Hey Guys!! Here's Chapter 2!!

Piture on the side is Harley-->

It’s been three days since an anonymous man has kidnapped Yumi; but to Yugi and his friends, it feels like weeks. Out of the four friends, this whole ordeal has hit Yugi the hardest. He was reminded of the event every time he walked into homeroom and saw the empty seat behind him that Yumi normally sits in. But even Yugi does not know why he is taking this so hard. Maybe because Yumi knew what it was like to have another spirit inside you. Maybe it was because she became kind of like a sister during the past three months he’s known her. Maybe it was because he cared for her. Whatever the reason, he was taking this pretty hard.

Tea, Tristan, and Joey were all in the school’s cafeteria during their lunch hour eating away at their lunches without Yugi. Yugi was still upstairs in the classroom, sitting by himself.

“I’m worried about Yugi guys.” Tea says, looking down at her ham and cheese sandwich that she had packed this morning.

Joey nods his head, “We all are Tea.” He says putting down his bowl of rice onto the table, “He didn’t even want to come down and eat lunch.”

Tristan bangs the water bottle he has in his hand down onto the table, “We’re all upset about Yumi being gone! But the kid has to eat!” Some people at the surrounding tables shift their gazes towards the group of three sitting by the wall.

Joey sends the staring students a look and they turn back around to their own conversations “At least he did yesterday.” Joey retorts.

Tea gets up from her seat at the table and pulls out a five dollar bill from her pocket, “I’m going to get him something whether he likes it or not.” Tea goes up to the lunch line and grabs an apple and a bottle of water. She pays for it and begins to head towards her and Yugi’s homeroom.

Tea slides open the door to the classroom and steps in. She closes the door behind her and walks over to Yugi who sits in his seat by the window. He has his head resting in his crossed arms on the desk. In front of his is a piece of paper in front of him with a bunch of notes scribbled on it. As Tea walks up to Yugi, she could hear the tiny snores coming from him, He must have fallen asleep, Tea thought.

Tea pulls out a seat from the neighboring desk, and Yugi lifts his head from his arms with a yawn. Tea places the apple and the water on his desk, “Sorry Yug, I didn’t mean to wake you.” She says with an apologetic tone.

Yugi stretches out and looks to the clock hanging above the door, “No it’s alright,” he says, resting his hands behind his head, “Class starts back up again soon anyways.”

Tea looks to the apple and water she brought up, “Yugi,” she says. He turns to her, “I brought you something to eat.”

Yugi drops his hands from behind his head and puts his one arm on the desk while the other reaches into his bag, “Thanks Tea, but I already ate.” He says monotone, pulling a bag of half eaten granola from his bag and holding up to show Tea. He puts it back in his bag.

Tea frowns and crosses her arms, “We both know that you need to eat more than that.” Yugi goes to respond, but knows he can’t win in an argument against Tea. Yugi took the apple and took a bite out of it, “So, what are you doing up here all by yourself?”

Yugi took a sip of his water, “Thinking.” He says, his gaze shifting only for a second to the piece of paper he was writing on before he fell asleep.

“About what?” Tea asks.

“Stuff”

“Well that helps.”

“If you must know,” Yugi says, picking up the piece of paper that he was writing on, “I’m trying to figure out a way to track down Yumi.”

Tea was afraid she was going to hear this. Tea sighs, “Yugi…we all miss Yumi. But this isn’t the sort of thing you can do on your own.”

Yugi looks to the piece of paper with a deep gaze, “I can try.” Tea frowns again and takes the paper from Yugi’s hands, “Hey!”

Tea scans the paper, her eyes widen, “Yugi…How long have you been thinking this up?”

Yugi sighs, “Only a day now. But I’m not even sure if that will work.” He explains, “Yuma and Yumi would have to be in the same place; and the chances of that are slim.”

Tea’s face grows a bit brighter, “But there is still a chance.” She gives the paper back to Yugi, “I would try this little plan of yours tonight. You never know.” Tea looks over at the clock and stands up, “Class is about to start and I left my lunch bag down stairs. You wanna come with?”

