BlackRose: Just one thing to say.
+blah+ = Bakura to Yami
//blah// = Yami to Bakura
"Oh, leaving so soon?" The entire group turned back to look at the woman that was rising from the blood, a triumphant smirk on her face. Duke looked over as the door slammed shut and locked. Bakura let go of Ryou and pushed him behind himself, daring to glance at Yami. The former pharaoh looked at him at the exact moment.
+It seems we've come to the end.+
//Yes, it does. But we haven't won yet.//
+I know. I hope you understand what might happen, should we lose.+
//I do. But I'm willing to die. Are you, tomb robber?//
+Hell yeah.+ With that, Bakura gave him a smirk, ending the conversation.
"Yes, actually, we were just about to. Now, if you could just fuck off, we'll be on our merry way," Kaiba was saying.
"Too bad. You're not going to leave this room alive. My Players will see to that."
At that, the woman simply waved her hand. Up rose three more figures; figures that the small group had come to recognize all too well. Bakura felt a growl rise in his throat, as he looked at Mage, an old friend from a civilization long dead.
//We have to get the others out of here.//
+I know. But how?+
"Yeah, well tough shit lady…like it or not, we're getting the hell out of here," Tristan was saying. The woman laughed, throwing her head back, long green hair billowing out behind her like a second cloak.
"I beg to differ, child. This shall be your final resting place."
//Obviously, distraction is the best. But how will we get all fours attention?//
+Just watch and see, Pharaoh.+
"I have a better idea. They leave…we stay. After all, what's the fun in torturing mortals when they can die so easily?" Bakura said.
"WHAT?!" Ryou cried, "Yami, no!"
+Silence, hikari.+
"Yes," Yami agreed, "There wouldn't be any point. As soon as it gets entertaining, they die."
"Hm…yes, that would make the most sense. Fine, let the humans go. The spirits stay." With that, the metal door swung open again, granting freedom to the humans.
"No! I'm not leaving without you, Yami!" Ryou cried.
"Me either. If you stay, we all stay," Malik added.
"Yeah. We're not going to just leave you both here to die," Tristan said.
"Well, if they're staying, I am, too," Duke said.
"Same here."
"No! None of you are staying. You're all too fragile. Only Bakura and I can stay. We know what we're doing. Now go."
"But-"
"Damn it Ryou, do as he says! Leave now!"
"No. We're staying. You can't force us to leave," Kaiba put in stubbornly.
+They're not listening. We'll have to use force.+
//Sadly, yes.//
"We can and will make you leave, Kaiba. This isn't your fight. Now, I won't say it again. All of you…leave. Now."
"No." This time it was Duke.
"Fine then. Bakura?"
"Take care Ryou," was all the former tomb robber said before the Millennium Ring flashed and the group of humans was gone, suddenly finding themselves on the lawn outside. Yami and Bakura looked at each other a final time and nodded, ready for the final face off.
*~*
"Ryou, stop!"
"No! I don't care what you say, I'm not going to just leave him there to die!" Ryou continued to struggle against Kaiba and Malik, who were trying to keep the stricken hikari from running back inside the mansion.
"Ryou, listen! He's going to be fine, I swear! Bakura wouldn't let some stupid thing like this kill him!"
"No! You don't know that!"
"Ryou, listen to him! Your yami's going to be fine!" Kaiba could only hope his words would prove true.
"I can't trust words alone! I can't just let him die for me!"
"Ryou, stop! Just think about it! Remember, 'Kura's been to the Shadow Realm and back, and that's ten times worse than this! He'll be fine, you'll see!" Malik pulled him into a hug and refused to let go, despite Ryou's attempts to pull away. The white-haired teen continued to struggle as Kaiba watched.
How could such a supposed psychotic bastard mean so much to him? After all he did to him, Ryou still cares. Why?
Tristan was wondering the same thing. He had never seen Ryou like this before. The boy continued to try to pull away from Malik, still screaming that he had to help his yami. It made both Tristan and Kaiba think that maybe there was something they could do. After all, the Millennium spirits were willing to sacrifice themselves just so the others could live.
That's it. I can't leave those two to do everything. I'm going in, both the CEO and the spikey-haired brunette thought at the same time. Malik was still trying to get Ryou to listen to reason, and Duke had passed out again, not that it wasn't a wonder he hadn't before.
