Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Vampire Hunter D.

I apologize for my lateness, but alas, that's how things go x.x Thanks once again Aldedron for being my beta-reader, thank you to my lil group of faithful readers, you are awesome. I love hearing speculations and/or opinions concerning this story. By no means is it complete, and by no means is there only one way it will go.

Enjoy!

Chapter Fourteen: Sacrifice or Surrender

Darkness did not change his pace, nor did it make him afraid; but he was afraid. Afraid of that feeling he was getting, that twinge that something was going to go wrong or that something was wrong already. This was what finally pushed him from a quick walk, crouched in shadow, to a jog that threatened to give away his position. He could hear the guards, or sentries as his mind sometimes put it, checking the streets for any straggling citizens who either did not realize how close to curfew it was, or were just choosing to ignore it. They were far off, however, still a number of blocks away from the half crouched figure hurrying along the streets.

D stopped for a moment to take in a deep breath and rub at his freezing arms before continuing on. He had just reached the edge of where Domino North became Domino City, not but two blocks away from Bakura's apartment. As soon as he had gotten out of the freezing water, he had made a mad dash south-west, ignoring how badly he had the urge to sleep. He had to get to Amami; he had to get her to safety before anything happened. D did not believe he would ever forgive himself if she or her family died because of his selfish wish to live like a normal child.

"What a mess this has turned out to be," his left hand said as D grabbed a light pole and swung onto the street perpendicular to the one he was on. The child did not reply but continued to take in controlled breaths as he ran as fast as he could down the paved roads. The parasite did not seem the least bit vexed about this, and continued with his banter in a jovial tone that was improper for the situation.

"So after you rescue said damsel, what do you propose to do next? Ride her off into the sunset on a horse with no name? You might have to wait until tomorrow for that," the hand tittered. D looked down at his hand, slowing down just enough to where he would not smack into anything.

"You are a pain in the ass, you know that?" He snapped, panting softly.

The face on the hand grinned. "Hey, don't blame me for poking holes into your flimsy logic." D glared at the hand, and if the appendage could have shrugged, it would have. "Just saying."

The boy did not reply to this but clenched his hand instead, letting his nails bite into the skin. A sardonic look formed on his face as he turned to look behind him, letting the small trickle of blood drop onto the cement. He was about to continue on his way when a minute glimmer of light caught his attention. At the top of the Kaiba Corp building a single light shone, and not from the room on the top floor, but the roof.

"What is this?" He wondered aloud, and then a hiss of static made him jump and twist his vision to a large broken TV that shimmered with a shower of electricity in the distance. The lights clicked on a half a second later and D was now completely visible in the orange lamplight.

"Citizens of Domino, if I may have your attention…This is an emergency broadcast authorized by the Chief of Security and Trade, Moto Yugi. I repeat this is an emergency broadcast authorized by the Chief of Security and Trade, Moto Yugi. If you are able to hear this, and know of those who cannot, please alert them and then continue to direct your attention to this message…"

D listened in awe as the soft, effeminate voice came from numerous speakers left on only for the purpose of hearing the curfew lifted. He knew that voice from anywhere. He was relieved to hear it, but the restrained fear and urgency that it held both caused great worry and admiration. Something must have been said to get the man so unnerved.

"…an attack on the city. Please in as an orderly fashion as possible, make your way to the northern city limit. Nowhere else. There are rumors of a city that survived in a more northern region who may take us in for a time. If we all remain together we will be safer. There is not much time, so please leave as quickly as possible. This is going to happen, and the sooner we leave the better. But please do not panic. This will only make things difficult for all. I repeat, do not panic.

Bring whatever is necessary, and only what is necessary. There is enough still lying around out there to replenish anything you may need. Please head toward Domino North, there will be guards waiting at the city line to escort you to your destination. If you see anyone who is having difficulties aid them if you are able to. Stay away from anyone that you do not recognize," the man stopped, and then added as an afterthought, "That is all."

With that there was a blip and the man's voice stopped just as quickly as it had started. D held his breath, listening to the faded echoes of Bakura's voice, drawing whatever strength he needed from it, and then resumed his run. The young man had been right about time. They had precious little and every second counted. He only wondered why they had changed the plan, and how they were going to find Anzu before heading north.

