Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Probationis Vitae ❯ Almost ( Chapter 4 )

Almost

AN: I got some relief from schoolwork so I decided to write more on this. Hope you enjoy it!

Thank you to all those that reviewed. I enjoy reading your opinions and suggestions. Thanks to:

Rutu

Yugi Mutou

Also-though I probably won't use most of it just yet-, just in case:

/…../ is Yugi to Yami.

//…..// is Yami to Yugi.

\…..\ is Ryou to Bakura.

\\…..\\ is Bakura to Ryou.

^…..^ is Malik (hikari) to Marik (yami).

^^…..^^ is Marik to Malik.

"~…..~" is someone talking on the other end of a phone, walkie-talkie, etc.

Finally, I'm sorry if any of the character seem OOC but I believe that everyone has more than one side to them and what we may see of them on the TV show may not be what they're totally like. And almost anyone can change if given the chance.

~*~*~*~Last time~*~*~*~

When she got outside Selene took a deep breath and walked over to the edge of the wall, leaning against it. She stood there for a few minutes, getting her breath back, before deciding it was time to go back in. When she stood up straight to go, however, she suddenly felt someone grasp her shoulders and pull her into the alleyway beside which she had been standing.

~*~*~*~On with the story~*~*~*~

Ten minutes after Selene left Damien started to get a little restless. Five minutes late may not be much for most people, but Selene was NEVER late unless something happened to her. Glancing around the table he stood up.

"I'm going to see what's keeping Selene," Damien said to Yugi and Yami, the others had gone dancing.

After looking at his watch, Yugi got a worried look on his face, nodded, and said, "I'll come with you. We'll be back in just a minute." He directed the last part to Yami who just nodded, he understood Yugi's protectiveness towards his friends and most of his family.

Yugi and Damien went outside, but they didn't see anyone but the bouncer and a few loiterers. They turned left and were about to head off, but Yugi paused.

"Damien, just a second," Yugi said and Damien paused.

"What is it Yugi?" Damien asked, looking anxious.

"Don't ask me why, but I have this feeling that we should go the other way." Yugi said looking slightly confused at his own words.

Damien looked reluctant for a moment before nodding and turning around. He knew that when Yugi, Selene, or-surprisingly-Jake got a gut feeling it was usually correct, they were the most sensitive of the group. They were about to pass an alleyway when they heard muffled thumps and noises. With one shared glance they both headed down the alley. It might be nothing, but they couldn't take any chances.

They ran down the alley. After a few moments they came to the end, which opened up into an open are in between three buildings, and in the opening they saw a beat-up looking Selene holding off five guys with knives and they saw another five unconscious on the floor. She had a nasty looking gash on the outside of her lower left arm and a couple minor scratches and a largish bruise on her stomach. She'd also managed to get the knives off of the five she'd taken down and was holding one in her right hand and had the others in her pockets.

Suddenly one of the men spoke. "Come on girl, just give us the necklace and come quietly. We don't have to hurt you."

"Go screw yourselves," Selene hissed, scowling. "I'll never go with fucking bastards like you."

Suddenly one of the men rushed at her, and she twisted out of the way, barely missing getting cut. This snapped Yugi and Damien out of their temporary shock and they silently ran to help her. They were careful, though, because it was obvious that these guys had at least been trained a little bit.

Selene, having seen them, made sure she kept the back of her opponents to them. This allowed Yugi and Damien to creep up on them, unnoticed, and knock two of them out by ramming them in the back of the head. Selene took the moment it took for the other three t get over their shock to kick and, in the process, break the knees of one of the other two. Yugi and Damien tackled the other two. They wrestled around for a moment when Yugi copied the move Selene had used on Jake, only he actually broke the arm of the guy and then dropped his arm onto the back of the neck of the guy under him, effectively knocking him unconscious. Damien had managed to throw the guy over his shoulder and jammed his heel into the other guy's groin. Then he pulled his leg back and kicked him under the chin, finishing the fight.

"Thanks you guys," Selene panted from her current position on the floor where she'd collapsed after she'd knocked out her sixth guy. Yugi was suddenly reminded of how out of it Selene and Damien had been the previous night, and, by the looks of it, both of them were feeling it too. Despite how fast they healed, they couldn't be 100 percent yet.

"Are you okay, Neko?" Yugi asked. Selene nodded and tried to stand up. She managed to do so with the help of the wall behind her, but the second she let go she fell forward and was caught by Damien. She winced slightly when he wrapped his arms around her waist and put pressure on her bruise.

Damien quickly turned to Yugi and said, "Yugi go inside and get the others. I'll wait at the limo. Tell them to hurry. We need to get out of here now, who knows how many others this group had and if they saw them with us they might be in danger too."

