We finally get to see what happened to Yugi's friends.
Sage: 'We'? Don't you mean the readers? We've known what happened since before the first chapter.
Sage, please. I am trying to create a relationship with the readers.
Sage: Well, do us a favor. Don't.
WARNING! SOME GRAPHIC IMAGES REGUARDING THE DEATHS OF EVERYONE.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Elizabeth listened intently to the story that Yugi told. She was confused. She didn't understand why Yugi said he had killed his friends. He didn't seem like the kind of person to kill anyone, intently or accidently. He had gotten to the part about the letter left by that enemy of theirs. Bakura, was it? Such an odd name, she thought, but she understood that it was foreign, and kept her comment to herself. Yugi was distressed enough, and she didn't want to increase it by insulting his heritage. Yugi had paused after he got to the point, as though he were deciding what to say-or what not to say- next.
"And then what happened?" Elizabeth asked quietly, trying to get the young boy to speak.
Yugi looked up at her with sad eyes. They gazed over to Beckett, who appeared to be asleep. Yugi wondered how the man could sleep considering their current circumstances. It only reinforced his opinion that the man was working with Davy Jones. After all, he didn't appear to be very worried for his life, which, Yugi thought, he very well should be. At the moment, the captain held all three of their lives in his hands..or claws, Yugi thought. He bit his lip. Then again, it could just be Beckett's way to cope with the situation. Maybe that's how he would deal with being forced to subject yourself to someone, by sleeping.
Yugi sighed. He needed to answer Elizabeth's question. He had already begun the story, and he was at the point of no return. He was now obligated to answer her questions. "We met him at the warehouse….."
-0-0-0-0-
Yami stood outside the warehouse, duel disk and deck in hand. He tapped his foot anxiously, glancing at the watch on his left wrist occasionally. It was already 10:15. Yami began to wonder if it was all a trap Bakura had set up. Maybe he hadn't kidnapped the gang and Yugi's family. He could just have been trying to make the two miserable.
The warehouse was large and made of steel. The door was about five feet high and closed. It was like a garage door, it opened by rolling up, but Yami couldn't find a handle to open it himself. He signed and ran a worried hand through his hair. He hadn't heard from Yugi all afternoon, but he felt the boy's worry and fear flood through the mindlink every so often. Yami had tried to make conversation with Yugi, but the younger boy was in no mood to talk, and Yami respected him enough not to force him to talk.
Yami was worried too. These weren't just Yugi's friends and family, they were also his own. Joey, Tristan, and Tea had made him part of the group the minute they had found about his existence. Yugi trusted him, and they trusted Yugi, so they didn't even hesitate to call him a friend.
Yami glanced down at his watch again and grimaced. It was now ten thirty.
"Where is that son of a bitch?" Yami muttered under his breath. He was growing increasingly worried and impatient. He was not in the mood to play one of Bakura's stupid little games. The man didn't care at all about the lives of the innocent. Nobody was innocent to him, Yami thought. Everybody was guilty, everybody deserved to be punished. The Tomb Robber had an uncanny ability to find out what someone's greatest fear was and use it against him. It was how he was able to control Ryou all these years. He didn't do it because he was strong enough too, but because he knew Ryou wouldn't interfere as long as his family was safe.
Yami heard a low rumble and turned around. He door to the warehouse was opening and inside he saw a dark figure, standing dead center in the middle of the room, arms crossed across his chest. Once the door has fully opened, Yami growled and ran inside.
"Bakura!" He barked. "Where are they?"
There was a sound of someone running around the room, and lights came on out of nowhere. Yami looked upwards and saw Bakura standing on a fire escape, smirking deviously. "Pharaoh, I'm so glad you could make it."
Yami snorted. "Enough games! Where are they?"
"Your friends? Why, they're right over there." He pointed a skinny finger to the other side of the fire escape. Yami's eyes looked in that direction and saw everyone, Joey, Tristan, Tea, Solomon Motou, and Ms. Motou, unconscious and leaning against the wall. Yami gasped.
"What did you do to them?"
Bakura laughed and jumped down from his spot, landing on the ground with a soft thud. "I did nothing. I merely gave them a sleeping draught. They'll be asleep until the end of our battle. Now, let's play." Bakura raised an arm over his chest and activated his duel disk. The various lights began to turn on and the gears could be heard turning from the inside.
