Okay here's chapter 3! This one is longer than the rest so we hope you enjoy this one! I hope this chapter is well received like the others were and that this story continues to grow in popularity. Me and Renagade are both very happy with how well this is doing and we hope you'll enjoy the chapters to come. Ryo & Akefia really deserve more spot lights in stories other than romance ;)

Renagade's Deviantart account: RenagadeRexRider .deviantart .com

Chapter: Renagade

Renagade: Thief Bakura & Yami Bakura

Miss-DNL: Ryo, Yugi, Anzu, Honda & Jonouchi

Chap. 3 the game begins

For the first time in several days, Ryou fell asleep quickly and peacefully from the small glimmer of hope that was presented him in the form of a new spirit. The Thief King himself simply retreating back to his binds woven deep within the Ring itself to prevent unwanted attention to himself. For the remainder of the night, all was perfectly silent within the sleeping Ryou's mind.

But as dawn drew near, the dark consciousness of the Ring stirred and grinned as a nights worth of planning had finally bore fruit. Now there was only a simple matter of putting it all into motion; leaving the area that was deemed its own, the Yami only stopped to invade the still sleeping Ryou's soul room and grinned down at him, "Heheheh….. Stay sleeping for a while, Landlord~, I have business to attend to today." He hissed as a portion of shadow energy from the ring itself proceeded to surround him.

Ryou shifted only briefly in response to the dark presence of his Yami's malicious tone and intents when the shadow energy took firm hold. In mere seconds, Ryou was pushed back into his peaceful sleep, unaware of his Yami as he took full control, dressed accordingly, even taking up his backpack and finished work and made his way to Domino High.

It took only a few minutes for the Yami to make it to the school, once more early in hopes to set his timing just right. Upon his arrival, Yami Bakura once more turned his sights on Yugi Motou, whom he located just as he arrived through the gates not far from where he'd spotted him the day before. His initial malicious smirk shifting to a much friendlier smile befitting of Ryou Bakura as he made his way towards him, "Yugi! Hey Yugi!" he called.

Yugi turned his head towards the direction of the voice, a small wave of awkward anxiety surging through him as he realized it had been Bakura who had called. Despite that, he turned towards him and attempted to look fully relaxed, "Hey, Bakura." He managed placing a smile onto his face, "Felling Better?" he asked carefully, somewhat fearing a repeat of yesterday's incident; that had not been an easy one to explain to those that asked…

Yami Bakura tilted his head and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he spoke, "Ehe… Yes. Much better." He said before lowering his eyes regretfully, "I must apologize for yesterday Yugi… I haven't slept well as of late you see… I must have had an outburst. I hope you can forgive me…?"

"Oh," Yugi managed as he listened to Bakura's explanation, the partial albino's gaze low in very apparent shame. Yugi thought about the fact only a moment and quickly accepted the behavior was a total misunderstanding, "It's alright Bakura, i can forgive you." he said smiling brightly, his spirits lifting as Bakura looked up at him brightly, "Come on, we should head to class." He offered motioning to the building as the first bell sounded.

Yami Bakura smiled brightly and nodded, "Thank you! And right, let's go!" he said beaming as the two then began walking. Inwardly his smile was a very dark one; Yugi's overly friendly and trusting nature working the first step of his plan along perfectly,

In the depths of the Ring, watching with eyes as keen as a hawk, Akefia observed the whole spectacle carefully. The entire thing easily coming clear, 'Casting the line are we..?' he thought to himself quietly so as not to draw unwanted attention to himself. Giving an inaudible huff, he cast a glance towards Ryou's soul room, where Ryou was still held in sleep by the shadows, 'We're close…' he thought to himself. The Yami was doing his part… which was working in the Thief King's own plan; now all Akefia had left to do was wait.

Later at lunch, Yami Bakura made his way into the lunch room and glanced over the crowd only momentarily when he spotted Yugi where he normally sat. The Yami felt himself smirk broadly as he noted the small group sitting with him, this couldn't have been more perfect.

"Hey Yugi!" Yami Bakura said as he walked up to the group,

Yugi smiled as he looked up to him, "Oh hey Bakura,"

Yami Bakura nodded to the group who also welcomed his arrival before he continued speaking, "Hope the day is going well?"

At that, he noticed Yugi's smile seemed to waver into a more nervous one, "I'm fine, little worried about the math test, but I'm fine." He explained, to which his brunette friend named Anzu smiled and spoke up,

"I'm sure you did fine Yugi!" Anzu said reassuringly.

