Anna: So anyone okay so far?

Kath: This is not female Yuugi by the way and if you are questioning why Téa's name is being used then read on; you'll understand

Drag: So you are not going to work on your other fanfics?

Kath, Skies & Anna: *Glares at Yami who sweat drops at the freakily three similar expressions*

Anna: Is it just me or are you always so…so…

Kath: Oblivious. Inattentive. Absentminded. Insensible. Neglectful. Heedless.

Skies: No *thinking absentmindedly*

Kath: Aggravating. Bothersome. Irritating. Vexatious. Annoying.

Anna: Ah! There we go! Infuriating!

Kath, Drag & Skies: *looks at hikari like she's insane*

Anna: What?

Skies: *rolls eyes* Jaden-Lover1634 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or anything else besides the songs that she will write

A/N: Digital Shutdown is what I'm hoping to call my band that I hope to create and will call myself Cotton since my Mansfield friends, real people by the way—long story, nicked named me Cotton since I named this one girl Kiwi because I couldn't remember her name and didn't want to call her Kelly since everybody else did it too. Now we are called Kiwi, Cotton (Cotton Candy), Lettuce and either Cheese Cake or Tomato since we can't figure out what to name my boyfriend. And the newest addition is Pot (Pot Pie)…he wanted to have a drug like name *shrugs*

~My heroes are falling down

In the darkness without a sound

But we will stay here

For we are not scared

Laying down their guns

Throwing up their arms

But we are still here

And we will for years~

-Still Here by Digital Shutdown; written by Cotton

Chapter 1: Heroes Fall; Darkest Heart

The screams pierced the dark night, carried by the chilly autumn air, waking up everyone in a nearby refugee site. The screams were followed by a light glow and the smell of acid smoke replacing the somewhat clean air. People stumbled out of tents, collapsed buildings, metal squares, and cardboard boxes. As the screams got closer and louder people were filled with panic and stared to run, away from the yellow glow in the night. Alarms went off, waking up any stragglers, and shouts from people in uniforms told people where to go, helping those that were left behind who was deemed unhelpful and to get them to safety in the only building that was still intact in small demolished town. As the mass hysteria moved people forward in seas a few people were able to catch a glimpse of their saviors, or, as the official name, the S.H., move around the running people so they could get into formation and protect the people, town, and building.

Shade Hunters were a special group of humans who specialized in different categories but worked together to protect the people against the ending of humanity. In each town there were at least two groups of S.H.s but it depended on the size of the population in the town they protected. There were six different categories for the Hunters to specialize in. Researchers/Observers were the ones that record what they saw in the field and try to make sense of it, also, they had to find a way to end the dark creatures they fought against and record they're behaviors to find a weakness of any kind. Trackers/Navigators were to help the Researchers in understanding what killed the dark creatures so they could learn and track any group of dark creatures they were sent out to locate and destroy if the tracks weren't false. Mages were a specialist in the art of magic, mostly of the four elements of Air, Water, Earth, and Fire and a few had the power of Shadows, they fought against the dark creatures with the element they mastered in. Healers were masters in the art of healing injuries the group they were in would sustain with the use of magic, if the injured victim was too far away or if they were in the middle of battle, and non-magical ways. Warriors were the group's main fighter since they used weapons ranging from swords and daggers to machine guns and grenades and helped Trackers in hunting down their enemy. Paladins are the ones that helped Healers in their job of healing, Mages in fighting with magic and Warriors with fighting hand-to-hand combat and/or sword fighting; they were the group's leader since they dabbled in almost all of the group's jobs.

"Alright gang," a small adult yelled out in hopes of his voice carrying over the screaming people so that his group could hear his orders. In the glow of the spreading fire his tri-colored hair was alit so that the onyx black mane was exposed as the byzantine line in black starfish-like hair shimmered. He brushed his golden-yellow bangs behind his ear subconsciously with a milky-cream toned hand and his other beckoned the others over. A black plain t-shirt blended in the dark night, the sleeves ripped off, and dark blue combat pants were tucked in black leather combat shoes that were worn and slightly muddy. Around his left arm, just under his shoulder but above his bicep, was a purple and red sweatband that showed his rank as a Paladin. Strapped to his back was a light sword that, when picked up, was almost as light as a feather but was sharper than a dragon's fang and was an amethyst color with silver Japanese symbols on it. The hilt was black and red tape covered the handle. His face was calm and collected as his amethyst eyes were filled with wary despair but determination made the amethyst a shade or two brighter with its flame. "Jonouchi, cover Anzu during this fight."