The CEO walked off first, careful to keep out of Malik's sight, the spikey-haired brunette doing the same. Kaiba smirked and turned to Tristan as they walked back inside the mansion.
"So you're going too, huh?"
"Yep."
"Maybe not all of Yugi's friends were annoying twits." Tristan smiled. That was the closest he would get to a compliment from Kaiba.
"If Ryou is willing to do it, so am I."
"You know we're most likely going to die, right?"
"Yep."
"Funny. If someone had told me yesterday I would be willing to die just so that the survivors of Yugi's little group could live, I would have shot them myself." The unlikely duo made their way down the hall.
"Kaiba?"
"Yeah?"
"Er…do you have any idea how we're gonna find the room again?"
"Actually, I do." Tristan blinked.
"How?"
"Do you have a cold?"
"What?" That was certainly not the answer Tristan had been expecting.
"I said do you have a cold?"
"No…why the hell ya asking?" Kaiba rolled his eyes.
"You must if you can't smell that. Does the stench seem familiar?"
"Oh…"
"You really are a twit. A very, very dense twit."
*~*
"I will say this now, Pharaoh. This is one game you cannot beat."
"Yes, but he's not alone, Meyatha. You forget, he has a very cunning tomb robber to assist him."
//Nice to know your modest.//
+You should know I possess no such trait.+
Bakura shot him another smirk then turned to look back at Meyatha, who was now sitting down in a throne type chair made out of blood. She waved to the Illusionist and the Banshee, who swooped down from their pedestals of liquid blood and onto the blood soaked ground.
//You ready, tomb robber?//
+I've been ready.+
Banshee let out an ear-piercing wail, diving forward to sink her teeth into Yami's neck, who ducked, the Eye of Horus glowing brightly on his forehead. The Illusionist approached Bakura silently, the lone eye on his head closed as he chanted a spell. Bakura smirked; ready to take on whatever it was that he was supposed to see. Banshee shrieked again, angered at her miss, and dove at the former pharaoh, who made to dodge, but scarcely got out of the way, feeling clawed fingers slice across his cheek. From all he knew, the Players might have been immune to the Millennium Puzzles magic, something that he'd rather not risk finding out. Mage stood there calmly on the pedestal right next to his master, an amused expression on his tanned face. It was then Bakura found out what the Illusionist was going to try to make him witness. The Illusionist opened his eye to reveal swirling yellow and orange, which were still moving. Everything started tilting towards Bakura, the entire room appearing as if it were alive. The floor reared up to greet him, slowly swallowing him up until he was surrounded by darkness.
"Oi, stupid ghost lady, over here!" Bakura looked around, only to observe blackness. He couldn't see anything. It sounded like Tristan, but he couldn't see past the illusion. Apparently though, the Banshee had heard Tristan and left Yami behind, letting out another ear piercing shriek before going after her new target. Bakura could hear everything, but still only saw Blackness.
I can't…see anything. This isn't real. This isn't what I'm supposed to be seeing.
BANG!
What the…
"Need some help there?" Color began to wash over everything and take shape before his eyes. Bakura tossed his head, shaking away the last Bits of darkness that clung to his vision. He turned around and saw Kaiba looking at him, a gun in hand. He looked down and saw the Illusionist lying motionless, it's eye now a hole of mushy gore. Bakura opened his mouth to say something, only to be interrupted by a cry of pain. The two men turned to look at the cause. Tristan, who had gotten Banshee away from Yami, was being bitten and clawed at mercilessly, stumbling towards the lake of blood.
"TRISTAN!" Bakura shouted as the brunette went over the side of the floor, into the crimson abyss. He had taken Banshee with him. Yami stood there wide-eyed, unable to say anything coherent. Now Bakura was seeing red. After all that trouble of making sure Tristan stayed alive, he had died, just to save someone else. The former tomb robber cast an angry glare at Meyatha.
"YOU BITCH!"
Meyatha only cackled loudly.
"I see you can play better than I had expected. Just give me a moment to dispose of the worthless." With that, she waved her hand once again. Kaiba felt himself being picked up into the air. Blue eyes widened just before he was thrown into the wall with a sickening crack, falling back to the ground motionlessly. There was a large dent in the wall where his body had made contact with it.
"KAIBA!" Yami cried. Meyatha's green lips turned upward in a delighted smirk.
"I haven't had this much fun in some time. It's been ages since someone was strong enough to play against me. This should be interesting." That said she and Mage leapt down onto the blood-soaked carpet, landing silently.
