FicWad

Duel Deck

Card 37: Shadow Emerald

His foot steps echoed in the dark quiet alley as he ran for his life in the middle of the night. He turned the corner and slipped on the water that covered the streets of Domino city and continued to fall from the skies. He got up quickly and once again ran, only to find that in his haste he had turned the wrong way and was at a dead end, never better said.

He turned to face the one who had been chasing him. Ryou did not know how he got there or why was he being chased. His yami had taken control and the next thing he knew, he was there, running for his life. Who was the man that chased him? Did he chase him because of Bakura?

Ryou tried to look at the man's face, but under the black cape that completely covered him, he saw nothing but darkness. Thunder crashed lighting the alley temporarily, making the metal of the long dagger the man held shine.

Ryou held on to the Millennium Ring, expecting Bakura to take control any second and do something about this man that threatened his life for a reason unknown to Ryou. Bakura wouldn't let him get killed, he needed the vessel alive. Maybe Bakura just let him run to scare him and he was always watching, ready to take over if needed. That's what Ryou hoped.

The man came closer, pointing the dagger at Ryou's throat. The white haired boy pushed his back against the wall, as if he wanted to go through it. He truly wished he was on the side of that wall, even if he didn't know what the building behind him was, anything was better than this.

"Bakura!" Ryou tried to force Bakura out of his soul room and in control of the vessel, but nothing happened. That's when he noticed that he felt like something was missing. He had the Millennium Ring around his neck but he did not feel connected to it, as if it was just another inanimate object with nothing special or unusual, with no spirit. Ryou knew then that wherever Bakura was, he wasn't in the Millennium Ring. How he left it was unknown.

The man moved quickly and stood in front of Ryou. His footsteps, unlike Ryou's, made no sound, as if he was floating a few inches above the street. Terror took over Ryou as he tried to fight this stranger, yet he didn't escape.

xoxox xox xoxox

The first rays of sunlight reached the bloodstained alley where Ryou lay dead with a deep cut in his throat. The Millennium Ring was still around his neck. If the stranger did not take it, then what was his reason for killing Ryou?

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When Ryou did not show up in school, Yugi and his friends began to worry. Their first thought was that Bakura has something to do with it, so Yugi and Yami volunteered to go to Ryou's house and find out if Bakura didn't let him go to school.

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To Yugi's surprise, Ryou's house was unlocked but empty. In fact, the door was wide open, it was a miracle no thieves came, but then again, people around the neighborhood had learned to stay away from the boy who lived there. Ryou didn't know what Bakura did to scare everyone, but no one besides his closest friends talked to him, or even came near him. It was clear by the opened door that when Ryou, or Bakura if he was in control, left, he left in a hurry, but why and to where?

Many questions filled Yugi's mind as his worry grew. "Maybe he just went out and will return soon," Yami materialized in a separate body outside the Millennium Puzzle, trying to calm his hikari. Yugi nodded and went to sit down in the living room to wait for Ryou. After waiting for a few minutes, Yami felt a presence in the room. "Shadii?"

"Yes, my pharaoh," Shadii appeared. "I bring terrible news. A creature of darkness has escaped from the Shadow Realm. This creature is a killer; it kills the vessel and eats the memories. The souls of those who are its victims wonder endlessly in the darkest deepest part of the Shadow Realm in agony, with no idea who they where, or how they got there. I tried to stop it, but its energy is nearly impossible to track. I fear I was too late and it already took a life."

Yugi stared at Shadii, he needed to know if by this he meant Ryou, but he was also afraid to ask, as if deep down he knew the answer and didn't want to hear it. "Ryou?" Yami finally asked.

Shadii nodded, "the spirit of the Millennium Ring as well."

It was true that Bakura didn't have a vessel but it was the memories that this creature fed upon, the vessel just got in the way, so it had to kill it first. It didn't matter if Bakura didn't have memories from Ancient Egypt, he remembered what happened since the day he was awakened from the Millennium Ring and those memories were enough.

Yugi shook his head in disbelief. "No, Ryou can't be dead!"

Shadii vowed. "I apologize; I could not save him even if I tried my best. Ryou and the spirit of the Millennium Ring will eternally be in the Shadow Realm."

As it all began to sink in, tears fell from Yugi's eyes. Yami hugged him and tried to make him calm down.

"My pharaoh, the creature is still out there. I will try to capture it as soon as possible and lock it in the Shadow Realm. Unfortunately, I do not know of a way of permanently destroying it, be careful." After this warning, Shadii disappeared.

Yugi sat there crying for a while and soon it got to Yami. "Yugi please don't cry or you'll make me cry too," Yami held back tears. He never cared much for the tomb robber, but Ryou was Yugi's friend. Either way, not even the tomb robber deserved this.