D shook his head, a negative only he and the eyesore on his hand could see. They were stuck either way. No boat he and Anzu had found would have been able to move far enough away from shore, least of all any that would carry the amount of people that the city held. Migrating north would not do much better, considering that was where their group had been heading when found. He assumed that the adults thought that the mass of people would cause enough confusion to save some lives, but D knew there was no chance if his father sent even just four vampires after them. Bakura's previous actions had impressed the boy beyond measure, but he doubted if the others would do half as well. He hoped that they would all be long gone before anyone arrived.

In the distance there was a small explosion, and D looked up, his face strained. It couldn't be happening already, could it?

In a building that was closer to Domino South, Bakura leaned back on the rusting chair and sighed. It had been a poor warning with a blatant lie thrown in to ease a situation which would cause panic regardless of his attempts to temper it, but it was the best he could do under this situation. They needed to get the remains of a city traveling far enough away to where the vampires could not reach immediately, and then he could worry about the repercussions. Here was hoping that the rumor that vampires could not cross running water was true. He had almost wanted to request those who were religious to pray. They all may need it.

He rested there for a moment, eyes closed, knowing full well that his friends were not prepared. They thought that the vampire he had shot had been killed. In the heat of the moment he had nearly believed it himself. Yet he could think clearly now, knew it was not so, and knew that their main objective was to run for their lives. He only hoped that it would not come to fighting. What happened once would not necessarily happen again, and it was not like he knew how to bring forth what had saved him, or that he even wanted to; yes, running was their best bet.

An explosion startled him from his thoughts. He bolted up from the chair and faced in the direction of where the sound had come from. Small tendrils of smoke in the distance could be seen by the light produced from what was left of the city. Bakura walked up to the window pane, touching the glass with unintended gentleness. It was impossible. Unless…somehow…

Bakura scowled. There had been a reason that man, no, that thing had shown his face. He had known all along where his two captives had been hiding. He had somehow weaseled his way into Kaiba's good graces with promises of coexistence and bettering their "cities". That was if Kaiba did not know the truth. There was a part of the young man who stood in the shadow of an empire long gone, sick with the possibility that the man he had trusted had sold him out. Sold them all out, but for what?

He shook off the conspiracy theory with one turn of the head. He now watched as the streets began to fill with people. Some were calm as he had asked, most nervous, as what was to be expected, and a few, but enough, were tearing through the brightened streets as if the vampires were already upon them. He wondered how long it would take for them to reach the northern edge of the city, and then, how many would actually make it out alive? Bakura was not so optimistic to think that even a fourth of Domino City would survive this, never mind the other branches. His main concern was to round up as many people as he could, to save those he could save, and to actually kill a few of those damned things before their escape, or his death. With one hand he grabbed for the rifle that he had placed on the table, and for a new weapon, hastily made, with his other hand. It's raw, broken edge drove splinters into his soft flesh, but he ignored them. It was nothing compared to the pain he would inflict upon anyone who would take D away from him.

As one of the leaders of this insane plot, Yugi had a duty to make his portion of the plan work; but it was as if stubborn people abounded in the guard post he now stood in.

Yugi sighed with exasperation and worry as the men before him continued to watch him with confused expressions plastered on their faces. He ran his fingers through his hair and gave them a look that was more akin to the Pharaoh that once resided within him than himself. The men stood more erect, but still did not budge. He wondered if this had been Kaiba's doing. How though, when they had acted as quickly as they had?

"Did you not hear me the first time?" he asked, frowning, "Are you disobeying a commanding officer?"

"No sir!" One of them piped up, "but, evacuate the whole city? And to get them all to Ushiku? It's impossible!"

"All I am asking is that you do what you are told as quickly as you can. I understand that this seems impossible, but-" He was interrupted by Bakura's speech then, and watched as their expressions changed. He had to hand it to Bakura for sounding so calm under the circumstances. When the speakers cut out he folded his arms across his chest, once again looking like the man in charge.

"What rumors?" One of the men, Kato, asked warily, "I've never heard of anything like that."

"Ignore that for now," Yugi barked, "that was for the civilians. We are to help guide them to Ushiku in a calmly matter."

"But I doubt there are enough guardsmen for this," someone else added.

"We are going to have to make it enough," Yugi proclaimed.