+You can have Meyatha. I have a score to settle.+
//Fine by me. Just…//
+What?+
//Be careful, okay?//
+…Have fun.+
//Wait! Bakura-//
Bakura shut off the link, only pausing to look at Yami a final time, then take off after Mage, leaving Yami with Meyatha.
Mage chuckled.
"I hope you know you're fighting a losing battle."
Bakura bared his canines.
"Just shut the fuck up."
"Oh, ouch. Patience is a virtue, 'Kura."
"DON'T CALL ME THAT, SCUMBAG!"
"All right. How about I call you Yami?" At the last word, Mage began to change into Ryou. Bakura, who had been about to tackle Mage to the ground and rip his head off, stopped.
"Are you going to kill me Yami?" Bakura's eyes widened. Ryou had asked him that before, after a rather harsh beating from a very pissed off Bakura. The way he had looked…his eyes shining with unshed tears, trembling slightly. That was the last night Bakura ever lifted a hand to him, seeing that if he continued, he may lose control and kill his own hikari. The whole point of the beatings had been to show Ryou how to become stronger, but that wasn't how it had worked out. After that night, Yami Bakura swore that he would never raise a hand to harm his hikari ever again. And now…looking at the spit image of Ryou…he found he couldn't strike Mage.
"You killed my hikari and most of his friends, you bitch," Yami growled.
"Such strong words from such a pathetic spirit."
"Such a pathetic attempt at pissing me off even more than I am already by such a pathetic witch."
"I'm hurt." Meyatha lifted her hands, blowing Yami into a wall. He landed on the ground. Hard. Allowing himself a few seconds before getting up, he took a deep breath. He staggered slightly once he got to his feet, then steadied himself, wiping away at the thin trickle of blood coming from his forehead.
"Whose pathetic now, Pharaoh?" A smirk spread across Yami's lips. The Eye of Horus glowed brighter than it had before. Now would be a good time to see if the Puzzle had any effect on her. He lifted up a hand, but before the words could leave his mouth, a surge of energy came out of his hand, directed at Meyatha. She was sent tumbling into the lake of blood, splashing the occupants of the room. Yami blinked and looked at his hand.
That wasn't supposed to happen.
Meyatha rose from the depths of the blood, her yellow eyes narrowed in anger.
"I'm tired of playing with you. Now…you die." Yami jumped up, the attack missing him entirely. He dropped back down, shoes sending small spurts of blood away from his feet.
"Looks like you missed." Then he raised his hand again, only to be lifted off of his feet and into the air. Meyatha cackled again.
"Now try to attack me, Pharaoh."
"You can't hit me, can you, Yami?" Mage asked, an uncharacteristic smirk stretched across Ryou's lips. Bakura stared at him, unblinking. He couldn't, wouldn't strike Ryou. He said he wouldn't so he wouldn't. Mage strode over to him, his head held high, yet another uncharacteristic thing for Ryou to do, and sent a hard left hook into Bakura's jaw. The former tomb robber took it, as well as the one to his gut.
"How does it feel, Yami? Now you know what it's like to be abused…every…damn…day." Mage accented each of the last four words with a sharp kick. Blood dribbled down Bakura's face, a thin trail streaming down from the corner of his lip, yet he still refused to hit back. That is until Mage did something completely out of character for Ryou. He laughed, sounding far too much like Bakura for it to still seem like his other half.
Wait…it's not Ryou. It's Mage.
This thought repeating itself over and over in his mind, the former tomb robber finally stood, his face full of fury.
"HOW DARE YOU PRETEND TO BE MY HIKARI!" He was so close to Mage that his hot breath hit the Player straight in the face. Bakura smirked and brought his fist back, sending a punch so hard that Mage fell back. He punched and punched and punched, as he had once done to Ryou, only with as much force as he possibly could.
"How does it feel Mage? Oh, I don't know. WHY DON'T YOU TELL ME?!" Bakura, in his fury, put his hands on Mage's head and gave it a sharp twist. Perhaps the twist was a tad too strong, as Mage's body fell, but his head remained in Bakura hands. Skin and tissue clung to the bottom of where Mage's neck used to be connected to his body. Bakura remained standing there, the head still in his hands, blood dripping down onto the already soaked carpet. It streamed down his fingers in thin rivulets. The sadistic smirk remained on the former tomb robber's lips, his brown eyes still having that psychotic gleam in his eye.
