Here is chapter three. I'm sorry for the delay. I hope you enjoy it. We were trying to update on the solstice since that is when our story takes place but we failed. Anyway. This Fic is a collaboration project by two people. Myself and my friend Edhelwen.

This Chapter has been edited.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or anything related to it. And I also have nothing to do with Yu-Gi-Oh The Abridged Series. This fic is for entertainment purposes entirely.

"YEEAAARRGGGHHHH!" With a sweep of an arm several vials and flasks containing various chemicals smashed on the floor spilling their respective contents. Several of the chemicals reacted causing a mess of bubbles on the floor. Large boots stomped through the mess of broken glass and chemicals, pacing.

"What went wrong?" Melvin screamed at his texts books. Said books remained motionless on a table nearby. Melvin marched up to them and threw them off the table and onto the floor in his searing anger. "Everything should have gone as planned!" Some papers covered in notes fluttered to the floor. Melvin proceeded to shred one of his text books. Page by page, letting the shredded bits fall around the room. The destruction of his books would not fix his problems, but at the moment it was helping to ease his anger. "Where did I screw up? I read the texts carefully. I had all the right supplies, all my circles were perfectly written. I double checked all of them..." Melvin turned his eyes to the cut on his hand. All of them except the blood circle... the most important circle...

Violet eyes turned to the remains of the textbook he had just shredded. The text book that had belonged to his host. And the same textbook that had distracted him during his summoning ritual..."Fuck you Marik!" Melvin sent the cover of the textbook across the room and grabbed the nearest potentially dangerous object. With almost inhuman strength the dark soul sent a desk flying into a wall where it smashed into several pieces. "Worthless, decrepit human creations!" I'll have to wait six months to send those failures back to their own time. In the mean time, I'll have to get the materials to reconstruct the first ritual, and another set of materials entirely to perform the spell to send the failures back. Melvin irritably looked around the interior of his laboratory. His job as a college professor in Egyptian history, culture and language, was a good job, but he did not make enough money to support frivolous spending, such as buying large amounts of ritual materials. Most of which were black market. And now he would have to clean up and pay for all the damage he caused in the chemistry lab that he had decided to throw a tantrum in. I can't afford to be fired over this...

Several hours later, Melvin finished cleaning up the last bit of shattered glass. After dumping the remains of his lost temper into the trash, he tied the bag full of broken glass and chemical soaked rags and carried it out of the building where he discarded it into a dumpster. Melvin then assessed his own apparel and finally noticed he was still only clothed in a simple sarong. Not exactly clothing deemed appropriate in modern society. Returning to the building, he stopped by his office and changed into his more professional college professor attire. After fastening the last button he clicked off the desk light and left his office, locking the door tightly behind him. Melvin noted the runes and symbols still marking his body and opted for a shower when he got back to his apartment.

Melvin's daily transportation was heavily influenced by is hikari. As the dark soul exited the building and made his way across the parking lot, he quickly started towards a lone black motorcycle in the corner of the parking lot. Because he was a member of the university's faculty, he was required to set a good example and wear a helmet, But Melvin rarely obeyed laws. Instead he climbed on his bike, started the engine, and revved it just for the thrill. With one last glance back at the building where his ritual had been carried out almost five hours prior, Melvin left. His gaze flickered to the sky monetarily and he noted that it was getting light, so dawn must be approaching. The stupid students were all on winter break at the moment... So nobody would be around to pester Melvin for at least a little while.

The clouds above started to dissipate as the aura of magic had passed many hours before. Between the cloud cover the pinks and oranges peeked with the coming of dawn. Melvin's motorcycle sped down the quiet streets toward the more run-down part of the city. After taking several dark and creepy side streets the Dark Soul came to a stop in front of a very old and gray apartment building. The neighborhood in general was very dark and there were broken and unusable cars helter-skelter in front of other buildings. Several shady people could be seen loitering around, but Melvin didn't care. He was used to the dismal surroundings and the threat of strangers was almost non-existent to him. After a month in the area, Melvin had been considered too crazy and violent to approach.

