Chapter two! Bakura has entered the story. Happy days….maybe. Anywho enjoy!!!

'flashback' 

/inner voice/ 

"normal speech" 

Read and review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Tortured Screams Chap. Two: Judgment

Bakura sat huddled behind a rock warming his hands by the dim fire. There was no moon this black night. For seven months he had walked. For seven months he had but one goal in mind. Never stopping, never resting, he walked with a purpose. Which direction? Was it to the East, West? He didn't know for there was no star to guide his direction. The only thing guiding his way was the black smoke that billowed out of the desolate land. He was heading toward the fires of the eternally damned. The exact place the pharaoh was being kept. The exact place where the man was mercilessly being tortured.

Leaning back Bakura sighed running a dirtied hand through his hair. Why was he doing this? Why did he care? The pharaoh was none of his business. He chose his fate. It was his own damn fault.

/You forced that fate upon him, Bakura. In truth it was your fault. / Bakura growled at the voice in his head.

"It was still his choice." Bakura shot back defensively. "He could have…"

/Let his people die? That's a weak argument. / The inner voice replied.

"Shut up." Bakura grumbled. "It was his choice. He made his decision."

/And yet you still sit here. / His conscious spoke. Bakura didn't answer for a while. Why was he here? He glared at the dying embers of his fire.

"I want answers." He whispered. "Why subject himself to that and let me roam free? I deserve that fate. He should be living with the Gods." Bakura peered at the symbol that was engraved in the palm of his hand. There were words of magic printed in a circular pattern. In the middle of this ring was the symbol of the ahnk. The symbol of rebirth.

"Your soul has been sentenced, Bakura. You will inhabit the underworld until the day of your rebirth." The spirit of judgment spoke. His voice boomed across the room like thunder. "To seal your fate you will be marked."

The spirit of judgment directed toward a thin woman. Bakura gasped at the sight of her. Her hair was golden and fell to her hips. Her face was long and pointed, her eyes slanted. When she walked she moved with such a grace that Bakura swore she wasn't touching the ground. Kneeling down she grabbed his wrist firmly but gently. He didn't try and pull away. He was so entranced with her beauty that he nearly forgot what was going on. Looking straight into Bakura's eyes she began to whisper words of magic. They flowed from her lips like soft notes from a flute. Bakura felt himself become drowsy. His eyelids began to slide shut and his body began to relax. All of a sudden, he felt a sharp pain shoot up his hand. He gritted his teeth to keep from crying out. But as soon as the pain had come it was gone. The spirit let go and she walked slowly back to her seat. Bakura looked down and saw the mark.

"Cassandra Goddess of Rebirth has sealed your fate. Judgment has been passed."

"Why am I being give a second chance?" The voice in his head did not answer as Bakura continued to solemnly muse over his situation. Suddenly, an anguished scream pierced the night air causing Bakura to leap to his feet startled. "What the hell!" he cried.

Unsheathing his dagger he listened trying to locate the scream. Another rang out, this one worse than the last. His gaze was immediately directed towards the jet of smoke. Fire mixed with the blackness making the horizon a sickly red. The light pulsed like a beating heart in a steady rhythm. Bakura's hands shook as he stared into its depths. Fear began to engulf his body causing him to tremble almost convulsively. It made him want to crawl back behind the rock and curl in a ball. Drums, sickly gruesome drums, beat creating a music that was consumed with pure evil.

The screams kept coming, each worse than the last. The music of the drums and the screams ripped harshly at Bakura's mind. He wanted to go insane with fear. A burst of fire exploded into the air taking form of a gaping mouth with jagged teeth. A scream so gruesome and so full of anguish cried out so loudly and so full of emotion that you could almost see the creature being ripped to shreds. Just as Bakura's feet were ready to take flight it was finished. The red glow and the fiery mouth disappeared along with the fear and tortured screams. The beating of the drums faded away until Bakura was only listening to the beating of his own heart.

/A soul has been lost. / The voice whispered. /That will soon be the pharaoh's fate. / Bakura continued to stare at the black smoke. The land sunk back into darkness like it had never been disturbed. Silence fell and the only sound that could be heard was Bakura's heavy breathing and the cackling of the fire. His destination was only two days away.

