Author's Note: Hello, just a few things before you all get started. First, as a warning to all the readers, this is my first fanfiction. So be warned that the characters might drop in and out of character. Second, as seen in the summary, there will be character death and mentions of blood. Warnings will be posted before any of these events occur. Third, because of the setting of the movie, All Dogs go to Heaven, I turned Domino into an almost New Orleans type of city, which is the city in the movie. If it helps, just think of the side of Domino across the river as a better form of the Satelite from 5d's.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!, All Dogs Go to Heaven or the song, Heaven's Not Enough; they all belong to their respective owners. Anything in between that you don't recognize, that's mine
Heaven's Not Enough
Chapter One
The darkness pressed in all around, piling on top of him like the dirt that rested above and below him. He shifted, wincing as the top of his head brushed against the roof of the tunnel, his eyes focused on the space before him, despite the fact that he could not have seen his hand in front of his face. Instead, he concentrated, waiting for the faint tapping sound.
There! He turned his head, flinching as dirt trickled down his neck. How much longer would this tunnel last? And, the more pertinent question, how long did he have until he was missed? He shifted forward a bit, one hand groping out to replace his lost vision. The tapping continued, the small, faint sounding bringing a smile to his face. "Yes, just a little more to your left."
The smile left his face in the next instant as the tapping shifted back, away from him. He dropped his head into the crook of his elbow, muffling the groan that broke from his throat. Of all the people, why him? The faint sound of two voices arguing brought his head back up. He wanted to get out of here; he had no time for this. "No, your other left!"
"Told you." The whisper echoed back to him.
"Shut up, Bakura." The voice and the light appeared at the same time, the latter flickering out quickly. He nearly screamed in frustration. After what seemed like years trapped in this darkness, he wanted out. He would settle for seeing light again for the time being. The light continued to flicker, its erratic flashes followed by muttering as the person handling it tried to tame it. "Can't see a thing, and the torch is nearly dead."
"We could use this." The tone alone made him shuffle back a few inches. His instincts saved him from getting his eyebrows scorched off as a welding torch flickered to life.
"Watch it! Are you trying to kill me?!" His voice, and the yelp from one of the two people trying to rescue him -although he wasn't as sure of that now- caused the welding torch to be shut off. He resorted to glaring into the darkness until a voice with a British accent whispered back, "Sorry."
He sighed, shaking his head. "Just get me out of here Ryou, before the tunnel collapses."
There was shuffling from the other side as the two positioned themselves, trying to dig up another source of light. He shifted forward himself, confident that Bakura would have something else to see by. His charitable thoughts were stopped as his forehead bumped against a hard, metal object. "Ow! What was that?"
"I don't know. But…" more movement from the other side, then Ryou's face appeared, his white hair pressed flat by an old miner's hat, the light at the front shining directly in his eyes.
"There he is!" Bakura joined Ryou in looking in on him, an annoying smile plastered across his face. "You're a sight for sore eyes, Yami."
Yami growled at the two of them before staring at the object that he had run into. He nearly screamed in frustration at the pipe that ran through the middle where the two tunnels connected. He looked up and down the exposed surface, glaring at the peeling paint in the vain hope that the pipe would figure out that going away would be a good thing. Unfortunately, it remained stubbornly in place.
"…Well, I could always use this!" Yami jolted back into the present in time to see Bakura pull what looked like a shrunken jackhammer out of his bag. Yami backed away slowly, not liking the maniacal look that came over the russet eyes. He was now regretting allowing Ryou to bring Bakura along on this rescue mission. Sure he wanted to get out of this place; but he wanted to live more.
He forcibly held back the stutter in his voice as he tried to stall. "Hey, I think that's a water main."
Bakura scoffed, adjusting his hold on the tool. "Nah, water mains are green. This," he tapped the pipe making Yami and Ryou flinch backwards, "is red."
Yami's heart plummeted as Ryou edged backward. Obviously his long time friend was not going to argue for his sake. Yami turned his attention back to Bakura, the enclosed space and the risk to his life making him snap, "You're color blind!"
"It would be in your best interest not to insult the one who is springing you from jail, Pharaoh." Bakura smirked at the defeated look that flashed across Yami's crimson eyes for a moment. He shrugged, flinging a glance back at Ryou as he tapped the pipe again. "Besides, the paint is so worn off that you can't tell. But it was green."
Yami stared at the flakes of paint that still remained on his side of the tunnel, unable to take his eyes off them as Bakura positioned the tool at the top of the pipe. He gaze flicked up to Bakura once as he muttered, "It's red."
