Chapter 2: Unexpected Return

As the power of his aura surged throughout his body, the demonic spirit rose up from where he was standing. The higher he got, the more faded away the Millennium Ring around his neck became. But that was the ring's fate: ever since it had been sealed away for eternity, its existence with the spirit was no longer present. This seemed to upset the spirit: the ring was his home for three thousand years, and without it, he felt…empty.

But there was no time for such a silly thing like attachment to an inanimate object: the dark spirit had work to do. Looking up, he saw the night sky for the first time in a long while.

The moon was not in plain view; therefore, it was must have been the start of the moon's cycle. The sky was a vast shade of navy blue mixed with ebony here and there. The clouds, a shade of ash gray, were scattered across the midnight sky.

Sighing, the spirit smirked a little bit. Seeing this view was better than the foggy world that he once resided in. Looking to the side, he could see a building in the distance with the letters "KC" on them.

That could only mean one thing: the ancient Thief King had returned to Domino City. Chuckling, he began to fly at a high velocity toward his M.O. But because he was nothing more than vapor, he could feel the wind go through his body. If he could shiver, he would have. But he couldn't, and he didn't let this bother him.

As he flew around, he could overhear a couple of third-shift workers talking outside. They stood in front of a business building and they were both smoking cigars. Overhearing the men, the spirit was able to learn that it had been about a month since he was last on this earth.

Has it really been that long? Then again, I've been dormant for most of the time, the spirit shockingly thought. But no matter; I have business to attend to. With that note lingering in his subconscious, the spirit flew onward.

After what seemed like an eternity, the ancient Thief King's spirit had reached an apartment building. If he remembered correctly, his former host lived on the seventh floor of this building. Hovering around that area, he looked through each and every window until he finally found the room he was looking for.

Bracing himself, the Ancient One's essence flew in through the closed window and into his former vessel's home. Everything looked the same as it did a month prior to his near-death experience. Looking over at a particular door, he noticed that the door was left open a crack.

Going through the door, the spirit saw that he was now in a room. But it wasn't just any room; it was…

Bakura's room…Ryo's. Smirking, the spirit hovered beside the boy's bed and looked at the boy sleeping silently in front of him.

In the one month that he had been gone, the spirit noticed that absolutely nothing looked different about Ryo. He still had the child-like face (but it was definitely more mature than Yugi's, there was no doubt about that), white hair that practically reached half-way down his back, and skin as white as alabaster.

Now.. the spirit pondered. According to that woman, the boy has tried to lock anything related to my existence away. Humph; there's no way to escape the darkness. It's futile to try.

In any case, it's time to make my presence known. Laughing demonically, the Ancient One flew inside the boy's body, ready to make his resurrection a success.

The evening sky cast a full moon upon the world. But instead of the moon being white, it was blood red. Thunder raged this way and that, dancing around the starless sky. People were running around like it was the end of the world, screaming with shrieks of terror.

Amongst the crowds of people, Ryo was running for dear life. He didn't have a clue as to why, but he felt like something was wrong…very wrong. As he ran, an evil laughter filled the sky. The tone of the sound sounded very familiar, but Ryo was too nervous to think about it. Running through the crowds, the young man made his way into an alleyway.

Gasping for breath, Ryo leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

What on earth is going on here? he nervously thought to himself. Suddenly, the laugh returned. Feeling his heart jumping in his chest, Ryo opened his eyes and got off of the wall. Looking down the alley, he saw a building that looked familiar…

An abandoned church lay in his sights, the valiant cross hanging high above the citizens who once prayed there. It was the perfect place for Ryo to run to; once there, he was granted sanctuary, regardless of the presence of a priest.

Running once again, Ryo's muscles began to ache from the amount of strain he had put on them. But he had to keep moving forward.

After running a few blocks, the child had reached his destination. Huffing for air, he slowly pushed open the large wooden doors in front of him. Still breathing heavily for a bit, the white-haired boy walked inside the reception hall.

Everything about this place seemed so familiar to him: the stained-glass windows, the organ pipes…even the aisles looked exactly the same.

"This place…" the boy questioningly noted, looking around at everything. "Why does it seem so familiar to me?"

Suddenly, the dark laughter returned for a third time. It was followed by a taunt: "Oh, come now; don't tell me that you've already forgotten about what transpired here."

