Yu-Gi-Oh: A Past and Future Pharaoh

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

A/N: Since I announced this on my CV fic I guess I should here too. So back in July I found out that my dad has dementia (Instead of telling me he had been diagnosed he instead opted to say 'mom' had been diagnosed. Soooo...) and was thrust into being his 24 care giver. Now this doesn't effect you much right now. These chapters were done months ago when the only problem I was dealing with was extreme anemia, and I'm merely editing them and posting them up. I'm currently working on new chapters that you won't see for some time. Thing is, I'm pretty sleep deprived, so if you start seeing sanity slippage for a time after this particular arc, you're probably seeing my 'July written chapters'.

Sorry.

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Zorc threw back its head and howled in laughter, the long wavy hair it had been given snapped like a flag in hurricane winds. Earthquakes erupted from its laughter making the stars appear to shiver despite being so far away. Its bare chest shuddered as it strove to breath in to continue its laughter, a sound that defied its human appearance. It was a deep rumbling sound, with hints of some type of animal that had a guttural tone. But that was the thing, its form was being managed by its followers. So the laugh wasn't quite matching up with its form.

Perhaps the idea that Zorc should be able to laugh never occurred to its followers.

"Know who you are dealing with." Was all that Yugi said, and with that Zork knew...

Remembered how weak it was compared to the tiny body before it. Remembered who that tiny body was a part 'of'.

Laughter was swallowed into silence, as Zorc slowly brought its head down so it could look at Yugi properly once again. Yugi wasn't fearing the darkness around him, he was relaxed despite the demons' presence. Even knowing this wasn't 'all' of the demons' presence, there was still 'more' that could be summoned. If the humans weren't so cautious, despite their hubris, they seemed painfully aware of what type of higher being they were dealing with.

But Yugi wasn't actively taking the field, he was leaving an opening to allow Zorc to do as it pleased. Something that felt far and away like a trap that it couldn't trust, its coal black vortexes that were serving as its eyes narrowed into pinpricks large enough to pass the sun through. "I will not allow the humans to call upon you..." It growled, its voice now had the quality of a grinding stone, working away against another stone. Tearing down pieces of weaker rock in an effort to get to the core of the jeweled center.

"That will be their choice," Yugi replied again as his shadow began to appear nonsensically to Zorc. There was no light here, it had blocked the light so that it would be able to intimidate Yugi. Yet below the tiny human was a puddle of darkness that began to elongate behind him...

Around them the stars began to turn...

"-Please protect yourself Yugi..."

Time resumed as the heart of the Universe began to beat once more.

"And now I am called upon," Yugi answered with a faint smile as his shadow began to shatter the solid evil that had surrounded them. Shattered and peeled the corruption began to break and lift up from the hospital. Yugi's own darkness spilled out, an elongated shadow from Yugi only to widen as the newly restored seconds rolled forward.

Obelisk rose up from the shadow while the hospital parking lot lights began to bloom back into existence. Headlights from passing vehicles roamed the edge of the hospital roof indifferent from the beings present. Obelisk loomed above the hospital, a degree that left the Emperor decidedly uncomfortable.

He had thought itself mighty, the awareness he had gained told him so, after all he had been dubbed 'Emperor'. A title that afforded a sense of raw power and strength among fiends. Even if the God who had given him sentience seemed on the gentle, prey side. Emperor moved to the side, wishing to keep both these beings in front of him. Behind the little human God being rose another dark being, but it was solid in form and feel. Dark blues with black shadow, the mouth was full of jagged teeth larger and sharper than a sword. Eyes a sharp yellow and a build that felt honest in its thick harden muscles. Unlike the larger being before him.

Between the two the Emperor felt small, either force could swat him away without a backwards glance.

While the rising being behind the little God pulled back its massive fist. For all the size difference Obelisk pulled back its balled up fist without hesitation, an action that demanded a response from Zorc. The demon answered in kind, after all no one liked to be punched and Obelisk was not powerful against it. The reborn God was not actively on the field, therefore Zorc could only conclude this was for show. After all there were no priests praying, or tablets assembled, without a summons there was no way for Yugi to inflict damage, right? If Yugi was only going to take the field when 'called upon' there just wasn't anyone there to do the calling.

Not to mention the youthfulness of this incarnation, he 'was' a fragment of the greater whole, formidable only if he was on the field actively. So figuring out if this was a bluff or a legitimate attack was only the smart thing to do. Better to test the waters now than to find out later and discover itself woefully weak.

Its fist was wide, easily wider than the length of this chain of islands that the Pharaoh lived upon now. But Zorc pulled it back for a full punch all the same, a punch that, were it at full strength, could easily puncture the planet.

It felt hopeless really as Anzu stared up at the night sky.

