WSJ: :p I couldn't help it High Crystal Guardian, I really couldn't! *chuckles sheepishly and sweatdrops* Anyway, this is my entry for your contest. ^o^\\// This is going to be... fun...

Disclaimer: I don't own YGO, and Kawari, Kaeru, the Negative Realm, the Opposition, and everything connected to it belongs to HCG-chan. The Elementals are definately mine, as is everything connected to my Tales of the Child of Fate saga. NR Otogi is HCG's, but Damon and Horus are mone. Does that make sense? *shrug*

Summery: The Negative Realm has been thrown out of whack again. The Seven Elementals, which in the Negative Realm are quite evil, have discovered a way to travel between dimentions. They attack the Realm that holds their True Selves, and who should get pulled into helping but Kawari, Kaeru, Kaze, and Otogi. ^~

Time Line: Negative Realm -- Just after Negative Chaos, and I'm using the assumption that Kaze, Kawari, Kaeru, and Saguru succeeded in collecting all the Scrolls and have since been sent back to the Negative Realm.
Tales of the Child of Fate -- Just after Home Sweet Home

Notes: This is something of a cross-over between my Tales and HCG's Negative Realm stories. It might be easier to understand if you read HCG's stories Shadow Turned Light and Negative Chaos first. ^~

()()()()()

Kawari leapt behind the pair of overturned cars quickly, the report of gunfire blazing in his ears and a spray of bullets clashing to the ground where he had originally stood. He groaned softly in pain and leaned back against one of the car wheels, observing his momentary shelter.

It was much the shape of a triangle--the wall of a brick building made up one side, while the overturned cars made a second wall. The third side was open, his means of entry and escape. At the moment, his shelter also served as his prison; he had no chance of making his way out of it without being shot down by the Hand of the Shadow's agents.

Kaeru, his yami, dived inside the shelter soon after him, stopping only momentarily to fire several bullets rapidly from a stolen pistol. Several screams were heard from the unseen other side, where the Hand's agents stood--Kaeru had excellent aim, and rarely missed unless he was in a blind fury. Three more agents were down for the count.

Sheathing Gin Hebi, which until that moment had been clutched in his black-gloved hand, Kawari groaned, "How is it out there?"

"Not good," Kaeru replied, frowning. "We can hold them off for now, but if they call reinforcements..." he let it hang.

"Everything's going wrong today," Kawari muttered. He pulled a strip of cloth from his pocket and quickly began wrapping it around the deep cut on his arm, using his free hand and teeth to tie it tightly and ignoring the stinging, painful sensation it caused. After a few minutes, he finished; it wasn't perfect, but it would serve as a temporary bandage until he could get the proper medical help.

Kaeru wordlessly bent down, ripping more cloth from his dark gray tee-shirt that was underneath his jacket, and hurriedly bandaged a second cut on his hikari's lower thigh. He'd been stabbed there, god knew how, but the bleeding had been becoming more rapid due to the lighter being's use of his leg, and the spirit knew it had to be bandaged quick.

Kawari frowned at this. "Aren't you going to patch yourself up a bit first? It's not like we're going anywhere for a while."

Kaeru shook his head. "Priorities, aibou. You come first. I can always return to the Ring and form a new body for myself, should it come to it."

Kawari shrugged, taking up the gun Kaeru had placed on the ground in case of attack, but all the while keeping his eye on his yami. The spirit's wounds were considerably worse, due to the fact that his body was expandable and could heal itself simply by returning to it's item. The Negative Ryou could count at least six bullet holes in various places (including one uncomfortably close to the yami's heart), other stab wounds, and quite a bit of bleeding. Kaeru would have to return to the Ring soon or his temporary body would die.

"I don't understand," Kawari muttered, after several minutes had gone by in silence between the two. He spoke mostly for a change in sound; the fire of bullets and shouts of the Hand of the Shadow's agents was not something interesting to listen to. "We were supposed to have backup, Kaze told us that in the mission briefing. I'd trust him, so what happened to the squad he was sending to cover us?"

"I don't know," Kaeru admitted, leaning back to sit next to his aibou against the broken, twisted frame of one of the overturned cars. "They should have shown up long before now. Because they didn't, we're stuck surrounded by the enemy in a makeshift shelter and hoping for the best." Neither of them said it, but it was a likely possibility that they could die then and there.

Kawari was about to reply, but at that precise moment a small beep in his left ear claimed his attention. It was his communicator, of sorts; months before, while he had still been Mind-Lost, a silver earring had been installed that was actually a well-hidden radio-like device. The frequency that connected to the earring was well guarded, and practically impossible to tap. It was also private, and usually only used for the white-haired teen's spy missions, when carrying a larger communicator would be foolish if he should ever get caught--while no one would ever suspect an innocent little silver hoop.

Kawari had resented it at first, for it was one of the few things Kaeru had ever done to his body without permission (though, to be fair, how was Kaeru supposed to ask him when his mind was trapped in a labyrinth of the darkest terrors?). Yet now, at this particular moment, he thanked every god he could think of for having it--perhaps he could somehow tell another of his predicament.

Pressing his finger to the silver hoop, Kawari hissed loudly so that he could be heard. "Yes?"

"Where on Earth are you?" Kaze, voice full of frantic anger, spat over the communicator link. "Why aren't you in place? The other squads are standing by, they're waiting for your signal, and you're not there!"

"Listen," Kawari hissed back. "The squad that was supposed to act as backup for us never came. We went through the first part of our mission, and ended up getting trapped in a street full of Hand agents. We can't get out."

There was startled silence on the other side of the line, before Kaze muttered, "What? Never showed?" He contemplated this for a second, before asking, "where are you?"

Kawari glanced up from his little makeshift shelter--or prison--and stared down the road at a smoldering street sign. "Kyofu Avenue."

"Right. Mako and his squad are in that direction. I'll send them over right away; they'll bail you out. We're aborting this mission."

"What?!" Kawari all but shrieked. "You can't abort it, this is important, it's--"

"It's risking too many lives, and something's wrong. I want to find out what's up with that squad that never showed. Blue Eyes, out." The link snapped off, and Kawari sighed.

Kaeru had noticed his hikari's conversation over the communicator, and had taken the time to return to the Ring and form a new temporary body for himself. Now looking as though he'd never suffered an injury, he asked, "What news?"

"Mako and his squad are coming to get us out. Then Kaze's dropping the mission."

"Figures." The spirit sighed and dropped his head back against the car. "Now we wait."

Twenty minutes, they spent in that hell, hoping against hope that death would not come before their aid. After twenty minutes, however, the sounds of gunfire and yelling changed; the yelling became more frantic, the gunfire louder, as if shots were being exchanged. And then...

Kawari's communicator earring snapped on again, and Mako's deep, usually cheerful voice yelled, "We're here, where are you guys?!"

Kawari could not keep the gratitude out of his voice. "Behind the two cars that have been flipped over. One's red, the other's green."

"Got it. I see'em. I'm coming over for you guys, hold on."

The link snapped off once more, and Kawari relayed this new information to Kaeru. The spirit nodded. "Good. Here, give me the gun; I can move around more than you can, and it'll be more use in my hands."

Kawari nodded dully, handing over the weapon and waiting. Only moments later, Mako slipped around the opening in their little prison, staring down at his two fellow Opposition agents.

"Okay, let's get going. Kawari, your leg's wounded, I can see that--don't think you should be walking on it. Here." As the hikari stood, wavering slightly, Mako swung one of Kawari's arms over his shoulder, holding the teen upright. The light looked somewhat annoyed at having to be helped, but nodded gratefully in any case. Even so, he slipped Gin Hebi out of it's sheath once more, aiming to fight off any enemies that were stupid enough to come too close to him and his rescuer.

And then they moved off. Battling their way through the midst of gunfire and screams, they made their way back towards Mako's squad. The men and women under the ocean-loving agent's command were covering for them, firing and taking out any Shadow of the Hand agents that looked interested in harming Kawari, Kaeru, or Mako.

Eventually, the threesome met up with the rescue squad, moving into the depths of the fighting Opposition agents, where the two injured, white-haired fighters had less of a chance of coming to harm. Then, slowly, but in a practiced manner, the squad began backing off, moving backwards down the street and away from the Hand of the Shadow. The opposing Hand agents did not pursue them, having their own troubles, and so escape was fairly easy.