Yugi looked at Yami. "We have to find that thing and destroy it!"

Yami stared wide eyed at his hikari for a few seconds. Even Shadii said he didn't know how to destroy the creature and Yugi wanted to go after it? "Let's not be hasty, I know you wish to avenge Ryou's death, but losing your own life and memories won't help."

Yugi sighed. "I know, I just want to do something about this."

Yami placed a hand on Yugi's shoulder. "We will do something about this, we'll find a way to save Ryou from the Shadow Realm and destroy this creature of darkness."

xoxox xox xoxox

A few days passed and Ryou's body was found and identified by the police. His father, who was currently in Egypt was contacted and came only for a few hours to the funeral. Everyone was there. Marik came all the way from Egypt and stayed for much longer than Mr. Bakura. Yugi felt angry at Mr. Bakura because he didn't seem to care too much about his son.

Ishizu sat in a corner quietly. She feared that this creature of darkness Yugi told her about when he called, would take even more lives and felt sad for those who were suffering, trapped in the worse parts of the Shadow Realm.

Marik, Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Tea, Mai and Duke sat next to each other in the first and second row at the funeral, crying quietly or holding back tears. Even if some had not been very close to Ryou, they felt an unexplainable sadness.

When Mokuba heard about Ryou's death, he was especially affected. Seto did not understand what happened to his little brother to make him act this way. Mokuba practically begged Seto to go to the funeral. Seto saw Mokuba so sad he didn't have the heart to refuse, so they went.

Seto sat in the back quietly, not wanting to get involved with the all the crying, even if he suddenly felt very sad also. It was as if there was something in the atmosphere that brought unexplained sadness to everyone there, even those who didn't know Ryou very well.

Mokuba at first didn't want to go inside; it was as if he was terrified to find all those sad people he knew would be there. Seto had offered to leave, but Mokuba wouldn't. He sat next to his brother crying a little loudly, but obviously doing his best to keep quiet. They stayed there until the place had to close.

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The next day was the burial and Seto was seriously worried about Mokuba, why did this affect him so much? Seto himself felt a strange kind of sadness in the atmosphere, as if everyone there inevitably felt Ryou's pain.

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After it was all over and they returned home, Mokuba looked as if he was having a hard time trying not to cry, as if something was truly bothering him beyond what happened. Seto thought that Mokuba just needed to calm down. That it was normal for a boy his age to be this upset, but he was still very worried.

Seto decided to talk to Mokuba. He knocked on the door to his little brother's room and received no answer so he just went inside and found Mokuba sitting in a corner crying again. "Mokuba what's wrong?"

Mokuba looked at Seto, debating if he should or could tell him what he knew. "Nothing big brother," Mokuba couldn't tell Seto the truth. He knew something, but he just couldn't say it for Seto's own good.

"Mokuba, please tell me. I know what happened is sad, but this is too much. What's wrong?" Seto insisted.

Mokuba felt worse. He was making his brother worry about, yet he knew he couldn't tell the truth or something terrible would happen. "I'm fine Seto," Mokuba tried to smile, but Seto knew it wasn't true.

"Don't you trust your own brother?" Seto asked.

"I do trust you Seto but I... I can't talk about this," Mokuba looked away.

"Please Mokuba, whatever it is I'll understand," Seto sat down next to Mokuba on the floor.

Mokuba just looked miserable. He was about to say something when a little bunny came running from under his bed and sat on his lap.

"Where did this come from?" Seto asked about the bunny, but Mokuba didn't answer. "Do you want to keep him?" Again there was no answer. Seto petted the bunny; it was a cute little black bunny with green eyes. "It's okay; you can keep him if you want. Where did you get him?"

Mokuba looked at the bunny then at Seto. "I found him in the yard; I don't know how he got in."

xoxox xox xoxox

The days passed by slowly and everyone was still sad about Ryou's death. They were even starting to feel sad for Bakura as well. Yugi and Yami had been searching the city for clues.

Normally, Yugi would tell his friends what was happening, but they didn't want to put any of them in danger, so Yugi and Yami went alone. The problem was that they didn't know exactly what they were looking for, but hoped that if they just continued their search, something would turn up and lead them in the right direction.

"Yami," Yugi broke the eerie silence that had been present since the sun set in Domino city.

"Do you want to go back now?" Yami inquired.

Yugi shook his head. "No, I was just wondering, do you think it's possible for Ryou to come back from the Shadow Realm if we defeat this creature?"

"Come back to life? No, his vessel is gone, but his soul isn't resting, unless there is a way to restore his vessel." After Yami answered Yugi's question, the eerie silence returned. They walked along the streets of Domino city, making sure they paid close attention to every detail around them and at the same time watching each other's backs.