A shaggy blonde haired human nodded as he paired himself up with the Healer. His eyes burned a bright shade of honey as his grip on a dagger's hilt, which was clipped on to a black plain leather belt, tightened. His ocean blue jacket fluttered in the breeze that picked up, bringing the heat and smell of burning wood with its dance, and pulled down his white t-shirt when it swayed. His frayed and dirty tennis shoes crunched over lose gravel and dead leaves, faded jeans rippled with his movement. The mark of a black scaled and red eyed dragon was on the left side of his neck, its wings flared out in flight, and the purple and red beaded bracelet strapped to his right hand glowed, marking him as a Mage. "Yes Sir Mutou of da Light Magic," the blonde jabbed playfully as he saluted, his Brooklyn accent barely heard anymore.

The brunet beside him smothered a giggle behind a tan-ish hand as her caramel brown eyes glowed with innocent laughter. She brushed back her shoulder length hair behind her ear with the other hand, revealing a faded old scar from a burn long ago on her ear and part of her jaw. The brunet bent down to lace up her brown hiking boots before straightening the helms of her faded kaki shorts and brown belt that held a long dagger and two pouches full of medical supplies. She brushed the dust off her brown faded leather jacket and it moved the olive green, lacey collar, tank-top away from the spot where her shoulder and neck was connected to reveal a strange tattoo.

It showed an adult looking over her shoulder in curious half lidded eyes, catching her in the middle of looking over and down her electric violet colored robe. Her skin was pale, a contrast against the tan skin she was one, and wore a red long sleeved dress that stopped and clinched down on her wrists and ankles under the electric violet robe that flowed down to her ankles with a sunny yellow rope tied around her waist to keep the material from moving around too much. Her hair was a aubergine shade of purple that was put up into a high, but messy, ponytail, the end reaching the color of her robe, with a leather strand binding the stands together as her bangs were left alone to create a form of style called "wings" . The bangs that reached to her chin were at least five fingers thick that were cut smaller the father they went back while the other set of bangs reached her thin eyebrows and got longer as they met the other part of the bangs with perfection. The bangs parted far enough for one to see a Byzantium colored glass in the shape of a jewel that was set on a thin silver wire which was covered by her bangs and went under her ponytail, to be seen. Her left hand clutched the robe over her right breast, just before her shoulder start, and her right held a long silver scepter with the top converted into a crescent moon with the two ends of the moon held a green orb between them.

The brunet tan adult straightened herself and nodded to her commander as she twirled the short scepter in her hand that looked almost exactly like what the girl in the tattoo had but was shorter, the handle and orb was purple and the moon was a red; it was her symbol as a Healer.

'Mutou' nodded back and pointed to the two other adults standing together. "Ryou. Téa. You two go and see where S.H. Blood P.C. U6 is and tell them that they need to start putting out the fire before they spread anymore or all that will be left will be a pile of ash. After all we've been through that better not happen. We'll take over."

"Paladin Otogi, Python Curtus's leader, won't like it," the girl said as she fiddled with her pink, black, and cotton candy blue headset. Her hair was layered in brunet layers with streaks of deep pink and cyan blue in random but orderly lines that was put back into a braid that reached the middle of her back. Her aquamarine eyes shimmered in the fire glow and her face was filled with tired annoyance as she thought of the unwanted task at hand but everyone knew she would do it since it was one of her friends asking her to do so. Her turquoise blue tube top clutched her torso so she didn't have to worry about it slipping and blue shorts stuck to her thighs, showing off muscle and power but not to the point where her slender form was no more. Her tennis shoes were black and had blue stripes on the outside and pink stripes just under the blue. Around her right thigh was a black belt for the thick knife it held but was hidden partly under the shorts she wore. A high tech band was around her forehead, just above her eyebrows, that transformed into her tracking system and communicator for her group. A thin silver band was on her ring finger with the symbol of a purple and red Phoenix shaped gem that was the mark of their group, the band ring was her symbol of being a Tracker.

