As Atem walked down the dark hall, the first thing he noticed in the kitchen was the light. He brightened slightly- obviously someone was awake even though it was likely midnight-one in the morning, but when he noticed it was Malik sitting there his cheer faded. Malik didn't look very good. In fact, the teen thought as he entered the room, he seemed worried.
Atem winced inwardly, hesitant to start any conversation. His memory was still foggy. Blurred, and faded from the instinct driven fight. He couldn't remember if he'd 'won' or 'lost'... But nonetheless, as he stood by the door, he coughed to get the blond's attention. "Is... Is everyone alright? I," he frowned slightly as the teen looked up in surprise, turning away. "I don't completely remember what happened when I..." The teen trailed off, biting his cheek. He'd rather not remember that side of himself, to tell the truth...
"Oh," Malik blinked, standing up from where he'd been sitting. He'd thought that Atem would still be recovering honestly- it'd only been maybe... An hour since the others left? "Yea... You didn't do anything, aside from give Bakura a hard time. The others are fine... Well, Joey WAS fine..." He trailed off, folding his hands as he awkwardly used the past tense while turning away.
His eyes widened, and he frowned. "Was..?" Walking over to the table, the former pharaoh resisted the urge to grab Malik's shoulders as he pressed the matter further. "What do you mean, 'was'," he said, stumbling just slightly at the thought of the worst that could have happened. "If I didn't do anything, then how could Joey be injured after the fact?" As an intense look of guilt came over him, he tensed at the sight of Malik drawing back slightly. Calming down a little, he clarified. "If I was dealt with... What did I do," he asked, tone all to serious.
Malik sighed, hand on his head before looking back at Atem and rolling his eyes. "You didn't DO anything Atem, it's fine... It's just..." He sighed again. He was way too tired to deal with any of this... But the fact was, he couldn't sleep without knowing just what happened in the Shadow Realm. "If anything, it's probably my fault," he added as an afterthought, thinking back to what Bakura said about 'Marik'.
The taller of the two frowned, staring at Malik with worried eyes. "What do you mean?" That couldn't be right... There was nothing that he could have done, even unintentional in the time he was unconscious, at least he thought not... "You can't have... You wouldn't have done anything to the others, and certainly not on purpose..." Whatever it was, he thought, it couldn't be much. He hoped at least. "What happened," he finally asked, watching as Malik tensed slightly.
"The mu- ...Errm..." He took a deep breath, calming himself down as he turned his eyes away. "Well... Joey got shadow poisoning so, ah... Bakura took him and Kaiba to the shadow realm..." His sentence quickly faded into a sound scarcely above a whisper, the teen looking down guiltily.
Though he couldn't see the blank, if not slowly comprehending expression on Atem's face, he had a feeling that if he could it would be incredibly stiff at the moment. "Shadow... Poisoning..." Malik looked up, and blinked as Atem muttered something about sitting down somewhere before leaving the room.
"Er, Atem..?" The teen set out after him, eventually finding him 'perched' on the windowsill outside his room. The window was locked, so he wouldn't be able to pull him in or anything... But as he looked at the obviously guilt-ed and miserable Egyptian on the ledge, he sighed. From what he could tell from the mutterings, he was blaming himself... "Come on Pharaoh," he said, hoping to at least get some kind of reaction from the teen, "It's not your fault in anyway!" Quite honestly, he told himself with a mental sigh, he'd been expecting a calmer reaction. Something like 'The Shadow Realm? Huh?' or even 'Kaiba? Why is he here?'. Instead... "If anything it's mine Atem, just stop blaming yourself alright..." Completely. Unexpected.
Atem however, simply continued holding his head in his hands. "It is! I should have felt something, even just a spec when he came into the room!" As he slumped on the window ledge, he turned to look up at the sky, rain still pouring down. "But instead... It got so bad that Bakura chose to bring him to the source..." He shuddered, turning his head to look out at the road before continuing. "And that would mean he was spitting shadows... If I'd caught it before then, I could have fixed this, and I know that this didn't happen until I went berserk on the roof..." There was another sigh, and he looked down, looking all too pathetic with the rain soaking him. "For all I know, he reached that point as a reaction to my going berserk anyways."
