Light Amongst Shadows Part 7

Low, vindictively pleased laughter caught her attention. She wheeled around and glowered at the group of robed figures who had appeared out of nowhere.

“Well, well, well.” The leader, who she could only pick out because of the ornate markings on his robes and the fact the body language of the other goons seemed to turn to him, “I intended only to split up your little group and leave the light undefended.” With a gesture his mooks spread out to circle Oneesan. “I didn’t expect to find one of those.”

When he gestured to the Puzzle Oneesan’s hand covered the front of it protectively. “The Puzzle’s mine.” She snarled, “You can’t have it.”

“I suppose with everything it takes to make the blasted things, I can understand you not wanting to hand it over.” The leader snorted, “But you see, I can’t let you keep it.”

“Dark Magician!” The spirit of the Puzzle snapped, not needing any more words. The Spellcaster type monster knew what she wanted, launching an attack on the goons in order to clear a pathway out.

It didn’t work, the Dark Magic Attack bounced off of a mirror like shield that rose to protect the goons and struck both the Dark Magician and Oneesan. The Spellcaster shattered with a screech, while Oneesan was sent flying by the blast, crashing into another mirror like wall before slamming into the ground, her head smacking the ground so hard that she blacked out.

With Oneesan unconscious, Yugi had no choice but to take control of a pain riddled, concussed body. Her mind could not function properly as she tried to make herself get to her feet to face the leader, who was approaching. Even thinking in full sentences was a huge problem.

“I...I’ll never...” Yugi forced out as she managed to stand up, pushing back at the Shadows, who with Oneesan’s loss of consciousness were trying to dig their claws into her, “Let you have... my Puzzle.”

“You honestly think you can fight me in that state?” The leader sounded like he was smirking.

He knew she was beaten, Yugi could hear it in his tone and if Yugi was honest with herself, she did not stand a chance of winning in a fight or a game right now. But she had to try. That was all there was to it. She could not and would not just let them take Oneesan away from her. “It’s mine...you can’t...ack!”

Yugi’s attempt to stand up to him came to an abrupt halt as the man slapped her hard enough to send her tumbling to the ground, her ears ringing and stars dancing in her vision.

“You don’t seem the type,” The leader said as he examined her, amused by the fact she still glowered at him even though pain was etched in every inch of her body language, her eyes didn’t focus properly and she looked more like a hissing kitten than a viable threat, “To do what needs to be done. Not to get one of those.” He gestured to the Puzzle, causing Yugi, whose ears were still ringing, to cling to the item, “Who did your killing for you?”

“Wh...What?” Yugi gasped out, not understanding the question.

“To create a Shadow Set, you need to sacrifice human lives. That’s why we’re doing what we’re doing.” He explained, “But you’re light, you don’t have the darkness within you to do what it would have taken to create that item you wear.” He smirked as realisation and horror, along with a healthy dose of disgust settled in, “Oh? You didn’t know?”

“N...No...” Yugi stammered, staring at the golden object that was now cradled in her hands. She did not want to believe his words. If it was true, had Oneesan been the one who had committed the same massacre that these men now wanted to commit? She did not want to believe it of her other self, not of the brave and proud Pharaoh who shared her mind, but was it true?

“Don’t worry.” The leader sounded highly amused, “You won’t have to worry about it much longer.”

“Wha...?” Yugi did not get to finish her question before something hit her from behind and yet more pain rushed through her causing her to scream in agony.

Then everything went black.

Light Amongst Shadows Part 6

The gang shot after it. Whoever had summoned it had not wanted the young man to talk to them, and he had been willing to remove the goon from the situation. If they wanted to understand what hell was going on they needed to find a new lead. Chasing the creature to its’ summoner was their only chance.

It was not easy, the half summoned creature flitted in and out of the shadows cast by the odd overbearing gloom, which was becoming more and more obvious even to Jou and the others, who still could not see the Shadows that had swarmed the city. They finally lost the creature as they reached the clock tower fountain in the city centre, causing Jou to start cussing.

Yugi emerged cautiously from the safety of her soul room, glancing around the area as she took her place at Oneesan’s side. “Anesan?”  She asked, confusion obvious on her features, “How could I have stopped their spell? I didn’t do anything.”