Yugi looks down to the Millennium Puzzle and then back to Tea, “If it’s okay with you, I’ll stay behind. I wan to talk with the Spirit of the Puzzle.” Tea smiles a weak smile and nods. Then she leaves the room, and Yugi to ponder in his thoughts with the Spirit of the Puzzle. Yugi puts his head back down on the desk, so that if anyone came in it would look like he was sleeping.

Yugi enters the puzzle and looks around at the somewhat familiar surroundings of the puzzle. The labyrinth of staircases and doors still stand in the puzzle; making Yami all that much harder to find. Yugi begins to walk forward in the maze of staircases and doorways hoping to run into Yami. He walks for what feels like hours and just gives up looking. So then Yugi goes for a more direct approach to finding Yami.

Yugi takes in a deep breath, “YAMI!! I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!!” He yells into the maze of the puzzle. Yugi’s voice resonates throughout the inside of the puzzle; but there is no response. “Ugh, this may take a while.”

“What may take a while?” A voice says from right behind Yugi.

Yugi yelps and turns in his heels to look at the person behind him, “Yami! Don’t scare me like that!”

“Sorry Yugi.” The spiky haired spirit says, “What is it that you want to talk to me about?” he asks sitting on the nearest staircase, resting his elbow on the knee that is on the higher step.

Yugi goes over to the steps and sits down next to Yami, “I have a plan…to get Yumi and Yuma back.”

Yami lets out a sigh, just as Tea did when she first heard this, “Yugi…you were up all night thinking about Yumi’s disappearance. You can’t obsess over this.”

Yugi’s hands ball into fists, “You expect me to just not think about!” Yugi snaps. Yugi looks to Yami with a hurt gaze, he really did miss Yumi and now it was taking its toll on him. Yugi sighs and reaches into his jacket pocket, “Look, I came up with a plan to get Yumi back, and in turn Yuma will come with.” Yugi hands Yami the piece of ripped out notebook paper.

Yami hesitantly takes the folded up piece of paper and opens it. He begins to read through the paper and then looks back to Yugi “Yugi…” he says, “This is brilliant.”

Yugi looks back up to Yami, slightly thrown off by his reaction, “Really?” he asks hopeful.

“Yeah, this might work.” Yami explains handing back the paper to Yugi, “Using the Millennium Puzzle to track the Millennium Bracelet is genius. Even if Yumi and Yuma are not with each other, we should still be able to track Yumi at the least.”

Yugi’s eye widen in hopeful excitement, “That’s great!”

Yami gets up from his stair and goes to stand in front of Yugi, “We’ll try this tonight. But-”

“But what!?” Yugi interrupts, now suddenly a bit worried about the ‘but’ Yami has in mind.

“Yugi,” Yami begins, “Doing something like this requires a lot of mental stamina. It takes about the same toll on your mind as a shadow game.” Yugi gulps at this. He remembers his shadow game with Pegasus at Duelist Kingdom all to well, and that was not a pleasant experience.

Yugi looks to Yami with a determined smile, “It’s alright, I know I can do it.”

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 

Yumi

Harley, Yuma and I all sit in our cell on our beds, talking and catching up on things. Apparently Yuma had already filled Harley on how we now share a body, except for this very moment. Somehow Yuma has her own body, but I can tell that it is not flesh and bone; it’s like her face was plastered on a walking, talking manikin. It’s kind of scary too. I mean, Yuma looks like herself, but her skin shines like a plastic manikin you see in a store. And the way she moves; they’re not smooth and swift, more jagged and robotic. And Yuma even said it herself, she feels like a puppet that can move on its own. However, it is a relief that I found Yuma; and Harley for that matter.

Harley and I, we go way back. I first met her in America during my first few months there.

“Awesome! I can’t believe SSHQ was having a sale!” I say as I begin to walk out of my favorite store, SSHQ; made famous for their training clothes especially for Martial Arts, “That is almost unheard of.” I walk out of the store and into the crowd that head’s towards the food court.

