DISCLAIMER: I own absolutely none of the properties you will see here. All rights go to their respective owners.

Mystic Wars

Chapter 9

Ishizu had been feeling a sense of great unease all day. Ever since she had woken up, something had been troubling her. At first, she assumed that her worry steamed from the concerns of a wife. Seto was currently on a business trip in China and would not return for another two weeks, but she refuted that thought since she knew that her husband was more than capable of taking care of himself. So, where was this awful feeling coming from? As this feeling continued to fester inside her, someone entered Seto's office where she was currently sitting. The person in question was the new head of security for Kaiba's family, John McClane.

After John had rescued both Ishizu and Mokuba from Cobra's plot to kidnap them in order to plan a trap for taking Kaiba's business out from under him, John was not only placed as the new head of security, but was also granted the ability to choose who would be on his security team. [1] This allowed John to handpick people from not just Japan, but from across the globe. The former cop brought in ex-military and special forces of both genders and different races. He even brought on some of his retired friends from the police department that he knew he could count on. Though his new employer kept him at arm's length, Ishizu and Mokuba had become friends with him, which worked to his favor since John was still new to this whole 'bodyguard business.' He didn't hate the job or the ridiculous salary that came with it, but he did have to admit that this job could get a bit boring from time to time. Then again, after everything he had been through, boring was a nice change of pace.

"Mrs. Kaiba," he regarded.

"Oh, come now, John, we've been over this," his boss's wife scoffed. "You may call me Ishizu."

"Ah, it still doesn't feel right, ma'am," John answered.

"I take it Mokuba made it to movies safely?" Ishizu asked.

"I put Davis, Higuchi, Alvarez, and Lennox on guard detail for him," John confirmed. "Plain clothes and a twenty-foot perimeter. He won't even notice that they're there."

"That's good," Ishizu noted with a small laugh. "I'd hate for Mokuba to feel like he's being watched while he's on his date with Rebecca."

"He didn't appreciate the suited security detail I had guard him during his dinner date with her last time," John said with a small laugh of his own. "I thought this would be better. Besides, the kid should be allowed to be, ya know, a kid once in a while."

Suddenly, John's earpiece crackled to life with the sounds of screaming.

"Code Red! I repeat, Code Red!" a guard's voice shouted into his ear with the sounds of bullets, screams, and strange growls heard in the background. "We have multiple intruders on every floor of the building!"

"What?!" John said in shock. "The hell's going on down there?!"

"Some white-haired wizard looking guy just broke into the building and brought a bunch of freaking monsters with him!" the guard explained. "They're coming out of the goddamn walls!"

John didn't have time for details. For now, he only had one objective now: Protect Kaiba's family.

"All units, this is McClane! We are Code Red! I repeat, we are Code Red! We have unknown hostiles in the building!" he called into his COMM. "I want all squads to set up defensive points on each level. Make sure to get the building staff to safety if you can. I want MP-5's issued to all squads. Lethal force is authorized. I repeat, lethal force is authorized. I'm taking Dragon-2 to the panic room, and I want Tango and Gamma squads to rendezvous with me on level-10. Field team, you are to grab Dragon-3 and his friend and calmly escort them to the nearest safe house and wait for further instructions."

"What's going on?" Ishizu questioned, already worried.

"We're under attack," John explained as he drew his sidearm. "I have to get you to the panic room now."

With that, the former cop carefully opened the door. After checking to see that the area was clear, he motioned for Ishizu to follow him. Though John was still trying to grasp what was going on, he pressed on with the task at hand. With everything going on in the world and the things he had seen in his life, the chief of security knew that anything was possible. All he concerned himself with was protecting Ishizu from whatever was coming. As the former cop and billionaire's wife weaved through the various halls, John switched on his radio to try to get in contact with any of the other squads.

"Alpha squad, come in, what's your status?" he questioned.

All that came through the radio were sounds of screams and flesh being torn from the bone. John switched off the radio just as the squad he had requested to join him arrived.

"What's the status, sir?" the squad leader inquired.

"Fucked up," was John's only answer. "We gotta move!"

Just then, the guards heard the sound of the elevator at the end of the hall coming up to their level. Normally, this wouldn't be out of the ordinary. But during a lockdown, the power to the elevators were cut off, meaning that whoever was coming up wasn't one of their own. The squad quickly readied their weapons as they prepared to face whatever was coming up the elevator.

"Sir, I'd suggest you take Mrs. Kaiba to the safe room," the squad leader suggested. "We'll cover you."

"Hell no, I'm making my stand with you!" John refused.

"Please, sir," the squad leader insisted. "This is what you hired us for."

