Nickey: WELCOME BACK, BITCHES! Lol, I'm terrible, I know, but! I don't care. So, Fallen, I'm pretty damn excited for the future chapters, so excited in fact, that I keep to forgetting to add my A/N to previous chapters XD I'm getting the some-timers that are going around, I swear.. (still working on that freaking video, by the way... XD) ANYWAY! This is goofy's chapter... Um, yeah, I'm name calling now... Be glad I'm out of my hole, and put the shovel back... Just as usual, evens are hers, odds are mine. So, all that being said, hope you all enjoy the chapter, I rather like this one, and again, some parts are repeated, but from Yuugi's POV ^w^ Oh! I almost forgot! Fallen, we are up to 60+ reviews on this story... Not too shabby for being 12 chapters in :)
Fallen: Wow, over sixty reviews already? Definitely not! Thank you so much, everyone, for giving Nickey and I's story so much positive feedback! I know I don't reply to reviews so often, and I promise I'm trying to kick that particular habit, but I promise that I am reading and absolutely adoring every single one of them! (Also, be glad I didn't just nope the fuck outta here because a giant-ass spider just decided to strut his merry fucking way out from underneath my laptop while I was typing this out and I do not feel safe anymore) So... sorry again for such a late update... my laptop is on hiatus, and it wouldn't let Dropbox sync up the shared files Nickey and I have, so I couldn't edit/revise (again), add in my own A/N and whatnot for a little while there.
Enjoy the chapter!
DISCLAIMER: Nickey and I do not own, nor are we affiliated with Yu-Gi-Oh! nor anything pretaining to Yu-Gi-Oh! This is a fan-made story made purely for entertainment purposes, and nothing more. Enjoy!
~ Chapter XII ~
Flight For Freedom
I don't know how long I was stuck in there for. It could have been minutes, hours, days... And I didn't care. I couldn't focus on... anything, really. Only the facts that, one: I'd nearly killed someone; two: my Ka and I had just fought for the first time ever; and three: Arceus had severed any and all means of contact between the two of us at his own, free will. Gods above, it hurt to know that. I just wished that Pegasus would come down here and put me out of my misery.
Not even a full ten seconds later, the door slid open, and I went to shield my eyes as a shaft of bright light from outside blinded me, a headache splitting my skull within moments. Slowly, I lowered my arm, the tranquilizers' effects making my movements lethargic. Glancing up, I took in the figures of two male scientists, donned in painfully cliched lab coats, surgical masks, and latex gloves. What I could see of their faces were crinkled with what could only be disgust as they surveyed me, and I blinked at them tiredly, before glancing down at myself. I had to swallow the bile that rose in my throat as I inspected my arms, legs, torso, and so on. My clothes were stained rust-red in dried blood, with several rips where Arceus' scales and claws had torn through the jumpsuit's fabric. It looked like someone had tried to tie-dye my jumpsuit in red, but they'd failed miserably.
The lights were turned on, and what I had previously thought to be an empty room turned out to... well, not be empty. There was an operating table with restraints built in at several places, a small sink and counter in the back, and a tray with random tools laying on it. The men came up to where I was sitting, and their hands grabbed me by the arms. "Eh...?" My drugged mind couldn't comprehend why they were there, observing me, touching me, and more or less carrying me over to the table; my legs weren't offering much help with the whole walking thing. My head bobbed tiredly as my frazzled nerves tried their best to fight away the sedative in my system.
I didn't bother struggling as a gloved hand pushed against my chest, and I laid back without resistance. W... Wait... I thought absently, eyes slipping shut, Something is... isn't right... I felt an arm being pulled to the side, and an irritated noise left me at the disturbance. I didn't try to pull away, though. Honestly I just wanted to go and take a nap...
What... W-What are they doing...?
My head finally caught up with my situation as the quiet snap of metal closed over my wrist. My eyes flew open with the very intelligent response of "oh shit" as I tried to sit up.
"No no no, you lay back down!" one of the men said sharply, and I finally started to put up a fight as two pairs of hands tried to hold me still. I felt fingers close over my ankles, and I kicked wildly without thought at the one grabbing them, trying to hold back and swipe at the second with my free arm. I felt satisfaction spark as I felt a face beneath my foot, and the responding crunch of the scientist's nose against my heel.
"Shit!" he howled, and his associate growled. I was stunned as he forced me back, and my head met with the table, yelping in pain.
"Get off!" I spat at them, straining as they both went straight for my legs. "No! Leave me alone!" Metal closed over my ankles, above my knees, and my one free arm was easily caught, before following suit. "Go away!"
I gasped against my will as, suddenly, a red light began to flash in the room, and a siren-like alarm blared from an unseen speaker. I heard them both curse, and a final restraint was closed over my waistline. Rendering me completely helpless.
Arceus! I mentally screamed, praying beyond all hope that he'd hear me, Arceus, please!
"Get the collar," the man with a bloody, most-likely-broken nose spat at his partner while trying to nurse his injury at the same time, "Let's get this freak under control, already!"
I felt cold, latex-covered hands reach out to my throat, and I thrashed in place against my confinements as the second came closer with a new, functioning collar in his hands. It looked larger, more durable, with an even greater amount of large spikes lining its inner rim. I felt pain grip my throat as hands fiddled with my malfunctioning collar, my feeble struggling only digging its spikes deeper into my skin. "Arceus, help me!" I cried, "Please! They're hurting me! Arceus!"
He can't hear me. Oh Gods, he can't hear me!
Either that, or he didn't care. I felt tears start to rise.
"Get away from me, dammit!" I warned, glaring at them despite the panic and terror and tears, "Touch me and he'll kill you! He will!"
They paused at that, blinking owlishly. I growled in frustration when they started to laugh. "Sorry, kid, but it looks like your Ka knows a lost cause when they see it!"
"My Kindred's gonna be the one that kills you, not my Ka," I assured them. A hand drew close, and, not thinking, I bit it. Hard. I tasted blood. The man shouted in pain, and drew back. The sirens were grating at my ears. The lights sending my senses haywire. The panic overwhelming my mind and body. And through it all, Arceus couldn't hear me. So I called for the one person I hoped would listen.
"Yami!"
Something shot past my head, and a sickeningly wet noise caught somewhere between a squelch and a crackle filled my ears. I tried to look up as one of the men (Where did the other one go ?) whipped around to face the door. Or... well, where the door used to be. And there, standing in the doorway, was my Kindred. Wrapped in an outline of white-and-red lights like an angel, but with the appearance of a demon. I saw him snarl, teeth now dagger-sharp, one eye appearing to be a more... vibrant shade of red than the other. The pupil was slitted, like a...
Like a dragon's, I thought in awe.
"St-St-Stay back!" the scientist cried, hands clutching around my new, would-be collar, had he gotten the chance to put it on me. I gawked as black, spike-like protrusions shot from Yami's head and body, a tail sprouting from his spine, and large, leathery wings emerging from his back as he darted towards us. Dark patches of armored scales were creeping over his skin, and I felt that serrated tail curl over the outline of my held-down body in a possessive, but protective kind of way.
A deep, almost demonic sounding voice ripped from Yami's throat in a snarl, overlapping with his usual timbre. And I knew that this was an entirely different side to my Kindred that I had never seen before. This was his Ka doing the talking. "How dare you touch what is mine!" came the snarl. A clawed foot shifted back, and I forced myself to look away as my Sheut and Ib lauched forward, trying my best (and failing miserably) to block out the sounds of screams and growling and the ripping of bloody flesh. I held back a shiver at my own assault on Kemo flashed to mind, slightly repulsed by the brief spark of self-satisfaction I felt.