"It's not like he can say anything since Yuugi is in a high position to him so he has to listen," a soft voice came from the one beside her, his Britain accent faded slightly over the years away from his birth country. White-blue tinted hair cascaded down his back and framed his face with its soft texture and form before he brushed it back to show his feminine face and fair skin color. Kind and wise chocolate eyes flickered to his companion before settling back on his captain. He tapped his sand brown colored running shoes against the cracked tar that use to be white, and crossed his arms, making the baby blue mid-bicep length jacket flutter its wings. His faded light blue jeans had worn away at his knees, showing the skin it was suppose to be protecting, and he wiped his slightly sweaty palms on the white and blue horizontal stripped shirt he wore. On the back of his jacket had a Phoenix that was purple and faded to red with the letters "R&O.F.P.U16" underneath the fire bird in black. Green vines and brown thorn dead vines crossed over his right forearm with chaotic patterns and that was his marking as a Researcher.

"Ryou's right; Otogi can't say anything against out captain," The last human of the S.H. group said before Téa could retort. His sharp dark brown eyes looked at the Brooklyn blonde as they shared a smirk because what he said was true. His hair was, crazy enough, in a military buzz cut but formed what looked like a horn with the dark brown strands at the top of his forehead and it was said hair cut that gave him the name "Unicorn" from the blonde in their group. His tan arms were crossed over his forest green muscle shirt covered chest, making the bullets on his brown leather belt around his torso let out a small clink when they were knocked slightly against each other, and rubbed absentmindedly at the four pale lines that ran from his bicep to his mid forearm and the red, smooth skin on his other elbow from a magic burn. His dead grass brown, bark brown, and grey-green cameo combat pants were held up by another brown leather belt that held four grenades, two pistols, a army switch knife, a throwing knife, and a M41A Pulse Rifle (Anna: Now all he needs is a flamethrower tapped to it and it'll be puuurfect) (Kath: If anyone can figure out what Anna is referring to then you will be love for all eternity by her). The lose sand that was on the streets swept off of their place and landed on torn, scraped light brown heavy duty boots before he lifted his feet and shook off the small particles. A red and purple ribbon was wrapped around his hair line, under the spike, the strands of the ribbon, when settled, reached the small of his back but became a rope when it was needed, a very rare and powerful gift from his fiancée; a mark that every Warrior looked down on since the other Warriors would wrap it up and tie it onto their belts.

Yuugi rolled his eyes but a small smile danced on his lip at the way his team, his gang, acted still so carefree, even after everything happened to them. Especially Jonouchi. He watched his best friend start getting into a mock fight with Honda as Téa dragged Ryou away, her eyes now covered by a dark purple hologram screen from the headset around her head, to track down the other S.H. group.

"Alright guys break it up," he finally said as Honda threw a punch that Jonouchi blocked with a small shield of magic. The two adults stopped and looked at their buddie as he crossed his arms to look at them with mock disappointment. "Honda you're with me," he pointed at the brunet Warrior before gesturing to himself.

Honda opened his mouth to retaliate as he looked at his fiancée before remembering that Yuugi told Jonouchi to take care of her. He knew that he was really the only one that knew how to fight and he nodded, sighing at the sad and knowing smile on the Paladin's face.

"Don't worry Honda," Jonouchi said as he slammed his arm onto the Warrior's shoulders, not hurting the brunet at all by his move. "I'll take care of chur Lover, Loverboy." He laughed as he moved and ducked the fist aimed at him because of his sentence.

"Honestly," Anzu said with her arms crossed under her breasts as she rolled her eyes to the bruised colored clouds. She rolled her head to Yuugi in time to see him smothering the giggles that threatened to be released. "It's like they expect me to break by just a cut. I may be a Healer but it's not like I'm defenseless Yuugi."

Said adult bit back a smile before saying his peace. "Anzu I know you can take care of yourself but just because you may think that you won't be seen or attacked because they might underestimate you doesn't mean that will happen. It might be because they see you as a weak defenseless girl that they try to kill you as easy prey." As Anzu was about to retaliate he held up a hand to cut her off so he could finish. "I know you aren't weak or can't protect yourself I just want to be on the safe side. We've lost one too many before," he said softly and Jonouchi stiffen beside her, "and I can't take that risk."