I put the drawstring bag from SSHQ on my back. I take the hair tie from under my black, long sleeve crop top and tie my hair into a ponytail. I then take my phone out of my blue-to-white ombré, high-waited denim shorts to check the time. Just as I was to press the unlock button on my phone, I saw a reflection in the black screen. I stop dead in my tracks. In the reflection I see men walking on the glass roof of the mall. And these men seem to have long shot guns.

My eyes widen in fear for the people around me. I look up to the men above us, they just seem to be pacing back and forth and talking to one another. All of them are wearing black hoodies and ski masks. I know the mall doesn’t have security guards on the roof; if it did, I’m sure they wouldn’t have high-powered rifles or wearing ski masks. “This is not good.” I whisper to myself.

I need to get help, and fast! I thought. I adjust my bag on my back and begin to run for the security desk by the food court. I run through the crowd, accidently running into a few people. I get to the food court, but I am too late. I hear the sound of glass shattering, people screaming and running for their lives, and the sound of hearty laughter. I turn on my heels and look towards the sounds of ten pairs of feet hitting the ground one after another.

“Alright listen up!” the first shouts, “Everyone has to get on the ground and close their eyes! The first one to fight back gets this!” the man points his rifle in the air and shoots the gun. All the women scream, all the men try to shield them, all the children cry and beg to go home. I follow the men’s orders and got down on the ground.

I look around me as much as I can, trying to take in my surroundings. To my left are a trembling women and her crying child. To my right was a girl around 12. She has long auburn hair with three yellow-green streaks and light skin. She wears a white t-shirt from a local dojo and denim shorts. Her eyes are closed shut, but I can tell she is not frightened. I can sense a strong energy from this girl, and she may be able to help me. If I say something to her telepathically and she responds, then I know she can help me somehow.

“Hello, can you hear me?” I say telepathically to the girl next to me.

The girl’s eyes shoot open and her eyes shift from side to side, “Who are you?” She asks, “How can you speak to me this way?”

A large smile grows on my face. I turn my head towards the auburn-hair girl, “I will have to explain that all later. I can sense that you are like me. Can you help me?”

The auburn-hair girl turns to me and open her piercing blue eyes, “I will do what I can.”

This is where the auburn-hair girl and I begin to plan. We think of different strategies; some to disarm the men, others to incapacitate them. We look around the mall for hiding spots in case something happens. We finally get our plan together and discuss one last time.

“Ok. So you will grab the guns one at a time and I’ll attack their pressure points.” I say to the auburn-hair girl.

“Yup, we’ll have them dropping like flies.” My new friend and I look up towards the ten men that are now slightly scattered in the middle of the room. We look to each other one last time and nod.

Then we both disappear. I reappear behind a table that was knocked over, right by our first target. The auburn-hair girl barely even gets noticed by any of the guys, that is until our first target had his gun taken right out of his hands and was left completely dazed. I then disappear from behind the table and hit the first guy’s pressure points so quickly, that I was not seen.

The first guy fell, and the other nine came quickly after. The auburn-hair girl would take the guns and then hide them; I would hit the first few pressure points I could find. And each man fell in the blink of an eye. The auburn-hair girl and I then begin to tie up all of the men while people begin to lift their heads to see what was happening.

“Oh my goodness” one women says

“How did this happen?” one man says

“Mommy, did those two girls save us?” a little boy asks his mother.

The auburn-hair girl and I look to each other and laugh a bit, “I guess you could say that.” We say at the same time to the little boy.

Then the mall security got up and began to take away the men. Then people began to get up and cheer that the whole ordeal was over, “By the way, what’s you name?” I ask.

The girl grins and gives me a close-eye smile, “Harley,” She says, “Harley Baade.” She sticks out her hand.

I take her hand and shake it, “Yumi,” I say, “Yumi Matao.”

Harley and I laugh so hard remembering that day; “I remember the look on the cops face when a women told him that we took care of those guys.” Harley says, smacking me on the back.

An oof escapes my lips, but I continue on laughing, “Yeah, but I think he was more surprised about me than you.”

“Why do you say that?” Yuma asks

“Well Yuma,” I explain, “I wasn’t exactly the most threatening looking of people. I looked three years younger than I actually was.”