"Yuugi!" I heard someone – two someones, actually – cry out in unison. I grunted as Ryou and Malik practically flung themselves on top of me in an attempted hug. Unfortunately, my restraints weren't making things very simple. I gave them a weak smile as they pulled away, ignoring the pounding in my head and the pain in my heart when met with tear-filled brown and purple eyes. "We were so worried about you!" Ryou whimpered, wiping away the moisture as Malik began to inspect the metal bonds keeping me on the table. "I'd thought for sure... w-with the way they'd dragged you away..."
He shook his head, as if to clear away the bad thoughts. "I'm just glad you're okay!"
Yami came back after that, and I did my best to avoid looking at the red that now painted various surfaces, his skin included. I blinked absentmindedly up at him as long, wicked talons slipped between skin and steel, and wrenched them away with an ear-grinding squeal and a strong jerk of his arm. When my arms and waist were free, I sat up, rubbing at my wrists, trying to ease away the discomfort. One leg was freed, then the other, and I swung them over the side of the table as Yami came back up to me.
I looked at him, breathing a little heavier than normal, one eye with an ovular pupil, and a black, scaly, spiked tail swishing from his backside attentively. It seemed that – for the most part, at least – his Ka had released their hold over the pair's Akh. "Are you two okay?" Yami asked, and though I was silently touched by his concern, a part of me ached at the mention of 'you two'.
"We-We're fine..." I murmured. I kind of was, anyways. Not so sure about Arceus, considering the jerk had isolated himself from me. Willingly. And not talking – probably not even able to feel what had happened to our shared body at this point. Or maybe he just didn't care. "I guess."
He tilted his head to the side, ever-so-slightly. "What's wrong?" he half-asked, half-demanded. I bit the inside of my cheek. I didn't want to burden him with such a trivial little thing...
"Nothing," I sighed quietly. I saw disbelief, maybe even a flash of aggravation, rise on his face.
"Yuugi," he growled quietly, the seriousness in his tone making me feel a tad antsy, like I was being interrogated, "What's wrong?"
I sighed sharply, just wanting to move on from the subject. "Look," I huffed, standing, "we really don't have time for this. How did you guys get out, anyways?"
"You shorted out all our collars somehow. Now we're gonna escape." He turned to look at Marik and Bakura, and I felt my eyes widen in shock at his next comment. "I think ten years in this hell hole is long enough. I dunno about you guys, but I'm ready to be free again."
As they murmured their agreements, I could only stare at my Kindred. Ten years? They've been stuck in here, facing all of this torture... for ten years?
How could they have managed to survive this long? Let alone with their sanity intact?
"Ready to go?" my Sheut said, glancing at me. I blinked, managing a quiet "Y-Yeah!" before we took off down the halls. But, a few rounded corners later, we came across a large group of gun-toting men and women. Because, of course, we just couldn't seem to get off easy on this.
I growled quietly in a mixture of annoyance and frustration. Oh, for the love of-! You have got to be kidding me!
I blinked when Yami put his arm out in front of me, as if to keep me back. I looked at him in befuddlement, unable to help the shiver I felt roll down my spine at the... the gleam I saw in his shared eyes. There was a thirst for blood and vengeance within them. A deep, black aura began to seep out of his skin and settle over his body, taking the form of onyx scales. There was a cracking noise, and the sound of pulling flesh as his Ka's wings sprouting from his spine while he advanced, bone and muscle and skin morphing easily to form and accommodate the new appendages.
The smirk on his black-scaled face made my breath catch in fright.
"Out of my way you damned fools," the spirit-monster snarled, Yami's voice nonexistent below its deep rumble. A guard steadied himself, speaking with a surprisingly collected tone of voice.
"Freeze, right there. Don't move, or we'll shoot."
That grin twisted into a larger sneer. "Shoot all you like! I dare you!" the voice taunted, "I'll have you all slaughtered before a single bullet is fired!"
With the twitch of a finger, something snapped, and before I could even register what was happening, my Kindred's Akh had shot forward with lethal velocity. Screams and tearing meat filled the air with a revolting cacophony as Yami's body ripped into every last person it could reach. Claws, fangs, spikes – it didn't seem to matter to them. All they wanted to do was to make them suffer. I noticed that Marik and Bakura had stepped in front of my brothers, forcing them to look away from the carnage I so openly gaped at. In minutes, there was only one man left, shaking in his combat boots, gun having been thrown to the side while he froze like a deer in the headlights.
Talons shot forward, and I flinched back when they clamped around the guard's throat. He was shoved up against the wall.
"Which way out of here?" Yami hissed.
"Fuck you!"
There was a grin, and I knew that this man had just sealed his fate. A deep, dark chuckle, rolling like thunder as his Ka stepped in to speak again. "I was secretly hoping you'd say that." I forced myself to look away then. A second later, I heard a loud impact and something snapped before dead weight crumpled to the floor. When I looked back at him, he was surveying the blood that dripped from his claws, as if inspecting a fine wine that had pooled into his hands.
I swallowed, doing my best to not shake, and quietly called his attention. "Y-Yami?" He turned to me, and I sucked in a sharp breath at the ferocious, almost beastly glint I saw in his ruby eyes. Was this still... Was I speaking to my bullheaded, short-tempered Sheut, or the Ib that had relished in the bloodbath he had caused moments before? "Yami..."
He assured me that he was "fine", but that wasn't what had me wanting to tremble and collapse onto the floor. Had... Had they enjoyed that? Killing all of those people? The halls were spattered in bodies and gore, his stained clothing making my supposed other half look like the antagonist of a little-known slasher film. "Y-You just..." I swallowed, and tried again when my voice faltered, "You just m-murdered a bunch of people..."
His gaze hardened at my words, and his expression soured, as if he had just eaten something rotten. "They got what they deserved," he snorted without care, "Every last one of them deserves to be killed ruthlessly. It's not like they showed us any compassion. They locked us away and murdered our loved ones!" I recoiled some as his words seemed to echo those my Ka had hissed to me back in the operation room. "You're a damn fool if you think a single one of the bastards deserves to be spared."
I jerked back, feeling as if I'd just been struck across the face. I stared in shock as that little void within my heart gave a throb, and my hand habitually came to clutch the fabric that covered that spot on my chest. Hurt and conflict filled me.
And all Yami did was turn on his heel and stalk away, ordering the rest of us forth, as his Ka's reptilian tail swayed without a care behind him.
"GO!"
I ducked behind the protective, leathery membrane of my Ib's – I think Yami called it by the name 'Oscuridad'? – wing as we dashed into the through the fray. A powerful static made the hair on my arms and neck bristle, and I tried my damnedest to not freeze up and cower in fear at the resounding, triple-toned shriek that ripped through the air seconds after. We seemed to be in a parking garage, of sorts, if the many company-owned vans and personal vehicles were anything to go by. The brunette-haired woman beside me stumbled, and on reflex, I gripped her by the wrist, and dragged her forward so she would stay on her feet. She sent me a semi-grateful look.
In less than a day, I've been electrocuted, mauled someone half-to-death, got in a fight with Arceus, became an accomplice to murder and kidnapping, and now we're in the middle of a prison break, I rambled to myself in exasperation, the stress of it all finally starting to come over me, Gods, this is not how I pictured things being after I found my Kindred! I ducked when something whizzed through the air, headed straight for my neck. I gasped as the breeze of a bullet – this one was not a tranquilizer – heated my skin, avoiding me by mere centimeters.
