Pendulum

By: Neko-chan

A/N:  Birthday fic written for one of my hikaris, White Angel.  I asked her what pairing she wanted in her story, and she replied with a 'Thief King Bakura/Yami no Malik.'  My first reaction?  "I'm gonna kill her."  My second reaction?  "… o.o;; … How in the hell will that work?!  Yami no Malik is never~ uke in ANY of my stories.  And, besides that, he's the darker personality of Malik---he was never in ancient Egypt!"  My third reaction?  "… ;_; …"  But the story got written and all I can say is that I hope hikari enjoys it.  XP  (After all, only for her would I do this. =^^=)  Happy Birthday, WA.  333

WARNING:  Shounen-ai.  LIME.  Thief King Bakura/Yami no Malik

DISCLAIMER:  …eh?  Is something supposed to go here?  XP

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"I dream of rain

I dream of gardens in the desert sand

I wake in pain

I dream of love as time runs through my hand"

-- "Desert Rose" - Sting

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                Many years ago, an old man paused in the middle of his speech and just stared, looking down at his students that were gathered around him.  Each stared back; each was filled with the promise and the hope of the future.  Some would die young, others would join the Pharaoh's army and fight valiantly for king and country.  Some… some had no future, for tomorrow looked as bleak as yesterday and today.

                The man continued to gaze upon his students in silence, assessing them, observing them, weighing their determination to live against the world's set goal of destroying them.  One student caught his eye; he sat in the back, silent and watching.  The young boy's face was guarded, his eyes blank as he met his teacher gaze for gaze.  It was then that the old man smiled---this boy would live on.

                And it was to this young boy that the teacher spoke: "Evil never truly dies; it just festers and rots."

                Cold brown eyes narrowed slightly, seeming all the colder by the short silver hair that surrounded and framed his face.  Teacher and student continued to gaze at one another, waiting for the other to look away.  And the boy smiled.

                "Evil never truly dies, teacher?  Then I guess we'll all live forever."

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                "There is no such thing as darkness, Yami no Malik."

                Crimson-violet eyes glazed, gaze unfocused as the owner stared across the dueling arena at his opponent.  Mahogany stared back, met the other, and narrowed dangerously.  "Darkness, Bakura?  Oh, yes~  There is darkness.  Darkness is a world without hope, a world that contains only suffering and hatred and anger.  This world will be molded in darkness, covered and suffocating in it.  This world will be shown what it is like to be me."

                The yami of Bakura snorted and  began to laugh derisively.  "You won't be allowed.  Pharaoh will stop you long before you could ever accomplish such a… goal.  The arrogant bastard will kill you.  Just think of it---a world where light will reign supreme and all living within it are happy, content with the fact that the night has been banished away.  What no one will ever realize is that within that light resides the heart of darkness, plotting for its chance to revive."

                Violet eyes focused and Yami no Malik stared at the Yami no Bakura, an annoyed expression flitting across his face like quicksilver.  "You claim to be darkness, Bakura?  You just told me that there is no such thing as darkness.  How dare you contradict yourself!  How very~ sloppy of you---will you be paying for your sloppiness later on?"  He smirked and drew another card from his deck, glanced at it, and set it on his Dueling Disk.  Yami no Bakura's eyes narrowed just a little bit further as he did the same, drawing a card and placing one of the cards in his hand on the disk. 

                "You told me that Pharaoh will destroy me; he will destroy you as well if you try to steal the Sennen Puzzle away from his omote," the platinum blonde continued.  " And yet... and yet evil never truly dies, Yami no Bakura.  It just festers and rots, corrupting everything that it touches."

                Yami no Bakura started and, even if it was just for one short moment, his visage melted away and Yami no Malik was left staring at a strange man, dressed in khaki Egyptian clothing, close-cropped silver hair, tanned skin, cold eyes, and a deeply etched scar on one side of his face.  The new person hissed angrily at Yami no Malik, glacial eyes heating with fury.

                And then it was gone; the yami that was the spirit of the Sennen Ring was left standing where he was, a confused expression on his face.  The darker personality of Malik frowned thoughtfully, eyeing Yami no Bakura while processing what he had just seen.  Slowly, oh-so slowly, he began to smile, eyes lighting up with a maniacal glint.

                "Ahhh.  You're not what you appear to be, Yami no Bakura.  You're just the omote for something darker that hides within that Ring of yours."  The platinum blonde paused, the thoughtful expression returning once again.  "It makes sense---the Ring has the power over the spirit and the soul; it would be possible for the original spirit to combine a little bit of himself with his host's spirit, creating something that resembles a yami, but isn't quite... normal."

                "What are you talking about, you fool?!" Yami no Bakura snarled, right fist clenching angrily.

                Yami no Malik laughed.  "You aren't who you appear to be, Yami no Bakura.  You're just a combination of the omote---Ryou Bakura---and the actual spirit of the Sennen Ring.  You're just another surface personality that hides the darkness within!!"  He tilted his head back and began to laugh, violet eyes lighting up with darker-tinted joy at the fact that he had been able to solve the puzzle that had been presented before him.

                "FOOL!"

                "And who is it that you hide, Yami no Bakura?  Who~~?"  He drew another card card, glanced at it, and smiled slightly.  "Ah, well, it doesn't matter, anyway.  I'll just draw them out with the God of Ra.  Good-bye now, Yami no Bakura."  Yami no Malik flipped one of his Monster Cards, activated Swarm of Locusts' special effect and destroyed the only Trap Card that the white-haired yami had on his side of the field, then sacrificed the three Slimes to bring out the God of Ra card.

                Yami no Bakura stared up in disbelief at the god that appeared before him, mahogany eyes wide.  He stepped back, away from the monster, and his cards slowly slipped through his fingers to fly away in the wind.  "Kami-sama..." he breathed in awe, brown eyes still wide and body trembling slightly.

                "Oh, and Yami no Bakura?  No one has yet realized it, but the Ra card has special abilities.  Would you like to see what they are?"  Yami no Bakura slowly blinked and turned his attention from the monster on the opposite side of the field to Yami no Malik.  Yami no Malik smiled maliciously in return.  "One Turn Kill," he whispered softly.

                The scream of terror and pain echoed throughout the air, remaining long after the God of Ra's attack faded away into the night.

                When the light finally disappeared completely and the darkness once again returned to the dueling arena, it revealed a new figure in the spot where Yami no Bakura had originally stood.  The figure crouched close to the ground, but slowly rose, Egyptian-style clothing falling into place as he straightened.

                "So.  It appears to be that you've defeated the spirit of the Sennen Ring and his hikari," the figure began, a sardonic drawl entering his tone of voice as he finished straightening and stood facing Yami no Malik, gaze meeting gaze.  He smirked deeply, expression cruel and expectant as he awaited Yami no Malik's answer.

                The blonde Egyptian smirked in return.  "No, I defeated one of the omotes of the spirit of the Sennen Ring.  I have yet to face him on the battlefield---I have yet to fight him, though I greatly look forward to doing so."

                "Hmmm.  You may regret doing so."

~To Be Continued...~

A/N:  Decided to break up the story into two parts.  Hikari has been waiting long enough for her birthday fic and I feel bad about making her wait longer.  ^^;;  I'll try and get the second part up as soon as I can, though I've been extremely busy with contest fics.  *stabs 'Zoo's contest fic with a spork*  Anyway, like I said, I'll try and get the next part up as soon as possible, 'kay?  I also hope that White Angel is enjoying this thus far.  Next installment will most definitely be longer and the rating will be bumped up to R.  *coughs*Lime!Shounen-ai!Yaoi!Slut~Topic!*coughs*  ... Until then~!  =^^=