Authoress's Note: Okay! Here is the next chapter! I hope you enjoy it, as some things left off on bad notes, but I was advised that this was a Good Thing. I am really starting to like this character development, and killing off characters is so… soothing, especially original characters I have made. I didn't know I would end up killing Faith. Oh well, I guess it was unavoidable. *sigh*
Disclaimer still applies along with all the old warnings. Oh, and I was in a good mood and I think I took something from Spaceballs… great movie. Well, anyway, this has a lighter note than the last chapter did. I like making fun of Seto Kaiba. He has such an adorable voice!
Oh. In one part of this, I will negate the "Yami" part of "Yami Bakura." Just decided to warn you. Not my fault if you're not reading this.
I LOVE PEGASUS! AND I JUST FOUND A WORD TO DESCRIBE HIS TOTALLY HOT EYE COLOR! YAY!
Yami Bakura knocked on the door. He was holding Téa's wrist in one of his hands, keeping her at the door. They had been let through the gates; Yami Bakura had been there before. He knew several of the guards.
Someone opened the door. It was Yugi, and Yami Bakura was very surprised to find him. Yugi was munching on a hot dog and there was the faint sound of a television set from somewhere.
"Do you know where Pegasus is?"
The short teen replied, "The basement. He ran down there about twenty minutes ago. So, what are you guys doing here?"
"We were hoping we could talk to him," Yami Bakura said. He knew what mood Pegasus was in if he went to the basement. "What happened?"
"Someone delivered a severely maimed body to our front door. It was Fate; that's all I know about it."
Téa looked like she was about ready to cry. "Fate? But she was so nice. We were going to start a vegetarian movement together. We wanted it to sweep across the world and take hold everywhere… why do all my friends have to die?"
Yugi stared at her as if he didn't know what to do. "Um… I'm still here."
"For how long?"
Yami Bakura looked at them. "This reunion is very heartwarming, but I think we should continue the love fest inside instead of outside. People could be listening in on the conversation, and I don't think you two want to be caught."
He shoved the two inside the door and slammed it behind himself. There was a big box the size of a coffin in the hall, and it had been opened. He could smell the rotting flesh from where he stood, and he had no doubt that whatever was going on in the basement had to do with that body. Pegasus very rarely snapped, but when he did, he went all the way.
"I'm thirsty," Téa said. "Yugi, is there anything else besides soda here? I don't drink soda. I'm against the principle."
"There was something that looked like bottled tomato juice or grape juice in one of the refrigerators. It was hard to tell. The stuff didn't have a label."
"Are you a vegetarian?" Yami Bakura asked her.
She nodded. "We as a species are too greedy. We are wasting our resources. Animals are fine for pets, but we don't need to eat them. It is one of the reasons why they are becoming endangered. Vegetables and fruits are healthier than animals, and they're not disgusting, rotting meat. Fruits and vegetables taste better ad leave you feeling better than rotting meat does. I remember the last time I ate meat. I was so disgusted that I decided to never eat meat again."
If only you knew how far you were going to be going from vegetarianism, Yami Bakura thought. I swear there are more and more vegetarians every day. Oh well, I'll just not tell her what the bottled stuff really is.
"Téa, I'll go get us some juice." I think Yugi can deal with this speech alone.
He walked to the kitchen and went to the special refrigerator. Eventually, he found the device used to uncap the bottles; he threw the tops in one of the recycling bins. He took a drink of it and was surprised at the fresh taste; Pegasus would need to tell him the supplier in the Underground Market.
Téa seemed to like the taste. "This stuff is good, but I don't think it is grape juice or tomato juice. We had those at my house all the time; what kind of juice is it?"
"Pegasus likes exotic juices that few people would think of drinking. It is pomegranate or something," Yami Bakura lied. Wonder what she would do if I called it "Type AB blood…"
The man in dark blue laughed insanely from his bedroom. He was plotting how to get into a computer system with an ordinary laptop computer instead of his big girl, and it was working quite well.
"Soon, the entire technological world will bow to me…"
Seto Kaiba laughed and got out his dolls. Pegasus, himself, that really cute girl named Téa, Yugi Motou…
"Pegasus! At last you will see who is in charge of the Internet!"
He imitated Pegasus's voice. "No! No! I hate you so much! You'll never get away with making me look like a fool! No! Please stop this now!"
"I have killed one of your minions, Maxamillion Pegasus. Surely you know I am invincible by now! I ruined your life and now I will ruin your bankroll!"
"NO!"