Nearly an hour later, the squad found themselves in a lightly populated area, and had stopped to take care of the wounded and to check in with Kaze and the rest of the Opposition. It was then that Kawari was given the professional medical treatment he needed, though he looked highly angry at the fuss one of the medical men was making over "just a few cuts."

Kaeru had other things on his mind. What had happened to the squad that was supposed to be covering them? They hadn't shown up, and it had nearly cost himself and his aibou their very lives.

"You're wondering about it too, hmmm?" Kawari asked, frowning.

"Yes."

"I still don't understand...Mako says he tried contacting the leader of that squad, and he got no answer. Nothing."

"I wonder what happened to them. Were they killed?" A possibility, but Kaeru doubted it.

One of the women from the squad overheard their conversation and turned towards them. "Er...sirs...were you talking about the missing men?" she asked slowly, looking concerned.

"Yes," Kawari said, giving the woman a side glance. "Know anything about them?"

"Yes, yes I do!" she said suddenly, her voice sounding excited, but nervous. "I...I think I saw them!"

"Really?" Now both Kaeru and Kawari were listening.

"Yeah. I was on scouting duty, see, and...well, I saw a whole bunch of men walking along on one of the streets, and the next moment...they vanished!"

"Vanished?"

"Yeah...just like if they teleported or something." The woman looked apologetic. "Look, I know I sound crazy, but..."

"Oh no, on the contrary," Kaeru answered, smiling slightly, "you've been quite a help. Thank you."

Once the woman had departed, Kawari turned back to his yami. "Are you thinking what I am?"

"I'm not sure," Kaeru muttered, deep in thought. "I can say one thing, though."

"And that is?"

"Something is seriously wrong with the Balance, and our Realm."

Kawari shuddered, running a hand through his hair. "Not again... What do you think Kaeru, can we do anything to fix it?"

Kaeru looked thoughtful. "Probably. I'd have to get together with Kaze and talk to him though. The Pharoah might know something too." Both of them looked at each other, knowing what they were both thinking. Kaeru was still distrustful of Yami, and didn't want to work with him unless he absolutely had to. That was, of course, understandable.

The medical man was finally finished with Kawari, and he raised himself gingerly to his feet. "Let's get back to base then." The two of them started walking, with Kawari leaning slightly on his yami so that he wouldn't injure himself further. They walked in silence, each lost in their own thoughts, until suddenly Kawari asked "Do you think we'll be getting help from any of the other Realms?"

Kaeru looked thoughtful, then finally nodded. "If it's anything like the last two times, either someone will arrive to help us out, or we'll get drawn somewhere else to help out." He frowned slightly. "I just hope I don't have to cross my True Self again."

Kawari nodded in agreement as they made it back to the Opposition base. Kaeru ordered him sternly to sit, and Kawari chuckled and did so. Kaeru nodded and left to find Kaze and Saguru so they could get debriefed and on to more important matters.

It was almost midnight before they'd finished, and Kaeru had only the time to mention briefly that he thought the Realms were beginning to go funny again. Kaze nodded thoughtfully in agreement, then announced that they should all get some sleep, and they'd discuss it more in the morning. Kawari, Saguru, and Kaeru exchanged glances. They knew that on nights like this Kaze rarely ever slept. There were too many raids to organise, to many things that needed to be done that only the Blue Eyes could do.

Reluctantly, Kaeru vanished into his soulroom and Saguru and Kawari headed for bed. Kawari, at least, was thankful. He was too tired to do much more tonight. Yawning, he stripped down to his boxers as soon as he'd reached the suite of rooms he and Kaeru had to call their own. Not even bothering to turn on the light in the bedroom, he shuffled across it in the dark and flopped into bed.

Or, he would have flopped into bed, if he hadn't felt a strange pulling sensation that was all to familiar too him. He had just enough time to grab a pair of pants, the trench coat that had Gin Hebi's sheath sewn into it, and Gin Hebi itself before the blackness overcame him.

Kaze yawned and stretched his arms over his head, causing his back to crack loudly. The Blue Eyes sighed and went back to typing on his laptop, wondering what in hell's name could be wrong with the Realms now.

He groaned slightly as he felt something tugging on him, and tucked his laptop under his arm as he felt himself slipping between the Realms. "Here we go again..."

Otogi Ryuuji, or at least, the negative version of him, hummed slightly as he moved around the small aviary that was at the back end of the Opposition base. It had taken awhile for him to get Kaze to agree to build it, and was really little more then a screened in pourch with a concrete floor and a few perches. But it was better then keeping his bird in his rooms, which he'd pointed out to Kaze several times.

Otogi smiled softly as his bird screeched impatiantly. "Just a few moments Horus, calm down." He opened the cooler sitting at one end of the yard and pulled out a rat, dead of course. He kept it in one hand as he held out his other to Horus, his not-quite-pet falcon. She hopped onto his arm, her talons scraping harmlessly against the leather armband that extended from Otogi's wrist to his elbow.

Horus danced in anticipation, and Otogi threw the rat as high into the air as he could, moving quickly to unhood the falcon. With a screech Horus took to the sky, easily swooping to catch the rat in midair. She spiraled down in wide circles to land at Otogi's feet, immediately bending to tear into the rat with her beak and talons.

Otogi smiled as he watched her, fingering the leather hood that he usually kept over her eyes unless she was feeding or fighting. Unlike Kaze, Saguru, and the rest, Otogi didn't fight with a gun. He, like Kawari, chose a blade instead. His blade, however, was quite unlike Kawari's. It was Horus. She would swoop the enemies from above, catching them by surprise as she gorged their heads with sharp talons.

Watching her feed, Otogi went back to humming along with the music that was blaring through the small bud earphone in his left ear, which was connected to the walkman CD player at his belt. He kept his right open in case Kaze made an announcement over the loudspeakers or something else happened that Otogi would need to hear.

Horus made quick work of the rat and flew to the padded shoulder of Otogi's leather vest, nuzzling her beak against his hair. He smiled and reached up, tying the hood back on her by feel alone. He got ready to put her onto one of her perches so he could go inside and get some sleep, when something he'd never experienced but heard quite a bit about happened. He felt like something was tugging at him, and a moment later experienced a blackout.

When he came to what seemed like only a few minutes later, he was still standing upright in what looked like an alley. His CD player was still going, but he reached down to turn it off with a snap. Horus was still on his shoulder, rustling her feathers and crooning. Otogi reached up absently to stroke her, trying to figure out what had happened.

Cautionsly, his hand already beginning the first sign of a shield spell should something attack him, Otogi slunk toward the mouth of the alley. Horus senced her master's need for silence and hunkered down on his shoulder, her talons clamped tightly into the padding. Peeking around the end of the alley, he saw what looked like a normal street, which surprised him. Not a war-torn street, not a seedy back alley, but a normal street. Otogi was suddenly hit by a rush of homesickness for Tokyo like it was before the Opposition had been forced to turn it into a war zone. Quickly he shook it off, and his face brightened considerably when he saw two white-haired figures walking away from him down the street.

Darting out of his hiding place, he ran toward them. "Kawari, Kaeru!" They appeared not to hear him, and soon he was close enough to hear their conversation, which was really more like an arguement.

"I tell you, I senced something!" the shorter of the two said.

"I don't doubt it," the taller said calmly, trying to soothe the shorter one. "What I doubt is if it was the cataclysmic event you claim Ryou. I doubt if the Apocolypse was happening we'd be here right now."

"But Bakura -"

Otogi frowned slightly, even as his hand landed on the shorter boy's shoulder. Kawari and Kaeru never called each other by their real names anymore, not since their trip to the True Realm.

Both the white haired teens turned around, and Otogi realised his mistake. The fact that neither one of these was Kawari or Kaeru hit him like a bucket of cold water. The shorter, the one Otogi tentatively identified as hikari-Ryou, had dull, muddy, obviously blind brown eyes. The taller, who had to be yami-Bakura, looked neither as hardened as Kaeru, nor as cruel as they made the True Bakura out to be. The shorter one frowned, his eyebrows drawing together in thought, while the taller one gasped. "Otogi! What happened to you!? And you cut your hair!"

Otogi blanced slightly, fingering his chin-length hair, which is where it had been for the past several years. "Um..."