Yami did the same with his own disk. "If I win, you let them go."
Bakura snickered. "Who said I wanted to duel you?"
Yami fell back slightly, surprised. "You don't want to fight me?" He paused, and Bakura gave no response. "Well, then who do you want to fight?"
"Oh, you know him quite well, I believe. Quiet little thing. Doesn't like to talk much, does he?"
Yami stiffened as he realized who Bakura was referring too. "I won't let you hurt Yugi."
"Pharaoh, I'm hurt. Why do you always think I want to harm someone?"
"Because that's what you do."
Bakura shrugged. "Be that as it may, it's either let me battle Yugi, or say good-bye to all of them." He pointed his finger to the gang once more, and stared Yami down with his malicious eyes. "Remember Pharaoh, I can kill them at any time."
/Yami, let me do it./ Yugi said through the link. Yami was a bit surprised to hear Yugi talk. He hadn't said a single word all afternoon.
/It's dangerous, Yugi./ Yami advised. /I don't want you to get hurt./
/I've been in dangerous situations before./ Yugi pointed out. /This is the same warehouse where I battled Bandit Keith all by myself./
Yami looked around and realized Yugi was right. It was that same warehouse. But, hadn't it burned down? Yami bit his lip. The fireman must have put it out before it did any real danger.
/All the more reason for you not to do this. Yugi, you could've died that day./
/But I didn't. And anyways, there have been plenty of other times where I've almost died because I was helping you. Remember Marik, and the whole Battle City Ordeal?/
Yami clenched his eyes, not wanting to be reminded of all the countless times Yugi had been hurt during that tournament. All because someone was after him.
"Well Pharaoh," Bakura said in a sing-song voice, "I'm waiting. Come one Pharaoh! Let's see how little Yugi fares without you!" Bakura taunted, beckoning with a finger.
Yami gritted his teeth and growled. "This is between you and me, Bakura!" He shouted. "Leave him out of it!"
Bakura laughed. "Do you really think this is just between us? The boy who released you from your prison has absolutely nothing to do with our feud? He has everything to do with it." Bakura pointed to the Puzzle, where Yugi was currently residing. "Stop protecting him and let him fight his own battles for once! Or, are you afraid that he might lose?"
"Enough!" Yami roared. "I will not allow you to undermine his strength."
Bakura raised an eyebrow and frowned. "So, you are going to let him duel by himself?"
Yami blinked. Then, he stepped back. He looked at his feet while Bakura waited patiently for an answer that would never come.
Yugi had enough. He stole control away from Yami, and he heard sounds of protest coming from the spirit, but Yugi ignored them. Right now, it was just him and Bakura. "Alright, Bakura. You want to fight me, then fight me!"
/Yugi! What the hell are you doing?/
/Just trust me, Yami. I can beat him./
Yami was silent for a moment. /I'm here if you need me./
"Very well, little Yugi. You seem rather daring today. This," the millennium ring began to shine brightly, blinding Yugi, "will be an interesting Shadow Game."
Yugi opened his eyes and saw the familiar purple clouds swirling around him. He stiffened. He never got used to the place. Yugi tried to rearrange his feet, but he noticed something was attached to his ankle. He looked down and saw a metal chain wrapped around his left foot. "What is this?" Yugi yelled.
Bakura snickered. "You'll find out soon enough." He said. "Now, why don't I go first?" Bakura drew his five cards and examined them. He smirked, and picked one card up. "I place a monster card face down," he said, "and I activate my rajecki!" Bakura placed the magic card down on the field. "Rajecki automatically depletes three hundred of your life points!" Yugi watched the numbers on his duel disk drop from 4000 to 3700. He heard a crackling sound and saw blue lights coming from his chain. The followed the chain upwards and soon Yugi's whole body was engulfed in the lights. Yugi felt like he was being electrocuted. He screamed in pain, and arched backwards. He could feel Yami's fear and anger.
Bakura was cackling, and then, it stopped. Gray smoke came off of Yugi's back and the smell of burnt flesh irritated his nose.
