Yu-Gi-Oh: A Past and Future Pharaoh

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

A/N: And with this chapter I am now caught up with editing. Or at least the first set... One day when this is done I'll probably start the process of merging the chapters since holy furball 116 chapters SO FAR...

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Jounouchi hid amid the trees as screaming erupted not very far away, until it was cut off by some unseen force. It was a struggle to block out the screams, the reminder that Ryou was doing very Bakura things. The grass and leaves crinkled under his weight as he squatted there, a heavy rock in the pit of his stomach. 'Stopping a suicide now Ryou's off torturing the shit out of some assholes.. today is just getting better and better...' he sat there trying to imagine Ryou torturing people and drawing blanks.

In his head he could still see Ryou in that sweater that night when they were on Pegasus' island. He could still remember each of the gang telling their favorite cards when a spell card came to mind... Ryou had held up the spell card 'Change of Heart'. The image of the card caused a bone chilling shiver to race down his spine as he got a sickening realization.

Before him instead of Ryou was the long haired girl on the card, between her hands was a heart as she stared down at him with a sympathetic smile. The nature of the card never fit with Yugi's deck or his own, but he knew what it was.

More importantly; he knew its 'effect'.

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Bakura stood amid the carnage his voice casual as he spoke among torn body parts, "Well you only do that if you want to make a mess. Granted where I'm sending the bodies its not as though they'll ever be found. But that doesn't mean that I want their blood all over me or noticeable. Sure you-," Bakura was saying as Jounouchi crashed into the area, in an inarticulate fury.

"You... that..." The area was filled with spirits from Bakura's deck, as the only way that the spirits that Bakura could see could be visible to Jounouchi. Twisted undead faces turned to look at him, and only the subconscious reminder that these were cards created from a game kept him from choking on his tongue.

"I see you figured that out," Bakura noted patiently, whatever sadistic act he had put on was replaced by a morose one. Tired, resigned maybe. But definitely not one that could belong to a person who could have done anything from casting a spell on another person. All the way to the number of corpses that now laid about the ground... in pieces...

"The hell is wrong with you? You're not a magician how the fuck did you cast 'change of heart'?!" Jounouchi demanded as he began making his way towards Bakura... only to nearly step on a ripped off arm. It ended up serving as a type of barrier since Jounouchi was 'not' crossing 'that' particular line in the sand.

"You're right, I'm not a magician, but I do believe that the card is an expression of what is left of my Ka. So yes, I changed your heart on the matter, better that than having you watch this." Bakura confessed as a portal to the Shadow Realm began to peel open. Just a portal to 'that' place in the middle of a forest in California. "As for what is wrong with me? Its simply a matter of consideration, first a near suicide only to have this happen next? No, you need to be with the others, Malik and I have ever been alone in the dark. We know this, can thrive in this when necessary. But I feel it would be for the best that when stuff like this goes down, you be with Yugi and the others."

"This is a situation where it wouldn't be wise for you to throw yourself at every grunt. Struggling to get revenge for everything that happened so far. With no magic of your own or method to defend yourself besides your own street smarts. Its just wiser to have Yugi and the others here. 'Kura has a point, he or I," Malik added with a small half shrug. "We know these parts of the criminal world... You're a bit head strong, and we might not be able to hold you back... not as well as the others can. And that can be fatal in some cases"

"That's bullshit! You have no right to use that kind of power on someone else!" Jounouchi shot back angrily staring between the pair of teens.

Malik held his hands up as though signaling a surrender while Bakura replied.

"I'm not going to pretend your anger isn't justified," Bakura began as the spirits began to carry the pieces of corpses to the portal. "I suppose the best answer I can give you is that I had a moment where I forgot that technically you're my peer. That I'm not as physically old as I think of myself as... Doing stuff like this tends to make me think of you two more like tag along kids rather than cohorts..."

"See? I'm damaged enough to hang out," Malik began... Blinked... then shot Bakura a look. "Hey!"

The arm that was barring Jounouchi's way was carried off, the blood leaking out of the ends with the dripping sound... Just the dripping sound... He watched as one of the spirits carried it to the portal before tossing it in with all the regard of a used banana peel. The casual disregard was enough to make him shudder in horror before he turned to glare back at Bakura. "The fuck did they say that would push you to do 'this'?"

Bakura gave a quiet, seemingly indifferent shrug before he bothered to even try to answer, "I'm not Yugi. He may be willing to put his own life on the line for an enemy in the faith that he can befriend them. But I'm not so pure as to believe I can do the same. Nor am I willing to take a chance and try, when people are being killed already."

"Four guys cuz of Travis?" Jounouchi asked as the portal sealed itself to his left leaving him shivering at how calm Bakura and Malik were.