Ryou nudged his yami in the side. "That's not Otogi."

"What do you mean 'that's not Otogi'? It's obviously Oto-"

"No," Ryou said, shaking his head. He gave Otogi a keen look despite his blind eyes, and Otogi shivered slightly. "At least, not our Otogi."

Otogi blinked, and slowly nodded. "I'm in another realm," he said quietly, half to himself. Horus was beginning to get restless again, although she'd never fly off without his consent, and he reached up absently to pet her feathers. After a moment she calmed down.

"What do you mean, 'in another realm'?" Bakura was beginning to feel like a parrot, but he couldn't help it. That bird ws beginning to make him nervous, not to mention the way this imposter Otogi and Ryou seemed to be sizing each other up.

"Do you remember when I told you about the vision I had last Christmas, when an alternate me from another realm warned me that the balances were beginning to shift?" Ryou waited for Bakura to nod, and then he continued. "What I just felt, I think, was multiple gates opening from this realm to another one." He gestured at Otogi.

"So where does this leave me?" Otogi asked.

"In our realm." Ryou said sencibly. Then he chuckled. "Don't worry about it, there's others from your realm here, and a couple are quite close by. You glow a little bit different then the rest of us, it seems. Come on, and we'll go find them." Ryou set off at a fast trot, and Otogi and Bakura fell into step behind him.

Otogi blinked in puzzlement. "How is it that he's blind, but he can walk without a cane or a dog?"

Bakura looked at him oddly for a moment before remembering that Otogi was from a different dimention. "Ryou, this realm's Ryou anyway, is a telepath. A psychic. He can sence where people and things are and avoid them. He can do a lot of other stuff too, as you'll probably eventually see. That's probably what he meant when he said people from your realm glowed differently. He probably meant your auras, or life forces, "look" a little bit different to him then people from our realm."

Otogi scratched his head and shrugged. "Okay, if you say so..."

They walked on in silence for a few more blocks, until Ryou said "There they are."

Otogi saw who he meant immediately and ran ahead of them "Kaze! Kawari, Kaeru, am I glad to see you!"

"Otogi!"

The three Opposition agents were standing and talking with a girl that Otogi vaguely recognised and someone who was apparently this realm's Jounochi Katsuya, since it obviously wasn't Saguru. As Otogi jogged up to them, Jou's jaw dropped and the girl squeaked in surprise. Otogi gave them a quizzical look, and Kawari cleared his throat and winked hard at Otogi.

"Ooooh," Otogi chuckled. His appearence, combined with the fact that there was a falcon perched on his shoulder, was probably enough to startle anyone at first glance. "My name's Otogi Ryuuji, but call me..." He paused for only a minute. After Kaze, Kawari, Kaeru, and Saguru had first come back from the True Realm and related their adventures, Otogi had dreamed about getting to go to another dimention. He just hadn't thought it would be like this. He'd already chosen a name for himself though. "Call me Damon."

"Damon?" Ryou asked. "Like demon?"

"Yes and no," Otogi chuckled. "In Latin it does mean demon, but in Greek it means loyal. I'm a lot of both, I guess."

Kaze glanced around. They were still in the middle of a busy street, and people were beginning to go out of their way to avoid them by a long margin. He frowned slightly as someone crossed themself. "Maybe we should go someplace a bit more private..." he said quietly. "I don't know what's up with all these people, but..."

Ryou suddenly snorted in laughter. "I do. Four white-haired men who look almost identical, a scary-looking man with a falcon on one shoulder, no offence Damon,"

"None taken."

"And a ghost." Ryou concluded, making the Negatives give him funny looks.

"A ghost?" Kaeru asked.

The girl who Damon had finally identified as Jounochi Shizuka exchanged a look with her big brother. "Why do you think we flipped out so badly when we saw you?" Jou addressed his question to Kaze. "In our realm, you're dead."

Kaze felt like someone had just knocked all the breath out of him. "I'm what?!"

Bakura frowned as he glanced around, trying to ignore the glares that Kaeru was sending his way. He didn't know what this guy had aginst him, but he meant to find out. "Ryou, let's head back to our house."

Ryou nodded. "Dad's still in Egypt, and won't be home until heaven-knows-when. Good idea Bakura. Come on, this way. We've all got a lot of explaining to do."

The Bakura household wasn't far, and within a few minutes everyone had gathered in the livingroom. Kaze, Kawari, Kaeru, and Damon were holding an impromptu meeting in one corner of the room. Horus was perched on the back of a chair, and after a reassuring nod from Damon Shizuka was timidly petting her while Jou looked on. Ryou and Bakura held a quick conference of their own, and then Ryou left to make some phone calls.

Bakura whistled sharply to get everyone's attention, causing Horus to ruffle her feathers slightly at the high pitch. "Ryou's going to call a few people to come over, so you guys don't have to explain things more then once," he nodded at the Negatives. "While they're on their way, I guess I can get started explaining a few things from our realm."

Kaeru stepped up before Bakura could say anything else, a look of controlled anger on his face. Bakura blinked and looked to Kawari for answers, but the Negative Ryou was glaring at him just as hard as his yami. "What?" he asked, rather bewildered.

Kaeru growled at him. "Don't pretend you don't know! I may not be able to beat you myself because you're me, but I'm sure Kawari would love to have another crack at you!" Kawari stepped up beside his yami and nodded, drawing Gin Hebi out of its sheath.

Bakura's eyes widened as he saw the blade and he backed up a step. Jou and Shizuka had gotten out of their chairs to defend him if need be, but twin glares from Damon and Kaze pinned them to their spots. "Now just a second!" Bakura sputtered. "I don't even know what you're talking about!"

"I'm sure," Kawari muttered, getting a better grip on Gin Hebi. Bakura was just starting to really freak out when Ryou entered the room again. "What's going on?" he asked, surprised slightly by the anger he could sence in Kawari and Kaeru.

Kaeru growled again and crossed his arms. "He doesn't hurt you at all, does he?"

Ryou looked startled. "I beg your pardon?"

"Your yami. Does he hurt you?"

Ryou blinked, and then to the surprise of the Negatives he burst out laughing. "It's a loooong story Kaeru-san... Why don't you all sit down?" Everyone managed to find seats except for Bakura, who headed into the kitchen to finish the calls Ryou had started, and Ryou pursed his lips, wondering where to begin. "A few years ago, yes Kaeru, my yami would beat me. In fact, it was during one of those beatings that he accidentally knocked me blind."

Kaeru growled, making no move to discuise his anger, but Kawari lay a restraining hand on his yami's shoulder. "Just listen Kaeru."

"During the following events that I won't get into right now but which involved sacrificing me to the Shadow Realm, Bakura discovered that he really cared for me. It didn't help matters much that he was inadvertantly turned into a mortal around that same time."

The Negatives' jaws dropped at this, all except Kawari, who just chuckled. Bakura walked back into the room then, and suddenly found himself the object of three penetrating stares. "What?" he asked, self-conciously smoothing down his shirt.

"You're mortal?!" Kaeru finally managed to find his voice.

Bakura blinked and nodded. "Hai. I have been for several years."

Kaeru looked like he was about to faint, so Ryou chuckled and continued with his story. "It was also during that time that a demon by the name of Kuroi Karasu killed Seto Kaiba." Kaze shuddered slightly, and Ryou held up a hand to forestall any comments. "However, using the powers of the Millenium Ring and, I think, a little bit of my growing telepathic powers, I was able to save his soul and seal it into Mokuba's body, sort of like a yami and a hikari."

Kawari and Kaeru looked at each other guiltily, wondering if it would have been possible to save their Mokuba that way. Kaze saw them and swallowed hard. "It's not your fault." he told them quietly. "I don't think anything could have saved him."

Ryou didn't notice Kaze's quiet comments and continued. "Over time my powers grew. Last Christmas I received a vision," He smiled and gestured at Kawari. "In which Kawari told me that the realms were out of balance. That was just before the biggest battle I've ever had to fight, against the witch Jalila that spring."

"And that was right before we got pulled into the True Realm." Kawari added for the benefit of the other Negatives. "Somehow, I doubt that's where we are now."

Ryou nodded. "This realm has come to be known as Fate's Realm, because this is where she chooses to take up residence whenever she's not wandering." No one noticed as the Negatives exchanged surprised glances when Fate was mentioned.