"Every time one of us losses life points, we will receive a shock." Bakura explained. "The intensity of the shock depends on how many life points are lost. We also get a shock if we take too long to make a move." He smirked and widened his eyes. "That was only three hundred life points worth. Imagine one thousand's worth."
Yugi was still hurting. His vision was doubled and his mouth was dry. His body was having mini spasms, as the contracted and relaxed.
"Your move, boy." Bakura said.
Yugi stared at his hand carefully. He glanced down at Bakura's face down card and bit his lip. It could pose a threat, and if he attacked it blindly, he would lose more life points. Bakura already had a lead, and the game had just barely started.
/Yugi,/ Came Yami's voice, /I can fight him for you./
Yugi shook his head. /N-no. I can t-take him./
Yugi picked up his card. "I play Big Shield Guardian in defense mode." Yugi declared. He set the card down on his duel disk and the hologram of the monster appeared.
Big Shield Guardian (100/2000)
Bakura frowned and burrowed his brow. "Taking the defensive side a little earlier, aren't you?" He stated.
Seeing Bakura's confusion made Yugi smiled. "You can never be too careful."
"But you can be too cowardly." Bakura drew a card from his deck and glared down at it. He switched his face down card to defense mode, shaking his head. "There's nothing I can do. I end my turn here."
Yugi grinned. "You're off to a bad start, aren't you Bakura?"
The demon growled. "Don't get cocky, boy. This is still far from over."
"Of course." Yugi said in an unusual arrogant voice. Yugi drew a card and glanced down at his hand. He frowned as he examined his hand. He had several good monster cards, but that one face down card still proved suspicious. Yugi balanced the pros and cons inside his head for a moment, and then finally decided that he would have to take the risk. You couldn't play a round of duel monsters without some risk being involved, he figured. Yugi picked up the card between his thumb and middle finger. It felt soft and smooth against his skin. Yugi swallowed and activated the card.
"I summon my Beta the Magnet Warrior!" Yugi cried as the small, yellow, metallic person appeared on the field. (1700/1600) The tiny hologram started to do a tiny victory dance, waving around the tiny magnets it held in its hands.
With a shaking, unsure hand, Yugi pointed directly towards Bakura. "I will win this." He said, his eyes looked up towards his friends. "For them."
Bakura rolled his eyes in disgust. "How sweet."
The battle raged on. Bakura proved stronger than ever before, introducing new combinations into his deck that Yugi had never even thought of before. His deck had little monsters, but it was packed with strong magic and trap cards, both of which overbalanced his handicap. Yugi's life points were depleting fast, while he only barely managed to touch Bakura's. With each life point he lost, Yugi's body was subjected to the abuse of the trap Bakura had set. His body was becoming stiff. It was a shadow game, the monsters, the purple clouds, the electric shocks, all of it was real. And Yugi's body wasn't able to take much more of it.
Yugi was beginning to lose hope when his life points were under one thousand. Bakura still remained at a safe twenty-five hundred, with his Dark Necromancer on the field. For the first time in his life, Yugi was sure that he would lose.
/Don't think like that!/ Yami exclaimed. /Thoughts lead to actions. The more you think you'll lose, the more likely it is that you will lose./
Yugi tried to concentrate on Yami's words, but the electrocution had all but fried his brain. He heard it, but it took him a while to understand exactly what Yami meant.
/But../ he began. Even his mind voice was dry and hoarse. /He has the advantage…/
/Has that ever stopped you before?/ Yami asked, sounding an awful lot like a life coach
/..No…/ Yugi replied weakly.
/Then why let it stop you now?/
Yugi had no answer. He shook his head and directed his attention back onto Bakura. "It's my move, I believe." He said shakily.
"Took you long enough." Bakura snorted.
Yugi glanced down at his hand. He had already drawn his card, and only had two cards left in his hand: Dark Magician and Black Luster Solider. Neither of which he could summon. He didn't have any cards out in the field and he only had one card left in his deck. Yugi heard the soft sound of a buzzer. His eyes widened. A jolt of the blue electricity shot up the chain and attacked Yugi. He released a blood-curdling scream. His mind started to go fuzzy. He couldn't remember where he was, or what he was doing.