He gritted his teeth, before shouting at the 'ex-pharaoh' through the window. "Well at least you aren't the one who triggered it in the first place," he shouted, voice heavily laced with guilt. "Unless you forgot what starts the poisoning in the first place!" By this point Malik felt like sitting in a corner like Joey had been and just forgetting everything. He didn't sign up for this crap... Why couldn't Atem have waited another thousand years to appear, leave him to live underground for his life like every other ancestor of his.
As he leaned against the window and slumped to the ground, his answer was a guilty look from the ledge, and a comforting blanket of feathers.
After the shadowy being appeared, Bakura decided it would be prudent to stay just a few paces away from him. It seemed to hover almost protectively above Joey's body, sending an odd, disembodied glare at the thief. Deciding not to let that fact bother him, h merely smirked and looked back at the dog's body. "So he really IS a mutt," he said with a smirk, watching as the dust cloud raised a nonexistent eyebrow.
"Heh..?" It frowned, or at least came as close as it could having nothing but emptiness between the clouds for eyes and a mouth. "What the heck are yah talkin' about?" It looked down at Joey for a moment, before back to Bakura as though deep in thought. "Right," he said, making an odd coughing sound. "That. Well, it's not so surprising to me, he said with a grin, before laughing loudly. "I've been staring at that thing for 19 years total buddy!" Idly, he wondered if the being would have crossed his arms if it had any. As it was, all it had other than his enormous 'head' was a pair of clawed hands if they could be called that.
The theif snickered to himself, smirking. "19 whole years? I feel very, VERY sorry for you then." Though it begged the question as to who this was...
The shadow flared, resembling an odd cloud of flames. "Pffft! At least I wasn't stuck in a gold ring for three thousand years! I'm just an accessory to the kid's soul," he shouted, Bakura assuming that 'the kid' was refering to Joey. "What's your excuse pal?" The thief frowned just slightly as the thing said this. So this 'shadow' had access to Joey's memories? And what did he mean by 'accessory'... He frowned, briefly wondering how being a part of Joey's soul gave him a completely separate personality.
"Have you ever heard of 'Zorc'," he asked with a slightly curious tone, still frowning slightly as the shadow cocked it's head.
"Zorc," he said, closing his eyes as he drifted off into thought. "Oh yeaaa... That's the guy with the dragon dick!" How quaint, Bakura thought with a smirk as the shadow continued. "Gave the kid some serious willies, let me tell yah! Nightmares for- Waiiiiiit wait wait!" It flared again, resuming an incredibly defensive stance of sorts around Joey again. "Why the hell am I telling you this! I'm on tah you whitey! You stay away yah creep!" The thief flinched, scowling at the term 'whitey' as the shadow continued in his rant. "This kid's my charge, got it pal? MINE! Only one who's ever gonna wield me in battle, got it? Mine mine mine!"
Possesive little bugger, he thought with a glare. Though if the comment on being 'wielded' was any sign, it explained where the mutt's sword was. "Dear Ra you're possessive..." He shook his head, frowning. "You almost remind me of Mar-" The teen froze, blinking before a smirk came over him. 'Charge' was it... Well now, this could change everything, couldn't it?
"Hnnngg..." The thief was pulled out of his thoughts as a groan came from below the shadow. Said shadow quickly tensed, a few particles shooting upwards before it hurriedly swooped down before the dog's face.
"Oi!" He waved his hands in a somewhat comforting motion, as though attempting to calm a storm before it happened. "Oi oi oi, kid! Kid, you alright? Come on kid~" Bakura rolled his eyes as the dust cloud rambled off in a worried, accented tone that somewhat resembled the mutt's own voice. "It's me~ Grimmy~ Actually," he added as he crossed his 'arms' with a frown. "Never EVER call me that, I hate that. Grim! It's just Grim, got it!" Joey groaned again, moving just slightly as Bakura watched in mild interest. "Come on kid... I've been waiting to talk to yah for years..."