There was an explosion as one of the guards decided to try and hit us with an attack from his Ka, and one of the nearby vehicles burst into dark flames. The resulting heat and shrapnel sent us all scattering, and I gave an unintentional yelp as I tumble-rolled to the concrete, hands instinctively going to shield my neck and face. The air was sparking with live wires of Aureole energy, and somewhere in the distance, I could sense the familiar presences of Ra and Amane as they helped their Ba keep themselves and our companions safe from harm. I looked up to see Yami and Oscuridad ripping mercilessly into any nearby body that belonged to an enemy. Marik and Bakura had looted some pistols from a corpse or two, and were having the time of their lives figuring out how the firearms worked (Why won't they Merge with their Ka? I found myself wondering). Gunfire and magic and spiritual energy danced through the air like a twisted symphony, and through it all, I realized how... quiet, everything seemed.
I rolled out of the way of another magic attack, shaken from my thoughts as a guard came upon me. I gasped despite myself, seeing four long, gouging, haphazardly-wrapped slashes upon a face twisted with pain and fury. It was the man Arceus had clawed before my containment. Scales roughened his skin, and claws sprouted from his toes. His arms were light blue now in color, with flaring membrane connecting the space between them and his sides. Like the wings of a bipedal dragon. "You'll pay for everything you've done, you little bitch!" he howled at me, and I saw smoke rise from the corners of his mouth. A shot of flame was sent my way before I could tell what was happening. Scrambling to the side, the fire singed the right arm of my jumpsuit, and I gasped loudly at the sudden heat and pain it brought.
Desperation filled me when I realized that, not only was my magic not responding to me, but there was no-one around to see my situation, and come to my aid. "Arceus!" I cried for my Ka thoughtlessly, panic starting to fill me. "Goddammit, help me!" I grunted when a set of claws came and struck me across the cheek, blood trickling from the wound at once. I felt something within me startle at the physical sense of pain. I felt relief, until I saw the claw-faced man readying another breath of fire.
"Miho, now!" I heard a voice cry, and a gust of air blasted my foe away with ease. I startled, and looked up, to see the woman we had... somewhat accidentally taken hostage coming towards me. Only... her hair had gone from its short shoulder-length, into a few long, tied-back whips of hair. Brown had started to give way to an odd, mint-like hue at the tips. Her simple uniform had been covered by a tan, trench-coat like garment, and a beautifully crafted staff of silver was in the vice-grip of one hand. I stared at her for a moment as she reached out her hand, and I took it. The only thing that seemed to be the same about her was her voice, and her light blue eyes. "Th-Thanks!" I managed, and she just nodded, before gripping me by the wrist, and dragging me behind the cover of a company van.
"You okay?" she asked, and I nodded.
"Yeah, just a scratch." Blood dripped from my cheek to the corner of my lip, and I licked away the stuff on instinct. I shuddered when the taste of iron filled my mouth, and wiped what I could away with a disgusted noise and the arm of my jumpsuit.
"Yuugi, over here!" I heard Malik's voice cry. His shoulders were slightly hunched, with an impressive set of gold, plate-like scales settling over them. His hands held the remainders of golden claws, one eye gone from lavender to bright red. Malik and Ra's Akh waved the woman – I believe her name was Anzu – and I over, and we quickly darted to their side. The others seemed to be pulling back, too, as Malik flung the driver's side door open. I cursed at our luck when I saw that there was no key left in the ignition switch.
"Here, step aside!" Malik shouted, and I stumbled as he shoved me away, and slipped to the floor below the dashboard. "I'll have this baby up n' running in no time!"
I gaped when his hands removed something beneath the steering wheel, and an array of colorful wires twisted their ways in and out of awfully nimble fingers. "Where the hell did you learn how to hot-wire a freaking car?!" I demanded shrilly, outrage filling me. The others came close, and I saw Bakura and Marik both give wickedly amused smirks at my baby brother's apparent street-smarts. He didn't so much as glance in my direction, and just shrugged.
"Hey, I was bored! When you're stuck in a house for over ten years-" he hissed a curse when one of the wires shocked his fingers "-the internet is a freaking godsend."
"That still doesn't explain why you looked up how to hot-wire a fucking car!"
We all did a collective jump when a dart took out the door's side-view mirror. I noticed that Seto – a man we had run into before, and Yami was apparently familiar with – was racing towards us. He looked worse for wear, but paler than I remembered. Wasn't he supposed to be fighting off the rest of the guards?!
Bakura seemed to notice, and growled. "Look, we don't have time for this! Just get in!"
The large doors on the side of the van slid on their tracks as Ryou, Bakura, Marik, Anzu, Yami and I all piled inside. I winced and hissed as my burned arm and sliced cheek smarted sharply, but ignored it as the doors slammed shut. I started as Seto suddenly swung through the passenger seat door, and the corporate van's engine suddenly roared to life with the crossing of wires. Malik gave a triumphant whoop, and slammed the driver's side door shut. He gripped the wheel and gave a manic grin.
"Alright, let's burn some rubber, bitches!" he hollering in glee. Alarm filled me, and I felt my visage go pale.
"W-Whoa, wait! When did you learn how to drive?!" I demanded shrilly.
He glanced over his shoulder and grinned. "I didn't, but better late than never!"
His foot slammed the gas pedal to the floor, and we were all thrown into various walls and makeshift guardsmen seats as the engine gave an ear-numbing bellow, and accelerated. Cries of panic and surprise filled the air as Malik tried to swerve around countless people and obstacles, his hands groping and twisting awkwardly at the wheel, tossing his passengers (us) from side to side, gripping to anything and everything for dear life. His hand slapped the horn, beeping loudly at the guards as we zoomed by. "Hey, outta the road! I'm trying to drive, here!"
My arms flung out to grab something – anything – and keep myself from being tossed to the back of the van. Or worse, through the windshield up front. This is it, I thought as we sharply turned a corner, and hurtled through the exit of the parking garage, Oh Gods, this is how I'm going to die. By the hands of this fucking lunatic I call a brother!
I grimaced when someone (I think it was Bakura) accidentally elbowed me in the arm, and I winced as the leftover burn of fire danced over my nerves. A wave of sadness filled me when I noticed my Bond with Arceus had yet to reopen. From beside me, Ryou placed a shivering hand over my own. I could see Amane perched easily next to him, her gentle hands gripping his shoulders in attempts to keep the whitenette steady. "You alright?" The question might as well have been rhetorical – I knew he could tell something was up. My brothers and I were extremely sensitive to one another's spiritual energy. I knew that he could feel Arceus' absence, too. Not wanting to lie to his face, I just glanced away, and refused to respond.
"What's up?" I heard a deeper, more authoritative voice mumble. I glanced to the side to see Yami. A small, scaly creature was perched along his shoulders, tail wrapped over his neck and claws hooked into the fabric of his jumpsuit cautiously. His Ka, no doubt; it was odd to see such a ferocious thing that had been ripping out people's throats minutes ago looking so small and... well... cute. I grunted when Malik went over a bump, of some sort, jarring the van painfully. I just looked away with a muttered "nothing..."
He placed a hand on my arm, and I tried my best to ignore his continued attempts at gaining my attention. For a moment, I thought I saw the miniature figure of Oscuridad lean his muzzle a little closer to Yami's ear, as if to whisper something to him. Only he did not speak. I assumed that they were using their telepathic link to communicate. It only made my yearning for Arceus' return that much worse.