/Yugi!/ The voice called. It was obviously in distress, but Yugi couldn't tell why. He didn't feel odd. In fact, he felt wonderful. It was as though he were on a cloud. /Yugi,/ the voice repeated, /talk to me!/
"Make your move, boy." Called a second voice. "Or has the great King of Games finally met his end?"
The voice sounded fuzzy as it entered Yugi's ears and he couldn't make it whom it was. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't recognize it. Yugi squinted his eyes but they couldn't focus on anything. All he could see were colors, no shapes or sizes. His hands began to shake and his focus was returned to what he had previously been doing. In his hand he held one card, and in his deck was one card left. The duel disk felt heavy on his wrist and Yugi found it incredibly hard to concentrate.
/Yugi, you are in no condition to continue fighting!/ Yami screamed inside Yugi's head. /Let me take over!/
"No." Yugi whispered in his mind. "I-I've almost done it."
/I was wrong, Yugi. You shouldn't be doing this by yourself! Let me take over and finish him!/
Yugi hung his head and his hair drooped forward, covering his eyes. /Wh-why don't you believe in my, Yami?/ He asked child-like. Why couldn't anyone believe he could do anything? He could protect himself and do things for himself. He wasn't helpless. He wasn't a child. He was fifteen for Ra's sake!
/I do, Yugi, but he's weakened you. Let me take over, for your sake and the sake of our friends!/
Yugi compensated the idea for a moment. He would do anything for his friends. He would even let himself die so they could be safe. They were the reason he had come here. And Yami was right; his foe had weakened him. Yugi was nearly blind and he was trembling so much he couldn't hold his cards straight.
"I'm waiting." His opponent taunted. "If you've given up, just surrender. It's no big deal. It'll just prove that I was right and you are nothing more than a scared child. The Pharaoh is the real King of Games, not you. Joey Wheeler was the runner up in Duelist Kingdom, Seto Kaiba is one of the most powerful, influential people in the world. What does that make you?"
Yugi's breathing stopped momentarily. The duelist before him made a valid point. What was Yugi? He wasn't the Duelist Kingdom Champion. He had fallen ill during the battle and Yami had to defeat Pegasus himself. He also wasn't the Battle City Champion. Yami did all the work there, while he, once again, needed rescuing. Yugi exhaled irregularly. He was nothing. He would always be living in other people's shadows. Even his friends would never see him as his own person. Whenever they thought of him they also thought of Yami. He and Yami were closer than brothers, but they were not the same person. Yugi was the complete opposite of his partner. Yami was strong, confident, and brave. Yugi was shy, weak, and full of self-doubt.
/No wonder people like Yami more than me./ Yugi thought grimly.
/Yugi, if you don't retreat back to your soul room, I will take over!/ Yami screamed loud as he could, interrupting Yugi's depressing thoughts. /With or without your consent./ The spirit added.
Yugi closed his eyes. He couldn't see straight and his head felt like it were on fire. His chest was heavy, like several large stones had been placed on top of it. This was the most challenging Shadow Game he had ever participated in. The stakes were the highest they had ever been, and the pain Yugi was enduring was like nothing he had ever felt before. A surge of pain shot up through his spine and he yelled out in agony.
/"Yugi!/
Yugi clutched his chest and began to pant. /O-okay. You c-can fight him./ Yugi said through the mind link. He sensed Yami's compliance and he felt himself being pulled into his soul room. Ra, he hadn't felt this bad since the duel with Pegasus. He felt worse now than he did then. He was in his room, but his vision was still fuzzy. He was weak and he felt himself collapse onto the floor. He did not bother to open his eyes. Instead, he enjoyed just laying down on the floor, resting. His body and mind deserved it.
A few minutes pasted and Yugi and had not heard from his ally. Slowly and painfully, he connected to Yami's consciousness to tell him he was fine but instead he heard what Yami heard.
-0-0-0-0-
Yami glared down at his hand. He didn't know what to do. There was nothing he could do.
Bakura squinted. "Pharaoh?" He said angrily. "Little Yugi was supposed to fight me!" His eyes suddenly relaxed. "No matter. The boy has suffered enough, I suppose. I'll enjoy kicking your ass." He said with superiority with in his voice.