Blinking, Ryo slowly turned and widened his eyes in fear. He saw himself. But it wasn't really him at all.

Walking forward from the entry of the church, the dark spirit took the form of his vessel when possessed: a matured face, which made his eyes look more narrow; the same hair length, but with pieces of hair that stuck out off the sides like wings; a long, black trench coat, open to reveal a blue-and-white striped shirt; a pair of white jeans and navy sneakers. Most of these articles of clothing could be found on Ryo's body, except of the coat: instead, he wore a long, light blue button-downed T-shirt, which was completely left open to show his striped undershirt.

The spirit's gaze was locked on to Ryo's body, and he was grinning demonically.

Shaking with fear, Ryo pointed a shaky finger at the one in front of him. "Y-you…" he started, his voice carrying the note of fear with obviousness. "It…it can't be-"

"Oh, but it can," the spirit mused. "And it is. You see, I've come back from the world beyond after nearly experiencing destruction from your little friends."

"What does that mean?" Ryo was completely afraid beyond a doubt; this…monster had caused him a lot of grief and suffering. And now he all of a sudden came back from the dead?

"Didn't you just hear me? I never died; at least, not completely. But I don't have time to explain this to the likes of you; after all, I have a purpose for you."

Gulping, Ryo knew what the man in front of him was talking about; prior to the events that occurred a month ago, the man in front of him would take over his body against his will, and sometimes, without him even knowing. The fact that he could do that was horrifying enough, but for him to come back and do it again? That terrified Ryo.

Laughing nervously, he remarked, "There's no reason for you to use me anymore; the Millennium Items are gone."

"Oh I'm aware of that," the spirit mocked. "But I don't need the Millennium Items to get the power that I desire; there's a new source that I'm after, and from what I hear, it's equivalent to that of the Items themselves; if not, it's even better." The spirit had no idea why he was saying this: he didn't know of anything more powerful than the Millennium Items, but something told him that he should say it.

Hearing the spirit laugh, Ryo could no longer stand. He fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around his body. He couldn't even speak, he was that afraid. But he did look up at the spirit, whose arms were stretched out at his sides.

The newly-awakened zircon aura was blazing around the spirit's body. With his power, he broke the windows and brought the shards directly to him. With a swoop of his right arm, the shards swam from his body directly for Ryo's.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Ryo awaited the end. But after a few moments came, nothing seemed to be happening. He slowly opened his eyes and gawked at the glass shards; they were inches away from his body and were just…floating there. Seconds later, the shards fell onto the red carpeted aisle.

As the shards fell to the floor, the spirit flew at full speed toward Ryo. The boy had no time to react, for the spirit rushed into his body, sending him backwards into the organ pipes with a force strong enough to kill him.

Opening his eyes with shock, the young boy sat up in bed and panted. He could feel beads of sweat coming off of his forehead. Sighing, he ran his fingers through his bangs and looked over at the alarm clock on top of the desk next to his bed. It read that the time was 3:52 in the morning.

Getting his fingers out of his hair, Ryo threw the blanket that was on him off; he felt too hot after all of the sweating that he went through during his dream. He looked down at his body and observed what he was currently wearing: a black sleeveless top and red-and-blue plaid pajama pants.

Exhaling heavily through his nose, Ryo brought his legs up to his chest and folded his arms around them. He then brought his head down to lay on top of the arm that rested on top of his legs.

What a nightmare, he thought worriedly, closing his eyes.

Oh. You thought that was a dream?

Opening his eyes sharply, Ryo blinked and clenched his teeth. The spirit's voice rang clear as day inside his mind.

So that was no dream at all…? he shockingly thought.

I'm afraid not, the spirit replied sarcastically. What happened in your nightmare was reality; I am indeed back inside of you, ready to posses you whenever I please.

But sadly, I can't right now, he explained. You see, since my Millennium Ring no longer exists, I can't use that as a means of possession. However, I have something better than that. But you won't find out about that until later on. Laughing triumphantly, the spirit's voice faded out of Ryo's mind, leaving the poor boy alone.

Flopping onto his side, Ryo tried his best to sleep, but it was no use; even though the spirit was no longer speaking to him, his laughter still rang throughout the boy's subconscious, haunting him until dawn.