They were passing in front of the Ishtar museum when they saw Ishizu waiting at the entrance, as if she knew they would come. "Good evening, please come this way." Without saying a word, expecting Ishizu to have valuable information, Yugi and Yami followed her inside the museum. "I have been studying some of the artifacts that were recently recovered from Egypt." They made their way deeper into the long dark corridors of the museum. Ishizu opened a large metal door that led to another room.

Yami and Yugi stared at the stone carving behind the glass in front of them, trying to make some sense out of it. In the stone carving, there was an oddly shaped figure, like a shadow. Its eyes were shaped as if it was angry all the time and it had long sharp looking claws. Around the carving of the monster, there were Egyptian symbols and the top part of the hieroglyphic was missing.

"Is that the creature?" Yugi pointed at the carving in the center of the stone.

"I believe so," Ishizu pointed at the Egyptian symbols. "Those are the names of the brave souls who fought this creature and came close to defeating it, but they all failed. This happened before Pharaoh Atemu was born in Ancient Egypt. The creature of darkness had been trapped in the Shadow Realm by the time Pharaoh Atemu came into existence. They trapped it because they couldn't permanently defeat it."

"There has to be a way!" Yugi wouldn't give up.

Ishizu pointed at the missing part of the stone. "The clues might have been there, but there is nothing we can do about the missing part, time itself destroyed it." They had gotten their hopes up thinking that Ishizu had figured out the answer to all their problems, but she didn't. It wasn't her fault, she did what she could and every detail counted, maybe this stone would serve as an important piece to the puzzle later. "Don't lose, the fate of the world once again depends on you."

xoxox xox xoxox

At the Kaiba Mansion, things weren't going too well. Seto knew Mokuba was hiding something and couldn't understand why. Mokuba was sad all the time and hardly said a word. Seto did all he could to cheer him up and get him to talk, but nothing worked.

Mokuba was sleeping, he said he was tired and went to bed early, too early. Seto checked on him several times and found him motionless in his bed, but not asleep, he could tell. Seto decided to try to clear his head and think of new ideas to make Mokuba feel better, while he did what a workaholic does best, it was his odd way to try to relax.

Seto was typing on his computer when the cat came into his home office. Her name was Blue Eyes White Cat, a white cat with blue eyes as the name suggests. The cat had lived with the Kaibas for a few months so Seto was very surprised when she suddenly started hissing and showing her sharp claws for no apparent reason, she never acted this way.

Blue Eyes White Cat moved her tail violently from side to side and hissed at something under the desk where Seto was sitting. Her blue eyes glowed with anger as if she was ready to attack any time.

"Blue, what's wrong?" No sooner had Seto said this, he felt something jump on his lap from under the desk. He looked down to find the black bunny looking at him with fear in his green eyes. Blue Eyes White Cat bolted towards the bunny, tackled him off Seto and pinned him firmly to the floor, about to cut his throat with her claws.

"Stop!" Seto quickly picked up the cat, the last thing Mokuba needed to hear was that his new pet bunny had been killed by their cat, who was always friendly before that.

Blue Eyes White Cat tried to get away from Seto and attack the bunny again, but he wouldn't let her go. Seto made his way out of the office, all the way to the front door and was about to put the cat in the yard, when she appeared to calm down and gave him that irresistibly cute sad look, no one could resist this cat's cuteness.

Seto placed the cat on the living room floor and petted her. "Stay here and be good." He returned to his office, but the cat followed. "Blue Eyes White Cat stay here," Seto repeated, but Blue Eyes White Cat kept following him.

They arrived at the door to his office and there was the bunny again. Seto looked at Blue Eyes White Cat, she looked tense and she was glaring at the bunny, but at least she wasn't trying to decapitate him.

Seto shook his head. "Pet rivalry," he concluded and he went to sit down again to continue working. He made sure to take a look at the two animals in the room every now and then, to make sure they weren't trying to kill each other.

xoxox xox xoxox

After they left the Ishtar museum, Yami and Yugi decided to return to the Game Shop before Salomon got too worried. Yami returned to the Millennium Puzzle as Yugi came in. "Yugi, You shouldn't be out so late with that serial killer on the loose. I was about to go look for you." Salomon locked the door as soon as Yugi was inside.

"I'm fine Grandpa, nothing's going to happen to me." Yugi was trying to tell the truth, yet it felt like a lie; he had a bad feeling that something would happen.

"Don't disappear like that without even saying you'll be late," Salomon made extra sure the door was locked.

