Yu-Gi-Oh: A Past and Future Pharaoh

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

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There was a crazy type of jet lag, that came from technological means to travel across the globe. It was far different when using magic than when they had ridden the plane from Canada back to Japan. Already subdued when they had been kidnapped, unable to see the changes in the day to night, it had been near impossible to figure out if it had been day or night when they woke up in those underground cells. More over the kidnappers made no effort to make them think they weren't in Japan, thus confusing them when they finally got out under the sky and saw the actual night sky.

Now through magic Jounouchi had traveled to California, then Colorado in the depths of the night as people got ready for bed, only to once more be in Japan. Once more with the sun still in the sky traveling to the western horizon. Yet for all that, it still felt like he was in that dark night, the shadows felt too long to him, and the light far too little. He had walked out of the apartment and stared listlessly in every direction as he tried to figure out where to go. What place would give him some peace of mind or answers for what was warring in his mind. Nothing spoke out to him, just walls and doors as far as he could see, the light of the sun glinting off the glass started to anger him. Flashes of light became more unwelcomed as he finally picked the darkest direction he could go.

Everything that Bakura and Malik had told him ran through his mind like the dial on the Time Wizard. In Jounouchis' mind he could see the clock face wizard and the spinning dial that would stop eventually. But would it stop on progress or on destruction? Everything was swallowed up in darkness, in this clawing realization that this was more than just a small group. More than just one band of sickos in Japan, and instead groups all linked to one goal. A goal that was expanded across the world, and there he was. Just him and his little deck and exactly 'how' was he or any of them supposed to stop an organization 'that' large?

"Jounouchi?"

The voice echoed through the chamber of thoughts that Jounouchi found himself lost in, so lost that he had to actually mentally shake himself awake. Bringing him back to reality at the docks on the edge of town. Before him was the large expanse of water that surrounded his homeland, blue by nature of the sky and now developing various shades due to the suns' journey. While behind him was the tall warehouses that stored cargo from the various boats that came to dock here. Jounouchi couldn't even recall how his steps led him from Bakura's place all the way here. How was he even able to walk considering the vast distance from town to cemetery?

"Jounouchi? You seem troubled, care to talk?"

The words broke into his troubled thoughts like the ocean waves over the giant rock he called a brain. The rock that had been tossed into an ocean and was steadily drowning in fact. But he knew that voice as he turned to his left and saw Isis standing there with the patience of a saint. The family's boat was docked behind her, half hidden in the growing gloom of the approaching evening. She was wearing the same off white slip of a dress with bead work around the neckline and her eyes wordlessly spoke of her concern.

She also seemed to have been standing for awhile trying to get his attention and had failed until this moment. Which brought a mixture of feelings, of embarrassment, awkwardness and even a stomach churning level of shame. He hated looking vulnerable, sure during duels it was expected, since he wasn't a top tier duelist. But right now he just didn't want people to see an easy prey and try to target him. Knowing that his mind wasn't in the right place for anything, what he was willing to do if pushed was hazy at best.

Isis watched as Jounouchis' face, which had been expressing this barely contained sea of discontent, of self awareness, shift as he finally noticed her. She knew of her brothers' little trip to America via magic and knew that Jounouchi was part of that group. Out of everyone currently in Japan, Isis held the deepest concern for Honda, Jounouchi and Anzu, as they had to depend solely on Yugi for their protection. The trio lacked any magic, or deeper understanding of the things that were happening now around them. They always had relied on the Pharaoh and the Sennen Puzzle to protect them from harm.

Now it would be like dealing with the little prince, no matter how much Yugi may have wanted to protect his friends. He was just so young and innocent about his own abilities... "Jounouchi, Malik is still at Bakuras', why not sit and have some tea with Rashid and I?" She offered now that she knew she had his attention. Considering her experience and age there was no reason for her to withhold her support and concern for the three. The memory of Honda using a cane was the harsh reminder that these people would go to extremes for what they wanted.

Jounouchi looked out over the vast waters before him, listening to the distance sound of seagulls and traffic in the city. With the sun playing off the water and darkness approaching he sighed and turned to face her fully. "Yeah sure, why not? Though I'm not really a 'tea' person you know?"

The corners of Isis' mouth only ghosted into a small smile as she nodded, turning to lead him towards their boat. Only Rashid and herself really stood as the 'adults' in the group now, at least in this life time. Bakura was pretty much their equal if they counted his past age, but his enslavement limited his life experiences. In fact the 'oldest' of all of them now that Yugi's grandfather was dead was Kaiba himself. And he wasn't in any condition to provide emotional or mental support to anyone, since he needed help the most.

"Hey, Isis?" Jounouchis' voice came out soft, almost lost amid the evening tide of the ocean to the right of them as they walked.

