Giving In

Disclaimer - As if you don't already know that I don't own them . . . geesh.

Author's Notes - I'm updating early in celebration of having an unexpected night off from work. They canceled the truck due to snow, so I have a whole
extra night to write and drool. Now then . . . I've officially finished this story as far as writing goes, although I'm not going to post them all right now. Many
of you wanted to know how it was going to end . . . I'm afraid I can't tell you, but some of you may be disappointed. But no worries . . . there's going to
be a sequel! I'm working on it even now, so I'm hoping you'll all stick around and forgive me.

And now, on with the darkness.

Chapter 7 - Facing Reality

Bak>Bakura knocked on the door of Duke Devlin's apartment cautiously, hoping that the ebony haired man was home. Duke had the least experience with him,
making him the only possible option when it came to Bakura talking to anyone and getting them to listen.

The door opened slowly, revealing the emerald eyed game designer clad in his school uniform. There were dark circles under the youth's eyes . . . that was
fine. By the time he was done listening to what Bakura had to say, those circles were going to be a hell of a lot darker.

"May I come in?" Bakura growled.

"Sure Ryou . . ." Duke murmured, opening the door wider. "We've been worried about you . . . you heard about Joey and Yami's dissapearance?" Bakura
snorted, brushing by the taller teen before turning to face him.

"First off, Duke . . . I am not my hikari," he stated bluntly, causing Duke to do a double take before the teen paled.

"Bakura," he said, his voice suddenly fearful. "What are you doing here?"

"I come for my own reasons . . . but I need to speak with you . . . all of you, Tristan, Tea, and the others. Call them and get them here quickly . . . we have
a problem on our hands, and it is not one I can handle on my own." He bit back his pride as he said this, hating to admit to any mortal that he required their p. Sp. Surprised, Duke did as he asked without quarrel.

"Tea's not answering her phone . . ." Duke murmured, puzzled. Bakura swore.

"It's too late for her then," he growled, shoving a hand through his unruly white hair as he stalked over to a window to stare out at the bustling city.
Somewhere out there, the demented dark that had taken over the Pharaoh and his hikari was hunting down the group one by one . . . and it seemed as
though Tea had already fallen. "Damn it . . . I hope Tristan makes it here in one piece . . . if it's just you and me, we haven't got a chance in the world."

"What are you talking about Bakura? What's going on?" Duke said harshly, coming to stand beside him.

"I'll tell you everything when the others get here!" Bakura snapped. "I'm not going to like telling it once . . . I'd rather not have to do it multiple times!"
Stalking into the living room, he sank into the couch, wrapping his arms around himself in an effort to still the ever present shivering that stilcompcompanied
him. Duke watched him from the doorway, his emerald eyes thoughtful as he twirled a piece of ebony hair absently around one finger.

"What happened to you?" he asked finally. Bakura glared at him, dark eyes cold.

"I told you I will explain when everyone gets here," he snarled. There was a knock on the door. "Answer that and stopping asking me questions!" Duke
moved to answer the door, only to be stopped by Bakura. "If it's Yami . . . run. Slam the door in his face and run." Duke turned to look at him, even as the
knock became more insistent.

"What?" he asked.

"Just do it!" the spirit snapped. "Trust me . . . you'll be better off."

"Duke . . . god damn it, open up!" Tristan's voice shouted from the other side of the door. Bakura relaxed suddenly as Duke rushed to answer the door,
opening it so fast that Tristan nearly fell inside.

"Where's Serenity?" Duke asked. Tristan grimaced at him, regaining his balance.

"Gee . . . hello to you too, bud," he said. "Serenity is with her Mom on the other side of town. She's taking Joey and Yami's disappearance pretty hard."

"They didn't disappear," Bakura murmured, stepping through the kitchen doorway.

"Bakura! What the hell are you doing here?" Tristan growled, his hands clenching into fists at his side.

"Back off, Spike," the spirit growled. "I'm here to warn you . . . and hopefully find a way to stop anything else from happening."

"You know what's going on?" Tristan asked, his voice dropping a notch.

"Yes, I know what's going on . . . I'm lucky I'm not one of the casualties. Now shut up and listen to me . . . Yami and Joey weren't kidnaped. Joey's a
prisoner in the Shadow Realm . . . and Yami's the captor." Duke and Tristan stared at him in shock. "Stop gaping like fish and listen, damn it!" Bakura
snapped. "Yami's gone pyscho . . . something's happened to him and he's snapped. Yami's the one who raped Yugi!" That brought them around.

"What! But . . . how?" Duke said. Tristan shook his head.

"Yami would never do that!" Tristan said. Bakura growled, clenching his fists in anger.

"It's not really Yami . . ." Bakura whispered. "Something . . . something has trapped both Yami and his hikari inside Yugi's body, and it's after all of you.
And me . . ." he murmured, his voice growing hoarse. "I went over there the other night . . . the night they disappeared. Yami . . . god damn it, Yami forced
me to suck him off after I lost to him in a fucking Shadow Game!" he spit out finally, feeling dirty for having had to admit to it. "But it's not Yami . . . it's
some dark shadow of him that's taken over. We've got to find a way to stop it . . . but I can't do it on my own. I'm not strong enough, that much is
evident. We need . . ." he sucked in a deep breath. "We need Ishizu . .r Mar Marik."