Yugi nodded and headed off to do as Damien had said. When he got back inside he saw that Ryou and Bakura had joined Yami at the table. He quickly rushed over to them and said, "Guys, we have to leave now. Something happened and Damien's waiting at the car with Selene. Can you help me round up the others? I promised I'll explain everything once we get out of here."

Yami, looking confused and concerned, nodded and headed off. Yugi turned to the other two and said, "Will you two go out to the car that way we'll all end up in the same place." Ryou nodded and grabbed Bakura's arm, dragging him outside.

Yugi set off to join Yami in his hunt. When he found him he was talking to Seto and Jo who had both just nodded and headed off. Yugi walked up to him and used the link so they could hear each other without having to shout /Have you found Malik, Marik, Jason, Jake, or Derek yet?/

//I've found Jason, Jake, and Derek but not Malik and Marik. If we split up we can contact the other if we find them.// Yami replied and Yugi nodded. They both headed off in different directions to try and find the two missing Egyptians.

Yugi was the first to find them. They had headed back over to the table that they'd been sitting at. Yugi contacted Yami and said /I found them. You head out to the limo and I'll be out with them in a minute./

//Okay Hikari. Watch yourself, I don't know what happened yet but I know that if your worried it's with good reason.// and with that Yami shut off the link and Yugi headed over to the table he'd been sitting at not 20 minutes ago.

"Hey Yugi, what's wrong?" Malik asked, having been the first of the two to spot him.

"We need to leave now. The others are already at the car, they're just waiting for us." Yugi said.

"Why do we need to leave, what happened?" Malik asked, concerned. He had grown closer to the group after the Battle City incident. And recently he'd been able to move to Domino with his sister Ishizu. He and, almost surprisingly, Marik and made friends with the Venators. They weren't sure what it was, but the group just seemed to get their attention. It was probably the random visits at almost anytime. (AN: Out of the YGO crew only Yami and Yugi currently know exactly what the Venators are, the others just think that they're a strange and friendly group of people that Yugi's made friends with.)

"I'll explain everything when we're away from here now c'mon." Yugi said and grabbed the arms of the two blondes and dragged them out of the chairs. Then he let go and they followed him out to the car.

The sight that met them was a strange one. Damien was half-supporting Selene with Jason looking at the bruise on her side and the now bandaged gash on her arm. Jake was currently trying to deal with a very worried Ryou and Jo with Bakura being no help what so ever and Derek was trying to convince Seto not to call an ambulance or drive them to the hospital right away. By the looks of things Seto was being very stubborn and the worries of the others were only adding to his case. Yugi stepped up to stop Derek forcefully taking the cell phone out of Seto's grasp.

"Yugi, finally. Will you tell your friends that we need to get Selene to the hospital now." Seto said when he caught sight of the tri-haired teen.

"Actually, first we need to get to my house. I promise we'll explain everything there. There is a reason we can't go to the hospital and you'll understand it very soon." Everyone except Yami and the Venators looked shocked. They'd expected him to side with Seto and them to try and convince the others to take Selene to a hospital. Seto was about to argue some more, but, seeing to determined and stubborn look in Yugi's eyes, he knew it would be futile so he closed his cell phone and put it in one of his jean pockets. He opened the door and Damien helped Selene in before getting in himself, shortly followed by Jason, Jake, and Derek. Seto, Jo, Yugi, and Yami took the row in front of them and Marik, Malik, Ryou, and Bakura got into the one behind. Seto told the driver where to head and soon they were on their way.

After another tense 15 minutes they arrived at the Game Shop and everyone got out, Damien helping Selene, and Yugi unlocked the doors and let everyone in. After relocking the door he headed to the bathroom and came out with the first aid kit, knowing that they'd need it by the looks of things.

With a grateful look at Yugi, Jason took the kit and set about the task of cleaning and bandaging Selene's arm. When he looked at the bruise again he said, "I need an ice pack to reduce the swelling as much as possible."

"Is it very bad?" Yugi asked. If he'd actually had a close look he might've been able to tell, but he hadn't yet so he had to rely on others.

"It's not bad at all. It's fractured at the worst, but it's probably only bruised. Don't worry." Selene said before Jason, in her opinion, could make things any worse. She knew her body better than others and could usually tell the extent of her own injuries.

"All the same, I'd like to reduce the swelling as much as possible." Damien said and Selene sighed, knowing that she was outnumbered. Well, at least they hadn't taken her to the hospital.

Yami had gone into the kitchen when Jason had first asked and now came back in with an ice pack wrapped in a towel. Jason took it with a grateful nod and used some bandages to strap it to Selene's side. She winced slightly but said nothing. Finally everybody settled down and silence fell over the group.

"So," Ryou said, finally breaking the silence, "would you mind explaining what happened over at the club and why we couldn't take Selene to the hospital?"

The others, who didn't already know, nodded in agreement and Yugi sighed, knowing he'd have to explain otherwise they'd never let it rest.

"Okay then, but where should I start?" he said.