Yami felt cold sweat begin to bead upon his brow. He did the only thing he could do: He drew the final card in his deck, and hoped and prayed with all his might, that the Heart of The Cards would guide him, as they always had. 'Fate is on my side.' Yami tried to convince himself. 'Whatever happens, happens for a reason.'
He closed his eyes and placed his two forefingers on his last card. He was so nervous; he ripped the card out of the deck pocket, brought it level with his eyes, and slowly opened them. His heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. With his large green eyes, and furry brown hair, the Kuriboh Card stared at him in a mocking sort of way.
'No.' Yami thought, starting to panic. He glanced back down at his hand: Dark Magician and Black Luster Solider. 'No.' He repeated. He couldn't do anything! He needed to sacrifice two monsters to summon Dark Magician, and he needed a ritual card to summon the Luster Solider, which had to be long buried in his graveyard. Yami swallowed a lump of disbelief that had formed in his throat. The Heart Of The Cards had failed him.
Bakura tapped his foot impatiently. "Well, Pharaoh? I'm waiting."
Yami's mouth became dry. His eyes went up towards the group. "I'm sorry." He whispered, tears began to form in his eyes.
Bakura smirked and placed a hand behind his ear. "What was that, Pharaoh? I'm afraid I didn't hear you."
Yami looked up at Bakura, his mouth was slack. He couldn't find the words to speak. "I-I can't do anything." Yami said.
Bakura grinned manically, revealing a row of sharp, pointed teeth. "Looks like it's my turn then." Bakura pointed a finger to Yami, condemning him to his death. "Dark Necormancer, attack!" The blue alien-like creature nodded and ran towards Yami with sharp fingers. She scratched Yami across the chest. Yami screamed in pain as the electric shock took over his body, causing his muscles to contract. The life points on his duel disk hit zero with a loud beep. His skin was black and burned, gray smoke rose from it.
"You've lost, Pharaoh." Bakura said, unlocking himself from the ankle trap. He walked over to Yami, who had fallen onto his knees in pain. Bakura looked down at the broken Pharaoh with a sense of superiority. He held out an open palm in front of Yami's face. "Time for your punishment." A bolt of black lightening escaped from the center of his hand and it struck Yami between his eyes. The pain was unbearable. He fell backwards. His eyelids snapped closed, and he remembered hearing Bakura cackling, screaming how he finally had avenged his town of Kul-Elna.
He heard the sound of soft crying and a louder sound of cracking. Yami opened his eyes and saw a mixture of orange, yellow, and blue. It had a strong, pungent smell. Yami tried to place a name to it.
"Fire!" He screamed, sitting up. He turned around, surrounded by the flames. The sound of crying hit his ears again. Yami turned his head and saw Yugi, sitting down. Why did he have his own body?
"That's not important now." Yami thought, shaking his head. He ran over to his partner and looked over his shoulder. He was repulsed by what he saw. It took all the self-control he could muster not to vomit. Joey, Tea, Tristan, and Grampa were lying down. Their eyes were open, but they had clouded over. Joey had a large cut in the side of his head so deep you could see his skull. The left side of Tea's face was burned beyond recognition. The body half of Tristan's body was mangled. His right ankle was turned backwards 180 degrees. Grampa was the worst of the group. His mouth was open, blood dripping out of it. In the middle of his chest, was a long, rusted rod. He had been skewered by the railing when it fell, leaving a gigantic hole in the center of his body.
Yami started to cry. But, a large beam of wood fell down right behind him, splattering embers. One of them landed on Yami's sleeve, but he quickly brushed it away. "Yugi!" He screamed and grabbed the boy's elbow, pulling him up. "We need to leave!" Yugi reached out for the bodies. "No! I'm not leaving without them!"
The desperation in Yugi's voice broke Yami's heart, but he had to ignore it for now. If they didn't get out, they would join their friends. Yami dragged the protesting Yugi through the burring warehouse, and out the exit.
"No!" Yugi screamed, kicking his legs. "We have to get them!"
Just as the words left his mouth, the ceiling collapsed. Yugi became speechless for a moment. The two could only watch as the flames engulfed the remains of the building, and his friends.