"Oh hell no . . . there is no way in hell I am going to bring psycho blonde in to this. If Yami's gone nutso, there is no WAY I'm bringing Marik around,"
Tristan said, collapsing into a nearby chair.

"Yo>"You're taking this surprisingly well . . ." Bakura murmured, somewhat startled that they had believed him without question.

"How could we not believe you?" Duke said, settling into his own chair. "You admitting to being forced to have sexual relations with Yami is very
convincing evidence in and of itself. You wouldn't admit to something like that unless you had to do so." Bakura growled under his breath as he sank into a
chair of his own.

"If figures that my admitting to the most humiliating and fear inducing thing to happen to me would convince you," he grumbled.

"Alright . . . so we call Ishizu. Who's to say she can help?" Tristan murmured. Bakura shrugged.

"As you said in the hospital . . . as one of Yami's Tomb Guardians, she's the most likely to know anything about him. If we get lucky . . . she'll know of a
way to stop this before it goes any further."

"Key words there, bud," Duke said softly. "If we get lucky."

*-------*-------*-------*-------*

The brainstorm session came to a rather abrupt end when the phone rang. Duke turned from it white faced as he hung up.

"What is it?" Bakura snapped, annoyed that their idea session had been so rudely interrupted by modern day technology. He would have killed whoever
had been on the other end of the phone if he could get his hands on them.

"Tea's gone mng. ng. That was her mother . . . she never showed up at work after school, and she still isn't home. The police are waiting twenty four hours
before they'll file the missing persons report . . . but they're already asking questions and someone came forward to say that they saw Tea step into an alley
not far from work as if she recognized the person who had called her name." Emerald eyes filled with worry suddenly. "Do you think . . . she's alive?"
Bakura nodded.

"She'll be wishing she wasn't . . . but Yami won't kill out of hand. He wants his play toys in good condition . . ." he spat. Tristan looked over at him, wide
eyed.

"Play toys?" he murmured hesitantly. Bakura sighed, running a hand through his hair in agitation.

"I did learn one thing in my encounter with Yami's dark self," he said, meeting both teenager's gazes carefully, his expression schooled into a mask. "Yami
. . . that Yami wants to break Yugi . . . and become one with the real Yami. To that end . . . he'll need the others to weaken the two of them. By torturing
Tea and Joey . . . and any of us he can get his hands on . . . he'll be doing just that. Between Yugi's soft heart and Yami's desire to protect, it's the best
way to get them to finally submit to him.

"Jesus . . ." Duke whispered.

"Your god has nothing to do with this," Bakura growled, resting his head on his crossed arms on the table top. "Eventually, Yami will be gone . . . and
there will be no way to stop this. And no one to protect Yugi from him."

"Okay . . . I really think we do need to call Ishizu now. It's about morning over in Egypt now, right?" Bakura glanced at the clock, doing the mental
calculations in his head before nodding. Duke dialed the phone number quickly, and sighed in relief when Odion answered the phone.

"Ishtar residence," the stoic man said without inflection.

"Odion . . . this is Duke Devlin, from Domino City."

"You wish to speak with Ishizu about Yami," the man replied. "We've been awaiting your call. Ishizu is already on her way . . . she should be arriving with
Master Marik in a few hours."

"You knew?" Duke murmured.

"Shadi appeared to us two nights ago and said that there was a serious disturbance in the fates. He told us that it would take both Ishizu, Marik, and what
remains of your friends to set this to rights."

"Okay . . . thanks Odion. We'll meet Ishizu at the airport." He hung up the phone and turned to the two men sitting around his kitchen table. "Ishizu is
already on her way . . . apparantly Shadi pulled some of that mystical Egyptain shit and knew what was happening. One thing though . . . Marik is with her."

"What!" Tristan said, jumping to his feet. "Why the hell is she bringing him!?" Duke shrugged.

"Apparantly Shadi said it's going to take both of them and us to get things back the way they should be," he replied. "Sit down Tristan . . . there's nothing
we can do about it now, anyway. They'll be arriving at the airport in a few hours. I suggest we get on the road now . . . and all of us should go. No one
should be alone right now . . . with Yami on the loose and gone nuts, we can't afford to take the risk." Surprisingly, Bakura agreed.

Together, they hopped into Duke's car and took off toward's the airport . . . never realizing that they had forgotten one key person in their considerations
for protecting everyone. Seto Kaiba.

