There was one major thing about the Yu-Gi-Oh anime that I never quite agreed with. Bakura was the main villain of the last arc, and like all the other villains was not just evil for the sake of being evil, but had a reason for his actions. Unlike Marik, Pegasus and even Dartz however, Bakura does not get forgiveness or redemption. This seems even more cruel when you think not only was his childhood incredibly messed up, but it was all started by Zork. Akhenaden was controlled by the demon to create the Millennium Items, which required the sacrifices of Kul Elna, before Bakura was coaxed by Zork to steal the items in order to revive him. Neither Akhenaden nor Akhenamkhanen were responsible for the massacre of Kul Elna and so you saw them in the afterlife once Atemu was allowed to travel beyond. But Bakura, who was just as much of a pawn, and was eventually consumed by Zork to be merged with him is nowhere to be seen, assumed to be destroyed at the end of the show.

Kind of messed up really. A victim is turned into a villain, and never even realizes the truth about everything. Well, I would like to think Egyptian Bakura was very messed up in the head, but if he had known it was really Zork responsible, he would have wanted revenge against him, and not the royal court. How would he have treated Ryou and everyone else if he knew what had really happened all those years ago? How would he have reacted to Yami once they were both trapped souls in the Millennium Items? Basically... what would Bakura be if he were not a villain? I can't help but think he would still be bitter and cold, but pointed in the right direction could be a helpful ally yet vicious and amoral to those who earned his ire. I suppose something along the lines of Season 0 Yami Yugi would be a fair comparison.

One last thing before I start this story, I'm calling him Akefia. This is just to keep things simple. I mean really, how many Bakuras are there allowed to be before the confusion sets in? Not to mention it doesn't even sound Egyptian. I know Akefia isn't canon, but let's face it, this whole story is going to be telling canon to sit in the back seat and shut up while I do the driving, so even really cares? That being said though, this is still considered just a tribute to the show. I'm not claiming anything as my own, and I do this only for my own enjoyment. Copy Right infringement is not in anyway intended.

Chapter 1: Beginning of the End

It was strange, to feel so peaceful. Sitting on the cold slab of of rock that was the Millennium Stone, the self-proclaimed Thief King waited for the Pharaoh. He knew almost instinctively that the man was still alive, that he was coming. He now had the Millennium Puzzle hanging around his neck, and in the dark gloom of this small sanctuary, the spirits of his long since dead family and friends around him, he seemed at peace. It was a comforting and calming thought, that every action and moment in his life had led to this final moment. There were only two outcomes. Either he would win, and the resurrection of Zork would finally be accomplished, or the priests of the Pharaoh would finally successfully kill him.

There would be no running this time. No fleeing. He planned to destroy or be destroyed. And here, in Kul Elna, where this whole nightmare began is where he wanted to finish it.

So he sat, and he waited. The air would shift occasionally, the dead moving and twisting like snakes around him. They had not seemed as calm as he did. He could only assume the prospect of finally having their revenge was making them anxious. He was long since used to their presence however, and did not mind their activity around him at all.

For the longest time, they had been his only company. He'd watched their murders, seen their skin and their blood boiled away and mixed with hot gold, heard their screams of anguish... even after they should have stopped screaming. They hadn't been able to move on, their hatred and thirst for revenge holding them here, and holding him as well.

So long he'd heard them, whispering to him. He was the last one, the only survivor of their village. He needed to get revenge for them, needed to stop their pain.

It was something he was only too willing to do.

And then another voice had joined them. Harsh and low, it brimmed with evil, but it hissed to him a plan, a means to get revenge. Steal the Millennium Items, use the stone, and call back the dark one. Revive him and let his powers wipe away everything.

For years he'd trained, using the tricks he'd been taught by his family to stay alive while keeping himself out of trouble. He spent years trying to keep from being noticed, just another little small time thief. He cared little for gold, snatching clothing and food where he could. It would do him little good to be caught before he was properly prepared. He trained hard, for years unable to call forth Diabound. He remembered the first time he saw his Ka. Powerful and majestic, it had almost scared him before the spirit had wrapped around him, holding him close and silently reassuring him.

