The Shadow Wielders: Revamped

Complete Disclaimer: Cerberus doesn't own anything you find familiar, she does own: Zane, Jess, Alex, & various enemies. Enjoy the revamped version of: The Shadow Wielders

The Shadow Realm and Hunter

"Who knew it would be so easy to find the girl, Master?"

Alex snarled. ""That was the easy part, you moron. There's still time for my pet to sense us.""

Alex tore his eyes from the minion and focused on their destination.

'Soon, Hunter…very soon.'

TSW

Inside, Alex's 'pet' was a young seventeen year old girl.

Had one been a mind reader, they would have found that she wasn't all she appeared to be.

She would have powerful walls that prevented one from seeing all thought and emotion.

They would also see two amber eyes glaring at them before the walls pulsed and threw them out.

Behind these walls, at this particular moment, the brown haired, blue eyed seventeen year old was arguing with an almost identical replica.

The replica was different in several ways.

Her eyes were a glowing, malevolent amber, her hair a darker shade of brown, and her canines were long enough to be considered fangs. This replica was chained to the walls one would see from the outside. These chains glowed with a dull silver light that brightened whenever the replica struggled.

The blue eyed girl curled her lip at the replica.

"You're nuts." She snapped. "After what you did last time? Not a chance."

The replica tugged at the chains and growled. "We had a deal, Jess."

The blue eyed girl, Jess, snorted. "And you broke your end of it, Hunter. You deliberately injured innocents the last time you fought."

Hunter's amber eyes widened minutely. "That…was an accident."

Jess opened her mouth to respond, when the 'walls' shook and the 'door' that led to her body flashed red, warning them both that harm had come to the body.

Jess blinked twice and disappeared through the door and into the body.

TSW

Smoke curled through the door…or what had been the gym door.

Coughing, Jess covered her mouth. Screams echoed in her ears, making her vision waver for a moment in combination with her headache.

Damn…I wasn't paying attention.

Attempting to focus past the noise and smoke, Jess closed her eyes.

Vaguely, she heard muffled steps, unlike those of the students around her. Focusing further, she was able to discern two separate paths. Finally, she reached outwards with her sixth sense.

Twenty-nine students…

Four teachers…

And three vampires…

Shit.

TSW

Alex was aware of the very second that his pet became aware of what was in the room. She tensed dramatically and her right hand went to her side, for something that was no longer there.

Chuckling, he appeared to flicker and reappear through the fire behind her.

"You shouldn't think so much, Jess. It leaves you wide open." He whispered in her ear, before shoving her forward into the fire.

Jess' eyes snapped open and she 'rolled' in midair, twisting her body to avoid the flames.

"How did-"

Alex cut her off. "Find you?" he laughed. "I own you, Jess. I always know where you are."

Jess' eyes widened with fear and she ducked around Alex's reaching fingers. "No one owns me!" she shouted, running for the door.

The two minions blocked her path, fangs glinting dangerously in the fire light.

"Going somewhere, Hunter?" Alex asked.

Jess glared. "I'm not Hunter!"

Alex slapped her. "Don't speak, pet, unless I tell you to. I've been very lenient so far."

'Jess. Let me out, you're no match for him like this.'

Jess shrugged off Hunter's words and dodging Alex again.

"Foolish." Alex sneered. "You're not nearly as gutsy as your darker half, Jess."

Jess ignored him.

TSW

Miles away, russet eyes opened.

"She's in trouble." The owner whispered, brushing back long, spiky, soft white hair. He looked at the two others in the room.

The one on his right, playing a game of solitaire, sat back and seemed to radiate a royal air. His silky, tri-colored hair lay flat against his shoulder blades and his crimson eyes looked over the cards before him. He said nothing, but nodded to show he'd heard the other.

Across the room from both of them, a dark purple eyed, spiky blond looked at them both, a crazed gleam entering his eye.

"So, are we going to help our run away?"

"Depends." The white haired man stated.

"On what, Bakura, the state of the sand? She's our friend remember?" the blond sneered.

Bakura rolled his eyes.

"It depends on where she is, Marik." The tri-colored one cut in quietly. "We can only travel so far while our hikaris rest."

Marik sagged. "So where is she?" he glanced from one to the other, and growled. "You don't know."

"Bakura's working on it, Marik, calm down." The other man sneered, moving three cards to their respective piles.

"……Sorry Yami." Marik murmured forcefully, as if saying the words was some type of mortal sin to him.

Yami smirked at him, fully aware that for Marik and to some extent, Bakura, it was a mortal sin to apologize to him.

"She's in America. In California, actually." Bakura cut in.

Yami and Marik stared at him.