"And what of Kaiba-sama?" Kato questioned, looking down at Yugi, "Was this his plan? What is all of this for? Why Ushiku? What attack?" Others began to nod, questioning the commands of the young man.

"Kaiba-kun is out of the picture," Yugi said, "We have reason to believe some of his prior actions have allowed this breach of security. We are going to do what we can to rescue who we can."

"Who are we?" Kato replied, now looming over the smaller man, who stood undaunted. "And what if I don't believe you?"

The explosion was nearer to them than either D or Bakura, but not as close as to Jounochi or Kaiba. It shook the ground beneath them with the force of a minor earthquake and made their ears ache with the deep boom that it created. A few seconds later a mild wind blew past the "outpost", lifting a three year old newspaper only to promptly smack it into the window that Yugi and the others were now staring out of, most in shock, and one in horror. That horror melted and once again the shorter man was in charge, and just in time.

"Regardless if you believe me, Kato-san, it's happening," the young man said, his voice cold, feeling an emotionless film envelope him. He had things to do, and little time to do them in. "Now all of you, move out!"

Jounochi never had to pound on a single door when he reached the first "neighborhood". By the time he had managed to get to an occupied neighborhood, the people were already leaving their homes frantically. 'Good,' he thought, 'they're listening to Bakura's announcement.' He directed a few of the people to get the mob into some orderly fashion and set off once again. Jounochi was probably the next most perceptive in the small group they had first set off with concerning the situation. He had seen a lot of his newfound friends murdered by strange things, people, the new unrelenting elements of unstable highways and newly created canyons. Although he did not quite grasp the immortal part of their foe, he knew things changed quickly in times such as these. His experiences with Yugi and the Millennium Items helped him in that aspect as well as from when he associated with a neighborhood gang. Never in his life did he ever think he would be grateful for many of those lessons. He knew that he needed to get his family and the child's best friend's family out of the city as quickly as possible. He hoped they would remain somewhat orderly, the city had dwindled into a pathetic number over the years, and there was a chance that some would just leave entirely. However, Jounochi was curious as to where exactly they were going to go afterward. Bakura had mentioned Ushiku, because of the swamp, and that if they continually changed positions around it, the vampires may just give up. Yugi had said a possibility could have been Pegasus' Island if they could return to a city with a shipyard; but then again, they'd have to be pointed in the right direction, something that he doubted anyone could really do now. If only Kaiba could have been on their side…he shook his head angrily as he ran. No, Kaiba had led them to this. He had not given them a choice.

The explosion took Jounochi by surprise. The light of the flash never registered, the sound made him stop and look up in confusion, and the wind of the detonation blasted him two meters where he had been previously standing. He now lay, sprawled on his back, staring up at the sky as licks of flame teased his peripheral view. He heard a strange and twisted metallic sound and turned his attention to the blaze two blocks away. Flames sputtered and grew as rubble connected with the earth and Jounochi could have sworn that Kaiba Corp. was leaning ever so precariously to the right.

He got up, perplexed, wondering who had set off the explosion, and with what. It did not take long for a figure to come striding out of the burning building, seemingly unscathed. It was a hulk of a man, but from where he stood Jounochi could not discern his features. He was a black mass standing atop the horizon of concrete and flame, and when he began to walk quickly toward the young man, he only grew in the darkness. Jounochi pulled out his handgun, ready for a possible attack, but the man began screaming. He was screaming his name.

Another smaller bang and another building went up in flame, but this gave Jounochi the light he needed. He quickly returned his gun to its holster and caught the man who had just reached him before he fell. He lifted him up with adrenaline ridden strength and considered the man before him. His clothes were still smoldering from the flames he had stepped out of, but otherwise he was fine. He was happy to see that his friend was okay, but it left one important question left to be answered, and the next thing that Honda shouted, aside from his name, answered it, and left him in a panic.

"Jounochi!" Honda cried, holding his friend in a vice grip. "I don't know what happened! One minute we were just getting ready to leave, to find you and ask you what this was all—and then—she screamed and I turned around—she was gone and the house blew! The house blew up!"

"Where is Shizuka!" Jounochi screamed, all thoughts of how grateful he was that his friend was unscathed flying from him. "Where is she?"