Oneesan turned to look at her little sister. She was not sure what the young man had meant either. All she knew was that Imoto-chan’s light was somehow a threat to whatever they had planned. “I don’t know.” She spoke aloud without thinking, causing the others to turn to look, “But considering they want to wipe out Domino, we have to work it out so you can do it again.”

“Yuge?” Jou asked, squinting at the point Oneesan was looking at, “You’re talking to Yuge, right?” He asked the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle. When Oneesan nodded in reply, he waved to the spot just to the left of where Yugi was stood, making the worried girl giggle.

“So you two don’t know how Yuge stopped whatever they were trying to do either?” Honda asked, looking a little irritated.

Oneesan opened her mouth, paused and switched with Yugi in a flash of light from the Puzzle.

“I don’t know what he meant.” Yugi replied, mentally grimacing slightly as she felt the Shadows tug on her, even with the wards up on her mind and the fact the light of her soul burned away the weakest wisps before they could reach her. “I didn’t do anything when the spell struck so I don’t think it could have been me who stopped their spell.”

“But you’re the only soul of pure light in Domino.” Jou scowled, “So who...”

“No I’m not.” Yugi shook her head, realisation striking, “Where was Bakura?”

“Bakura? The Thief?” Honda didn’t understand.

“No, not the thief. Bakura no Imoto.” Yugi tried, “The other half of the Thief. Our friend.”

The others paused to think. “She wasn’t in class.” Anzu said finally, “She’d gone to the nurse’s office sick, remember?”

Yugi noded. Bakura often tried to go off sick before P.E. so she was not surprised to be reminded of that.

“So what, you think Bakura’s the one who stopped the last wave?” Honda frowned, still wondering how she had managed that if she had.

“I’m not sure.” Yugi admitted, “It could be but just because he said it was a source of light that interrupted their spell, doesn’t mean it was us. We were both in school, we didn’t know that wave was coming. Something else must have interfered and I’m getting the blame for it.”

“Hey, there’s one good thing about this whole mess.” Jou tried to brighten up the mood, “While they’re trying focused on wiping us out, they’re not nuking Domino.”

The Dark Magician, who was still nearby, moved closer to Yugi as the Shadows swirled around the feet of the group members. The girl glanced at him in confusion but did not have a chance to say a word before the Shadows at their feet suddenly turned into whirling pools of darkness beneath them. The Dark Magician, who was hovering rather than standing, managed to snatch Yugi up and away, but the other three fell into the maelstrom below.

“Jou! Anzu! Honda!” Yugi squirmed in the Dark Magician’s arms, trying to reach her friends as they let out a collective yelp and vanished beneath the surface of their individual pools. She could not escape the protective grasp of her summoned creature though and he refused to let her down until the puddles had vanished from the floor, taking her friends with them and leaving Yugi alone in the Shadows.

“Jou!” Yugi fell to her hands and knees in shock, “Anzu! Honda!”

Rage coursed through the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle. She seized control of the body, shooting to her feet and bellowing up into the Shadowlaiden skies. “Bring! Them! Back!”

There was no answer from the powers that encircled the city, no clue of where the darkness had sent their friends. No way to tell if they were still within the city’s limits or whether they had been dragged deeper into the Shadows.

Light Amongst Shadows Part 5

Anzu was the first to react when a figure in the robe moved around the corner, accompanied by a beast of some kind and a ball of black energy that seemed to be pulsing rapidly. It kind of looked like a panther, but walking on its hind legs. If you squinted at it hard enough it could even be mistaken for a Panther Warrior. Not that it was properly formed. It seemed half summoned, like it was more a shade than a real creature.

“Who’re you?” Anzu asked as she instinctively stepped back till she was at Oneesan’s side, well aware that being next to the spirit of the Puzzle was either the best or worst move you could make in a situation involving magic.

The figure ignored her, they couldn’t see his face but somehow it was obvious who his attention was on as the black ball darted over to Oneesan and hovered at her shoulder until she batted it away.

“My friend asked you a question.” Oneesan spoke, warily but subtly watching the creature with him and reaching for her deck as she mentally grimaced at the oily feeling the ball of black energy had left behind on her skin.

“You?” The figure asked, it’s head moving up and down as if looking her over, “You’re what screwed up our spell?”

Confusion coursed through the group. Oneesan had done nothing magical when the wave had hit, so she couldn’t have been the one screwing up whatever they had tried to cast.

