The Bitter Truth (Invite Only!)

[mugenginga]

(OOC: The following players are allowed here for the time being. Me, danielcityheroes, and Firebreath Fishslap. And danielcityheroes, you should use Coop if you plan on showing up.

Akira is an NPC that anyone can control and he needs to die in the upcoming fire for the plot to work. But feel free to be as creative as you like with that. )

A plain looking Japanese teenager was carefully picking his way through the hospital ruins. The construction company hired to repair the hopsital were taking the day off, and some of his friends had dared him to get something. It all seemed rather stupid, but he hated being teased. He was going to show them he could be just as brave and get more than what they wanted. That would make them stop picking on him.

Akira wasn't even sure where to begin. How he was supposed to find any records after the disaster at the hospital was beyond him as well, but he wasn't going to back down.

About five minutes away, Yuugi had stopped to catch his breath. He flipped open his COMP to check the time. He had just under ten minutes to get to the hospital. He had been forced to take way too many stops. Most people had all but laughed at him when he'd asked about the hospital. Or stared at him like he was an idiot. How had he been supposed to know the place had been destroyed?

And to make matters worse, the death clock floating above his head hadn't as much as flickered. If anything, his other self said its presence was getting stronger. Atem hadn't discouraged Yuugi. He wanted to rescue the boy. And he needed to be able to surface if things got bad. If Yuugi removed the puzzle to prevent that... Atem had a bad feeling about this. Something was different. He looked behind his partner. Yuugi had left in such a rush they hadn't gotten any response from K1. Atem had a feeling the other teenager would be critical to his partner getting out of this alive.

Yuugi stood up again. He couldn't rest. He took off running again. He'd take care of the stitch in his side after rescuing the "Akira" boy.

(OOC: Also, I have NO idea how I'm gonna do the fire. Oh, and if you've forgotten, Yuugi still has Eriol's key. You might want to work with that, FF. )

[Firebreath Fishslap]

((OOC: Oh, I've got plans for that key.
And the fire.
They may or may not be linked.))

K1 was far behind Yuugi, having had to run all the way up to the second floor and then far down the hallway to get to his room and get his COMP, and then back downstairs. Yuugi had managed to get far ahead by then, even with all of the stops he'd taken, and the best K1 could do was run after. As he ran, he summoned Pyro Jack and Jack Frost, Jack Frost to help put out the flames, and Pyro Jack to absorb the fire.

But most of all, K1 was concerned for Yuugi's safety. Yuugi's Death Clock had rolled over to 0, but K1's had a different number than Yuugi's did. Which meant that Yuugi was supposed to die in the fire too.
This was not good.
There were an insane number of reasons a fire could start at the hospital, and it would be redundant to tell Yuugi to be careful, when he already knew to. Most of all, if K1 didn't get down there fast enough, it was entirely possible both that Akira kid and Yuugi would die in the coming fire.

--------------

Inside Yuugi's pocket, the Clockwork Key began to grow warm.

[mugenginga]

Yuugi reached the hospital two minutes before nine AM. Akira had hopped into a basement like area by this time, concealing him from view.

Atem wished he had the Millenium Ring with him right now. While used mainly for tracking the other items, it could be used to track anything if you focused on it. But the events that had drawn him and his partner to the island had caused it to be dropped. With the evil purged from it, it would have been so useful right now.

Yuugi stopped and looked around, but he felt his other self's tension, "What's wrong?" he asked. Any observer would have thought he was talking to himself.

Atem frowned, "You're being careless. The clock is above your head again. You should have waited for K1."

"There wasn't time. There isn't time! We have to find Akira!" Yuugi said. His voice was a bit panicked.

"Partner, you know I wouldn't be this adamant if I didn't have to be. You're going to get yourself killed. That clock is only above your head, not mine."

"Wait, what?"

"Last time, it was above both of us. The danger is to you, not me."

Yuugi hadn't realized that. He looked his other self in the eyes. There was a concern there that the Pharoah rarely had. He actually doubted the outcome of this encounter? Yuugi hesitated, and it was enough for him to actually notice the heat in his pocket. He tore his eyes away from his other self and dug out the COMP so he could reach the key.

Atem's eyes narrowed. There was an energy gathering around that key as Yuugi held it in his open palm to look at it. Yuugi's fist clenched around the key and shook his head quickly, "There isn't time to argue!"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

As Yuugi held the key, it started sparking from the tip, and there was large amounts of electricity moving through it. Parts of the key seemed to be becoming undone, or rather, it was trying to change into its larger form, but couldn't.
Whatever it was, there was something wrong with the key.