The larger male brunette, Honda laughed playfully as he jabbed his thumb to the blonde who was currently shoveling his lunch down, "Yeah, it's Jonouchi we should be worrying about."

Jonouchi twitched and partway choked midbite as he jerked his head up at the insult, "I didn't do THAT bad!" he growled insulted.

Yami Bakura laughed at the spectacle and nodded to Yugi, "I agree with Anzu. I'm sure you did well. Hopefully the scores will be posted after lunch," Yami Bakura paused a moment looking around as if pondering something before looking to Yugi once more, "Say, there was something I was wondering?"

Yugi nodded in agreement and then tilted his head questioningly, "What's that Bakura?"

Yami Bakura shifted as if a bit shy, "Well… I was wondering if you'd like to play a game with me after school tonight, it being a weekend and all." He then looked up smiling brightly to the others as they had stopped to listen, "If you all would like to come that would be even better!"

Yugi brightened distinctly at the offer; games of any sort were always of interest to him, more so if played with friends, "Sounds like fun Bakura! I'd love to go!" he exclaimed smiling excitedly.

Jonouchi perked as well and smiled, "Sounds like fun!"

"Count me in!" Honda nodded giving a thumbs up.

"Me too!" Anzu said beaming, ever more than happy to get to know a new friend.

"Excellent!" Yami Bakura exclaimed with a bright smile, "Then I'll be seeing you later today then! But for now… shall we finish lunch?" he offered.

Yugi and the gang gave a uniform nod and proceeded to eat, Jonouchi more than happy to oblige and preceded to resume shoveling food down, to which Honda merely shook his head at the mess he quickly made, Yami Bakura taking his seat and proceeded to eat, smirking inwardly as step two fell into place better than he'd hoped.

'Like a harp~~' he thought maliciously to himself as he watched the group eat and laugh, unaware of how little time they had left.

Later that afternoon, the final bell rang and allowed the students to go home, Jono, Honda and Anzu all filing out talking with one another. Yugi paused as he exited the school gate and looked to 'Ryou' as he adjusted his backpack, "We'll meet you at your apartment later Bakura!"

"I'll be waiting for you!" Yami Bakura replied smiling, waving back as Yugi ran to catch up to his friends. Yami Bakura turned, an evil grin on his face as he and walked towards his host's apartment, "I'll be waiting~~" he repeated, his voice dripping with icy venom.

Within his soul room, the shadows had finally dispersed and Ryou Bakura began to stir. Slowly he opened his eyes and blinked looking around, 'Mmm? What… Time is it?' he wondered aloud as his Yami entered the elevator.

The Yami smirked as he heard his host's poorly guarded thought and answered, "A little beyond four. And we have a bit of tidying up to do.~" he added as he exited and headed down the hall.

Ryou shifted and rolled over as if trying to get comfortable and return to his sleep at the comment and moaned slightly, 'Mn… can I clean my room tomorrow? I did it yesterday…' he pouted groggily.

A dark chuckle sent a chill down Ryou's spine as his Yami clicked his tongue at him, "Now, now Ryou… You have friends coming over. And we want the gameroom to be nice for their little game now don't we?~"

Ryou was immediately awake and sat up, his eyes wide as he mentally swallowed the lump in his throat, 'Oh…That's what's going on…' he thought, a wave of fear washing through him as he watched his Yami enter the gameroom and look it over, a twisted sense of glee radiating from him as he quickly began preparing the board, Ryou watching carefully through his little window and felt his heart sink as he worked without even a hitch in his movements, telling him he had already worked out the RPG fully in detail.

Finally, after several minutes of fine tuning, the Yami stood up straight and looked out at his handywork with pride, "Excellent~" he commented aloud before smirking down at the Ring to Ryou, "By the end of the day, we both get what we want.~"

Ryou released a startled gasp and tensed significantly, entirely bewildered by the comment, "How do I get anything out of this?!"

The Yami placed a hand on his hip and made a twisting gesture with his hand in mock astonishment at the question, "Why, You get to have all your new friends with you forever of course~."

Immediately Ryou stiffened and stood up angrily, "This isn't what I meant by that!" he shot back, furious by the Yami's cruel twist on an innocent wish he had made as a small child.

The Yami simply chuckled in response to the surge in emotions, "Oh? What better way could there be? They always have time for you and do as you wish like a loyal friend should be~" he said with a cruel laugh as he walked over to a closed dresser beneath his host's game computer. Ryou watched as his Yami opened the drawer containing the few dolls hosting the trapped souls of his old friends, took up a doll and dangled it mockingly before him, "See? He doesn't complain~" he added, letting the hapless doll bounce in his palm, chuckling as he did so.

