"Tristan, Tea, Joey..." Yugi said in a sad voice.
He leapt over the counter next to Grandpa, who was startled by this action.
"No..." he said again, with his face and hands pressed up against the screen.
"I need more time!" he shouted at the TV. He pounded his fist on the screen fiercely, "The week isn't over yet! I should still have time!"
he took a breath, and broke into tears. "It can't happen yet!" he said in a sob, collapsing on the ground.
Yami and Grandpa stared at Yugi, unsure of what he meant.
Grandpa was the first to break the silence.
"Yugi... whats all this about?" he asked, "What do you mean by 'it can't happen yet?"
Yugi didn't answer; and the Spirit though concerned, faded back into the Millennium Puzzle.
Yami was clearly worried about Yugi, but not only that, he was also worried about the safety of his friends who were being held captive.
What is Yugi planning to do? Yami thought. He's never acted this shaken up before... and his friends don't seem to be in near as much danger as any of the other times...
Yugi had stopped crying by now, falling silent.
Grandpa didn't move all the while, but as soon as Yugi moved, he shifted away to give him more space.
Yugi headed out of the Game Shop, not saying another word until Yami came back out of the Millennium Puzzle. Yami didn't say anything either, he just looked worried.
Oh I knew I would worry him! Yugi thought in dispair, but that should be the least of my problems right now... I still have to deal with a whole other situation that Yami doesn't even know about. And I don't care to tell him... I have to take care of it before he starts investigating, and asking questions...
He turned away, avoiding eye contact.
Yami looked at Yugi, a question forming in his mind.
"Yugi, what do you plan to do? I mean... your friends..." he asked, but Yugi just shook his head, clearly reluctant to tell the Pharaoh anything.
Yugi turned on a different street that connected to an alleyway; and, as far as Yami knew, this was another way to get to Yugi's school. It was very unfamiliar though, and it was dark and mysterious. It made him uncomfortable.
"Yugi... Please... I want to help you..." The Pharaoh urged, but Yugi shook his head again, avoiding all the questions that Yami was going to ask. He knew what was coming.
"No spirit. You can't help me. And even if I told you what was wrong, it wouldn't make any difference, it's already too late." Yugi said.
Yami frowned, now sure that there was something wrong.
"Yugi-" he broke off; they had turned down the alleyway some time ago, but it seemed like they weren't getting any closer to the other side.
"Yugi, can we... walk a little faster?" Yami asked, starting to feel a build up of adrenaline.
Yugi looked at him briefly, but did what he said, and sped his pace a little. It had no effect.
Yugi seemed to catch on what Yami was worried about, and it sent him into a little panic.
He immediately stopped, and turned around, running back the way he had come.
Still, no effect. They weren't getting anywhere.
Yugi stopped now, looking at both exits to the alley.
He had a feeling something was about to happen... and he knew he wasn't going to like it.
This was when a black-hooded man stepped out of the shadows. Yugi immediately recognized him, but he could tell from the look Yami had given him that Yami was startled,
Things really aren't going our way today. It's the perfect place for that man to be, and a perfect place to intercept us! i'm sure this has something to do with what Yugi said earlier!
Yugi's breathing quickened, even though he knew who this man was, he was afraid of him.
Yami looked at Yugi, and seeing his frightened face was enough to convince him that this wasn't something that Yugi expected, let alone wanted.
"Yugi, let me take over now." the Pharaoh said, but Yugi shook his head again; and Yugi knew full well that the spirit could probably help in this situation, but he knew that, even in this situation, this very situation that he knew would come, that the spirit would be in danger.
"No Pharaoh, this is something that I have to do." Yugi told him.
Yami didn't like seeing Yugi in such a panic, whenever Yugi was like this Yami always took over. The Pharaoh felt it was his job to protect his friend, and having Yugi deny this scared Yami. He didn't know what to do, or how to help Yugi. They never had a situation like this when Yami was denied entrance to Yugi's body when Yugi was in danger. Maybe he's trying to protect me? no. I know that he would, but this isn't the case, there seems to be a lot more going on here than I can see. Yami thought.
Then, a wave of sorrow swept over the Pharaoh. He didn't want Yugi in danger, he simply couldn't let Yugi do this to himself. Yami took a breath, knowing full well that Yugi would dislike what he was about to do, but he saw no other choice in the matter.
Yugi was staring at the hooded man, to scared to notice, let alone think about what Yami might do now.