"Okay, I'll call you when I'll be late," Yugi replied. Salomon looked at his grandson about to say something, but Yugi spoke first. "Yes, I know, you don't want me to be out late right now, but trust me, I'm not going to find any serial killers," that part really was a lie. Yugi knew that so called serial killer was actually the creature of darkness and he had to find it if he was to figure out how to permanently defeat it.

xoxox xox xoxox

After eating a late dinner, Yugi went to his room where Yami materialized outside of the Millennium Puzzle again. Yugi opened a drawer and pulled out the Millennium Ring which was returned to Ryou's father by the police. Yugi's friends had kept him busy while Yugi and Yami took Millennium Ring for safe keeping.

The Millennium Ring appeared to be getting rusty, but that was not supposed to happen since it was made of gold. It Millennium Ring, but its power was being drained out, possibly because something happened to Bakura. On the bright side, if Bakura was still somehow connected to the Millennium Ring, then there could still be hope to bring him back and through him get Ryou out of the Shadow Realm.

Yugi returned the Millennium Ring to the drawer and closed it. "What do you think is happening to Ryou and Bakura right now?"

The yami looked at his hikari. "I don't know Yugi, I really don't know," maybe it was best that he didn't know.

"Yami, that thing defeated Bakura, I'm sure he wouldn't let Ryou get hurt too badly if only for the vessel, do you think we can beat it?" Yugi wanted an honest answer, but at the same time he wanted to be reassured that everything would be okay.

"We will defeat that thing permanently. Bakura did not work with his hikari. We will work together and destroy that monster once and for all. No one will ever hurt our friends again," Yami assured.

The next few hours in the Game Shop were spent planning what areas to search the next day. Then Yami retuned to the Millennium Puzzle and Yugi went to sleep.

xoxox xox xoxox

The next day, Yugi was ready to search the city again. He was thankful summer vacation had started so he didn't have to worry about going to school. When he went downstairs, he found Joey waiting. Needless to say, Yugi was surprised that Joey was up so early during summer vacation and couldn't help but wonder what caused it. "Hey Joey, what are you doing here so early?"

"I know what you and Yami have been doing, Yug," Joey revealed. "How could you go without telling anyone?"

"I'm sorry Joey, I just didn't want any of you to be in danger. The others don't know about this, do they?" Yugi hoped that they didn't. He had to continue his search and he knew Joey would want to come along. It was already bad enough that his best friend would be in danger, he didn't want to get anyone else involved.

"They don't know," Joey confirmed. "I know you don't want anything bad to happen, but you have to trust us."

"I know, but please don't tell anyone," Yugi requested.

Joey felt obliged to agree. "Fine, I won't tell the others, but you have to let me help."

"Alright," Yugi didn't have a choice, now that he knew, Joey would come anyway. "Let's have some breakfast and start searching right away."

"Yeah, I'm starving," Joey's stomach growled. "I left so early to catch you before you ran off, that I didn't even eat this morning."

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At the Kaiba Mansion, Mokuba had woken he wasn't getting a lot of sleep lately. The little black bunny hopped to a corner of his bed and sat there glaring at Mokuba. "What do you want now?"

"Your little friend the cat is starting to get in my way." A voice echoed in Mokuba's mind.

"Blue Eyes White Cat? Don't hurt her!" Mokuba had seen this monster in its true form and knew what he could do.

"Keep her out of my away," the voice warned.

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Yugi, Yami and Joey had split up to search. They've heard on TV that there were more victims all around Domino city and the police kept blaming it on a serial killer. They didn't know it was a shadow creature, but what good would it be even if they did, it's not like regular police could stop it. They didn't find anything; the creature didn't come out during the day.

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Yugi and Yami had agreed with Joey to search for clues again the next day, but snuck out late that night without anyone knowing. It was the only way to find that creature.

"Did you hear that?" Yami asked, as they walked into a lonely dark alley.

"Probably just a cat or something," Yugi observed the atmosphere, it was very eerie and dark. The moon was gone that night and there were hardly any stars, their only light came from the flashlights they carried.

"I'm sure I heard something," Yami looked around.

Yugi noticed something behind Yami heading their way. "Yami, over there!" He pointed the flashlight at it. There was someone or something there, as big as a man, but his footsteps could not be heard and he was holding a long sharp dagger.

"I hear them," Yami voiced. "I hear them calling for help, they're linked to that creature. Yugi, that's it, that's the shadow creature!"

"Yami, we found him. What should we do?" Yugi asked.

"What we planned to do," Yami returned to the Millennium Puzzle and spoke to Yugi on their mind link. "We'll duel him together and save those people, including Ryou and Bakura, there might still be hope!"

"Right!" Yugi placed his deck on the duel disk. "I challenge you to a duel!" He pointed at the creature.