As if to emphasize the fact that he was crazy, he opened the door to the apartment building's maintenance room and wheeled his motorcycle inside. The inside of the room was empty except for several boxes of tools and a work station. Inside Melvin used a chain to lock up his bike before leaving and locking the door securely. He had long ago claimed that room for his own personal workspace. The owner of the building no longer paid for a maintenance man, so it was now used as a storage place for Melvin's bike as well as a spot to fix it if anything ever went wrong. Melvin made sure to lock the door to the room tightly, then he climbed the many floors to his own apartment where he all but crashed the moment he got in the door. Tossing his things about, the tired man flopped himself on the couch and decided on a nap. He did not bother to lock his own apartment door. He had no fear of assault or robbery, anyone miles around would think twice before messing with him.

0000

Yugi blinked awake. He realized belatedly that he must have dosed off and glanced at the clock on the wall. It read 11:00 in the morning and the boy jumped with a yelp. "Ryou I'm late for class!" Yugi glanced at Ryou who was sleeping in a chair nearby. The white-haired boy also woke with all the noise Yugi was making. Yugi spared a look at Atem who had fallen asleep on the couch looking quite peaceful.

"You don't have class today. We're on break remember?" Ryou stretched his cramped muscles and sat up. It took him a few moments to remember why he was in a chair but as he slowly came to, he noticed that Bakura was not where Ryou had left him earlier. "Do you know where Bakura went?"

Yugi stopped running around the living room and looked around for the thief. There was no sign of him anywhere, and for some reason that unnerved the boy. "Maybe he went to a different room?" Both Ryou and Yugi began to scour the apartment. They peered into the kitchen but no thief king. Next the bathroom and still nothing. They finally came to Ryou's Room to find Bakura trying to figure out how to take off the shiny handles on Ryou's dresser. The thief had already managed to pull all the clothes out of the dresser, including all of his underwear. So far one knob was missing and Bakura was making short work of the second. He looked up as Ryou and Yugi entered the room.

"Hey! what do you think you're doing?" Yelled Ryou. He ran up to Bakura and tried push him away from the he dresser but the thief was surprisingly hard to move so his efforts proved useless. Yugi just stood in the doorway not really sure what to do. "Stop that!" Ryou latched onto Bakura's arm in an attempt to get the thief to stop vandalizing his property. Bakura just gave the boy a bored look and grabbed his wrist. Ryou winced as slight pain coursed through his arm from Bakura's strong grip. The thief said something to him in Egyptian, and it sounded quite snide. Irritation overcame the white-haired boy and he reached into his pocket for his butter knife only to come to the realization that it was no longer there.

Sharp white teeth flashed and the Thief King sneered down at his little victim. With a twirl of his fingers he produced the boy's butter knife and flaunted it before his eyes.

"Hey!" yelped Ryou. He snatched at the knife but Bakura held it out of reach. "Bakura! Give that back!" The thief blinked a moment in surprise. "Bakura!"

"Ba-koorah?" asked Touzouku a little confused. He grabbed Ryou's other hand as the boy made another snatch at the knife. He then nodded at his look-alike, "Ba-koorah?"

Ryou looked a little startled and struggled to get free when Bakura grabbed his other wrist. "Well, yeah. I'm Bakura too, but so are you!" Ryou clarified uselessly. He nodded towards the thief in return. "Bakura." he said pointedly.

Touzouku, shook his head as he realized the boy was calling him "Ba-koorah." That was not right. The boy should learn to address him properly, by his name. "Akeifa" He released the demon's wrist and pointed to his own chest. "Akeifa." Then he pointed to Ryou, and raised an eyebrow.

Ryou fixed the thief with a very curious look. Bakura had never told him his real name when he had inhabited his body for so many years. And not a full day with the "Thief King" himself and Ryou was already being told the handsome Egyptian's name. When he realized that "Akeifa" was inquiring Ryou's name now, he struggled to swallow a noticeable gulp and said simply, "Ryou." With his free hand he gestured at Yugi, who was still in the doorway to the bedroom watching the two white-haired men with a worried gaze. "Yugi." Ryou said in assumption that the thief would understand.