"And you, Téa. At last you will bow to me. At last you will know my true affections for you! I will rescue you from the clutches of what that dead girl called 'The Queen of Spades' and I will make you fall in love with me!"
He imitated a girl's voice. "No! I hate you, I hate you! Leave me alone! I don't like you that way, Seto Kaiba! You killed my best friend!"
"You know you want me. I can give you power. I know you are a vegetarian, and together we can make the word cower before us! You can illegalize eating animals! And now you will fall in love with me instead of Yugi Motou!"
Kaiba imitated her voice again. "Oh, Kaiba! I never knew you were such an activist! This changes everything! I won't set my sights on that homosexual Yugi any longer; it was just a waste of my time! No… I want you!"
"Call me Seto," he said.
"It doesn't matter what I call you! Kiss me right now! Oh!" Kaiba made kissing noises and held the two dolls up together. "Oh, your eyes are so… soulless."
Someone barged in through the doors. "Sir! We have found the location of your little brother!"
"Knock, you idiot! Can't you see that I'm busy!" he screamed, then in a low voice: "Did you see anything?"
"No, sir. I didn't see you playing with your dolls."
"Good! Now get out!"
He went over to his bed and sat down. Yes, he was in love with Téa. He had requested a doll to be made in her form, a life-size doll that was on his bed. He liked dressing it and undressing it. Téa was just so… Téa.
"We can rule the world together," he told the air. "Oh, Téa…"
Somewhere, all the way across town, a brown-haired girl was thinking of him in a positive light as well.
She hadn't found out who killed her friend yet.
Pegasus ran through the house like the Hounds of Hell were after him. He splashed against the wood floor (carpet was too easy to stain) and ran up the stairs. The flabbergasted teens watched him run by in a blur; two of them could identify the liquid, and the third was happily talking about her plot to take over the world.
He found the bathroom easily enough, and his bloodied clothes splattered against the floor when he removed them. He took off his red jacket and started shredding it. He had at least ten more in the same style, so it wasn't too big a loss…
Riiiip. Riiiip. Riiiip. Grind. He was so grateful that he had installed a giant garbage disposal machine on the wall. He knew control couldn't last forever…
Someone was knocking on the door. Bakura. He looked at it and made sure it was locked; the person on the other side was trying to open the door. He did little aside from rattle the lock. Pegasus took off his bloodstained ruffled shirt and ripped it up as well. The machine ground it.
He took off his shoes and decided they were too stained to keep. They were easily ripped apart with his exceptional strength.
"Pegasus! Open this door right now or I will break it down."
Off came his pants. Riiiip. Riiiip. Riiiip. "Go away!"
He listened to the satisfying sound of them being ground into nothing. A bit of blood splattered when the pants went through and hit him on he cheek. He laughed. Why was everything always so full of blood?
Laughter.
"Everything is pointless," he said. More laughter.
"Pegasus!" Téa. She was one of his students at school. Really nice girl, always willing to stand up for everyone. She would make a great public speaker.
More laughter. He wondered how much it would hurt to stick his finger in the grinder. No, never his hair, never his beautiful hair. He couldn't do something so stupid.
"Open this door!" Bakura. Two faces. Literally.
He couldn't stop the laughter no matter how much he wanted.
"He's gone mad…" Bakura again. It sounded perfect with the accent.
"What's going on?"
Yugi, the little innocent… he was so naïve. Pegasus wondered if he liked the hot dogs. It had to be pretty bad being cooped up in this house. Maybe in a few years he would let the kid out. Maybe when puberty finally hit the kid. Always was late…
"Pegasus has locked himself in the bathroom. I think he's gone insane," Téa cried. "I loved his lectures! They were all from the heart!"
Finally, he got rid of everything but his undergarments. They weren't stained; they were never stained.
"Maybe I can use my Millennium Puzzle to make Yami appear on the other side of the door. He can open it."
Pegasus stopped mid-laugh. He realized what he had just done and wondered if he had lost it. He ran every single psychology book and psychological term through his mind.
The term he was searching for was "nervous breakdown."
Now he started crying. He gripped his head like there was a terrible pain and rocked back and forth on the slightly bloody floor. The pain dealt him another blow to the head and he felt himself fall on his side. He assumed a fetal position, gripping his head in both hands, wishing something would make the pain stop.
A great cry rose from his lips; pure beauty. He let it hang in the air for what seemed forever, time frozen so it would never, ever stop.
Someone slapped him.
A surprised amber eye looked into startling violet eyes.
The hand with the manicured nails was raised in the air, poised for another slap, but the blow never came. Pegasus lifted his hand and touched his stinging cheek.
