a yellow police line. Officers and investigators were examining the ground and building, looking for evidence of something.

Atemu felt his heart stop in his chest. Something was very wrong.

He raced toward the shop, ignoring the cries off the angry officers as he ducked under the yellow tape and entered the house. He stopped outside the door to Yuugi's bedroom, where his grandfather was talking to two more police officers. He still had not seen Yuugi.

"I just don't know what to say, Moutou-san," One of them said, the man looked utterly perplexed, "There's plenty of evidence to indicate that two men broke into your house and came to your grandson's room. But the trail just stops here. There are no clues showing how they left, and even if they had retraced their steps, we have tests accurate enough to detect that. It's almost as if they disappeared into thin air."

"Perhaps they went through the window?" Sugoroku suggested. He knew it was a shot in the dark, especially since Yuugi's bedroom marked the highest point in the building, but he was willing to suggest anything that might bring them closer to finding Yuugi.

"It's not possible," The other officer explained, "We thought the same, at first, but the window is shut right now. And there are no fingerprints indicating that anyone had opened or closed it. And yet another peculiar point is that there is no sign of a struggle here at all, almost as if he went quietly."

Now Atemu understood why he didn't see Yuugi. He was gone. Someone had taken him. A thousand thoughts began to run through Atemu's mind. Where had he been taken? Was he alright? Was he even alive? Atemu looked down at his hands; they were shaking. He was terrified. He couldn't remember being this scared since he had come home to find his father dead, ten years before.

"Well, we'll file a missing person report when we get back to the station, Moutou-san," The officer continued, "That's really all we can do right now. You just keep an eye out for anything unusual, and call us with any developments."

"Thank you very much, lieutenant," Sugoroku replied sadly.

The officer tipped his hat and turned to leave the room, noticing Atemu in the doorway for the first time. "Hey, you! This is a crime scene, you're not authorized to be here!"

Atemu jumped as the man addressed him, having completely forgotten about the room's other inhabitants. "Well…I was just…Yuugi and I had plans today and, and when he didn't show up I got worried so I came over and…and…" He didn't know what else to say, and wasn't really interested in talking anyway. It was all he could do at the moment to keep on his feet, to keep from breaking down and screaming. Yuugi was gone. They didn't know where. The police didn't know what to do…

Sugoroku walked over, wrapping an arm around Atemu. "It's alright, we're going to find him real soon," He said in reassurance, although he knew he wasn't convincing anyone. Not even himself. "Why don't you come downstairs and have something to drink?" He began to usher Atemu towards the stairs. The officers still looked angry that Atemu had intruded, but when they opened their mouths to speak he shook his head, "I appreciate all of your help, but if there is nothing else you can do here, then I won't keep you any longer." He would have liked for them to stay, to examine the area just one more time, if only for the sake of keeping his hopes up. But he knew there was nothing more that could be done, except to disappoint himself further. Not to mention that the last thing he wanted was for the officers to start interrogating Atemu.

Atemu spent the rest of the day with Sugoroku. The two of them said very little, but they were comforted at least a little by each other's presence. Both were still very worried about Yuugi's disappearance, and even more worried about the mysteries surrounding it.

At almost five-thirty, they heard a car pull up in front of the shop. A moment or so later, Jounouchi and Kaiba entered the room.

"I saw the five o'clock news and I came over right away!" Jounouchi exclaimed, "I can't believe it….awe man, I'm so sorry." He embraced Sugoroku in a fierce hug.

Kaiba sat down on the couch next to Atemu. The two acknowledged each other for a moment but said nothing.

Jounouchi pulled away from the hug and sat down next to Kaiba. "I just, I just don't understand. Who would have done something like this?"

"I have a hunch." Kaiba replied. Atemu caught Kaiba's gaze moving towards him.

"What are you trying to say?" Atemu asked.

"It's kind of ironic, don't you think, Atemu? First your father dies under mysterious circumstances, and now Yuugi disappears. And the means and motives behind Yuugi's capture still remain a mystery. Funny how your loved ones have a history of having mysterious things happen to them isn't it?"

Atemu tried to glare at Kaiba, but with everything that had happened that day weighing down on him, he could muster little more than an expression of hurt. And he was truly hurt by the meaning behind his cousin's words. "Seto, are you saying that you think I'm the one that kidnapped Yuugi?" Kaiba had also blamed him for his father's death, but he didn't want to go there right now, he didn't even want to think about it right now. Having lost Yuugi was bad enough.

"I'm saying you are definitely a possible, and highly likely, suspect, yes."

Atemu could hardly believe what he was hearing. His own cousin suspected him of kidnapping Yuugi. And even though they had never gotten along very well, the accusation still hurt him. "One problem, Seto, if it were me that had taken him, why would I be sitting here right now?"

"The criminal always returns to the scene of the crime."

Sugoroku could see that Atemu had been upset by Kaiba's words, so he attempted to intervene, "You are overlooking one important detail, Kaiba. For one thing, Atemu is a wonderful young man, who cares deeply for Yuugi, and I know he would never do anything like this. But even looking at the situation from an unbiased point of view, the evidence shows that two people were involved, not just one."

