Bakura (now un-chibified, thanks to Baby Winter's spray): *chokes* What!?!?! Why?!?!?

WSJ: *patiently* You should know me by now Bakura. I'm a hopeless romantic. I live for sappy love stories, whether they end for good or ill. ;_; Poor Pegasus... Although I don't see how creating Duel Monsters would help him see Cecilia again...

Ryou: *sweatdrops* Er, yes...

WSJ: *goes starry-eyed* The Black Magician of Chaos was soooooo awesome! *squeals again* I definately love Magician-type monsters best! Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl and the Black Chaos Magician... *sighs happily* Those and the Change of Heart are my favorite cards ever...

Ryou: -.- Right, only cause it's my fav too...

WSJ: *looks slightly offended* Nuh-uh! I love angels! Plus, you just looked so cute as Change of Heart! *^_^*

Bakura and Ryou: -.-;; *sigh*

WSJ: ^__^ Thanks for the presents everyone! *mutters* But Ryou's still mine...

Ryou: *sweatdrop* ^.^ Sugar! Candy! Thankie much Baby Winter!!! And Yami-Emmy? Thanks for the money! *gets all shifty-eyed* Yeah, I'll use it for surgery... *giggles and grows imp-horns*

Bakura: *backs up a step* Buh! We shouldn't have let him have the sugar!!!

Kaiba suddenly runs through, screaming like a girl. Yami-Malik is right behind him with a flame-thrower, laughing evilly.

Kaiba: MY TRENCH COAT'S ON FIRE!!!!!! IT'S ON FIRE!!!!!!! PUT IT OUT! FOR THE LOVE OF KURIBOH, PUT IT OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bakura: Kaiba-torture? *perks up* Looks like fun! *grabs bazooka from Baby Winter and runs after Yami-Malik* Save some for me Yami-Malik!

WSJ and Ryou: -_-;;

Malik sidles up, trying to look completely innocent.

Malik: Hi 'SJ.

WSJ: *looks at him suspiciously* What did you do?

In the background Kaiba suddenly erupts into a collumn of flame, then falls over in typical super-charred anime fasion. Yami-Malik and Bakura screech to a halt and start to cheer.

Malik: *super-innocently* Just making use of a present. *cheesy grin*

WSJ and Ryou: *in unison* Land mines... -_-;

Yugi walks in with his nose stuck in a magazine. There's a Celtic Guardian plushie and a poster of an un-nakie Dark Magician Girl hanging from one arm, a Witty Phantom plushie from the other, and two Dark Magician plushies (his and Yami's) on his head.

WSJ: *sees the magazine* o_O Playboy? Does your yami know what you're reading young man?

Yugi: *shifty-eyed* Yeah... Of course...

Ryou: *ignores Yugi's recent obsession* Where is Yami?

Yugi: At the Game Shop. He's juicing up his deck so he can whoop Kaiba into next week.

WSJ: *gestures to where Kaiba is still extra-crispy and now hog-tied with toilet paper. Yami-Malik, Malik and Bakura have stripped down to their boxers, put on hula skirts and tye-dyed baseball caps and are dancing around him like a tribe of indians at a sacrifice* Well, I think he's pretty much whooped...

Ryou: *eyes his yami and the Ishtars as he sucks on a candy cane* Maybe giving them part of your candy stash wasn't such a good idea...

WSJ: *dryly* Ya' think? *sighs* I don't own YGO.

()()()()()

~Yami's POV~

We arrived at Ryou's house and didn't even bother to knock, we just opened the door since it was unlocked and ran right in. Ryou was on the couch, absolutely motionless, which I didn't take as a good sign.

As soon as Yugi and I walked in, Malik stopped pacing a ran over, a breif look of releif sliding across his face. Yami-Malik looked up from where he was trying to massage some life back into Ryou.

Yugi let out a strangled cry and ran over to Ryou, dropping to his knees beside the boy on the couch. Yami-Malik stood up, and he and his hikari drew me over to a corner.

"He's not in good shape." Yami-Malik said, low enough so my aibou wouldn't hear. Quickly he and Malik outlined the day thus far.

I frowned. "He can't feel Bakura? As in their mental link?"

The two nodded. "I think that's what he meant." Malik said.

Silently I cursed. I turned to Yami-Malik and gave him a look. After a moment of deliberation he motioned for Malik to leave the two of us alone. Uneasily he went to kneel beside Yugi.

"What's on your mind?" Yami-Malik asked.

"I know the two of us aren't exactly best of friends, but I'm going to need your help." I said. He looked surprised, but nodded. "I think that the reason Ryou and Bakura's link was cut off is because Bakura is no longer Spirit of the Ring. In Egypt Bakura had a brother, whom he sealed in the Shadow Realm. I felt a Spell earlier that I think must have been Jonathon switching places with Bakura. And that isn't all. I'm afraid Ryou's been chosen by the Shadow Realm for-"

Yami-Malik went pale. "The Locking Rituals. I remember. 'In every two thousand years time the Shadow Realm doth have need of a pure heart. It will chose a heart to be sacrificed, and pull it to itself, then devour it.'" he quoted the ancient texts, paraphrasing here and there.