It had all been years ago, but when he looked back on it, it seemed as if time had hardly passed at all. He'd been so focused on this moment occurring, it seemed as if everything else had simply been meant to carry him to it.

"Akefia!"

Grinning, the thief looked up, and saw the Pharaoh striding towards him, and alone no less. No priests to protect him, no Ka summoned. He had to have been confident to just stroll into this place so unprotected.

"I see you finally arrived," he said as he stood. "How nice to see you after your fall into the shadows. This will make my victory all the sweeter if I make you watch."

"That's enough!" the king proclaimed. "I'll destroy you here and now for what you've done!"

"Oh, wait, where have I heard that before?" Akefia mused. "Oh, I know. It was when we first met, and I was swearing vengeance for my village! So tell me, Pharaoh, how does it look to you? Nothing more than destroyed rubble and spirits around. Oh, and of course, this!"

He pointed behind himself, the large stone behind him and now in full display.

"I see you still don't believe me, do you?" he hissed. "You can't just stand the thought that your precious little items were made from the blood of my people, or the dark powers given to them because of it!"

"Silence!" the Pharaoh yelled. "My father was a good man, and you know nothing about him!"

Akefia frowned. This was getting them nowhere. The little king was living in a delusion, and even the proof around him didn't seem to make a difference.

"Fine then," he hissed. "Maybe I'll just let them show you the truth instead!"

The dead around him rushed forward, twisting around the king, forcing him to his knees. The pain on his face was obvious, unable to take or stop their onslaught. Akefia watched hungrily as the royal brat grit his teeth, trying to keep from shouting out in his pain. To Akefia, it didn't truly matter if he believed or not. As long as he suffered, as long as he paid for his father's crimes.

A bright light shot forth, blinding the thief as he covered his eyes. Blinking rapidly, he rubbed at his eyes before seeing a Ka before the king. The spirits had been forced away, unable to get close to the Pharaoh now. Frowning, something seemed familiar about him.

"Wait a second! You!" Akefia cried out, recognizing the priest he had killed, the one had had taken the Millennium Ring from. "Curse you! How many times do I need to destroy you people before you stay dead?"

"My Pharaoh, do not worry," the Dark Magician said, staff in hand and ready to fight. "I will not let you stand against this foe alone. I will fight with you until the end."

"It doesn't matter how many there are of you! I'll kill you all!" Akefia declared. "Diabound! Attack that pesky magician and get rid of him!"

His own Ka raised up behind him, rushing towards the magician and unleashing a blast of energy at him. However, instead of connecting with his target, a dark portal opened, sucking up the attack. The Dark Magician smirked, before the sound of cackling energy formed behind him.

"Attacking me will do you no good!" Mahad declared. "Directing your attack is all too easy! And your stone tablet is will be gone!"

His Diabound's attack slammed into a stone pillar, causing it to fall towards the Millennium Stone.

"NO!" Akefia cried out. "Diabound! Protect the Stone!"

Grabbing the pillar with his tail, Akefia cried out in pain as he felt pain exploding in his skull from a second attack. Panting, he fell to the ground. He couldn't fight and protect the Millennium Stone at the same time. No, enough of this. He was going to end it before this fight got too far out of hand.

"I won't... I won't fail after coming this far," he growled out. "I'll take you out once and for all!"

Focusing his energy, he summoned another Ka, a living shield for the Stone. He didn't like splitting his energy like this, but what choice did he have?

"He can summon two Kas?" the Pharaoh cried out in surprise. "No, it doesn't matter! We'll simply take Akefia out and it won't matter. Mahad, you have to destroy Diabound!"