"Yes, Jounouchi?" She offered as she pondered if he should just get hot chocolate or an actual tea.

"Yugi isn't a God right? That was just something that was made up to keep people on the throne right?"

Isis slowed her steps so she could look at Jounouchi, her eyebrow arched in surprise at such an out of nowhere question. Jounouchi wasn't really a faith based person from what she knew of him, indeed his question was in the tone of a nonbeliever. In fact it wasn't really a religious issue that they were dealing with, at least as far as she knew.

He saw her look despite being half hidden under growing shadows and her own natural skin tone. Frustration, anguish, and an overwhelming wave of hate and rage was all he felt at that moment, yet somehow in the distance he could almost see white light. He could almost see the Other Yugi haloed in the white light as he walked on to the afterlife. Making Jounouchi wish so much that the Other Yugi hadn't left.

"Maybe you should start by telling me what brought about such a question, since I'm sure you're not interesting in following our faith." Isis suggested gently, as they passed into the docking area for the boat the Ishtars owned. She gestured for him to walk before her up onto the deck of the boat, while Rashid took note of the pair. He continued his normal evening routine, allowing Jounouchi to not deal with the pressure of another guy seeing him in an emotional state.

Allowing the young duelist to retain a bit of his own dignity as he paused and waited for Isis to take the lead again. While a part of him was relieved just to have an adult to talk to, as much as he wanted to consider himself an adult. Yet Isis and Rashid 'were' adults, not only adults but had two life times of life experiences. He really just needed someone to tell him that was Bakura and Malik wasn't true. Even as a small whisper in the back of his mind about his own uselessness, how undependable he was. No magic or higher power at his beck and call, already Honda had been badly injured and there was nothing that Jounouchi could do. Even if they found the group, it wouldn't be Jounouchi dealing with the boss, just like before, everything would come down to Yugi or someone else. Leaving the blond as nothing but a cheerleader.

He reached the couch and dropped down in a heap as though his legs wouldn't support him anymore. Which was a bit of a truth, since he had yet to properly rest after the long hike he had gone through in America. Allowing the tingling pain to run up his legs and thighs as he sank his head into his hands and finally tried to collect his thoughts in some semblance of order. Which meant, going back to the beginning.

"I remember when the Other Yugi left us for good." Jounoouchi began with a distant gaze in his eyes as he looked down at the wooden floor of the boat. He rested his head in his hand, and held the weight on his right knee. Yet in his mind he could still see the Other Yugi as he walked away, walking away into the Light, the dark school uniform shifting into his bright Egyptian clothes. His skin losing the pale Japanese tone as it returned to its, apparently, proper Egyptian. As though the Light was washing away anything of the Yugi they knew as the Other Yugi walked away. "I guess we took for granted that the Other Yugi looked like Yugi, and they 'do' look a great deal alike, save the color of skin really. But..."

Jounouchi pushed himself into a better sitting position as he held up his hands, weighing thoughts. "When he was here, it was like he stood at the top of a staircase to something great. When he dueled somehow he just seemed able to do everything. He had a set deck with a theme, yet he could work alongside anyone in a duel without missing a beat. Just watching him and Money Bags duel and see how intense they could get. I wanted to be able to get to that level of skill, sure I use a luck based deck, but that's to compensate for my lack of skills. Whenever I dueled the Other Yugi, he always had this look in his eye as though he was a teacher. Like he was teaching me how to duel, how to think, and I remember how it annoyed me, because I didn't want to be his 'student' I, we actually, we all wanted to be his 'friend'. But in a way he always seemed to be teaching us, even as we were teaching him about the world he found himself in."

"I think it took a solid week before we finally accepted that Yugi was, well, alone internally. It felt strange to see him without that large hunk of gold hanging off his neck, he evenly occasionally would reach up for it. Then he started growing, like a god damn WEED! There was this brief window where his hair started losing its spikiness that I wanted to tease the hell out of him... But well we know where he stands now and I didn't have enough time..." Jounouchis' expression was lifted into something happy for a brief time. Recalling Yugi's sudden crash course to his current appearance certainly could inspire a smile.

Even Isis was a touch curious about how Yugi must have looked as his hair came down from their spiky heights.

"I wasn't in the room when Yugi got the call about his grandpa," Jounouchis' memories of happier times slipped away with those words. "Mokuba told me, and we kinda hovered over the guy when we got the word. But they only called about Yugis' Gramps and mom, I didn't know about Honda at the time. Even than, just watching him break down and cry hurt, there was nothing we could do to help him. Save find the bastards that bombed the place. Then we got back and there's Honda using a cane and..." Jounouchi dropped his head into his hands again, hunched over as his mind tried to deal with the images in his head.

Isis reached over and gently began to rub soothing circles on Jounouchi's back, looking to help ease the boy of his current anguish.

