Shadows of Guilt (Rei no Kaado)

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Once again, Souji was finding himself at this electronics shop with some of his friends because of Adachi. This was his second time in this world, Souji couldn't even remember how many times he'd done this back in his own world. What he did know was that Adachi had dropped the Ring into the TV World. He didn't know it for sure, but it was a very high possibility. They'd find out for sure once they got into the TV.

Right now, he was standing in front of a large TV with Yuugi, Minato, and Anzu, who had just shown up on the island recently. Minato tugged on the scarf he was wearing a bit as Souji walked over to the TV, looked around, and then stuck his hand into it. This wouldn't be surprising to Yuugi and Minato. Anzu, on the other hand...

"Alright, we need to head in quickly. There's a chance it might rain today, and if it rains enough that the fog comes, Bakura is screwed," Souji said. He climbed on into the TV, landing in the Egyptian tomb that had served as Yuugi's reality before.

"Teddie, you here?" Souji called.

[mugenginga]

(OOC: I'm gonna retcon the reality NOW. XD Don't worry, I'm not completely elimiating the tomb effects. XD Just pretend there have always been game pieces and such here, and not all of them broken. XD There's a symbolic reason for what Anzu has near the end.)

Anzu had stayed awkwardly quiet the whole walk. Yuugi had too, for that matter. If things weren't so tense, it would have qualified as humorous. Anzu would be deep in thought, she'd seem to have an idea, she'd turn, and Yuugi would suddenly be looking elsewhere. She'd look depressed and look away. Then Yuugi would do the exact same thing, although his depressed was more worried looking. He had to tell her, but he knew she'd be depressed. She'd liked Atem for almost a year... almost since he'd solved the Puzzle, and before he even admitted Atem's presence to himself.

The teenage girl had been wondering why they were going to the mall. She got even more confused when Souji turned into the electronics store. She'd heard about the other side of the television, but wasn't this... a little public? Did not every television work? She looked around and pretty much screamed suspicious. She didn't notice that Souji purposely picked a slight blind spot of the cameras. It wasn't a security risk, nothing small was in the area and it was at the back of the store. She turned towards Souji as he looked around and was about to ask a question when he stuck his hand in the tv. She eeped.

"Anzu, shhh!" Yuugi whispered harshly.

She clamped her hands over her mouth and ducked down, glancing around. No one had seemed to notice her scream. By the time she refocused her attention, Souji had vanished. The screen rippled with a black and white effect, but the effect looked ready to fade. Yuugi walked over and closed one eye as he carefully stuck his hand in. It went through just fine, and the monochromatic ripples returned to full force.

"Yuugi...?"

"Go ahead in first, Anzu. Me and Minato-kun can make this effect, you can't. I want to make sure you can get in."

"I just... climb in?"

Yuugi nodded. She actually looked like she wanted to believe him, but was clearly not sure. She patted the pocket of her skirt, making sure the cards were there, before approaching the screen. She put her hand on it, clearly expecting to hit something solid, and almost fell in when it didn't. She gave a nervous grin before lifting one leg partially, and then pausing. She turned to Minato.

"I'll kick your ass if I think you peeked!" she said, not waiting for a response before actually climbing in... carefully to avoid the possibility of pantyshot she had implied.

----------

Souji received no response. He hadn't seen the way Yuugi and Atem's linked realities spread once outside the tombs, so he probably wouldn't have much idea as to the lack of response. In fact, they hadn't really seen all that much of Yuugi's reality. It did seem to be a bit of a natural maze. In any case, it wasn't a cause for extreme concern just yet. Teddie wouldn't have even had anything to key onto until the group arrived. He'd never had to find Yuugi's reality... they probably should have used a different entrance.

The silver haired teenager would hear a slight girlish scream before it got cut off. A bit of dust kicked up behind Souji as Anzu pushed herself to her feet. She was muttering various words of pain when her voice cut short and she drew in a gasp. Her eyes widened as she got to her feet and drew her hands close in an extremely feminine pose. She stepped past a few broken toys as she came up beside Souji.

"This is the TV World!? It looks like an Egyptian tomb!" She jumped as her boot hit something. She looked down and picked it up. She blinked as she looked at Souji, "Wha-what kind of tomb has broken chess pieces!?"

It was a chess pawn she was holding up, although the round part at the top looked to have long since broken off.

----------

"Go ahead, Minato-kun. I'll be right there after you," Yuugi had said after it became clear Minato wasn't moving. He didn't want to be there when Anzu reacted. After all, he'd been to his world through this TV twice, which said to him clear enough how the portals worked.

...would that mean Bakura was in Atem's!?