The battle raged on, Akefia pouring all the energy he had into his Diabound. Every time it seemed like he was close to victory however, more and more of the the Pharaoh's supporters would show up. Energies clashed around the room, shaking the foundations. It was pointless though, with the spirits of the villagers on his side, their powers couldn't possibly match up to his own Ka. They had all been fools to come here when he had nearly unlimited power on his side.

"It's pointless!" he cried out, feeling victory in his grasp. Snatching the Millennium Scale from the air that had been stolen away from the powerless priests by his spirits, he laughed out loud. "You don't get it, do you? I was chosen for this! I'm the only one left, and I will end this! You will all die, just as my family, my friends, everyone fell!"

"He's right," the Pharaoh growled out. "Whether they were evil or not, they were murdered. The pain and anger they feel... it's what keeps them here, what gives them power."

Standing, he made his way slowly towards Akefia and his Diabound, holding his side in pain.

"My Pharaoh!" Priest Seth cried out. "What are you doing?"

"If they want revenge, then let them have it!" the king cried out. "Let this grudge be laid to rest, and leave my friends alone!"

Akefia's eyebrows arched in surprise. Was this a trick? No, the Pharaoh had almost fallen to the dead spirits once. He had no chance to stop them now.

"Very well! It's time for revenge!" the thief cried out loudly. "Spirits, take him and drag him down to the depths of the hells you've had to endure!"

For a moment, it seemed as if it would be that easy. They shot towards the king, pulsing with dark energy as he simply stood there and let them infiltrate his body. The thief eagerly watched, knowing his greatest adversary to his plans was about to fall before he gasped in surprise. Rising up from the Pharaoh, Akefia saw Akhenamkhanen over his son, absorbing the spirits inside of himself instead of the current Pharaoh.

"What's going on?" he screamed. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"He's taking those dark souls inside of him," Priestess Iris breathed. "Incredibly. To have such sway over their spirits when he is so outnumbered."

"But what will he do with them?" Seth asked.

"It is time to lay these souls to rest," the former Pharaoh spoke out, his voice seeming to fill the room, echoing off of every surface. "I will take these wandering spirits and lead them with me to the land beyond, where they can finally rest. It is my duty as the one who allowed their deaths."

"NO! Don't you dare!" Akefia screamed out. "How dare you show your face like this and trap them? Let them go! I won't let you steal them away from me again!"

"Akefia... you do not understand," he replied, shaking his head. "These spirits are in pain, suffering, but fighting on like this will do them no good. They must rest now. They need peace in their souls, and I will give it to them."
"They want revenge!" the thief screamed back at him. "They'll be able to rest after that! It's what they want! It's what they've always wanted!"

"Yes, I know that, but now they can be provided another path. I know you do not understand, but one can only fight for so long. They are tired. Surely you can see that."

"No! NO! Spirits! Don't let him trap you away again! Come back, dammit! I order you to come back and help me! We need to finish what we started! Don't you want your revenge?"

He stared at the dead Pharaoh, swallowing hard when he received no answer. No whispers, no cries out that only he could hear. Nothing. Silence reverberated inside of his skull, almost choking him at how stifling it was.

"They want to go," Akhenamkhanen informed the young thief. "The after-world awaits them, where the pain and misery will finally be gone. Please see, I never meant for this suffering to fall upon them, or you. Maybe in time, the truth will reveal itself to you."

His eyes widened as the Pharaoh began to fade away, taking his dead loved ones with him. Tears welled up in his eyes, watching them go, and unable to do anything about it.

"Don't..." he whispered. "Don't leave me... don't go again..."

Panting, he glared at the current Pharaoh, hatred beating wildly in his heart. This was just like last time. That damn king had stolen his family from him! Why would they have wanted to leave? Peace? He had offered them peace! He was going to get revenge for them and make the royal court and their empire pay! They couldn't have left him willingly! They had to have been forced! That was the only explanation!

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, PHARAOH!" he screamed out. "You think this is the end! As long as I still have my Diabound, you're powerless against me! I will have my revenge, and Zork will plunge you and everything you hold dear into the darkness while I watch your misery and laugh! Now Diabound, attack!"

