Alright, pretty fast update if I do say so myself! Um...hope you guys like it! And, the mini key is the same as ch 2. SO...yeah! If you can't remember, the flashbacks are in all italics (there's one in this chapter.) Read on...oops,
disclaimer: Unless you're three years old, you know that I didn't make YGO...so why am I writing this disclaimer again?
River Fox: I try to make my descriptions good. It's to give you a better idea of what I'm talking about, anways. Glad you like my style!...Stalking me! SCARY (Just kidding! I'll finish my stories eventually (even if it takes 5 years!), if only for you. You're really one of my most loyal reviewers. You haven't missed a story yet...give yourself a cyber cookie . I'm having a really hard time with my RyouxOC as well as Return With Vengeance...but I'll work on them with you in mind! I'll check out that RyouxOC you recommended as well. Thanks for being an awesome reviewer!
And to all my other reviewers...THANK YOU SOOO MUCH! IT's SERIOUSLY APPRECIATED!
"Baka! Foolish Idiot! Stupid, Dimwitted Imbecile!"
The Koe's hand snapped out, backhanding Ryou across the face with enough force to jerk him backwards against a wall. A lamp beside him tipped, crashing to the floor loudly. His face burned and blood oozed down his freshly cut lip.
"I told you to tell me when you found an item! Not jump to the conclusion that you should go ahead and TAKE it! You moronic dolt…You might've ruined everything!"
"Well maybe if you had told me what it was you were trying to do!" Ryou retaliated, standing up and taking a few steps towards the other. He'd sluffed school, ruined all trust of someone who had the favor of the school's teachers and administration, and the trust of all the twerp's stupid friends. And he'd gotten yet another detention for leaving in the middle of the day…and for what? So he could be lectured and yelled at by this 'Spirit' who had asked for his help? And when all he'd even done was something that the Koe had ASKED him to do in the first place!
"No, Yadonushi…" The other objected, having read his thoughts. "I told you to tell me. So I could take care of it! But instead, you had to do things yourself! This is your fault, Host…" the other turned. His face was twisted with rage and his eyes burned brightly. Ryou took another step towards him and hit his shoulder so he was spun to look at him.
"You didn't explain anything to me, Koe. You didn't tell me what I was supposed to do! How was I supposed to know? You told me to look for Items, and when I found one and brought it to you, all you do is abuse me for it! Why is this such a problem?!"
The other punched Ryou's jaw in much the same way Ryou had punched Yugi. His head snapped to the side, and his neck ached. Then the other grabbed Ryou by his shirt, pulling him forward and up so their faces were mere inches apart.
The other's voice was deathly soft as he said, "The problem, Yadonushi, is that you have to earn it. You have to earn the right to use any Millennium Item. And you didn't earn the Puzzle."
Ryou kept his gaze locked with the other, glaring at him defiantly. "And how, Koe, am I to supposed to earn the right to use it?"
The other gave him a grin that bared dagger sharp canines, "You must play a Yami no Game, Host. A Shadow Game. Something you aren't capable of, which is why you must tell me, and not try to handle things yourself."
Ryou gave an exasperated sigh, trying to suppress his anger, and avoid more physical abuse from the other. He could feel the bruise that would be on his jaw by morning, as well as the one on his opposite cheek. "Let me down."
The other obliged, dropping him, but not before giving him a rough jerk. Ryou moved to the couch, where he plopped down, resting his feet on the coffee table.
"So…what do we do about it then?" Ryou asked. He picked up the puzzle from where it sat on the table. He looked at it, waiting for the Koe's answer, and spun it around, flipping it in his hands. Suddenly he threw the puzzle at the other, who's hand reached out and snatched it out of the air. "Huh? What do we do?" He asked again, impatiently.
The other threw it back at him, and Ryou caught it and began spinning it again.
"We need to get this Yugi Muto to play a little Shadow Game with us. It's simple…all we need to-"
"What kind of game are we talking about?" The other rolled his eyes.
Then he snapped, "Don't interrupt me. It can be a game of wits, of the mind, a game of physical strength…a game of time, or a card game. It doesn't really matter, as long as Shadow Magic is involved. Whoever is more powerful, and has more control over their Shadow Powers wins the Yami no Game."
"You do know that all this Shadow Magic sounds like a cheesy horror movie."
The other smiled, glancing in Ryou's direction. "Don't mock it, Host. You don't want to end up in the Shadow Realm…it's not a nice place. As I was saying…All we need to do is force Yugi to play the game. He told you that the Puzzle was his most valuable possession?"
"Yes…but I don't think he'll trust me enough to play a game with me."