Because she knew it wasn't the night sky, it was Zorc, his fist covering the whole sky from her sight as she tried to look up. Obelisk looked childishly small when held in such comparisons, as he appeared large enough to pick up the hospital the way an adult picked up a large bag of groceries.

But this was Yugi.

And she believed in him, so if he summoned Obelisk and felt that the Ka was enough to protect them? She would believe as well. 'This is going to be loud isn't it?' some faint part of her that had detached itself from the rest of her rational mind nodded distractedly. Desperately trying to protect her from the monumental enormity of what she was bearing witness to.

It was a shock that the others had at that moment, as they looked up to see this monstrous huge fist slowly pulling back for a punch. Trying to find something distant to think about in this shrieking desperate attempt at retaining their sanity. Because they were all about to die, there was no other way to look at it.

Yet Yugi was standing there confident and at ease so they had to believe. Trust him... and ponder the odds of the rest of the city surviving these two disproportionately huge punches...

While Jonounchi tried to understand this weird feeling in the back of his mind. Subtle as it was, he felt as though he missed something, the proverbial 'blink and you'll miss it' moment where something had happened.

One moment they were making peace maybe with the duel spirit, now... Sound was gone. He felt dried out and all his strength and energy was just gone. Even the world appeared to shatter before him, glass that fell into pieces revealing... Darkness? No, something dirty? His mind couldn't wrap around it, so it settled on the easiest thing 'to' understand.

Yugi.

The night sky, the stars, the world was without any color, and 'that' was impressive given it was night time. Drawing attention instantly to Yugi in his flimsy, pale, hospital bathrobe, the streaks of color in his hair and his tan ski... tan skin...

While Anzu felt drained to the point she couldn't move from this horrific sight, she 'could' see that Yugi's skin was darker than she was used to. 'Of course its darker... his past life was Egyptian...' some distant part of her mind noted distractedly. Flayed by some dark sun she felt stuck to the hard hospital roof, trying to swallow, only for her mouth to be as dried as tanned leather. First day of cheerleading workouts had not being this draining.

Honda tried to shift his gaze to find the others... but if they were there, he couldn't see them which was impressive. He had been near Isis and some distant part of his mind remembered that he 'should' have been able to see her at the least. But there was no one, just a straight line of sight from where he laid to where Yugi stood. Unaffected. Unaware?

Beyond Yugi; Jounouchi, all of them really, came to realize it was the Demon.

Kaibas' cry must have been his defenses shattering under the pressure of the Demon who was attempting to manifest in Domino... Now the night seemed taken over by this demon, looming out of the darkness. The peace and calm that had started to settle over them as the Emperor seemed to start listening crumbled.

But to bear witness to the Demon and realize that Kaiba had been keeping such a massive force out on his own...

Warmth seeped up from the ground, making the sheer cold of the air suddenly evident, while filling the air with the steam that came when cold came into contact with heat.

"Yugi? Please don't let him hurt you!-" Anzu started to whisper even as the encroaching darkness loomed over her. She felt so tiny, so helpless as she looked all around, only the warmth below her warmed up her cold limbs as a comfort. Her fingers dug into the strange heat that enveloped her hands, wanting to hold on to it. It was a disturbing thought that she could be frozen over so fast that she didn't realize she was cold until AFTER she started warming up.

'Pharaoh..' Isis thought to herself as she relished in the warmth of her Pharaoh's strength. This gentle warmth that blossomed below them to comfort them the moment the Demon arrived. Warmth seeping into their very bones the way tea was seeped into warm water. It was enough to bring her to near tears. Once more he stood at the front of them, protecting them when they should have protected him!

Anzu looked up, rher whole being converted into an ice statue that was just now starting to thaw out. Just moving her arms had been monumental in its effort. Between blinks, Anzu had to question what she saw, as the demon had been massive exceedingly so. Yet between the blinks the demon suddenly was the size she recalled in the Dream Egypt.

The demons' fist slammed into Obelisk, two colliding powers that produced enough wind that she was physically lifted from the ground and found herself thrown back into the stairwell. Stars burst in her vision as she dropped to the ground, all muscle, limbs and boneless. It howled in her ears as did the fear she felt for the others. Mokuba was still a young boy and the wind was strong enough to rip her from the ground and send her into the air! What could it do to the others?

She could hear the howling winds outside the stairwell as terrible as any Tsunami. Despite the strong structure of the hospital a low rumbling of a train vibrated through the stone. Only she knew it wasn't a train. Rather it was the impact of the punch. A pair of sharp yellow triangles loomed out of the darkness staring at her? The stairwell? She didn't know nor did she know how the hospital was still standing, all she could do was take comfort in the present of those eyes staring into the room. What else could it be but Yugi's own power?