"So, apparently when the bomb went off, it didn't just 'go off' it blew their bodies 'apart'. Just thinking that makes me want to be sick. Just thinking of 'pieces' of gramps and Yugi's mom just on the floor of a blown out shop makes me want to puke. And Honda was supposed to be among the pieces! That's what Bakura and Malik were talking about, if Yugi or Kaiba are gods and what that might mean to the group." Jounouchi carried on, letting the words come out as he took a shuddering breath as he tried to fight off the sob that was clawing at the back of his throat. "Like its nothing too, either, just they might be gods and that's why these people blew up the game shop. I have images in my head of people I care about in pools of blood and in pieces. I've played video games and I've seen horror movies, I don't need to replace slasher movies with the bodies of the people I care about!"

Isis scooted closer, slipping her hand from circles and pulled Jounouchi closer as he began to cry, letting the tears slip between his fingers. All the while the conversations was being constructed before her and her sympathy at Jounouchis' plight grew.

"And they wouldn't drop the topic either. Saying it may be pure luck that Honda survived, that Yugi would be too young or inexperienced to do anything. But I know damn well he would have moved mountains to save his family! Maybe gramps resisted some rule against being used, and Exodia saved Honda because it was too late for gramps and Yugi's mom. While Kaiba was literally a luck of the draw, that he might have been 'only' able to save Honda because Honda wasn't Egyptian, but neither is Yugi's mom and he didn't save her! That it might have been nothing more than Kaiba being unable to choose who he saved, Honda just happened to be the one to survive! How the hell can people talk about lives like a casual after school conversation? How am I supposed to respond to that? Be thankful that Honda survived, while two other people died? Be angry that Kaiba didn't save all of them? He doesn't use magic, he may not have been the one doing it, it 'might' have been a higher aspect of him. And being angry at 'him' for what? He might have done what he 'could' and I have no right to be so ungrateful that couldn't save all of them when Honda is alive. Broken but alive..."

Isis pulled him fully in and the warmth of an actual hug finally broke his ability to retain his self control. Despite being taller than her by some, she leaned him into her and allowed him to tuck his head on her shoulder like a child. Not making any comments save soft wordless sounds as the weight of his own weakness and failings came crashing down.

He had no magic, or 'higher power' to help him, just a deck of cards and a hologram while Yugi and Kaiba could summon the real deal. What did he have that made him of any use in a situation like this? If Bakura and Malik were right, Honda was literal living proof of how useless they were. Summon Exodia? Dark Magician? Even Kuriboh, in his own tiny way was a sign of power that Jounouchi, Honda and Anzu didn't have.

Any cocky self confidence that he may have retained from Battle City, after Malik sealed up Mai and Rashid in the Shadow Realm, was lost now. Yugi didn't 'need' duel disks to have the spirits out, and the idea of having Duel Monsters walking the streets like normal people. As much as he wanted Red Eyes Black Dragon out and about, the now very real possibility was terrifying. It was one thing to want something you knew could never be, a completely different thing to know it 'could'. The idea that if only the bomb had never happened he would have been excited about this made it all the worse.

These people were quite possibly all over the globe, and even if they hadn't blown up the game shop, there 'would' be people dying. How many innocent people could die from this? This was more than just a small group of duelists targeting Yugi wanting... "Oh God, Malik wanted the God power found in the Sennen Puzzle right? This is more of that, a lot more." Jounouchi realized as he felt himself sink deeper into anguish. It was as though Malik's arrival was a preview of what was about to happen. Only much worse, Malik just wanted the power to free his people from the exiled servitude that left them underground for ages. Malik never wanted to make 'more' Items, and probably didn't even know about Zorc at the time.

"I can't do this!" Jounouchi pulled himself away from Isis as he slammed his fists onto his knees. Causing Rashid to pause before placing a small tea tray down on the table before the couch. "I can't plan things like the Other Yugi! We're screwed without him! Even if Yugi can pull off the same thing as the Other Yugi! Then what? Does he have to leave like the Other Yugi did? Just pack up his bags and peace out?" Jounouchi demanded as he sat there glaring at Rashid like the man knew the answer to that question. Even if they both knew he didn't, though Rashid didn't blink an eye at the outburst.

Experience with Maliks' own outbursts helped condition Rashid from reacting in surprise. Moving about and being completely unnoticed by Jounouchi just proved that the blond was well beyond out of it. But he had arrived when Jounouchi was describing when Yugi found out, from that point he knew he needed to break out the tea set and find the most relaxing herbal teas he could get his hands on. After all, out of the whole original gang Yugi was a part of, only Jounouchi and Anzu were left unharmed. There was a decided reality that either of them 'could' sustain serious, life threatening injuries given the nature of this group that they were dealing with. After all, it seemed Malik and Bakura had figured that this group was a much larger organization that originally anticipated.