"Yuugi," Yami attempted once more, voice stern and – dare I say it – worried, "what's wrong?"
I scoffed and shrugged the hand away. An uncharacteristic bitterness filled my chest, swelling up like a balloon, and I glared without reason to the van's inner wall. As if the metal had personally offended me just by being there. "What does it matter?" I retort coldly, a small bit of self-loathing planting itself into my chest as a fraction of my stress and frustration escaped to vent itself upon my Kindred. After all, he had only wanted to help. "I'm just a fool, so far as you two are concerned."
I saw him look sharply at Oscuridad's manifestation, and the little dragon narrowed its eyes in something close to outrage. I yelped despite myself as the vehicle gave another rough jostle, and had it not been for my Kindred, I would have been tossed to the floor. His hand shot out and grabbed me by the arm – my burned one, unfortunately – before I could fall, and pulled me close. I made an unwilling noise of pain as the irritated, most-likely-blistered skin caught beneath his palm throbbed with white-hot agony, and I roughly swatted him away with a sharp "be careful!" His eyes widened, before he came to the conclusion that I was hurt. Before he could do anything, a bickering Malik and Seto began to struggle over the wheel, and we all gave cries of panic and irritation as the van swerved. Daylight exploded over the top of the van as we left the cover of the garage, and for a moment my heart sang.
That is, until I heard something hit the bumper, followed by several, much smaller somethings.
They sounded like claws.
I lurched over to the nearest window, and rolled it down, ignoring the others' protests. I had to brace myself against the screaming wind as it filled my ears, and sent my hair whipping dangerously in front of me. I could see blurred streams of color and petrified faces shooting past us as we included the general public in our escape attempt. Looking up, the faintest glimpse of fabric flicking in the gale caught my eye, and dread sent my heart pounding when I spotted the sleek, black car that tailed behind us. A curse slipped past my lips. "They're tailing us!"
Without a word, he gently (well, gently as one could) pushed me aside, and leaned out the window. I saw the apparition of Oscuridad fade, and the next thing I knew, Yami's mouth opened to release a low growl coupled with a stream of dark fire. Alarm filled me, and I grabbed him by the collar before he could let off another attack, the dark heat cutting off with a choked noise. He turned on me after I'd let go, and bared his teeth in aggravation. "What the hell are you doing?!"
Anger spiked in my chest at the aggravation in his tone, bracing against the door as the van shook around us. "Don't you get pissy with me, Mister!" I snapped back, "You can't just go around breathing fire wherever you damn well please! We're driving fast enough to kill down streets filled with pedestrians here, and they'll be in the line of fire – literally."
"But-" I cut him off.
"No, Yami!" Our gazes met in a heated, stubborn glare. "We may have to do the kill-or-be-killed bull with Pegasus and his men, but I refuse to let any innocent bystanders pay the price for us."
He rolled his eyes with a fed-up grimace, and went to go back to the window. Outrage filled me at his blunt, wordless refusal to listen to what I was saying, and in a surge of frustration, ire, and fear, I shoved him back with enough force to send him stumbling back into the stunned bodies of Marik and Ryou. "Fucking listen to me, you pigheaded brat!" His face was just as astonished as the people who caught him. "Listen, whether I like it or not – which I don't – we are in a position where we have to hurt or kill those horrible people. And I guess I'll have to accept it. But I will not allow anyone I associate with to kill unnecessarily! Whether it's an accident or not, hurting or killing anyone who isn't involved makes us just as bad as Pegasus is! So shut the hell up and listen, and find a logical solution; one that doesn't involve snapping someone's neck or burning them to a crisp; because it's either that, or so help me, I will throw you out the window."
It was then, above Malik's incessant blaring of the horn and shouts of warning (to both bystanders, and us when he had to swerve and avoid them) that we all heard sirens begin to wail in the distance. They steadily grew louder and more intense, and I knew that it wasn't only Pegasus who was after us now. Shit! Fear gripped my chest like a vice. If we get caught by Pegasus, we're going to be locked up and tortured for the rest of our lives. And if we're caught by the police, we're in prison for life, if they don't end up shipping us all back to Pegasus, anyways.
It was a lose-lose situation for us. No matter what, we'd be royally screwed.
For a moment, I thought I felt Arceus' presence stir in response to my rage and underlying fear, but I decided to not get my hopes up, and ignored it. After taking a breath, I looked at Bakura and Marik. Their expressions, like everyone else's, were filled with tension, fear and desperation. I did my best to calm myself. "Any bullets left?" I asked, and they nodded densely in reply. "Either of you a good shot?" To this they shook their heads. I bit back a quiet curse at our luck.
I was surprised when Anzu, of all people, stepped forward and grabbed our only firearms – those being two pistols the other Dark Attributes had looted from the corpse of a guard back at that Hell we were stuck in. There was an icy determination in her cerulean eyes, and with a single glance, not even the 'yamis' dared to complain. "If you can cover me," she stated, "I can get these guys off our tail."
"Shit – hold on to something!" Malik suddenly shouted, twisting the wheel to the left as he swerved to avoid a dark car that suddenly veered into our path. I shouted, the momentum strong enough to throw me into the car door. I felt Yami's arm come up behind me, and I was clutched to a strong chest as we tumbled to the floor. Something on top of the van skidded to the side roughly. There a faint scream being cut off as our would-be captor met a violent and painful fate underneath the tires of an unknown number of cars.
Seto hissed from up front, the knuckles of his fists gone white as he gripped the side of his seat for stability. "Damn it there's more of them!"
"How many more?!" I heard Bakura yell back.
"Your guess is as good as mine!"
I cringed and grit my teeth at the sound of squealing tires on hot pavement. The clamor blended with the shouts and screams of pedestrians, car horns, police sirens, and the pounding of my heart. But, then... everything seemed to fall silent. I blinked, as an idea came to me.
"Take out the tires." Yami looked at me in a confounded way, as if he'd thought I'd finally gone mad. That seemed to be a regular occurrence as of late.
"What?"
"Take out the tires," I repeated, unable to withhold a grin as the confidence grew. "Anzu!" Said woman looked up in surprise. "Use the ammo we have left, and aim for the tires of all those cars! If they have a flat, they can't drive well; if they can't drive well, they'll lose ground. And when we get far enough ahead-!"
She grinned and completed my sentence for me. "We can find a way to ditch them, and get away without being caught! But what about them? They've got to have guns of their own with them. Or what if they Merge with their Ka?"
"Yami or Seto will go out there with you." Two surprised protests met my words. I frowned with a quiet growl in response to both of them, throwing a glare at the two young men. "For the love of – your Ka are dragons, for God's sake! The scales should be more than enough to keep you safe for a little while."
"Says you, kid," Seto snapped, and I reflected his scowl right back at him, "You didn't have to try and fend off two dozen of those creeps by yourself like I did! And you didn't have to use yourself as a shield like Yami!" Cold blue eyes scanned over me in a calculating way. "Hell, I haven't seen you even bothering to pull your own weight around here! After what you did to Kemo, I'd expect more of a backbone from you!"
I winced unintentionally at the mention of my episode, and I felt Yami's arm tighten defensively over my shoulders. "Watch it, Kaiba," Yami snarled, "You're talking to my Kindred here!"
"Well if he's so eager to toss us into the line of fire, why shouldn't he make some kind of sacrifice instead? It's his fucking idea!"
I could feel a headache coming on. "I'd love to, but I can't."