Finally, he opened his eyes, Bakura already plugging his ears as the expected happened. He looked at Grim... Looked at himself...
And screamed, rather loudly.
As Kaiba wandered at a steady, if not clearly annoyed pace through the groundless realm, the CEO had the strangely paranoid feeling that he was being watched. A shuffle could be heard in the distance, and as he frowned, he stopped to look around for the source. "Great," he said as he was greeted with nothing but the sound of a ringing bell. "Not only am I stuck in this ridiculous nightmare world dressed in a monster card, I'm being stalked." He gritted his teeth, before addressing the shuffling, ringing noise following him. "Show yourself! Or do I have to do everything myself?"
There was another shuffling noise, followed by a 'ting' from the bell before it fell silent. "Who's there!" His voice echoed through the realm, fading out after a few seconds as he began walking again, this time towards the ringing. "Come out now, before I give you more than enough reason to do so..." Mentally, he smacked his head for saying that. Great... He sounded like a small child's parent, or at least when he'd babysat a 4 year old Mokuba.
Come to think of it, he felt like he had back then too at the moment, as much as he hated to admit it. The ringing stopped abruptly, before beginning again from behind. Seto turned, cape swishing as he looked towards the sound. "There! ...What?" He frowned, finding nothing as short 'giggle' sounding rings echoed in the distance.
"Tch..." This was steadily becoming more and more of a pain in the ass, he thought as he resumed his steady pace. As he did so however, he smirked. If he wasn't having luck finding it while it followed him, then it was probably just clinging for attention. "Alright then," he muttered under his breath, suddenly reminded all to well of when his brother had done this. "I'll just leave it alone." Now that he thought about it, the thief was the only one who knew how to get out of here, and given the absurdity of the place, both he and the Mutt were trapped here too. Crossing his arms as he walked off in the direction opposite the bells, he did his best to ignore the continuous shuffles and peals with a frown. Quite honestly, this cry for attention was pathetic and- "Umn!"
Kaiba stumbled lightly, silently thankful that no one had seen him do so. Rubbing the top of the helmet he was wearing, he scowled. "What the hell..." As he looked around for the source only to hear the 'giggling' bell, his scowl deepened. "Of all the things to be stuck with in this place." This was just wonderful, wasn't it. He was trapped and alone in this place with a violent, childish 'thing'. Grinding his teeth as he continued to peer around for the source of the noise, he abruptly grew pale as his thoughts of escape brought him to the reason he'd come in the first place. "...Katsuya," he muttered as he turned away from the sounds, clenching his fists. That was right- if this was real then so was the nightmare-ish poisoning he'd been going through. "I need to leave, and now," he muttered as he took off into a run. "And stop distracting me," he told the 'mystery stalker', glancing back at where he suspected it was hiding in the corner of his eye. "If you want attention so bad, show yourself!"
There was a loud 'angry' peal of a bell, before silence, and Seto turned his attention to the front again with a smirk. That was better. Now to- "Tch!" The teen stumbled again, almost falling over as his foot caught over a stick of some sorts. Regaining his footing however, he glared at the emptiness beside him that had spawned the now missing staff. Tripping and falling was not something he did- particularly when there was no discernible ground to fall onto. However, he thought with a sneer, this still invisible brat was beginning to get on his nerves. Something thumped at his side, and as he looked down in an expression of slight curiosity, he scoffed. Of course- if he was wearing the Paladin's armor, it would HAVE to come with the Paladin's sword, now wouldn't it? Deciding that it would be about the only threat he could offer to this annoyance, he drew the long, sharp blade from it's sheath and held it out as he took a slightly defensive (if not considerably arrogant) pose. "Listen, you little nobody," he began with a scowl. "I'm trying to focus on finding out if the reason I came here is still alive, so either leave me alone," the teen said as he adjusted his grip on the sword, "Or you'll find out just what this sword can do!"