"What?" The rest of Bakura's reply was drowned out by the loud sound of the tool as it started up, followed by the rush of water.
The air was forced from Yami's lungs as water rushed into the tunnel. He was pushed forward by the force, wincing as his leg caught on something before the water pushed him all the way through. He belatedly started swimming with the current, hoping that it led to where his two friends had tunneled in, because he needed air soon.
An eternity passed in under a minute. Yami broke to the surface, scrambling frantically out of the hole in the ground and sucking in a lungful of air. He was pushed unceremoniously to the side as Ryou flopped out, looking like a drowned rat. Bakura heaved himself out soon afterwards. The three unanimously decided to lie on the ground and gasp for air, minds running back over the almost comical situation. Yami was certain it would become one of those things they would laugh at in time. Many years from now.
He was started from his thoughts by a punch to his shoulder, the sudden pain making him sit up with a growl. Bakura glared at him, the man already having stood up. When Yami leveled a glare at him, he simply replied, "You owe me some new tools."
Yami pulled himself to his feet, stumbling for a few steps before managing to settle into a normal walk. Ryou fell in by his side, glancing up at Bakura as the man walked ahead of them, muttering under his breath at the loss of his precious equipment. Yami elbowed Ryou in the side, catching his attention. "I hope that you brought my clothes. It would be pretty conspicuous to be wandering around in this."
He gestured at the bright orange prison suit, watching Ryou's face. "Tell me you didn't have them in that tunnel."
"Oh, no." Ryou shook his head, brining himself out of whatever daze he was in and shaking clods of mud out of his hair. Like Bakura, his hair was white; although now it was an odd washed out brown because of the mud. He waved vaguely at the bushes as they walked past. "We hid them near the casino, because we knew you would want to pay a visit there as soon as you were out."
"What's all this 'we' stuff, Ryou?" Bakura had turned around, carefully walking backwards. "I only agreed to bust him out of prison, no more. You two have fun. I'll be at the house."
He jogged off, leaving a mystified Ryou behind. Yami snorted, turning so he was heading in the direction of the swamps just on the outside of town. Thankfully, the Domino jail had been placed nearby, probably because the good folks of Domino didn't want escapees running for the town. It was good for him, though, closer to the place he called home and the man he wanted to see.
When he realized that Ryou wasn't behind him, Yami turned his head to call over his shoulder, "The Thief is excited about the festival. Plenty of tourists to rob, which means for fun for him. Apparently, this was just a warm up."
Ryou gave a shrug that Yami couldn't read, quickly catching up and falling back into step. There was silence between the two teens as they walked on, the road becoming more familiar with each step. Soon, signs because to litter the trees, arrows pointing the way down a rickety dock to a large steamboat, remade into a casino.
Yami took the chance to duck into the greenery before the solid land ended, following Ryou's instructs to the stash of clothes. Thankful to wear anything other than the hated orange, Yami pulled on the black jeans and the sleeveless shirt of the same color, nearly falling over when he tried to balance on one leg to slip his boots on. Finally done, he emerged from the undergrowth, nodding at Ryou. "Thanks for getting me out of there."
"It was nothing." Ryou smiled at him with a shrug. "What are friends for?"
The two stepped onto the long dock, the rotting wood creaking ominously under their feet. A wince was shared before they made their way to the boat, carefully moving over the wooden boards. Ryou even had to jump, crashing into Yami, to avoid a large gap that had formed when his friend had tramped across the wood before him. Amazingly, they made it to the boat in one piece, Ryou walking into the shadows of the door and leaving Yami to stare at what had once been his pride and joy.
Flecks of white paint were hidden by rust, something that had been hidden before. The entryway lacked the shine that it had once had. And even the name of the once proud ship, shared by the casino itself, Baroness, was nearly unreadable.
Yami placed a hand on the side of the boat, sighing unhappily. This is what happened when he left his business partner alone, everything went downhill. He had once been proud to attach his name to this place, but now… Yami pushed his blonde bangs out of his face, his hand continuing to run through his hair, traveling through the black strands that rose into spikes, tipped with red. "What happened to you, girl?"
Determination rushed through him as he turned to stride into the establishment. He would find out who had done this to his pride and joy. It was time to talk to his business partner, Noa, and straighten out this whole thing.
Ryou was waiting for him, smirking at something that his body blocked. Yami peered around him, his smaller stature making it hard to see. His eyes widened at the sight before him. He must have made a sound because Ryou tilted his head to look at him. "Well, at least the customers still like you."
