Author's Note: Hello again folks! Another chapter up! I'm so close to finishing this story it hurts lol! I'm a bit stuck at the moment but I'll work it out! Lets call it... 73 reviews hmm? In the meantime sit back, relax and watch Ieb kick some ass in Yugi's body! Enjoy!

Chapter 9

-:Harpie's Feather Duster:-

Destroys all trap and magic cards on the field

Yami frowned, twirling a ballpoint pen between his finger and thumb. Time was moving on and he still had no idea how to save Yugi. He had decided to challenge Ieb to a duel, but he couldn't quite work out what that would do yet. Looking down at the notepad in front of him he read over the possible scenarios that could be caused by his challenging the spirit to a duel. Groaning Yami dropped his head forward into his hands. He was good with strategies and he had no doubt that as Pharaoh he had managed to organise and fulfil much greater and more complex tasks than this, but he couldn't focus. In his chest his heart ached horribly. He hadn't told his friends about Yugi's fate yet, there was little that they could do, and he didn't want to worry them. Scribbling down another few hieroglyphics under the three pages or so that he had already written out, he stood and set the kettle boiling for a cup of coffee.

The whole situation was taking its toll on the Pharaoh and as he poured the boiling water into a cup it splashed out onto his hand due to his lack of focus. Yami promptly swore and put the offending source of pain under the cold tap. Who was Ieb anyway? What axe did the spirit have to grind against him? Questions bombarded Yami but there were no answers, and no memories. Ieb had said that Yami had betrayed him all those years ago, but the Pharaoh couldn't remember betraying anyone.

"What could I have done to him that was so bad that he would lock away his soul for thousands of years just to see me pay?" Shaking his head Yami switched off the tap, collected his coffee and sat back at the kitchen table, looking over his notes for the thousandth time. He didn't even notice Solomon Moto enter the kitchen.

"Yami?" The old man enquired as he walked through the door, "Are you alright?" Yami sighed again. He hadn't told Grandpa about Yugi's situation either, instead telling a white lie that Yugi was staying at Joey's house.

"Yes Grandpa." Yami lied dutifully, but Solomon wasn't buying it.

"Now come on," The old man smiled, "I may be old, but I'm not stupid. I can tell that something is wrong. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but you never know, I might be able to help!" Solomon shrugged and continued to smile at Yami. Somewhere in his chest Yami felt guilt build up and he winced slightly. Yugi was this man's grandson, his flesh and blood, one of the only remaining members of his family. Perhaps he had a right to know?

"You're right." Yami replied quietly, "I'm not alright Grandpa, I have a problem." Solomon nodded knowingly but said nothing, instead sitting down at the table and waiting for Yami to continue. "I…" Yami toyed with the idea of telling Mr Moto everything, but stopped himself short, instead formulating an analogy. "I have this puzzle, it was given to me by a friend. They said that the prize at the end is really precious, a sign of our friendship, but I can't get to it." Solomon nodded for Yami to continue. "The puzzle is a box and then inside it is the prize. But there is no way to get through the box without breaking it, and if I were to break the box I would break the prize." Solomon frowned a little but nodded, "I don't know what to do. I can't break the prize because it is so important to me, but I can't get through the box to see what it is."

Solomon Moto nodded slowly, his brain working hard on the conundrum.

"I've worked in a game shop for a long time Yami." He smiled, "I've never heard of anything like your puzzle. Your friend must be very close to you to hunt down something like that." Yami nodded,

"Yes, very close, that is why the prize is so important to me." Solomon sighed and sat further back in his chair.

"So you can't get into the box without smashing it, but smashing it would mean smashing the prize too…hmm…interesting." Yami frowned, would Grandpa say it was impossible? He wasn't sure that he could take the news if it was. "You keep talking of smashing the box as if you were going to take a hammer to it…" Solomon said finally, "What if you were to damage it just enough to get through to the prize, but not enough to destroy it completely?" The idea hit Yami straight on. It would be risky, in fact it would be downright dangerous, but it seemed to be the only way.