The Koe was thoughtful for a moment, his gaze resting on the puzzle. He held out his hand for it and Ryou tossed it through the air to him. "This Puzzle means more to that mortal brat then you know. Especially if he's taken up residence in it…"
Ryou snorted and stood up. "Would you talk straight for once? Who's taken residence in it? Another 'Spirit'? Someone like you?" He shook his head in disbelief "…Do all of these items have Spirits living in them?"
"No, only yours and his. And yes, it's another spirit. He's a Pharaoh, Yadonushi. From the same time period as me."
"So…then you're Egyptian? And this other spirit is the spirit of an Ancient Pharaoh? What were you, a Priest?"
The other smirked, laughing at Ryou's ignorance. "A Tomb Thief, my Yadonushi."
"Figures. Were you any good?" Ryou folded his arms across his chest and looked at the Koe cynically. Then he went into the kitchen to grab a soda.
From the living room the other called, "I was the best, Host. I still am."
Ryou assumed this to be the reason the spirit was so determined to steal the seven golden items. Being a thief of such status, it would be difficult to die knowing you hadn't accomplished your goal. So difficult that he had overstepped the bounds of death, though? Ryou believed there was still more to the whole thing then his Koe was telling him.
But rather then dwell on that, he said, "Why don't you use my name? You keep calling me Host, or Yadonushi. You do know that I have a name, right?…And as soon as you get all your Items, you'll be leaving. So, I'm not your Host."
The other entered the kitchen and retorted in a ridiculing, yet curious manner, "Why do you not use my name? But rather, you call me Koe…or think of me as your Other. I have a name as well, Ryou…and you're mistaken. I'm not planning on leaving. You are my Host."
Ryou's grip tightened around the aluminum soda can. "So then, Bakura, why am I even helping you, if you aren't planning on leaving once I've achieved my end of the deal?"
"Because, as I said yesterday, it wouldn't matter. I don't need your consent for anything, baka. It's just for your sake that you give it."
"What am I even getting out of this?" Ryou leaned on the counter and 'Bakura' walked around him, eyes locked analytically on his face, and leaned against the opposite wall.
"Should you get something?" Ryou remained silent, looking coldly at the floor. "What is it that you have in mind? What do you want to get out of it?"
A few more silent minutes passed before Ryou said quietly, "…Nothing. I don't need anything from you, Koe. You couldn't give me…" He sighed, and then looked at the other angrily, "It doesn't matter."
"Then you and I should get along well, Yadonushi."
Ryou gave Bakura a last glance before he stalked off to his room, in a considerably worse mood for no apparent reason. Bakura heard a slam and smiled. His new Host was entertaining, if nothing else.
In his Room, Ryou sat on his bed. He threw a rubber ball at the wall. It bounced back to him with a dull thud. He looked at the clock, 11:45. He sighed, rubbing his jaw where the other had punched him. The pain brought back memories from his life in England…
A twelve-year-old child with white hair sat in the shadow of an alley. His knees were pulled up to his chest, and his forehead rest on them forlornly. A car passed, spraying muddy water out of the gutter and onto the boy. He scooted farther back into the alleyway, hiding himself from the world. His eyes gazed dully at the ground.
"Look what we have here, Ed. A little lost mongrel." Said an older teen with dark blonde hair, approaching the child from deeper in the alley. He had a slightly Irish accent. "A scraggly little thing too." He bent down, yanking on the boy's hair hard. He flinched away, but otherwise ignored him. The teen beside the first, Ed, had black hair, spiked up in twenty different directions.
His lip was pierced and he laughed before he suggested, "We should see if the mutt does tricks."
The first teen picked up a stick and walked up to the boy, who looked up at him with a questioning expression.
Ed whistled, and then taunted, "What d'ya say, pup? Do you want to play a little fetch with Jackie here?"
The white-haired boy stood up, turning to exit the alley. 'Jackie', the blonde with the stick, tripped him with his shoe, laughing when he fell to his hands and knees. Then he poked him twice with the stick sharply in the side. The boy stood back up, rubbing his ribs and brushing the dirt off his jeans, which had ripped on the knees. Then he once again turned to leave, head down.
"Wow, there…where're you off to in such a hurry? We just want to play with you." Ed grabbed the boy's wrist, dragging him forcefully back to where the two teens stood. Then he saw the scar on his arm and said, "What happened, little mongrel? Get in a cat fight? Hey Jack, look's like this kid must be a troublemaker." He pushed him so that he hit the wall. The boy looked up at them, his eyes angry.
"So this is what you do for fun? Pick on kids half your size?" The boy accused. Jack swung the stick around and hit the back of the boy's knees, and then on his shoulder.
