A breeze blew over the park, the new battle field, as birds began to take flight from their places in the trees, as if they understood what was taking place. On the ground, Yami, Anzu, Honda and Jounouchi stood, glaring at the mysterious wizard, Ishinku, who just stared back at them.
Sitting next to Yami was Yugi still in Bakura's body. The pale hand covering the wound in his side was caked with semi-damp blood. One eye was shut in pain, his breathing unstable and shaky due to the hurting caused by the gash. Since his soul was the only one in Bakura's body as of now, the pain was left for him alone to bear.
Yami clenched his fists tightly. The burning sensation he felt in his chest was gone, and he felt a renewal of strength from his anger and rage. 'It was bad enough to get Yugi involved with all this, since Ishinku was after me,' he thought, gritting his teeth. 'Yugi's innocent from all this, even if we are connected together. But Bakura. . . . . He has NOTHING to do with this! Ishinku isn't even after his Yami, and he shouldn't be involved this way! He. . . . he sacrificed his soul so that Yugi's wouldn't be taken. . . . . .'
Beside him, Yugi was thinking around the same thing. 'Bakura switched places with me at the last minute so that I wouldn't be captured. But why? He didn't have to do that. But he still did. Why? He already knows what it's like to be in there, because of what I've told him, and the dreams I've had about it. He knows how awful it is.'
Suddenly, something clicked in his mind. 'His dream! Oh, God. . . . Is this what it meant? When he came to help me, because of that shadow figure. He tried to help me, but was left alone to fight him. It's the same! This IS what the dream was trying to tell him, and me. By switching places with me, he was trying to help me, but now he's left alone in the orb.' He bit his bottom lip. 'Bakura. . . . . . .'
After what seemed like forever, Ishinku tore his eyes away from the former Pharaoh and his friends, looking at the crystal orb on his staff. 'So, inside here is Bakura Ryou's soul, eh?' he thought to himself. He looked at the Pharaoh, and at the boy on the floor. Though he still kept the same facial expression, his sheer, icy eyes seemed to smile evilly. 'Well, it may not be Mutou Yugi's soul, but I could still use the other boy to my advantage.'
Waving his scepter around, the orb began to shine palely, and as he held it out in front of him, a faint white light came forth, a short distance from the orb.
The others gasped as the light suddenly focused into Bakura, his image slightly transparent. His eyes were devoid of any emotion or recognition of anything, and his facial features seemed very melancholy, much like what he looked like as the Change Of Heart card during Yami's duel with Yami Bakura on duelist kingdom.
"Bakura!" Yugi called out painfully.
Upon hearing his name, Bakura's spirit looked up, his dull eyes focusing on the soul in his body, before looking away.
"Bakura!" he called again.
"He can't answer you," Ishinku said, his eyes still smiling cruelly. "You should know what it's like, Yugi."
The boy growled softly.
"Let him go!" Yami demanded, taking a single step forward. "Bakura has nothing to do with this! He shouldn't have to go through any of this, and you have no right to keep his soul locked up like that!"
"Oh, but that was his choice, Pharaoh. He knew what he was getting himself into, or at least he should have with sharing Yugi's mind and such. And yet he still decided switch places with Yugi and allow himself to be captured. But maybe I'm wrong. I mean, if you, Pharaoh, could have protected either him or your light, then none of this will be happening, would it?"
Yami growled softly. His mind ran through this, trying to come to a decision. 'Is he right?' he wondered, though his eyes gave away nothing. 'Could I have protected Yugi and Bakura better than I did? Then none of this would be happening. Yugi would be in his own body, and he and Bakura would be safe. Is it really my fault?
'Ishinku was after me, but he has used Yugi and Bakura as a way to get to me. If. . . . If I wasn't around. . . . If Yugi had never completed the puzzle. . . . . .both would be safe right now. . . . . . .'
"Don't think that way, Yami!" Yugi said, looking up at the spirit of the puzzle.
The dark spirit looked down at the boy.