"Not just Travis, no... Those guys didn't know much, but they knew that the homeless had been gathered up..." Bakura explained, earning a frown from Malik.

"Why... gathered?" Jounouchi began, when Malik replied instead.

"The spell to make the Items needs evil hearted people, but homeless people don't equate evil all the time. But Catherine described tablets... You're not saying that they would, or could, try to recreate what Mahaado did? Do you?" Malik asked as his mind tried to remember the exact wording of the letter again regarding the tunnels that Mahaado had escorted the lady through.

"A warm meal, a roof over their heads and then killed as someone tries to make them into Duel Spirits?" Jounouchi covered his face as he spoke, he didn't see how Mahaado had died. Just knew that it was part of the cost that allowed for him to become the Dark Magician. 'Somehow I wanted to believe that it couldn't happen. I wanted to believe that humanity had moved past the point of mass sacrifices like what took Bakura's village all those ages ago. I wanted to believe...'

Malik's ears pricked at a soft, out of place sound, causing him to exam Jounouchi a bit more intently from where he stood. The light reflecting just so off a trail of tears that began to run down the blonds' face. Despite it being covered by both hands. "Its a repeat of the past in a way, happening in the present..."

"Only this time the Pharaoh knows what the book can do, and doesn't want or need the Sennen Items. The Other Yugi was literally the Pharaoh of the past, he did what he could. But he just didn't have the time or resources to secure a victory." Bakura replied, before his lips twisted into a sardonic grin. "While our Yugi, his literal future self, now has to face it all over again, without the leisure of it being crouched in the terms of an exclusive card game."

"We should go, there's nothing left for us here," Malik replied, casting a glance at the sky. "I think we've all seen and done enough for the day as is."

"You ready Jounouchi?" Bakura asked gently as he finally dared to approach the teen. Not out of fear of being lashed out against. Indeed it felt only right and just if Jounouchi decked him for his stunt. But Jounouchi just stood there silently while Malik joined him not quite bracketing the Japanese teen but still..

"I wanted to believe we could stop it before it started..." Jounouchi answered, his voice shaking as the enormity weighed his voice down. The spirits slipped out the deck, allowing the presence of ghouls to fade away reverting the area to just the trio. "I guess I wanted to believe..."

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"I'll see Jounouchi home, unless my fans find us first. Then he's on his own," Malik told Bakura as the pair prepared to leave. Letting Bakura have some time to himself and the spirits as exhaustion began to catch up to the trio. Bakura walked them to the door, Jounouchi wasn't exactly 'better' but at least he had gotten control of himself. Now with the pair gone he was free to have some peace and quiet. So much so that he relaxed into leaning against the wall next to the door, his eyes closed as he tried to figure out what he wanted to do next. A nice cup of tea sounded good, so did a nice long nap, or a bath...

Or maybe all three, tea was nice, but washing the grime of everything he had gone through felt better. Once he decided on that it was just a matter of pushing himself from the wall, locking the door to his apartment, put a pot on and went to his room. The routine of getting ready for a bath was also intensely comforting, as he didn't have to think about anything other than grabbing the necessary towels.

So long as he was doing that, he could ignore the memory of the conversation with the four men. How they cited his reincarnation as a sign of Zorc's divine nature. 'In the eyes of the ignorant advance enough science will look like magic.' He thought with a resigned sigh. Did they all think he was their God, or did the lower rung fools only get told that? They knew that those homeless people were being killed for a purpose. Did no one question why human sacrifices would be needed?

'That's a rhetorical question though each person would have their own reasons why they would tolerate such an act.' He thought to himself as he stripped out of his clothes and removed the weapons he had carried with him. 'But it's not like they have to believe that people are dying, they were assigned to watch over Monte and they've been at it for three years. So they had been spying on him for three years, reporting back to their bosses regularly. Yet left me alone, I guess because the Ring was already with me. But those guys didn't know if there was anyone else assigned to spy on Yugi or the others...'

Bakura ran the water in the tub before checking on the pot. Juggling the two tasks he got himself a nice cup of chamomile tea and a warm bath ready. He submerged himself into the bath, doing everything in his power to push the day out of his thoughts. If it was important enough a detail to intrude 'then' he would pay attention. But for now he relaxed, soaking away the feelings of anxiety, ineptitude, and mostly sadness. 'I should be horrified over what I've done today.' He brought his hands up amid the steam rising from the water to give them a good look. 'I killed four men in cold blood and I'm fine...'

"Yugi, I hope you're fine taking up the Other Yugi's role..." he sighed into the steam as he sank down a little further, bringing the heated water up to his chin. 'I can't do it, I'm too broken to help you, I know you want me to. But I can't... The group doesn't need a thief or a murderer.'

There should have been a sense of dread, of horror over what Bakura had so casually been able to do. The room should have felt too clean and normal for a stained and broken soul as his. 'Should of' but didn't...