-----------------

K1 finally managed to get to the Hospital, thirty seconds before 9:00. Whatever was going to happen was going to happen within the next hour. And it was NOT going to be good. Note to self: get demon with Flight ability, he thought to himself as he approached the hospital. "Yuugi! Where are you?"

[mugenginga]

Yuugi looked up when he heard his name being shouted. It sounded like K1's voice. But right now he had a sparking key. Atem shook his head, things were about to go south, and fast.

"Yuugi, drop it!"

Yuugi jerked. His other self had actually called him by name. He never did that. The key sparked again, much larger this time, and Yuugi hissed as he drew his hand back. His dominant hand now had a small electric burn, and his fingers felt numb. The key hit the ground with a dull thunk.

Atem felt the hair on the back of his neck prick up. He didn't want to do this, but as soon as K1 got within arm's length he was going to force dominance and hand the puzzle to their friend. As long as he wasn't wearing it, Yuugi wouldn't be able to interfere.

Please forgive me for this, partner... he thought to himself, thankful that Yuugi was in too much pain to notice him turn away.
-----

Meanwhile, Akira had found a cupboard. It was locked surpisingly well. He grabbed a piece of what looked like junk. He'd smash it open if he had to.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

K1 sighed with relief as he saw the hospital was not on fire, and returned his demons to his COMP. Spotting Yuugi, K1 ran down to where Yuugi was. "Have you found the person from the mail yet?" He had no idea Atem was about to seize control of Yuugi's body once he got down there.

The key was starting to spark even worse, some of the sparks coming close to hitting the wooden framework of the new hospital, but nothing major so far.

[mugenginga]

Yuugi's body language shifted and the true owner of the body didn't even have time to get a word out as Atem yanked off the puzzle. His eyes looked in pain as he shoved it into K1's hands.

"Don't ask, just keep it safe," it was Atem's voice, and it seemed to contain a hint of a threat. As if he was telling K1 that if anything happened to the puzzle, it would not bode well for the blue haired teen. Not in the least.

The clock had vanished as soon as Yuugi's mannerisms had shifted over to Atem's, as well. There was a look in his eyes, after the cut and dry threat had faded, that indicated an uncharacteristic lack of confidence.

"We need to find a way inside, and fast. Make sure you have your demons summoned."

As if to stress his point, he reached for his beltpouch, but his hand wouldn't cooperate right. He made an annoyed "tsk" noise and had to awkwardly reach around with his other hand, to open the pouch and draw the cards. The electrical burn was evident because of this. The fingers seemed stuck in a slightly folded position, as if they had frozen when he was reaching for something.

Yuugi was aware, and quite shocked. Was this... was this how his other self had felt during the battle with Jounouchi, when Marik had used the Rod to possess the blond teenager? This worried and defenseless? He wanted to ask why, but no one could hear him. The puzzle had to be in contact with Atem somehow for any chance of that to occur, and his other self had let go of it before he could argue.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

K1 almost fell over when Atem handed him the Puzzle. What is this, a puzzle or a brick?! K1 couldn't help thinking to himself. He noticed Atem's hand, but decided not to ask about it for now. They had someone to save.

Complying with the request, K1 put the Puzzle down for a second so he could summon some demons again. Hairy Jack would probably be helpful in finding the kid. Of course, he had fused it into another demon the night before. For now, he'd have to make do with the Jacks. He sighed and summoned the two.

"Alright, stay close, but tell me if you see anything, you two," K1 ordered. The two demons looked like they were about to start an out of place comedy routine, but K1 silenced them. "No. Don't even start. This is not the place for your absolutely horrible manzai routine. We have someone to save. Now, hold onto this for me, Frost." K1 handed the Puzzle to Frost, and started looking around the hospital for a way in.

[mugenginga]

Atem was about to "play" a card when he caught the sparking out of the corner of his eye. His eyes widened and he ran over to K1, "GET DOWN!"

He shoved the blue haired teen out of the way, managing to get tagged in the side by the sparking. It felt worse than descriptions he'd heard of sticking a fork into a socket. He landed poorly, wincing and grabbing his side in pain as best he could with a burnt hand.

And if matters weren't bad enough, that little hero act had caused his own death clock to appear. Same number as Yuugi's had been. Zero.

All the while, the key continued to spark. It was almost as if it was calling someone to it...

