Something was different about today. Something was going to happen. Something was definitely wrong.
Yugi made a right turn when he exited the kitchen and journeyed down the hall to the last door on the left. He paused and sighed slightly before he knocked gently on the door.
"Come in," Bakura said from the other side of the door, "I'm already awake."
Yugi turned the doorknob and pushed the creaking door forward slightly. He cautiously peeped around the edge of the door to make sure Bakura was not in a threatening position, because he never was sure when Yami Bakura would attack. At times, Yugi had to tap into the power of his Millennium Puzzle to keep Yami Bakura from going postal.
Bakura was unstable since Duelist's Tower was destroyed. When Marik was killed and the Millennium Rod suddenly became without an owner, the spirit equilibrium, which was already unbalanced due to the theft of Pegasus' Millennium Eye, got completely shaken up. Bakura started having convulsions and nearly died on the way back to Domino. He was in the Domino Hospital for two months and in the ICU for two weeks of that time. He was still ill upon discharge, but the doctors said they could do nothing more to help him. The doctors told Bakura's parents and friends that his vital signs were never consistent for more than a few hours at a time, but he somehow managed to not die and he actually normalized under his own power.
A week after Bakura was discharged, a cruel twist of fate occurred when his parents were involved in a severe car accident with a tractor-trailer which killed his parents instantly on impact. Yugi happened to be at Bakura's house ["watching" Bakura] when a doctor from Domino Hospital came there and delivered the horrific news. After the doctor left, Bakura harnessed the evil spirit within the Millennium Ring in a violent rage of epic proportions and sent the soul of the trucker to the Shadow Realm, even though Bakura had no idea who he was. Bakura had no other family to rely on, so Yugi and Solomon invited Bakura to live with them and they took care of him since.
Ever since that fateful day, Bakura started willingly contacting the evil spirit within the Millennium Ring. The spirit seemed slightly confused at first about why someone who had been fighting it for so long was finally tapping into the powers at will. After a very short while though, the motives were obvious.
Bakura was a lonely, broken man. He felt the need for a friend and a solution for his problems. Even though he knew Yugi and company were there for him, none of them could bring his parents back.
"Spirit, don't hurt Yugi."
"I'll do whatever the Hell I want. You're the weakass on the ropes, Bakura."
"If you hurt Yugi, I won't help you with your task."
"I don't need your help. You just make my job a little easier. And, it's not like you're in the position to give orders anyway."
Yugi cautiously walked inside and sat in a chair next to Bakura, who was reading the entertainment section of yesterday's newspaper while sitting on the side of his bed. Yugi picked up the sports section and leafed through it for a few seconds before he started to speak.
"What are you up to this morning, Bakura?"
"I've not made myself very productive this morning. I've just been rereading yesterday's article about Funny Bunny. Weirdly enough, ever since Pegasus talked about it during his duel with Kaiba, I've been interested in the cartoon. I've even taped a few episodes."
"I've watched the cartoon once or twice, but I can't say I'm a big fan."
Bakura folded up his section of the paper and he pulled a VHS tape off the shelf. He then got up from the bed and walked over to the VCR which was next to his thirteen-inch color TV and placed the tape into the VCR. Afterward, he turned on the equipment and pressed "play."
"This is one of my favorite episodes," Bakura said as he sat in the floor near the television set, "Ruff Ruff McDog tries to set up a trap to catch Funny Bunny by making him run into a tunnel that has the other end blocked off. Funny Bunny manages to dig a hole though and get McDog to fall into it though. Then, Funny Bunny runs out of the tunnel and blocks the one open end, confining him inside the cave."
Yugi chuckled and retorted, "To each his own, I guess."
"There is more to this than you think, Yugi," Bakura explained as he picked up the remote to turn up the volume, "There are some striking similarities between Funny Bunny and Duel Monsters. For instance, the Doppleganger card Pegasus used against Kaiba was almost a dead ringer for Funny Bunny's brother, Crazy Bunny. One of Crazy Bunny's antics was going up to people and saying what they say or doing what they do to mock and annoy them, hence, the inspiration for the card. Also, the Bickuribox was a creature in one of McDog's dreams. It was a contraption that would pop out and allegedly lay waste to Funny Bunny. Obviously, it never came to fruition."
"Wow..," Yugi answered with his eyes open widely, "I knew Pegasus was a cartoon fanatic, but I didn't realize cartoons were that influential to his making the game."
All of a sudden, there was a hard, rapid knock on the door. In unison, Bakura and Yugi exclaimed, "Come in!"
Grandpa swung open the door and stormed in. Somewhat out of breath, he said, "Yugi, Kaiba's on the phone and he said it was extremely urgent."