Harley put and arm around my shoulders, “That’s not entirely true.” She says. I turn to her, “You looked about four years younger than you actually were.”

I frowned as Yuma and Harley laugh hard, but after a while, I can’t help but laugh myself. I punch Harley in the arm and she flops over, not being able to contain her laughs, “Very funny Har, very funny.”

“So is that were everything started?” Yuma asks, finally recovering from her laughing fit.

Harley and I look at each other than back to Yuma, “Yeah I think so.”

Harley leans against the headboard of her bead, “And then we saw each other at the dojo a few days later. That’s were we found out that we were both going to enter in the same tournament in Japan. We trained together and ultimately entered.”

“But we swore to each other that, if we made the semi-finals, one could not go without the other.” I say, wrapping my arm around Harley’s shoulders.

“But that would have made it harder to make the semi-finals.” Yuma points out.

“But it made it all the more fun.” Harley says, putting my in a headlock and giving me a noogie.  

I flailed around trying to escape Harley’s knuckles driving themselves into my skull (and messing up my hair), “Harley! Buzz off!”

Then we all go silent as footsteps make their way over towards our cell. Harley, Yuma and I all go towards the back of the cell. Yuma and I grab guitars while Harley gets the keyboard. We all sit down and look up at the wall of music that we have. I grab the sheet music for “Bring me to Life” by Evanescence. We all begin to go over the parts that we are to play.

The footsteps stop as they reach the door of our cell, “Well, it’s good to see you are all hard at work.” The man with the Egyptian accent says. I know he wants me to refer to him as “Yami”, but I never will.

Harley looks up from her keyboard and to the man at the door, “What is it that you want?” She asks in a plain tone.

“I came by to tell you that Sebby is ready for you all.” He says, his lips curving into a smirk.

Sebby? Is this guy joking? “We’ll be out soon.” Yuma says, standing up and putting her acoustic guitar in the corner.

I get up after Yuma and so does Harley. Harley grabs her electric guitar and I get the sheet music. Yuma grabs her pink uniform jacket and drapes it over her shoulders. We all go to the door and the Egyptian man opens the door for us, “Follow me.” he says.

He does not take us far, only to the metal balcony that sits just below the first set of windows. The balcony is maybe 15 feet off the ground, but it has seen better days. There are people gathered below us, some I recognize. I can pick Sebastian out of the crowd very easily, but I also see some of the competitors from the tournament that Harley and I entered all those years ago.

I tug on Harley’s sleeve as she sets up her electric guitar on it’s stand, “Hey Harley, check it out.” I say to her as I point to a group of three standing in the corner.

Harley turns to me and looks to were I’m pointing. Her eyes widen, “You’ve got to be kidding!” She says in a whisper yell, “Those three? Why are they here?!”

“Whose here?” Yuma questions, coming to Harley and I and peeking over my shoulder

“Three competitors from the last tournament that Harley in I were both in. Everyone knows their faces, but nobody knows their real names.” I explain.

“They all go by fighting names.” Harley says, “The blond one I ‘Blue’, the purple-hair girl is ‘Violet’ and the guy with the reddish-brown hair is ‘Silver’.”

I turn my attention away from the three and towards Yuma, “You see, they all used to be part of this organization. But I can’t for the life of me remember what the name was.” Although, I know it had something to do with ribbons.

“And now they are apart of Sebastian’s Martial Arts Society.” Harley finishes.

I go over towards the drums that were set up in the back and sit down. I adjust the mic on the stand so that it would be in front of my mouth. I tap it to see if it is on yet, and it isn’t. I turn on the swiveling chair so that I am facing Yuma and Harley, “I remember Blue being especially dangerous.”

Harley looks to Blue, “Yeah, I was on the receiving end of his power once.” Harley shivers and her stare turns deadly, “Got me knocked out of the Semi-finals.”

Yuma taps me on the shoulder, looking confused, “Blue, over there, is a human. But he was born with superhuman strength, speed, and agility. Not to a Saiyan standard of course, but his psychic ability is what makes him dangerous.”

Harley huffs, “Yeah no joke.” She says. She turns to us, “He makes you look into his eyes, and then you can’t move.”