Anzu took in the crestfallen look on the normally happy smile on the Paladin's face and sighed before agreeing to the terms without another fight, though she didn't like it. She knew that before she was reinstated under Captain Paladin Yuugi Mutou's command something happened to the Shade Hunters Fire Phoenix Unit 16, or Phoenix16, team. The rumors around the team started after the death of their last Healer, Mai Valentine, who died in combat a month before Anzu was put as her replacement. The seven main high bosses of S.H. gave her a file on Mai so that she could understand what she was expected to do for her new team. She was probably the only one, besides Unit 16 and the seven head bosses, that really knew what had happened. The unit was doing a recon check over sector 8 where the rumors of Ice Dragons were reported enough for worry to make the S.H.s teams agree to take action to see if the rumors were true. As the Healer, Tracker and Researcher stayed back after they found a weak signal in sector 8 the Mage, Warrior, and Paladin went to go look for it a block away from where they stayed. Just as the group was splitting up they were attacked by three Ice Dragons and were surrounded. The group fought back when the dark creatures attacked and started to fall back on Mutou's orders when he saw that they didn't have enough supplies to keep fighting even if two dragons had fallen. It was then a Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon and a Invitation to a Dark Sleep came at them from behind and attacked the three non-fighters. Téa called for backup from Blood P.C. Unit 6 but by the time the group got there Mai was dead and the others not far behind. With the backup they were able to push the dark creatures back and got back to the base where Unit 16 stayed in the infirmary for nine months so that their internal, external, and spiritual injuries could heal.

When Anzu came back from her thoughts Yuugi, Honda, and Jonouchi were already moving down the street with her in tow. She looked at the blonde beside her with a solemn expression on her face as the Mage made a crude joke about her fiancé and their bed activities. Jonouchi was hit the hardest when the older Healer died. He was right in front of her when she was killed, fending off a blow from the last dragon until he heard her cry of pain making the Mage turn to see the Dark Sleep turn away to hit Ryou next as Mai turned around to face him. Her Spirit Bonded dark creature, Cyber Bondage Harpy Lady, seemed to be in a daze, not moving from under the Dark Sleep's power, and left her charge vulnerable to an attack. When the spirit was let go of the spell, backup had came and her master laid dead in her husband's arms as the Mage cried over her broken body. When the Researchers looked over her they found that the cause of her death was because of shadow flame magic that the Dark Sleep threw at her, eating away anything in its path as it made its way through her stomach—killing her slowly as she and Jonouchi said their last good-byes.

Anzu couldn't imagine what it would be like without Honda by her side and waking up to see his face before hers as she woke up to the next day so she couldn't possibly be able to imagine knowing that happy feeling of love only to have it ripped away right before her eyes. And really, she looked at her laughing lover; she never wanted to know, much less experience, it.

"Hey Anzu," Yuugi finally said, making the young brunet jump slightly from being broken from her thoughts. He saw the sad look that she gave Jonouchi after what he said and had a faint idea of what she was thinking. In the six years that he and his friends fought to stay alive he had seen too many deaths for him to handle but the hardest was when Miho and Mai died. He had never seen his two best friends so heartbroken before in his life when the love of their lives died. He knew that there was a big possibility that someone else might die because of his stupid mistake and he was barely keeping himself from breaking and just end all his suffering by just taking his life. But with the fact that he had to keep the rest of his family from dying stopped those thoughts before he could act on them. He lost too much and was barely trying to keep his team from dying anymore but he'd be damned if he lost someone else when he could do something to save them. It was what kept him going and that thought alone helped him become Paladin in the first place. "You okay?"

The brunet shook her head as she schooled her face into a calm expression but Yuugi wasn't fooled for a second and she knew it to when she saw the small frown in between his eyebrows. "It's nothing Yuugi-kun," she finally said when he didn't let her not say anything.

The frown deepened but he let a kind smile cross his face as he laid a hand on her shoulder in a caring gesture when he fell into step beside her. "You want to talk about it?" He whispered to her so that the other two wouldn't overhear.

She bit her lip and glanced at the caring look in amethyst orbs. She knew that her captain was the one in her group that would occasionally became the team's mother hen and go-to-advice man. He could tell when one of his team mates weren't acting right or something happened to the point where they couldn't handle it and tried to help in any way he could. It was why he was one of the best and his team was in the top three S.H. groups in the world. It was also why she smiled at him and told him that she was fine when she really wasn't. She got a frown at her response but he relent, knowing that it was not his business until it started to hinder her from her duties as a Healer and turned around to lead his team just as Téa and Ryou slipped in with a nod in the captain's direction.

"Otogi finally obeyed your orders but he says that there's nothing up there to fight." Téa said over the com. that they all used when they were close to their destination even though they were close together. That and it was still cool just to use a communicator though they would have to whisper so that their frequency wouldn't attract the wrong kind of attention. "Says it was a false alarm and that we're wasting our time."

Yuugi heard Jonouchi snort over the link and he could practically see the eye roll the blonde made. "Does dat cityboy think dat those fires started themselves?"