"I don't duel," a voice echoed in his mind.

Yugi stared wide eyed at the creature. He didn't duel? But so far everything was solved in a duel. "Yami, now what?"

They weren't prepared for this. Yami mentally kicked himself, how could they not have a plan B? "Run Yugi, run fast!"

Yugi ran, he ran as fast as he could, but the creature was right behind him, until Yugi found himself at a dead end. "Yami, we're trapped!"

Yami came out of the Millennium Puzzle. "I'm sorry, I thought a duel would work, it always works."

The creature approached slowly, as if it was confident that this battle was won. "Meow!" There was a cat behind it.

"Foolish Earth creature!" The shadow monster took off the cape to reveal its appearance as a shadow. It was as Yami and Yugi had seen at the ancient carvings at the Ishtar Museum. "Are you always protecting your human friends? Not anymore!" He had the perfect shelter during the day when he had to stay in his animal form and avoid the sun, that cat wasn't going to ruin it.

The cat hissed as jumped on the. The creature quickly flew out of the way so that cat was now standing in front of Yami and Yugi. "Shadow Emerald, I've defeated you before and I will defeat you again!"

"Yami, did that cat just talk?" Yugi was shocked.

"I don't think that's an ordinary cat," Yami was surprised as well.

Shadow Emerald glared t the cat. "Light Sapphire!"

"Good bye!" The cat jumped on him and in a flash of light, they both disappeared.

xoxox xox xoxox

Confused but relieved, Yugi and Yami returned home. They would visit the Ishtar Museum the next day and maybe Ishizu would have an explanation for this. When they arrived at the Game Shopm they found none other than Ryou waiting in Yugi's room.

"I'm back," Ryou wore the Millennium Ring around his neck. "Bakura's here too."

"What happened?" Yugi asked.

"We were released and the Millennium Ring materialized me in your room," Ryou explained, the Millennium Ring was golden again. "This means you destroyed the shadow creature?"

"Actually, a cat destroyed it," Yami told the story about what happened.

xoxox xox xoxox

The next day they told Ishizu what happened. "That cat must be one of the guardians of light. I thought they stopped existing a long time ago."

"What did the cat look like?" Marik asked.

"She was white with blue eyes and really cute," Yugi replied.

"No way, it couldn't be..." Marik was surprised. "My cat has a crush on a cat just like that, but she's Kaiba's cat."

xoxox xox xoxox

They headed to the Kaiba Mansion, where they found Mokuba and Seto with the same cat they saw and told them what happened.

It turns out Mokuba knew all along about the shadow creature, but didn't tell anyone so he wouldn't endanger Seto. "Do you really think it was Blue Eyes White Cat? That her name is really Sapphire and she's a guardian?" Mokuba was very relieved that the creature was finally gone.

"I'm sure it was her, where did you get that cat, anyway?" Yugi asked.

"She was a gift from a fan girl," Seto recalled.

"What does that mean?" Yugi wondered.

"I don't know," Yami admitted. Who knows how that girl found the cat; it could have all been a coincidence or the work of destiny.

"At least everything's okay now and Ryou's safe," Yugi smiled. With the shadow creature gone and a guardian living at the Kaiba Mansion, things went back to normal. The moral of the story is: not everything can be solved with a duel.

End of Card 37

xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox

Card 38: Shattered

Ryou was sitting in a corner as if he were in a trance. "Ryou!" He didn't reply and Millennium Ring glowed as Bakura entered his vessel, then Ryou's Soul Room. "Ryou? Be careful, don't drop that!"

"Every item in my soul room represents a part of who I am, so if I have the will to change, I can break this item and change my life. It's a small glass figure of me as an angel. Such a perfect kind of clear glass does not exist in the real world. Such a beautiful piece of work cannot be created by the most skilled artist, it can only come from the heart .If I break this item..." Ryou threw the glass on the floor and it shattered. His expression darkened, his kindness and compassion were gone. "Spirit of the Millennium Ring, you're the one who pushed me into this and you will pay!"

xoxox xox xoxox

"Bakura... Bakura... Hey, Bakura wake up!" Ryou's voice was as innocent and angelic as ever.

"What happened?" Bakura woke up.

"You looked like you where having a nightmare, but you wouldn't wake up, I was worried," Ryou replied.

'So it was all a nightmare? What a relief, it's not too late.' Bakura looked at his hikari. "Ryou, I'm sorry, for everything."

Ryou hugged him. "It's okay Bakura, I'm not angry at you."

Bakura felt a rare kind of peace as he listened to his light's words. His glass angel was safe, he might look fragile, but he was truly strong.