(OOC: What's this? A foreshadow mislead? XD)

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji frowned as he received no response. Then again... it was entirely possible Teddie didn't know how to get here. In his panic, he'd forgotten about that. He'd also forgotten about the fog. Thankfully, he had his pair of glasses on him, since he tended to always keep them on him, just in case, but Yuugi, Anzu, and Minato wouldn't have theirs. Souji also didn't have a weapon on him. Another thing he'd forgotten.

After pulling his glasses out of his jacket and putting them on, he looked toward Anzu as she spoke. She was holding up one of the chess pieces scattered around the area.

"When it's Yuugi's reality," Souji said. "The rest of the TV World isn't like this, just this area. How well can you see?"

Just as he asked that, Minato dropped down into the tomb, narrowly missing a broken rook. "Man, the fog's thick today... is it me, or is it thicker than the last time we were in here?"

Souji didn't answer that. The last time the fog had gotten thicker like this had been because of Izanami. Or so he'd thought, anyways.

[mugenginga]

"Yuugi's... reality...?"

Anzu didn't seem to quite get it. What she did get was that she practically had to touch the chess piece to her face to see it. That she had to practically stand on top of Souji to be sure it was him. She was glad about the voice. She seemed surprised as he asked how well she could see. She rubbed her eyes again, still holding onto the chess piece, but it didn't do anything for clearing up her vision. If anything had happened, it had gotten worse.

"...not really well," she said shortly after Minato spoke, "Is this normal? And what do you mean Yuugi's reality? Didn't you say that these places are formed by people's minds..?"

Just as Anzu was finishing up that question, a slight thump could be heard behind the group. Yuugi squinted, and was able to make out three vague shapes. It was a good thing he knew the height of his friends. He waved his hands a bit in front of his face as he walked forward. Part of it was to make sure he didn't ram into anybody, the other part was to attempt to move the fog around. The latter did no good, and he picked his route well enough to make the former pointless.

"Souji-kun, it's really bad today..."

Anzu had put the chess piece back to touching her nose so she could see it. She could get the symbology of the game, but this dark musty area? She'd thought she'd seen a stone wall and some kind of pictograph on the wall. She couldn't get a fix on it, and she didn't think it was just the fog. This was made from Yuugi's mind? Was he that depressed...?

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji didn't get a chance to respond to Anzu as Yuugi dropped down as well. He turned toward the shorter teen and nodded. "Yeah, it is. I've got my glasses on, and I'm still having a hard time seeing in here."

"At least you can see," Minato grumbled. "At this rate I'll be lucky if I can even make it through here without at least running into a wall." He looked in what he guessed was Souji's general direction. "Why's the fog so thick today, anyways?"

Souji shrugged. "I don't know... the last time it was this thick was... back in Inaba, before we defeated Ameno-Sagiri. But back then, I thought it was because of Izanami..." He didn't think she was behind it this time. She'd lifted her fog of deceit, and the fact it was even here in the first place, that the TV World was forming realities like this, was worrying enough.

Minato had managed to get close enough to Souji he could see him, and suddenly pulled off Souji's glasses.

"H-Hey!" Souji yelled.

"You can kind of see without them, but I can't see worth a crud. And I left mine at home," Minato said. "At least let me borrow them."

Souji groaned and started walking. "Come on, we should go find Teddie."

[mugenginga]

Yuugi was trying to pick his way back the group. Despite the fog and the already growing headache, he would know this place better than the others. He practically fell down in surprise as he hit something and heard a feminine "eek!" noise. Anzu whirled around, knowing who had hit her just by the height, but she still couldn't make anyone out very well. She brushed down the front of her skirt, not upset but still concerned. Yuugi's reality?

"Sorry, Anzu..." Yuugi said. He was able to slip past this time, and avoided running into Minato, "Minato-kun, you should probably go first."

"We should hold hands so we can keep track of everyone," Anzu piped in.

Yuugi's first thought was to reject it, but she did have a point. He was far more concerned about the Shadows. A thought occurred to him and he turned towards Anzu, "Anzu, summon a monster!"

Anzu looked towards the voice, "What? Why?"

"I think they can stay summoned with less direct drain than Persona... that way someone other than Minato-kun can see!"

Anzu opened her mouth, wondernig why Minato could see, but closed it. No, she needed to trust Yuugi here. She grabbed her deck and realized she wouldn't have an idea which monsters were there, so she grabbed the one off the bottom. She'd seen it before, after all. She raised the card like she'd seen Jounouchi do earlier, and closed her eyes. The flash of light was visible even in the fog, and Saint Magician appeared... not that anyone but Minato could be sure of that. Actually, Anzu found herself highly aware of the monster's position...

"Saint Magician, can you keep an eye open for us?"

The monster nodded, and Anzu found herself knowing it had done so. What kind of link did she have to the monsters? The Ka, Yuugi had said. She stepped to the side to let the monster past, who seemed inclined to take up the rear position. She almost ran into Minato. Before even Minato could move, the Ka had stuck out her staff and Anzu ran into that instead. She jumped forward and turned towards the Ka as it walked to the back of the group and held up her staff in a ready position. If Minato had been watching, he'd realize Anzu had a rather supernatural sense for where the Ka was.