"Nope." Ryou said this time with a sigh, almost as if he was ashamed at what he was going to say next. "This time it's a left on stove that started the fire and no one noticed it until it burned three houses down."

Laughter crackled over the link from the group at the statement and they looked at the two with amused disbelief looks. Honda tried to calm himself enough to say the sentence he wanted to say but couldn't get enough air in to do so. "You have got to be kidding me!" He finally said though a little louder than necessary that got him a few hisses of pain. "Gomen, but really? Man and I thought Jou was dense."

"Hey!"

"Sorry Jou but that statement speaks for itself." Anzu said as she winced at the yell the blonde made but smiled when he turned to her in mocking horror.

"And I dought dat chu people were my friends!" He pouted and crossed his arms as they turned onto another street making them laugh at his expense.

"We are Jou-kun," Ryou said as he turned to him just as a familiar beep beep beep came from Téa's screen. Everyone went silent at the noise and tensed as the Tracker read the screen before her eyes quickly as it showed new information on what was coming up.

Yuugi motioned behind him to his team and they moved into a defensive stand with Tristan in the front with Yuugi, Jonouchi behind as he watched their back, and the three non-fighters in the middle, making a triangle with their backs as they hand a hand on their weapons. Jonouchi raised his fists and went through as much magic attacks that he could think of that didn't take too much of his energy but still made a good deal of damage. Honda already had his two pistols out as he watched the empty streets and dark alleyways for anything that was moving and Yuugi had his hand on his sword, already drawn it slightly as he waited for the enemy to pop out and fight.

After a few seconds of silence and Téa still looking through the information displayed Yuugi finally spoke the question on everyone's mind. "Can you figure out where they're coming from Téa?"

"It's weird," the brunet said as she fiddled with the screen, "I can't find their location. It's like they're here but not. It's so confusing…"

"Ain't for nothin' Téa but uh can chu give us one soon," Jonouchi said a bit shakily as his eyes darted from left to right and heard the Tracker let out a frustrated growl and he back tracked. "I know dat it takes skill to track a movin' object but I don't know about chu but I'd rather not be in the dark and actually see where my enemy is goin' to strike without any unpleasant surprises."

"Hey Jou," the Tracker hissed at him as she turned to him though he could see the glare aimed at his head. "Why don't you take that magical power you have and shove it right up your-!"

"Guys!" Anzu hissed over the com., cutting Téa off as she flashed the two a glare before turning around. "We're in the middle of a war here and we don't need to be at each other's throats. Now Jounouch-kun is right Téa; we need to know where the dark creature's movement is."

A sigh answered her before hearing a small noise and knew that she turned off her computer. "It's coming from 12 o'clock guys that much I can tell but there's an interference I can't seem to break enough for me to see exactly where. At one point it looked like we were surrounded on all sides but it disappeared before I could get a good reading on it."

"Then don't worry about it," Honda said as he relaxed, lowering his gun. "It's probably just glitching. The new tech they give us always do."

"How can it be gliching if I was the one that made it and have used it constantly without any glitches for this past month baka?"

"Well then maybe you used it too much so it's dying."

"I charged it last night!"

"Then maybe-"

"Maybe I should shove a grenade right up your-"

"Guys!" Ryou turned to glare at the arguing adults as his yell cut them off and they flinched at the loud noise. "This is getting us nowhere. We're in the field with dark creatures just waiting for us to slip up. You're 22-years-old. Act like one!"

Jonouchi looked behind him to see Téa and Honda glaring at each other, sparks practically flying, as Ryou glared at the two burnets. Anzu looked between the two and caught the Mage's eyes, seeing the 'why-me' look on the blonde's face and answered with a shrug. The Healer gazed over to her captain to see that he was still was ignoring the commotion between his team and hadn't relaxed his grip on his sword as if he was waiting for something to pop out and attack him.

"Hey guys," Anzu said to catch the arguing adult's attention. When they ignored her attempt in favor for the petty fight she spoke louder, making sure her voice was over the raised voices of her team mates. The argument died down and the adults turned to her to see she was watching Yuugii's back with a cool expression. "I don't think Yuugi agrees with it being a glitch."