"You monster…." Ryou managed stiffly as he stood shaking and fighting back tears of rage as he watched helplessly from within his soul room. His pained and angry thoughts were interrupted, however, by the sound of the doorbell and his emotions immediately shifted to worry as his Yami chuckled and looked up.

"Ah~ Game time~" the Yami mused aloud as he made his way to the door, "Ah, you made it! Come on in!" Yami Bakura exclaimed, his host's malice free persona once more adorned as he opened the door to his waiting guests.

Yugi gave a short lighthearted laugh at his friend's excited comment , "We said we'd come didn't we?"

Yami Bakura motioned the group in politely, smiling, "Indeed you did!"

"What kind of game are we playing anyway?" Jonouchi inquired curiously as Yami Bakura shut the door and addressed his guests.

"Ever played an RPG?" Yami Bakura inquired, to which Jonouchi shook his head, the others following suit.

"No, don't think I have." Jonouchi replied after only a moment of thought. Anzu however blinked and tilted her head.

"Will we be playing the video or tabletop version?" she inquired as Yami Bakura motioned the group to follow him.

"It's a bit of a combination really." he explained as he opened the door to the gameroom, revealing his game board, "You see, it is played on tabletop, but all features of the game are controlled by computer; Scores, effects...etc." he explained as he looked to the blonde, "I think you'll like it Jono. You select a character and make up a story for him and put him into a world controlled by the "master" of the set world."

It seemed simple enough, to which Jonouchi was happy for, lest he need to learn too many rules at once and risk looking a fool on his first go, "Sounds cool to me." he replied cheerfully.

Honda looked over the board, listening to the conversation before looking to Bakura, "You're going to be the master then?"

Yami Bakura grinned and nodded, "Yes. I've already set out an adventure plot, all that's needed now are the players!" with that he motioned to a glass display case where many of his host's new and unused character models sat, "If you want, go ahead and pick whichever one you like best."

At that, Yugi and his friends walked over to the case and proceeded to browse excitedly through the many characters within, Yami Bakura letting his lids droop lazily yet alertly, a small grin tugging at the corners of his mouth as he watched the unsuspecting fools make their selections. After several moments of chattering and playful banter amongst the group, each teen soon held a tiny figure in their hands, each holding some resemblance to themselves; Yugi held a Half-blood Elf Beast Tamer, Anzu an Elvish Magician, Honda a Human Magic Gunman and Jonouchi a Human Warrior.

Satisfied with their selections at last, each teen set their character onto the RPG board and took a seat, Yugi looked up to Bakura as he too took a seat at the far end of the table, "Alright, what's next Bakura?"

Yami Bakura took his seat and grinned at the players, motioning to the board, "We begin~"

Inside his soul room, Ryou swallowed hard and bowed his head in dismay as his Yami activated the computer and began the game.

After several minutes of gameplay, things moved on normally as the players moved further in, enjoying the game as they moved along with relative ease. The overall energy in the room a lighthearted one. But as the players moved along, they did not pay mind to the fact that Yami Bakura was carefully luring the gamers into a dark forest, where his smirk slowly became more and more visible the further the players got to his waiting trap, set into play as they agreed to help a robbed villager in exchange for his treasure.

Upon reaching the forest, the players were assaulted by a batch of monsters, to which they retaliated in turn. Jonouchi gave a victory cry as Anzu destroyed the last of the monsters, but Bakura grinned as he revealed the villager had in fact been his own player, the Dark Master Zorc.

Yami Bakura chuckled aloud, "Caught off guard I'm afraid. I get first attack~," he declared as he rolled his dice, a knowing grin on his face as he landed a super critical. He then looked up and gave the startled group a glance, "And I choose…Honda!~" with that, he made a forceful gesture to the startled brunette, the Ring beneath his shirt glowing with dark energy as it released a penalty game, the dark energy swiftly and effectively ripping Honda's soul out of his body before he could realize what was happening.

Honda blinked in confusion as the strange fleeting sensation vanished and looked around to see if the others felt it… but was shocked by the sight of his friends, now giants, as they looked down at him, "WHAT IN THE-"

A movement made Honda freeze and he turned to meet a sight that shook him to his core as a large demon glared down at him, "This isn't good…" he managed, voice shaking from shock as he stared up at The Dark Master Zorc.

Jonouchi blinked as he heard Honda's voice come from the board, effectively drawing him away from said friend, who had passed out suddenly, and leaned forward as he watched Honda's character move on its own. Seeing it was no illusion his mind swiftly put the impossible together, "How-How did that happen?!" he gasped as he watched Honda back away, eyes still trained on the demon before him.