"What now...?" Anzu asked.

"Minato-kun, can you take the lead? You're teh only one that can see clearly..."

Really, Yuugi had shown quite the strategical mind for the situation.

----------

Teddie jumped as the area around him suddenly changed. It was like he'd been covered in a heat shimmer, and now he was standing in the middle of what seemed like an endless desert with an oversized sun. He could feel sweat gathering in his fur. He blinked and looked around, noticing that the place he could sense Souji and the others from appeared to be a pyramid standing on top of the base of another. He began running towards it.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato had turned just as the Saint Magician was summoned. Yuugi had a point; a monster/ka would be easier to keep out than a Persona. Minato could summon his at any time, but it was tiring to use his Persona repeatedly. Well, it had been when he used the Evoker, anyways. He had no clue with these card things. He hadn't really been in a situation to test it out since he got Messiah.

"Yeah, that's fine," Minato said, and continued walking. He could see a light down at the end of this hallway, so they had to be getting close to the exit. Thankfully, no shadows ambushed them.

He looked out of the large hole. "...I can't see the ground. Is there too much fog or--"

Souji jumped down and landed on the sand. "It's a meter drop, two meters at most."

"Oh." Minato jumped down as well, landing rather clumsily on the sand. He looked up toward Yuugi and Anzu. "Come on you two!"

[mugenginga]

Yuugi was glad the light was shining through the fog, if nothing else. He was still only keeping track of the others by their voices. Anzu almost ran into Yuugi as he had managed to come to a stop but she realized Saint Magician was moving towards her and was able to put the pieces together to come to a stop. It lead to windmilling arms and a lean forward, and Yuugi really only managed to avoid getting run into because of his height. No one could really see, but Saint Magician looked tense for a moment and seemed ready to step forward before Anzu finally stabilized.

Yuugi turned towards Anzu, "Can you get down?"

Anzu smiled towards Yuugi, immediately feeling stupid because he couldn't see her, "Yeah, I'll have Saint Magician help me if I need it. Go ahead!"

Yuugi nodded and climbed out of the hole. He didn't do it in a jump, but he also managed to hit the ground pretty gracefully. Anzu walked over and turned towards where she knwe Saint Magician to be, and was surprised to see the staff being pionted towards her. She looked up, and sensed the Ka smile and give a reassuring nod. She grabbed the staff and hopped down, coming up where Yuugi had just been moments earlier. Saint Magician nimbly hopped down and landed next to Anzu. She easily landed the best of the bunch, but she did have an unfair advantage.

Anzu opened her mouth to ask what they were going to do next when she heard a noise something like squeaking. She jerked up and Saint Magician took a defensive posture. She didn't recognize the creature any more than Anzu would have. Yuugi's head had lifted at the noise. He was going to ask if it was Teddie when a voicde came out.

"Sensei!"

After all, Teddie could see clearly in the fog. And he wasn't in the least bit happy about it. At least they had a source for glasses now, though.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Both Souji and Minato turned as they heard the squeaking, something Souji knew very well. The confirmation had been Teddie's voice, and Souji walked over to him. Looked like Teddie was in his mascot form, which was to be expected. The others were more used to seeing him in his human form, but Souji was used to the mascot form.

"I was wondering where you were," Souji said. He could see Teddie even with the fog, though that was mainly because he could see somewhat better in fog than the others. It really was thick today. It was a good thing Teddie didn't need the glasses...

"Oh, Teddie. Do you have any more glasses?" Souji asked. He motioned toward Minato. "I'm lending Minato mine for now, and Yuugi doesn't has his, plus Anzu needs some."

[mugenginga]

Teddie had a huge grin on his face as Souji confirmed it was him. He ran up to the silver haired teenager and listend as he asked about the glasses. He held up a paw and it looked almost as if he was trying to count on his fingers, which was a futile effort. He frowned and pointed at Yuugi, Anzu, and then to Souji.

"Don't you need some too, Sensei?"

Saint Magician had lowered her guard based on Souji's reaction to the new arrival. Anzu had relaxed a bit, but she fully dropped her guard when her Ka did. She couldn't make out who Souji was talking to, but he was the Teddie Souji had mentioned before. He seemed awfully wide though, she could make out that much in the darkness.

Yuugi hadn't even thought of that, "How are you seeing so well, Souji-kun? I can barely see my fingers in front of my face..."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji shook his head as Teddie asked if he needed any glasses. Before he could say anything else, though, Yuugi asked how he was seeing so well. He shrugged.

"Dunno. I've always been able to see somewhat well in the fog," Souji said.