"You can't think that way! He's just trying to get to you! You can't give in that easy!"
"But what if he's right, Yugi?" Yami whispered. "If it wasn't for me, you and Bakura wouldn't have had to have gone through any of this."
"That doesn't matter, Yami," Yugi said. "I know that I would rather give myself up than to see you hurt. And Bakura wouldn't have switched places with me if he didn't want to help. We could have done nothing, and just stand by while he captured you, but we wanted do something.
"And right now, you're the only one that can help me and Bakura get back to our rightful bodies. So, come on, Yami. Don't think that this is all your fault. This happened because we wanted to help. But now you're the only one that can help us get back to our bodies."
"Hah!" Ishinku sneered. "The Pharaoh won't be able to do a thing against me! Isn't that right, Bakura?"
The soul of the said boy merely peered at the wizard over his shoulder, before reverting his gaze back to the others, nodding slightly.
"Bakura!" Jounouchi called.
"He's unaware of any of you at this moment," Ishinku responded. "He's under my power now. He's under my control. That's why the Pharaoh won't defeat me. If I tap into Bakura's soul energy, I will become stronger than ever."
The eye of Horus on Yami's forehead began to glow again. "That's IF you get the chance."
But Yugi grabbed his hand. "No, Yami! You can't do that!"
The spirit looked down at Yugi/Bakura. "Why not? I could easily. . . ."
"You can't kill him, not yet! If you do, then Bakura and I won't be able to get back to our bodies!"
"What?" they asked.
"It's true," Ishinku said. "I had to use the Soul Separation Spell to separate Yugi and Bakura's souls from their bodies. To put them back, I'd have to use the counter spell. But if you kill me, then you would never find out how to perform that spell, and Yugi and Bakura would never return to their bodies.
"Do you see why you can't defeat me, Pharaoh?" he asked spitefully. "If you defeat me, you precious light and Bakura won't be the same as they were before. However, since you cannot, I will be free to dispose of you as I wish."
His orb glowed suddenly, and Bakura seemed to float aside as electricity poured out of the sphere, directing itself towards Yami and the others.
Their screams echoed throughout the whole park, as the electricity grabbed them, running its current through their bodies.
The pain Yugi felt was too incredible for him to bear. It seeped into his cut, tearing him apart from the inside out. But opening his eyes, he looked over at Bakura's soul, and the transparent figure seemed to flicker and fade.
He gasped, the recognition of what was happening to Bakura. "No! Bakura, you have to stop!"
The fading spirit looked up at him again, then looked down at the ground.
For some reason, Yugi didn't feel the volts of electricity anymore. "Bakura! You can't do this!"
"He can't hear you, Yugi," Ishinku said. "He's under my control, and he can't help but give me his soul energy to power my orb."
But Yugi didn't stop trying. "Bakura! You can't keep doing that! Please, Bakura, listen to me! If you keep that up, you won't be able to survive!"
The spirit, his appearance flickering, looked at his body.
"Bakura! You have to stop! You can't keep that up forever, and you could die! Please, you have to stop, Bakura!" He ignored the tears streaming down his cheeks. "You'll die at this rate! I don't want that to happen to you! Please, Bakura!"
And just as suddenly, the volts of electricity stopped. The ones standing fell to their knees, trembling slightly and heaving with pain.
But Yugi didn't seem to notice the pain. He looked on as Ishinku examined his orb, before turning to Bakura.
"How?" the wizard asked. "How were you able to break free?"
Bakura looked at Yugi in his body, then back at the wizard. He spoke softly, though his mouth did not move, I won't allow this anymore.
His voice seemed to be heard by the others, yet not heard at all, like the gentle whistle of the wind. He continued, and his voice and words echoed in their minds.
I won't allow you to do this anymore.
"How did you break free?" Ishinku demanded once again.
I won't allow you to hurt my friends anymore.
Softly, he closed his blank eyes, and when he opened them, his eyes were filled with life.
"How were you able to break free of my control? You were supposed to be under my total power!"