The doorbell rang, and Jou got up from the couch. "I'll get it." There was the sound of the door opening and several voices before Jou came back into the living room. He was followed by six figures, all of which were easily recognisable by the Negative beings.

In the lead were Yuugi Moto and Malik Ishtar, with their yamis behind them. When the Negatives caught sight of Yami they tenced, but Ryou sent them all a warning look and they relaxed. A little.

The other two yami-hikari pairs stopped dead in the doorway and stared. "Bwah?" Malik finally asked.

Ryou chuckled and shook his head. "Have a seat, it'll all get explained."

So when the yamis finally moved, the last two people that Ryou had called were able to see into the room. Upon seeing, well, himself, Seto immediately seperated from his little brother, although he was transparent and obviously a spirit. He and Kaze eyed each other.

As for Otogi, he was another matter. "HOLY SHIT!!"

Damon grinned at him and waved. For a minute it looked like Otogi might faint, but he held his own. His eyes never leaving his Negative's face, he beckoned Ryou over. "Yes Otogi?" the telepath asked.

"What the HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?!"

Everyone in the room winced at Otogi's outburst and Horus trilled indignantly, winging her way back onto Damon's shoulder.

Ryou sighed heavily and rubbed his temples. "This is going to be a loooong day..." he muttered under his breath. Then he opened his eyes and took a deep breath, preparing to shout at everyone mentally, since there was no way he'd be physically heard over the noise in the room. (Everyone shut up!!!)

The room went dead silent, and Ryou smiled. "Thank you. Now if everyone will just hold on a minute, I'm going to transmit what I know of both realms into everyone's mind. Then it will only take a few minutes to explain what I've missed, okay?" Everyone nodded. After all, they didn't want an angry telepath. Ryou crooked a finger at Kawari, who looked surprised. "Me?"

Ryou nodded. "You. You're me, so you're the easiest person to draw the Negative Realm story from. Now come here."

Kawari got up nervously and went to stand in front of Ryou. The telepath nodded and placed his hands on either side of Kawari's face. "Basicly what I'm going to do is copy the story of the Negative Realm from Kawari's mind and transmit it to everyone in this room. At the same time, I'll be drawing my story from my own mind, and I'll do the same. It might be a little overwhelming, so you should all probably make sure you're sitting down. Ready?"

Kawari nodded, and Ryou closed his eyes. Almost immediately he opened them again. "Yami, Ishtar, Kaeru, and Damon, I need you guys to drop your sheilds so I can get in."

The yamis and Damon looked embarressed, and a moment later their magical mind shields had been dropped. Ryou paused to wonder for a moment why Damon would have a sheilded mind, but decided it would be one of the things that the Negative Otogi would have to explain.

Ten seconds later, and it was done. Kawari staggered slightly, but Ryou caught him before he fell and set him down next to Kaeru. For a long moment there was nothing but stunned silence as everyone paused to sort through the information they'd just been given. Rightly somehow, Yami was the first one to break it. His eyes were wide as he stared at the Negatives. "I did all that?"

As one the Negatives nodded, and Kaze smirked slightly, nudging Kaeru in the ribs. "Gee, this sounds familiar, doesn't it?"

The Negative Bakura snickered slightly and nodded, remembering the True Yami's reaction, which had been almost the same.

Kawari was eyeing Ryou and Shizuka, who were now next to each other on the couch and holding hands to boot. "You two are going out?" Shizuka looked surprised and nodded, and Ryou smiled. Kawari tried to picture himself together with his version of Shizuka, and ended up bursting out laughing.

Soon enough everyone's eyes turned to Damon. He'd always been something of a loner, and Kawari really didn't know that much about him. Therefore, there hadn't been much for Ryou to send to the others. Damon looked up and saw all of them looking at him, especially his other self, and sighed. "Alright, question away."

For a moment everyone was silent as they tried to figure out a tactful way to ask what they were all wondering. All except Ryou that is, since he couldn't tell. Finally Yugi ventured "What happened to your..." and his hand strayed up to point at Damon's face.

"My..." Damon's hand automaticly moved up to his left eye, which was sealed shut. A long, heavy scar ran from nearly his hairline, down through his eye and almost to his jaw. He laughed mirthlessly. "Oh! Sorry, everyone at the Opposition knows about how I lost my eye, so I guess I'd forgotten that you wouldn't."

Ryou frowned. "Kawari doesn't. Otherwise we'd all know, now."

Kawari blinked and looked puzzled. "I know how he lost his eye. Hell, I was there!"

Ryou frowned slightly and concentrated, then, to the surprise of all, he started laughing. "Kawari, your mind is amazing! There's one section I can't get into because the shielding is too strong! There's a little sign on it reading 'For Opposition Eyes Only'." He snickered and waved off everyone's puzzled looks. "Never mind, you wouldn't get it. Go on Kawari."

Kawari stared at his other self for a moment, then shrugged and glanced at Damon, who nodded. "Yami took control of Horus's mind and had her dive at Damon. Yami was meaning for her to go for the throat, but either she missed or Damon dodged and all Horus ended up doing was gorging out his eye."

The Fates Realm beings looked slightly sickened. "What do you mean that's all she did?!" Yuugi burst out, looking a little green.

It was Damon who answered with a shrug as he petted Horus gently. "Well, considering I should have gotten my throat torn out, losing only my eye is a blessing."

"Wait," Malik asked, puzzled. "Why would he go after you? You weren't a big threat to him. You weren't one of Yuugi's close friends, so you didn't particularly want revenge on him like Honda or Jou, excuse me, Saguru would."

Damon grinned widely. "Oh, I was a threat all right. A very big threat. That's why I'm one of the Opposition's top agents even though I can't fight very well."

"Besides Kaeru, Damon's our strongest magic-user." Kaze said casually.

"And I only work the Shadow Magic. Damon's a full-fledged mage." Kaeru added.

The Fates Realm beings, especially Otogi, stared in open amazement at Damon, who started to look a little uncomfortable under all the stares. "Sooo..." he finally said, just to break the tension. "We're obviously here for a reason. Any idea what it is?"

Before anyone could answer there was a bright flash of light, and a figure tumbled to the ground from what seemed to be mid-air. It was defiantely a she, with blond hair and wings, dressed in a long white robe. The left arm of her robe was torn and bloodsoaked, and she groaned as she hauled herself up onto her knees. "I think I have the answer for you child."

"Fate-sama!" Ryou ran toward the goddess, and the Negatives didn't fail to notice that his own sleeve was soaked in blood, as was Bakura's, although no one threatening had come near them.

Kawari growled as he, along with the rest of the Negatives, jumped to their feet. He yanked Gin Hebi out of its sheath, and Bakura looked at him in surprise from where he now stood next to Fate and Ryou.

"I never thought my other self would be a traitor!" Kawari spat.

Ryou's eyes widened in surprise as Kawari came toward him with Gin Hebi raised, the Negative momentarily forgetting that he couldn't defeat "himself". "Kawari, wha-"

"I heard you call her Fate-sama!" Kawari snarled as Kaeru, Kaze, and Damon fell in behind him. "Traitor! Fate's the one behind the Hand of Shadow!" He raised Gin Hebi over her head and made ready to do quick work of Ryou, Bakura, and Fate.

"WAIT!!!"

Kawari halted his downward swing that would have cleaved Fate's head from her shoulders just in time as Yuugi slid to a stop between Kawari and the stunned Trio of the Ring. "Move, little one," Kawari growled.

"You can't!" Yuugi said firmly. "I won't let you! You have to remember, this isn't your realm! Fate may be evil in your realm, but she isn't in ours! She's saved Ryou's life lots of times, and it's only because of her that Ryou and Takeo-san were able to defeat Jalila last spring!"

Kawari narrowed his eyes and lowered his dirk, but didn't sheath it. "All right," he turned to Fate just as Ryou finished healing the nasty cut on her arm. "Talk. And make it fast."

Fate sighed and nodded and Ryou helped her to sit up. "I know of your realm Kawari, and you're right, your version of Fate is behind the Hand of Shadow. But I'm not like her. Tell me, have you ever seen your Fate in person?"

