Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, or any of the characters. Unfortunately. Yup, Enjoy
Summary: Takes place during the battle city finals. Ryou can't take much more of his Yami's mental and physical abuse and thinks there may finally be hope when Bakura is sent to the shadow realm after loosing in the duel with Yugi, but unfortunately for Ryou the ring seems to always have a way of reappearing... ********************************************************************************************************************
Ryou let his head roll to the side weakly, hearing it thump quietly and finally laying deathly still against the floor of his soul room. His whole body was covered in gruesome bruises and cuts, coating his once marble pale skin with blotchy purple and dark red marks. Several deep gashes on his arms continued to slowly bleed creating more blood to the already forming red puddle around him with each sluggish beat of his heart. Letting out a shaky cough Ryou wasn't surprised as he choked up a mouthful of blood and felt it roll down the side of his chin. Every time he dared take another shallow breath his stomach would sear in pain making it nearly impossible for him to get a descent amount of oxygen into his deprived lungs. He suspected his lack of the ability to breath was the cause of his broken ribs, at least they felt broken, and the amount of severe bruising on his stomach was evidence enough to tell him they were damaged in some way.
He couldn't remember how long he had been in this state, or how many more times he was beaten into it, again, and again. The amount of abuse he suffered from Bakura had been endless over the years and it was impossible for Ryou to recall how many times he had actually been kicked in the stomach or slammed against the floor, as there were just too many to count. It had always been this way for him, at least it was as soon as his father had given him the Millennium Ring as a boy. A harmless golden Egyptian artifact for a gift, how seemingly perfect it had been. Ryou could still remember that sense of euphoria he had experienced as a child when his father had presented him with such a priceless relic, seeing the gold outline shimmer entrancingly against the light as he had torn the packaging away from his present to reveal the Millennium Ring his father had chosen just for him while traveling in Egypt on one of his excavations . How soon that delight would be ripped away from him and replaced with chilling horror at the realization of the demon that inhabited his once precious ring.
Since then he was merely a prisoner, trapped in his own body, or in his mind rather. Bakura would always unexpectedly steal charge of the body they shared, no permission needed. Giving Ryou no choice in the matter when Bakura would force him into his soul room, locking the door behind, while he took over their body, doing whatever he pleased. If he tried to resist, Bakura would always over power Ryou quickly in a mental tug-O-war, and when he did decide to resist, his usual punishments were just worse and the immense pain he was forced to endure would make him question why on earth he would attempt such a feat as denying Bakura when it it only caused him more agony and trouble than it did help.
Such events had led him to his current situation. As foolish as he was, he had attempted to push Bakura away as his Yami had done to him so many times before, and take control of his body while they had been talking to Yugi, Tea, Tristan, and Joey right before they would board the blimp . This was the first time since the start of the tournament that the door to his soul room had not been locked while Bakura carried their body around his friends. Unbeknown to his Yami, he was finally able to creep out of his imprisoned mind and take a sort of 'shot-gun' position in the body, being able to see, hear, and feel the echo of what was happening around his physical body, just not being the one in control of the motions. He could make out the shapes of his friends surrounding him. Where was he? taking note of the area behind his friends, it looked like they were standing at the base of a still under construction stadium. But he knew he didn't have much time to look around, it wouldn't be long before Bakura would become aware of his escape and he would be once more be sealed into his soul room. Yugi's words broke through his cotton stuffed ears, interrupting his thoughts
"Yeah, Grandpa told me you were in pretty bad condition. They let you out?" Yugi said spiritedly, taking a slight step towards Bakura.
'Bad condition? Let me out of where? What's Yugi talking about? How long had Bakura taken control of his body this time?' The questions raced through Ryou's mind and without a second thought was able to force an un expecting Bakura into the back seat of command.
Opening his eyes he surveyed the clear faces of his friends peering at him questioningly. 'Oh right they were waiting for an answer'
"I-I'm fine." He said with a smile. How long had it been since he had been able to talk freely with another human being without the threat of Bakura breathing down his neck? The other times his conversations would be limited and any wrong word would anger Bakura, resulting in him taking back control of his body and locking Ryou in his soul room for days and sometimes weeks on end. Speaking of Bakura whe-
'AAAAAAHHH!!!'. The angry cry of Bakura having realized what had taken place broke through Ryou's head from the back of his mind, making Ryou struggle not to wince. He could immediately feel the strong presence of Bakura's mind crushing against his as they both struggled for control. The words coming out of Tristans mouth became clouded the only thing he could comprehend was the moving mouth as he focused all his effort on fighting off Bakura.
'You..little...SHIT!' Bakura screamed furiously when Ryou held on with all his effort to consciousness, determined to put up a fight. His resistance didn't last for much longer though. Seconds later a sensation much like being punched in the face from Bakura's vicious mental attack was enough for Ryou to relinquish control back to his Yami, the sight of his friends drifted into darkness and Ryou's mind succumbed to the comforting black of unconsciousness he was so accustomed to.