"How in the name of Ra did we miss her?" Yami asked.

"Well, we weren't really looking." Marik stated. "It makes sense." He stood. "Shall we?"

Yami nodded, standing as well, his game forgotten.

Bakura laughed cruel and unforgiving.

"Yes." He said darkly, voice rasping. "Let's bring the Shadows home."

The three disappeared in soft swirls of darkness.

TSW

Jess bit back a sob of pain, still ignoring Hunter as she yelled to be set free.

The girl couldn't even move, she was in so much pain. Blood poured from several wounds in her head, one of which was dripping said life liquid into her right eye, disturbing her vision. It had been a while, but she was pretty sure that one of her legs was broken and half, if not more, of her ribs were broken and several more cracked. She could bet money on a concussion as well.

"Come now, Jess, just give up. I'm sure you'd make a powerful vampire."

"I-I-I won't." she choked out around the blood in her mouth, and added a punctured lung to her list of injuries as she spat it out. "You will never own Hunter, Alex. We're both too stubborn to submit."

Jess coughed, smoke entering her lungs as she took a deep, dangerous breath, the last thing she saw as she passed out, were three figures stepping around her, not hindered by the flames.

TSW

Alex hissed around his fangs. This was not part of his plan.

He could take on the three yamis, but it would leave him weak and should Jess break and allow her own yami control, he'd wouldn't even stand a chance of getting away alive. His mind raced as he weighed the pros and cons of staying here to fight them and hoping Jess' stubborn streak would win out.

Yami felt the inverted gold pyramid grow warm against his chest and it had nothing to do with the flames around him.

"Alex." He murmured.

"We'll take the choice from you." Marik said, pulling out a thin, glowing rod. The top of the rod was a sphere with small wings extended from either side of it, the Eye of Ra standing out on one side.

"After all, we've been looking for Jess and Hunter for years. She's one of us." Bakura eyed the vampire with a dark glint in his eye. "It would be wrong of us to let her die by such pitiful creatures as yourselves now that we've found her."

##Be careful, Guardian. We both know that our dear Lady's mind is literally a steel trap.## Bakura warned.

Marik chuckled as the eye of Ra appeared on Jess' forehead.

--Worried about me, Thief?-- he asked, before diving into his youngest friend's mind.

TSW

Jess curled up tightly in the corner of a dark blue room, ignoring Hunter's cries and the comfortable looking bed opposite her.

Her door glowed a deep, darkening red from the amount of damage she had taken to her body.

She whined pitifully when a curt knock came from the other side of the door.

--Jess, open the door or I'll do it for you.-- Marik commanded.

Jess flinched but the door creaked open slowly.

The blond walked over the threshold, seemingly ignorant of the deep, bleeding gash on his right arm and the bruise forming on his temple, both would be healed soon and were of no consequence to his mission here.

"Marik." she whispered, voice cracking.

--What's wrong with you? Why didn't you ask Hunter to help?--

Jess winced as she stood, determined not to have this conversation on her Soul Room floor, leaning heavily against the wall. "S-she hurt them…." she whispered.

Marik raised a brow. --And? So have you. So have the rest of us. It's all part of what we are.--

Jess shook her head. "She killed twenty innocents, because they were between her and a fleeing target, Marik. H-how can I let her out again?"

--I'm sure there's more to it than that, Jess, but we'll skip it and go to a similar case-a certain duel between Yami and Kaiba.-- Jess looked away, not answering. --Had you told Hunter to stop, Jess. She probably would have done so in a heartbeat, the blame cannot solely be placed on the Hunter. At the moment, however, you've got more important things to deal with.--

"Like what?" Jess whispered miserably.

-Like making up with your yami to save our asses.- a new voice spoke up from the door.

Jess glanced up.

The voice belonged to someone who at first glance could pass as Marik's gentler twin. Like Jess and Hunter, however, there were minute differences.

The newcomer only had one normal eye. The other was completely gold and had the same symbol, the Eye of Ra, the rod in Marik's hand had, and was glowing, the other was firm, mischievous lilac, not the harsh, unforgiving purple Marik's were. His hair lay flat against his head instead of pointing up in every direction like a porcupine.

He also lacked the fangs Marik did.

--Malik, you should be resting, you know.-- Marik stated.

Malik, Marik's light, or hikari, shrugged. -We're all awake. Ryou's healing Jess and Yugi's protecting the four of us from damage done by Yami, Bakura, and Alex. Not to mention the fledgies who have made it their life's mission to please Alex and turn Jess.-

Jess winced. "I can't let Hunter go, guys. I can't trust her and she'll get hurt because of it."

-Hence, the fact that you're going to make amends. Now.- Malik said, matter-of-factedly, pointing at the open door.