They turned to see the Paladin still tensed as he looked around with a criticizing eye. Honda crouched a bit to be leveled with the Paladin and placed a hand on the tense shoulder in hopes of getting his attention. When the adult didn't make any movement of acknowledgement the Warrior looked worriedly at his friends before looking back at the unmoving captain. "Oi Yuugi, you in there?" Silence was his answer and he watched the roaming eyes before speaking again. "You really don't believe that we're surrounded…right?" Said adult ignored him, finishing his search to find nothing out of the ordinary but didn't relax in fear that he had missed something vital, and twitched his head slightly.

"Téa what does your reading say now?" Yuugi asked as he and the others backed away slowly from the street; the twitch being the signal to retreat from red zone.

The brunet raised an eyebrow but tapped the side of her headset and the purple screen flashed across her eyes again. She read the maps and popped up facts as the information glitched over and over again. "It's still glitching. One moment it shows that we're surrounded then the next it only shows scattered creatures but not anywhere close to us." She shrugged and sighed when the system glitched again, "maybe Hondas's right…"

The Warrior felt smug satisfaction and his smile said it all. "See I told you that-"

"How many are there?" Yuugi asked, cutting the brunet off and raised a hand to stop his unit as if he had heard something.

"Yug'," Jonouchi started as he turned back around to face the Paladin's back, "really-"

"Téa," the Paladin said sternly and the unit looked at their captain in shock. "How many are there?"

The Tracker fiddled with the computer with a grim expression as she bypass restriction codes the S.H. higher ups put on and rewired her hard drive so that it could stand on its own. After a few heart-stopping moments a smile broke out on her face in success at being able to get rid of the glitching problem until it died as the dreaded terror swept on her face with every word she read on the system.

Ryou placed a hand on her forearm and she flinched violently at the move, making the albino take back his hand but still looked at her. "Téa-kun?"

The Tracker flinched again at her name but not as violently, before answering the question underneath the question. "I can't get an exact number but it's over fifty," she nodded at the horror filled faces and looked back at the readings. "They're all around us and there's no way we can get out. All the roads to the base are blocked and if we try to make our own we'll be falling right into their grasp. There's no escape."

Anzu placed a hand over her mouth, covering a gasp, as she looked at the brunet in horror at the news. "There's so many…"

"Game over man," Jonouchi said as he took a few steps back before looking around and searched for any of the creatures that hid in the shadows. "Game over. Dere's no way we can defeat dat many and make it out alive."

Yuugi felt a grim smile come to his lips at the revaluation and held back a sigh of defeat. Jonouchi was right. The most they could defeat was 25 and that was if their enemy was level 4 or lower with only one Paladin, Mage, and Warrior in top form and had their other team mates somewhere safe so that they didn't get in the cross fire. But with over fifty monsters, the non-fighters with them, cut off from support and back up when they were surrounded was practically impossible. And that was if there were no attacks from above; that was just plain suicide. He bit back a growl of frustration and took a deep breath to stop his body from trembling with either anger or fear he didn't know but accepted the challenge. He tightened his grip on the amethyst sword and cleared his voice so he could keep it steady and gain his team's attention.

"What levels are they?" He asked, hoping the others wouldn't hear the crack in his voice. If there were any level six and above they were screwed so badly that he wouldn't even attempt to fight and try his hardest to get his team out.

Téa took a quick glance at the screen and relaxed some, unconsciously relaxing those around her as she looked at Yuugi. "Most are levels two and three, some levels four, one, and zero and even fewer level fives."

"Any aerial attacks?" Anna asked and let out a sigh of relief when she got a shake of the head from the Tracker.

"No aerial, no underground, and no magicians," she said as she turned off the computer and her blue eyes locked on to the Healer's with a smile. "It's good old fashion hand-to-hand, swords-to-sword, and claws-to-daggers attacks."

"Now there's only one question that remains," Ryou said as he looked up at the dark sky, his arms crossed as he braced himself on his legs, and felt the others look at him, waiting for him to continue. "Are we going to stay and fight or try to find a way back and hope we get there soon?" The Researcher looked back down to his friends and folded his arms over each other behind his back. "Either way we have to fight and hope Lady Luck will help us so we can survive. If we stay and fight we have a secure location and we don't have to worry about getting separated or any surprised attacks but we wouldn't have any escape route at all since we'll be too busy and we won't have time to do our jobs. On the other hand, if we leave we might be able to get away with a few injuries, have to fight a few times to get home and can get backup while we keep moving so they can't get our exact position but we will be picked off easily and be separated so that we become an easier target or we could run into a big party and then the rest of them get there while we fight and we'll be stuck in situation number one. Either way we fight but the differences are how much we have to fight and how long we have until the fight."