I nodded and sighed heavily. "Yes. If we don't get to Ryou soon he'll simply stay in a coma and get weaker and weaker until he dies."

Yami-Malik's face hardened. "We'll have to go after him then. Into the Shadow Realm."

I nodded. "Just what I was thinking."

The two of us turned and started towards our hikaris. Malik was apparently explaining what had happened to Yugi, who was crying a little. I kneeled down behind him and wrapped my arms around him, and he leaned back into my embrace, taking a little comfort from my presence.

"W-we'd always suspected that Bakura beat him, we've known for a long time. We just never thought..."

"How bad it would be." Malik agreed.

Before anything else could be said, the door was suddenly opened so hard it slammed against the wall behind it, leaving a dent where the doorknob had been. We jerked around to see Bakura leaning against the doorway and panting, his eyes scanning the room.

Wait... His eyes...

I growled and in two strides I was across the room. I picked "Bakura" up by the collar and slammed his back into the wall next to the door. "I was right! You are Jonathon! Bakura doesn't have green eyes!"

Jonathon's eyes darted around, his mouth forming a little O of worry. "Y-yes, I am J-Jonathon. What's it to you?"

"Do you know what you have done?" Yami-Malik asked, coming up behind me. His voice was dripping with scorn and Jonathon flinched. I saw his eyes dart over my shoulder, and he gasped when he saw Ryou.

"B-But..."

I let my eyes narrow. Just then, when he'd looked at Ryou...

Yami-Malik had seen it too. "Who are you?" he demanded, his voice deadly and low.

"W-What do you mean?"

"I saw approval in your eyes when you saw Ryou in such horrible condition." I growled. "Who. Are. You?"

He abandonned all maskerade then, and a smirk widened on his face. "Who, me? Just your friendly neighborhood demon."

His eyes flashed red, and I felt something gripping my hands, forcing me to let go of his collar. It then picked me up (the yelp to my left indicated it had gotten Yami-Malik too) and threw me across the room to slam into the opposite wall. The force then held me pressed against it spread-eagled, like a fly on a winsheild. Yami-Malik grunted as he "landed" next to me.

/Yami!/

The mental shout sent my eyes darting to the couch. Malik and Yugi crouched behind it, for the moment hidden from the demon. Yugi looked absolutely terrified, and his eyes pleaded with me to do something. //Stay where you are aibou, try to keep yourself unseen.//

/Are you all right Yami?/

I gulped as I saw the grinning demon, his eyes still glowing a gastly red, coming toward us. //For the moment. Stay hidden. If you get a chance, you and Malik run for it.//

I could sence Yugi's indesition. Finally he said /All right Yami./

~Malik's POV~

I watched in horror as Bakura used some sort of energy feild to pin Yami and Yami Yugi to the wall. (Remember, he refers to his own yami as simply 'Yami' and all others by their full names.)

'What does he want with them?' I thought desperately. I grabbed Yugi by the arm and pulled him behind the couch with me Bakura stalked past. Yugi had spaced out and I could tell he was having a mental conversation with his yami. I tried to contact my own, but he brushed me off, consentrating instead on the demon approaching him.

"What is it?" Yugi whispered fearfully from my side.

"I'm not sure. I think it's a demon." I said

"Then where's Bakura?"

"Remember what Yami Yugi said? He must be in the Shadow Realm. The demon probably posed as Jonathon just to get ahold of Bakura's body."

Yugi whimpered. "Would he do that to our yamis?"

I bit down on my tounge, a flutter of panic welling up in my chest. "You just had to suggest that, didn't you?"

"Well sor-rey."

I shushed him and pointed at the demon. He seemed to have suddenly forgotten our yamis and was staring at Ryou. He took a step in our direction, and Yugi and I tried to make ourselves smaller behind the couch.

Suddenly the demon's head snapped around and he stared out the door, his look turning to one of intense hatred. In two seconds flat he was across the room and out the door.

The energy feild weakened and our yamis dropped to the floor. Yami fell to his knees while Yami Yugi was able to remain upright, but just barely. Yugi and I exchanged startled looks, and then ran over to them.

"So powerful..." Yami wheezed as I helped him to his feet.

"I had no idea the Shadow Realm had gotten so strong." Yami Yugi agreed, leaning slightly on Yugi for support. "Where did it go?"

Yugi and I shrugged. "It just left." I said. "It got this real horrible look on its face and then it ran out the door."

Yami and Yami Yugi looked at each other. "Not good..." Yami Yugi said slowly. "We have to find it before it does any more damage."