"Look's like this mutt needs to be trained." He laughed. "First lesson, don't snap at your superiors…" Then he swung the stick again to hit him. His laugh died in his throat when the child caught the stick mid-swing. His face was calm as he wrenched it from the surprised teen's grip.
Jack and Ed exchanged a glance before Ed recovered. He made a grab for the stick, but missed. The boy used the same technique as the teens, swinging the stick 180 degrees until it thwacked against the dark-haired teen's head. Jack moved quickly, punching the boy in the stomach. He dropped the stick and staggered, trying to catch his breath.
Before Jack or Ed could attack him again though, he picked up a broken bottle and threw it at Jack. It spun threw the hair, hitting Jack's leg and slicing the fabric. The teen cried out and held his leg, which had begun to bleed. He looked at his fallen friend. Ed was just standing up, his eyes slightly unfocused.
He motioned to his companion, "Let's go Jack…leave this insane little twerp to get taken to the orphanage." Then the two ran off, Jack glancing back at the dirty child. The boy rubbed his arm where a purple bruise was just beginning to form over the scars. Then he walked out onto the sidewalk, heading for his apartment and thinking up a story to tell his father about how he'd tripped while walking…
Ryou sighed again, letting the rubber ball drop to the floor. He unconsciously rubbed his scarred arm, tracing the fine white lines with his finger. His mind wandered, random memories coming and going. When he looked at the clock again it said 3:30. His eyes widened, he hadn't realized he'd been in his room for so long. He left, going back into the living room.
His house was a disaster…it looked like a tornado had blown threw it. Throw pillow were scattered on the floor. The lamp was on its side, and the bulb had shattered. Various soda and energy drink cans littered the living room and kitchen. The coffee table had magazines, papers, schoolwork, and other paperwork hiding its surface.
In the kitchen, food sat on the counter and dishes were undone in the sink. The fridge was virtually empty of any edible food.
Ryou sighed, he wasn't the cleanest person, but he wasn't a total slob either. He began cleaning up, turning on the radio to break the silence. The Koe was nowhere to be found, and Ryou assumed he had gone into the Ring like he had the day before. While clearing off the table, he came across the Millennium Puzzle, sitting where the other had supposedly put it.
He held it in one hand, then took off the ring and held it up beside the Puzzle. He directed a thought at the other.
'Koe, what are the other items?' There was silence on the other side of their link, but after what seemed like forever to Ryou, the Spirit said,
'The Millennium Eye, Millennium Ankh, Millennium Rod, Millennium Scale, Millennium Necklace, and then the Millennium Ring and Puzzle.'
Ryou placed both items on the counter. The rest of the seven items could be anywhere…anywhere in the entire world. It had been chance, sheer luck, that had brought him to the exact place as another item, but he doubted he'd be so lucky again. Did the Koe expect him to travel randomly around the world to find them? Ryou shook his head, this was turning out to be an impossible task.
Not only were they spread throughout the world…but you had to play a Shadow Game to even use the things. And that brought up another point. The Koe had said to use them, you had to play a Shadow Game. But how did one use a chunk of metal? Ryou still wasn't sure he even believed in the concept of Shadow Magic…how had his life become so screwed up?
But Ryou knew the answer without even thinking about it. It had become screwed up when the gang had set his home on fire. Ryou pushed the memories away…he didn't want to think about that. Not now, or ever again. He frowned, and threw the soda cans he was holding into the garbage bin. Then he proceeded to the living room, tidying as much as was necessary to make his apartment not completely disgusting.
He sat down on the couch, feeling a headache coming on. He hadn't been sitting down for even ten minutes though, when the Koe interrupted him.
'Enjoying your little rest, Yadonushi?'
Ryou tried to make his thought irritated, 'I was…'
'Well, I think you've moped around here long enough. We need to get your little friend to play a game with us, remember?'
'Koe, First, he's not my friend. And second, Yugi won't do it. He probably doesn't even know about the Pharaoh, or whatever, that's living in his puzzle. He said he just solved it recently.'
'Have a little more faith, Ryou. If you do as I say, then he'll play the game, I'll win the game, and then we can move on to the next item. But none of that will happen if we're sitting around here. And if you don't make it happen in the next few minutes, then you're going to learn something else about what I can do…and I doubt you'll like it very much.'
Ryou tensed, unnerved by the other's words. His Koe didn't seem to be in the habit of bluffing…So he stood. Going into the kitchen he grabbed both the Puzzle and the Ring, slipping the chords over his head. The weight of the Ring felt familiar now, but the added weight of the Puzzle made his neck, still sore from that morning, ache a bit. He then grabbed his motorbike's keys and the house key before exiting. As he stood in the elevator, the other abruptly appeared beside him. Ryou barely glanced at him.