"I d-dunno, man! She was there one minute and then I turned around and—oh no, what if she's still…" He turned to look at the burning building. It was obviously a lost cause, but Jounochi ran to it anyway screaming his sister's name in a strange bout of irony. Honda looked around at the now running stragglers and then to where his friend was running and followed him.

D was beginning to feel discomfort in his lungs, but it was minimal, so it was ignored. He had not stopped running since the explosion, and had only hastened his pace once he realized how close it was to Amami's house. He pleaded to no one in particular that she was safe, that she was nowhere near the explosion, and that the explosion was some faulty equipment finally taking its dying breath instead of a bomb starting a new war. Staying in the shadows, he took the back route; it was quicker and he remained out of sight to all those heading toward the supposed meeting point. He did not want to be stopped for any reason, out of worry for his safety, or out of fear…if anyone had seen anything to fear. He hoped they had not.

"I don't see why you're doing this," his left hand muttered, "If you really want out of the whole situation, you should have just taken a boat yourself and left, or surrender and give your father what he wants."

"Shut up!" He hissed through a bout of light panting. The city seemed larger than he remembered.

"Maybe that's because you usually don't hop gates through other people's cramped as hell yards…If you can call that alley a yard."

D did not respond, but came to a halt a block away, hearing another, lower boom. Another house or apartment had been set aflame. He looked for a street sign and found to his relief that he was almost there, and that her house was to the right, and not to the left where the flames climbed ever higher. With a speed that the fastest sprinter could not have beat, D was off again. He still had time.

He came to a halt two blocks down from where he turned. Glancing back, blocked by the mostly sound structures, he saw the fire growing. The boy was curious to see what, or who had set it, but knew that it mattered little. It was already done. He looked back at the property before him and let out a deep sigh. He had made it. Looking into those dark windows made his heart leap with joy.

Then, however, a little voice that did not belong to his parasite of a hand, questioned him if the fact that there were no lights on was a good reason to rejoice. It could have been something worse, much worse. D spun around, swearing that the voice had come from beside him, and then his attention returned to the house again, his worry more apparent than ever.

"Amami-chan!" He shouted at the house as if those inside could hear him. Almost in answer to his cry, however, a shriek pierced the air, muffled through the wood but crystal clear to the boy whose face betrayed the horror he felt. Hurrying up to the door and foregoing the ritual of knocking he gripped the handle and without thinking pulled. The door came open with a crack, the lock freeing itself and a chunk of the wood from the doorway. He ran through the empty living room, his body racing with adrenaline, listening hard for another shriek or noise to indicate where to go. He did not have to bother. There was a crash just ahead of him and his friend, Amami, appeared, racing out of the kitchen, her dark shoulder length hair whipping across her tear-streaked face. He could hear something chasing her. With quick reflexes he grabbed her and fell back around the corner, his right hand covering her mouth. He immediately let her go as she struggled, fearing that he would hurt her if he did not. Another shriek of fear stuck in her throat as she spun around and saw that it was him.

"D-kun?" she exclaimed. D shook his head and motioned for her to be quiet but the damage was done. Now standing right where D had been when he had caught the girl was a being no less than six feet tall with sandy brown hair and penetrating red eyes. At D's facial reaction, Amami turned and instantly began shrieking again at the sight. The vampire lunged and D pulled Amami further back, changing their positions.

"Who are you!" the boy shouted, getting angry. He could smell something that was setting his aggression off, but he was more concerned about saving his friend, so he ignored it. "Who allowed you into this home?"

The vampire looked taken aback, and then when the boy continued to glare at him, amused. "What," he began with a thick accent, "What right do you have to question me, child?"

"I have all the right in the world," D replied, holding his friend's shaking hand, "Now tell me who you are and what right you have to be in this home?"

"D-kun," Amami whispered pleadingly. The boy gave her hand a tight squeeze but continued to lock eyes with the man in front of him.

"You have some nerve!" the vampire answered, affronted, "I should not even bother to waste my time with pathetic human filth like yourselves. I would do you a great honor to place you among the ranks of the elite—"

"Enough!" D commanded with a voice unlike any Amami had ever heard him use. The vampire was silent once again. "Your incessant prattling annoys me," he added slowly, knowing that he was not going to receive an answer for his questions, knowing the longer he spoke the more trouble he was apt to get them into. He was trying, but unable to form a plan that would take them to safety. That was when he saw another figure down the hall, staggering, but alive and very much human. Amami's father. He had to act now.