Kawari shook his head, bewildered, but Kaeru nodded thoughtfully. "You're right, our Fate has black hair, and her robe is dark grey. Not like you. Stand down Kawari, Yuugi was telling the truth."

Kawari gave Fate another wary look, then nodded and sheathed Gin Hebi. He shuddered, as he suddenly remembered what would have happened if he'd attempted to kill Ryou. "You said you knew why we got pulled here."

"Wait," Kaze said as Fate opened her mouth. "Just a minute Kawari. There's something else I want to know first." Fate cocked her head at him, and the Blue Eyes asked "Why is it that when you got hurt, Ryou and Bakura had the same wound?"

"Which, by the way, is now healed." Damon noted.

Ryou chuckled. "That's an easy one. Fate is the goddess of the Ring, and so whoever wears the Ring is tightly bound to her. So tightly, in fact, that whenever she hurts, we do too, and vice versa. As for the healing..." He shrugged. "I did that."

Fate got to her feet and brushed off her robe. "Kaze, Kaeru, Kawari, and Damon. You were brought to this realm because the Elementals of your own realm have broken the barrier and crossed over. At the moment, we are holed up in Hatred's fortress in the Shadow Realm, because we cannot afford to get hurt, or to hurt them." She shook her head sadly. "But that won't last forever."

"Elementals?" Damon asked flattly.

"Fate, Hatred, Time, Death, Desire, War, and Passion. Each is connected to a specific Millenium Item and its holder." Ryou explained. "What Fate means by saying none of them can be hurt is because of what you just saw." He gestured at his own bloody sleeve. "If one of the Elementals were to get killed, it would kill whoever held their Millenium Item at that time."

"So why can't we kill the Negative Ele-" Jou started to say, and then saw the Negative Ring hanging around Kawari's neck. "Oh."

"Exactly," Kaeru sighed, nodding. "Allowing the Negative Elementals to win not only would mean that the belance would be more out of whack then it already is, it would mean the deaths of the Fates Realm Item Holders, including Yuugi, Ryou, and Malik." His gaze swept the three hikaris. Yuugi was as close to his yami as they could be. Ryou looked unafraid, but Malik and Ishtar both looked nervous.

Bakura finished his Negative's thought. "But if we kill the Negative Elements, it would mean the deaths of your realm's Item Holders, including Kawari."

"Which the Opposition can't afford, dangedit!" Kaze said fervently.

"Does that mean we can kill Negative Time?" Kawari asked brightly, and got less-then-nice looks from the Fates Realm Yuugi and Yami. He chuckled and shrugged. "Just a thought..."

"Too bad we didn't think of it a year ago..." Kaeru muttered.

"I came here to warn you, and to take you all back with me to Hatred's stronghold." Fate frowned. "Well, not all of you. The Negatives, and the Fates Realm yamis and hikaris are to come, everyone else is to stay here." She sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Kawari, Kaeru, Ryou, and Bakura. You four must be especially on your guard."

"Why?" Kawari asked, although he already had an idea.

"Because Negative Fate and I are the leaders of the Elementals, that's why. The two of us are more likely to be targeted. Not only that, but you two, Ryou and Kawari, are the most powerful of the seven hikaris." Yuugi and Malik didn't look too happy with her saying that, but it was only the truth.

"So how do we get to this stronghold?" Damon asked. He clicked his fingers, and Horus flew over to land on his shoulder. He quietly hooded her again in preperation for the trip who-knows-where.

"Teleportation," Ryou and Fate said at once. Fate chuckled. "Gather round and hold hands. Yes I know that sounds like something off of Barney and Friends, but trust me here." They did so, and the Puzzle, Rod, and both Rings began to glow. A moment later there was a flash of violet light, and they were gone.

The rest of the Fates Realm beings, including Otogi, just sat and stared, stunned, as a single falcon feather floated to the ground where they had been.

They landed in a heap on a stone floor. For a few moments that was all they knew as they attempted to untangle themselves.

"Kawari, your butt's in my face!"

"Get your knee out of my ear Kaze!"

"Watch where you put your hands tomb robber! I will not have my hikari molested!"

"Watch your own hands you k'so pharoah!"

"Squwak!!"

"Damon! Your stupid bird's in my hair!"

Fate and Ryou, who had been able to teleport himself out of the mess almost as soon as he'd gotten into it, stood by the side and tried not to laugh at everyone else. Kaeru, his hair rather rumpled from Horus's "attack", was the first to free himself. He dusted himself off, and then took the opportunity to look around.

They seemed to be on the roof of a castle made of yellow-gold sandstone, like the sort Pegasus's castle on Duelist Island was made of. For about twenty meters around the base was an expance of grass, but past that was the swirling purple-black darkness he could easily recognise as the Shadow Realm.

"Fate!!"

Fate turned and greeted Time and Hatred as they stepped through a door that led downstairs. She shared a hug with her brother Time and a solemn nod with Hatred, her second in command. "Anything happen while I was gone?" she asked them quietly.

Both shook their heads. "After N.Fate's first attack?" Hatred asked. "No, nothing."

Fate bit her lip. "That means we're due." she murmered. "The Negative Elementals don't care if they kill their Item Holders, but we have to protect them all."

No more could be said, as everyone else had managed to get themselves upright again. "Good to see you again Yuugi." Time said, and Yuugi nodded happily.

"Good to see you too, Time-sama."

"And you must be Malik..." Hatred muttered, looking over the short Egyptian, who nodded and clutched the Rod tighter.

"Gods, they could be twins..." Fate noted, blinking. "Was that intentional?" She asked Time, who shrugged. Indeed, Malik and Hatred did resemble each other a great deal, although Hatred was much taller and had more scars then tattoos. But both had the light blond hair and the dark skin, as well as the Egyptian eye makeup. One of the more major differences that marked Hatred apart from Malik were that his eyes were wide and black from edge to edge, almost like a darker version of Ryou's save that he could see perfectly well.

Time glanced upward as lightning began to crackle across what could be called the "sky". "You're right," he murmered to his sister. "We're overdue for an attack, or a challenge, or something. Think they know we've got the mortals here?"

Fate shook her head, then raised her voice to speak to everyone. "Let's move inside. The castle is sheilded," she added when she caught Yami and Ishtar exchanging worried looks with Kaeru. "So the mortals will be just fine." She turned and led the way downstairs, with Hatred and Time flanking her on either side, and the rest behind them. When they passed the thresh hold into the castle proper, Ryou let out a breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding. He had been sheilding the mortals from the full effects of the Shadow Realm since they got here, and he was glad that the castle was doing it for him now. It had been beginning to tire him out, and he suspected he'd need all his strength for whatever battle was coming.

They were each led to a room to call their own, furnished sparsely with a chest of drawers, desk, chair, and bed. "Passion, Desire, and I will be going around to each of your homes tonight to collect some clothes and other personal effects. We have no idea how long we may have to wait until the Negative Elementals decide to show themselves." Fate explained, and then glanced at Horus. She frowned and then strode away purposefully, leaving them each to their own devices.

Kaze sat down in the small common lounge and began typing away on his laptop. Then he stared at it, stunned, before letting out a rare "Yes!" of happiness and pumping his fist into the air.

"What is it?" Kawari asked, leaning over one of his leader's shoulders with Damon peering over the other.

"I don't know how," Kaze said. "But somehow I've got a secure connection back to base."

"Well this is a magical Shadow Realm fortress," Kaeru noted. "Maybe it has magical Shadow Realm internet connections?"

Kaze didn't deem that a worthy enough question to answer, and went back to typing rapidly. A moment later something that looked for all the world like an MSN IM box appeared on the screen. Just like it, that is, except for the small KC icon in the corner, with the Opposition logo under it.

BlueEyes says: Anyone there? Saguru? Pegasus? Malik?

FunnyBunny01 says: Kaze! About time! Hold on while I find Saguru.

Kaze nodded as behind him the otehr three quietly celebrated at having made contact with base.

RedEyes2nd says: Kaze!! Everyone else okay?

"Gimme that." Damon said, yanking a surprised Kaze's laptop out of his hands.

One-Eyed Falcon says: Hiya Saguru. Horus and I are doing fine.

RedEyes2nd says: Glad to hear it Otogi.

One-Eyed Falcon says: It's Damon now.

RedEyes2nd says: *scratches head* Loyal demon? That's you all right.