I can think of a couple reasons why, Izanagi said. Souji ignored him. He continued speaking, "I probably don't need the glasses at all, but they help my vision a bit more when I'm in here. With the Shadows around here, I try to keep as good of an eye on my surroundings as possible."

"I can understand that," Minato said. Being caught by surprise by Shadows was never fun, and it tended to end with some rather grievous injuries.

"But you can make some glasses real quick, right Teddie?" Souji asked.

[mugenginga]

Yuugi nodded, adding another case of gesturing in the fog. At least Souji had a chance of seeing it, whether he wanted to admit the reason why or not. Anzu had stepped closer to Yuugi during this time, finding herself relying on knowing where Saint Magician was in combination with what little she could see. Teddie looked up to Souji as he asked his question and smiled. He walked over to Anzu, and was surprised when Saint Magician held out her hand. He looked up at her and placed it in her hand, and she gave it to Anzu.

"What's this?" she said as th glasses were handed to her.

"Glasses! They'll help you see in the fog!"

Teddie walked over to Minato and closed his eyes for a few seconds. As he opened them again, Anzu let out a gasp and blinked, having to shield her eyes from the now much brighter seeming sun. the glasses she had put on were a vivid pink and managed to combine cute and sexy in a similar way to her outfit. The shades part were as clear as most glasses.

"This is amazing!"

"Minato-kun, give Sensei his back! These are for you!" he held out a pair of glasses and walked over to Yuugi.

A few moments later he was holding out a pair for Yuugi. The short teenager took them and slipped them on, blinking and sighing in relief as he felt the headache subside. His glasses were plain and gold colored, and aside from the color looked very plain, like something you'd see outside of the wide variety of glasses seen in the TV World. He walked over to the front of the group.

"Thank you!" Yuugi said.

"We're looking for Bakura-kun, right? I'm... picking up on something, but its like its trying to hide from me! Is that normal?"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato took the glasses from Teddie and pulled the ones he'd taken from Souji off. After a moment, he held the two pairs up so he could see them better in the fog. This new pair of glasses were actually rather similar to Souji's, now that he got a good look at them, the main difference being that the arms had metal frames instead of plastic. He slipped them on and handed Souji back his pair, which he promptly put on as well.

Souji turned toward Teddie as he spoke, and raised an eyebrow. "Like it's trying to hide from you? That doesn't seem normal... maybe you just need more information."

He looked toward Yuugi. Yuugi was Bakura's friend; he'd know more about him than anyone else here really did.

[mugenginga]

Teddie wasn't sure about that. It was almost as if something was... trying to overpower the scent. Still, if Souji said so he was willing to believe it. He'd gotten faint readings before. He turned towards Yuugi who had looked up as Souji indicated him and looked towards him. He looked towards Teddie with an uncomfortable expression.

"He's really nice, but he's been in lots of schools. I've never seen his parents and he doesn't bring up his family a lot. Dark Bakura, the original spirit in the Ring, was sealing his friends into these game pieces and he kept getting transferred because people near him were 'vanishing' because of it... um... he seems to like games, and I think his Duel Monsters deck was zombie based because he liked it, not Dark Bakura..."

"Yuugi's right. He was really social for a while after Atem defeated Dark Bakura the first time, but then he just started... drifting away again. I was really surprised to see him at Duelist Kingdom! He always kept to himself, and it did seem to get worse each time we faced Dark Bakura. He's a really cheerful guy, but I think the Ring has really gotten to him..."

Teddie nodded towards both of them as he spoke. He spun around and looked towards the distance of the area, in all directions. His position meant only Souji and Minato would be able to see his face, and he seemed to be really concentrating. Several times he'd straighten up, look about ready to say something, and then seem confused again. He was beginning to look downright depressed. Finally he bent over in a manner resembling hanging his head and shook it. He looked over towards Souji.

"I'm still having trouble getting a fix on it, Sensei... and Yuugi-kun and his friend gave really good information! I... think its thataway, but I'm really not sure! It keeps hopping around, and the closer I get the more it hops!"

"My name's Mazaki Anzu," Anzu said, frowning at the display. She still wasn't quite sure what was going on.

"Could Bakura-kun's reality be mobile...?" Yuugi asked Souji.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji got a rather serious expression on his face as Teddie concentrated. Several times, the bear had looked up and been about to say something before looking rather confused again. By the time Teddie looked toward him and shook his head, Souji had already gotten a good idea of what was going on.

"I don't know..." Souji said. "It's almost like he doesn't want us to find it..."

"Why wouldn't he want us to find him?" Minato asked. "He's gotta know about the dangers of this world; he lived with Adachi long enough. And didn't Adachi say Bakura tried to get him to push him in once before?" Souji slowly nodded. He turned toward Teddie.

"Are you sure you can't get at least what general direction it's in?" Souji asked.