"Oh, wow... listen to this headline: 'Young University Student Found Brutally Murdered in Alley Behind Bookstore'..."

"I swear, Ryou; you're the only nerd in our entire school who actually reads the paper!" The blonde-haired teen snorted as he sat on top of his own desk. "Come and join the 21st century already, like the rest of the us! If you want the news, just look it up on your phone or something!"

The other 17-year old frowned at his long-time friend. "Malik, my neighbor paid for this newspaper subscription before he was called back to Hong Kong for a three-year business contract- and he asked me to make sure they didn't pile up while he was gone."

"That doesn't mean you have to read them! Why not use them as bedding for your hamster or something?"

Ryou Bakura nearly sighed as he reminded his classmate of the obvious. "Because I don't have a hamster- or any other pets. Besides, I like reading the real paper."

"Oh yes, the black smudges really accentuate your ivory skin."

Ryou didn't bother responding- he knew how his daily routine must look to his best friend.

But even as Malik's attention drifted, he continued silently scanning the article he'd mentioned. 'How gruesome... '19-year old Hisoka Kato was walking home from Domino University's campus when he met with a grisly fate... he was found dead and disemboweled, with several organs removed, barely three hours after he was reported missing. An average student, Mr. Kato may have been the latest victim of the unnamed serial killer that seems to be prowling the Shigure prefecture of Japan... dubbed 'The Viceroy' because he carves a 'V' shape into all of his victims...'

Ryou quickly folded up the newspaper and placed it neatly inside his backpack just as the teacher stepped inside the classroom. The rest of the day at Domino High was very typical- the lessons were average, the cafeteria food was far-less-than-average, and the walk home was quiet and dull.

Ryou Bakura unlocked the front door of his family's two-story house. He didn't bother announcing his arrival- no one else would hear him. His father was rarely given reprieve from his work, and his mother and only sister had died years ago in an accident.

The lonely youth turned on the television and let the sounds fill the living room. It gave him some comfort, and he began digging through his backpack for his daily assignments. Two hours later, Ryou was just finishing his homework, when a familiar rumble came from his stomach. He turned off the TV before placing the completed papers back inside his backpack.

'I suppose I'd better start working on some sort of dinner...hmm...' The pale youth frowned as he tried to plan a decent meal. He stepped in the empty kitchen, glancing around for ideas. 'I haven't had stir-fry in a while; maybe I should try that... but where did I put the wok...' Ryou knelt down in front of the stone counter-top and opened the largest cabinet door. He began rifling around the various pots and pans, nearly yelping when a colander almost fell on him. 'This is ridiculous... there's just too many large pots here... I need to look at this more methodically...'

The pale boy stepped backwards, sighing as he did so. 'Maybe if I took the bigger pieces and set them on the table first... that should make it easier to find the wok.' The white-haired teen reached in and grabbed a long-handled skillet. 'I'll move this first.' Ryou absentmindedly threw his right arm behind him, planning on dropping the heavy skillet on the kitchen table.

*THWAM!*

Ryou jumped up, startled by the reverberations still ringing through the metal frying pan. "What on Earth...?!" He turned to see what furniture item he'd accidentally smacked. His hickory eyes widened in disbelief as he glanced down at the now-covered floor.

Apparently he hadn't hit a chair-leg or a tabletop- instead, he'd hit another young man. Now there was a crumpled figure, draped in black, lying unconscious on his kitchen floor.

A strange guy had somehow broken into his house, and had clearly been about to confront him when Ryou accidentally knocked him unconscious.

"Oh no, oh no..." Key phrases from the ghastly newspaper article he'd read that morning suddenly flooded his mind. Terrified, Ryou did the first thing that came to mind and pulled out his cell phone. In his panic, he ended up instinctively dialing his best friend, rather than the local police.

"Malik?! C-can you come over? Something really disturbing has just happened..."

There was a loud gasp from the other end, and in a stage whisper the Egyptian teen replied teasingly: "You mean you managed to snag a hot boyfriend before I did?!"

