"Ow, that pain.

That's annoying.

Why does my head hurt?

Ugh it's really pounding hard.

What's happened to me now?

Okay, think, what happened to me last?

Ugh, why does it hurt to think so much?

I remember I was walking to the palace.

I felt something bite my leg and I got really tired.

So, where am I? I just need to open my eyes and look."

Mahaad opened his eyes to find himself... Nowhere?

He could see himself, but... There was nothing there. Just blackness. Emptiness.

"Aha there's a bit of light ahead of me though.

It's getting bigger, and brighter. I think it's moving closer to me."

He felt heat coming from the light as it continued getting closer.

His body was enveloped from the warmth.

"It's too close, too bright."

The priest closed his eyes, as it shone more brilliantly, blindingly so.

It shone so intensely that he could see the light through his closed eyelids, hurting his eyes until he covered his face with his arm.

The heat began to radiate out more strongly. Mahaad started to feel very hot. Quickly, it escalated to a burning sensation all over his body. He felt as if his skin was beginning to burn off.

He yelled out in agony from this feeling that he would be incinerated at any moment. The pain became unbearable, and as he wished this horrible feeling to stop, it did.

Breathing heavily from fear, Mahaad opened his eyes to find he was lying down and chained to a stone table. He was in a dark room, dimly lit by torches.

He heard a voice. "I see you've awoken. I hope you had a nice little sleep there." The voice chuckled.

Mahaad recognized that laugh. "Bakura! But... How did you capture me?"

"That's right." Bakura grinned and stepped into his line of view. "You remember that prick on your leg. A dart." Bakura examined the Millenium Ring which he held in his hand.

"No! My ring!"

"That's right."

The priest grimaced. "Why though? Why did you take me here?"

"Oh, to worry the Pharaoh. I know how close you two are and I certainly will enjoy the look on his face after I tell him what I've done with you."

"What do you mean?" he asked tentatively.

"You see there's another reason I brought you here. I happen to enjoy causing pain to people. I greatly enjoy hearing people scream from pain, whimpering helplessly and sobbing as they're hurting."

Mahaad winced at that. "You damn sadist! I won't allow you to torment me or my Pharaoh like this."

"Oh really? And what are you going to do to stop me then?" he asked smugly.

Mahaad didn't bother to reply. He began murmuring something in a strange language, channeling his energy to break himself loose of these chains. Something didn't feel quite right though. He could feel his energy gathering, but he couldn't stop it. He stopped speaking but he was unable to stop the flow; he felt himself growing weaker and weaker.

"Looks like your magic didn't work out as well as you'd hoped." Bakura smirked victoriously.

"What did you do to me?"

"You see those chains? Once somebody tries to use magic they'll suck the energy right out of them. Very useful for catching a magician wouldn't you agree?"

"B-bastard!" he panted, breathless now.

The priest stared Bakura right in the eyes with pure hatred. Bakura kept the eye contact for a few moments, staring back. He then started laughing uproariously.

"Boy, you've almost got me scared with that look. If only you weren't so helpless lying here."

Bakura strode up to the magician and grabbed him by the hair, yanking his head upwards and enjoying seeing Mahaad grimace with his pain clearly present.

"There's nothing you can do now, so why not relax and make it easier for yourself?"

Mahaad tried to spit in Bakura's face but missed narrowly.

Bakura slammed his head back against the table roughly which was met with an audible thunk.

"Oh I'm going to enjoy this a lot." The thief grinned as he pulled out a vial of some strange purple liquid. "I recommend doing this the easy way and drinking it. If you don't it's going to get real ugly real quick."

"I'll never do what you say." He still stared with an intense hatred directed towards his enemy.

Bakura shrugged. "Suit yourself."

The thief pinched his nose closed and held his head down as the magician struggled to free his nose. He couldn't manage to escape, and was forced to open his mouth to relieve his aching lungs. The moment he did, however, Bakura shoved the vial into his mouth. He choked and spluttered as the liquid entered his lungs, but still ended up swallowing some of the strange drink.

Mahaad coughed up some of the purple liquid, his lungs burning while Bakura just laughed at his pain.

"I warned you magician. I'm hurt that you didn't take my advice."

"What was that liquid?" Mahaad asked, still coughing.

"Oh I'll tell you sooner or later. For now you can lay there and enjoy yourself. I've got things to attend to."