An AU oneshot. I originally wrote this as part of my story 'Submersion' (which is still in the planning/early-ish production stage), but removed it later because it didn't fit into the timeline of that universe.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.
To Withstand the Test of Time
By: The Half-Blood Guardian
Yuugi has only taken a few steps past the threshold when the temperature of the room begins to drop and the air seems to thicken with a sense of foreboding darkness. He stops walking, the fine hairs on the back of his neck standing up at the feeling, and a shiver ripples through his entire body. Just as he is about to take a small, instinctive step backwards, the door slams shut behind him, and he jumps at the sharp noise, lurching forwards instead. Spinning around, he sees no one there, but that only heightens his fear when the lock turns on its own. He is caught between the opposing urges to back up or to try unlocking the door. The room's temperature drops further, and he rushes to do the latter.
Upon trying the lock, he finds that the mechanism absolutely refuses to budge so much as half a millimeter. His breathing picks up, the beginnings of panic starting to creep up on him. Then the lights all go out simultaneously and his panic grows.
Suddenly, the sense of something moving behind his back reminds him that there's someone else in the room. Bakura-kun is here with him! Guilt momentarily takes center stage in his list of emotions when he realizes he'd forgotten all about his white-haired friend. However, his panic recedes just the slightest amount at the reminder that he isn't alone, and he risks leaving his back exposed to the door so he can turn and face the other boy.
He squints into the dark, trying to locate Bakura-kun. It takes nearly thirty seconds for his eyes to adjust to the dark enough that he can make out the slender outline of his newest friend leaning back against a wall, head bowed in such a way that his hair obscures his face.
"B-Bakura-kun…?" Yuugi asks, his voice hushed with anxiety, almost a whisper. The figure doesn't react. "Are you alright? And, do you know what's h-happening?"
A snort comes from the figure, so incongruous with both Bakura-kun's polite personality and the dark atmosphere that Yuugi literally jumps. The silhouette pushes off the wall to face him.
"Of course I know what's happening, you stupid runt," says a voice, a bit deeper than Bakura-kun's, and almost rusty while somehow giving the illusion of being smooth. "But yes, I'm fine, thanks for asking." The voice switches from menacing to achingly kind so fast it makes Yuugi's stomach flip-flop. Or maybe it does that because he now knows that there is something dangerous concealed behind such a non-threatening face and voice. A little bit like himself and… the spirit.
His eyes widen.
He thought he saw something gold hanging from Bakura-kun's neck earlier, but brushed it off as catching a glimpse of the Millennium Puzzle in his reflection as they passed by a window. If it wasn't a reflection, and Bakura-kun does in fact own another golden pendant… who's to say his is the only artifact to contain a spirit?
"And as for 'Bakura-kun'…" Yuugi's focus snaps back to the other as he speaks. Amused, the figure gives a chuckle that resonates on a frequency which makes every set of survival instincts Yuugi has scream 'danger!'
Suddenly, the area just surrounding the two is illuminated by a sourceless light, if it can even be called that. It is a pale, bluish-purple color, and with the deepening chill and ominous feeling of cloying darkness that accompany it, the only thing that differentiates it in Yuugi's mind from actual darkness is that it allows him to finally see the other teen properly. He immediately wishes he hadn't.
Bakura-kun is thin, almost gangly; there is no denying this. But right now his body is all harsh edges and sharp points, and looks unhealthily gaunt, like an apparition (which just might be the truth). However, despite all this, the form is surrounded by a sense of danger and power.
Bakura-kun's hair looks soft and fluffy, falling over his shoulders in pure white waves, layers and subtle spikes. The hair on this figure is matted and ragged and sticks up in ways that are wild and somehow unsettling.
Bakura-kun's smiles are small but genuine, and soft. The mouth Yuugi is looking at is twisted into an awful sneer.
And the eyes… Bakura-kun's are a gentle, soulful brown, but these, they're a sickly shade of pale brownish yellow, and seem much too reflective. But most of all, they possess a level of sadism that Yuugi has never seen in the eyes of another human being.
There is no way the one standing in front of him could be his friend. His suspicions are confirmed a moment later when the entity says, "Who's 'Bakura-kun'?"
The unease that has been with the spirit almost from the moment his Light met the white-haired boy – the feeling that there is something not quite right – now makes sense, and the spirit curses himself for pushing down and ignoring the feeling just because Yuugi has taken a liking to the other boy.
The spirit knows that the being standing before them isn't his Light's new Friend even before the words "Who's 'Bakura-kun'?" slither out from behind pale, smirking lips.
Though the body is undoubtedly Bakura-kun's, the sense of predatory malevolence that is now rolling from it in waves is proof enough that the one talking is not the quiet, gentle transfer student Yuugi has gotten to know, even without the glow of obviously supernatural origins. There is a second entity inside the body – another spirit! However, this spirit, this not-Bakura, doesn't seem to care for his host's happiness; needlessly frightening the boy's Friend is quite inconsiderate, to say nothing of the dark, non human-friendly atmosphere he is causing. An atmosphere that is having negative effects on the spirit's own human.
The not-Bakura's eyes flare in the dark, even more sickening now that they are glowing, and he takes a menacing step towards Yuugi. The smaller teen gasps and backs up anxiously. A surge of protective instincts, ones only awakened when his Light is in danger, rushes through the spirit.
This has gone on long enough, he decides, and nudges urgently at the back of Yuugi's consciousness, wordlessly seeking permission to take over.