-0-0-0-0-
Elizabeth was speechless. The boy had woven such a horrific story. He was in tears now, trembling, rubbing his arms as if to rub away the pain. She drew closer to him, placing her hand behind his head and drew it to his chest. She rubbed his back and hushed the boy, trying to sooth him.
"Yugi," she said, tears of her own were now falling, "I'm so sorry. But," she bit her lip, "how did you kill them? It's wasn't your fault at all."
Yugi sniffed and began to collect himself. "I gambled their lives and I lost." He whispered. "I killed them just the same if I put guns to their heads and pulled the triggers."
Elizabeth was quiet, staring the broken child. He had already been through so much, and his life had only just begun. It wasn't fair. Nobody deserved to go through so much lose so soon, and all at one time.
"What happened to that Bakura person?" She asked.
Yugi drew away and wiped his nose with his sleeve. "I don't know." His voice was raw and scratchy. "We've been spending the past couple of months running away from him. He was supposed to kill us, not my friends. Something went wrong. The magic he used was dark, really dark. It was what separated me and Yami from the one body."
Elizabeth blinked and nodded, even though she didn't quite understand.
"We ran into him a couple of times since the…incident, but he barely caught a glance of us before we ran away."
"So that's what you were doing in the port that day." Elizabeth pointed out.
Yugi nodded. "We had seen him in Florida a few weeks earlier, and we had caught a raft to Port Royal. When Jack offered us the job, we took it because we knew we would be traveling a lot. And the more we moved around, the less likely it was we would run into him."
A dim glow of yellow peeked into their eyes. It was sunrise. They looked at each other, fear was evident. Davy Jones had ordered them back onto the deck by the time the sun rose into the sky. They hadn't realized how much time they had spent having Yugi tell his story.
Elizabeth remembered the letter from the beginning of the story. The writer had warned Yugi and Yami about some sort of misfortune about to come upon them.
"What happened to the lady, the one that wrote the first letter?"
Yugi looked away, remembering the pain he felt when he learned about the deaths of Ishizu and Marik and Odion. He felt sick to his stomach, but his stomach had nothing in it to expel. Elizabeth waited patiently for Yugi to answer. She understood that he needed time, but she really didn't want to wait much longer for an answer. She had been patient enough. She couldn't force the boy to talk, but now her curiosity had the best of her and she would try as hard as she could.
"Yugi," she said in a low voice, "please tell me."
Yugi sighed and looked down at the ground. "They had found Yami's tomb…they were in it with an entire excavation crew. Then, someone rigged dynamite by the staircase. It went off and they were caved in. They either died because of the explosion, or because of starvation. But they still died nonetheless."
Elizabeth regretted making the boy talk when she saw that his eyes were trying to cry, but they had nothing left in them. His eyes looked dull and empty. His voice was raw and scratchy. He had worn the lining of his throat with his crying. Yugi wiped his dry eyes and sniffed. He looked back over at Elizabeth and saw the pain in her eyes. Yugi cringed and quickly looked away, ashamed of himself. No matter what anyone said, he was a murderer. He had been responsible for the deaths of his grandfather and his friends. He had played one of Bakura's vile games knowing the risks at stake. He gambled lives that weren't his. Yugi crawled away from Elizabeth, not wanting to see the look she would give now that she knew the truth.
Silence draped them like a blanket.
Reviews:
Deadpoolhulk: Yes, yes you will.
Sage: You know you're a hypocrite right? You hate it when an author leaves you with a cliffhanger, but you've been leaving your readers with cliff hangers since chapter one!
Ah, they'll deal with it. The world is a hypocrite after all.
Aqua Girl 007: Who said anything about Yugi having to duel Jones? I'm sorry, but I suck at writing the actual duel. I have a tad bit of dyscalculia, so I lose track of numbers a lot. But, I can tell you there will be a battle near the end. I think it is much better than a boring ol' children's card game.
Kairi: Quote 'Holy Pickles'. I'm gonna start saying that now!
Assassin Massie: Thank yous for the cookies! Don't worry, Sage won't get to them. After the *ahem* incident last night, she's not allowed to have any sweets. And, thanks for your support. I got my permit. I only have one more week of Driver's Ed, after than I only have two more weeks of school which means more time for fanfiction! And that's always a good thing.