Akeifa looked up seeming to notice Yugi for the first time. He scowled and pointed at the boy with multi-colored hair. "Pharaoh spawn!" he spat in Egyptian. He tossed Ryou's butter knife at the boy, and Yugi just barely dodged.

Ryou grabbed Akeifa's arm in an attempt to prevent him from throwing the knife at Yugi but it was too late. Yugi recovered from his dodge and whined at Akeifa with anger. "I am not!" He picked up the butter knife while he was at it and denied Akeifa's accusation again but this time in Egyptian.

"What did he say?" asked Ryou.

"He called me, Pharaoh spawn." explained Yugi, his voice still whining.

Akeifa sniffed and released Ryou completely. Ryou stumbled back away from the thief and glared. As if to spite his demon Akeifa pocketed the dresser knob and marched out of the room. Both boys watched as the thief left and wondered vaguely who exactly won this little spat. After all it was Akeifa who still had the handle to Ryou's dresser.

0000

Yugi glanced up at the sky, the gray ominous clouds hung over head, and he felt a drop of rain splash against his cheek. He was determined to make it back to the apartment before it started to completely downpour. He crossed over several streets and darted between cars while balancing two bags of groceries. Yugi was two streets from his and Ryou's apartment building when his foot caught a curb and he dumped one of his bags as he fell.

"Uwah!" Yugi let out a startled sound as he hit the ground. His knee hit the pavement pretty hard and as pain coursed through his leg he knew it was probably bloody. After a moment Yugi climbed to his feet and grabbed up the groceries scattered across the pavement. He limped the rest of the way home, and as he reached the apartment door his arms were aching and he could feel the blood running down his leg. Upon making it to the door he thumped his shoulder against it several times in a sad attempt at knocking.

The response Yugi got was somebody yelling angrily in Egyptian and Ryou yelling, "I'll get it!" and then the door opened and Yugi stumbled inside. Ryou stared him but was silent as the disheveled boy limped into the kitchen and placed the groceries on the table. That being done Yugi collapsed in a chair just in time to hear the downpour start outside. His eyes glanced over at the window and observed the rain that fell noisily from the gray sky.

Ryou shut the door and followed Yugi into the kitchen. "What happened out there?" he bestowed Yugi with a worried expression and started unpacking the grocery bags so he could put away the food.

"I fell." mumbled Yugi in response. He looked worn out and he rested his face on table.

Ryou fixed his friend with a skeptical look. Yugi was wearing capris so Ryou was quick to notice the thin trail of blood running down his friend's leg. "I believe you might want to clean up that leg. The first aid kit is still in the living room." Ryou put several vegetables in the fridge, and bent over to store a box of cereal in one of the cupboards. "Atem's hungry and I think he wants a bath."

"Why can't you deal with him?" grumbled Yugi. "I just got home."

"Because he won't let me near him. He keeps pushing me away and scratching at me." Ryou stood up straight, placed his hands on his hips indignantly and blew a lock of white hair out of his face. "And whenever I try and talk to him he always interrupts me saying, 'Yougi.' So now he's your problem. Besides I still have Bak- I mean Akeifa that I have to deal with." At the mention of the thief both boys glanced towards the other end of the apartment wondering what he was up to.

Yugi wandered into the living room where he was assaulted by a demanding stare the moment he passed the threshold. Crimson eyes followed his every movement as he fished around the first aid kit and obtained the disinfectant wipe so he could clean his knee. Yugi sat down next to Atem's feet where he could still feel the glare piercing him, and began to wipe the blood off of his leg.

Without warning Yugi was forced off the couch and found himself on the floor. He blinked a couple of times before fixing Atem with a glare, accusation blatantly apparent in his eyes. Atem just gave him a look that told Yugi plain as day that he was filth and had no right sitting on the couch that the Pharaoh was currently occupying. As retaliation a pink tongue shot out from between Yugi's lips as he blew a raspberry at Atem.