Isis was thanking every Deity she could think of as she tugged Mokuba close to her. The boy had gone flying, screaming in terror while his hands grasped helplessly in the air. The impact had ripped him from Anzu and backwards before he started to tumble midair. Isis had managed to grab his hand and was horrified to watch him held up from force alone. Such force that the punch finally passed and dropped him onto the ground.

She pulled him to her as she began to look around. Malik and Ryou looked to be mildly ok, they were slowly pushing themselves to their knees. Jounouchi and Honda were laid out frighteningly still further than where they had been standing upon impact. Her and Rashid were able to hold their spots partly out of priestly training. Seto was passed out, but she wasn't surprised given his cry of pain. If she could have she would have gone to check on him.

Above them cracks formed in the Demons' fist, spreading out like a spiders' web along its knuckles. She couldn't see all hand as it was clenched, nor could she see the wrist. Chunks broke and floated upward away, causing the Demon to roar in displeasure. Extending beyond the fist whole appendage shattered despite Obelisk not being a Light based Ka.

It had damaged the Demon.

Ryou dropped to his knees in relief hidden by a shield of his spirits though all of them had been flattened to the ground initially. He sat on his knees now and just watched with this maniacal glee that the demon was being driven back. Panic, fear and rage had consumed him the second he felt the demon starting to generate. Kaiba's shields began to crumble and Ryou could almost hear it crack once before it came down.

But Yugi was a god now.

The video Ryou had watched played back in the back of his mind, the realization that this was what he had been alluding to. 'But Kaiba's been knocked out, if Yugi depended on Kaiba to summon him this situation would be a lot worse...' the DM part of his mind noted deliriously as he watched Zorc drifting away into the sky like ash on the wind.

So he turned his gaze back to Yugi, and watched as Obelisk reduced in size until it was a shadow standing as a man of Yugi. Melting itself down it wrapped itself around him, draped down along the teens' frame the way that one long coat he bought did. 'Its manifesting as a coat? Why isn't he reabsorbing it as a Ka normally would?' Ryou wondered while recalling that day when they had to shop for new clothes for the taller Yugi.

Slowly he pushed himself to his feet and went to Yugi when something in the faint glow of the parking lot lights caught his attention. Yugi stood there for a bit...

Yugi turned to face Ryou with a faint smile of tired amusement. His eyes closed and Ryou began running as Yugi folded down, collapsing like a house of cards.

"Yugi!" Ryou called out his voice feeling rough and too loud in the stillness of the hospital roof. He dropped to his knees next to Yugi and rolled the guy over only to feel his heart stop for a moment. Pencil thick trails of blood ran down the corners of Yugi's mouth, his eyes seemed thicker as though he was wearing khol. But Ryou began to fear, now that he was here and able to pick up on the soft, iron scent of blood.

"What's wrong with Yugi?" Honda called out as he pushed himself to his feet, thankful for his cane as he used it to climb up. "Hey Ryou?"

Isis and Rashid hurried to their feet as well before moving forward in response to Ryou's voice. While Mokuba got up and stumbled his way to Kaiba crying for his brother now that it was safe enough to move. Anzu was stumbling back out of the stairwell she had been flung into and Honda was relieved to see her walking.

"Yugi?" Anzu called out, looking about for a brief moment, looking for the pale hospital robe Yugi had been wearing. Then she realized that Ryou was kneeling next to someone who had been standing where Yugi had been. As she walked she started to see the hints of Yugi's red hair and realized who was kneeling down. "Yugi? Is he ok, Ryou?" She asked as she stumbled into a limp run over.

"I don't know, maybe its the stress but he's not awake," Ryou reported in concern. "He's bleeding but I don't know if its internal or just he bit his tongue or something..." it was a weak lie, this amount of blood didn't come from biting the inside of a mouth. Not unless he bit 'off' his tongue which Ryou desperately hoped he hadn't.

Ryou glanced around and saw Honda, feeling gratitude that he didn't have to rush around too much. "Is Kaiba ok Honda?"

"Like I can tell, he's not moving, but he's got a strong pulse and he's breathing...?" Honda offered. "I don't know if I'm elated that we have such powerhouses at our back or horrified that this is what happens when they face that bastard..."

Kaiba was pale, not that Honda could see, but his throat 'did' house a strong pulse. Mokuba was curled up against his brother resting his arms and head against his brothers' chest. "Its ok Mokuba, your brother is going to be ok..." Honda patted Mokuba on the back in an effort to comfort the child.

"Big Brother..."

"I'm fine... Once I get my hands on that demon I'll be fine..." Kaiba answered, his voice weak with exhaustion. Yet somehow he was able to project his absolute fury in his voice as he laid there.

"Big Brother!" Mokuba replied in hopeful excitement before he crawled over to wrap his arms around his brothers' neck.