He was pulled out of his victorious trance as he heard Yami choking. He looked up and saw the former Pharaoh dangling in the air. Mage's head dropped to the floor, rolling over into the pool of blood with a small splash. Bakura licked his hands clean of the crimson liquid. Meyatha hadn't seen her most prized Player have his head ripped off, which was quite lucky for Bakura. He took a running start and tackled Meyatha to the ground, causing her to let go of Yami, who plummeted down to the ground, landing on his feet with such grace that reminded Bakura briefly of a cat. Bakura was shoved several feet away, landing on his head. He got and shook the dizziness off walking over so that he stood next to Yami. Meyatha stood up as well, her face contorted with rage.
"HOW DARE YOU! I'LL KILL YOU BOTH!"
Bakura and Yami made eye contact and nodded to each other as Meyatha raised her hands to force them into tiny pieces. Yami lifted his, and, before Meyatha could attack, forced her back down again. At this, Yami and Bakura pressed close together, Bakura's right cheek against Yami's left, bodies close. Bakura raised his left hand as Yami lifted his right and brought them together. Bakura smirked again, revealing sharp canines stained with Mage's blood.
"You fucked with the wrong spirits, lady," he growled. A final look between the two spirits, then they shouted in unison,
"OBLITERATE!!" Little did they know that Meyatha used her power a split second before. The surge of power caused debris to fall from the ceiling as the mansion began to collapse upon itself. Meyatha gave a cackle and shot out her hand, pure power rushing towards Yami, which he just barely dodged, only to find that it wasn't meant for him, but for the large splint of wood just behind him. The wood soared into the air and straight through Yami's abdomen. Meyatha gave a final laugh, and then she was gone. Yami let out a strangled cry and fell to the ground, blood flowing out of his mouth.
"YAMI!" Bakura pulled out the bloodied piece of wood and picked up the fallen pharaoh.
"Don't…bother," Yami breathed.
"I will bother. You are NOT going to die on me now. Not after living through the night. I won't let you, Pharaoh." He picked up Kaiba as well. Then there would at least be one body for the funerals. It was a race against the once grand mansion. Bakura ran as fast as he could, ignoring the heaviness of having to carry to additional passengers. He was NOT going to end up getting killed now. No, not after all he had been through. He owed Ryou that much, anyways. He ran out the front door just as the roof fell, tearing across the lawn. He let Kaiba body fall limply to the ground, taking much more care as he set the former pharaoh down. Yami smiled.
"Who would have thought there'd be a day where we worked together, huh?"
"Shut up. Don't waste your energy."
"I'm sorry tomb robber, really I am. But…I can't…"
"Oh no you don't. Don't you dare! Stay with me Yami! Don't fade out now!"
But it was already too late, as Yami's legs and arms were slowly beginning to fade.
"It was bound to happen anyways, Bakura. My hikari is dead."
"Then we'll get you a new host! Damn it Yami, don't!"
"I'm just happy I got to see you doing something so courageous. Goodbye, tomb robber." Then the fallen Pharaoh was gone. The Millennium Puzzle clattered to the dusty ground with a dull thud. Bakura simply stared at the spot Yami had just been occupying.
He's really gone, isn't he?
He was still staring at the spot as Ryou, Malik, and a now conscious Duke came over to him. He was surprised to see that Kaiba was not dead, as he and Yami had first thought. Although heavily injured, he was still alive. The surviving group remained silent for some time, until Malik knelt down next to Bakura and picked up the Millennium Puzzle and handed it to him.
"Looks like you finally got the Puzzle," he said quietly. Bakura continued to stare at it in his hands, shaking his head slightly.
"This wasn't how I wanted to obtain it," he whispered, "This wasn't how I wanted to obtain it at all."
"Where did he go?" Duke asked. At this, Bakura placed the chain that held the Puzzle over his head, so that the metal clanged against the Ring. He stood and looked up at the pinkening sky.
"He went home to be with his hikari." The former tomb robber began to walk away. The other four exchanged glances. Bakura stopped and turned around.
"Well, are you all coming, or would you like to stand there all day like a bunch of asses?" That got them going. The five survivors of the Game of Death walked away from the remnants of what used to be Kaiba's mansion. They had survived, but oh, what a price they had paid.
BlackRose: Never fear, there is an epilogue here. Not that I don't mind the reviews, eheheheheh.
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