"Honda!" Anzu cried, also seemingly catching on as she stared down at the board.

Yugi sat dumbfounded as he stared at the board, a creeping sensation beginning to climb its way up. Yugi flinched visibly as the sensation gripped his attention and forced him to look towards the white haired Game Master, "Bakura! What did you do!?" he cried.

Yami Bakura sat calmly, fingers intertwined in front of his face as he grinned back to the quickly panicking group, "Simply playing the game of course." He responded to the shorter male, who twitched in response, "Of course, this game isn't an ordinary RPG…It's a Shadow Game. The Ultimate in games where you not only play to win, you play with your very souls on the line~. In the case of a first fumble, your soul is transported into your doll. Lose…. And the doll is your new body!" he declared, his friendly smile replaced with a much colder and crueler smirk as the remaining teens looked on in shock. Anzu staring at him with a look of horror on her face as she listened.

'The rumors were true?!' she thought frantically. All the terrible tales of the sweet Ryou Bakura she had dismissed…. Had been true?!

Jonouchi stood up aggressively beside his fallen friend's body and growled as he tightened his fist, "Why are you doing this?!" he demanded.

Yugi however sat and listened carefully, despite his fear, made worse as what Bakura was describing sounded haunting, 'Shadow Game? That….sounds familiar.' He shuddered as disturbing images began to take shape in the blank portions of his recent memory.

Within the Ring, Ryou sat shuddering as he watched Honda fall… his soul now within a doll he himself had made, 'It's happening again…' he whimpered helplessly as he was forced to watch; he winced as his Yami began laughing in a mixture of amusement and twisted glee.

"Whaaat? Are you not having fun with your friend?~~" Yami Bakura mocked, casting a sidelong glance at the ever increasingly disturbed Yugi before addressing them all, "Oh, And by the way…. in a Shadow Game, once it begins, you can't back out. You do, and it's an automatic penalty and you lose either way~"

Ryou whimpered and hung his head, only to jump as a familiar voice suddenly whispered to him from the darkness around him, "Good…. The game has just begun, Boy. You want to save your friends? Now is the chance." The Thief King whispered carefully, his voice low as to not alert the Yami he was still not fully chained, "But wait for the proper moment… One slip up and you'll all go to hell."

Ryou perked as Akefia spoke, only to withdraw into himself again as he remembered his current position, 'W-what am I supposed to do? I can't even move…' he responded back, mentally wringing with his hands out of increasing worry.

Jonouchi shook in rage at Yami Bakura's comment and banged his fist on the table with an angry growl, "This isn't 'fun' you sick bastard!"

Ryou winced, a distinct pang piercing though him in the light that the comment was directed to him… Not only was Jonouchi going to be trapped… he'd be trapped believing that it was he himself who had done it, forever branding him a monster. The fact made his throat tighten as his shoulders fell…

Yugi remained sitting, his mind sharpening swiftly as he observed the Bakura that sat grinning at Jonouchi's comment… the grin he wore being so cruel and demonic, Yugi suddenly realized it was not just unlike Ryou, it COULDN'T be Ryou. It was at that same moment that what Bakura had said the day before came to mind and brought him to an electrifying realization, "That's not Ryou…" he whispered just loud enough that his friends caught it.

"What do you mean?" Anzu inquired, confused by her friend's comment. The look in Yugi's eyes as he looked to her told her that he meant every word.

"Just… Trust me and keep playing. It's not like we have a choice really anyway. Just keep going." He replied once more looking back to 'Bakura' fixatedly, his mind quickly scrambling for answers and a plan as Yami Bakura stared back at him for only a moment before once more looking to Jonouchi.

"Your move, if you wish to go out honorably~" he hissed, eyes gleaming with a sinister glint as Jonouchi slowly took his seat and picked up the dice, pausing as he looked towards Yugi with an uncertain look, to which Yugi nodded surely.

Akefia merely smirked and mentally placed a hand on Ryou's shoulder as they fell even further in wavering faith, once more whispering into his ear, "Watch… and wait.~"

Ryou blinked in surprise at the Thief King's unwavering confidence and slowly nodded resigning to trust the spirit, 'R-right…' he whispered, biting his lip as he watched Jonouchi cast his dice.

Hope you guys enjoyed the new chapter~we'll be getting to some action soon Yugioh style and actual fighting O.O The game and story just started so stick around to see how Akefia plans to have Ryo help bring down the yami ;)

I'll be writing the next chapter so I'll try and get that done soon as possible!

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