"Well why the hell not? Look, I saw you almost get burnt to a crisp back in that garage!" I blinked, and my arm gave a subconscious throb. "If it weren't for Mazaki, you'd either be dead or locked back up in that place. Why didn't you just Merge with your Ka? Are you too scared to do it? Does it go against your goodie-two-shoes morals? Wake up and smell the roses, shrimp – we're wanted fugitives now, and will be so long as those psychopaths are still breathing!"
"No, that's not it, I-!"
"Then what is it? I'm not going to risk my hide for some dead weight!"
"Kaiba, shut the hell up!" Yami snapped. I could feel my heart pulse painfully, and, forced by habit, my hand came to grip the cloth above where it rested.
"I just can't Kaiba, okay? Now can we stop arguing, before we're either shot or arrested?!"
"Just Merge with your Ka, then! If you're so willing to toss others into harm's way-"
"I can't!"
"Why can't you?!"
"My Ka isn't here right now!" My voice rose above the clamor that was growing between us all, and I stood rigidly, balancing myself by putting a hand on the wall and broadening my stance. "Arceus cut himself off from me, and he isn't fucking here, okay?! So I can't do a goddamn thing to help unless you want a corpse to throw at their windshield!" I jabbed a finger into his chest, and Seto blinked owlishly in astonishment at my lapse of temper, "I'll make it up when I can, but right now I don't feel like dying or being thrown back in a room for the rest of my life; and, unless we're all fine-and-dandy with her getting a bullet between the eyes the moment she shows her face, I don't want Anzu to go up there without some kind of backup! So unless you want that to happen to everyone in here, will you please just shut the hell up and do what I tell you to!"
I turned back to Yami. "Kaiba will cover you and Oscuridad while you keep Anzu safe." I looked back to Kaiba. "If anyone tries to sneak up on him from behind, I want you to light them up like a firework gone wrong. But do not attack the police officers. They're just doing their job to keep a couple cars full of lunatics from hurting or killing any Domino citizens. We'll stick to taking out the tires with them. Anything else goes with Pegasus and his goons. Use your claws to dig into the metal of the roof and keep your balance. Got it?"
Still, a pair of red and blue eyes blinked at me with dumfounded expressions. I released a frustrated sigh and resisted smacking myself on the forehead. "Some time today would be very much appreciated, thank you!" That seemed to snap them out of it, because black scales began to crawl over Yami's arms by the time I'd finished talking, and I saw Kaiba's blue eyes develop elongated pupils. Next thing I knew, a roughly-Great-Dane-sized dragon covered in obsidian scales slithered forward in place of my Sheut, and the rest of us held on to various pieces of car for dear life when the side-door suddenly slid open. Oscuridad glanced over a large shoulder to Anzu, who had managed to holster the two firearms to her coat. The dragon made a small, jerked motion with his head, and rumbled something the sounded suspiciously like "hop on" – referring to his back.
The brunette quickly but carefully climbed onto Oscuridad's back, firmly gripping the joint of one of his wings, and I bit back a stab of possessiveness when said wing opened into the wind outside, and he carried the two of them out on momentum, twisting in a way that kept them from slamming into the side of the van. Seto, now having more scales showing than skin, maneuvered himself out the passenger's side window. Heavy thumping and the scrape of nails into metal filled my ears as the three got themselves situated. "Hold on!" Malik called again, jerking the wheel to one side. Tires skid across the pavement and we drifted a corner with the finesse of a stock car driver on the track. I stumbled and fell, but stopped short when Ryou's quick thinking made him reach out and grab me by the arms, Bakura and Amane holding him by the waist, and Marik moving to slam the side door shut. The second Egyptian swung himself into the front seat beside my brother, eyes scanning the blurred streets, as if searching for something.
Gunfire began to whiz through the air, and I could see indents from Kaiba and Yami's claws digging into the top of the van. Marik suddenly gripped the wheel, and turned for a worn-looking street. "What the hell are you doing?!" I heard Malik snap, and I saw the swipe of a white-scaled tail flick by the window in an attempt to balance the rest of the body it was connected to.
"Here let me drive – I know a place we can go!" said Marik
"I think I can manage, thanks," Malik retorted.
"Like Hell!"
The car began to swerve as the two fought for dominance, and bickering filled the air when Bakura decided to get involved with the mix. I ducked out the window when I saw one of their grips slipping, about to send us toppling back to the ground. I braced myself on the open window and shouted a warning to the three up top. "Hard left!"
They managed to ground themselves enough just in time for the vehicle to lurch to one side. I grunted as I was thrown into the door. Looking up, there was what might have been a small parade tailing behind us. Three sleek, black vehicles – belonging to Pegasus, no doubt – and five different police cruisers with sirens wailing.
With the crack of a gun, a tire in the frontmost cruiser burst, and it swerved dangerously to one side. The edge of a spiked tail snapped, and two, razor-like spikes pierced the fronts of the next one. A cop and a goon both pulled their guns at the same time and shot in almost complete unison. Kaiba's Ka gave an angered bellow when one of them scuffed the scales of his shoulder, and I ducked back in caution when the other ricocheted off the side of the van and bust one of our taillights. I was thrown to the ground when Kaiba suddenly launched himself from the roof, and onto the next cruiser, clawing into the metal frame and making the men inside swerve from our path when we took another harsh turn.
Two more bullets; four down, four to go.
People had made scarce on the streets, which were steadily becoming more and more dilapidated, the farther we went. I scanned the horizon for Kaiba's Ka – a ferocious, three-headed white beast with the same eye color as its Ba – but there was no such luck right now. Gods I hope he'll be alright.
The last cruiser went with another row of scaled spikes to the tires, and somehow I knew that's what Yami was waiting for.
With the uninvolved out of the way, he and Oscuridad could do whatever they damn well pleased. I leaned out the window again in time to see Oscuridad's scaly muzzle split with a grin. Anzu, who had slipped from his back, seemed to sense his desire to cause them harm, and she scrambled back haphazardly. She screamed as Oscuridad took hold, throwing their sense to the wind. "Hold on to me!" I ordered Ryou, knowing Amane would help him as I went about throwing the side door open.
"What the hell are you doing?!" I heard Bakura demand, just as Oscuridad's hind legs coiled, before sending the two of them launching forward, straight into the two closest cars. The third and final one swerved to avoid the hulking mass of dragon, and onto a separate roadway, before crashing into a worn-down building with a burst of flame. We all gave a collected scream as the momentum sent the van rocking, and I saw Anzu get thrown to the side despite her best efforts. Just as I'd predicted.
"Anzu!" I reached out to her as she slid off the edge, feeling my brother strengthen his grip on me. "Pull back!" I ordered, before getting tugged back sharply just as Anzu's hand clasped my own. She gave a short shriek of terror and panic as, for mere moments, she was suspended in the air, falling towards the asphalt racing below. And, had she hit it, she would have been trampled beneath the tires of the cars behind us. But the three of us managed to pull her inside just in time. There was a clatter as the now-unloaded pistols fell from her makeshift belt, and onto the streets below us. I collapsed into Ryou's chest, Anzu landing on top of me, and poor Amane was shoved back by her Ba's body while trying to keep us all upright. My heart pounded as I breathed heavily, trying to calm it. I could feel Anzu shivering as her arms wraps around me tight. With the flicker of wide, scared blue eyes, she murmured a quiet thanks. I nodded at her, swallowing in attempt to soothe my suddenly-dry throat. She got to her hands and knees, moving off of me, and I got off of Ryou and Amane. They seemed worse for wear.