When Yuugi feels the insistent prodding coming from the other end of the link, he almost gives in. Then he remembers his anxiety concerning the spirit of the Puzzle, and holds off. After all, nothing has happened yet. Perhaps the situation isn't as dire as it seems He tries his best to ignore the voice in his head, one that comes not from the spirit but from his own doubts, that tells him he shouldn't take any chances with the being in front of him.
Instead, he fearfully asks, "But then, who are you?" and takes another step back as soon as the white-haired entity takes one towards him. "A-and what do you want?"
"Who I am doesn't matter," the being brushes off the first question, "but as for what I want, well…" he smirks, taking another step forward. This time, when Yuugi goes to take a step back, he runs into the locked door. The other's smirk widens terrifyingly as he says, "I want to play a little game with you."
That's the last straw. Yuugi no longer resists the almost frantic requests coming from the back of his mind, instead welcoming the entity he is still wary of to take over for him. Rather than the caution and fear he has felt on every other occasion the Darkness has been in control, both before and since he first made contact with the spirit, he feels… comforted by the sensation of taking a back seat in his body and letting someone else handle things. Their minds brush as they trade places, and he is reassured when he feels the other's desire to protect him. He has only one concern.
Please, don't hurt Bakura-kun! He begs the spirit. It's not his fault!
A wave of acceptance and understanding washes over him, and Yuugi knows the spirit will do his best to comply with his host's wishes.
The spirit can see the shift in the entity's eyes and posture almost as soon as he takes control of his Light's body, and knows instinctively that the not-Bakura has somehow sensed the switch.
"Ah, there you are," the other spirit says, voice laced with satisfaction. "I thought I'd felt another presence within that pendant of yours. I knew if I leaned hard enough, either you or your host would cave. Looks like I was right." He tilts his head. "Took you a while to come out, though. For a moment, you even had me questioning whether I was right about you actually being there. A little shy, are we?"
The spirit narrows his eyes, a dark scowl crossing his face, but not-Bakura ignores the look. In fact, he seems about ready to continue when he suddenly stops with a bewildered expression. He frowns, his eyes becoming unfocused.
"Hold on… that feeling… Do I… yes, I recognize it. It's been twisted somehow, but… I know it…" He mutters, seemingly unaware that he is speaking aloud. Then his gaze comes back into focus, landing on the spirit, and the entity squints at him for a bit, as though looking for something. The spirit isn't sure if he's found it, but for the briefest of moments, the not-Bakura's eyes widen in unconcealed shock.
"No way…" He murmurs. Then a grin – too wide, too sharp, a danger to my Light! – stretches across the white-haired not-boy's face. The spirit's nostrils flare, and he uses his Shadows to give himself a sharper, taller, and more intensified appearance.
"No way!" Not-Bakura repeats, apparently not noticing that the spirit has seemingly gotten bigger. "It's actually you!"
A giggle bubbles up in his throat and spills out. The spirit feels indignation flare up inside him at the sound. Why is the other laughing? Is he insane? The spirit is threatening him! The entity should be trembling in fear and cowering before his unholy rage, not making fun of it!
The spirit unintentionally pulls back his lips to expose his own teeth in a feral, vicious manner, snarling. For some reason, not-Bakura seems to find his reaction hilarious, and the giggling suddenly erupts into peals of manic laughter. The spirit's already brittle patience crumbles, and he lashes out at the not-boy with his Shadows, barely remembering the promise he'd made to his Light in time to tone down his attack to a non-crippling level.
To his utter surprise, just before his Shadows can reach the cackling annoyance, a wall of foreign Shadows, sentient like his, and yet not his, snaps up to protect not-Bakura.
His shock doesn't last long, and soon he is attacking again and again and again, but the not-boy's own Shadows are too quick, and he can't land a single hit. Finally, frustrated and humiliated at his lack of success, the spirit brings his Shadows back to him, wrapping himself in a cloak of darkness that enhances every intimidating feature he has, and adds a few. He continues to wrap himself with layer after layer until it appears as though his height has tripled and he seems to possess claws and fangs and five large, razor-sharp horns that sprout from his head. He snarls again, and the Shadows amplify and deepen it so that the sound rumbles and causes the ground to shake.
The not-Bakura's laughter has ceased, but there is mirth still shining in his eyes that suggests he is merely forcing himself not to keep laughing. He lifts an eyebrow and wrinkles his nose in an expression that practically screams how unimpressed he is. Then he raises his chin so that he seems to be staring down his nose at the spirit and his angry snarls and useless posturing. The entity smirks.
"Oh, how the mighty have fallen," he says smugly. "I mean, just look at you. Look at the state you're in! I'm really quite astounded at just how far you've degenerated. A once proud and mighty king, reduced to nothing but a growling animal." He shakes his head and lets out a sigh, and his smirk drops into a frown of theatrical sorrow. "Such a shame."
Despite his anger and defensiveness, the nameless spirit can't help but be curious about what the not-Bakura has told him. The other entity sounds as though he knows the spirit. There is no mistaking the familiarity in his words and tone. Does that mean that the spirit did have a life before he was imprisoned within the Puzzle? That he was once human? A king, even? He has no more time to ponder this, though, as the not-Bakura continues.
"I'd imagined that you would've been able to handle the years better than you apparently have. After all, you were such a formidable opponent. But it seems your mind wasn't able to withstand the test of time. I'm disappointed that it's so much weaker than I thought it was." He licks his lips, eyes darkening with manic anticipation. "I guess the good thing is that it'll make you easier to take down."
The entity's threat is clear, and the spirit readies himself for the impending fight.
The End