John wanted to stay and fight alongside his staff, but he knew that guarding Ishizu's life was the top priority. So, against his wishes, he ushered the woman over to a nearby desk, where he kept her hidden until they had a chance to make a break for it. Just as he had done that, the elevator doors open to reveal who was laying siege, making Ishizu gasp in horror at the sight of the last person she ever wanted to see again.

"By the Gods no..." she said under her breath in terror. "Not him..."

"Open Fire!" the squad leader exclaimed.

The Thief King merely smirked at the onslaught of bullets that were coming toward him.

"You mortals and your guns," he mocked.

With a simple gesture, Bakura turned the bullets to dust. The bodyguards could only look in horror as their weapons did nothing to stop their adversary. They had been trained to face terrorists and other human threats. Not something supernatural. Bakura chuckled at his prey's reactions before turning his attention towards one of the guards and pointing toward him. No sooner had he done that did his body begin to surge with a wave of agony.

The guard fell to the floor as he started to convulse in pain, unable to scream thanks to the insects that started to swarm out of his mouth. Spiders then began to crawl out of his ears and nostrils while a snake slithered out of this poor sap's throat before he finally went motionless. His colleagues could only observe in horror as their friend died a slow, horrible death before they took aim at the one responsible once more.

Scoffing at their pathetic attempt to intimidate him, Bakura simply waved Jafar's staff to the right, causing the guns to fly out of the guards' hands. One of the braver ones then attempted to tackle him to the ground, but right before he reached his target, his entire body went stiff as it turned completely into glass. As he was in mid-run before this happened, his now fragile body fell towards Bakura, who simply side-stepped nonchalantly to avoid it and allowed it to shatter into hundreds of pieces once it hit the floor. He then proceeded to have his magic levitate the shards upward before thrusting them at the other guards, causing them to fly through their bodies and kill them before they could so much as cry out in pain.

A squadron of reinforcements then attempted to flank him, but before they could, three El Khatib dropped down from the ceiling, one of them biting the head of one of the guards clean off while another used its claws to disembroil another. One of the security team managed to shoot the second one in the head, but right as it fell dead, the third Shadow Walker grabbed him and tore him in half before throwing both halves of his corpse at two of his friends. Several jagged spikes of earth from the ground bellow then shot out of the floor, stabbing through the two of them through the backs of their heads before they could get back up.

With five guards remaining, Bakura pointed his staff towards one of them, causing him to spontaneously combust into flames. As he flailed about, screaming in agony, another was suddenly thrust up against a nearby wall, his body slowly merging into it until it was nothing more than a human-shaped decoration. Wishing to avenge his friend, the third guard drew his firearm, only for his chest to rip open without warning as his entire skeleton slowly pulled itself out of his body. His mangled flesh fell to the floor as his sentient skeletal structure took two steps before it too crumbled onto the ground, right as the first guard finally died from the burns he had sustained.

Mortified yet still determined to put this sick bastard down, the final two guards pulled out their weapons, only for them to point them at each other, finding themselves completely unable to control their arms. Their heads turned to see Bakura pointing his weapon at the two of them, right before he forced them to pull the triggers at the same time, causing the two of them to be shot in the head, killing them instantly.

With these pests disposed of, Bakura, grinning deviously to himself, resumed his trek through the building, unaware that he was being watched.

"Jesus Christ..." was all a mortified John could say.

A surge of guilt overtook the former NYPD detective for a brief second, being completely helpless to assist the security team he had handpicked to better protect Kaiba's family and business. Then, realizing he still had a job to do, turned back to Ishizu, who was still crouched behind the desk along with her protector.

"Okay, here's the plan," he began. "There's no chance in hell we can fight this asshole, so our best option's to run. I'm gonna try and keep his attention on me. You do everything you can to stay outta his sight."

"John, that's suicide!" Ishizu whispered. "He'll kill you the second he sees you!"

The former cop was about to respond to this, only for the desk to suddenly fly away from the two of them, much to their surprise.

"You can come out now, 'Mrs. Kaiba,'" Bakura said, his back still turned away from the two of them. "And your new friend, as well."

"Stay behind me," John instructed as he slowly rose to his feet, his sidearm pointed right at Bakura. "Hate to break it to ya, pal, but Halloween's over!"

Then, without warning, the head of KaibaCorp's security was pulled towards Bakura by an unknown force, right as said nefarious spellcaster swiftly turned around to grab him by his neck, causing him to drop his weapon in the process.

"John!" Ishizu cried out.

But the instant she rose back up, the two El Khatib suddenly jumped up to her from opposite sides, preventing her from advancing any further.

"I'll make this simple, Ishizu," Bakura said as he continued to hold onto his struggling captive. "Give me the Necklace, or I'll make everything this man went through at the Nakatomi Plaza look like a spat in a playground."