"If I had my way I'd rather meet dem on our choice den deir's so I say option two." Jonouchi said as he looked around, uneasy with the alleys around him and it showed as the mark on his neck glowed a bit along with his hands; a white-green glow surrounded his hands as his feelings called on his Air-Earth magick without his consciously knowing.

"But then we'll look like we have no backbone," Honda argued back. "We are an elite team. Numbered third in the entire world and under the best Paladin's command. We haven't met a dark creature that we haven't destroyed and three of us can call on a dark creature that is our bonded Spirit, something many of the S.H.s cannot do. And just when we're a little overwhelmed we turn tail and run? I say we stay and fight."

Anzu looked at her fiancé and Téa rounded on him, fury practically oozing out of her in her rage. "Little?! LITTLE?!" The Tracker stepped closer to him, trying to keep her anger in check or to not lash out at him. The other three looked at each other in hopes of someone having a plan to stop them and Yuugi listened as his unit took sides, letting out a barely heard sigh of disappointment.

"You think over fifty shadow monsters, the things that's been killing others left and right with just a third of their power, is a little overwhelming?!" She pushed her face into his, seeing his smug arrogance falter. "News flash! We don't have backup, can't even get them here, have to watch over three people that have little to no experience or even knowledge in fighting and barely have enough supplies to even heal 10 injuries! Take that into consideration before you say your opinion!"

Honda took a step back to get some room before defending his opinion. "But we have enough power and ammo to fight back long enough to get backup. If we call them now than they should-"

"Should, Honda," Ryou said, stepping in to say his two cents.

"Well they will!" The Warrior snapped out, "If we can fight them off long enough then that give Otogi-"

"And that is why so many people have died and six more will if we follow your plan Honda." Yuugi said quietly as he finally turned around and faced the surprised looks at the grim and monotone voice their captain had. His weary eyes locked onto his Warrior's and his lips were pressed into a hard line. "You tend to forget that your so called "backup" is one of the laziest units in the S.H. Organization which is why we're here; to pick up their slack and make sure the citizens are safe." He looked at his unit one by one, "if we rely on other people to do our work then we aren't doing our job and shouldn't even call ourselves the elite. Last time I relied on another person someone died," his voice got quiet, glancing at Jonouchi's stiff form before turning back to Honda, "and I'm not letting that happened again just because some hothead wanted to show off a few moves."

Honda flushed in anger and embarrassment, his mouth moving to say something but only achieved in looking like a gapping fish. Anzu sighed, shaking her head, before walking over and wrapping her arms around her fiancé from behind him, getting a hand placed over her arms. "So you agree with Jou-kun?" The Healer asked and Yuugi looked at her before nodding his consent. She sighed again before shaking her head. "This better work you hear," Anzu muttered under her breath and got three different snickers as her answer. "I say we save our energy and try to get out. It won't hurt to try but at least we'll be close enough to the base that, hopefully, someone will get off their lazy ass and help."

"I say we stay and fight since it's going to happen anyway and we have a secured place here so we should feel their auras." Ryou said in a tone that was meant for the sentence "Hey, nice weather we're having".

The others turned to the Tracker and she looked up at the stares. When she saw that all eyes were on her, waiting for her opinion, she shrugged and went back to playing with her dagger with an air of indifference. "I figured my fight with Honda said it all."

Yuugi nodded and reached behind his back, over his shoulder, for the sword and drew it out of its home and into his hand making the others draw out their own weapons. "Four out of six, we try to find an escape."

"Sir!"

And with that said he led his unit off the streets and up a nearby fire escape, checking to make sure no monsters were lurking in the shadows of their domain. He jumped, grabbing the latter and pulled it down, falling back to earth as he did. He nodded to Jonouchi, silently telling him that he was supposed to climb first and the blonde did, swiftly running up the metal stairs. Next, while Jonouchi climbed, he pointed at Anzu then Téa, Ryou and Honda last, telling them who was next to climb. The Healer nodded, showing that she understood, and waited for the signal Jonouchi would give if he felt it was safe for the others to come up.

"Okay," Yuugi heard the Mage say over the com. knowing that the blonde was looking around before he popped his head over the side of the building. He gave another last glace before looking down at his team mates and nodded, giving the waiting adults a wave as he did. "Da coast is clear and I can see da base close by. Maybe three to five miles."

"Three to five miles!" Honda yelped out before getting five glares for his loud voice and lowered his voice to a whisper. "How is that close?"