Yami slowly opened his eyes. His body hung limply off the stone piece of debris. His physical wounds had healed, but not the mental ones. Twisting his head to each side he looked for any presence of the demon. He wasn't there…yet. Fear gripped at his heart threatening to send the poor pharaoh into a state of panic. Closing his eyes he took a deep breath and tried to calm his thoughts. Conjuring up an image of his hikari he attempted to remember. He could only make up fragments of his light. Yugi's radiant smile was broken and fragmented; his innocent air was only a blur. Yami's eyes began to tear. He was forgetting.

He tried to think of anything that had ever made him happy, but the only thoughts he could come up with were sharp claws racking across his body, a forked tongue whispering horrible thoughts into his ear, and sharp teeth biting into his flesh.

Pitiful sobs racked his body. Fear had finally consumed him and the light was fading away. He was breaking. Soon his soul would shatter and he would be forever lost. Thoughts of the upcoming terror invaded his mind causing him to tremble and sob harder. Peering up at his arms he reminded himself that he had chosen this fate. Red vines of scared flesh weaved about his arms ending in a black skull in the palm of his hands. It was the mark of eternal suffering. He was beginning to wonder if it was worth it.

Now, not only fear, but doubt began to cloud his mind. He began to doubt his judgment, his beliefs. Hope had long since left him leaving only a pit of darkness and despair. He was becoming the one thing he had worked so hard to defeat. This scared him more than anything. Suddenly he heard it, the heavy whoosh of the demon's wings. Quickly, he desperately tried to quiet his sobs. Landing not three feet away a red splash of fire rose up behind the demon casting him as a terrifying shadow. Yami quickly shut his eyes and waited for the first blow.

He didn't have to wait for long. Four large jagged claws ripped across his chest. Blood spurted out of the wounds covering the awful demon. Yami screamed in pain and tried to pull away cutting his wrists in the process. Zorc raised his hand and cupped the trembling pharaohs chin.

"Why so sad, Great Pharaoh?" Zorc asked mockingly. He brushed his thumb across Yami's face and wiped away one of the tearstains. "Isn't this what you wanted? To save those people wronged by the shadow realm? Or are you having doubts?" The pharaoh opened his tear filled eyes.

"The lives of many are worth the sacrifice of one." Yami spoke softly.

"Spoken like a true king." The demon responded. "Let me show you something Pharaoh. Were the people you saved really worth it?" Zorc grasped Yami's face, Yami's body jolted as the power surged through his body. Images flashed through his mind.

Images of all the years Yami had missed in his 5,000 years trapped in the puzzle tore through his mind. Yami watched as men fell to the ground dead after being struck with hot lead or large cannon balls. He watched as men exploded into pieces after standing on a landmine. Yami could here the screams, the cries, the last dieing breath of every person. He saw children walking around with machine guns. He watched women being raped and beaten, kids starving, men dying in heaps. He saw people being hung, poisoned, beaten, tortured, drowned and, murdered. And then he watched the most destructive bomb he had ever seen explode and rip apart buildings and tear through people. Women and children, men and animals alike disappeared as their bodies disintegrated, their screams echoing even after they were gone.

"Is this what you wanted?" Zorc whispered. Tears streamed down Yami's face and leaked through the demon's hand. His body trembled at the images and sounds he was experiencing. "You sacrificed yourself for nothing, Pharaoh. They destroyed themselves senselessly. You saved them from me, but they were more destructive to themselves in the end. The world you so desperately tried to save is nothing but a corrupted, greedy, destructive rock that floats in space. They deserve to be destroyed. They deserved to be wiped out! Or…do you think otherwise?"

"N-no."

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Bum Bum Buuuuum!!!!! Sorry it's a cliffy. I just couldn't help myself. :D

It didn't explain as much as I was intending, but it does give some hints. You'll understand the whole story later on….I just have to finish making Yami evil. Poor Yami. Anyways, updating will happen on a fling because right now it's spring break and because I've got three other stories and so I'm writing as I become inspired. Fortunately this is becoming one of my favorite fics to write so hopefully this one will be updated often.

OH good lord I'm tired….I just keep rambling. Review!!!! I love reviews!!!!

-Tragedyluver