[Firebreath Fishslap]

K1 pulled himself to his feet, and then looked at Atem. "Hey! What happened--"

And then he saw the key. It was no longer merely sparking. It was crackling with electricity, so much that it was most likely impossible to get close to it at this point. The malfunctioning key was going out of control, and the worst part was, it was dangerously close to the hospital.

And then one bolt of electricity struck the wooden frame of the hospital, and somehow, perhaps K1's just insanely bad luck, the hospital caught fire.
And then the fire got to the gas tank right next to the hospital.

"No! Get down!" K1 yelled, it being his turn to shove Atem to the ground, just as the gas tank exploded.

[mugenginga]

Atem felt himself get tackled, which didn't help his already sore side. In fact, he even lost grip of the five cards in his hand this time, and they spread on the ground. For likely the first time that day, the gods of luck decided to smile on the teen. The cards flew in the opposite direction of the flame, into some grass to the side. They'd be a little scuffed up, but they'd survive.

However, a scream coming from the hospital showed someone wasn't going to be quite as lucky... Atem's squeezed his eyes shut and turned away. From more than just the physical pain. That was the sound of someone giving their last breath. But if he hadn't taken dominance, Yuugi would have run into the building... without the key... a life had been saved, just not the one Yuugi had hoped for.

Atem honestly couldn't remember the last time he'd been in this much pain. He looked over to where he had been pushed from... he didn't see K1... or the puzzle... "YUUGI! K1!" he shouted, forcing himself to his feet, the worry over the puzzle coming first.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

The explosion had hit K1 hard, and Jack Frost had been killed by the flames right afterward and faded away, leaving the puzzle sitting in the middle of the burning building. K1 probably would have died too if it weren't for Pyro Jack, who was still healing him with Dia. The demon had pulled K1 away from the smoke and flames.

"Atem? I'm over here!" K1 called, and tried to sit up before his burns, while reduced somewhat from the effects of the spell, kept him from doing so. "Ow... Pyro Jack, where's the puzzle?"

"Didn't see it, ho." Pyro Jack replied.

"Dammit! Go in there and try to find it, hurry!" K1 said, remembering Atem's threat.

"But master--"

"I still have Kikuri-Hime to heal me! Now go!"

The demon gulped, and then headed into the fire to find the puzzle.

[mugenginga]

Atem heard the voice. K1 was fine. Yuugi would be incapable of answering... he took a brief moment to gather the cards before making his way over to K1. Due to this delay, he didn't hear about the puzzle.

He paused a second when he saw K1. Most of his demons were missing and he looked to be in worse shape then Atem was. But with all but the Japanese goddess-like demon there, that meant...

"Where's the puzzle?"

He had almost lost Yuugi once. While he was trying not to explode on K1, he was having trouble. His attempts meant his voice came out dead flat, lending far more creepiness to it than he intended. His gaze was straight on. Yuugi had once stayed inside a building that was on fire and falling down around him to save him. He was prepared to do the same.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

K1 looked up at Atem. That threat from before was definitely genuine.

"I sent Pyro Jack in after it," K1 said before Kikuri-Hime forced him to lay down.

"You need to rest, master. Your wounds will just get worse if you move around," Kikuri-Hime said. Her voice had a soothing, yet stern tone to it.

"I'm not sure how I'm supposed to rest when there's a burning building right in front of me," K1 said, but he still lowered himself.

-----------

Inside the burning hospital, Pyro Jack ended up finding the puzzle quickly, there was just the small matter of it was missing several pieces, and they'd likely melt in this heat. He had to hurry.
But first, he had to get what he'd found so far to K1, and flew through the flames back to his master and Atem.

[mugenginga]

(OOC: Pyro Jack underestimates the power of magic gold. )

Atem's powers wouldn't apply to K1. He was a good person, his powers of darkness only effected those with weak minds and corrupted hearts. If he tried it would rebound on him. But that didn't make him feel any less pissed.

The Pharoah was trying to find words when Pyro Jack appeard from the flame. He saw the glint of the puzzle, but he also felt the lack of presence. And sure enough, at least two pieces were missing. One of which held the most power, the bulk of the eye on the front. He clenched his teeth and looked away. Blowing up would not be good. He generally wasn't overly emotional, but...

He took a few steps towards the building. He stopped, but didn't face K1, "There are pieces missing. The fire won't hurt them but if the building collapses on them..."

He had a card in his hand that could take the heat. But it required extroidinary power to maintain... and generally required a massive tribute. He didn't know how the god would react without it, but he felt his options slipping away.