One-Eyed Falcon says: Hey! *shakes fist*

"My turn!" Kawari whisked the laptop away before a disgruntled Kaze could reclaim it so he could talk to his own second.

GinHebi says: Don't forget about me Saguru.

Yami-GinHebi: And me.

RedEyes2nd says: Good, that takes care of everyone missing. You guys okay?

GinHebi says: Yup. You found the squad that disappeared?

RedEyes2nd says: Right after you guys left.

GinHebi says: Good. Anything happen there?

RedEyes2nd says: Nope. Seems like the Hand of Shadow's slacking off.

Yami-GinHebi says: They aren't. We're fighting them here.

RedEyes2nd says: Dang. And I'm not. Lucky dastards.

GinHebi says: You wouldn't think so if you were in our possition.

Yami-GinHebi says: We're giving the laptop back to Kaze now before he bursts a blood vessel. I haven't seen him this mad since you and I stole his boxers and ran them up the Opposition flag pole.

RedEyes2nd says: LOL! That's mad. Ok, see ya'!

GinHebi says: Bye Saguru, take care.

RedEyes2nd says: You too Kawari, Kaeru.

Kaze snorted as he was given his computer back and shot his three agents not-quite-glares. He then settled in for a long talk with his second. Damon wandered off with Horus mumbling something about his CDs, and Kawari gave Kaeru a strange look.

"You ran Kaze's boxers up the flag pole? Where was I?"

"Your own head." Kaeru said. "It was pretty good though. Maybe you and I should try it with Pegasus next time?"

"Nah," Kawari muttered. "Everyone already knows he wears Funny Bunny boxers. What about Damon? I wonder what he wears on his underwear..."

"Damon it is." Kaeru said, chuckling evilly. "Next April 1st?"

"It's a date." Kawari agreed, before both of them broke out into evil snickers. One thing not many people knew about the Opposition was that they were all master practical jokers, every single one of them. They had to be, in a way. Sometimes, the stress of war would be too much, and you just had to joke on someone. And when an Opposition agent wants to do something, then baby, they do it right. Practical jokes are no exception.

Malik found Damon sitting in a small nook with a padded shelf made just for sitting, like a window seat with no window. He had his headphones on, both of them this time, and was tapping his foot and lip-syncing along to whatever he was listening to. Horus was perched on another, smaller shelf above his head, her head tucked under her wing and apparently asleep.

Malik stood quietly and watched Damon for a moment. His eye was closed as he bobbed his head in time to the music, and he actually had a smile smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he silently sang along.

To tell the truth, Malik still didn't know what to make of these "Negatives", and was rather thankful he hadn't had a chance to meet his own Negative self. After seeing how much Kawari and Damon differed from their originals, Malik was a little wary of seeing how his own self reflected. Kaze wasn't that different from Kaiba really, and neither was Kaeru. Not deep down. But Kawari and Damon were almost exact opposites from their other selves.

Damon finally registered the fact that there was someone watching him, and he opened his eye a crack. Seeing that it was only Malik, he motioned the Egyptian over. Slightly nervous, Malik went up to him, and Damon pulling him down onto the seat next to him. Malik stiffened as Damon pulled him against his side, pulling them cheek to cheek. 'Is he coming on to me?!'

But no. Damon was indicating that Malik listen to the music. Relaxing somewhat, Malik did so and was pleasently surprised. Somehow, he'd pictured the Negatives listening to heavy metal or punk rock, not... not show tunes. The words were in English, but Malik recognised the musical and hummed along.

"Memory, turn your face to the moonlight, let your memory lead you, open up, enter in. If you find there the meaning of what happiness is, then a new life will begin. Memory, all alone in the moonlight. I can smile at the old days, I was beautiful then..."

Malik opened his eyes and pulled away from Damon, studying his profile. Most of what he could see was the jagged scar that ran down the left side of his face. Malik shuddered slightly, remembering the pain of when he'd had the legend carved onto his back and trying to imagine what it must feel like to have one's eye torn out.

Damon finished listening to the song and sighed deeply. Then he seemed to shake himself, and he put his CD on pause. "Sorry, sometimes I just get caught up in the music. Especially Memory. It's one of my favorites. You wanted something?"

It took Malik a moment to get his voice back. "Uh, yeah. Fate says that if Horus gets hungry, there's plenty of rats down in the dungeons."

Damon grinned. "Great!" He glanced up at his falcon, then settled back onto the not-window-seat. "She's asleep now, and I think she probably will be for awhile." He took out one of his earphones, which was the kind that are on two seperate strands and sit inside your ear, instead of being connected to a strap over your head. He offered it to Malik. "Want to listen with me? One earphone apiece isn't bad."

Malik debated this a moment. But really, what else was he supposed to be doing? Since this was Hatred's fortress, Hatred could remodel it instantly in any way he'd wanted. So far he'd created a gameroom and a library, neither of which appealed to Malik. Ishtar, Yami, Kaeru, and Bakura were playing pool in the game room, and Yuugi and Kawari were going at ping-pong with the same enthusiasm most people reserved for anything... not ping-pong. Kaze was still on the computer with Saguru, and Ryou had come across a couple braille novels and was knee-deep in The Eye of Horus.

Malik shrugged and made himself comfortable next to Damon. "Sure. Do you have Growltiger's Last Stand on that CD?"

Damon's eyes lit up. "Sure do. I love that song, although not as much as Memory."

Malik shook his head. "I've always liked Growltiger's Last Stand the best. It's such a sad love song... Poor Griddlebone."

"I think she deserved what she got." Damon said, scowling good-naturedly. "Bah, I've never had time for love. Girls suck unless they can fight." He glanced around as if looking for someone. "Although don't tell Horus I said that."

Malik burst out laughing. "You are so different then the Otogi I know!"

Damon grinned at him as he found Growltiger's Last Stand and hit play. "I guess that would be the point of Negatives, wouldn't it?"

"Damon, wait up!"

Damon turned around to see Yuugi running after him. "Hi little one," he said jokingly as they began to walk side-by-side down the corridor. "Weren't you kicking Kawari's butt at ping-pong the last time I saw you?"

"Yeah, but there's only so many times you can humiliate a person. I think he and Ryou are sniffling over some book now." Yuugi said, flicking his fingers in a bored manner and causing Damon to laugh. "So where are you and Horus going?"

"Trying to find our way to the dungeons." Damon said. "Fate said I could feed Horus there, there's plenty of rats."

"Are you really a mage?" Yuugi asked.

Damon nodded. "Yup. I'm not nearly as powerful as Kaeru though, even though I can work more spells. Most of my expertise is in battle magic, but I can do a few low-level healing spells too."

"Ryou can heal almost anything." Yuugi said. "I once saw him heal a shattered bone."

Damon looked started. "That powerful? Wow. That's good. I can barely heal cuts and bruises."

"It's okay." Yuugi assured him. "I'm sure you'll get better with time. And after all, Ryou has telepathic powers, while you just have magic."

Damon smiled at him, and then his smile widened as he looked over Yuugi's shoulder. "Ahah!" He went over to the door and pushed it open, sending a rush of musty air back toward them. "Phew! Something tells me these dungeons haven't been used in awhile."

"That's good, right?" Yuugi asked.

Damon chuckled. "I suppose you could see it that way, yes."

"So how does the Opposition pass their free time?" Yuugi asked as he turned on the flashlight Damon handed him. "Playing DDM?"

"DD-what?" Damon asked, pausing half-way through the act of unhooding Horus.

A strange look came over Yuugi's face. "DDM. Dungeon Dice Monsters. Your game."

"Oh, that." Damon dismissed it as if it wasn't important. "No, not really. If we ever have free time at all we usually sleep or duel each other. Why?"

"You... you didn't market DDM?"

"Why should I? Pegasus expressed intrest in it, but then the war came and nothing else mattered. Why do you ask?"

Yuugi frowned slightly. "I guess I'm just now beginning to realize how different you are from the Otogi I know, and not just in looks. DDM means everything to him. That, and girls." Yuugi snickered. "Once, Malik and Ryou tricked him into thinking they were girls, and they actually got him to flirt with them before he found out the truth."