On a small pedestal, tucked away in a corner, was a crown; his crown. He had jokingly worn it on the first day that the casino had opened, mostly to annoy Noa. Yami's habit of carrying himself in an aloof and regal manner, along with his Egyptian heritage, had earned him the nickname of Pharaoh among his friends, which had later spread to his customers. To the annoyance of Noa, the nickname had stuck around, extending to a few humorous costume parties where Yami had shown up in the closest he could get to ancient Egyptian clothing to play the part of the Pharaoh.
Carefully, like he was afraid it would shatter, Yami lifted the plastic crown off it's stand, staring at the eye that was in the center of the piece. It was cheap plastic painted to look like gold. He ran his fingers over the crown as he stared at the flowers that had surrounded the ornament. The tips of his fingers trailed off the swept back sides, tapping on the very ends of the crown before he settled it on his head, flicking a few of his more annoying bangs back to rest behind the plastic. The move earned a smile from Ryou, the white haired man turning to gesture toward the light at the end of the hallway. "Shall we greet your people, my Pharaoh?"
Yami relaxed for a moment before shrugging on the persona that was associated with the crown, a smirk forming on his lips. "Yes."
He strode out in front of Ryou, blinking in confusion as the man rushed in front of him. A wink from the man before his disappeared covered all that Yami needed to know. He was going to return with a grand entrance, which suited him just fine.
A wave from his friend kept him back as he peered into the room. Yami shifted uncomfortably, leaning backward to look around the other side of the curtain that hid him from the people in the room. His eyes widened for a moment before narrowing in disgust. This is what happened when he was gone?
He hardly recognized the place he had helped found. In his mind, it had always been brightly light and lavishly decorated, the ballroom of the steamboat maintained to look as it had in the glory days of the old boat. He remembered a lush red carpet with white and gold walls, the few original mirrors in the room reconfigured to direct the light from the two chandeliers more efficiently.
Now the carpet was dusty and the paint was peeling from the walls. Nearly all the mirrors were gone, along with one of the chandeliers, the last one hanging awkwardly from the ceiling. Even the arrangement of the floor had changed. The slot machines had been pushed back into a corner, one that the light didn't reach. Only the card tables remained, accompanied by set ups for some games, most that Yami didn't recognize.
The room, while crowded to a capacity that he had never seen before, was gloomy; not the usually talkative group. They drifted from one place to another, some even shuffling into the shadowed side of the room where the bar was; emerging with a glass clasped in their hands. A few glanced longingly at the exit before flinching and going back to their games.
Yami felt his hands clench, nails digging into his palms. The Baroness was supposed to be an escape from the drag of daily life in Domino, a place to forget the troubles of life; mostly because the customers didn't want those same troubles to follow them there. But that had changed completely. Now it seemed like people were as eager to leave as they had been to come there.
A faint cough from Ryou drew his attention back to his friend. The white haired man, nodded to him before stepping into the room. Yami leaned slightly back, regaining his view of the room, watching as the customers stopped their activity. Even the band, which he had neither noticed nor heard, ceased to play as Ryou stood at the top of the ramp that led down into the room.
Yami dropped his head into his hands as his friend froze up. Ryou was good in nearly any situation, but never put him in front of a crowd. He knew that Ryou was doing this for him, because it was what he deserved, it was what they both wanted to get back at Noa for letting the Baroness fall into this condition. But it was equally as humiliating to have Ryou freeze up when confronted with a crowd.
His impatience won out over his caution listening to Ryou stammer over his words. Yami rolled his eyes and roughly pulled the curtain that hid him from sight, his smirk returning to his face as the eyes of everyone in the room turned to look at him. He met the amazed stares, eyes flicking up to catch the sight of Weevil emerging from the hallway that led to Noa's office. His eyes narrowed for a moment as he stared at the bespectacled man, watching as Weevil paused before scurrying off into the crowd. Well, now Noa would know he was back.
He gave himself a mental shake before spreading his arms and shouting to the crowd, "Your Pharaoh has returned!"
Yami expected a smattering of nervous cheers and clapping, after all he had been in jail for the past year and a half. Or had it been two years? And, it had been on questionable charges. Even had had not figured out the true nature of his supposed crime. He did not expect the loud cheer that shook the whole room, making him look nervously at the chandelier that clung to the ceiling, fearing that it might fall down on them.
When the cheers had finally died down, he walked down into the room, shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries with those he knew personally. Yami jumped as some man pushed his way through the crowd, the ragged hat sitting crookedly on his head. The man peered at Yami, tipping his head from side to side, before blurting out, "Ain't you supposed to be on death row?"
Everyone froze at the voice, all eyes turning to see how Yami would react. Yami took a step back, his red eyes darkening in anger. Movement from the far side of the room distracted him from the fury that he was prepared to direct at the man. Weevil was running through the shadows, heading for Noa's office. Yami sneered before glancing back at the man.