Jess looked at him, and then Marik, and then turned to the corridor.

Malik and Marik flashed from the room.

TSW

Outside Jess' mind, the gym walls were covered in black and purple clouds. The fire had simmered to almost nothing upon said clouds' arrival.

Beside Jess' still form, Malik, who must have taken over the body he shared with Marik, knelt on one side, on the other, eyes closed and hands, positioned over Jess' head and heart, glowing white was Bakura's hikari, Ryou.

Ryou had white hair that lay flat on his head, lacking Bakura's 'horns' and reached his lower back. He lacked Bakura's fierce aura and his eyes, had they been open, were a warm brown.

Kneeling at Jess' head, arms crossed over his chest and the air shimmering around them all, was Yami's hikari, Yugi.

Yugi looked almost identical to Yami, although his eyes were amethyst, not crimson, and his hair was an inch or two longer, coming past his shoulder blades, where Yami's stopped.

The barrier shivered as Alex's two minions pounded on it, desperate to get to their Master's prey and Yugi suppressed a wince with each hit.

Malik and Marik split, shaking off the oil-like feeling that came with it with practiced and long time ease.

"Yugi. Take it down." Marik said, an insane glimmer in his eyes that made the minions falter for a moment.

Yugi looked up. "Are you sure, Marik?"

Marik nodded. "Yeah. We've only got a few minutes. We need to either hold them off or destroy them."

"And Alex?" Ryou asked quietly, not opening his eyes.

"We wait and hope Jess can forgive Hunter or we've got one hell of a problem." Malik answered.

Yugi nodded and with some effort, dropped the protection barrier. It was meant to go up and not come back down, afterall.

The two vampires, who were still banging on the barrier, were thrown off balance, which automatically gave Marik and Malik the upper hand.

Yugi glanced at the fight between his lover, Bakura, and Alex.

Even with the two yamis against him, Alex still had the upper hand.

/Please hurry, Jess./ Yugi thought helplessly. /I don't know how long they can hold on./

TSW

Jess slowly walked down the corridor between her body, soul, and mind. The walls glowed a dark pink, or a light red, occasionally there would be a flash of white as Ryou's healing took care of her body.

Hunter looked up. "Thought about it?" she asked, tugging on the binds.

Jess eyed her. "You swear that we do this my way."

Hunter eyed her hikari. "Do I get to kill Alex my way?" she countered.

Jess looked down chuckling. "Just kill him." she murmured. "And you can deal with it any way you like."

Hunter grinned wickedly. "Get me down from here, hikari."

Jess smirked weakly. "Alright."

TSW

Yami could name the exact second the tide changed, and he would proudly say that it wasn't a moment too soon.

His hand was wrapped tightly around a deep slash mark on his side, kneeling and staring up at his comrade, gathering the strength required to move the last few meters and free him.

Bakura was clutched at the throat, struggling weakly, his fingernails were drawing borrowed blood as he clawed at the hand that held him.

"Any last words, Thief?" Alex sneered.

"Ye-yeah." Bakura wheezed as the shadows flexed angrily around them. "Kick his ass, H."

Alex's eyes widened.

"Hey Alex. Drop the dead guy."

Alex spun on his heel and glared at Hunter, who knelt between Marik, Malik, and two piles of ashes. "Bitch." he growled. "You killed my family!"

Bakura winced as he was unceremoniously dropped. Yami staggered to his feet, wincing as he pulled numerous cuts and bruised muscles, and the wound on his side began to bleed just that bit more.

"The Shadow Realm is my domain, Alex. Still want play?" Hunter murmured, watching her prey carefully.

"The Shadow Realm takes its toll on those who summon it, even you know that Hunter." Alex laughed.

"She didn't summon it, we did." Yami cut in, standing over Bakura. "Kick his ass." He seconded.

Hunter moved so fast that even Alex missed it.

Two thuds later, Alex was pinned against a wall of solid Shadows.

"I'm going to enjoy every. Damn. Second. Of this." she whispered, picking up the dagger that had fallen from the limp fingers of Bakura, a wicked grin turning the edge of her lips as she spun the blade between her fingers and advanced on Alex.

TSW

Hours later, the huge shadow bubble dissipated and the only remaining ones were Yugi, Yami, Ryou, Bakura, Malik, Marik, and Hunter. Three piles of dust were blowing away in the wind.

Three gold flashes and Hunter stood before Yami, Bakura, and Marik.

"You coming?" Marik asked.

'Jess?'

'…yeah. Let's go home, Hunter.'

''Where is home?'

'Where our family is.'

Hunter was silent for a moment longer, before nodding once. "Yeah…. Let's go home."