"Sorry," I said quickly, "and thanks." They nodded at me, and Amane's manifestation faded.
With the air lacking the screams of sirens and gunfire, everything seemed to lapse into a brief moment of quiet and calm. It was odd. But in a nice kind of way.
It was short-lived, as a loud, leathery flapping sound filled the air. I started back into Ryou's chest as something the size of a large dog came barreling through the still-open side door. Three huge, angled heads covered in white scales swung around, while a thick tail thrashed briefly in the air for balance. I saw three pairs of vaguely-familiar blue eyes, before the beast collapsed to the floor. The, wings, tail, and two extra heads vanished in a puff of equally pale-blue magic, and white scales crawled back to reveal pale flesh and uncharacteristically tousled brown hair.
Kaiba lay prone, injured, and ashen-skinned with fatigue before me. Ryou and Anzu helped me pull him towards the back of the van, away from the open door, and he seemed too spent to protest at being handled. Any other day, I was sure he'd probably claw our arms for even trying to touch him, had he not been so tired. He was covered in small scratches and scrapes, and bruises were just starting to form here and there. The only thing that concerned me was a deeper cut beneath his left shoulder, and the blood dripping from his nose. Without thinking, I tore away the left sleeve of my jumpsuit (surprisingly devoid of dried blood), and used the fabric to bind his cut. Kaiba managed a kind-of-grateful look as he sat himself up shakily. A hand came up to wipe the red from his face, and he tilted his head forward, pinching the bridge of his nose to stop the blood flow.
The weird thing was, his nose didn't look broken or injured. He seemed to sense my curiosity, because he gave me a winded explanation before either of us could speak. "Overuse of magic," he drawled slowly, with a few small pauses to take deep breaths. "Aureole energy is the life-force between Ba and Ka... It's like a muscle. Use too much magic... and you get hurt. Have to... strengthen it, through practice. Like any other muscle in your body. Causes an overload on your system otherwise." After a minute or two, the bleeding stopped.
"I'm not going to be much use for a while," Kaiba suddenly announced, looking almost pained at the admittance of his limitations, "Not gonna have much control over my magic, and Cerberus and I are too tired to Merge." His posture straightened, and he met my puzzled gaze with a scoff. "And since you're looking at me like you've got the IQ level of an eggplant – continued use after an overload can kill you. So don't be an idiot."
There was a loud thumping sound, and the roof of the van became indented with the shapes of a dragon's talons. Seto rolled his eyes with a grimace.
"Speak of the Devil, and he shall appear..."
Seconds later, Yami swung in through the door, which was slammed shut soon after. Yami had a larger array of scratches and bruises than Kaiba did, but none of them looked deep. I immediately got up and stumbled over to him, my arms slipping around his waist in a strong embrace. The warmth from his chest sent my frantic heart at ease, and I gave myself a moment to relax and breathe deeply. Yami just... stood there, arms out awkwardly at his sides. Like he didn't know how to react.
I blinked up at him after a few seconds, emotion bubbling up in my chest despite my best attempts to quell it. "Are you okay?" I asked quietly. His expression was blank with surprise, his crimson eyes wide as he looked at me. After a moment, that face softened some, and he gave a small nod.
"Good."
I grabbed him by the ear, and Yami gave a yelp, half from shock, half from pain. "What the hell were you thinking, you idiot?!" I demanded, "You almost killed Anzu with that stunt back there! Next time make sure any allies are inside the van before you decide to take a flying leap!"
"Alright, alright, Jesus, I'm sorry! Fucking let go!"
I did, barking a tense "Thank you!" It sounded more like 'if you weren't so hurt right now I swear to God I'd punch you'.
He pulled away, rubbing his aching ear with an aggravated "You're welcome!" It had the underlying message of 'if we weren't running for our lives still I'd gladly return the favor'.
"Dick."
"Brat."
Marik took the moment to casually lean back in his seat, look at us, and announced, "And this, ladies and gentlemen, is what love is like."
"Shut the hell up, Marik," Malik snapped, still fixated on the road.
"Yes, Malik."
Bakura snickered, whispering "whipped" under his breath.
Ryou glared at him, and Bakura paled some, before offering a sheepish grin.
There was a pause, before an amused smile rose on my face. I leaned back against the van door as a chuckle escaped me – it was echoed by Anzu and my brothers, while our darker counterparts frowned. Kaiba just rolled his eyes despite the smirk that was on his face. The atmosphere was almost carefree. My own laughter fell silent while the others continued, and I looked at all of them. Our 'yamis' were beginning to crack their own grins after a little bit, and everyone finally allowed the tension to drop from their shoulders a little bit. Heck, Malik was even a little more than mediocre at his driving at this point. The streets around us were cracked and lined with buildings on the verge of becoming rubble, and the streets were empty. Our Kindred were slowly beginning to glance around, and something flickered in Yami's gaze that made a mixture of concern and curiosity fill me. Just as I opened my mouth to ask him what was wrong, a small shock pulsed across my mind, and I blanked out when an achingly familiar presence filled my soul. I put a hand over my heart (damn that habit!) as Arceus' soft, purring growl filled my head.
...Little One...? His mental voice sounded hushed and hesitant. I could feel an underlying sense of embarrassment, and even shame, on his consciousness. I frowned, irritation and a brief sense of hurt filling me.
How nice of you to actually show up, I growled back at him. I could picture the metaphysical flinch he gave from within his soul's room. Here I was, thinking you didn't care about the possibility of us all being blown to bits! How silly of me!
Alarm filled his presence. What are you talking about?
I'm talking about about the past couple of hours, Arceus! I snapped back at him, and I knew my anger was beginning to show on my face, We've been on the run from Pegasus, and we all just about got killed in the process!
I could feel him trying to dig through my recent memories, and I gladly let him explore, physically crossing my arms as I looked to the side to glare at the back of Marik's seat, giving a quiet huff. For a moment, I caught Malik's gaze in the seat across from me. I glanced away quickly, seeing the knowing concern in his lavender eyes. I felt Arceus steadily fill with shame as the events of the past who-knows-how-long replayed themselves in my head. From the guards who had tried to put a new collar on me, to us somewhat-accidentally taking Anzu hostage, my nearly being burnt to a crisp, us being shot at and chased, and every last ounce of my inner turmoil and begging for him to help coming to slap him across his stupid, scaly muzzle along the way.
Like I said, I mentally snorted, nice of you to show up.
Y... Y-Yuugi, I... Hesitation filled our Bond, and I wasn't sure if I should let the bitterness in my stomach grow or fade at the sound of his mental voice, I-I had no idea... I'm-
"Don't you fucking dare," I hissed sharply under my breath, startling myself at the accidental slip. I looked up to see the others staring at me with everything ranging from concern to confusion, to just wondering why the hell I was glaring holes into the back of the passenger seat and if I'd finally lost my goddamn mind. Despite my irritation, I felt my face warm with embarrassment, and I looked away. "It's nothing," I mumbled, leaning heavily against the wall for support while the van rocked and rattled around us.
We'll talk about this later, Arceus. In private.
B... But Little One-!