It felt like the time when he was fifteen years old. It had been so warm; he was unaccustomed to the heat at his aunt's house. It was sometime around midsummer, about three months after his parents died.
He stepped in the shower and put the water in neutral for about five minutes. Then, he slowly eased his way over a notch until it was cold. Finally, he yanked it all the way until the water froze his skin when it touched him. He stood there in the cold stream, the heat of the day only an arm's length away. The cold water had hurt his body more than anything in the world, but he liked it. It was a good pain, not like the pain of having fangs sink into your neck. It was a refreshing pain, a pain that let you know you'd be okay and you were still alive and well.
Pegasus let his hand rest at his cheek for what seemed hours.
He heard the lock click and a muffled gasp, most likely from Téa, but he saw nothing other than a colored blur, so vivid it made his eyes hurt. He clasped his hands to his head again as if he would rip off his hair.
Bakura grabbed Pegasus's wrists; they relaxed under his touch. Pegasus looked into Bakura's chocolate eyes, entranced by the darkness of their color, the deepness, and then he was seeing himself through Bakura's eyes. Gods, he was such a sorry sight.
He saw himself as no mirror could ever show him. Sitting on the floor, a glazed look in his visible eye, no hint that the Millennium Eye had just turned itself on. He was a mess, tears mixing with the blood on his face; hands had wiped blood through his white hair and there was the awful statuesque quality…
It was enough to make anyone cry.
Without a conscious thought, he was in his own body again, staring into Bakura's eyes. They were so deep and intoxicating and so concerned, but did he even deserve Bakura's concern?
"Pegasus, it's okay."
He made his eyes emotionless, soulless, like Kaiba's eyes. It was something he liked doing sometimes when he was in a bad mood, something so no untrained person could look and see his torment.
"Okay? You mean there's nothing wrong with killing someone out of a blind rage and not even putting their fluids to use?" He used the full capabilities of his voice, the vocal technique he had so often invoked, and he knew he had done it the right way.
Yami was kneeling right behind Bakura and it was obvious that the white-haired teen had pushed him aside.
Téa decided to use the silence as a cue for a speech.
"What you did was wrong, Pegasus, but that doesn't mean you can't do something about it. That body down there is already dead. Nothing you do can change it, and it's pointless to cry about something that is out of your hands. Just think of all the good things you have done to help people. I know you've saved Yugi from enduring what I had to go through at the camps. You helped Fate to the best of your ability. You showed all of us compassion." She accented the last word, apparently liking the word.
He had to admit that "compassion" sounded really pretty when she said it, almost like salt on a wound. He would have to teach her how to talk someday. She would learn how to kill with the force of her words… but what was he thinking?
She continued. "I was given a choice. I could either die or fight death, and I am choosing to fight Death. The world knows her as the Order. Fate called her the Queen of Spades. Now, regardless of what she is called, she has to go down. I will not let someone aware of her evil sit back and cry for the rest of his life because he killed someone! It's just one small price to pay for the Ultimate Victory. We will make them pay for what they have done to us."
Since when was this a fight against that woman? Pegasus thought.
It was cold.
And dark.
There was something touching her arm.
Blood was dripping. She knew it was blood from the smell. When she moved, something sloshed at her feet.
"Die," someone whispered in her ear.
"No," she replied.
"Darn," it said. "Damn."
"Shut up."
Silence.
Plop.
More silence.
Another plop.
Something hairy brushed against her arm.
She screamed.
The plopping didn't want to stop.
Silence.
Deafening silence.
Evil laughter.
"No."
"Why not?"
"It's suicidal to think you can penetrate those defenses."
"Well, if we don't do something, innocent souls are going to die!"
"It doesn't matter. Innocents always die. They are the primary targets."
"That doesn't make it right."
"I know. It still happens."
"You're a cold-hearted monster!"
"No, I am a realist. I believe in humanity, but it isn't very productive."
Bakura-who-wasn't-really-Bakura grinned. It was so fun to think what would happen when he let the real Bakura have control.
Téa said, "But if you aren't human, you are an animal."
"Humans are animals. Are you trying to insult the Animal Kingdom?"
"No." It seemed that however she tried, nothing she said was coming out right.
Pegasus, who had been silent, offered his two cents. "We are monsters lest monsters we become."
Yugi blinked. He decided the back of his eyelids looked cool when he blinked. He blinked some more. It was more interesting than talking to the others at the table. Besides, Pegasus was just telling riddles that were impossible for people to understand.
"Is something wrong with him?" Bakura asked.
"Me?" Pegasus asked.