Ryou rarely lost his temper when it came to his friends, but right now his fuse was rather short. "THIS IS SERIOUS!"

There was a stunned pause before the bronzed teen retorted. "Fine, fine, sheesh- I'll be there in five minutes."

Ryou hastily added, "please hurry!" But the line had already gone dead. After slipping his phone back in his pocket, the nervous homeowner glanced downwards at the still-silent figure.

The white-haired intruder was dressed in a black, worn leather jacket. His face was even gaunter and lighter than Ryou's own. He also had many strange scars and bruises on his body.

'Is... is he a drug-addict?!'

Swallowing his fear, Ryou managed to grab some old rope from the house's tiny attic and quickly tied up the stunned trespasser. He had just about finished when he heard the front door being loudly flung open, and assumed it was his brash friend.

"I'm in the kitchen, Malik!" Ryou called towards the front hall. 'And boy, you're never going to guess what's happened this time...'

But then a voice shouted back that was NOT his friend's.

"Bakura!"

"Huh?!" Ryou nearly yelped as another stranger suddenly burst into his kitchen. This man was well-muscled, tall, and had very dark skin. He looked somewhat like Malik, what with his wild blonde hair and bronzed physique.

But it definitely wasn't Malik.

"Oh cr*p..." The light-haired entrant cursed when he saw the knocked out form spread across the floor. "Bakura?! Bakura, it's Marik! Damn, what the h*ll happened..."

"Who the heck are you?!" Ryou cried out as the second intruder began examining the first. The homeowner's words were ignored, however; as the anxious blonde continued testing the other's pulse.

"Sh*t- alive, but unconscious... how do I even report this..." Ryou felt himself flinch as the second burglar took out a small pocket knife and began cutting through the ropes on his partner's limbs.

Meanwhile, the front door was flung open for a second time, followed by another loud voice calling from the front hall.

"Ryou? Ryou, are alri- HOLY SH*T!" Malik gasped as he came into the small galley. His lavender eyes widened as he took in the strange scene. "What the h*ll is going on here?!"

But before anyone could reply, there was an odd grunt from the floor.

"Urgh... wha..." The white-haired prowler was finally beginning to regain consciousness. "The h*ll..."

"Bakura, are you alright?!" The other burglar hastily glanced over the first, his face showing relief. "You took a really nasty blow to the head- what happ-URK!"

The blonde criminal was suddenly silenced as the paler of the pair grabbed his throat with surprising speed. He almost seemed to growl out his words, and his scarlet eyes were narrowed with broiling fury. "What happened, my dear, old friend; is that someone-" here the paler man's grip seemed to tighten on the other's neck- "foolishly mixed up the order addresses, and now we've been outed to our own targets!"

The brawnier intruder seemed horrified by this realization, and didn't move even after his throat was released. "Wait... so this is..."

"HIS house!" The now-seated thief scowled as he pointed emphatically at Ryou. "Which means you're supposed to be lying here on the floor right now, NOT me!"

Bewildered, Malik did the only thing he could think of, and raised his hand. "Um, question? What the h*ll is going on here, and why are you two in Ryou's house?"

But the bronzed student was ignored by the large, dark-skinned intruder. "News flash, you scrawny loser: I wouldn't have been knocked unconscious by such a runt of an opponent! Try lifting some weights for once, you lazy fool!"

"Weights don't mean jack when you're trying for stealth and speed!" The man evidently known as 'Bakura' snapped back aggressively. "Besides, he didn't intentionally hit me- I was struck by a-"

*TWEE-EEEEEET!*

"AAAGHHH!" The two intruders howled in pain as a piercing sound reverberated through their skulls.

Ryou was now standing by one of the kitchen drawers, a blue whistle resting in his right hand as he glared at the trespassers. He gestured towards his friend, who had clearly been forewarned of the audible attack. "I think it's high time you gave us both an explanation."