The wife of Seto Kaiba could only glare daggers at her attacker, unwilling to surrender to him such a powerful instrument, but, at the same time, not wanting to put John's life in danger by not complying. At the same time, John weighed several options and possibilities in his mind to try and free himself so he could get Ishizu to safety, running low on both ideas and hope. Then, suddenly, a blast of magical energy struck Bakura in the back, forcing him to let go of his captive.

The Thief King spun around to see what had hit him, only to be struck with bewilderment, when he, along with John and Ishizu, saw Marik stepping out of a portal with Odion and a young girl in a punk/goth style of clothing. Marik was dressed differently as well. True, he was still in his black pants and midriff hoodie, but he was now adorned in an ornate, multicolored cloak. He also held the Millennium Rod firmly in his hand as well as the Key around his neck. Marik then blasted away the two Shadow Walkers that were holding his sister as he stood defiantly before the Thief King. Though Ishizu was confused as to how her brother had arrived, let alone about everything else, she was none the least gracious that her siblings had arrived in her darkest hour. Bakura, on the other hand, was furious at the sight of his rival still alive.

"You?!" he snarled. "How many times must I kill you, boy?!"

"This ends now, Bakura," Marik stated firmly. "Surrender, or I will do what I must to stop you."

"You couldn't stop then, and you won't stop me now!" the dark wizard refuted with a dark chuckle.

"That's because I was unsure of myself before," Marik answered. "But now, I know who I truly am!"

He then made several quick hand gestures to form circular glyphs of magical energy around his hands.

"I am the Sorcerer Supreme!" he declared proudly. "And your reign of evil is over!"

Bakura sneered at his rival as he tightly clutched his staff. Before, he outmatched Marik's power, thanks to not only possession of the Millennium Ring and the Staff of Jafar, but also because of his training under his dark master. But this time, it was different. For now, Marik's powers were growing at a faster rate thanks to his linage. Not only that, but he also now wielded two Millennium Items, further amplifying his magical prowess to match Bakura's strength.

"Odion, you and Janna get my sister out of here," he told his adopted brother. "I'll deal with Bakura."

"Are you sure that's a wise idea, Master Marik?" Odion inquired.

"Yeah, maybe we should do the whole 'strength in numbers' thing," Janna added.

"I'll be fine," the master of the Mystic Arts assured. "Just make sure Ishizu is safe."

Though they didn't want to leave Marik's side, Janna and Odion knew that the newly made Sorcerer Supreme could handle himself. As they ran to Ishizu's side, Bakura attempted to throw a wave of black lightning from his hand, only for Marik to shield his allies with a quick magical barrier. This allowed them to rush to where Ishizu was, which was by John's side as she was helping him back to his feet.

"Let's get you out of here, Mrs. Kaiba," Janna said.

"We can't leave," Ishizu denied. "Bakura came for the Millenium Necklace."

"Where is it?" Odion asked. "And why aren't you wearing it?"

"The Necklace's powers have grown too unstable for me to wear it any longer," his sister explained.

"Well, where is it now?" Odion questioned.

"We keep it locked up in a vault underneath the building," John answered as he picked up his gun. "Only Mrs. Kaiba and her husband have access to it."

"Then that's where we need to go," Janna concluded. "Come on!"

With that, the group headed for the nearby fire escape, leaving only the two spellcasters alone on the floor of the building.

"I take it Shadi didn't make it?" Bakura surmised in a smug voice as he gestured to the Key.

"You'll pay for what you did for him," Marik sniped as the two wizards began to circle one another.

"I should be thanking you," Bakura continued. "You've brought be both the Rod and the Key. Once I rip them from your corpse, I'll take the Necklace before I peel the Millennium Puzzle out of little Yugi's dead hands. Then my master will be finally free to burn this world to ash!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Marik denied in a cold voice.

Bakura scoffed at his opponent's words before he suddenly held his staff forward as it fired a pair of beams of red energy from them. Marik created a barrier to protect himself from the attack before he conjured an energy whip that he used to strike the dark wizard, but Bakura vanished in a cloud of shadows before reappearing behind Marik and attempted to strike him down. However, the young spellcaster managed to spin around blast Bakura with a beam of magical energy that sent him flying backward into a wall. Bakura let out a growl as he got back to his feet. With several hand gestures, Mirage's apprentice summoned a flurry of clawed, shadowy hands that shot toward his opponent, only for Marik to unleash a wave of light, vaporizing the shadow hands in mere seconds.

