And here is ch10... I really must stop updating so quickly; my studying is suffering! ^_^"

Things are now beginning to go downhill rather fast for our poor friends...

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything. Dammit.

The warehouse was oddly well-maintained compared to the buildings around it; none of the darkly tinted windows were broken, and the doors were all securely locked. There wasn't even any graffiti on it, despite the coatings of paint adorning the neighbouring buildings.

'Cosy little place, isn't it?' Tea commented.

'And well-protected,' Raven said.

'No it ain't,' Joey said. He made for the door but was instantly dragged back.

'Guess you're as stupid as you look,' Raven snarled. She pointed to a small plastic hemisphere—with a blinking light on—positioned just above the doorway, then to a metal box lying half-hidden in the ground by the wall. 'Cameras. Electronic security. No doubt alarmed windows and doorways with card or code access. If we just barge in, not only will everyone inside know about it, but things will be much more difficult for us.'

'So what do you suggest we do, then?' Seto snapped.

Raven grinned. Grinned in a very… unsettling manner.

'Just turn a blind eye and let her do what she does best,' Valon muttered. 'Go for it, Raven.'

Her grin grew wider for a second, before she faded into a shadow.

'What the hell?' Tristan yelled.

'Shadow magic,' Yami growled. He'd taken control from Yugi, despite his aibou's protests; he refused to endanger him. 'The question is, how.'

'The sword necklace,' Seto said, smirking a little. Sure, it seemed petty, but it was satisfying to know something Yami didn't, especially when it was something the Pharaoh should have known. 'It's the Millennium Sword.'

Valon surveyed him. 'And how do you know this, Kaiba?'

'Many, many researchers,' he replied lazily. 'I set them on finding backgrounds.'

'Oh, really?' His voice grew taut.

Wonder if he knows Raven's true background? Seto thought. 'Yeah, really.'

Valon frowned. 'Nosy bastard.'

'Just want to make sure you aren't going to kill me while I slept.'

'Nice to know you care, Kaiba,' Yami muttered.

Before he could give a snarky reply, Valon hushed them. 'Shut up! She's starting.'

'And just how do we see her?' Yami asked.

'Just look.' Valon stared at the building with a look of awe on his face. 'She's fucking amazing at this.'

Grudingly, Seto looked over at the building. His eyes widened in amazement.

The shadow-Raven was deftly fiddling with the wires inside the metal box, and as they watched, she successfully managed to turn the camera off. Now that the danger of being seen was out of the way, she materialised, and began working on the padlock. All it took was a few seconds before it popped open.

'Looks like Bakura's in for some competition when he gets out of the Shadow Realm,' Ryou said.

'Bakura?' Valon asked. 'Isn't that your name?'

'Bakura is Ryou's spirit,' Tea explained. 'Like Yami for Yugi, but Bakura's evil.'

Not all the time, Ryou thought; his yami was quite often kind towards him. Then again, Bakura's idea of being "nice" was not torturing him.

'I thought Bakura was part of Ryou's name,' Valon said, sounding thoroughly confused.

As Tea started to explain the connection between the yamis, the Millennium items, Bakura and Ryou, Seto felt himself drift off into a daydream. A daydream where there was no Raven, only Ravana—Ravana with her brown hair…

'Snap out of it, Kaiba.' Something hard poked him in the ribs, but it didn't hurt; obviously the codeine still works. 'I got us in.'

The images of Ravana faded, replaced by the black-and-red-haired reality in front of him. 'Let's go.'

'You're good at breaking into places,' Ryou commented.

She shrugged. 'Had a lot of practice.'

I'll bet, Seto thought.

The inside of the building was just as well-maintained as the outside. Not a speck of dust could be seen anywhere.

'Alright, I managed to shut off all the cameras inside the building; the outside ones too,' Raven said. 'All the doors are electronically locked—as I thought—but I managed to reset the codes to 1-2-3-4. If all else fails, radio me and Val. Don't know if there are doors with padlocks in here or not.'

'I'm sure we'll be fine,' Ryou said.

'Good.' She paused, surveying the halls; one path went to the left, another to the right, and the final one led straight ahead. No lights were on, leaving the far ends of the paths in gloom. 'Tell you what. Val and I will take the straight path. Kaiba, dog boy and Taylor can take the left, Ryou, Tea and Yami can take the right. Radio if you run into anything.'

And with that, she dragged Valon down the centre path and out of sight, leaving the remaining six to split up as ordered and explore.

Seto's two "partners" were anything but sneaky or quiet, much to his consternation. Their idea of being sneaky was to act like secret agents from movies; making guns with their fingers and jumping from wall to wall like small children.

He shook his head and pulled out the radio. 'Kaiba here. We have nothing yet.'

'Us neither,' Ryou's voice crackled. 'Raven, what about you?'

'So far, zip,' she grumbled. 'Run into a few glowing green circles—this place is definitely an Orichalcos hot zone—and a few locked doors.'

'Not locked any more, I'd guess,' Seto said.

'No, not locked anymore, Kaiba,' she agreed. 'But all that was in there was a single soul-stone and—'

Suddenly her voice dissolved into static, causing Seto's heart to begin racing. 'Raven?'

'Raven?' Ryou echoed.

Her voice faded back in, but it wasn't anything like it had been a few seconds ago; it was high and rushed. 'Val… monster…help… round room—'

'Raven? Raven?'

Then the static stopped too, and Seto was left holding a dead radio. 'Shit!'