You went too far, Bakura replied calmly. I can't just stand by and watch the only people I care about hurt like that any longer. If my energy had been for some other use, I wouldn't have cared whether I lived or died. But by hurting my friends, you've gone too far, and I can't let you do that anymore.
"Bakura. . . . . . ." Yugi said silently.
Ishinku growled. "You would have been better off staying out of this. Your meddling will cost you dearly."
"Bakura!" Yugi called, as the soul of his friend suddenly disappeared at the glow of the orb.
Turning to the others, Ishinku held out his orb again. "This time," he hissed, "there will be no interferences or miracles to save you."
Suddenly, a bluish beam hit Ishinku in the back, causing him to cry out. As the beam disappeared, the wizard fell forward, hitting the ground. As he did so, he revealed the form of Yami Bakura, who stood behind him, panting.
"That's what you think, Bastard," the dark spirit of the Ring said, bending down and picking up the staff. He then slowly made his way over to where Yami and the others were standing.
"Are you alright?" Yugi asked as Yami helped him to his feet.
Saying nothing, Yami Bakura removed the hand that covered the wound on Bakura's body. Yugi flinched slightly. Noticing that, Yami Bakura looked up at the face that resembled his own, knowing full well where his light was. Looking over at Yami, the spirit of the Ring handed him the staff with the Orb.
Yami took it from him, his eyes full of question.
"Break the Orb," Yami Bakura responded.
"What?" the spirit of the Puzzle asked.
"You have to break it."
"But," Jounouchi said, "if he breaks it, how are Yugi and Bakura gonna get back to normal?"
"Yeah," Honda agreed. "If Yami breaks it, won't they be stuck like the way they are?"
Yami Bakura shook his head. "That's if you kill Ishinku, who knows the counter-spell. But if you dispose of the Orb, the whole cause of this mess, then they will go back to their bodies."
"But how do you know?" Anzu asked.
"That orb is a legend," Yami Bakura answered. "It was created using the powers from the Shadow Realm, created by the great-grandfather of the pharaoh Yugioh."
"My great-grandfather?" Yami asked.
Yami Bakura nodded. "He created it in hopes to calm the Shadow Monsters and control them. But when that didn't work, he disposed of it, and placed a certain spell on it so that only certain people could break the Orb, and certain people could assemble it when it was broken.
"However, he didn't think of putting requirements for those who would own it. You had to have certain requirements to put the pieces together and gain the Orb's power, but once it was assembled, it could be handed over to anyone.
"That's why Ishinku has it. Once they have it, they can tap into the Orb's magic. But if the Orb is broken, everything they've done with it will be reversed."
He stared intently into Yami's eyes, almost in an intimidating manner. "You have to break the Orb if you want Yugi and Bakura to return to their bodies."
"Hold on," Yami said. "Why should I believe you? I mean, you've tried to kill Yugi more than once. How do I know that this isn't some plot to do that again?"
"Normally, it might be," the spirit of the Ring answered, "if the soul of my light isn't on the line as well. I want Bakura safely back in his body as badly as you want for Yugi. I wouldn't tell you to break the damn Orb if I wanted to kill your light, seeing as how it would kill mine as well. Think of me what you will, but I do care about my light."
"I dunno," Honda said suddenly. "I mean, back on the Duelist Kingdom, when I was trying to save Mokuba, even after Pegasus removed his soul, you told me that you wanted to use Mokuba's soulless body so Bakura wouldn't interfere with your plans anymore."
"And don't you wonder why I wanted to use a soulless body when I could have easily gotten rid of Bakura's?" Yami Bakura snapped. "If I had trapped his soul in a card again, just like I had done before, or if I had just disposed of his soul, I could have had complete control. So why do think I didn't? Because I DO care for the boy."
"Do you?" Yami asked.
"Just because I don't show Bakura that I care about him," he replied, "just like how you show Yugi you care, doesn't mean that I don't. There are many ways of caring, and just because our ways differ from each others, it doesn't mean that we care about our lights less."