The Thief King snarled as he recoiled from the attack. Marik created a whirlwind of light around him before sending it toward his rival. Before Bakura could react, he was caught in the swirling tornado of light. As the servant of evil was flung about in the mystic winds, tiny shards of light began to cut deep into his skin like darts slicing into him. Calling on his dark magic, Bakura steadied himself in midair. As he did, a barrier of dark red magic began to form around him. With a rage-filled cry, Bakura expanded the barrier outward from his body, dispelling the magic whirlwind he was trapped within. Still in midair, Mirage's servant created another magical blast that he threw Marik's way. But as it flew toward the master of the Mystic Arts, the magical ball of energy began to morph into a massive demonic bat with its jaws wide open, ready to consume the former villain.

Acting quickly, the Sorcerer Supreme turned the bat into a swarm of harmless butterflies. As the butterflies parted away, a skull-shaped fireball flew towards him, forcing him to jump out of the way. Bakura cackled madly as he hurled fireball after fireball at Marik as he avoided and evaded. It was then that Marik lifted himself into the air via the power of his cloak. Now in the air, the young spellcaster blasted Bakura backward, out through the ceiling and into an upper level. Marik followed his opponent through the open hole, where he found Bakura picking himself off the floor while the master of the Mystic Arts now hovered him. Bakura let out a cry as a stream of flames spewed from his mouth, forcing Marik to create a quick magic shield to block the flames. Once the flames were gone, Bakura formed a magical chain that flew upwards and latched itself onto Marik's ankle before yanking him to the ground.

The former villain quickly jumped back to his feet as he began to make several more quick gestures, this time creating an arcane circle around his foe. Out of the circle came several golden whips that shout out it, all of which reached out for Bakura. The dark wizard blasted away as much as he could, only for more to rise up in their place and begin to take hold of the Thief King's arms, forcing him to his knees as he was pulled to the ground. Bakura struggled madly against his binds, only making them hold onto his limbs tighter with every pull. Marik then made another series of hand movements, causing a bright light to begin to form within the circle. Bakura looked down to watch as the light suddenly shot up in a massive beam that consumed him in a blinding flash of light. The dark wizard cried out in agony as the spell burned his body down to his very core.

After several long moments, the beam and the circle faded away. Marik now stood before a wounded Bakura, who was now left laying on the ground with smoke coming off his wounded body as he tried to drag himself away from the Sorcerer Supreme. For the briefest of moments, Marik almost felt pity for his former ally. But then he remembered all the death and pain the servant of evil had inflicted upon his friends and family, and that pity instantly vanished, soon replaced by anger.

"What's wrong, Bakura?" he demanded. "Too afraid to face me, you cowardly snake?"

Bakura looked up to finally Marik, but his visage was no longer human. The Thief King's face had become more reptilian with pale, blue snake-like eyes and a forked tongue that flickered out of a fang-filled mouth.

"Snake, am I?" he hissed. "Well, let me show how sssnake like I can be!"

Bakura's body began to grow as it twisted and morphed into a new form. His arms and legs receded into his body as it started to stretch outward. His skin started to form into pale, white scales with blue stripes along the back. The Thief King's face began to elongate as his hood formed around the back of his neck. Once the transformation was done, Bakura had transformed himself into a massive, 40-foot cobra. The spellcaster turned serpent's form was white like a ghost with blue stripes down its back that had spines that ran from his hood down to the tip of his tail. The inside of the opened hood was blue with a large image of the Millennium Ring etched into it.

Marik was stunned by the sight before him, but he held his ground. For he knew that if he failed here, then the world would be at the mercy of Mirage. So, with the very earth at stake, the Sorcerer Supreme got into a fighting stance as he stood defiantly before the giant serpent.

"Let's end this," he said in a steady voice.

Meanwhile, within the fire exit that Janna and the others were escaping through, the group was collectively knocked off their feet as they felt the entire building shake like they were caught in the middle of an earthquake.

"Everyone alright?" John asked the others.

Before anyone could answer the security guard, several El Khatib began to emerge from the walls and floor as they started to advance toward the group.

"Let me get back to you on that," Janna mentioned.

Odion created magical symbols on his hands with a few gestures while John drew his pistol ounce more and cocked it for the coming fight. Though Janna lacked neither a weapon nor any magical training at the moment, she was not without her resourcefulness. Seeing a fire extinguisher in a nearby case of glass with an added axe, the punk girl used her elbow to break it open and pull out the makeshift weapons from within it. She handed the ax to Ishizu, knowing that she could take care of herself. The Shadow Walkers slowly crept toward them, snarling and snapping at them with the intent to tear them all to shreds, but not a single trace of fear was felt from the group, for they were determined to kill these demons in order to keep the Millennium Necklace out of their grasp.

"Bring it on, fuckers!" Janna taunted the beasts.

With that, the El Khatib lunged at them.

[1] - As chronicled in John's Spotlight