Before he had the time to wonder if the target of his frustrations realized that he couldn't well stab what he couldn't see, the 'thing' revealed itself, mouth open in silent laughter as it looked up at Seto. The 'duel monster', given that he doubted it was anything else, was probably a foot taller than Yugi not counting the hair that said teen had. Dressed in a loose violet robe that was so clearly oversized it hid his feet, the small magician had a neck piece similar in appearance to that of the Dark Magician's, from which a long sheet of fabric came down on the front and back. As the boy, as he assumed the thing was male, rung the bell strung on his staff with a grin however, Kaiba noted that he couldn't completely see it's face. In fact, he realized with a frown, though it was clear that he had one, it seemed to still be shrouded in shadows beneath the enormous cloth hat it wore, a few blond bangs poking out from beneath it.
"Hmp," he muttered as the blade was sheathed. "So you are a kid..." As he crossed his arms and watched the boy nod furiously, he raised an eyebrow. Besides the bell, the 'child' was oddly silent... Too much so, he added as an after thought, while dully noting the similarities between the brat and a certain leather-clad nerd's 'Dark Magician'. Deciding to play nice seeing how he was still at a disadvantage (Loathe as he was to admit), he chose his next words carefully as he addressed the mage. "That wasn't to hard now was it?" Frown softening, he continued. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find my... Friend... And I would prefer not to be interrupted while I do that." As he said this in his usual cold tone of voice, the magician stuck his tongue out at him, shaking his stick of a wand playfully to ring the bell tied to the top.
Seto scowled, pausing in the move he'd made to leave as he looked back down at the boy. And what was that supposed to mean, he thought before turning back to the vast wastes ahead of him. "...Tch." Looking back down, his scowl deepened. "If I LET you follow me," he bit out with clenched fists, "Will you leave me alone?" It felt fairly idiotic, asking this of the seemingly mute duel monster, but quite frankly no one was watching... And as earlier thoughts supported, this thing wasn't telling anyone. He blinked as the kid grinned, jumping in the air to perform a somersault of sorts before waving his staff in the air. Well, now he was getting somewhere, wasn't he. Smirking, he began walking again, the magician following behind him. "Good," he said as he held his arms at his sides again. "And before we really get moving, don't try to trip me or anything related to it. It's pathetically immature..."
There was a mock salute from the boy, and they continued off.
Meanwhile, as Joey finally cut his initial scream of absolute terror short, Bakura rolled his eyes. Honestly, the moron had just finished a fit of screaming, why did he have to have another one. Unplugging his ears, he watched with mild amusement as the dog jumped back from 'Grim' as the shadow was called. Joey looked back and forth between the shadow and the thief, multiple times in fact, before finally pointing an accusing, gloved finger in Bakura's direction. "You," he shouted angrily, the thief merely giving him a look that said 'Meeee?'. "What tha' hell did yah do tah me!" As Grim turned to theoretically support these claims, Joey quickly turned the finger on him as well. "An' who the hell are you!"
The cloud, if it was possible, shrugged as he turned to Bakura. "I expected this I guess," he said with a flat and seemingly knowing tone. "Really, I did."
"Well of course you did," the thief said with a snort, "You said yourself you were stuck with the mutt for 19 years."
Joey balked, looking at Bakura a moment before turning to Grim again. "WHAT! You were WHAT?"