"Think again!" the Pharaoh retaliated. "Mahad, finish off his weakened Diabound once and for all!"

Akefia couldn't withstand the blast that ripped through his Ka, feeling as if it had shredded his very soul as well. Screaming, he crashed to the ground, blood erupting past his lips and onto the sandy floor. How... how had that happened? Was he really so weak after being abandoned like this?

"It's over Akefia!" the Pharaoh declared. "Return those Millennium Items to us at once! You don't have a chance now that your Diabound is gone!"

"Never!" he hissed out, pushing himself up and crawling towards the Millennium Stone. "I will have your Items, and I will have my revenge. Your empire will fall. Zork will be raised, and I will see you all suffer!"

"No," the Pharaoh said. "This will end now. Now give me back those items or face the consequences."

"I'd rather die," he gasped, pushing what Millennium Items he had into their slots.

"That can be arranged."

Turning around in shock, his eyes widened in surprise. He saw Akhenaden standing over him, knife in hand. Where had he come from?

"It's over, Akefia," he said harshly. "You served Zork well, but he needs one more thing from you. A body, a soul... you will be the sacrifice for him!"

Screaming at the pain of the dagger being shoved into him, it felt as if his chest was exploding. Blood poured from his body, dripping onto the stone tablet and pooling into the crevices. He heard shouting, but the voices were all so distant, clouded to his ears. He couldn't make out what was being said and could only stare up at the priest who had stabbed him, a wicked gleam in his eye.

"Don't worry," Akhenaden hissed. "This is all going according to my plan. You did exactly as I planned, but now it's time for me to take over this little show."

"What... what are you talking about?" Akefia gasped out. "Your plan?"

"Yes. How amusing that this whole time you believe you were the one in control, that you actually would be the one to profit when Zork came back from his long sleep. But it was I that made those Items required to bring him back. I who carved out the path of fate using the blood of your brethren to paint the path. And it is I who will see the end of this little game as the winner, all as Zork ordered me to."

"Or... ordered?"

Akefia's eyes were starting to dim, the room getting more and more quiet around him. Breathing was getting harder and harder for him, but even in the gloom, the priest's face seemed unable or unwilling to fade away from his sight.

"You were nothing more than a pawn, and now the last villager of Kul Elna will be the blood sacrifice for Zork, giving me the power to have what I have always dreamed. Despair, knowing that in the end, you little belief, what drove you to such strength, to such depths, was nothing more than a lie. Zork will take your soul and feed from it, making himself return to burn the world to little more than a cinder, and my son will rule over all that is left, a empire of shadows and pain."

Akefia reached out, a weak swipe at the priest's face, but it was batted away as easily as if he were just a small child. A laugh erupted in his head, dark and cruel before his eyes closed and he saw no more.

#-#

When Akefia awoke, it felt as if he'd been jerked awake. The pain in his chest screamed out at him and when he looked down, he was terrified to see not blood pouring from it, but something he could only describe as liquid shadow seeping from the wound. His arms were being held above his head by something he could not see nor tug free from. Gasping in pain, he shook his head, trying to convince himself it was all a nightmare.

Akefia had no idea how long he was stuck there. For amounts of time, he saw and hear nothing, only the pain keeping him company. At other times, visions of the battle before him was forced into his brain and dark tendrils slowly began to tear at his body. He didn't know what was happening half the time, beasts flying around and fighting a monster, large and dark, the sky blotted out and the land of Egypt burning and falling to the beast.

He screamed and begged, knowing he was screaming for mercy, but it did it little good. His words were swallowed into the shadows surrounding him before they even escaped his lips and there was nothing he could do but endure the show prepared for him.

"Rejoice, my pawn. Your soul is mine now, and I will let you see what you wanted. Truly, revenge is sweet, is it not?" Zork's voice boomed around him, letting him know in the end that it was true. This was his fault. All of it. He'd let this happen.