“What if I was?” Oneesan asked, the Millennium Puzzle glowing, the Shadows around them surprisingly willing to let her use them to obliterate this man. Not that she intended to go that far but she could not help but wonder what the man had done to tick them off this badly.

Before Oneesan had an inkling of what was about to happen, the panther like creature burst into action, going to attack her. Jou managed to get between it and her, blocking the assault with a pipe he had picked up from the ground.

“That wasn’t very nice.” Jou scolded the robed goon, even as he strained against the shadowy blade of the creature.

“Move aside.” The man growled at him, “I need to remove the light from the equation.”

Anzu heard Oneesan let out a low growl at those words but it took her a moment to realise that that meant he was not actually aiming to erase Oneesan. Instead the target of his actions was Yugi.

Jou planted himself more firmly. There was no way he was going to let the guy harm his girlfriend, especially not the lighter half of the equation. It was not going to happen. Not if he could help it.

“Excuse me.” Oneesan spoke, her tone dark and every movement sharp. Jou noted the fact and when the creature he’d blocked moved back, sensing the Shadows swirling around the pissed off Pharaoh, he swiftly got out of the way. There was nothing on this world as terrifying as a fully souped up Oneesan when Yugi was in danger and he was not stupid enough to get in her way.

If this moron wanted to ‘remove’ Yugi, Oneesan would destroy him. It was really that simple and he couldn’t bring himself to argue considering the circumstances.

Honda, shockingly was the one who moved before Oneesan could take control of the Shadows reacting to her anger and set her game in motion. Instead, while the creature’s attention was focus on the spirit of the Puzzle, he took advantage of the distraction to punch the guy so hard he went sprawling.

With his concentration shot, his conjuring dispersed and the creature vanished, leaving him all alone with four highly irritable teens.

“Honda.” Oneesan snapped, annoyed at being interrupted even as she found the idea of the guy being whacked satisfying, “He’s mine.”

“No. Not really.” Honda shook his head, “You’re not supposed to be wasting magic and we can get him to talk without burning energy you don’t have.” He dragged the mook up by the collar, the hood falling as he did so. With the cloth gone, they found the threat was an angry looking young man with odd tattoos down one side of his face.

For a moment Oneesan thought he might be from a Tomb Keeper tribe, she did have Marik and Odeon as examples after all. However the markings were not Egyptian in nature and if she was correct, the tattoos looked like they were henna, not permanent. She could not help but wonder if the mark was the reason he was still awake and able to burn magic without risk.

“I’m not telling you nothing.” The mook snarked, still glowering at Honda while trying to pull the teen’s hand away from his robes.

“Oh good. If you’re not telling us nothing, you must be telling us something.” Anzu grinned, a look that only widened when he looked confused by that logic.

“I’m not telling you anything.” The robed youngster corrected himself when he got what she was getting at, “No way, no...” Oneesan felt the Shadows shift but before she could react, the kid had summoned another Shadowy creature and Honda had had to leap away, “How!”

The second creature attacked, forcing Oneesan to call upon her deck to defend herself. The Dark Magician was more than willing to answer her call, blasting the creature into smithereens before threatening the youth.

“I don’t suggest you tick him off any further.” She spoke, noting the overly arrogant look on the young man’s face had been replaced by a wary, nervous smile. “He doesn’t like it when people threaten me.”

“Sure, keep burning magic.” The young man shrugged, “You can’t keep summoning forever.”

He had a point, pulling a seven star monster out of her hat without even actually drawing his card had drawn from reserves she was really not supposed to be using. However she refused to let him see the fatigue that was settling in even as Jou shifted to let her lean on him if she needed it.

“Just tell us what’s going on already.” Jou growled, bored of playing with the mook and just wanting to move on.

“It won’t matter even if I tell you. Soon this entire city’ll be gone and we’ll be the owners of seven shiny new trinkets.” The youth gloated, “All we need to do to finish our plans is erase what’s stopping our spell from working.” He glowered at Oneesan, who easily outdid him in the ‘death glare’ department at the threat to her Imoto-chan.

“Well since we’re not going to let you do that,” Honda growled, “How about we get some real answers?”

