The Not to distant future

The shadow realm is sealed, Yami's spirit is free, Bakura and Marik have been sealed in the shadow realm for good. The natural balance of things can return to normal. So then, why after two years are things in the other realm still shifting? What are these shadows that the three hikari's keep seeing? And how will they deal with it without their yami's?

Reviews

Tavi: ^-^ Yeah. Yugi didn’t have very good parents. Well, his mother was good. But she had a few…mental problems. And I have decided to write a fic about it. Go a little more in depth~

Dragonlady222: Nope~ shadows taking over the lights. Definitely not good~ ^-^

Right_Read_Time: Hi ya! ^-^ hehehe

The not to distant future
By Yami Kitsune
Now being BetaRead by: Tavi
Chapter fourteen: Shadow of truth

Yugi walked around the small room he was in trailing his hand along the wall. It was obviously an old padded cell of some kind. Yugi could tell that much. The cushions on the wall were old and stained, and some were ripping. Yugi's mind wandered to when he'd been brought to this room.

-----flash back-----

Yugi walked blindly next to his two friends. His mind screaming at him to snap out of it. That something was seriously wrong and he needed to get a hold of himself before something really bad happened. Yugi looked up when a blast of warm air hit him, they were stepping out of the portal into a dimly lit room.

"what..." Yugi said frowning as he slowly looked around. He could feel Ryou shaking beside him and looked over at the silver haired boy. Yugi yelped and backed away when he saw that there was a shadow standing behind Ryou with his arms wrapped around the shaking boy.

"Let him go!" Yugi said but winced when his voice cracked. The shadow looked at him and smirked. Ryou was still unable to move, even though the shadow was visible and no longer 'inside' Ryou. It still seemed to have control over him. Before Yugi could even think of something to do, the sound of footsteps reached his ears. Turning his head again he saw a hooded figure coming down the hall towards them.

"Very good work." A low voice said. Yugi couldn't see the person's face. But he could tell he was talking to the shadow that had Ryou. The figure turned his head and looked at Malik.

"Keep a good hold on that one. Bring him to the room we set up, just for him." Yugi turned and watched Malik walk past the figure, a shadow trailing behind him.

"No! Malik!" Yugi yelped, moving to go after him. Yugi was backhanded and sent flying to the floor.

"You! Take Ryou to his room. I will deal with Yugi." The figure said and Ryou was led away just like Malik was. Yugi struggled to stand back up. A hand reached down and grabbed a fist full of his hair pulling him up faster.

"I have a special treat for you." The figure said and dragged Yugi down the hall in the opposite direction of Ryou and Malik. Yugi whimpered, he had been expecting things to get worse. But once again people he cared about where getting hurt because of him. Yugi was shoved into his own room. And left there.

----End flash back----

Yugi didn't know how long he had been walking around the empty room. His mind felt like a tangled mess. And no matter how hard he tried he couldn't focus on any one thought. He stopped walking when he heard the door open and saw someone coming in. The door closed again. Yugi turned his head to the side slightly studying this new person. They too were also wearing a black hood that covered their face enough so that Yugi couldn't see who it was. But it was fairly easy to tell that this person was a girl.

"Hello Yugi." The sweet voice said and Yugi blinked. It sounded familiar, far too familiar for his liking.

"Y-you're..." The figure giggled and took off her hood. Yugi still couldn't see her face, but he didn't have to. He felt his heart fall to his stomach. "...Anzu..." Yugi had to lean against the wall for support as he started at her. He hadn't heard from her since she'd left for America. No phone calls, no letters.

"Oh! You remember me, I'm flattered." She said stepping further into the light so Yugi could see her better. She hadn't changed all that much, her hair was a bit longer but she still looked the same.

"You're my friend...why wouldn't I remember you?" Yugi asked frowning, ignoring the fact that he had stopped considering her a friend when he'd heard her and Honda talking in the hallway their final year of school.

"I WAS your friend." Anzu clarified, narrowing her eyes. "I was, until you took the only person I ever loved away from me." She said, making Yugi's eyes widen slightly. "You took Yami from me!" She shouted at him looking angry and hurt. "Why did you do that Yugi? Why did you send him away?"

"...it...it had to happen..."

"No, it didn't! I bet you just wanted to get rid of him because he was becoming more popular then you. You couldn't stand the fact that people liked him more then you, and the only reason anyone was ever your friend was because of him." She moved closer to Yugi. And Yugi felt himself pressing back against the wall. Her words hurt deeper then anything ever could. "Everyone would have been happier if you just died, then Yami could have stayed here!"