"No!" he screamed as he shook his head. "No! This isn't my fault! YOU DID THIS! You lied to me! You forced that priest to use my village! You made him make the Millennium Items! You... YOU WERE THE ONE WHO KILLED MY FAMILY!"

"So now you figure it out?" the voiced boomed back in it's laughter. "Ah, but that information will do you little good now! You are mine, for all eternity!"

Akefia fought against it, but it did little good. Zork seemed to have full control of him now, and nothing could stop it. He watched, almost in the demon's eyes as the Egyptian gods fell to Zork, how Ka after Ka was defeated in a vain attempt to stop his terror. There was no hope anymore, and Akefia knew that this was his punishment and fate, to observe this for the rest of forever.

He gave in, his mind seeming to slip away. He was only conscious for parts of the battle, not having the strength to keep going. He felt Zork toying with his soul, waking him occasionally to observe the 'fun' that the demon was having. It didn't matter anymore though. What could he possibly do to stop it? Perhaps it was best just to give up and let himself fall into the darkness. It had him anyway. What good would fighting it do now?

He felt his body being tugged at before he swiped at whatever was pulling at him. He didn't want to see anymore. He just wanted it to stop. Why wouldn't everything just stop?

The tugging continued however, more insistent this time. He groaned and reached out to push it away, not in the mood. He felt nothing though and raised his head to see what was it that was bothering him. If Zork was just playing with him again, than it was getting old. He had his soul, what more could he possibly take from the beaten thief?

He blinked however when he only saw light. He gasped and shielded his eyes, the sensation almost burning after such a deep darkness had over taken him. Shaking his head, he looked again, his eyes opening slowly to the light, gradually fading to let him see. He'd thought he would have seen whatever had been pulling at him but there was nothing, and no one, there. He was alone in a large room, built by large stone bricks. It reminded him very quickly of a cell. He'd seen enough of them to recognize one immediately.

There were no bars though. No windows or doors that he could see. Turning his head, he nearly screamed and shoved himself back into the wall.

Shadows flickered from one of the four walls, licking at the stone quickly in an agitated fashion. They writhed, forming a large circle off of the wall, and nearly swallowing the whole thing. In the middle of the swirling vortex, burning like fire, two large red eyes stared at him, narrowing in anger.

"Zork?" he asked softly, somehow knowing instinctively that it was him. He received no answer, but the eyes flared for a second.

He stared at the monster, unsure what this all meant. Something about all of this seemed off somehow. It didn't feel like before when Zork had been torturing him. He could move on is own, the pain gone, and instead of the cocky and proud demon he'd been forced to give his soul to, there was nothing but a small and angry shadow before him, glaring at him as if this was somehow all of his fault.

"Ah... I see," he said quietly as he sat down and leaned against the stone wall opposite the monstrosity. "You lost, didn't you?"

He felt a pulse of hatred hit him, but only laughed out loud, throwing his head back as he enjoyed the delicious irony of all of it. He wasn't entirely sure how it had all happened, but it seemed the royal court had triumphed after all. "I wonder why I'm still stuck with you though. Hmm, well, you did devour my soul. I guess it's just fate. Well, good. This works out pretty well for me anyway. Because I have questions." He frowned, hating the thing in front of him more than he had ever hated anything in his whole life. "And you are going to answer them."

End of Chapter 1

Okay, here is the first chapter. For those who noticed, yes, things did play out a bit different than what had happened in the anime and manga. In the anime Bakura was turned to sand, but I think this was just symbolic of his death. Seeing as he and Zork ending up merged to create 'Yami Bakura,' I assumed the guy ended up sacrificed to him in the end. His actions were his own, up to a point, but in the end, he really was just destined to fall.

Next chapter, we explore a little more of Akefia discovering the secrets of what happened, the years passing by, and how he would eventually fell into the hands of the young Ryou Bakura.