"Thank you Grandpa!" Yami smiled. "I think I've got it now!" Snatching up the notes and the deck of duel monster cards Yami waved goodbye to Grandpa and then shot from the house to start laying his trap for Ieb.

----

Yugi's eyes fluttered open slowly. He was surprised to be waking up, after all ever since Ieb had fully manifested himself in Yugi's body he had kept the hikari's soul locked away in his soul room. Apparently Ieb had no desire to sleep like any mortal and would rather work on his revenge than waste precious hours resting his host's body. The first thing that dawned on Yugi when he woke up was that he wasn't in bed. In fact he was lying on something extremely hard, something that felt like a road or a pathway of some sort. The second thing that Yugi thought about was that there were three pairs of large feet in his sight in a semi circle, effectively blocking him in against the wall behind him. Then the third and final thing the small boy had the misfortunate of realising was that the three pairs of big feet belonged to three big men and that these three big men were cracking the knuckles of their three pairs of big and threatening looking hands. The first kick was not entirely unexpected.

Somewhere in Yugi's mind darkness was growing. Ieb had been pooling his powers all morning and during most of the night in order to be ready for the Pharaoh. Since he was not the bearer of a millennium item it had taken him many years (almost 5,000) to collect the amount of magic he would need for the trial. But revenge, as they say, is a dish best served cold, and Ieb was going to serve it at subzero. He didn't care that the Pharaoh no longer remembered his past wrongs, he didn't care that he was risking his own existence to gain revenge on his betrayer. In his eyes it was better that the Pharaoh didn't remember what he had done, that way he would be forced to think about it when Ieb had dealt out his final punishment. He had been plotting this for millennia, he new every possible way that the trial could pan out. He would get the Pharaoh no matter what he did to stop him, and he would strike where it hurt the most. At his heart.

The ancient spirit had been so concerned with his dreams of revenge that he had hardly noticed the assault that was raining down upon his host. That was, he hadn't noticed the blows raining down on his host until he heard Yugi whimper from somewhere in his consciousness.

"Runt, why must he insist on being so weak? I can't understand why the Pharaoh would choose to be bonded to something like that, but then again we all know that the Pharaoh was never exactly in his right mind to begin with." The spirit ranted as he rose to take control of his host, once again locking Yugi away in his soul room for an indefinite amount of time. However, when he rose he had not expected to see a foot swinging towards his stomach.

It was unfair really, after all the fight had been heavily biased and it was obvious which side would win. A small defenceless boy sleeping rough for the first time against three heavily muscled teenagers who'd finished off enough victims to fill Domino hospital twice over. The outcome was obvious. The thugs never stood a chance. To Naotatsu and the two brothers it must have seemed almost supernatural, the blur of colour as they saw their comrades fall to the ground in defeat for the first time ever. Motosuga had been the first to go. As the hired muscle swung his foot in for another devastating blow on the kid's stomach he had not been expecting the boy to react. So when the boy's eyes flashed open he was a little surprised. But not as surprised as he had been when the kid suddenly brought up his hands, caught the foot, pulled it toward him so that Motosuga could do nothing but fall onto his back, and then twisted it so that delicate bone structure could be heard snapping in a rather unpleasant manner. In fact it had been such a surprise that he hardly even saw the kid leap up, pull back his fist with burning fury in sharp emerald eyes, and punch him into oblivion.

Michiyuki was the next, and within moments was sent the same way as his brother. So immense was the shock at seeing his sibling beaten for the first time in battle that he hardly even registered cold mossy orbs turning on him and lighting up viciously. He only saw the kick in time to turn his head with the blow. Unfortunately that put him at an immediate disadvantage. Since his head was turned to save his jaw, his eyes were too slow to save his stomach. A hard mid-kick and the giant found himself on the floor. A moment later the diminutive fighter was on him again. One kick straight down to the face and Michiyuki's nose suffered an identical fate to that of his brother's foot.