"You can't!" I protested. "It was ready to kill you! It's too strong."

The two yamis looked at me and Yami put a hand on my shoulder. "Malik, you keep forgetting we have powers too. It just surprised us enough that we didn't have time to use them. Don't worry about us."

"Stay with Ryou." Yami Yugi added. "We have to find a way to help him somehow."

Yugi and I nodded mutely, watching as Yami and Yami Yugi sprinted out the door.

^Good luck and be careful.^

*Thank you. I will.*

Yugi and I returned to Ryou's side and stared fretfully at him. I wasn't any judge, but he seemed to be getting worse. There were dark patches around his eyes that I couldn't remember seeing there even just a few minutes before. And if you stared hard enough at him it was like there were shadows darting around inside of him, just under his skin. A purple mist seemed to be hovering around him as well.

I exchanged a helpless look with Yugi, who looked almost as if he was about to cry. "What can we do?" he asked in a trembling voice, taking one of Ryou's pale, lifeless hands in his.

I sighed and took the other. "I don't know Yugi. Nothing much except wait."

There was the sound of a footstep from the front door, which our yamis had left open in their haste to find the demon, and we had neglected to close. We whirled around to see a familiar blond head poking around the door frame.

"Hey Yug'," he said, taking a step inside. "I was passin' by and saw Bakura run out'a here like a bat out'a hell, and then Yami and Yami-Malik came out after 'im." he blinked. "What're you doin' here Malik? And for that matter, what're you doin' here Yug'? It's almost eight at night."

Yugi and I just stood there with our mouths open, amazed that Joey was being so... so... normal. It didn't seem quite real after what had just happened.

Apparently, Joey didn't notice our stunned silence because he was staring at Ryou's prone form. "Holy crap..."

~Bakura's POV~

Believe me on this, wandering around in the Shadow Realm is not fun. Being a yami and not actually alive, I felt no drain from the negative energies. What I did feel however, was bordum. The Shadow Realm is all dark, shadowy coridors and not much else.

I'd been walking aimlessly for about an hour when up ahead the darkness was broken by something small and white. Curious, I headed for it. A few yards away I broke into a run.

It was Ryou.

He was barely breathing.

He looked horrible.

Shadows writhed beneath his skin, giving it a slick, slimey look. More hovered around him, waiting to devour him. A purple mist surrounded him, but I pushed my way through and went down on my knees beside him. Several of the shadow-things leaped at me, tearing at my flesh and hair. One of them cut a gash across my cheek, but I grit my teeth and ignored it. Just because I'm a yami doesn't mean I can't feel pain.

Without thinking I grabbed the Millinium Ring from around his neck and threw it around my own. It began to glow and activated a golden-colored bubble that hovered about ten feet away from us on all sides. The shadow-things squealed unhappily and fled, including the ones apparently inside Ryou. I breathed a sigh of releif as his skin cleared. The sheild would protect Ryou from the effects of the Shadow Realm.

In a few minutes his color began to return and his eyes fluttered open. I stayed where I was, absolutely quiet. In his blindness he didn't yet know I was there. He sat up and pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his knees and burying his face in them.

"Ryou..."

He jumped as I spoke his name and swung his head wildly this way and that, dispite that he couldn't possibly see anything. Evidentially he then recognised my voice and relaxed somewhat. "B-Bakura? I couldn't feel you."

It took me a moment to understand what he meant. Then it hit me. I was sitting right beside him, and I couldn't sence our mental link. {Ryou...?} I tried cautiosly. Nothing. A blank wall.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"The Shadow Realm." I said. "At the moment the Ring is protecting you from it." If he noticed that I left out myself, he didn't give any indication. I swallowed and went on. "This Realm wants you Ryou. It wants you bad, and I don't know why."

()()()()()

Bakura: *idly pelting WSJ with fish sticks*

WSJ: *looses her temper* CUT IT OUT! What happened to torturing Kaiba?

Bakura: ;_; He got away! Mokuba got him out!

WSJ: -.- Ok... So what about the Ishtars?

Bakura: *eyes light up* I think they went to Weapons R Us! I'll go too! *runs off*

WSJ: *sighs* Hey Yugi?

Yugi: Hm?

WSJ: Why are you reading "Pegasus Today" magazine?

Yugi: 0_0 Er... Um...

WSJ: *exchanges a look with Ryou* Never mind. I dun' wanna know... So, how'd you like this chap? It was a lot longer then the others, but only took me about an hour and a half to write! ^_^

Chapter 7: Yami-Malik and Yami continue to chase Demon-Bakura across the city, gaining an unlikely ally as they go. Malik and Yugi attempt to explain everything to Joey, who is majorly freaked out. Ryou and Bakura are trapped in the Shadow Realm, and the protective power of the Ring seems to be weakening... Until two someones help them out... Two someones everyone but Bakura thought were dead...

God bless minna-san!