Anzu shrugged and grabbed ahold of the latter, "We've run longer than that beloved." When her fiancé didn't answer she looked up, catching Jonouchi's eyes with her movement and he lowered a hand, even though she was a while a way. "Coming up Jou-kun. Watch our backs as we do."

"No I'm just gonna let a monster come up and kill my friends while I sit by happily with a bowl of popcorn in my hands." Jonouchi gave her an 'are-you-kiddin'-me' look and she fought down a blush as she heard Yuugi snuffle a snicker at the sarcastic response and started up the latter with grace.

"Man what would I give to have that again?" Yuugi said, a dreamy look on his face as his voice carried the same dreamy quality.

"Hopefully not your life," Ryou jabbed as he snickered at the look his leader gave him for his comment, "Or our's too by the way."

"Get stuffed." Was his only answer and his team laughed at the pout on the Paladin's face.

When everyone gathered up the apartment building that was barely still standing, Yuugi started to run, jumping from roof to roof to the lone building in the middle of the town that was their base, the others follow behind but not as elegant. They kept low to the roof, crouching as much as they could while running, with the hope that the creatures dwelling below them won't hear as they jumped over them. It was endless, their target seeming never to get any closer as they tried to reach it, and Yuugi suddenly stopped just before he would jump, his team jumping over before realizing he wasn't there and they turned to him in question. He looked around with watchful eyes, feeling something off but couldn't figure out what, and looked back at his team as they waited for him to jump across. When the feeling didn't go away but still couldn't place why, he jumped across but didn't start running again, his team moving away to give him room to land before looking at him for the orders they knew would come.

"Téa you sure that there's no magicians or anything?" The tri-colored hair adult said with a quick glance around again before landing his gaze at the confused Tracker.

"Yes I'm sure," Téa said slowly so that he could see she was sure with her answer. Why did her leader think that she lied? Did he not trust her? "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know if you haven't noticed but the base hasn't gotten any closer and we haven't covered much ground." Yuugi's revelation made the others look at their destination and saw that the building had indeed not gotten closer even though they should have at least been halfway there by now.

"No my radar didn't pick up any magick residue or any spellcasters," Téa said, calculating how long they been running. "But you're right. If my calculations are correct we should have ran into a hoard or at least the base should be closer."

"Then what can…" Ryou trailed off and his eyes widen in horror, seeming to be looking over Yuugi an Anzu's shoulder and stepped back. His friends gave the albino confused looks as he started to shake to the point that Jonouchi went up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Ryou!" Jonouchi called and the albino jumped. "Man what's wrong?"

"There's only one other who call on so many monsters, still reality, and strike fear into someone's heart." Yuugi said softly as he put together why his friend was freaking out and fear filled him, making his blood race in his ears. The others stilled at what their leader was saying and Anzu turned to him with wide eyes.

"You don't mean…" Unshed tears threatened to fall from her eyes when she saw the answer floating in the amethyst eyes.

"Ah why isn't it my favorite S.H. unit," a sly voice said from behind the Paladin and silence fell on them before they turned around to see the one that haunted every child, teenager, woman, and men's dreams: nightmares. "I was hoping to meet my friends again. Phoenix Yuugi, a pleasure to see you again, in one piece. Does you ribs still hurt?"

Yuugi felt a snarl curl his lips as he glared at the insane adult and felt the old scar twitched as it knew it was being talked about, making him look at it before looking up with heated eyes. He moved the mouth piece of the headset he had away from his lips so he could talk without screaming in his team's ear. "Fine. How's burn mark on your back, Shade?" He smirked when the adult snarl back at him at the mark he left the last time they met.

"So where's the little blonde whore that dated your loser dog?" The adult practically hissed and watched as Téa and Honda held back a pissed off Jonouchi. Yuugi face twisted with rage before he smothered it back into a mask with a smirk-snarl.

"I thought that your little pawns told you what happened if not then ask them." Yuugi said with a shrug and glanced at the short haired brunet beside before looking back at the adult. "Not that I don't like this surprise massacre visit why are you here instead of your Castle of Darkness Marik?"

Yami Mariku smiled insanely at the Phoenix and crossed his arms as his dragon blood red wings kept him up float before them, two Red Skull birds flanking behind him. "To watch another one of your family members die before your eyes."

~So I, I won't be the one

Be the one to leave this

In pieces

And You

You will be alone

Alone with all your secrets

And regrets

Don't lie~

-In Pieces by Linkin Park; Minutes To Midnight