He whined, holding his 'head' in his hands a moment before cutting the dog short. "C'mon Joey... I'm your buddy, your pal..! Don' be like that!" He floated closer to the teen, Joey tensing as he stepped back. "I've been waiting YEARS for this day! Heck, it's my job!" He hovered in place, seeing that his 'charge' wasn't letting him near anytime soon. "A protector! A weapon!" To support this fact, the cloud of smoke and dust making up his body swirled together to form a large blade for a moment, before returning to the state it had been prior. "I mean," he began with a sad voice, wringing his 'hands' as he watched Joey continue to watch him skeptically, "I know this ain't perfect kid... Hell," he added with a snort, "After you started having such a big beef against dogs and such, I was really worried yah know?" He watched the dog as he stared back with slightly believing eyes, still wary of the cloud. Sighing, he continued, his tone a mixture of joking and fearful. "Hey man, it's not all bad right? I mean, maybe it's for the best! You were dying kid," he said, slight hysteria evident in his voice. "As in going to see the big alligator with the scales! And trust me," the cloud said, his voice growing soft. "You're a good kid, but as good as yah are, it takes one hell of a big-ass feather, to out weigh a heart."
There was a snort from the side, Joey and Grim both looking over as Bakura gained a sarcastic grin. "So that's how the pharaoh made it in... Fucking chicken."
"Oi!" Joey snarled, having (somewhat) calmed down about the situation for the moment, though the key word was 'somewhat'. Still clearly confused, if not absolutely terrified about the entire ordeal, he ignored the fact that he was standing in the shadow realm for the sake of some normalcy. Not to mention the shadowy cloud of dust and smoke that was floating beside him. And the fact that he was currently a short, armored dog. Pushing those thoughts aside as he continued growling, he clenched his fists. "Don't you call my best pal a chicken man! That's what started this mess in the first place!"
Bakura rolled his eyes, walking towards the dog to look him over as he spoke. "Actually 'Mutt', this started quite a few months ago if you want to be specific..." Ignoring the chuckling from Grim, he sent the dog a half-hearted glare. "So if I were you, I wouldn't start running your filthy mouth off."
As Grim laughed, he turned to Joey and nodded. "Yea kid! C'mon! 'S no worse than when you tried to toughen up the-" He cut off, making an odd choking noise as he remembered that Yugi was apparently dead now and changed the subject. "Besiiiiides, what's done is done! Be glad it's over now, and just think of the possibilities!" Hands open and waving through the air, he placed one on his charge's shoulder and waved the other before them, ignoring Joey's pointedly unnerved expression. "Imagine! I bet you could use me to slice through concrete cleanly, with one hand! And by the way," he said as he jutted a 'thumb' at Bakura. "The guy's got a point.
He huffed, appearing to shrink into his helmet, an accessory that covered most of his head as it was- In fact, Bakura noted now that Grim wasn't pushing him away with his yelling, besides part of the face and neck, the only other part of his body not covered with fabric or armor of any kind was a rather curled and fluffed tail at the back. Something that was amusing him to no end he decided as the Mutt began speaking again.
"Maaaannn..." He groaned, holding his head in his hands. "What possessed yah to throw me in here tah begin with! Yah said 'Shadow Sickness', doesn't th' word 'Shadow' tell yah to avoid it?"
"Well," Grim began as he scratched his 'cheek', "When yah think about it kid-"
"Stuff it." Surprisingly enough, the cloud did just that, huffing slightly before forming a blade again and setting himself down in the dog's sheath. Joey then turned back to Bakura, frowning as he waited for an answer.
The teen laughed, smirk held in place. "If I didn't bring you here mutt, you would have died!" He watched as Joey shivered, the thief cackling a bit with a grin. "Really now, I didn't even get so much as a thank-you!" Bakura pouted falsely, before turning to walk away. "You're more of a chicken than the pharaoh... Now then, let's find that pompous moron you call a boyfriend so we can leave this place."
"H-Hey, wait up!" Ignoring the muffled 'He's got a point!' from his sheath, Joey ran after the thief after first blinking a few moments at the mention of Kaiba. After a short mental breakdown on the fact that he had a tail when it thumped against the sheath a few times, he jogged over to the now much taller-than-he Bakura. "I... I didn't mean tah not say anythin', it's jus..." He sighed, turning away as he rubbed the back of his neck. "It's all so much, yah know?" The dog stared out at the empty space that was the shadow realm, the thief beside him simply remaining silent. Sure, Bakura had said that last thing as a joke but... Biting the inside of his cheek, he decided that he still needed to thank him. "Anyways... What with the you I knew before bein' a giant purple people eater an' all..." He turned to face Bakura, attempting to bring his mumbling to a more audible level. "I figure I should give yah a chance in my books."