*SLAP!*

Wide bright eyes blinked several times and Yugi recoiled from a sharp blow. Atem had slapped him quite painfully across the side of his face and the boy had subsequently bit his tongue. Now Atem was yelling at him and gesticulating wildly. A giggle from the doorway made Yugi turn his head, he found Ryou watching while holding a tray of soup and sandwiches. Yugi narrowed his eyes at the albino and was about to open his mouth to say something when he was kicked in the back and sent sprawling on the floor.

"For the love of God! Stop doing that!" He turned and kicked the couch that Atem was laying on. The pharaoh only glared at him with his arms crossed over his chest. Yugi got up as Ryou came over a placed the tray on the coffee table.

"I made sandwiches and soup just before you came home. But you are going to have to feed his highness yourself." Explained Ryou, he was smiling.

Growling under his breath, Yugi grabbed a sandwich off the platter. He approached Atem and held out the sandwich in offering.

Atem looked at the sandwich, then he looked at yugi, then back at the sandwich. After several moments he reluctantly opened his mouth.

Yugi's eyebrows lowered into a glower and Ryou busted out laughing. The whitette doubled over holding his sides and enjoying this predicament. "You can't be serious!" Whined Yugi. He bent forward and put the sandwich to the Pharaoh's lips and waited for the Pharaoh to take a bite. For a moment Yugi's eyes met Atem's but the eye contact was broken as the Pharaoh struck him again.

"Avert your eyes!" Ordered Atem in Egyptian. The pharaoh watched as the demon's eyes obediently turned away. "Down on your knees!" The demon seemed slightly puzzled with his next order, and made a funny face, but after several moments the demon lowered itself onto it's knees before the Pharaoh and held the sandwich up to him. Satisfied with his new servant's obedience, Atem began eating. He did however glare at the white haired demon and motioned for it to leave his presence.

Ryou took the hint. "Have fun with your master Yugi." He teased. Ryou didn't miss the sight of Yugi's face flushed bright pink with embarrassment as he exited the room in search of Akeifa. He found the mischievous bastard in the bathtub attempting to remove the shower nozzles unsuccessfully. Ryou marched in a slapped the thief's hand and told him "NO!" as if he were a bad dog. That seemed to irritate the thief and he grabbed at Ryou but failed as his bare feet slipped on the slick surface of the tub and Akeifa was sent tumbling forward grasping at the shower curtain for stability.

After several loud crashes and a series of sharp popping sounds as the shower curtain was torn from it's rings, Ryou found himself pinned to the floor by Akeifa's heavy and finely muscled half naked body. Ryou's faced turned a bright red and struggled in vain to free himself. The thief pushed up onto his hands and knees but kept Ryou pinned to the ground with his hands on to the boy's wrists. "So weak. You cannot even free yourself." Akeifa laughed at Ryou who continued to struggle not understanding a word his capture said.

Ryou used his strength and tried to force the thief off of him, struggling awkwardly he tried to brace his heels against the floor for leverage. This caused the boy to thrust his body against Akeifa's awkwardly. A sharp intake of breath was the thief's only response, and Ryou was quick to realize his grave mistake.

Akeifa recovered himself and glared down at Ryou. He spoke quickly and quietly, his voice low and questioning. "What kind of demon are you? A curse? A bond? You certainly are not a demon of destruction. You are too weak, too feminine, so slight, and too clean. Your touch is so gentle, almost... like... like... seduction..." Akeifa's eyes widened and he suddenly stiffened, almost as if he felt snake bite, the thief rolled off of Ryou. In his throat he growled, and he pulled himself to his feet stomping out of the bathroom.

The white haired boy sat up and watched the door where the thief had exited. Ryou had not understood a single word, and yet their was something about Akeifa's tone, and the look in his malicious eyes. There was a loneliness in his chest that made him miss Bakura, and yet their was something about the thief king that was alluring. His presence was almost comforting, and that felt so wrong to Ryou, on so many different levels.