Malik nodded in agreement as he lowered his hands from his ears. He knew that Ryou kept an emergency whistle in one of the kitchen drawers in case the neighbor's large dog ever got loose. Although it had proven equally effective against the two strays now glaring up at them from the tiled floor.

The gaunter of the duo grumbled as he got to his feet. "Well great- now what the **** do we do?"

"We can still take them both out." 'Marik' suggested casually. His face fell, however, when he saw that the pair in question had already armed themselves with several knives from the nearby cutting block.

"Perhaps if you hadn't been so foolish as to rush inside without forethought or planning..." 'Bakura' hissed as he re-evaluated their options. "...you would have realized things were still under control. I would've regained consciousness eventually, and could've finished it then."

The darker man snorted in disbelief. "Tch, and how would you have managed that?"

"Some of us prefer to rely on the element of surprise rather than brute strength." The pale one snapped.

"And were you surprised?" Marik replied mockingly, earning him two aggressive middle fingers from his compatriot.

"Look, this is all very amusing, but I really think you two should be heading back to wherever you came from now." Ryou frowned, his features unusually stony as he spoke. The polished knife blades still in his and Malik's hands glistened threateningly. "You're too young to be screwing up your lives with a police record; but, if you leave now- I won't call the cops."

"Oh? How very generous of you." Bakura replied with a smirk as he took a step forward. "I do love how you've arrived at the inaccurate conclusion that we don't already have expansive criminal records." The mirrored smirk on Marik's face seemed to confirm that he shared a similar reputation. "But I'm afraid there's one problem with your oh-so-kind offer- mainly, it would only be worth something if we had something to lose."

The two slightly-older males leered down at their shorter counterparts, both sporting nasty grins as they leaned over the frightened teens.

"And unfortunately for you two... we have nothing to lose." Bakura soon raised his right arm, revealing a strange-looking blade. Ryou knew he wouldn't be able to escape in time, but maybe there was hope for Malik. Spotting an exit, Ryou tried to shove his friend away, but the blonde didn't budge. It was clear that the bullheaded blonde wasn't going to leave his companion.

Meanwhile, the pale intruder started to give a dark chuckle, before stopping suddenly. He let out a wracking cough as his body gave a horrible shudder. "Hah-ha-ACK!- ugh..." The white-haired criminal let out a sharp gasp as he grabbed his left side. "Sh*t..." Apparently he was suffering some sort of internal shock, and his pale limbs began shuddering convulsively.

Malik snorted in disdain as he watched the man twitch. "Serves you right, you strung-out junkie!"

"These aren't withdrawal symptoms, you nimrod! It's- ARGH!" The exhausted adolescent soon fell to his knees, unable to stand. His breathing grew harsh and ragged as he wrestled with the pain in his abdomen.

"Bakura?!" The dark-skinned invader knelt down next to his comrade, clearly concerned. But the other young man's eyes were closed as he massaged the flesh on his left side.

"Dammit... I think those scumbags were wrong... 'ten more years' my *ss." Bakura hissed angrily. He then turned to his friend and bitterly admitted: "Marik... it's over. We've failed. Evidently I have less time than you- go. Run. Bring back my body if you have to, but then you need to get away."

Marik's amethyst eyes were wide as he felt his tongue growing thick. "This wasn't supposed to happen..." The muscular cohort trailed off, clearly lost.

Bakura snorted. "A lot of sh*t wasn't supposed to happen, but guess what? It did! It did anyway, and now it's over. Now get the h*ll out of here- I don't wanna be stuck next to your useless corpse for the next few decades!"

"But the training options..."

"The options all suck! You need to get away! NOW!"

Ryou gently placed one arm around the other's elbow, hoping to guide him to a nearby chair. But the initial trespasser only snapped in ungrateful ire.

"I don't need your d*mn sympathy!"

Starting to get the gist of the pair's attitudes, Ryou sighed before he responded. "Well, call it a peace offering after I beaned you in the forehead earlier."

"Tch- whatever." The still-shaking burglar reluctantly accepted the aid and was led to a nearby chair. 'Well this sucks... what the h*ll do we do now?!'