Bakura blinked as Joey apologized, before smirking. "'Purple People Eater'? How appropriate." Turning to look forwards again, he froze slightly as a distant ringing was heard. "That's... Odd."
The dog blinked, turning to look in the same drection as he attempted to ignore the ringing sound his helmet (At least, he assumed it was the helmet) was making. "Nyeh? What'd yah stop for?"
"Someone's over there..." Not giving it any more thought, the teen broke into a run, heading for the ringing noise at top speed. It was a small bell, he decided as the peals sounded through the air. A round one, probably attached to a string...
As he charged, Joey struggled to keep up. "You mean I ain't hearin' things?" Racing after Bakura, he briefly considered dropping to all fours, mentally berating himself for even considering the act. Personally he blamed any instincts this body came with, but at the same time... "But who could it b-" He stopped running, blinking with shock as he saw someone walk through the foggy, shadowed mist that hung around the area.
Beside him, Bakura simply smirked. "See what happens when you get lost around here, Priest?" The thief chuckled as he stopped running as well, a grin appearing on his face. "Things tend to tag along."
"Hmp." Seto walked out of the mist, the magician tag-along following close behind as he frowned. "Tell me something I don't know, thief." The scowl was quickly dropped however, and although half of his face was hidden by the helmet, it was fairly clear that his expression was that of slight (which in Kaiba's case translated out to 'complete') shock. "Is that..."
Joey winced, before giving a weak smile to the CEO. "Hey Kaiba... How yah doin?"
For a moment, the billionaire said nothing. As he stood there in silence, Joey watched the small magician beside him play with his staff- apparently, the top doubled as a 'cup and ball' game, and the boy was now attempting to catch the bell with the top of the staff. As he and Bakura looked at the kid however, he ended up turning to Kaiba again before blinking. Something felt off, why was he looking at Bakura like-
There was suddenly a loud cracking noise, and Joey watched with wide (But mildly amused) eyes as Kaiba delivered a very well placed, and even better thrown right hook to the thief's face. "If I ever... Find that there was a solution other than this, thief," he said with a dangerous tone, flexing his hand a small bit to get over the sting before returning it to his side, "I WILL carry out my threat." As Joey swallowed nervously at the unseen glare that was aimed at Bakura, the thief merely smirked, wiping a bit of blood from his now bruising cheek. As the CEO turned to him however, the dog blinked, somehow knowing that even though he couldn't see the teen's eyes, whatever stare he'd held before had softened considerably. They fell silent a moment, before he snorted, a smirk coming over his face. "Hmp! You would be a mutt, Katsuya."
"Hey!" He scowled, fur bristling. "I told yah not teh call me that! Both o' those!"
The CEO simply snorted, crossing his arms. "Whatever, Mutt."
As the bickering continued, the magician and Bakura watched with mild amusement, the latter putting up a false smile. "Awww, how sweet," he said as he crossed his arms as well. "A lover's quarrel." He continued rubbing his cheek, the smile replaced with a smirk. "And by the way 'Priest'," he added. "If I were you, I would watch what you say to the 3000 year
As Kaiba sent another glare (unseen of course) towards Bakura, Joey merely sputtered. "Wha wha what!" He turned however, as the magician beside them began ringing his bell in celebration for successfully returning the orb to 'cup' on the staff. "Oi, who is this guy?"
The others looked down, Seto merely shrugging. "I wouldn't know- the brat hasn't said a word since I found him." He turned away, apparently still sore about any events that occurred between them earlier. "The only thing he does seem interested in is ringing that annoying bell and hitting people with the stick he has."