'Is this who I am? Can I aspire to no greater a person than a thief and a killer? I feel fine and I shouldn't. I should feel bad that I twisted Jounouchi into hanging back, but he didn't need to see that side of me. For that matter I don't need him trying to play 'good cop bad cop' with them. If I can't take death off the table. Well there's no reason to pretend there's a chance they 'could' come out of it alive.'

Hot tears slipped easily amid the moisture collected on his face from the steam in the bath. Even if he couldn't recognize that he 'could' feel bad anymore. His body, finally able to relax very much did... 'I'll take a nap then when Yugi's free from that press event of Kaiba's I'll go talk to him again. He needs to know how big this is. Worst case situation will mean we're going to be dealing with religious fanatics who have been misled. Who they 'want' is Yugi, who they're working 'towards' is Zorc and if that isn't a cocktail of chaos in the making. Is it any wonder that it would get Set's attention at this point?'

What 'was' Set doing was actually now a thought. They had a small understanding of the situation, the group was trying to make Duel Spirits. But did Set view that as under his providence and would soon get involved? Or did he not care because it didn't directly involve Yugi? 'Though there's enough hints that he has a thing for Mahaado, so maybe if the Magician were to ask he would get involved... Yugi. Royal gossip night. Need to remember 'Royal Gossip Night'...'

Outside the bathroom his Ancient mother stood and fretted for a bit, twisting her hands with a small expression of guilt on her face. As her husband came up by her side to join her, she could only look up at him with soulful, sad eyes. "Our baby isn't happy about today. They saved that Monte person, but killing those servants of the Demon still bothers him."

"This was never going to be easy dear. But he's strong, you should have faith in him," he replied giving her a small hug.

"I do, but he's hurting... I... I am loath to do it, but I think I'll visit the pharaoh. Look after the man for a bit for our son's sake. That might make him feel better, if he doesn't think we're just going to lash out every time we see the pharaoh..." she decided, her lips pursed in a straight line across.

"As you wish my dear, I'll let him know when... well he looks more like he's going to take a nap anyway. I'll wait until he wakes up if you haven't returned to tell him." He replied as she slipped away from the apartment.

And nap Bakura would. When he finally dragged himself out of the tub he had enough sense to put the tea cup in the sink. Before dragging himself off to bed, what emotional turmoil had weighed him down before was now, momentarily, replaced with exhaustion. Limbs feeling like lead barely allowed him to reach his bed before he dragged on his pajama pants. The button on top abandoned due to sleep being the higher priority. Also the fact that he couldn't easily keep spirits out of his bedroom once he fell asleep. There was nothing more scandalizing, than waking up to girls trying to catch a peek. REALLY LADIES JUST STOP!

He crawled in, soaking in the slight chill of the bed that absorbed the excessive heat from his bath. Creating a cocoon of comfort and warmth that had him snuggle down between the sheets, damp hair and all. Soon he was sound asleep, nothing penetrating the blanket as he slept. Leaving his apartment at the whims and mercy of the spirits. Not that there was much to do with the dead, they could turn on the television. But they didn't understand the language to find anything of worth watching.

Leaving them to float to the roof and watch the only thing worth watching in the early morning. The slow shift of colors as the sky turned ever so slowly and subtly into newer brighter colors. The bursts of purples, pinks, and golds before there was blue, the magic of a simple sunrise that they had been denied for ever so long. Such natural beauty provided the backdrop as Bakura's mother came soaring back. Those catching her expression in time as she tore past them turned away from the morning blue skies to pursue her in curiosity.

"Bakura... Bakura! Wake up!" she shouted, diving to the side of his bed. Her voice was taunt, anxious and her fellow villagers turned to look among themselves in degrees of concern and alarm. "You need to wake up!"

He didn't seem responsive no matter how much she shouted, but her persistence began to eat away at his peace. Once his brows furrowed, his body beginning to twist to roll away from her she pounced. "The pharaoh needs you son! WAKE UP!"

Bakura finally begrudgingly opened his eyes, squinting up over his shoulder to look at his Ancient mother. "The Pharaoh needs you by his side! You must hurry!"

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The bedroom door was nearly torn off its hinges as Bakura ran into the living room, grabbing the remote control off the table. The children scattered like autumn leaves on the wind despite Bakura's inability to touch them. He turned the television on, flipping stations in a panic with spirits trailing him in mutual concern.

"Reporting from the Kaiba Corp Dueling Center here in downtown Domino. The police have blocked off the building. A helicopter from the Domino Medical Center has just landed on the roof."

The screen showed a male reporter standing on steps outside a building while below a ticker rolled past, with the words 'Shots fired during Press conference.'

"Someone shot the Pharaoh."