Yugi looked on at the dark spirit of the Ring, when some movement behind him caught his attention. His eyes widened. He tried to say something, but couldn't find his voice.
Yami Bakura noticed the strange facial expression on Yugi/Bakura's face. That was when he sensed something behind him, and he spun around, the Ring on his chest glowing brightly, creating a barrier around them, blocking the attack beam from hitting them.
Ishinku cursed under his breath, but continued to try and push the beam forward, knowing that Yami Bakura had to weaken eventually.
"You have to break the Orb!" Yami Bakura yelled at Yami. "Half of Ishinku's soul is trapped inside it, and that's where he gets his power! If you want to defeat Ishinku, and return Yugi and Bakura's souls back to their bodies, then you have to break it NOW!"
Yami looked at the staff in his hand, then up at the spirit of the Ring. "But. . . ."
"Yami," Yugi said suddenly, "just trust him. We don't have any other options now."
Yami looked at him. "Yugi. . . . ."
"I trust him, Yami. I know he's telling the truth."
Yami's face set to a determined look as he nodded. Raising the staff high above his head, Yami brought it down to the ground, the Orb shattering from the impact.
From within the black pieces of the Orb, a black swirling torrent spiraled around them, pushing at everything as Bakura's and Ishinku's bodies glowed a deep, red color. Five rays, resembling five black shooting stars, flew into the air, and disappeared.
The torrent, as sudden as it came, disappeared, and Bakura's and Ishinku's bodies fell lifelessly to the ground.
The ruby glow around Yugi's body suddenly disappeared, the room appearing as normal as it did when the luminosity first occurred. Many minutes passed, and all was still in the small bedroom.
Suddenly, there was a light groan on the bed, as Yugi slowly sat up, holding his pounding head. There was a dull ache in his left side, but that passed quickly. For a moment, he had no idea where he was. Looking around, he tried to remember.
Something in his mind clicked, as he tossed the blanket off his body and jumped out of bed. He ran down the stairs and out of the game shop, as his mind finally registered what had happened. His destination was the park, where he knew his friends were.
He ran as fast as his legs would allow him to go, with a single thought in mind: 'Bakura. . . . . Hold on. . . . . .'
Yami Bakura sat on the ground, holding the body of his light close to him, not caring that blood was staining his clothes.
Yami and the others watched, knowing that no words needed to be exchanged.
There was a groan from across, and all looked up to see Ishinku slowly rising to his feet.
The wizard glared at them, but Yami noticed that his eyes were now a rich blue hue, more like an actual eye color, and less like glass.
"Damn you, Pharaoh," Ishinku hissed, clenching his fists. "I will get you, mark my words. . . ."
Yami could feel his blood boil, the eye of Horus once again reappearing on his forehead. "I've had enough of your threats," he said furiously, the eye glowing brighter by the passing minute. "You've harmed enough people for a lifetime. I'm sending you back to the Shadow Realm, and this time, you won't live through it!"
"Ha!" Ishinku jeered. "Have you got what it takes, Pharaoh? Your light hasn't softened you, has he!"
Yami growled, the eye suddenly shining blindly. "Don't test me! I'm damning you to the worst HELL you can possibly imagine!"
There was an ear-piercing scream, as the silhouette of Ishinku suddenly seemed to blow away, disappearing in the blinding light.
Then the light died down, and the scenery of the park returned to normal. A gentle wind passed over their heads, teasing their hair as birds returned, filling the area with their songs.
"Yami!" a familiar young voice called, causing all of their attention to a figure running towards them.
"Yugi!" Yami responded, as the young boy jumped into the arms of his darker spirit.
After a moment, Yugi pulled away, looking up into the spirit's eyes. Yami just smiled at him, wordlessly ruffling the boy's hair. Yugi couldn't help but smile back, then knelt down next to Yami Bakura, gazing at the unconscious boy in his arms.
"Hold on, Bakura," Yugi whispered. "Just hold on."
The sounds of sirens suddenly erupted around them as an ambulance arrived.
TBC