Later, Arceus! I snapped at him, biting the inside of my cheek to keep myself from growling out loud. His mental voice fell silent, and I breathed a quiet sigh of relief. I could feel his aura, his presence, lingering hesitantly in our shared mind. A mental image of his shimmering, pale silver-lavender energy drifting along in our soul came to mind, hovering hesitantly next to a more saturated amethyst aura that I knew was my own. Not quite brushing against it, mingling with it, like it usually did. It troubled me to think that he was scared of interacting with my half of our soul at this point, but I decided it'd be best to let things lie for now. At least until we could find ourselves a moment of solitude to work things out. I didn't want my brothers, Kindred, or our new... companions, to deal with the awkwardness of seeing me argue with a translucent dragon. Or, in Seto, Anzu, Marik and Bakura's cases, a shimmering cloud of magic.
I snapped back to reality when I noticed something.
Malik was still staring at me, concern in his eyes.
Paying absolutely no mind to the road ahead of us. Or the fact that he needed to turn with the rest of the road, like, right now.
"Crap, Malik, watch the freaking road!"
He started, whipping around to see ahead of him right as a lamppost came to meet us. He frantically jerked the wheel to the left as we came up to meet it, and slammed on the brakes. "Shit!"
The van vaulted to one side, and I was thrown to the ground with a painful thud. The tires and brakes squealed deafeningly as the scent of burning rubber filled the air around us. But when you're going well over seventy on a cracked road, in a cheap van that just went to hell and back, some measly, worn-out brakes won't do much to help the situation. In my panic, I threw out a hand, and thoughtlessly willed for something, anything, to happen and help us.
I'd practiced with my magic before very briefly in the past, but Jii-chan had always been very adamant about my brothers and I avoiding any intense self-training. First off, because we could accidentally hurt ourselves or others without proper guidance and instruction. Secondly, it could attract some unwanted attention. So I wasn't too experienced.
For a moment, as my eyes slipped shut, I was brought ten years into the past. On that fateful day my world had changed forever – where my brothers and I were left in the care of our grandfather, and my and Malik's mother, Ashita, along with Ryou's father, Satoru, met unfortunate fates long before their time, and joined their Kindred in the Afterlife. And for that small moment in time, I was a terrified six-year-old, staring into the large, scared, sad blood-red eyes of an onyx-scaled dragon. The one who seemed so familiar and terrifying and lovely all at the same time...
My eyes opened as I felt a spark catch fire, and a pulse of bright energy escaped from my fingertips, the desire to protect and keep the people around me safe. I could feel Arceus and I's power as it latched onto and weaved with the auras of the others, forming a bright, pale-lavender bubble around their bodies. Something in the back of my mind pulled, and somewhere I could sense Arceus' panic as my focus to keep them safe kept myself in harm's way.
Yuugi! I felt something settle over me. Scaled limbs hugged me close to a soft chest and smooth wings folded over me just as the right side of the van slammed into the post. It pitched to one side, and rolled over itself a few times, sending all of us tumbling aimlessly within its confines. I felt Arceus' claws sink into my clothing, holding me close as he curled around our body more tightly, protecting it. I felt us being thrown in one direction, before the grinding and crunching noises of metal began to fade, and the world finally stopped spinning. There was a creak as something a few yards off settled and fell still. My eyes were burning and all I could see was blinding, white light. My head was throbbing as if someone had just taken a sledgehammer to my skull a good ten times, and I thought I tasted blood. I couldn't think straight. It was all just a big whirlwind of feelings and sensations and pain and I felt like I just couldn't relax no matter how hard I tried and Gods above my head hurts-!
Yuugi, something's wrong – stop using magic! Arceus' voice warned, sounding frantic. It snapped me from my trance, and a loud gasp escaped me as all the strength left my muscles. I fell limp in my Ka's grip, allowing myself to be held and cradled by him as I released my control on our magic, letting whatever it was I had just done fade away. The world was spinning without end and I felt nauseous, and tired, and... was my nose bleeding?
I think I just broke my brain.
Arceus' brilliant wings unfolded themselves from around the two of us, and he flopped over onto one side, his forelegs still hugging me against that smoothly-crystallized chest of his. His rear legs spread out, stretching, as if to check for damage, and I could feel the burn on my right arm throbbing along with my sluggish pulse. I panted heavily, my lungs feeling like I'd just swallowed a bunch of water and it had all pooled into them. It made it difficult to breathe. My hand absently came to wipe blood away from my face.
I felt a forked, serpentine tongue flick against the scratch on my left cheek. It tickled.
"A... Arce'...?" I managed, looking over at the manifestation of my Ka's slender muzzle. I glanced up, and was surprised to see that we were laying on the concrete. What happened to the...
My eyes lazily cast over the area, to see the twisted metal remains of a vehicle. My eyes went wide in terror.
The van!
I went to get up, but Arceus held me in place. "Ar-Arceus! What the – let go! They could be hurt!" His only response to my protests was to wrap himself around me more firmly.
They are fine, he insisted soothingly, you are hurt.
"No, I'm fine, but they're hurt! They're still in the van! We have to go help them!" My struggling quickly became weaker, and I could of sworn that I felt the blood dripping down my chin. My head was pounding, and I felt a warm string of moisture fall down my face. I sense alarm as it filled Arceus' side of our mind-link. The intensity of it was enough to make me fall still in shock.
I groaned, wiping the wetness from my eye and cheek with the back of a hand. I was startled to find red smeared across it when I pulled away. What in the world...? I felt like I was going to be sick.
"Arceus!" I heard Ryou suddenly scream towards us, and I looked up sharply to see him beginning to emerge from the wreckage with Kaiba at his side. "Arceus, go away!"
My Ka recoiled slightly in offense and surprise. "I beg your pardon?" he replied, sounding miffed. Strangely enough, his voice sounded tired – strained, even. Maybe he was feeling sick too?
"Go away! Don't manifest!" Ryou cried out, motioning wildly to the side with an arm, as if he was trying to sweep the dragon away from sight. He started to run to our sides with Kaiba, the others beginning to squirm their ways from the wreckage, as well. I paused just long enough to feel relieved. They were all alright. Ryou's expression, however, was panicked. "You're going to kill yourselves! Go back into your Akh!"
Arceus started in dread, and the next thing I knew, I was rolling from the scaled arms of a dragon, to the dirt-and-gravel-covered road, coughing as the sudden pain and weight in my head and body lifted some. It was easier to breathe now, and I took advantage of that. Between each cough I tried to gulp down a gasp of air. Honestly all I wanted to do right now was sleep.
I was suddenly being propped up by Ryou, and Kaiba was on one knee before me, snapping his fingers in front of my face to keep my attention. "Yuugi, you awake?" he asked, and I nodded dumbly in reply, "Stay that way, got it? Don't go to sleep." I blinked slowly at him, still trying to breathe normally. "Okay, I need you to tell me how much experience you have with your magic, alright? I need you to concentrate on that. Did you practice with it often before Pegasus put the collar on you? Can you cast any spells, or do anything special with it at all, like that protection spell you just cast?"
I squinted at him, my brain feeling like it was caught in a fishbowl, left to aimlessly float around. I couldn't focus. "Wah... Wa-Wait... stop talkin' s' fast..." Why was I slurring? "Wha..?"
There was something in his eyes I almost wanted to classify as concern. But Kaiba wouldn't actually be concerned about someone he hardly even knew... right? "Do you have experience with your magic?" he repeated, much more slowly. I noticed movement by the van, but before my attention could stray, his fingers snapped again, and I jumped a little. "Pay attention!"
"K... Kinda'... N-Not... much... w-why?"
"Have you ever cast a spell like that before?"
I could feel my words beginning to catch up with me some, but my head was still pounding. "Once... when I was... really little."
"How 'little'?"