"So, what do I say?"
The other looked at him smugly, something glimmering in his eyes that Ryou couldn't define. Ryou hadn't yet figured out how to read his Koe's thoughts, though he had the ability to read his, and did. So he had no idea what the other might be thinking.
Finally he answered, "Just let me handle it when it gets to that point."
Ryou glared at him, his bad mood returning. "And how do you plan on-"
Bakura silenced him with a dark look. His mind was already on the unique Shadow Game he would play with the mortal who had current power over the magic of the Millennium Puzzle. There was, of course, the problem of how to convince his stubborn Host that Bakura taking over his body was the only choice. It was a necessity, but Bakura knew Ryou wouldn't approve of the idea…Not that it mattered. There were other ways to convince these foolish mortals who were subject to so many simple things like pain. Physical and Emotional torture were the surest ways to get what you wanted. And it was about time his Yadonushi became associated with the idea of a Soul Room, because he'd be spending a lot more of his time in there as Bakura's time with him went on.
As Ryou sped towards downtown his thoughts kept slipping back to the many unanswered mysteries surrounding 'Bakura'. How had this spirit come to be inside the Ring? And how did he know this Pharaoh from the Puzzle? Why were these Items so important? All the questions made his head spin. Only yesterday he'd gone to his first day of School in this town. In fact he'd only moved to Domino a week ago…and already his life was taking another twist for the worse.
Finally he pulled up in front of the Kame Game Shop. Some boys in P.E. had told him that Yugi lived here with his grandfather, who owned the shop. He walked in the door, which had a small bell attached to it. Ryou held the bell so that it was silent as the door opened and then as it closed. A thought occurred to him…
'Koe, this won't work. I punched him…he'll just tell me to get out.'
'You don't know anything. Just let me handle this…'
Ryou felt an odd sensation. It wasn't painful, but it was at the same time extremely uncomfortable. It felt like something inside him had become unattached. Like his very being had become separated from his body. His hand moved, lifting before his eyes and flexing. He felt a thrill of excitement that didn't belong to him.
'Koe, what are you-' But now even his thoughts were cut off. Suddenly he had no control of his body. It was like he was watching himself from the side…like a dream where you were aware of your surroundings had no ability to change what you were doing. He watched as his own face changed slightly…his features becoming more angular and his hair becoming a little more unruly. His eyes closed, and when they opened they were no longer brown but red.
Understanding came to him immediately…Bakura had taken over his body. He had no idea how…or even why really. But he had, and it infuriated him. Ryou could almost feel himself growing hot with agitated anger. But he couldn't communicate with his other. Bakura's voice entered his mind smugly.
'I told you to let me handle this host…sit back and watch the show.'
Just then Yugi walked down the stairs.
"Grandpa? I think we have a…" He stopped, and his face paled slightly.
"Hello Yugi…" Bakura's voice was different from Ryou's…it was so obvious to Ryou, but Yugi didn't even seem to notice, though his eyes narrowed slightly.
"Bakura…you should leave. Now."
Bakura sniffed indifferently, holding a hand up. "I was actually just coming to tell you that I want to give you an…opportunity to get your Puzzle back." Bakura pulled the Puzzle off his neck and held it out to Yugi who gasped in surprise.
"Bakura! That isn't yours…give it back!" The shorter teen clenched his fists and there was something close to fear in his eyes, and Ryou couldn't help but snicker, even if he was still angry with Bakura.
"I'll give it back…if you agree to play a Shadow Game with me. If you win…then you'll get the Puzzle."
"Why should I play any game with you, Bakura? That Puzzle is already mine."
"Yes, but I don't see how you're going to get it from me unless you agree to play my game. Really, it won't take long…just meet me in Domino Central tomorrow. We'll play our game then."
Bakura, in Ryou's body, exited the shop. Yugi looked flustered, but nodded numbly.
'Well, Yadonushi? Are you ready to see a Shadow Game?' Bakura laughed out loud coldly as he hopped on Ryou's bike.
And Ryou was powerless to answer as they sped back towards his apartment.
Here you go. How's Ryou going to deal with discovering Bakura can take over his body? Will Yugi actually show up for their Shadow Game? Am I sounding like a cheap cartoon yet? Well...give me five reviews and I'll start brainstorming chapter four! And then you'll have the answer to all these questions.
BTW, I have a new story Captive Soul. Check it out! (please!) Hope you're all enjoying my work...I write this stuff for you, so you'd better appreciate it!