*PROLOGUE*

~Jounouchi's POV~

  My car could be on one of those auto-mechanics shows you sometimes see on TV…you know, the programs where they take a dumpy hunk of metal that could barely be considered a car and turn it into a sleek, shiny luxury vehicle.  Yup, my ride would fit in perfectly with one of the "befores" of one of those shows.

   It's so old I'm surprised you don't need a crank to start it, and the motor coughs and wheezes like an asthmatic if the speedometer hits anything above 50.  I think at one point it was green, but the paint job is so old it looks brown.  The brakes squeal like hell every time you want to stop.  Most of my friends are afraid to catch a ride in it, and probably with good reason.  One of these days, it'll probably explode and take me out with it, but in the mean time, at least it's some wheels.

   Well, now that you know all about the hazards of riding in my car, I guess you can see why I was surprised when my best friend asked me to give him a ride.  But if I was surprised when he asked that, I was totally blown out of the water when he told me when he wanted it.  2:00 in the morning.

   Don't get me wrong, or anything.  2:00 is a great time to cruise town if you happen to have a night of insomnia, but this was Yuugi Mutou, or as I like to call him "Yug".  Yug's about the most straight-laced kid I know.  He doesn't do drugs, he doesn't drink, he won't smoke and I have yet to hear him cuss.  He lives with his grandfather, who is even more straight-laced than him.  Sneaking out of the house at two in the morning is something I could never see Yug doing.

            "What's goin' on, Yug?" I'd asked.  "Your grandpa'll flip if he catches ya."

            "I know, Jou." He ran a hand through his spiky tri-colored hair and sighed.  "I can't really talk about it now."

            "Why not?  What's wit' all da secrecy?"

            "It's…nothing.  You'll find out later, all right?"

            "Yug—"

            "Mr. Katsuya, the bell has rung," Mr. Taki broke in.  "Take your seat—unless you want detention for the third time this week."

   Sometimes I really hate that bastard.  But I'm getting off track.  I agreed to pick up Yug at two and spent the rest of the school day wondering if it was Yami that had asked, and not Yug at all.  I still have a hard time figuring out when Yami's taken over sometimes.  I ended up getting the detention that Mr. Taki had threatened me with for "daydreaming", but decided that it had been Yug after all.

   I served my half hour detention and wasted the rest of the afternoon watching Comedy Central and pretending to do my homework as I watched Premium Blend.  I must have fallen asleep at some point, because the next thing I remember is waking up slumped over an empty page of history homework with an old Saturday Night Live episode blasting away on the TV.

   Shit, what time is it? I wondered to myself.  I glanced at the digital clock above the TV and muttered a couple of phrases that probably wouldn't be decent to print.  The glowing green numbers announced that it was 1:45.  I've gotta pick up Yug in fifteen minutes, I thought.  Knowin' my luck, that hunk a' junk car of mine'll stall out.

   The car didn't stall once on the trip to Yug's house.  I swear, the engine purred like a kitten the whole way there.  I ended up rolling to an unusually quiet stop in front of Yug's house a good five minutes earlier than I'd expected to arrive.

   I didn't wait long before the front door opened a crack and Yug slipped out.  Once he was in the car, I blasted him with questions.

            "OK, Yug, what's goin' on?  Where are we goin'?  Why da hell are you sneaking out of your house?"

            "It's still far too early to tell you that much, Jounouchi," Yug answered.  Or rather, Yami answered.  Somewhere between shutting the car door and fastening the seatbelt, Yami had taken over.

            "Why?  C'mon, you can tell me.  It's not like I'm gonna back out on ya or anything."

            "Just start the car, Jou.  The less you know right now, the better.  There are elements of this that even Yuugi knows nothing about."

            "Oh hell no!" I growled.  "Look, I want ta know what's goin' on.  Yug's my friend, remember?  Dis car ain't goin' nowhere 'til I start hearin' some answers."

   Yami sighed and suddenly looked as if he'd aged ten years.  "Please start the car, Jou.  You'll find out everything soon enough."

   I was tempted to make good on my threat, but if there's one thing I've learned about Yami since Yug got ahold of that millennium puzzle, it's that arguing with him is completely pointless.  So with a frustrated growl, I started the car and said: "All right.  Fine.  You win.  But where're we goin'?  I can't drive us there if you don't tell me."

            "Just follow my directions, Jou."

   Christ, I thought.  What da hell is dis?  Still, I followed Yami's directions as best you could expect anyone to at such an ungodly hour.  Three bumped curbs and a couple of missed turns later, we were there.  Wherever "there" was.

   It looked like we were officially in the middle of nowhere.  The only thing around for who knows how far was a very old, very ugly house on a hill.  I kid you not, it looked like something from one of those old horror movies.  I wouldn't have been surprised to see a flock of bats come flying out of the chimney.

            "So…uh…what—what do ya want me to do while you're…doin' whateva' ya' came here to do?" I asked Yami as he started to get out of the car.

            "Come along if you like," he replied.  "Just don't do anything rash."

   He didn't wait for me as I scrambled out of the car; just started on his way up the hill to the house.  I didn't bother to lock to door.  Nobody would be stealing my piece of crap ride, no matter how desperate they happened to be.

   I caught Yami just as he reached the door of the house.  He didn't even spare a glance in my direction to acknowledge my presence.  Nope.  He just stared at the door as he quietly said: "I'm sorry to keep you in the dark about everything that's going on right now, Jou.  If you want to back out of this, here's your last chance.  I wouldn't blame you if you did."

   Back out of what? I wondered.  "Naw.  I'm wit' you and Yug on dis," I answered.  Whatever it is, I silently added.