When Yami saw the lack of attention towards him, he took this advantage to force Yugi's soul out of his body so that he could take control. In a blink of an eye, Yugi was the spirit next to Yami, and Yami was now in control of Yugi's body.
Yugi drew a sharp breath in fear. "Yami! what did you do!?" he exclaimed.
"Yugi, i'm protecting you, I saw no other choice, and I'm sorry for that, but let me handle this." Yami told Yugi.
Yami turned his attention towards the man in black, taking a protective stance.
Yugi, now helpless, shook his head quickly. "You can't-" he was cut off by the man, of course, the man wouldn't have known that he had interrupted a conversation between two people... but then again...
"Well, Yugi, if you have quite finished arguing with, maybe we can get on with our business." the man said.
The Pharaoh raised an eyebrow, business? what business does a guy like this, have with Yugi?
"What do you want with Yugi!?" he shouted at him.
The man blinked in surprise. "Oh, then my assumptions were correct. Still, however, I was just being safe. Your the famous Pharaoh that my master's been raving about. The famous Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle, said to be the spirit of an Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh who ruled over Egypt. the question everyone's been asking is why you are still here, and how." he said.
The man had a big grin on his face, and to Yugi's horror, he took a step towards the Pharaoh with an outstretched hand.
"No matter... your soul should be just as good as Yugi's..."
Yugi knew exactly what that man was going to do, and he knew he had to act quickly. Using all his might, Yugi fought hard to gain control of his body back.
"Yami! Let me back in, please!" he shouted.
Yami knew that the man was a growing threat with each passing second, but he couldn't ignore the look of desperation in his young friends eyes. He couldn't help but think that Yugi knew a way out of this situation. Yami was clearly at a loss of words, but he sighed and gave control back to Yugi, and Yami's spirit was once more pushed from Yugi's body.
"Be very careful Yugi." he said.
The man seemed to have noticed the change, for Yugi's face looked younger and more inexperenced than Yami's did.
The Pharaoh was standing next to Yugi, though the man didn't see him, Yami glared at him with anger.
"Yugi, I'm right here if you need me." he told Yugi.
The man paused, causing Yugi's attention to swivel back towards him.
Before Yugi could say anything, the man took another step forward. "Well. Yugi Muto. You've finally showed your face." he said.
Yugi glared at the man. "What do you want H-"
"Don't say my name!" the man interrupted. "Otherwise I'd have to tell Mira." he hissed.
Yugi didn't move a muscle, but Yami had flinched under his harsh tone towards his young friend. But what surprised him was the fact that Yugi didn't flinch at all, he was sure that if he flinched, Yugi would have done the same, but clearly he was wrong. Maybe i've underestimated him too much. Yami thought.
Yugi was the one to take a step forward this time.
"At least Mira would let me say her name... and she gets to the point a lot quicker than you can." Yugi spit back.
Yami admired Yugi's bravery, especially against a tall bulky man like this.
But who is this Mira person? Yami thought suddenly, could it be possible that these two have met before? then a sudden realization came to him. That day... the day that he said he wanted to have time alone, the one day he purposefully left the Millennium Puzzle in his grandfather's care... could it be possible that all of this happened on that one day? he shuddered. That would mean that Yugi didn't just want to be alone, he wanted to get away from everyone so that he could sort things out himself.
He thought about Tea, Tristan, and Joey. Where were they when all of this happened? he thought, but then a thought flashed across his mind. Tea, Tristan, and Joey are all still in great danger!
He put a hand on Yugi's shoulder, careful to not break his concentration that he was trying so hard to keep.
"Yugi, please remember that Tea, Tristan, and Joey are still in great danger! we have to help them as fast as we can." he said, but to the Pharaoh's surprise, Yugi ignored him.
What? did I do something wrong? why is he ignoring me? Yami thought.
The man scowled at Yugi. "Mira is no where near as nice as you'd like to believe Yugi; in fact, she even told me to come here today, she said that your time was up." he said.
Yugi's eyes widened.
"But thats impossible! I have one more day! Time's not up yet! Please! let me finish!" he said urgently, his fierce outer confidence shattering.
Time? the Pharaoh thought. Time enough for what?
The man shook his head. "Oh Yugi, we told you time was limited to your decision, and your actions." he said. "Time is simply, up for you. We told you that you had a certain number of days to bring him in... and yet you denied and fought against it.
It was no fault of ours that you stumbled across us... Things were made very simple upon your arrival that day..."