"Even if he stayed here he never would have loved you!" Yugi shouted at her before he could stop himself. He didn't care if people had been his friends just because of Yami. He couldn't help the selfish thought going through his head - that Yami was HIS. Yugi looked at her and swallowed. If looks could kill...

"And how would you know anything about that?" Anzu asked her voice eerily calm now. "You don't even know what love is. You are a selfish little boy who has always thought of only himself. You even killed your own mother just so you could stay alive. You are pathetic Yugi." She said and smirked as all the color drained from Yugi's face.

"Yami is back now. And you are going to get what you deserve." She reached out and grabbed the puzzle from around Yugi's neck pulling it off. Yugi grabbed at it almost desperately. Anzu slapped him, pulling the puzzle roughly from his hands she turned and left the room.

"No!" Yugi screamed, running over and banging on the door. "Please! Anzu give it back!" He continued banging on the door and screaming until his voice was horse. He fell to his knees. /Yami.../ He tried calling his darker half. But without the puzzle he could no longer feel him.

-----

Down the hall Malik was led into a room that was pitch black. The Millennium Rod had already been taken from him before entering this room.

"Welcome home." The shadow hissed in Malik's ear before torches around the room seemed to light themselves. Malik blinked and looked around the room. It was empty, except for a single table in the center of the room. And it was to this table that Malik was led. He struggled for control of his own body, growling.

"You're mind is a lot stronger then your friends." The shadow said, making Malik lie down on his stomach. The shadow smiled and lifted up Malik's shirt, feeling the blond boy tense under him. "These scars hold a lot of pain." The shadow said tracing a finger over them. Malik shuddered, closing his eyes tightly. The shadow chuckled. "There is nothing to fear." The Shadow said, turning to leave the room but he paused at the door. "...yet." He added before leaving. Malik's body still in his control. The shadow hit a button outside of the room and metal straps wrapped around Malik's wrists, ankles and abdomen before he was given control again.

Malik's eyes widened and he struggled against his restraints. He hated being tied down. He hated not having control!

/MARIK!!/ Malik screamed. It was true the millennium item made it easier for him to contact Marik through their link. But Marik had been born from Malik, and wasn't fully dependent on a millennium item.

----------

Ryou whimpered as he sat in the corner of the room watching the shadow. He had had control of his body since entering this room. But it didn't mean anything. The Shadow was still in the room watching Ryou shake like a leaf, and enjoying every second of it.

"...what...what do you want..." Ryou finally asked, making the shadow stop his pacing. He smirked at Ryou and walked over, kneeling down in front of him.

"That is for me to know little one, and for you to find out." He said looking closely at Ryou. "You are scared of me." He said and Ryou nodded slowly. "You look like you have more questions you want to ask." Again, Ryou nodded. The shadow smirked. "But you're too afraid to ask."

"...not really..." Ryou lied, wincing when the shadow laughed.

"This little bravery act of yours is cute." The shadow sat back crossing his arms. "But I am curious what questions you have."

"...are my friends okay?" Ryou asked, not looking at the shadow. He didn't like how close the thing was, but as long as it didn't get any closer he'd be alright. And maybe if he was lucky, he could find out exactly who was behind all this.

"Don't know" The shadow shrugged. "And I don't really care. They're not my responsibility. Next question."

"...Why are you here..." Ryou glanced at him.

"Because I have to watch you. Next question."

"That's not what-"

"I know what you meant. Next question." The shadow said narrowing his eyes. Ryou bit his lip and looked down, fidgeting.

"Can I have the ring back...?"

"No. I need it."

"I want-"

"You're not getting it back. You're not calling your yami. It's not time for him to make an appearance." Ryou pulled his knees up to his chest resting his chin on them as he thought. There were more questions he could ask. But there was one that came to the front of his mind that had him puzzled.

"...before you brought us here...I saw malik...in the street..." The shadow blinked, obviously taken by surprise by this then laughed.

"And he was hit by a car?" Ryou nodded. "That, sorry to say. Was not MY handy work. Compared to the one who did that, I'm still a new born."

"...the one who did...what?" Ryou asked looking at the shadow now.

"The other shadow that was following your friend. You could say he's our 'leader' because he is one of the oldest shadows."

"...so what did he do?"

"Sort of an illusion. But not quite. Illusions can't hurt people, but his can. His are almost as real as you and I are. When he's around, you can never tell what's real, and what's not." The shadow smirked. "It's quite a neat little trick. But a hard one for us shadows to learn."