By this time Naotatsu was on to his opponent, he wouldn't be felled by the element of surprise as his fellows had been. Organising his enormous fists into a defensive stance Tatsu readied himself for the next onslaught from the kid. He wouldn't underestimate this boy, now his opponent had lost his advantage. From a distance Tatsu saw a quick sharp kick put Michiyuki out of the picture and decided it was time to put a stop to the child's antics. He couldn't have this kid walking away scot-free! His reputation would never recover. So, with that in mind Naotatsu made his move, stepping forward and taking a hard swing for the back of the boy's head. To Tatsu's astonishment and mortification the punch didn't even connect with its target. Back still turned the youth ducked the punch, rising just in time to utilise the attack against the man who had unleashed it. Moving lightening fast the boy's hand shot up and stopped the swing in its tracks. Fortunately, or unfortunately for Naotatsu, the swing had been wide and wild. There was far too much force in the punch and consequently when it was stopped so abruptly the force that should have been channelled into the back of Yugi's head travelled straight back up his arm, causing him to stager slightly and loose his balance. This was all that Ieb needed and in a flash he had his leg hooked behind that of the larger man, using his arm to force him backwards, he pushed the man twice his size to the floor with a heavy thud. A sharp punch to the forehead and Kazuomi's precious Naotatsu went the same way as his backup band. But this was only the opening act. Ieb wasn't done, instead finishing with a jaw shattering signature piece.

"Well," He smiled horribly to himself as he wiped the blood from Yugi's knuckles, not caring that his host's whitened bone was almost visible. "I wouldn't want anyone confusing me with the good guys now would I?" He chuckled darkly a little at his own joke and then cut himself off quickly. He cast an eye to Yugi's watch. It read nine thirty. A cold smile ran over Yugi's lips. "I've still got time. Time to deal with Kazuomi that is."

Reviwer's Section:

gowb: Lol, no likey cliffies? In that case you might be semi happy with this chapter! Not so much of a cliffie in this! (But there is a super mega massive cliffie coming in about 3 chapters, so watch out!)

Coco Gash Niccals: Hmm...can you kill him/Cuddles Ieb/ maybe...you never know...in a few chapters you might not feel the same way, don't judge a crazy, murderous book by its cover!

Yami Yuugi: /Stunned silence/ Post e...episodes up...for me! ARE YOU SERIOUS/Hugs Yami Yuugi to death/...In short...yes...I would appreciate that very much! Lol, and I'm glad you like the Yami angst that I'm laying on with a trowel! There will be more of that coming up shortly!

Masami Mistress of Fire: Lol, first off thanks for updating your story! Really enjoyed the chapter! Oh...and update again soon! Now then, about dear sweet Yugi-chan, don't worry about him for now! He's proved that he can look after himself for now at least. Though admittedly it is only get get worse before it starts getting any better! See you next update! (Hopefully one of yours rather than one of mine...)

Pyscho Kage Suma: Here's what will happen next! Hope you enjoyed it/Grin/

Cactus Bob: Lol, gotcha! And don't worry, Yugi won't be damaged...that much...As to food, yes! Thank God for Italians! Though I personally prefer spaghetti puttanesca myself! Hope this chapter helped clear things up for! And if not, don't worry, more explanations coming soon!

frogger666: Hope you enjoyed what happened next! Watch out for the next chapter, coming your way soon!

Yami Val: Well, you'll read this when you get back no doubt! I hope that you didn't have too much hastle and glad to see you back! Hope you enjoyed the chapter and hope you enjoy coming chapters!

cheekyeyes: Hmm...not a fan of Yami angst? That's unfortunate, there'll be quite a bit of that later on, though perhaps you won't mind it since what he is angsting over kind of is his fault...Anywho, glad you liked Yugi's perspective and I hope you liked this scene! I'm not very good at fight sequences (I took karate a few years back but that is really the only fight experience I have!) but I hope this scene wasn't too bad!

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I just really wanted to see Yugi kick some people into shape...even if it wasn't actually Yugi...but even so lol. Anywho, see you next chapter! Till then!

Trikki+