"No. Yugi. He's blinking."
Téa sighed and looked at Yugi. "He does stuff like that when he has no idea what is going on. He looks cute when he blinks like that. What do you mean by 'we are monsters let monsters we become.' Isn't that a little contradictory?"
"Most things are," Pegasus replied.
Bakura-who-wasn't-really-Bakura smiled. He understood it perfectly. It was the kind of thing you had to live in order to understand. Hearing it reminded him of that Duel Monsters card called Change of Heart. The real Bakura seemed to like that card a lot. It was a little funny when you thought about it for a long time.
Pegasus took another sip of the blood. Téa still thought it was fruit juice. "There are different degrees of evil. For instance, stealing a pen isn't as bad as mass murder. Do you understand that? Sometimes you need to do bad things or you will do something worse in the long run."
"That makes no sense."
He sighed. This was going to be a long night. He thought break was supposed to get him away from teaching. "Let me put it this way. Say a girl named Nina knows she has something wrong with her. She is suffering from depression. Now let's say that she has a friend she trusts; her name is Lisa. Nina tells Lisa her secret and also tells her not to tell anyone. People who suffer from depression have a greater risk of suicide, and Nina expressed her desire to stop living in the conversation with Lisa. Should Lisa tell someone and break her promise or tell? If she breaks the promise, she will feel guilty and Nina might not trust her anymore. It would bring turmoil to Nina's life. But if she doesn't tell, Nina will commit suicide."
Téa looked at him. "That is so simple. I would tell."
"But wouldn't that be considered an evil or wrong thing to do from Nina's point of view?" Pegasus asked. "Does it make you a bad person?"
The confused girl said, "Yes, I suppose it would be, but it would be the right thing to do in that case. I would feel guilty, but it would be for the best."
"Now do you understand the paradox?"
"Yes, I think I do. Sometimes a little darkness is needed to bring the light."
He sighed. "Close enough. The Queen of Spades thinks that what she is doing is a good thing, killing people who are aware of her power so she can create a dream world for those who follow her and solve the problems of everyone else. She thinks the people she is getting rid of are wrong when they just think differently. We know the camps are a bad thing because they kill many innocent, unique people. Do you see how we have conflicting ideas?"
Bakura jumped in. "She holds the upper hand," he told her. "The three of us are out of her grasp—
"But Yugi-boy isn't," Pegasus finished.
"So you're saying that because Yugi is too innocent to know he is in danger that we shouldn't fight?"
Yugi zeroed in on that word. "Innocent," he repeated. "Innocent. Innocent. Naïve. Naïve. Innocent. Innocent. Naïve. Naïve." With each syllable, his tone was more acidic. "I am no more innocent than you are, Téa. Just because I'm short and I like thinking positively doesn't mean that I don't know what's going on! I have feelings too! I'm not a clown who exists for your amusement. I am a Millennium Item Holder and you cannot ignore me! I have a place here too!"
"This is a dangerous world, Yugi-boy. You are a very intelligent young man, but some things are way out of your league. Do you have anything useful to say?"
"I want to find Seto Kaiba and teach him a lesson. He is very smart and could come in handy if we get in a fix, but he's a cold-blooded murderer with blatant disregard for policies and no respect for life."
Pegasus could think about two totally different things at the same time. "And your point is?" I think his little brother may be one of his only weaknesses… well, I need to exploit that weakness, now don't I?
Bakura snickered. "I find you are not a proud owner of the attribute 'quick thinker,' Yugi. It took you that long to figure out Seto Kaiba is a psychopath?"
"He spends too much time with his machines," Téa scorned. "I think he forgets what being human is like."
Yugi decided his presence had slipped out of their minds again. So, while they were busy arguing over why Seto Kaiba was evil, he slipped away.
Like they would care.
Saffron was immersed in the world of music. She had lit sage incense at the room was engulfed in smoke. She breathed it in, trying to find her center, and was just about settled down when the phone rang.
She got up and answered it. Why didn't I unplug the meaningless tool? I need to meditate for my physical, spiritual, and mental well-being.
"Hello. This is Maxamillion Pegasus. We have a problem."
"Bonjor, Pegasus. Do you know what time it is?" Her voice was too sweet.
"I'm sorry, but this is an emergency. It's something that involves the safety of everyone in the world. It is—
"Time for the two in the morning Funny Bunny marathon?"
"No. This is more important than a silly cartoon. The fate of the world is at stake here! And why didn't you tell me there was a Funny Bunny cartoon marathon?"