Opening his eyes he found himself on his back looking up at the blank ceiling of his soul room. He'd failed once again at fighting off Bakura, and dreaded the cruel reality that he would soon pay for his actions of rebellion. Getting up from his position, he was standing in the middle of his soul room. It was a pretty simple room and held an aura of innocence. He had plain white carpeting, a bed in the far corner with creme colored sheets, a small wooden desk and chair in another corner with papers spread on the surface, and a few toys and duel monsters cards scattered on the floor. The walls were a powder blue, large cracks covering half the surface. When he had first met Bakura the. Walking to the door and placing his hand on the doorknob he testingly tried to turn it a few times, completely unsurprised to find it locked, how it was practically all the time. Non the less, it hadn't hurt to try. Retreating from the lost cause that was his door he decided on sitting himself on his bed in the corner. Letting his legs dangle off the side he let his elbows rest on his knees and let his head drop into his hands. There wasn't much for him to do in his soul room, anything worth doing he'd probably already done multiple time before, seeing as he basically spent all his time trapped in this room. The closest thing he got to human interaction were the little 'sessions' his Yami dedicated to him, the end result being Ryou left in a half conscious broken pile in his soul room. Why was life so cruel to him? Everyday was a nightmare, having to endure the pain was an effort at best. A single tear rolled down his cheek. If he were to die, perhaps his suffering could be put to an end.
The statement stopped his thoughts dead in their tracks, sitting up straighter he wiped away the stray tear, wondering where on earth that idea had come from. He had never been suicidal, though quite frankly it was surprising it had taken him this long for his mind to reach such a possibility considering how long he had endured Bakura's abuse. Would it hurt to die? It wouldn't take too long for him to take control of his body, preferably when Bakura was asleep inside the ring, and grab a knife. How quick it could be too, just two neat cuts across his wrists. He smirked at the possibilities, though that smirk was quickly replaced with a frown when he begun to think how messed up such thoughts were and how messed up he had to be to imagine it. But he couldn't help the small smile that crept onto his face, despite his conflicting emotions, knowing he could finally be free from Bakura.
Distant footsteps coming from the hallway outside his door froze his thought process, clouding his mind in fear knowing those footsteps could only belong to one other person that inhabited his body. Bringing his knees onto the bed and drawing them into his chest he took in a shaky breathe, dreading each footstep as they began to get closer and closer.
"Please, please don't stop at my room", he whispered the silent prayer to himself in a panic. But it looked like his prayers would go unanswered tonight as the steps finally came to a stop and the door to his soul room was slammed open. The door way illuminated the front of Bakura, making him look almost angelic. 'yeah, right!' he mentally scoffed nervously, Bakura was more like the grim reaper, coming to murder him.
"You little brat!" sneered Bakura, as he quickly strode over to Ryou's place on the bed, ruthlessly grabbing a handful of his hair to drag him up so he may face to face. Ryou simply reacted lifelessly, only wincing as his hair was yanked by the roots. Struggling would do him no good now, as his Yami appeared to be in no such mood to put up with his particular defense . "How dare you try such a thing. You're going to regret that little stunt you pulled. I'd thought by now you would have realized you are never to interfere with my plans." When Ryou gave no reply Bakura merely smirked, "No? Ah well I guess we'll just have to teach you another lesson tonight". The smirk was now a dangerous smile and Ryou's eyes could only widen in terror knowing nothing good ever came from such a smile. Bakura narrowed his eyes and tugged hard at the handful of hair in his fist, throwing Ryou to the ground where he lay sprawled, looking up pleadingly at Bakura. Yami only laughed, kneeling down to tower over his host. Pulling out a small knife from behind his back, one that Ryou was all too familiar with, he proceeded to run it across the base of Ryou's neck, creating a long thin cut that immediately began to bleed slowly. Bringing the knife back to his lips and calmly licking the blood off the knife he then knelt down lower so his head was right next to Ryou's.
"We're gonna have a lot of fun tonight." he whispered into his hosts ears, giving a menacing chuckle at the sight of Ryou visibly pale.
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Ryou let his head roll to the side weakly, hearing it thump quietly and finally laying deathly still against the floor of his soul room. His whole body was covered in gruesome bruises and cuts, coating his once marble pale skin with blotchy purple and dark red marks. Several deep gashes on his arms continued to slowly bleed creating more blood to the already forming red puddle around him with each sluggish beat of his heart. Letting out a shaky cough Ryou wasn't surprised as he choked up a mouthful of blood and felt it roll down the side of his chin. Every time he dared take another shallow breath his stomach would sear in pain making it nearly impossible for him to get a descent amount of oxygen into his deprived lungs. He suspected his lack of the ability to breath was the cause of his broken ribs, at least they felt broken, and the amount of severe bruising on his stomach was evidence enough to tell him they were damaged in some way. Bakura had certainly made an effort tonight, of course he would never go far enough as to killing Ryou. Without Ryou he wouldn't have a body to collect the Millennium items, although this didn't hold back Bakura much. Tears ran down his face, dampening his already dirty hair. His energy was escaping him and felt helpless as his eyes started to drift close, the haze of pain slowly fading as his mind give in to the peaceful escape of sleep.
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Yeah, thats the first chapter. Please REVview =D they give me the energy to type faster!
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