“Hey Ladies!” I hear the Egyptian man yell. I look over the balcony and down to him. He has a drink in his hand and is holding a blond girl by the waist, “You guys ready up there?!”

“Yes Mother!” I yell back down and walk away from the balcony. I hear the girl giggle and the Egyptian guys shout up a few choice words.

I go and sit at my drums. Harley gets her electric guitar and Yuma grabs hers. Sebastian goes to the front of the crowd and begins to speak. “Welcome everyone! I’ve gathered you all here for many purposes, and this is the first. A quick performance, the other reasons will be revealed later. And now I give you, tonight’s performance.” Sebastian moves away from the front and gestures to us.

We all look to each other and nod; Yuma with the electric guitar and lead vocals, Harley with the electric guitar and back up vocals, and me on the drums and back up vocals.

How can you see into my eyes

Like open doors.

Leading you down into my core

Where I've become so numb.

Without a soul

My spirit's sleeping somewhere cold

Until you find it there and lead it back home.

(wake me up.)

Wake me up inside.

(I can't wake up.)

Wake me up inside.

(Save me.)

Call my name and save me from the dark.

(Wake me up.)

Bid my blood to run.

(I can't wake up.)

Before I come undone.

(Save me.)

Save me from the nothing I've become.

Now that I know what I'm without

You can't just leave me.

Breathe into me and make me real

Bring me to life.

[chorus]

Bring me to life.

(I've been living a lie

There's nothing inside.)

Bring me to life.

Frozen inside without your touch,

Without your love, darling.

Only you are the life among the dead.

All of this sight

I can't believe I couldn't see

Kept in the dark

But you were there in front of me

I've been sleeping a 1000 years it seems.

I've got to open my eyes to everything.

Without a thought

Without a voice

Without a soul

(Don't let me die here

There must be something more.)

Bring me to life.

[chorus]

Bring me to life.

(I've been living a lie

There's nothing inside.)

Bring me to life

The crowd cheers and scream for us; but we do not smile. We just stare at the crowd with blank expressions. They are there because Sebastian brought them here. They are here only because Sebastian is planning something. They are here to destroy someone or something. And I know for a fact it has something to do with me.

And knowing that I might be a part of their plan kills me inside.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 

Yugi

I sat in my bedroom at the desk under the skylight. I held the Millennium Puzzle in my hands, staring into the eye on the front of the puzzle. I take in every detail of the puzzle. The grooves from the pieces, the way the light shines off it’s golden surface, even the small surface blemishes from it’s thousands of years of existence. The puzzle glows a soft golden color for a second, then it fades away.

“Yugi,” I hear Yami say from behind me, “You’ve been staring at the puzzle for almost an hour now.”

I snap my gaze from the puzzle to the clock on my desk, “Oh man…it has been an hour.” I sit up straight and a twinge of pain pings in my neck. I stretch out my neck from side to side.

“What exactly is holding you back?” Yami asks, sitting cross-legged on my on my bed

I lean back over the back of my chair to look at Yami upside down, “I’m not sure what you’re asking.” I state.

“I mean from using the puzzle to find Yumi and Yuma.” Yami clarifies, “What’s holding you back?”

I swivel in my chair to face him and slouch back in my chair. I take the puzzle in my hands and look down onto it intently, as if I were searching inside the puzzle for Yumi, “Well…you say that using the puzzle to find Yumi has the same mental strain as a Shadow Game.”

Yami looks to me with a slightly confused look, “I did say that; but what are you worried about?”

I could feel myself becoming more nervous. My grip on the puzzle becomes tighter and my eyes were growing a bit wide, “Back in Duelist Kingdom…when Pegasus trapped us in that Shadow Game. I just remember the strain being so strong.” I could feel my head beginning to pond just thinking about that day. I sit up and look up to Yami with serious gaze, “I passed out because the strain was to much to bare! I don’t know if I’m strong enough to bare that strain again!”