The others turned to look at the magician, watching as he grinned and somersaulted backwards before landing again. "Hn," the CEO said as the boy did this. "As I said, completely mute."
Staring at the magician, Joey frowned. The boy was currently staring at him, shadowed face peeking out from the scarf around his neck. "Huh..." He continued grinning, the dog frowning slightly as the kid stared at him. "Weird..."
There was a rustling noise, and Grim appeared from behind Joey with wide eyes. Ignoring 'jump' that came from the others as he did so, he grinned. "Would yah look at that... This kid likes you!" Floating in to inspect the child as it batted him back with a frown, he soon turned to look at the others again. "You should take 'm with yah! I mean," he said with a frown. "It sure ain't homey in here..."
As Kaiba stared at the shadowy thing hovering beside Joey, he frowned. "What... Is that thing..."
Bakura smirked, the expression widening into a grin. "What isn't it," he said as he leaned down to look at the magician. "Hello there..." The smile he gave it was oddly sweet compared to the usual grin, though the magician nonetheless seemed to respond positively to it. "Want to come with us?"
While the thief attempted to wait for the seemingly ponderous magician's answer, Joey tried to explain who Grim was. "Err... 'Parently his name's Grim," he started fairly lamely, "And... He's also my sword or somethin' like that..." He turned to see how Bakura was doing, jumping as the magician gave a smile and vanished into thin air. "W-What the! Where'd he go?"
His sword merely hovered, shrugging before it answered. "Who knows... Guess as much as 'e likes you, it's not enough to leave just yet..." Frowning a little as he brought one hand to his 'chin', the shadow's eyes narrowed. "Or maybe it's that he can't... He was smiling yea, but somethin' tells me he just wasn't ready..." Grim looked down at Joey, sighing as he began to reform into a blade. "Anyways... Way I figure," he said with a small grunt, "Me being out when you go back will just cause problems. See yah later, alright?"
As the sword vanished back into its sheath, Kaiba watched with a blank face in place to hide his confusion on the matter. Eventually, he shook his head. "I'll assume this part of the 'event'," he said as he placed heavy sarcasm on the term, "Was a result of some bad coffee and nothing more. Now then." He turned to Bakura, his usual frown in place. "How about getting us out of here, Thief."
Bakura shook his head, rolling his eyes before he turned away from the others. "My threat still holds, 'Priest'," he said with a grin. "But nonetheless... SEN!" As the gateway opened and teared through, the thief held back a laugh at Joey's shock. "After you," he said as he stepped off to the side, ignoring the light glare he got from the dog.
Blinking as the image of Malik's currently distorted basement came through, Kaiba stepped through first, inwardly smiling as the armor disappeared into a card. Stepping back from the 'gate' however, he frowned. Where was Joey... As Bakura stepped through as well, the door closing behind him, he turned his glare on the thief. "Where is he," he asked, the billionaire's tone making it clear as to how agitated he was.
The thief scowled. "How the hell would I know, he followed you-" He cut himself off, eyes drawn to a single card that sat on the ground.
His eyes followed the thief's gaze, ignoring the sound of two others entering the room as he bent down to pick it up. "...No." It was scarcely a whisper, his voice, as he stood back up and stared at the image etched on its surface. It was just as terrible, if not even more horrific than what had happened to Mokuba... At least then, he thought bitterly as he read the description of the card in his hands, it had been reversible. Instead...
Adorned with the image of Joey's recently attained body, eyes narrowed in a battle ready stance as the sword he held out seeped into Grim's image, were all the vital statistics that made up a basic duel monster card. His eyes widened slightly, the CEO using all he had to keep his hand from shaking.
'CANIS WARRIOR LV0', the card read. A 'four star', Light type monster with 1000 attack and defense. A 'Warrior/Effect' card that gained 500 attack and defense, as well as one level during each draw phase.
A card. As the others stared at his frozen form, that was his only thought. A card... Jonouchi 'Joey' Katsuya, aka 'the mutt'...
Had been turned into a playing card.