End of Card 38

xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox

Card 39: Diaries

The brown haired girl ran as fast as she could, holding the reason of her misery in her arms. Who would have thought that the little pink book she carried was the cause of her sorrows. Ignoring the fact that it was a cold lonely night and she shouldn't be there so late, especially since she had a dancing audition the next day, Tea ran to the Domino city park and let her self fall into a sitting position under a tree resting her back on it. She opened the small pink book, her diary, and read from a page in the middle.

"Dear Diary: Writing approximately three entries per week, I think I will reach this page in about five months. By that time I would have earned at least one role in a musical or something and if I have not accomplished that by then, I'll quit dancing. It's not like I can show up in a dance school in New York without some experience, I need to have the resume of a star! Love, Tea"

As she opened her diary to write about her thoughts and emotions, instead of finding a blank page, she found that message. She hasn't had a lot of time to write in her diary so it has been seven months instead of five and she still hasn't earned a role in anything. The truth was she had not gone to many auditions, but those that she had gone to didn't choose her, thinking she was just some inexperienced kid pretending to be a star. Well how was she supposed to gain experience if she was never given the chance in a minor role?

"Am I just pretending I can do this? Maybe I should quit." It wasn't just a simple message written in a book, it was the realization that she wasn't moving forward. What would she do after she finished school? Would she really be able to make a living from dancing? "Send me a sign!" Tea looked up at the star filled skies.

Some movement in the near by bushes pushed her thoughts away and she became alert. She quickly got up, holding her diary as if she was ready to hit someone with it. She shouldn't have come to the park, it was so lonely, cold, quiet and dark, there could be a thief or something hiding here. The person in the bushes finally made his way out. It wasn't clear who he was due to the darkness, so Tea threw her diary at the stranger, hitting him flat on the face and ran away, only to trip after getting a mere few feet away over a tree's over sized roots, which were sticking out of the ground.

Tea quickly got up to run away again, but the stranger grabbed her arm. "Let me go! Ow!" She rubbed her head where he had hit her with her own diary.

"Stupid girl, throwing your stupid book, you don't like it when you're in the receiving end, do you?" Bakura threw the diary into her hands and walked away to sit down under the tree where she had been sitting before. Tea just stood there for a few seconds, staring at him confused, until he looked up with a glare. "Weren't you leaving?"

"You don't own the park!" Tea returned the glare. "What are you doing here?"

"I should ask you the same question, but I'm not as nosy." Bakura looked away.

"Speaking of noses, how is yours?" Tea leaning over to see his nose.

"My nose is fine, stupid girl!" Bakura hissed.

Tea didn't know why, but suddenly felt so curious about him. "I know you're not Ryou, you're the spirit of the Millennium Ring."

"Not that I'm pretending to be Ryou." Bakura was clearly annoyed by Tea presence and was sending a clear 'go away' message, but she decided to ignore it. She spotted a black book on his lap and wondered what it could be. The book had no title; it looked more like one of those books with blank pages for people to write on, like a diary. She sighted remembering why she had ran to the park in the first place. "Weren't you leaving?" He asked again.

"I'll leave if you tell me what that is," Tea pointed to the black book on his lap.

Bakura held the book against his chest protectively, as if he was afraid she would try to take it and run away with it. "It's none of your business! Go away before I kill you!"

"I know you won't kill me Bakura, I know for a fact that you are not as bad as you used to be, but it looks like you still have a lot to learn." Tea turned to leave, but Bakura stopped her.

"What did he tell you?" Bakura demanded to know, he grabbed her arm. "Tell me what Ryou told you!"

"Let go," Tea tried to break free. "Bakura, it hurts, let go!"

Bakura let her go, but his glare alone warned her not to try to run off without answering his question. "I need to know what Ryou said."

Knowing what Ryou had said appeared to be very important to Bakura so Tea decided to tell him. She walked over to the tree again and sat down, sensing that this conversation would be longer than expected. Bakura sat down as well, waiting impatiently for the information he wanted to hear. "He said that even if sometimes you're a little mean to him, he knows you've been trying to be nicer. He said you changed for the better and that he appreciates it very much," Tea revealed.

"But we're still not as close and trusting as the pharaoh and his hikari. Did Ryou mention them?" Bakura didn't look at her, instead looking at the black book he held.

"No, he didn't say anything about Yugi or Yami." Tea couldn't help it but to stare at the black book curiously.

"You really want to know what it is..." Bakura opened it on a certain page. "Turn the page and you're dead, read only from where it's open."

Tea received the book and read. "By the time I get to this page Ryou and I will be like the pharaoh and his hikari. I started writing this thing after I decided to try and start over and be nicer to Ryou. I know he'll forgive me, he already has, but I won't feel like I've earned his forgiveness until I earn his trust." Tea looked thoughtful for a moment then gave Bakura her own diary, "read this page."