"When I... when Arceus first woke up..." I began to elaborate, "There was this, this huge thing... a dragon, an' we were in a car... going to Jii-chan's house... an' there was this screech, and some kinda' explosion, a-and I wanted to keep everyone safe... then Arceus woke up, n' all of a sudden, we were in this... this bubble, and..." For some reason I started to giggle. But... I don't know why. I didn't see anything as incredibly funny right now.
Gods above, I think I actually broke my brain.
Kaiba, again, snapped his fingers, and I stopped laughing. I couldn't stop grinning, though. Is this what it's like to be high? "So you don't have any other experience, besides that?" I shook my head. His brow furrowed. "Then why the hell would you cast a spell like that?! You could have fucking killed yourself!"
I flinched back with a shout, and covered my ears – it felt like my head was about to split open! He was being so loud!
"Kaiba, what do you think you're doing?" I heard Yami's voice demand, and several sets of feet were running up to us. I looked up at him and smiled weakly, and his face went a little bit pale. "Sh-Shit – Yuugi, are you crying blood?!" I paused, and wiped again at the now-drying track of red that ran from my eye and down my cheek, puzzlement filling me at the comment. Was I?
I shrank back into Ryou's arms as Kaiba suddenly leaned closer, eyes narrowing, as if he was scrutinizing me for something. I felt like a kid who was trying to hide the fact he'd stolen a cookie from the jar before dinner from his parents. His face was still a good foot or two away from mine, but to say the sudden attention made me uneasy would have been an understatement. My discomfort showed through a little mumbled "uh..."
Yeah, intelligent, I know. I deserve an award for mind-stirring speeches.
After a moment, he leaned back again with a thoughtful hum. "Looks like it's stopped... might've just been one tear, from when his Ka was still manifested." Though I had a hard time grasping what he was saying, I managed a tiny nod of confirmation at his words. Kaiba seemed to have not noticed it – either that, or he didn't care enough to bother looking, because his attention was focused back on Yami as he continued. "Your boyfriend decided to cast an expert-level protection spell to keep us all safe during the crash. Granted, we probably wouldn't be walking away from this if he hadn't, but the idiot hasn't had any practice with his casting beforehand. So his body is going through an overload from using too much magic."
You'd think that'd be something to sober a person up. It was alarming, to say the least. But all I did was bust out into more giggles. I cupped a hand to my mouth, trying to stifle the laughter, but I just couldn't stop laughing!
Yup. That's it. I broke my brain. It's broken. Yami, Arceus, I'm broken. Fix me please. God, my head is killing me!
"Don't worry," I heard Kaiba say, "It makes you kind of loopy at first. At least when it's at this degree. As long as he doesn't start bleeding from the eyes again, or the ears, he should be alright." I felt Ryou's arms tighten around me, and I finally got the laughter to stop. I looked up to see several worried faces looking right back. Malik, Ryou, their Kindred, Yami, Anzu... hell, even Kaiba looked a little worried!
"I'm... Leggo, Ryou," I said simply, trying to pull away from him, "'M fine, 'kay? Jus'... 'm jus' fine."
He let go, but my bones decided to bail out on me, and I flopped clumsily to one side before I could even try to get up. I glanced up lazily to my Kindred, and not even I could make sense of the emotions playing across his face right now. "I... I think tha' I broke my brain..." I informed him, before snickering again and rolling onto my stomach, trying to prop myself up with my arms. "I. Am. Broken!"
Kaiba rolled his eyes, and I saw Bakura and Marik trying to keep back grins at my behavior. "'Ey!" I snapped at them, pointing an accusatory finger at the pair. They froze. "...you shuddup."
I managed to get myself into a sitting position, before wincing. Blood started to drip from my nose again, and I wiped it away with my remaining jumpsuit sleeve, making a sound of disgust. Malik came up beside me this time, and gently tilted my head forward. "Wha...?" His thumb and index finger gingerly pinched the bridge of my nose to stop the blood. "How long is he going to be like... this?" I heard the Egyptian question as I started snickering again for some reason.
Damn it, stop laughing!
Kaiba shrugged. "Anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. Just be glad he's acting like this. If he fell asleep, he wouldn't have woken up. And if he was pissed, we'd all be blown sky high by his leftover magic by now."
Nevermind, keep laughing, keep laughing!
"Is he like... so tired he's drunk, or something?" I heard Bakura ask.
"Not exactly; the overload affects someone's physical abilities – like being able to control laughter, keep from crying, walking normally, their sense of balance, speech, etcetera – but their mental processes usually remain intact." Malik finally let go of my nose, and the bleeding stopped.
"So..." Ryou drawled, "He's completely aware of what's going on right now? And he just... can't control it?"
"Eeeyup!" I chirped suddenly, before clapping a hand over my mouth to shut myself up. I swayed as the world tilted to one side, and my brothers had to grab me by the shoulders so I wouldn't topple over again. Anzu was the one who snapped her fingers this time, and my scrambled brain focused in on the sound. I looked up and met her cerulean eyes curiously.
"Does your head hurt?" she asked, and I nodded slowly. "Feel numb anywhere?" This, I denied. "Do you think you can stand?"
"Maybe...?" Finally, something coherent!
Ryou and Malik slowly guided me to my knees, before helping me to my feet. I stumbled a few times, and Yami had to step in and help when my knees ended up buckling the second time, but eventually, I was standing. I dunno how long it took, but I was still more than a little off-kilter by then. I was swaying a little in place. Anzu took a moment to tell Arceus and I that we couldn't Merge, even partially, for at least a couple of hours (though it'd be best to avoid it for a couple days just to be sure), and apparently Arceus wasn't allowed to manifest himself for at least a day or two. 'Just to be safe', she'd said. "And make sure," she added, looking to Yami and my brothers this time, "that if he needs help walking, or anything like that, you don't carry him unless it's a last resort. The movement should help clear up his head a little bit and get everything back into order a little faster. So try to not baby him too much."
We all looked around when the faint sound of sirens began to wail in the far distance. Kaiba's face looked grim and serious.
"C'mon, I know a place we can lay low at until the heat dies down."
I went to walk, but ended up wobbling on the first step, and stumbling into Yami. My arms instinctively went to wrap around his waist for some kind of leverage. I beamed up at him when he looked down at me, surprise and worry within his red eyes. "Help me?" I asked, "Please?"
He acquiesced , and next thing I knew, his arm had snaked around my waist, and I was half-hugging his midsection as we started to walk away. The warmth of his body made a soft little sigh escape my lips, and I allowed my eyes to slip shut in bliss at the pleasant feeling of his muscles working against my own while we walked. I rested my head on his arm subconsciously, smiling faintly as the group quickly made for the ruins of Old Domino City, and away from the police sirens that would be chasing us for... well, who knew how long? It could very well be until the end of our lives, at this point.
But... if I have Yami to run with me... I think I'll be able to handle it.
Nickey: So, that was a GREAT chapter. Nothing spells out FANTASTIC like ripping out people's throats, and punching them in the face, while almost being killed in a high speed chase. WOOO! I really gotta calm the hell down... So anyway, We'll catch ya'll next time with my chapter... Hope you all enjoyed, and don't forget to leave a review, because we both read them ^w^ Until next time! * waves * goodbye!
Fallen: Well, thank you. I just hope every one else enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing! Honestly I had a lot of difficulty with this chapter, and I got stuck on a couple of parts. So could you all please tell us what you thought of it once your done? It'd be really appreciated! I promise I'll try to give a personal response to your lovely reviews from this moment on, OK?
Love you all! Stay safe, and we'll see you in the next chapter!