   Yami nodded once, then opened the door, determination etched into every feature of his face.  He stepped inside and I followed, squinting to get used to the sudden dark.

            "Ah, pharaoh.  You came," a (regretfully) familiar voice greeted from the shadows.

            "Yes, tomb robber.  I see you've been expecting me."

   I was beginning to regret agreeing to be involved in whatever was going to happen.  I hadn't seen much of Bakura, but what I had seen was enough to give me some really nasty nightmares.

   As my eyes got used to the dark room, I was able to vaguely see the psychotic freak seated at the far end of a long table, feet propped up on top of an empty dinner plate.  The table had been set with painstaking care, right down to the black folded napkins in each wine glass.  Platters heaped with some extremely tasty looking food went down the entire length of the table.

   Bakura picked up a half-full glass of wine that looked disturbingly like blood and downed it in one gulp.  "Eat?  Drink?" he queried.  "It's quite good, pharaoh, and quite unpoisoned, I assure you."  Yami didn't offer an answer, and I kept my mouth shut (although my stomach growled noisily when I caught a whiff of the roast).

   I guess Bakura took our silence as a refusal, because he finally said: "No?  That's fine.  I'd prefer to 'cut to the chase' as the foolish mortals like to call it."

            "There has been a severe imbalance between the shadow realm and this realm within the past few days.  If this continues—"

            "I'm not an ignoramus, pharaoh," Bakura hissed.  "I've noticed it as well.  Much as I'm loath to admit it, something must be done.  One cannot conquer a world that doesn't exist."

            "The damage may already be done, tomb robber.  Within the last two hours there have been some dangerous fluctuations.  The imbalance is beginning to correct itself.  Something is going to give, but what I don't know."

   Bakura poured himself a second glass of wine and downed it in one gulp, like the last one.  He set down the glass and chuckled.  It was a gravelly laugh that gave me goosebumps.  Definitely not a nice sound.  "Who would have ever guessed we would be discussing a common goal?" he chortled.

            "The goal may be common, but the motives are not, tomb robber, and that makes all the difference."

   At that point, I started worrying about the "what's" and "why's" of the situation.  What da hell is all this?  "One cannot conquer a world that doesn't exist"?  What's dat supposed to mean?  What did Yami mean "something has to give"?  What am I gettin' myself into?

   Bakura got an ugly look on his face and growled something in some language I couldn't understand.  Whatever it was, Yami got a look on his face that clearly showed he was pissed.  I think he was about to say something back, but he never got the chance, because right then the front door swung open, hitting me square in the back of the head.

            "Ow!" I shouted, turning around to see who'd hit me.

            "What is that mutt doing here, Yuugi?" the newcomer demanded.

   Does life hate me? I wondered.  Bakura just wasn't enough, was he?  Oh, no.  Now I get to deal wit' da biggest asshole on da face a' da earth.  WHY ME?

            "What are you doing here, Kaiba?" Yami retorted, at the exact same moment Bakura questioned: "Why have you brought the mortals, pharaoh?"

   Yami ignored Bakura's question and Kaiba replied: "You're the one who invited me out here to duel."

            "I did no such thing, Kaiba."

   Kaiba looked irked and answered: "Don't play dumb with me, Yuugi.  You gave me the address yourself just this afternoon."  He pulled a folded piece of paper out of one of the pockets of his (creepy) trench coat and handed it to Yami.

            "Well, this is my handwriting, but I don't remember asking you to come out here," Yug said.  I'm guessing that he made Yami let him take over to keep Yami from killing Kaiba.

            "I thought that you were above pulling childish pranks," Kaiba muttered, opening the door.  "You and that damn mutt."

            "Hey!" I yelled after him.  "I'm not a—"

            "Shit!" Kaiba cut me off.  "Everybody get down!  NOW!"

            "Why?  What's goin'—"

            "Down!" he shouted as he slammed the door and dropped to the floor.

            "Kaiba, what are you—" Yug started to ask.  He never finished his sentence.  Because right then I heard the gunshots.  They seemed so loud I couldn't hear anything else.  Not the scraping of Bakura's chair as he dove under the table.  Not my hands hitting the floor.  Not Yug yelling.  I couldn't hear any of it until the shots ended just as suddenly as they'd begun.

   Everyone shakily got to their feet, darting nervous, paranoid glances around the room.  My ears were ringing and it seemed like everything was muffled; even my voice as a asked: "Is everyone OK?"  There was a whimper from Yug right about then, and I suddenly noticed that he hadn't gotten up like the rest of us.  "Yug?"

   And there he was.  My best friend, shaking and hugging a bloody mess where his stomach was supposed to be.  I don't remember how long it took me to pluck up the courage to go to him.  All I remember is whispering: "Come on, Yug.  You're gonna be OK."

   He sobbed and choked on blood.

            "It's not as bad as it looks, buddy," I reassured him.  Or maybe I reassured myself.  "Hey!  Kaiba!  Call an ambulance, goddamn it!"

   It's not as bad as it looks….  I kept repeating it to myself as Kaiba made the call, like a mantra.  It's not as bad as it looks…It's not as bad as it looks…It's not as bad—

   And that's when the attacker decided to let us know he wasn't finished yet.  There was an explosion, then blinding light and then heat…and then the pain.

   My ears are bleedin', I thought, as I gave in to the darkness that swirled around me.

Author's Notes: Hmm…That's a bit…morbid.  Don't panic.  I'm not done with this thing yet!  Anyways, this is my first attempt at a YGO fic, so please don't hate me if I don't have everything 100% right.