Atemu stood up from the couch. He smiled at Sugoroku, walking over to him and hugging the old man. "Thank you so much for letting me stay with you today."

"Nonsense, I enjoyed your company."

"Well, I appreciate it anyway, but I think I am going to head home now. My cat is probably on the verge of eating the furniture." He tried to chuckle, but the sound was strained.

"Alright, I'll call you if I hear anything new. Good night."

Atemu nodded his thanks. "Good night." He left. A few minutes later, they heard his motorcycle rev up and pull away.

Jounouchi glared at Kaiba. "What is your problem Seto? First you think he's using Yuugi, and now you accuse him of being Yuugi's kidnapper! I'm sure he's having a hard enough time dealing with all of this without you blaming him for it! Not to mention bringing up his father, which is obviously a sore spot for him!"

"I was just presenting the possibility," Kaiba replied, "But doesn't it seem more than a little odd to you?"

"It seems like a very unfortunate coincidence, yes, but that doesn't mean you can blame him."

"Trust me, I've known Atemu his whole life, and there is no such thing as coincidence with him. Too many strange, parallel occurrences like this happen when he's around; I gave up thinking that they were coincidences a long time ago. It's almost like he's cursed."

"Cursed! That's ridiculous, and even more so coming from you!"

Sugoroku pinched the bridge of his nose. He really was not in the mood for this. "Boys, please, this is not the time to be fighting."

Jounouchi stood up from the couch, "I'm sorry gramps. We won't bother you anymore, we were just leaving anyway." He started to leave, but stopped in the doorway, "If you need anything at all gramps, just call." With that he left, and Kaiba followed behind him, not saying a thing as he departed.

Sugoroku was alone again, and he wasn't sure whether to be happy, or to break down and cry.

Yuugi slowly began to awaken, but refused to open his eyes. He still felt groggy, and wanted nothing more but to roll over and go back to sleep. Especially after the terrible nightmare that he'd had. He knew that the thought of being kidnapped was a childish fear, but the dream had been extremely realistic, and it had rattled him.

He felt a sudden chill, and reached down to pull the blankets tighter around him. After groping at nothing for a moment, he realized the blankets were gone. The fear beginning to return, he reached down to touch the surface beneath him. It was not his bed.

Having been completely woken up, Yuugi opened his eyes and looked around. He was definitely not in his bed, or in his room. Wherever he was was very dark, and he couldn't see much. He was in some sort of barred off area, he didn't think it was a prison cell, but whatever it was, it was sufficiently enclosed to prevent him from escaping. It reminded him of the gates that barred off artifacts in a museum after closing, to prevent theft.

So he must be in a museum.

But that made little sense. Why would his captors bring him somewhere so public? In a few hours the museum would probably be opened and all kinds of people would be coming and going. Not to mention that there was most likely at least one security guard patrolling the building right now.

"Hello, little pharaoh." A voice said to him. He saw a figure approaching him in the darkness, and much like his captors, this figure was covered in a cloak.

"Pharaoh? I have no idea what you are talking about. Why have you taken me here?"

"Don't play dumb with me. You may have been able to hide for the past ten years by changing your name, but I am afraid it wasn't enough. We've found you."

Yuugi was getting more confused by the second. He most certainly was not a pharaoh, for one thing. But also, he was Yuugi Moutou, and as far as he was aware, he always had been. He had never changed his name. They had the wrong person. "I don't know who you are looking for, but it isn't me. You've got the wrong guy, so let me go."

"If you think I'll be so easily fooled, Pharaoh, you are sadly mistaken." The man stood right in front of the gate now, and Yuugi could see a pair of lilac eyes staring at him menacingly from beneath the cloak. The man reached into his robes for a moment, and Yuugi feared he might pull out a gun. But instead, he removed a small piece of paper. Holding it up, he asked, "Look familiar?"

It took Yuugi's eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness and see the image clearly. But when he could, he was surprised by just how familiar the picture looked. But it was not of him. It was a picture he had seen before in Atemu's apartment, the one of his family. Whoever this person was, he was after Atemu. "What do you want with him?" Yuugi demanded, but he immediately regretted it. Now even if he could prove to this guy that he had the wrong person, Yuugi had just informed him that he knew the real person they were looking for.

Lilac eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I…I mean, this person in the photograph, what do you plan to do with them? It's obvious by the way you are treating me that it's something bad, and I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt." But he knew it was already too late, his captor had easily seen through his lie.

The man chuckled, pulling back his hood. Bleach blonde hair and sun-kissed skin were revealed to Yuugi. The man's expression had changed to a look of mirth; an almost sadistic smirk playing it's way across his face. "It's no use trying to fool me, Pharaoh. I know who you are, and you will not be able to convince me otherwise if you continue to lie so poorly. I will be leaving you for now, but there is no need to worry, I'll be back. But you best get comfortable, you won't be going anywhere for a while. Some of my men have not returned from their duties yet, and the ritual cannot commence unless everyone is present." With that, he turned and walked away.

Yuugi's mind was reeling, a new sense of worry filling him. Ritual?

TBC