Yami gets up from my bed and comes over to me. He places a ghostly hand on my shoulder and I look up to him, “You’ve grown stronger in the past months Yugi. The only thing making you weak right now is your doubt.” Yami points to the puzzle “Put it on and find Yumi. I can not physically help you, but I will be right here the whole time.” Yami steps back so that he is leaning against the desk.

I smile a bit and nod. I take the two leather straps attached to the puzzle and put it around my neck. Immediately the room darkens and the puzzle glows a bright gold. I stand up from my chair and go to stand in the middle of my room. I put my hands around the puzzle, but do not tough it. From below my feet, many golden rings appear and expand. Hieroglyphics appear inside the rings and all the rings begin to spin in opposite directions of one another. From the first ring, only a foot away from my feet, a bright blue light begins to swirl around me.

I can feel the atmosphere of the room grow thick and heavy. A pressure begins to form in the middle of my head. It feels like an explosion trying to escape the walls of its bombshell; and the bombshell is my head. My eyes shut tightly and I begin to move my hands away from the puzzle, “Yugi! Don’t move your hands!” Yami yells to me from the desk.

I stop moving my hands only after they had moved a few inches. I turn my head to the side to face him, my face slightly twisted with pain, “Why-why not?” I ask, the strain becoming audible in my voice.

Yami moves to the edge of the rings that had formed around my feet, “If you move your hands away from the puzzle, you’ll break the connection between the puzzle and Yumi’s bracelet!” I look down to the puzzle, the glow becoming brighter and brighter and the pain becoming stronger and stronger as time passes. I drop down to one knee as my vision begins to tunnel and become out of focus.

Then I begin to see visions. I see a man in a trench coat, a hat, and sunglasses sneaks up behind Yumi. He grabs her by the tail and she falls to the floor. The man picks her up by the collar of her school jacket and brings her to a kneeling position. He then puts a damp cloth over her mouth and nose. I suddenly begin to smell chloroform.

Then the vision changes. Yumi is bound to a metal chair, I the middle of an old warehouse, with her arms, legs, tail, and abdomen being held down. In the background there are two more girls; one is Yuma and the other I do not know. A man with snow-white hair has his hand on Yumi’s forehead and she looks to be struggling to keep him away. I feel as though someone was peering inside my mind, trying to find out my greatest fears.

And the Last, only an image. A man, the same man in the last vision. His hair is a base of snow white and silver highlights. His features are sharp and mature, he maybe around the age of eighteen. His eyes are what make me recognize him. They are a dark crimson red, darker than Yami’s eyes, the color that reminds me of blood.

The visions clear away, and I can mostly see again. However, the rings on the floor are still there; as well as the strain on my mind. I keep my hands around the puzzle as I attempt to stand up. “Yugi! Do you know where she is?” Yami yells over the swirling of the energy from the rings below my feet and the blue light.

I feel a pang in my chest when I realize I still haven’t found that out, “I-I haven’t go-gotten that f-far yet!” I yell back, “H-how do I do that!?”

The Eye of Horus appears on Yami’s head, and almost immediately I feel a large portion of the pressure in my head is released, “Concentrate on her. Just think of Yumi and the puzzle will do the rest.” I nod and close my eyes, thinking of nothing but Yumi.

I see the outline of a city a bit away, West City I think. The image zooms in on the harbor. I scan around and find almost a field of blue warehouses. Then the picture goes into a black and white filter. I look around more, and then I see one warehouse that is still in color. I look closer to that particular warehouse and see the number by the door. Yumi’s in West City, at the harbor in warehouse 21.

My eyes shoot open and I drop my hands away from the puzzle. The rings and blue light vanish. I fall to the floor on all fours, breathing heavily from the intense experience. Yami runs to my side and kneels down by me. He places a ghostly hand on my back and prepares to speak.

But I interrupt, “I know where Yumi is!”

_____________________________________________________________________________

SR: YES!! CHAPTER 2 IS UP!!

Yumi: Thank Ra! It took you long enough!

SR: Hey! I have things I gotta do!

Yuma: You mean like watch X-men: Evolution all week.

SR: *Sweat drops* Uhhh...

Yumi: *Face palms* What are we ever gonna do with ya?

Yuma: Vote, Comment, and Fan!!