"...oh..." Ryou said even though he still didn't understand. But another question came to mind. "do...do you have names? Or do you just call each other shadows...?" Ryou asked curious. The shadow's smirk widened at this.

"Yes, we have names." Ryou tilted his head to the side wondering if the shadow was going to tell him his name. The shadow chuckled and leaned forward. Ryou tensed feeling the coldness of the Shadow as it leaned close to whisper in his ear. "Akeifa." (HELP! I know that's not right! T_T I've been trying to find Bakura's name from Egypt. I know it's something like that! A lot of people use it. Akeifa...akifa...something like that T_T) The shadow whispered and Ryou jerked back so hard his head hit the wall behind him.

"But that's!" Ryou rubbed the back of his head where he had hit it still staring at the shadow with wide eyes. "that's..." The shadow laughed and stood up.

"It appears you know more about your yami then I thought you did." He turned and left the room, leaving Ryou sitting there still in shock over what he'd just heard.

-----------

Marik was fighting with Bakura over a box of fruit loops when he heard Malik through the link. He let go of the box so suddenly sending Bakura falling back onto the floor and the fruit loops spilling out of the box.

"DAMN YOU MARIK!" Bakura snapped, glaring up at the other Yami but stopped when he saw the look on Marik's face.

Yami turned from where he had been putting the frozen foods away wondering what had stopped the two from fighting so suddenly. Before he could ask what was wrong he felt something brush across his link with Yugi.

//Yugi?// He asked wondering if that had been his hikari. His eyes widened when he didn't feel anything. He had put up his own blocks, not wanting to feel how tightly Yugi had been shutting his mind. That he hadn't noticed the link vanish all together.

"What the hell is going on?" Bakura grumbled, getting to his feet. He then froze, looking at Marik and then at Yami as well. Bakura had felt something through his link as well. But it was weak. As if Ryou had taken the ring off, and Bakura knew he would never do that. Not now that he had it back.

"Something..." Bakura started.

"Isn't right." Yami said and Marik nodded. Yami left the kitchen going to Yugi's room, the other two following. When they found the door locked they knew something definitely wasn't right. Not even bothering to knock and see if any of them would answer Marik pulled Yami away from the door letting Bakura kick it in.

"Malik will make you pay for that." Yami said, but the other yami ignored him and hurried into the empty room. The window was wide open and there was no trace of anything in the room.

"DAMNIT!" Yami shouted and punched the wall.

"Yami, calm down." Marik said glaring at the pharaoh. "I can still find Malik through the link." He said.

"Malik still has his item?" Bakura asked glancing at Marik who shook his head.

"...no, If he did I'd be able to go to him right now. Unlike you two useless lumps, I don't need the item to talk to Malik. I was born from him, remember?" Marik said smirking at the looks on their faces. "What? Didn't I ever tell you?"

"No, I don't think you ever did." Bakura growled. Marik sighed shrugging.

"Well, you know now." He said and then focused all his attention on the link. That was a mistake when he was over powered by Malik's fear of being tied down, and his hikari screaming through the link. /MARIK!/

//Take it easy hikari. I can hear you just fine.//

/YOU TRY BEING TIED DOWN AND SEE IF YOU CAN 'TAKE IT EASY'!/ Malik shouted back at him making Marik wince.

//Well, if you don't stop shouting then I won't be able to find you so shut your mouth...or your mind...whatever! Just be quiet for five seconds okay?// Marik felt Malik relax and then concentrated on tracing Malik. He could sense his presence but it was far away.

/Fine...but hurry up okay...I'm cold. And I don't know where Yugi and Ryou are./

"...Malik is...on the other side of town. Around that section they've been rebuilding for years." He said looking at the other two.

"Let's go." Yami said and left the room.

"Any idea who has them?" Bakura asked looking at Marik.

"Bakura, I'm not even sure if they're all together. I just know where Malik is. And he doesn't know where they are. So right now we can only hope they're all in the same place." Bakura frowned and followed Marik out of the room.

TBC>>>

Okay...another chapter. A bit longer then the last. And I know I said I would explain the last chapter in this chapter...but it looks like the characters wanted to move on with the story. >_< So I'm just summing it all up to it was just one big illusion ^-^

Now! I have a question~ No one was able to guess it before. Do you know who the 'main' shadow is? He is partly Yugi's. But he was created WAY before Yugi was born~ ^-^ any ideas? Leave a review! Let me know!