“How about fu...” The young man did not get to finish his sentence as something burst from the Shadows and struck him in the back. The mook let out an agonised scream as a new centaur like creature’s blade tore through him, only for silence to fall as he did. The new monster didn’t stick around, taking one look at the Dark Magician before legging it.

Light Amongst Shadows Part 4

“So what’s the card supposed to do?” Honda asked, “Besides make everything wet.”

“I’m hoping,” Oneesan replied as the four of them ducked for cover under a nearby bus shelter, “That even if it can’t wake everyone up, the rain can control some of the fires. Plus ‘Rain of Mercy’ is a lifepoint recovery card. So it might heal a few of the people hurt by the wave.”

“Nice.” Jou grinned, “And while it’s healing people we can focus on smashing the bad guys.”

“Okay, small issue.” Honda scowled, “Where are the bad guys?”

“I don’t know.” Oneesan reluctantly admitted, “And I’ve lost Bakura.”

“You’re kidding me.” Oneesan scowled at Jou’s deadpan tone, “So we’ve got nowhere to start, nowhere to go AND we’ve lost track of the tracker?”

“I have some idea of where to start.” The spirit of the Millennium Puzzle shook her head. “If we head further in, where the Shadows are thicker, we’ll probably find the centre of this whole mess.”

When the gang decided that made sense, they started heading further into the centre of Domino. It was just as bad further in, worse in fact, due to the crowding. They could feel the Shadows crowding as they moved amongst the sleeping masses though as they went. None of them liked the feeling and Honda distinctly missed the days before he had been exposed to the Shadows often enough to know what they felt like.

Oneesan was the most on edge. She hated the Shadows passionately. Though she drew most of her power from them, she still remembered her time trapped within them and they took every opportunity they could to try and drain Imoto-chan’s energy. Even now, with the wards she had up to protect her little sister she could feel the Shadows just waiting. Looking for a gap in their defences took take advantage of in order to draw from the purest source of light available.

She could feel Imoto-chan’s reassurance even as she could sense her apprehension. Her little sister did not like the Shadows anymore than Oneesan did, but both girls could see their uses and Imoto-chan was as convinced as always that Oneesan could get them out of this, safe and sound. Whatever ‘this’ was.

Oneesan just wished she knew what she was leading her friends into. There had been no warning at all before that wave had hit, no signs of what had been afoot before it had already struck. The last time someone had attacked them before they’d had any warning, the last few times in fact, things had nearly ended very badly for all of them.

Still she had the advantage, at least for the moment. She could feel that even as the Shadows deepened, her powers were stronger than those of whoever was controlling this fiasco. The darkness had swarmed the city but it was the upper levels of the realm, what she referred to as level one, where they wanted to feed on Imoto-chan’s light, but if exposed to it they would burn away quickly.

As far as she was aware, the only way to control the deeper levels was with a Millennium Item and she knew where almost all of those were. But then she had thought that about the upper layers too, and obviously she had been wrong about that.

“Bakura knew something.” Anzu grouched as they got lost in the alleys close to the city centre, not that far from the former site of the Black Star Game Shop, “Why couldn’t she just give us a straight answer?”

“Because she never gives us a straight answer.” Jou replied, just as irritated with this wild goose chase as the rest of them, “She never seems to lie to us, not anymore anyway, but she never gives us any real answers either. We always end up having to work out the full truth for ourselves.”

“She seemed to want us to stay out of this.” Yugi sent over the link to her other self, pondering the conversation and the situation over in her mind since she had little else to do, as Oneesan wouldn’t let her come out again for her own safety. “I think whatever’s happening, it links back to what she was talking about before, you remember? Just before she went to confront Marik?”

Oneesan had not actually been there for that conversation, Imoto-chan had not been wearing the Puzzle. However her little sister had told her about it afterwards, when she had awoken from her nap to find Bakura had gone up against Marik and lost, leaving Marik up one Millennium Item and Yugi down another friend.

‘You mean about not wanting the Items to fall into the hands of anyone with evil intentions?’ Oneesan asked, having been confused by that statement at the time.

“Yeah.” Yugi returned, “She’s only ever wanted them to end up in our hands, or hers. She doesn’t seem to care much which, as long as they were together and she knew where we were.”

Oneesan would have replied, but something in the Shadows was shifting, moving closer to their location. When she stopped and glanced around, the Puzzle glowing slightly the boys moved into defensive positions, ready to protect the girls.