Carefully schooling his face back into calm, he extracted himself form the crowd and strode confidently toward the shadowy corridor that led to the two offices that he and his business partner shared. The only concession to his suppressed anger was the shot he fired back over his shoulder. "No, I'm not supposed to be on death row."
The room was filled with the sound of voices kept at a whisper as the customers moved back to their games, nearly all of them pausing to glare at the man who broke the atmosphere. Yami threw a look back over his shoulder, not surprised to see the worried brown eyes of Ryou just over his right shoulder. The glare he still had on his face silenced any questions that Ryou had. The British teen was a good friend, but there were times when he simply did not want to be bothered.
"I don't think anyone believes that anyway." Yami slowed his fast pace at the soft sound of Ryou's voice. At the bemused look that replaced the glare, Ryou smiled. "You may act like it, but everybody knows that you don't have the guts to do anything that would put you on death row. Shame though, Bakura would have liked the reputation that would have come with that."
That earned a chuckle out of Yami. He gave his friend and light shove before he entered the darker corridor, intent on the door at the end. He never noticed that, when Ryou went to catch himself on the wall, it shifted under his hands and sent the white haired teen tumbling into the passage behind the panel before it slammed shut again.
"I don't understand. I thought we set him up for good." Noa leaned on his hands as he watched Weevil pace the floor in front of his desk, his patience wearing thin quickly. "I mean, we bribed all the right people, even the cops. We almost got him on death row, boss. We were so close to-"
"Weevil." The man stopped his rant to turn and look at his boss, shivering at the greedy look in the dark blue eyes. Noa tapped one finger on his desk in time to his words. "I don't want to share half of this business with my partner, Atemu. We'll have to try something different."
"Do you want me to get the pliers, boss?"
Noa callously threw a pencil at his lackey, turning his chair around. "No, no. If there is anything that my brother, Seto, taught me before he stole what was mine; it was this. Friends must be handled in the friendly, and business-like, way."
"Um…boss?"
Noa rolled his eyes and rested a hand over his eyes. "Go and invite him to my office, Weevil. It has been too long since we have seen our friend."
"But boss-"
"Now!" The shout sent the little man scurrying to the door, opening it just as Yami had his hand raised to knock. From his desk, Noa could see the glares the two sent at each other as Weevil stepped out of the office to allow Yami in. He shifted his chair so that he could see his partner, putting on a surprised face. "Atemu Seti, I never expected to see you here again!"
It was a small victory to have Yami wince at his given name, the only name that Noa would ever call him; he didn't hold with nicknames. He was that much like his older brother in that aspect. The euphoria of besting his partner vanished quickly as Yami laughed, sauntering over to lean against the polished wooden desk. "You've grown since I last saw you, kid."
He had to grip the edge of his desk to keep from attacking his partner now. Is that all Yami saw him as, a kid? He was no kid! He was the one who kept the Baroness running, who kept them making profits. He was the one who had basically run all the other casinos on this side of town out of business through legal or illegal means. And what had Yami done the entire time? He had talked to the customers, mingled with them and brought himself down to their level. He had even let him humiliate him every once and a while.
Before he could come up with a retort, Yami had ambled over to one of the couches that he kept in the office, flopping down on it to stare at the ceiling. Noa found himself following Yami's gaze around the opulent office; down the stern white walls to the lush red floor. The aqua haired teen purposefully avoided his partner's stern look, focusing instead on his desk. A long sigh brought him up from his momentary contemplation of the wood grain, his hand gripping the edge of the desk again as he spotted the hated crown perched on Yami's head.
"This place is alright. Needs a good cleaning and a coat of paint, but alright. You've done a good job keeping her running while I've been gone." Noa noticed Yami said nothing about where he had gone, instead choosing to remain staring at the ceiling. Once again, his partner managed to easily break his bubble of euphoria. "But the customers aren't happy."
Noa shrugged. "Gamblers are never happy. They complain that the games are too easy, they're rigged, the casino wasn't as good as it used to be. Improvements won't help their mentality. We offer them a service and, if they don't like our establishment, then they can leave."
Yami chuckled, rolling his head to look at Noa. "You sound like Seto when you say that."
Noa ground his teeth together at the mention of his older brother. He had done everything he could to distance himself from his blood relation, even to the point of slipping to the shady side of business just to differentiate between the two of them. It was compulsive now to try and be anything but what Seto was.
"But you're right." Yami had roll back into a sitting position, staring at the door as he thought. "What we need now is to fix up this place, get it back to what it was like before. Maybe throw in some dancing girls? What do you think?"