Bakura read it, "so we both set certain dates for something and then the date came and it hasn't happened, it's just a coincidence." He handing her diary back and took his own.

"Maybe it is just a coincidence, but you know what? Ryou thinks of you a lot, he wishes to include you more when all of us go out as a group, but you never want to come. Why is that?" Tea asked.

"I don't go where I'm not wanted," Bakura replied.

"It's not like that. Everyone is willing to welcome you if you came. Next time we do something together, why don't you come along? I'm sure Ryou will invite you, why not accept his invitation next time? You shouldn't be so upset, you're a lot closer to your goal than you think. Just look at you, we've been talking here for a while and I'm not in the Shadow Realm yet, that's definitely a good sign." Tea sounded more cheerful now.

"Yet? So you really are expecting me to send you to the Shadow Realm some time in the near future?" Bakura grinned. "If that's the case, I wouldn't mind at all."

Tea shook her head nervously, "that's not what I meant!"

Bakura got up to leave. "It's late, I think I heard Ryou mention something about you having an audition. He also said he the pharaoh and his friends where going to Kaiba Land on Saturday."

"Are you going?" Tea inquired.

"Maybe," Bakura walked away.

"I'll see you then Bakura," Tea waved goodbye and began to walk home. The spirit of the Millennium Ring, a tomb robber from Ancient Egypt, he had changed so much. All this time Ryou had not given up on him. Tea smiled, she wouldn't give up either. She looked up at the star filled skies again, "I guess I got my sign, thanks."

End of Card 39

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Card 40: Haunted Hotel

One day just like that, three duelists got an invitation for a Duel Monsters tournament. The host of the tournament was said to be an anonymous millionaire who wished to know who truly was the best duelist; Yugi Moto, Seto Kaiba or Maximillion Pegasus. The three were to stay in a hotel the night of October 31 and the duels would take place the next day. Pegasus came alone, Seto brought Mokuba because, well here's a flash back:

Mokuba had heard that Seto was going to be in a Duel Monsters tournament and wasn't going to take him along so he asked him to take him, when Seto was in the middle of a very important business meeting. Mokuba ran into the room where Seto was in the middle of his business speech.

"Seto! Seto! I want go with you to the Duel Monsters tournament!" Everyone looked at Mokuba who was making a 'look at me, I'm cute!' face that made him look exactly like princess Adina from Seto's video game. The room was filled with important executives and it would be great for Kaiba Corp. if Seto could get a business deal with them. After staring at Mokuba for a few seconds, soon all eyes were on Seto waiting for his answer. For a second the CEO of Kaiba Corp. looked like he was ready to throw Mokuba out, but then he noticed that everyone was looking at him and knowing he had to keep up the 'nice image' he faked an 'I love my little brother' face and told Mokuba he could go. This was actually a good thing for Kaiba Corp. because the so called serious and cold executives thought it was too cute and Seto got the deal.

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Back to the present time, Yugi invited all his friends, Joey, Ryou, Tea, Tristan and even Mai came. When they arrived, it looked like the hotel was in the process of being remodeled, there was paint, materials and ladders everywhere. But the strange thing was that there were no people save for them. Finally, they found the hotel's owner who was just leaving. "Wait! Where are you going?" Yugi asked.

"I'm getting out of here. This hotel may be good all year round, but not on this day!" The owner said.

"Why is that?" Tristan asked.

"Because on the night of October 31 a ghost comes!" The owner replied.

"Can we go home now?" Mokuba hid behind Seto or more precisely under his antigravity coat.

"No, besides, there's no such a thing as ghosts!" Seto then went on a speech about how all that stuff about ghosts, spirits and millennium items was just a fairy tale.

"You will find out for yourselves. The keys to the rooms are in my office I left the door open, if you're hungry the kitchen's all yours," owner of the hotel informed.

"What about room service?" Pegasus half asked, half complained.

"Nobody else but you is staying," the owner looked at them as if they were crazy.

"Some hotel!" Joey complained.

"This is no way to treat your guests!" Mai agreed.

"Tell that to the ghost!" The hotel's owner left and the duelists and their friends and enemies were alone in the hotel.

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Later that day, they got hungry and tried to get some food from the kitchen. As it is to be expected they made a big mess. Joey was cooking things that are not supposed to be cooked. Tea gave everyone a speech about eating healthy food. Mokuba ate all the sweets he could find. Tristan burned everything he tried to cook and Mai complained about what bad cooks everyone was.

Ryou made a sandwich and it disappeared. Pegasus run off with Ryou's sandwich but tripped over Mokuba and the sandwich fell on the floor. Mokuba started crying like a baby just to see what Seto would do. Seto punched Pegasus and left him knocked out on the kitchen floor for the next few hours. He needed an excuse to punch Pegasus anyway.