Jake then said, "It would probably be best to start at the VERY beginning that way they all know exactly what's going on."

Yugi nodded and turned to the rest saying, "You all know the basic gist of how Selene and I met, right?" after receiving nods all around he continued, "Well, then I should start about ten years ago, when Selene ran away from her home. Selene do you want to tell this part or should I?"

"I'll tell, it is my story after all." Selene said and fell silent for a moment before saying, "To understand why I ran away and made the choices I did and didn't then first you'd have to understand my past. As you know I lived in Saika City with Yugi. What you didn't know was that my home life was as bad as his. My father was a drunk, and a violent one at that. He had been since my mother died giving birth to me, probably because she knew she probably would die and hadn't told him. Anyway, up until the time I could walk the only thing that happened was that I was ignored. When I could walk I was forced to do all the chores around the pigsty we called a house under threat of a severe beating, and sometimes he'd just beat me for the heck of it.

"Well, as you know I helped Yugi escape to his grandpa and one year after that I ran away. I had very little money and nowhere to go, but I had to escape. Fortunately for me I ran into someone who could help me. Evidently she seen me and recognized my talent. She confronted my and for reasons I even now don't understand I actually listened. She told me that she was a member of a group called the Venators and that they were looking for people to join and help them. I agreed and that's how I met Damien, Jake, Jason, and Derek, they arrived two years after I did. It's also thanks to that group that I saw Yugi again three years ago."

Everyone, even those who didn't now what it was, noticed that she left out a big part of the story but decided not to ask just yet. Then Marik asked the question they were all thinking. "Just what are the Venators?"

Derek sighed and took his turn to talk. "The Venators are….." he paused before continuing, "well, there really isn't a nice way to put this so I'll just say that the Venators are what you'd call thieves. Though we're not your common type of thieves. We work with other teams of people and we steal back what has been illegally or unfairly taken and give back to its original or rightful owners. In general we're what you'd call a modern-day Robin Hood."

"Three years ago they'd come here on a vacation that they'd received. You know what happened during that time, but what you didn't know was that when I left with them I also joined them and helped them on their missions. It was that that brought us back to Domino again a year ago. We had been ordered to steal back the Starlight Gem. We eventually managed to but by that time I had made my decision to stay here and you all know the rest." Yugi said. He particularly liked the looks on everyone's faces when he mentioned that he, too, had been a thief. He wished he had a camera.

Jake finished them up by saying, "And since then we've visited whenever we could, and even tried to get more missions that were around this area."

"So, the reason you can't go to the hospital is because you don't have any medical records and could get asked some awkward questions, am I right?" Seto said and Selene nodded. "But that still doesn't explain exactly what happened to you in the first place."

"Well," Yugi said, "it might've been a normal mugging, but they weren't only asking for your necklace, they also wanted you to come with them."

Selene shook her head and said, "No, it wasn't. Those guys that attacked me were trained and pretty well at that. But I still don't understand why they wanted my necklace in particular, all I knew was that I couldn't give it to them. Not only is it precious to me, but it was also just a strange feeling that something bad would happen if I did."

"Could it possibly have something to do with the book?" Damien asked from behind her.

"Book?" Jo asked.

"It has to do with the mission we have. We had to steal back an Ancient Egyptian spell book and managed to but we've been a target for some strange force since then. We also received a note which is why we came here in the first place." Jason said, seeing the question in everyone else's eyes too.

"I'll go get the book and the note," Jake said before walking upstairs. He came down a second later carrying a heavy, old looking book in his arms with a piece of notebook paper on top. He laid it down and for the first time everyone got a really good look at the cover.

It seemed to be made of solid gold and had the eye of Horus stamped onto the cover. There was also a design of different shapes around the edges that weren't hieroglyphics. Yugi reached down to try and pry the cover open only to find that he couldn't budge it.

"We've already tried that. It won't open and there's only one lock. But we couldn't find any key what so ever, nor a key hole." Damien said.

Yugi sighed and studied the cover. For some reason his eyes kept straying to one of the crescent moon shapes on the outer edge. Something about it seemed familiar, but where had he seen the design engraved into the shaped before. Suddenly something clicked. He turned to Selene and said, "Hey, Selene, where did you get that necklace?"

Selene looked startled at his sudden question but answered all the same. "I got it when I visited by mom's mom it Cairo soon after I ran away from home. My grandma gave it to me, said it was my mom's. She'd planned to adopt me herself, but she died of heart failure not long after." She said. Suddenly her eyes lit up and she seemed to have come to the same conclusion as Yugi.

Selene stood up, took off her chocker and took the pendent off the leather chord. Everyone watched as she handed it to Yugi who put it into the shape he'd been staring at earlier. It was a perfect fit. The lock clicked and slowly he opened the book.

TBC…..

AN: So, what do you think? Please read and review, I appreciate any and all comments, criticisms, and suggestions. Thanks!