Atem raised his head when he heard Touzouku come stomping into the living room. The thief scrutinized both the Pharaoh and his demon, said demon was currently feeding Atem soup one spoonful at a time. Akeifa made a face of complete disgust and left back the way he came. He passed right by the bathroom, which his own demon was occupying, and entered the door farthest down the hall. This room was the one he had been in earlier, in his quest to acquire the interesting looking handles on the wooden cabinet with drawers. He flopped himself down on the soft bed, with the blue and white striped bed clothes, and dug his fingers into the fabric.

As the thief buried his face into the bed a sudden scent claimed his senses, and he sat up recoiling from the surface of the bed. It was that demon's scent... all over the bed. Akeifa's eyes scanned the room and the surrounding objects in it's interior. He was almost surprised to realize that everything in the room caused him to think of that demon. He let out another frustrated growl and hid his face into the fabric again. He was hungry and irritated and he felt confined. And confinement was something the thief hated with a severe passion. He rolled around a bit in frustration before curling up and falling asleep.

Ryou had just finished rehanging the bath curtain when Yugi came to the door of the bathroom with a regal looking Atem on his back. The pharaoh had one hand buried in Yugi's hair gripping the locks tightly with his fingers, the other was gripping the boy's shoulder so as to keep stable. Yugi had both of his hands behind him holding the pharaoh up in what was commonly known as a piggyback position, but he was far from excited about it.

"He wants his bath now." stated Yugi. Ryou blinked at him before stepping out of the way and letting the two spiky haired men into the bathroom.

Ryou gave Yugi a meek smile, "I'd love to help but this job is for 'Pharaoh spawn' exclusively I'm afraid. Have fun." He shut the bathroom door before Yugi could come back with a retort.

Yugi glowered at the door, but a painful pulling of his hair brought him back to the situation at hand. As gently as he possibly could Yugi lowered the Pharaoh from his back to a sitting position on the counter top next to the sink. He had briefly contemplated having Atem sit on the toilet but figured his highness would find it below him. Atem watched him intently as he scurried about the bathroom preparing the bath. It wasn't long and Yugi had drawn the bathtub full of water, several fluffy yellow towels and a washcloth were placed on a stool nearby, and a selection of melon scented shampoos and a bar of soap were moved from their place on the shelf to the edge of the bathtub.

With everything in place Yugi stood in front of Atem in order to help him into the bath. Atem's pharaoh apparel was already quite revealing, and he had no Idea how he was gonna do this. "Bath ready." he stated in Egyptian. Atem just looked at him plainly before turning his eyes to the bath and then back to Yugi

"Temperature," Atem said back to him as if it was an obvious detail.

"Right," Yugi said to himself, he scurried over to the bath tub, snatched a cup off one of the shelves, and dipped it into the water. Careful to keep his eyes averted of the Pharaoh's, Yugi held out the cup of water to him and waited. After a moments hesitation Atem dipped his hand into the water and tested the temperature.

The Pharaoh's mouth turned down in a frown. "Too cold," he said. He watched as the demon sighed and returned to the bathtub. The demon messed around with the knobs on the wall and made more water pour into the bathtub, moments later he returned with the cup refilled. Atem tested this water and even though it was perfect, he knocked it from the demon's hands and told him to make it warmer. Again the demon adjusted the water, returned with a cup full, and very reluctantly the Pharaoh gave his approval.

After gaining the Pharaoh's approval on the water temperature Yugi gestured to the bathtub and smiled. His smile faltered when Atem only stared at the bath water. Absently Yugi twiddled his thumbs, he didn't have the words to accurately tell Atem that the bathtub was alright, not to mention that he wasn't even sure what the Pharaoh's problem was in the first place. It was almost as if the pharaoh was waiting for something.

Several minutes passed and finally Atem moved himself from the counter top to stand on his good leg. He winced slightly in pain but was able to bite it back. He took another moment to compose himself then turned his head to the side and commanded, "Undress me, demon."

There you have it. I don't know when chapter 4 will be out, but i'm gonna try and work on it as quickly as I can. Yes I know Atem is being a bitch, but he IS Pharaoh so he kinda can be. ^^ Reviews make my friend Edhelwen very happy. She's not a confident writer, so if you want to read more, well... reviews certainly inspire her to write. And I can't write this fic without her help.