Tea stepped on what was left of the sandwich, slipped and twisted her ankle. Yugi offered to carry her to her room, but said he couldn't lift her, so he dragged her instead. Needless to say she was a lot better before Yugi dragged her up the stairs.

Mai laughed at Joey's cooking and Joey got angry and yelled at her, saying that her cooking was probably worse. This upset Mai and she slapped Joey on the face. A few minutes later Mai felt guilty and hugged Joey out of no where. He was surprised when she suddenly hugged him for no apparent reason and spent the next ten minutes trying to figure out why she did, before giving up and coming to the conclusion that is must be a 'girl thing' that he didn't understand.

Ryou made another sandwich, which was stolen this time by Tristan. Bakura got angry that his hikari's food was being stolen and made Tristan eat the stuff that Joey cooked. Soon after, Tristan left the kitchen with a killer stomachache.

Ryou made himself another sandwich, but Joey kept looking at him with sad puppy eyes so he let him have it. Mokuba tried getting the next sandwich Ryou made in the same way, but Bakura just yelled at him. Seto didn't do anything this time because Mokuba was being a spoiled brat anyway.

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The craziness went on until it was time to go to sleep. Pegasus woke up and dragged himself to his room. Tea couldn't get out of bed because her foot, and the rest of her body, hurt. Joey sat on his bed awake listening to the sounds of his stomach because he was still hungry. Tristan was still agonizing. Mokuba was staying with Seto because he was scared and kept jumping on Seto's bed keeping his big brother awake. Ryou was already asleep and Yugi was also asleep.

Mai was trying on a new white dress. She wanted to have a snack before going to bed so she decided to go to the kitchen. As she opened the door to her room, suddenly the lights went out due to the electric storm outside. Mai was frightened and almost screamed, but she soon realized it was nothing but a problem with the electric system. Those hotels had back up generators, so why weren't the lights coming back on? Mai assumed it was because the workers remodeling the hotel might have accidentally damaged a connection somewhere. She was going to get her snack anyway so she started walking to the hotel's kitchen.

After taking a few steps in the darkness, Mai tripped on a ladder that was on the way. On top of it, there was a bucket of white paint, which fell on Mai's head. Mai got up, took the bucket off her head hoping that no one had seen her and ran back to what she thought was her room, but it wasn't. She tripped on a chair and the noise woke up the other duelist in that room, Maximillion Pegasus.

"Do I see what I think I see?" Mai was covered in white paint so it was hard to tell it was her, especially in the dark. All that Pegasus saw was a blonde woman all in white. "Cecelia!" Pegasus started chasing Mai, thinking she was Cecelia's ghost. Of course, Mai ran as fast as she could, yelling she wasn't Cecelia, but Pegasus didn't listen and kept chasing her.

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Mokuba heard some noises and thought it was a ghost and Seto went to check it out, just so Mokuba would quit whining. The minute he stepped outside of his room, a random fan girl hugged him and he yelled at the top of his lugs from the scare he got from the sudden glomp. Mokuba heard Seto and thought that the ghost had captured his big brother so he hid under the bed.

Mai ran by with Pegasus still chasing her. "Cecelia! Come back, my love!"

"Ghost!" Seto yelled, then he gave a speech about how it must have bee a trick.

"That's a nice speech Seto, it's so interesting," though the fan girl said this she son fell asleep while hugging Seto.

"Hey girl, wake up! Let me go! Oh, great now I'm stuck and I didn't bring my security staff." Seto tried to get her off, but she had a strong grip even asleep.

"Plushie," she muttered in her sleep.

Seto's troubles weren't over; another girl walked by and squealed when she saw him. "Seto, my one true love, it is I, the great Mary Sue!" With an expression of pure terror, Seto started to run for his life giving the fan girl a piggy back ride because he couldn't get her off, one Mary Sue was much worse than a million fan girls anyway.

Mai ran into Joey's room who thought she was a ghost and started screaming. Tristan, who was feeling better, came to the rescue, but also got scared. All the noise woke up everyone and they went to find out what was going on. After yelling and running around for about twenty five minutes, they realized the ghost was really Mai. Tea's foot started hurting again but she said she'd get to her room alone, because she didn't like being dragged on the floor.

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The next day, there was no Duel Monsters tournament. It turns out it was all a joke to see if the top duelists were brave enough to spend the night of October 31 in that supposedly haunted hotel. No one ever found out who made the joke and maybe it was best this way, because if they found out, the one responsible for it would be in big trouble.

End of Card 40

Disclaimer, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!