"Run!" he shouted, shoving Amami back toward the kitchen. The vampire turned to follow but D kicked out his foot and the vampire hissed, his shin thoroughly bruised. D barely ducked out of his reach in time and bolted in the direction that his friend and her father were running.

"You foul little—!" the vampire began, but D did not hear how his statement ended. A blast blew him off of his feet and he could hear Amami screaming before he collided with the asphalt, his head taking the brunt of the fall. His eyes lost focus for a second as the scenery swirled around him in bright display. The home they had just left through the back door and through the backyard gate was ablaze. How, D had no idea. He thought that the lumpish figures just to his right were Amami and her father; both were moving at any rate, however slowly. As his sight became better he noted a board of flaming wood falling from the sky heading straight for his head. He scrambled out of the way just in time to see it smack into the bloody ground where his head had been. From the sobbing and the soft crooning he could hear he was now almost positive that it was Amami and her father beside him, one trying to calm the other.

"Are you okay?" D asked softly as he made his way to the two silhouetted figures. The fire seemed to have spread to the two homes nearest the newly formed inferno lighting the street as if it were day, and D could hear the howling of the vampire who had been trapped inside. It made no sense to the boy how everything was going so wrong so quickly. His father could not have been that prepared, could he?

"What is going on?" Amami's father replied, not specifically to D. He seemed confused, and from his injured and disheveled appearance, the boy could not blame him. He looked at the child as if he were a vision in a dream. D placed a gentle hand on the man's shoulder, looking concernedly between the man and his daughter. The girl was sobbing harder than before, if that were possible. "Where is my wife?"

"I don't know," the boy replied, now looking back at the wall of flame. "We have to get out of here, though."

"But, what about my wife?" the man exclaimed, not seeming to realize that he was shouting at a boy not much older than his daughter. D held his hands up and shrugged, not able to think of anything more. The man looked down at his daughter, forlorn, when a shadow enveloped the three. The cold it produced made the boy shiver involuntarily, but it was not just the cold, or the newly formed look of confusion and fear in the eyes of the man kneeling before him. It was the familiar aura, the dangerous aura.

His father.

"SHIZUKA!" Jounochi yelled into the inferno, dodging cinders and flame as they flitted about him, uncaring and hazardous. The deeper he went into the maze of fire and smoke the more he was reminded of the time that he had saved Yugi from the burning room that had been a part of Otogi's father's game shop. It gave him courage. He had saved a person once from such a fate; he could do it again, especially since it was his sister.

The only thing that unnerved him more than the heat and the possibility of suffocation was that something seemed off about Honda. He knew his friend, and his friend never would have left if he had known Jounochi's sister had been inside, moreover if she had disappeared while speaking to him. He had run into this fire pit with little more than Honda's word and something just did not seem right. If Shizuka were there, she should have heard him, unless she was unconscious.

But why would she be unconscious if they had both been in the same place? How could she have just 'disappeared?'

"Honda, are you sure she wasn't—" he began and looked to the man just in time to see a board swing into view. Jounochi leaped back, nearly setting his clothes ablaze on the burning chair beside him. "What the fuck!" he spat, patting at his singed jeans.

"Dude, I'm sorry," his friend replied, "but it was either join them willingly or become a main dish while my girl becomes desert."

"What?" Jounochi was flabbergasted, "Where's Shizuka!"

"Don't worry, she's safe. That was their promise. They could change you too, but…" the figure paused, and now Jounochi saw that his friend had not come from the house unscathed. Two pinpricks on his neck contrasted in the orange light like damning evidence in black light. "I know you, and you're not someone who'd do that." What was left of the ceiling began to creak, waiting for that last beam to give way in order to fall into the ruins. "So I'm going to kill you, Katsuya, because you're my friend, and I can give you a better death than they can."

Jounochi's mouth stood agape. This could not be happening. His friend was not a vampire, and he was not going to die. As Honda lifted up the board to deliver a super human killing blow, the blonde knew that there were only two choices, neither of which was pleasant. However, was any option worth it? His sister was probably one of them. Was it worth living now that she was gone? He had to choose.