*--------*-------*-------*-------*

Yami watched his former high priest's reincarnation stalk angrily out of Kaiba Tower's front doors, blood red eyes narrowed with hatred as the tall
brunette's lanky figure slid into the limo awaiting him. While Kaiba wasn't going to be of much use to him in furthering his ends with his recalcitrant other or
little Yugi, it was going to be satisfying none the less. Kaiba . . . or the past incarnation of said millionaire . . . was the entire reason he had been forced to
sacrifice himself and seal off the Shadow Games, trapping himself in the Millennium Puzzle's unending darkness for five thousand years. He figured it was
time to settle the score . . . and being as it was Kaiba, who was just as much of a thorn in his side during this time period as his incarnation had been in the
past one, that would make it dually pleasurable.

Of course, he wasn't forgetting the pure enjoyment he would get out of shoving Kaiba's face directly into all that 'Egyptain Magic Hocus Pocus' that he so
vehemently denied the existence of. He chuckled darkly at the thought before fading back into the shadows of his hiding spot, making his silent way
towards where he knew Kaiba was going. The millionaire wasn't going home . . . Kaiba had taking to stopping at a local, and very popular, club on his way
back to the mansion. That would make things just about perfect . . . especially if his suspicions were correct and his high priest's reincarnation did have
feelings for him . . . or rather, for his little light.

A sadistic smile graced the dark Yami's face as he thought of the pleasures of the night ahead. Oh, this was going to be fun.

*-------*-------*-------*-------*

Kaiba sat at the bar, watching the dancers that crowded the dance floor somberly as he sipped at his vodka martini. Boredom was a sorry state for him . . .
but since Battle City, his life had been so routine that he was tired of it. That final climactic battle had been astounding . . . and he still couldn't understand
everything that he had seen and heard. He suspected it had something to do with all that mystical nonsense Yugi had told him in the chopper before he had
dueled Joey for his life.

He snorted, finger's growing white knuckled as he thought of Yugi . . . or rather, the duelist Yugi. He had to give some credence to the boy . . . he did
seem to change into a completely different person when he was on the dueling field. But to accredit that to some powerful, Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh's
spirit that supposedly lived inside that ridiculous puzzle he wore . . . he sighed, forcing his fingers to loosen around the glass. Getting himself worked up
over it wouldn't do him any good.

He was understandably shocked when he spied Yugi on the dance floor, grinding away to Rob Zombie's 'Never Gonna Stop'. He was even more startled
when the boy glanced his way . . . and winked. Intrigued despite himself, Kaiba set the glass down on the bar and went to join the smaller teenager.

He nearly died of a heart attack when Yugi pulled him into his smaller body, dancing against him teasingly before raising his head and meeting wide blue
eyes with a smirk. Absently, Kaiba noted the changes in Yugi's appearance . . . in this lighting, his eyes appeared to be so deep a purple that they bordered
on black, and he had the blonde streaks running through his hair that usually only appeared when he was dueling.

"Hello, Kaiba," Yugi growled . . . ivoicvoice that was definitely not his own.

"You're not Yugi . . ." Kaiba said, stepping backwards. The teenager before him grinned, never pausing in his dancing.

"Of course I'm not, Seto Kaiba. I know Yugi told you about me . . . you know, the spirit living within his Puzzle, his guardian? My name is Yami." Kaiba
shook his head, growling.

"This is bullshit," he snarled, and turned to walk away . . . only to be face to face with the smaller teen as he was pulled downwards against his will.

"What's bullshit is your stubborn idiocy," Yami growled, fist clenched tightly in Kaiba's shirt to hold him still. "After everything you've seen, you still
refuse to believe in the magic these items hold. Is it just you being stubborn . . . or are you truly that fucking stupid?" Blue eyes narrowed, their color
growing frostier with each passing word.

"I don't have to stand here and listen to this," he snarled, pulling futilely at the grip on his shirt to get it to loosen so he could leave.

"Fine . . . why don't I prove it to you then?" Yami replied . . . and Seto Kaiba found himself promptly being dragged towards the upper floor, which was
currently empty.

Once there, he staggered as the smaller teen released him . . . only to shout out as he was suddenly enveloped in inky blackness.

"What's going on?" he shouted . . . and was answered by a cold chuckle from off to his right.

"Welcome to the Shadow Realm, my dear Seto," Yami murmured, stepping into the millionaire's line of sight slowly. His clothing had changed . . . leather
replaced by a linen skirt that was gold embroidered, his chest left bare, a deep purple cloak hung gracefully over his shoulders. Now that they were out of
the weird lighting of the club, Kaiba could see that the spirit's eyes weren't even close to purple . . . they were a deep, bloody red, the color of spilled
blood on a clean floor.

"Shadow Realm?" he whispered. That term was way too familiar . . . and sent a shudder down his spine as he remembered the other 'Shadow Games' he
had witnessed in this place.

"Yes, you stubborn, foolish mortal jack-ass," Yami hissed, stepping closer. "The Shadow Realm . . . there is someone I'd like you to meet." He gestured
behind the tall teenager, causing Seto to turn . . . and freeze in his tracks as he came face to face with himself.

"What the hell?" he murmured.

"It's you . . . or was you, I should say. My high priest, Seth . . . and my betrayer, in the end." Kaiba glanced back towards Yami.

"Betrayer?" he asked. Yami growled, his fists clenching at his sides.