Yugi

Bakura left us to go get Anzu's popcorn. Yami stared after him.

"You're really making too big a deal of this," I told him. "Bakura said it was just a dream. What are you getting all bent out of shape for?"

"Dreams can tell us a lot," he replied. "They're omens. Warnings."

"You worry too much."

I munched on my snacks and watched the previews. Jounouchi and Honda were behaving themselves, and Yami seemed fairly bored. But all was calm...for the first five minutes. Just as the movie itself started, a couple sitting behind us got into a fierce argument. Judging from what they said, the woman had just told her big, burly boyfriend something he did not want to hear. They fought for a few moments and we couldn't make out anything being said in the movie. Eventually, Jounouchi got tired of them and turned around.

"Hey, we're trying to watch the movie! Take it outside."

"Fine with me," said the boyfriend. He was easily big enough to have broken Jounouchi in half, but he seemed concerned with other things, lucky for Jounouchi. "I'm out of here."

He stormed off, his girlfriend in hot pursuit, still fighting. We all turned our attentions back to the movie, but not for long. We heard the man throw the door open (it sounded like it hit something), and then swear loudly, but in a different way than he had in the argument. I was about to dismiss him, when I heard his girlfriend gasp in shock.

"Oh, my God! You killed him!" she screamed, still holding the door open so that everything they said could be heard by everyone in the theater.

"I did not! He's still breathing. And anyway, what the hell was this kid doing standing by the door?!" he bellowed in response. I turned completely around to see what was happening. Several people had rushed over and seemed to be examining the person who was hit, but he was behind the door, so I couldn't see for myself. I could hear them trying to get the story straight.

"What happened, exactly?"

"I just opened the door and this kid was right behind it."

"You THREW the door open."

"Shut up! I did not!"

"Either of you know who this is?"

"Never saw him before."

I turned to Yami. "You don't think it's...?"

The woman shrieked before Yami could say anything. "Good God, what the hell kind of fake eye is that?!"

"Would you close the door woman?!" her boyfriend said harshly. She did, but I didn't need to hear anymore to know that it was Bakura that had been hurt. The rest of the guys seemed to get that, too, because they all stood up with me and rushed to the door.
 
 

Ryou

{Come now...Help me out....}

I was in the dream again. But it was different this time. It was more real. Like I was really at another place. The voice called out to me. I knew there was something strange about it, but when it spoke to me, I could not help but obey. It was like it had a grip on me.

I walked towards it. The power it had over me seemed to get stronger as I got closer. Pretty soon I knew nothing at all but what it told me.

{Come to me...Release me...}

Yeah. That's seemed like a good idea. Why not? I continued to approach the voice. But the deeper I got into the darkness, the weaker I felt. It was so cold. I was dizzy, and my head was swimming. But the voice purged all questions from my mind. I followed it deeper and deeper into the gloom. I was getting close. What ever it was that was beckoning me was near. I ambled on.

The cold and darkness enveloped me. Shadows seemed to dance around me, taunting me. I did not know how much longer I could go on. I was exhausted, though I did not know why. I hadn't been walking that long.

{You are in...I shall come to you...}

In? In where? I could go no farther. My energy was depleted, and I fell to my knees. But I needn't go on, because the owner of the voice was coming to me now. I could just make out the vague shape of someone approaching through the shadows. But I was so weakened, I could no longer support myself and I was forced to lie down.

{The realm has zapped you of your energy...But you get used to it...You will have to...}

The realm? What did it mean? The only realm I knew of was...the shadow realm. But this couldn't be it, could it? And what did the voice mean by "You will have to"? That voice seemed so much harsher now. And familiar...

It must have been releasing me from its influence, because I had not noticed these things before. I guess it felt it had me where it wanted me. I didn't care anymore. I was so tired. I shut my eye against the dark.

{If only you had known enough to invoke the eye's magic...You would not have been weakened so...But you will suit my purpose as you are.}

The voice was so cocky and arrogant. And what exactly was this "purpose"? My hazy mind tried to piece together just what was going on. This familiar, harsh voice that had been able to manipulate me, telling me to release it. And it knew about the millennium eye. And if this was the Shadow realm....then...

My eye flashed opened as I realized what was happening. Sure enough, my yami was walking towards me. I still was not sure what this was all about, but I knew I had to get out of there, and fast. In a surge of adrenalin, I desperately tried to get up and run. My yami only laughed.

{You cannot escape... You are too weak...}

He was right. I went maybe ten feet before stumbling clumsily back to the ground. He was closings in on me. He alone was visible in the dark, thirty feet away, twenty feet, ten...and then he was right there, staring down at me like a snake looks at a bird. I remembered all the times he had looked at me like that. I put my hands up defensively, knowing it would do no good.

'This is some horrible nightmare,' I thought. 'Some bad dream. Any minute now, I'll wake up, safe and sound. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening...'

{Oh, but it is...}

He roughly grabbed me by the wrist. I expected him to hit me, to beat me up, but what happened instead was far worse. I felt myself being drained. I could feel my power and energy leaving me. I frantically tried to do something, anything to make him let me go. I tried to use the eye's magic, but I didn't have the strength. It felt like I was falling. It was getting darker. My vision was failing me. Then my yami said something that filled me with dread.

{Still so pathetic, but I'll say hi to your friends for you...}

He gripped me still tighter and I screamed as a final surge of energy passed from me. I heard my yami's laugh fading away as I fell to the ground, drained and unable to move.
 
 

Yami Bakura:

The time was at hand. I had sensed Ryou lose consciousness while wearing the ring. This was my chance, my opportunity. Ryou was so easy to lure into the depths of the shadow realm. Not much of a challenge at all. My control over him was so absolute that he never even questioned himself until it was too late.

The shadow realm drains you of your energy. That is why mortal souls cannot last long there. But one can use the magic of a millennium item as a sort of shield. When a shadow game takes place, there is so much power, that the players are free to do what they will. Though most of the ring's magic stayed with me, Ryou could have used the eye for protection. But he didn't. And that was his mistake.

I pulled Ryou deeper and deeper into the shadow realm until he was too weak to escape. As I was using my own millennium magic as a shield to protect me from the realm, I needed Ryou as a sort of "conductor" to allow me to call upon the magic that remained with him in the ring. It drained him terribly, but it gave me just enough power to leave through the gap between the worlds that Ryou had left. It allowed one soul in, one soul out. The realm can only sense a soul's energy. It knew a strong one had entered, and a weak on was imprisoned. Now it would allow the strong one to leave, while keeping the weaker one. Once I came in contact with Ryou, he could do nothing to stop me. Far too late, he tried to use the eye's magic against me. So he'd learned how to use it. That would come in handy. Once I was back in Ryou's body, I would have all his memories and abilities, and now, that included the magic of the millennium eye.

Ryou screamed as I drained the last bit of power from him. I would have to act quickly before the shadow realm drained it back from me. Ryou fell limp. Perhaps he would survive if he figured out how to use the eye as a shield. I could not help but laugh as I made my escape. Not only was I leaving my prison behind, but I'd had revenge against one of the people who had helped put me there. One down, one to go.

Here I come, Yami Yugi...