Paladin: o.O I forgot what I was going to say…

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The Monkey's Paw

Chapter Five: Wish Three: Just Go Away

Yugi awoke slowly, wondering where he would find himself now. He was in a bed, quilts tucked under his chin. Light was filtered through rain clouds outside, giving the bare room a grey cast. It was cold. He sat up slowly, shivering as the cold air hit him.

The room was white, the floor a dark hardwood, and the bed frame metal. He yawned and got up, wandering over to the window. A sudden flash of anxiety caused him to flinch when he remembered his last experience. He wondered if his friends were all alright in this world. With that thought in mind, he took his eyes from the sky and examined his street.

It looked fairly normal, though everything had a dark cast to it, like too many shadows hung around, and there still were no people around. Yugi swallowed hard. He didn't understand that. He ran down the stairs.

He was searching for the paw when the phone started ringing. He started for the wall phone he had passed a moment ago, then stopped. It wasn't ringing. Momentarily confused, he stopped for a moment. Then he realized the sound was coming from his pocket. He brought it out of his pocket and answered it.

"…Hello?"

"Yugi?" That voice…it sounded so familiar.

"…Yes?"

"I have a new target for you."

"A…what?"

"Come to headquarters to receive it."

"Um…"

"Something wrong?" Who was this? It seemed like he should know them.

"No."

"Good." The phone went dead. Yugi held it out and stared.

Great.

Where is headquarters? What is headquarters? What did he mean by "target" and why would they be calling me?

Yugi groaned and closed his eyes. This was going to be a long day.

About half an hour later, Yugi had turned the entire house upside down and still hadn't found the paw. Neither had he found any clue as to why he had received the strange call. He was beginning to feel uneasy.

He plopped down in an armchair. This was so frustrating! Putting his head on his fist, he found his mind turning towards Yami. Where was he? Suddenly Yugi was overwhelmed by a strange feeling. He needed to see his dark very badly. However, he knew in his heart he probably wouldn't be seeing him for a long while.

Grabbing his jacket, he headed for the front door, only to be scared senseless when, just as he reached for the doorknob, someone pounded on the door. The door actually rattled on its hinges as the person knocked.

Yugi froze, not knowing what to do. Then he heard another familiar voice on the other side of the door.

"Hey, Yugi! Open up, already!" Yugi took a deep breath and flung the door open.

"Joey!" He exclaimed, surprised to see his blonde friend with his fist raised, ready to bring it down on the door.

"Yugi! There you are! The boss is pissed."

"Who?"

"Very funny, but if you keep him waiting much longer he'll probably shoot you himself!" Joey laughed and grabbed Yugi by the wrist, dragging him outside.

It was only as he was walking down the street next to Joey, did he realize there was something shoved in the waistband of his jeans, in the small of his back. Hoping against all hope it was the paw that was the last place he saw it now that he thought about it, he reached around and drew the object out.

He stopped dead still.

What he held in his hand was black, shiny, and very deadly. It was a hand gun. Yugi knew absolutely nothing about weapons, so he really didn't know what he was looking at. All he knew was it fit his hand perfectly, and it was really pretty.

"You okay? You look a little flushed."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Yugi said, giving his head a shake to get rid of the strange feeling. He stuffed the gun back into place and they started walking again.

"Have you been thinking about Yami again?"

Joey's words stopped him again. Joey apparently hadn't expected such a severe reaction, judging by the look on his face. He stopped as well and stuck his hands into his jacket pockets.

"I mean, it's not good to obsess over the guy. It was a long time ago."

"I am not obsessed!" Yugi could barely keep the snarl from his voice. He faintly wondered why.

"He made one mistake. He shouldn't have sent you in first. He should have known there was an ambush."

Yugi gulped. "Joey, where is he now?"

Joey sighed forcefully and turned away, resuming his pace down the street. Thinking quickly, Yugi said, "Please, Joey! I just need to hear it out loud."

Joey glanced back at him, something like worry in his brown eyes.

"He's dead Yugi. Been that way for years. Now come on, before you get me in trouble too."

'Headquarters' turned out to be a skyscraper which, in Yugi's normal world, was known as KaibaCorp. A chill crept into Yugi, and he found he couldn't shake it as they made their way into the building and towards an elevator. Yugi settled on the rail, leaning against the wall and crossed his arms. Lost in his thoughts, it took him a moment to notice Joey, who had a strange look on his face. One eyebrow was raised higher than the other.

"What?" Yugi asked defensively.

"You have finally decided to get over your claustrophobia, huh? Usually we have to take the stairs."

Yugi blinked. "It's just not bothering me today, I guess."

"Hm. Well, good."

Joey studied him for a while longer. Yugi began to feel extremely uncomfortable under his gaze. Finally he looked away.

"Will you be okay on this mission?" He asked slowly.

Yugi bristled. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Joey opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by the doors opening. He didn't speak as he led Yugi down another hallway and into an office.

The room itself wasn't anything special. The floor was a black marble, huge windows that reached from the floor to the ceiling made up one wall, overlooking the city. Yugi had been here once before when he had been invited here to duel Kaiba.

"You're late." That same voice that was on the phone. Yugi couldn't have been more surprised when Marik stepped from the shadows in a corner to his right. Yugi had looked right over him.

"Marik?" Yugi couldn't keep the surprise from his voice. Marik glanced at Joey questioningly, and Joey just shrugged. Marik smirked and walked over to the desk that faced the door.

Yugi blinked and decided getting his mouth to close was priority number one. He could worry about what was going on later. Yugi's teeth clicked together as Marik spoke.

"Yugi, you know you are one of my top assassins. I need your skills again." He managed to keep his jaws closed, but he knew his eyes where huge. Assassin? The metal shoved in his waistband suddenly seemed extremely heavy.

"I want you and Joey on this one. These two are extremely dangerous and heavily guarded. They have been posing a problem for a couple of weeks, and have made several attempts on my life."

"Who are we going after?" Joey asked. Yugi glanced at him. His expression was flat, his eyes fierce.

Marik pulled a manila folder from one of the desk's drawers and threw it on the table. A picture fell out and slid across the desktop, coming to rest exactly in front of Yugi.

His blood ran cold.

"The leader of the rebel's group,"

Yugi picked up the paper with the picture of one of his best friends on it.

"Ryou Bakura."

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Paladin: Wah, ha. I still don't remember what I was going to say. XP I hate it when I do that! I hope everyone had a good Halloween! Sorry it's so short. Maybe the next one will be longer. As always, Thanks for reading!