She sighed. The static on the phone was giving her a really bad headache. She felt like killing someone. "There isn't. Look, I've got a headache. I'll be over there as soon as I can; I still need to do some things tonight."
I need blood, she thought. I've almost gone a week without it. Amazing, but I can't starve myself if I am going to end up on another one of those conspiracy crusades of Pegasus's. Last one ended with us trapped in cards.
That was the experience in which they met Bakura. He was a really cool kid, a little weird at times, but interesting. Sometimes she saw him during the day and he acted like he had no idea who she was; it was like there were two Bakuras. There was the one she knew, the one that trapped her in that card game, and then there was the innocent-eyed boy she saw everywhere else, a boy who had no idea there was a whole other world.
A flashback caught her full-force.
Bakura ran into the three Ambrosia Red members full-force. He slammed them into the ground and got up, trying to run. There was someone after him; Saffron heard guns firing and wondered what drama was unfolding before her eyes. Bakura stood there as two armed men shot at him. The bullets halted in midair and exploded.
"That is one of my students," she heard an awed Pegasus whisper. "I had no idea there was anything unusual about him…"
The white-haired youth laughed, a lazy smile slithering across his face. His eyes shone with a malicious light; they flashed red. A mysterious object on his chest shone a brilliant gold, the fire of the sun contained in a mythical ring that belonged in a fairy tale, not real life.
Laughter reverberated off the walls, its echo coming back thousands of times. A swirling tornado was forming around the boy, the thought-forms he manifested cackling; their fangs and claws glinted when the moonlight struck him. Yet, they weren't really around him, they were inside his eyes… they were swirling inside his eyes…
His arms stretched out and he looked like a wind would blow him into the sky, and his eyes shut in anticipation. Demonic thought-forms ripped through his skin and hurtled themselves at the two guards, who were terrified. Screams ripped through the air with a ferocity Saffron had never, ever heard in her entire life. His eyes opened and there was blood everywhere on him, though it hadn't been there before.
"Mon dieu…" Rayenne whispered.
All of that blood…
He turned toward them, as if half-asleep… those eyes opened, chocolate brown… vanilla hair…
"Bye," she said, hanging up the phone. She smelled the blood from that night long ago and wondered if it would ever happen again.
Yugi was cold, alone, afraid – everything. He longed for some sort of warmth, something that would remind him of home. He went back there and watched his grandfather wash dishes from outside the window, but when his grandfather saw a shadow in the window, he was forced to flee. It had been enough to see him that one last time before he went away.
Yami materialized in front of him. He had never seen Yami before, but he heard a voice in his head sometimes. All he did was sit against the tree with stunned, silent eyes, wondering how he could remain innocent in such times.
"You ran away from them."
What else could he have done? He was a nuisance, as always, and no one paid attention to him or wanted him. After several minutes of silent brooding, he replied, "I don't want to be a shadow for the rest of my life. How would you feel if no one ever paid attention to you or wanted you?"
"I can't relate to it."
"Of course you can't! You're not me! You're not unbearably short!"
Yami sat down beside Yugi and held the small boy close to him. Yugi moved closer to the taller boy, and they sat there for some time together. "Sometimes you need to learn how to play the hand you've been given. You don't need anyone to feel okay; the others may not need you now, but if you can do things alone, you don't need them at all. You were the one who brought everyone together. I think you should do what you were meant to do, whatever it is."
"But I don't know what I'm supposed to do!"
"Think about it for a moment, Yugi. What do you think you need to do? Are you going to sit here brooding or are you going to try to bring this organization down? What do you want to do?"
Yugi felt the warmth of his other side, and he came in closer. "I think I should try to bring this organization down. I may be small, but I can do it as long as you're here to help me."
"Then let's get the party started!"
The taller boy helped the shorter one to his feet, and both stood there in the night, thinking and wondering what was about to happen. Yami moved toward Yugi first, and when their lips met, sparks flew around them and they were engulfed in a brilliant white light. Yami drew back and looked into the younger boy's eyes.
"Aibou, sleep now."
His eyes grew heavy and he felt himself drifting off to sleep, obeying the commands even though he wanted to stay awake. There was warmth everywhere around him, and he could no longer feel himself. It was like he had been pumped full of numbing drugs, and he fell asleep.
Yami was alone in the night, standing under a tree, wondering if what he was about to do was the right thing. He looked up into the sky and murmured a spell from a long time ago, feeling himself rise from the ground. It was time to pay the Queen of Spades a visit.
"Where did you get all of this leather and all of these ancient weapons?" Téa asked.
Pegasus looked at her. "Some things are just not worth talking about."