'What happened?' Joey asked.

'We need to get going,' he ordered. 'Something happened to Ravana and—'

'Ravana?'

Shit. He'd let it slip.

'Ravana's dead, Kaiba,' Joey said, staring at the CEO.

'Look, mutt, I made a mistake and—'

'Hold it,' Tristan interrupted. 'You didn't make a mistake. You're Kaiba. You don't even know the meaning of the word mistake.'

'So?'

'So,' Joey said patiently, 'Using Ravana's name instead of Raven's was no mistake. You know something we don't. I can guess what it is, but you gotta tell us. Now.'

'There's no time.' He made to stride forwards, but Joey and Tristan pushed him back against the wall.

'There will be as soon as you tell us,' Joey growled.

'No.'

A scream suddenly echoed over the radio, and Seto's stomach turned. 'There isn't any—'

'Tell us,' Joey said. 'Now.'

Seto closed his eyes. He couldn't believe he was giving in to these two punks. But Ravana—Raven—needed help, and this looked like the only way he'd get to.

'You know how I said I got background checks done on Raven and Valon?' The two boys nodded, eyes wary. 'They're both illegals. Both have done time in juvenile detention centres.'

'Holy shit,' Joey murmured.

'Valon's the better of the two,' Seto continued determinedly. 'He's only got charges for theft, grand theft auto, assault, odd drug charges, that kind of thing. Raven's the big problem. She's killed at least three people.'

'And you only tell us this now?' Tristan yelled. 'She's dangerous! She could kill us!'

'She won't.' He knew this; he knew it with all his heart. At least he hoped he knew.

'And why not?'

He looked at his feet. You made the choice. No time to go back now.

'You remember Yugi's sister, Ravana?' His voice echoed oddly in the empty halls.

'Of course,' Joey nodded.

'You remember she was murdered by some psycho?'

'Yeah.' Both their eyes grew wide in realisation. 'You're saying Raven—'

'Yeah, I am, mutt,' Seto said.

'You mean that bitch killed Ravana?' He began ranting, shouting all the things he'd do to her for killing Ravana, for hurting his buddy…

Seto's heart twisted. 'Not quite.'

Joey's rage-filled rant stopped. 'What?'

'Raven is Ravana,' he said softly. 'They're one and the same. Ravana's dead, but only by her own hand. They're one and the same.'

And with those words, seemingly inconsequential and small, he knew he'd made a choice he could never take back. Ravana was well and truly lost to him now. It was selfish of him, he knew that.

But it was even more selfish to keep her to himself.

'No fucking way,' Joey said. 'There's no fucking way.'

'I've read their records, it's true,' Seto snapped. 'They're the same person. Nobody knows but us three and Mokuba.'

Joey let go of Kaiba's shirtfront, eyes vacant. 'You mean she's still alive…'

Roughly, Seto shoved him aside. 'There's no time. Raven's in trouble.' He took off down the dark corridors, cloak flaring behind him.

'What the fuck do we do?' Tristan yelled, running after him. 'We can't just tell Yugi who she is!'

'We won't have to if she's dead,' Kaiba snarled. Anything could have happened in the time you two took holding me back!

Understanding his point, the twosome hurried after him, panting heavily.

'Guys, guys, we found the round room!' Ryou's voice, urgent and worried, broke over the radio. 'It's straight from the central corridor.'

'On our way,' Seto replied, not breaking stride for an instant. 'Any sign of them?'

'Yeah, and it's not good,' Ryou replied. 'Bloodstains.'

Seto cursed and sped up. 'Anything else?'

'Not yet. Hurry.'

'Almost there.' He shoved the radio back into his pocket and sprintedonwards. Open, unlocked doors adorned with green circles sprung up with alarming regularity. A puddle of red appeared by his feet then vanished behind him; he didn't stop to look at it, but felt a jolt of panic run through his body.

A pair of double doors marked the end of the corridor. He burst through them, snarling. 'Where is she?' God, even to himself he sounded pathetic.

'We don't know,' Ryou stammered. His eyes were wide and scared. 'But don't close that—'

The door slammed shut behind Joey and Tristan, and Ryou groaned. Seto understood in a flash: they were locked in. 'Shit.'

'Shit is right,' a voice echoed. It was male.

'Who's there?' Tea called, voice shaking.

Another voice chuckled; again male. It was deeper than the first voice. 'Maybe you could ask your little friend.'

'Let her go now!' Seto yelled. Fuck the nerds; Raven was in trouble. Jesus Christ, what's wrong with you today?

'Oh, honey, what's wrong?' A third voice chimed in; female this time.

A muffled shout rang through the room, and Seto felt his anger and worry rising.

'Keep that bitch on her leash,' the first voice hissed.

'I'm doing the best I can!' Now a fourth voice chimed in. It was male again, but this voice made Seto flinch. It sounded far too familiar.

Suddenly the lights flickered to life, revealing their surroundings. The round room was ringed by torches; these were what lit the room, although how Seto could only guess. He and the others stood near the centre of the room. In front of them a balcony sat high above, with twin staircases—blocked off, he noted—leading to the platform. Atop that platform stood four black-clad people and one chained, struggling, Raven with murder in her eyes. Yet it wasn't the sight of her that caused him to shout this time.

'Valon, you motherfucking traitorous prick!'

For it was Valon's hand that held the end of Raven's chain. And he was smiling.

Ch11 coming soon... maybe... hopefully ^_^"

enjoy ~