Damon snorted, but there was a small smile on his face. "Baka." He suddenly seemed to get an idea. He set Horus gently on the ground, where she impatiently danced in place. She could smell mice and rats, and was eager to be free of her hood so she could go hunt. Damon stripped off his heavy leather vest, which left him in just a tanktop and his leather armbands. "Here Yuugi, wrap this around your arm."

"What for?" Yuugi asked, but Damon didn't answer him. The Negative Otogi gently picked up Horus from the floor and whispered a few soothing words to her before depositing her on a surprised Yuugi's arm, which was now protected by the thick leather of Damon's vest. "Wha-!"

"Here, like this." Damon put his hands under Yuugi's arm, one at the elbow and one at the wrist, and manuvered Yuugi's arm so that he held Horus almost at eye-level. "Okay, now use your other hand to gently take off the hood." Yuugi did so, staring in awe at the majestic creature on his arm. "She's beautiful..."

"I know." Damon said, smiling a little. "Now just fling your arm upward to release her. Thank goodness this dungeon has a high ceiling. Okay, one, two..."

Yuugi threw his arm up and Horus took off, keening her hunting cry to the rafters. Yuugi hissed as something raked at his arm, and Damon slapped himself on the forehead, muttering a curse as he did. "Stupid stupid... Armholes Damon! Armholes! Don't give the boy a stupid vest with armholes!"

"Is there any other kind?" Yuugi asked confusedly as he cradled his arm against him. One of Horus's talons had gotten through one of the vest's armholes when she pushed off, and left a deep cut about a third of the way up Yuugi's arm from the wrist.

"Here, let me see." Damon said, picking up the flashlight from the floor so he could see Yuugi's cut better. He hissed in sympathy when he saw how deep it was. "Well, here goes nothing..." He whispered a few words, and Yuugi watched in facination as the cut began to close. It was a strange feeling, and one new to him since he'd never experienced Ryou's healing powers first-hand before. The cut didn't completely heal, but it didn't hurt as much and it wasn't bleeding anymore.

Damon opened his eye and examined his handy work with a critical sigh. "Sorry, that's all I can do. When we go back we can have your Ryou heal it the rest of the way."

"No, it's all right." Yuugi assured him as Damon shrugged back into his vest. "No one could ever fault you for trying your best."

Damon gave Yuugi a small half-smile. "You know Yuugi, I've just realized how much I miss our Yuugi, and I really wish I'd taken the time to make friends with him." He turned away abruptly as Horus swooped down and snatched something from the stone floor, keening happily. "Good kill Horus! Now come eat so we can go back upstairs. This place is too dark for my liking."

Yuugi watched him as Horus came in for a landing with a huge rat in her claws and smiled a little. "Maybe you miss your Yuugi Damon, whatever happened to him, but you've sure made a friend in me." he said quietly, too low for the raven-haired teen to hear.

"Bwah! Tenre don't do it!"

"Shut up Ryou, I'm trying to read!"

"Well so am I Kawari!"

Kaeru and Bakura glanced at each other and then entered the library. Kaze had finally finished talking to Saguru and was now chatting with Pegasus over his computer. Kawari and Ryou were curled up togeting on a long couch, both of them reading the same book, in apparently the same place and at the same speed, although Ryou's was in braille and Kawari's in regular printed words.

Bakura cocked his head to the side to read the spine on Kawari's book. "The Eye of Horus?"

"Yeah, remember Bakura, you read it over the summer and said it was really good." Ryou recalled. "And it is!"

"You should read it some time Kaeru," Kawari added.

"Well, it'll have to wait hikari. Fate wants us all in the lounge so we can go over battle plans and stratagies. The Negative Elementals are going to attack sooner or later, and we may as well have some sort of plan." Kaeru said. "Hear that Kaze?" He asked the Blue Eyes, raising his voice a little to be heard across the room.

"Hai!" Kaze answered, and set about saying his goodbyes to Pegasus and shutting down the laptop.

The four white-haired Ring holders headed back into the lounge, which Hatred had expanded since they'd last seen it. It was now almost twice the size and had enough furniture so that they could all sit down comfortably.

They entered with Kaze behind them just as Damon and Yuugi entered with Horus from the opposite direction. Malik came out of his room, and Yami and Ishtar walked out of the game room, arguing about Pac-Man high scores, or some other such trivial thing.

Once they'd all sat down, the seven Elementals entered in all their glory. Fate, as leader, was in the lead and took a seat next to Ryou. Hatred came next, and found himself between Fate and Malik. Time entered after that, and Yuugi immediately called him over to sit with him and Yami. Death stayed by the window, leaning against the wall. War had a couch all to himself, and Passion and Desire shared another. The Negatives found themselves shuddering at the thought of being in the same room as all the Elementals at once, and had to keep reminding themselves that this set, at least, weren't enemies.

Fate broke the uneasy silence by standing up and beginning to pace, her wings swishing behind her. "The way I see it, we lose either way." she said without any preamble. "There's no way we can win without sacrificing someone." She glanced around the circle of faces, and everyone could see the longing in her eyes that she wished there was another way.

"You said if an Elemental got killed, whoever was holding their Item at the time would be killed," Damon said carefully, fingering the strings of Horus's leather hood. "So couldn't Kawari just take off his Ring, and then you all go after Negative Fate, badda-bing badda-boom, we win!"

Hatred shook his head. "It isn't that easy, although I wish to Anubis it was." He looked thoughtful. "Although... Fate, what if we took someone else, someone useless, or even evil. Gave them Kawari's Ring, just for the duration of the battle, killed N.Fate and, by extention, them, and then gave Kawari his Item back."

Fate looked thoughtful. "That could work..."

Unfortunately, Death said in a voice that wasn't a voice at all. We have no time. He was gazing out the window with a slight frown on his skeletol features. The battle has come to us.

Fate sighed as she stretched her wings, which were almost twice as long as she was. "Well then, we'll have to make do." Her heart ached, knowing that someone would die today, no matter what. "Everyone... Battle stations."

Time snagged Death as everyone else ran for the roof. "Death... I am Time, I can see past and present, and I can see the future. But is the future I see the right one?"

Death was silent a moment, and if he'd had lips he would have been pressing them tightly together. Finally he said with sadness in his not-quite-voice, Yes. He will die.

Time sighed as the two Elementals hurried to meet the coming evils. "I wish it wasn't so."

As do we all, Time. As do we all...

Everyone was lined on the wall, as prepared as they could be to fight. Fate was hovering above them all, shouting orders in such a way that even Kaze followed them. The Blue Eyes and Kaeru, the only ones who carried guns, were crouched and ready to fire once the Negative Elementals got close enough. Kawari had Gin Hebi drawn, and was ready to engage in close range. Ryou was beside him to use his martial arts and telepathy to everyone's best advantage. Hatred, Death, and War stood beside them as well, all three with swords (or scythe) drawn and ready.

Behind the warriors were the spellcasters. Time, Passion, Damon, and Yami all had spells held, ready to be released at the spoken word or a gesture. And in the very back, the last line of defence, were Yuugi, Malik, Ishtar, Desire, and Bakura, those who weren't strong in either physical or magical areas. As soon as Kaze ran out of bullets he would have to retreat to the back as well. With the limp he had there was no way he could fight hand-to-hand.

"Here they come!" Fate called as she spotted the seven figures appear out of the mist at the edge of the grassy area of Hatred's fortress. All of them could be told apart from their True counterparts almost immediately. All of them wore darker colours, and instead of the white, bleached bones of the True Death, N.Death looked like he was made of obsidian.

N.Fate threw out her hands, and all seven levetated almost straight up. Kaze and Kaeru let loose with their hand guns, but it seemed like the bullets just weren't there. They were either deflected or they passed right through. Not that anyone had really expected the guns to do any damage, they were more of a delaying tactic.

Kaze hit bottom first, and he cursed fervently as he was forced to retreat back to the last line. Kaeru ran dry a few seconds later and he too retreated, although only to the magic-user's line.

The Negative Elementals were lifted up and over the waist-high stone wall that ran around the edge of the roof, and then N.Fate literally dropped them. She glared at Fate, who growled right back. It seemed a given that these two would fight, and they spiraled upward until they were almost only specks in the "sky".