Noa kept his eyes away from the crimson gaze, letting it fall on his shoulder as he stood up to lean on his desk. "I think…I think you should leave."
"What?!"
"You're a wanted man now, Atemu. It would be dangerous for us both. The first place they will look for you is here." A half formed plan had begun to spin itself around in his mind. Noa smiled to himself, turning around to see the dazed expression on Yami's face.
"I was framed."
"I know that, you know that. Half our customers know that. But the cops, they're not too sure." Noa smiled, pretending to think something over before snapping. "I'll do you a favor, to repay you for getting me into this place. I'll set you up somewhere they don't know you, get you back onto your feet. After all, two casinos making twice as much money. We could be rich."
He could see Yami wasn't quite buying it, one eyebrow conveying his skepticism perfectly without words. Noa held back a sigh, too used to Yami's stubbornness to let it get under his skin. "Half of this place is yours, right? So, it'll be easier than starting from scratch. What do you say?"
"Half of all of the prizes."
Noa beamed. "Any you want."
"Deal." They shook on it, Noa's hand snaking up to wrap around Yami's shoulders as he steered the shorter man back into the crowd in the main room. He noticed that all the customers perked up at the reappearance of Yami, the loyalty making his stomach roll. What comforted him was that Yami's white haired sycophant was nowhere in sight. Perfect.
"Listen up!" The crowd quieted down, making a wide circle around the two. "It pains me to announce that my partner, Atemu, wishes to strike out on his own. So, tonight we celebrate his return and departure. We'll see you at the festival!"
Cheers rose up again, and Noa let himself bask in them, allowing the fantasy that they were all for him. But they never would be. People didn't cheer for men like him. They cheered for men like Seto and Yami.
Ryou slumped against the wall that had trapped him in this passage. He recognized it for what it was; they had used a system like this for the cashiers, so the money could travel around the casino without being stolen. There were two problems with his theory. The cashiers were on the opposite side of the room, and the passage was one that he had never seen before. It led to a different part of the aged steamboat, one that he thought had been deemed unsafe for any people to enter.
He pressed his head against the cool metal, hearing vague sounds from the other room. He let his eyes slide shut, hoping that someone would notice that he was gone. Yami would. As soon as Yami was done with Noa, he would find him. But Ryou wanted to get out of this creepy place sooner than that. Noa and Yami could verbally spar for hours.
The sound of footsteps shook him from his daze. Ryou lifted his head from the wall, realizing the danger he was in. Noa had never bothered to hide the hatred for the white haired man, feeling that he was too weak to be hanging around the likes of Yami. He curled himself close to the wall, staring at the circle of light that appeared on the wall opposite of him. If whoever was coming turned the corner, than he was dead.
To his relief, they stopped, conferring amongst themselves. Ryou relaxed, daring to lean out to hear what they were saying. He picked out two voices, recognizing them as Keith and Kemo, two thugs who frequently worked in Noa's employ.
"Did you do it?"
"Yes, I did it." Keith was agitated, the shadow he cast on the wall rubbing as his wrist. "But why do I have to care for that little monster. He's getting worse by the day, you know."
Kemo laughed. "He should be, he's been letting too many of those customers win. Noa will toss him back out into the street, or worse."
"Oh, he knows that." Ryou could just imagine Keith's smile at this point. "He says that he can do better."
He held his breath as he waited for the conversation to go on, but exhaled softly as a third shadow joined the two on the walls. He shrunk back as he recognized Weevil, fighting back the urge to growl. Maybe he had spent too much time around Bakura lately. Or it could be the way the nasally voice set his teeth on edge.
"Come on, you two have a job to do."
"The little brat was just fed. What else does Noa want?" Keith's shadow crossed its arms and glared down at Weevil.
"The boss wants you to get rid of Yami."
Ryou felt cold as the words sunk in, slumping against the wall as missing the departure of the three shadows. His mind worked at a sluggish pace, trying to find the meaning of those words. He always knew that Yami had been framed, but never by who. He had never suspected Noa, one because it was something that Seto would have done and two because he never thought the kid had that much backbone.
He turned and threw himself back at the panel that trapped him here. "Yami! Yami!"
It was hopeless; no one could hear him in the room. Ryou shoved himself away from the wall, stepping out into the passage. He looked up toward the ceiling; he could get out if he found his way to the deck. Mentally, he figured out his position in the boat before sprinting off down the passage, his mind whirling around what he had found out, his feet pounding in rhythm to his thoughts.
They're gonna kill Yami. They're gonna kill Yami.