Kawari didn't have time to watch them though, as he had the other six Elementals to contend with. Death almost immediately was locked in scythe-to-scythe combat with his other self. Hatred and War had both gone after N.War, and were now fighting a two-on-one sword battle that denied physics, as half the moves were done in mid-air. N.Desire seemed about as helpless as her True counterpart, and was hanging to the back and casting spells when she could. N.Time was shooting destructive spells all over the place, which True Time, Yami, Passion, and Damon were hard-put to countermand. N.Passion was locked in a heated martial arts combat with Ryou, which left N.Hatred to Kawari and Kaeru.

Kawari smirked and saluted N.Hatred, who just glared and readied his own blade, which was a curved, Arabian sword of the kind that had been in style a few hundred years ago. Kawari launched himself in with a blood-curtling yell, and Kaeru was right behind him with knives drawn and ready.

But right at the beginning, despite their advantage in number, the Fates Realm defenders were losing. They were loathe to hurt or maim, since any damage they did would reflect on the bearers. But in doing so, they were suffering heavily themselves, because they always seemed to be on the defencive and never the offensive. Time already suffered several nasty cuts and magical burns, which reflected on Yuugi in the back lines and wore on Yami in the magic lines. It happened in reverse, too. Fate, although several hundred feet up, was starting to tire from bruises and cuts that Ryou was receiving in his fight with N.Passion.

Hatred had a nasty slash across his stomach that was bleeding openly from Malik and Ishtar as well. Kawari, Kaeru, and N.Fate were doing remarkably well, but that didn't mean they wouldn't be hurting soon. Harted and War together had managed to take down N.War with only enough injuries to give the Negative Realm Shaadi a headache in the morning. Now Hatred was on his way to Ryou's rescue, while War ran to help Death.

"This isn't working..." Damon muttered. "We can't go on like this!" Even with Ryou doing his best to heal those who needed it, and with N.War and N.Desire out of the way, the True Realm defenders were not doing well. Desire was out, and so was Passion. Time was hurt pretty badly, and War didn't look like we could last much longer. Hatred looked to be tiring, and if Ryou and Kawari's conditions were any indication then Fate was losing and N.Fate was gaining the upper hand. 'If we could somehow get rid of N.Fate, I think tht would send the rest packing. They're nothing without their leader.'

Breaking away from where he was in a battle of spells with N.Time, Damon whistled sharply. Horus wheeled down from the skies. Most of the battle she'd been swooping low over the Negative Elements' heads and shrieking, trying to scare or startle them but not doing any real damage. She landed neatly on Damon's arm, and he whispered to her in a few hushed words. She trilled at him, almost a question, and he nodded sadly. She rubbed her head against his cheek, as if she understood he was saying good-bye, and then she took to the skies again to wait for her master's signal.

Damon watched her wheel upwards toward where the two leaders did battle and tried to swallow the lump in his throat. His vision blurred, and he shook his head clear. This was no time to be getting sentimental.

Turning in a slow circle, he located each of his fellow Negatives and those of the Fates Realm he had come to call friends over the day and a half he'd known them.

Kaze... Take care Blue Eyes. Sorry I can't stay.

Kawari... I hope you know pal, I'm doing this for you.

Kaeru... Take care of your aibou or I'll come back to haunt you all.

Malik... As Grizabella would say, don't let my memory fade away.

And Yuugi... Stay strong. I'll miss you lots, even though I'm going to get reunited with the other Yuugi, my Yuugi really soon.

Damon took a deep breath and fixed Kawari in his sight. The Negative Ryou was between battles at the moment, leaning against the wall and breathing heavily, the hand not holding Gin Hebi pressed against a deep cut in his side. Despite his friend's obvious pain, Damon couldn't help but smile. N.Fate was probably feeling that one, and that would just make Horus's job that much easier.

Lowering his head, Damon charged through the various battles and straight toward Kawari, who only noticed him when it was too late. "What are you-"

Damon grabbed the Negative Millenium Ring from around Kawari's neck and threw it over his own. Kawari's eyes widened in realization and he tried to grab for the Ring, but Damon was already out of reach. Their eyes met for just an instant, and for the first time in years Kawari's eyes filled with tears. "Good-bye my friend."

"Good-bye Kawari."

Raising his fingers to his lips, Damon gave a whistle so loud and piercing that everyone else froze and clamped their hands over their ears. From above them there was an answering screech, loud and sustained. Damon smiled as around him his friends began to realize what he was doing.

"Damon, you idiot!" That was Kaeru, undoubtably.

"Damon, what am I going to tell the rest of the damn Opposition!?" Kaze, business minded as ever but with as much emotion in his voice as Damon could have hoped for.

"DAMON!!" Yuugi and Malik screamed at once, and Damon felt his heart tear. But he no longer had any control of his destiny. His mind was flying high above, as his beloved falcon dove unwaveringly toward where a pair of demon-angels fought.

Fate heard the falcon coming, but was helpless to do anything as Horus struck N.Fate a blow to the neck with claws extended, sending hot blood coursing over both Ring Goddesses. "You stupid bird!!" Fate yelled as she caught the body of N.Fate as it fell. "Do you realize you've just killed Kawari?! You stupid, stupid bird!" She was sobbing and yelling at the same time as she flew toward the castle. As she neared, N.Time appeared in front of her. For a moment their eyes locked and held, and then N.Time bowed his head in submission. Fate nodded and gave him the body of his sister, so they could retreat and deal with it as they saw fit.

Fate expected to see the body of Kawari sprawled out on the cobblestone roof as she landed with a heavy heart, but it was not so. Kawari was wearing his Ring once again, but it was Damon who lay with his throat torn open... Just as the Negative Yami must have intended all those years ago. It had come full-circle, Fate realized. Once upon a time N.Fate told Yami to kill Damon with a blow to the throat. Now it was that same blow that had killed N.Fate.

Kawari, Kaze, and Kaeru were on their knees around the body of their lifeless friend. Kawari wasn't even trying to hide his tears, and even Kaze had suspiciously wet eyes. Yami was holding his aibou as Yuugi cried, and Malik was trying to be a man, but was sniffling none-the-less. The Elementals were standing in a loose circle around them. Ryou got up as Fate landed and the telepath came to stand near her. "He sacrificed himself, you know." Ryou said. "He ordered Horus to attack N.Fate and then took the Ring for himself so Kawari wouldn't have to die."

"I know." Fate said sadly. "I just wish there was another way."

"He did what he knew was right Fate-sama. No one can deny that."

"No," Fate said quietly.

A loud, heart-wrenching squeal that sounded almost like a human scream of anguish attracted everyone's attention, and they all looked upward in time to see Horus lift herself into the sky and then turn beak down for one last, glorious, suicide-dive. She would be with her master again soon.

"Farewell brave Horus." Yuugi whispered, fingering the half-healed cut on his arm. It would leave a scar but... somehow Yuugi didn't mind.

Malik looked out into the purpleish swirls of the Shadow Realm and tried to remember Damon as he had been that morning, full of life, arguing with him over whether or not Les Miserables was a better musical then Cats. He'd never forget Damon. Ever.

Neither would anyone else.

Kaze pulled himself to his feet finally, and then bent to take Damon's limp form into his arms. "Kaeru, Kawari,"

"Yes Kaze?" They asked almost in one breath, but their hearts weren't in it as they rose to their feet.

Kaze looked down at the man in his arms, and then at the circle of faces around him.

"Let's go home."

Daylight, I must wait for the sunrise,
I must think if a new life
And I mustn't give in.
When the dawn comes today will be a memory too,
And a new day will begin.

Sunlight, through the trees in the summer
Endless masquerading.
Like a flower as the dawn is breaking,
The memory is fading!

Touch me, it's so easy to leave me
All alone with the memory
Of my days in the sun.
If you touch me you'll understand what happiness is...
Look, a new day has begun.

~Memory, Cats the musical

()()()()()

WSJ: Gaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!! *runs around madly* ONE DAY! 24 HOURS! I wrote this in ONE DAY! *_* I sure hope you appreciate this HCG... Not to mention the fact that I just about lost all my text and had to retype the ENTIRE THING!! >> Almost. I got it back, but for a moment there I was freaking out.

....He wasn't supposed to die. Not when I started this this morning. It just sort of... happened. *sigh* I like it though. ^^\\// Hope you enjoyed!

...And reviews wouldn't hurt.

God bless minna-san!