Chapter 6
Bakura came home the next morning, hitching a ride on Tristan's motorcycle. The wind through his hair and the feeling he got from holding onto Tristan seemed to ease his mind... for the time being. Tristan pulled up to the driveway and waited. Bakura hesitated.
"You ok, bud? You're hanging on pretty tight back there."
Bakura released his secure grip. "Oh, sorry about that. Things are going on at home. I'm not sure I really want to be here right now. Facing my father has proved rather intimidating..."
"You wanna come back to my place? My parents are out of town and you can stay as late as you want. We could rent some movies, get some pop corn..."
"No. Its alright, thanks. I have to come home eventually and there's no need in stalling."
"I see."
Bakura could tell a twinge of disappointment in Tristan's voice. "We can hang out some other time." He then thanked him and walked up to front door. Tristan stayed and watched, making sure he got in the house safely. They waved goodbye once Bakura's father answered the door and Tristan left.
"Good morning father.," Bakura said timidly.
"How is your friend?"
The son replied that Yugi had not woken up, but that he had seemed healthy to the doctors when he left. He was glad his father hadn't gotten straight to last night's incident. Bakura would rather not have talked about it, but it was still rather unavoidable.
"Son, sit down." Mr. Bakura said to him, nodding toward a chair in the kitchen. Bakura sat down and avoided eye contact. "Son, if something is going on with you, I really want to know. I know its hard for you not having a mother, and you might feel like something in your life is missing. But look at society, Ryou. Everywhere there are drunks, drug addicts, and convicted felons, you can't live your life that way. You'll only end up in prison... or dead." He placed a hand on Bakura's shoulder and looked his son in the eyes.
Bakura looked at his father and then back down at the floor. His eyes were watering. His father noticed and handed him a paper towel from the roll on the table. "I may not say it often, but I love you son. That's why I worry about you. I don't want to punish you, because I know that you have always been a respectable son and student. That's is perhaps why I am troubled by your arrest."
"I'm baffled too, father.," Bakura said between sobs. "I can't remember anything I did, it seemed like I got on the bus yesterday morning, and then I was dropped off at the police station. I don't remember anything in-between!"
"Ryou, are you participating in any illegal activities?" Mr. Bakura choked on his words. "Drugs or anything, son?" His father took his hand of his sons shoulder and got a saddened look on his face that Bakura had never seen before. It was disappointment...
"No, father." Bakura looked up at his dad now. "I don't know what's going on with me. My friends have told me I've done a lot of strange things and I'm almost afraid of myself. But I don't let anyone know. I figure if I ignore It... It'll just... go away."
"I think you should go to the hospital, Ryou. I don't want to jump to assumptions, but you may have some kind of personality disorder. The way you act now, compared to the way you act when I'm not around..."
"No!" Bakura yelled this loudly and it took his father back some. He had never been the one to yell... especially at his father. "I'm just under stress that's all." Bakura blocked his father's idea from his mind and pushed it away. His father got up and hugged him and then left the room. Bakura sat and wondered about what his father had said, and about the Millennium items. He tried to piece together what might have happened, how he could have blacked out...
"Here." Bakura's father reentered the room and handed him the Millennium Puzzle. Bakura looked up at him. "Since it doesn't belong to you, you should return it to its rightful owner. I trust you wont be threatening anyone else with it. There's not much damage you can do with it anyway, but I know you're responsible enough to return it to Yugi's grandfather since he is in the hospital." He gave Bakura a $20 bill and told him to take the greyhound to 31st street in downtown Domino. "I know the bus doesn't cost much, but you can grab lunch or something while you're out. I'm upset that you are suspended, but you need to get out of the house more anyway."
"Yes, father. I wont let you down this time. Thanks for trusting me..."
Mr. Bakura nodded and patted his son on the back. "Everything's going to be fine."
Bakura left the kitchen to take his shower and threw on his striped blue shirt and a pair of jeans.
"Don't forget your coat son. Its going to be raining later on."
"Thank you father." He exited the house for the bus stop with the puzzle in his hands.
The bus pulled up and Bakura stood there. "You getting on, kid?," the driver asked.
Bakura said nothing and put the puzzle around his neck. He boarded the bus, payed the driver and went to a seat a great distance back. He sat and waited as he held the Millennium Puzzle and looked down at it wonderingly. The bus stopped and picked up more passengers...
A tall, dark man in a hooded cloak walked toward the back of the bus and stopped in front of Bakura. Bakura noticed his glare and nervously said hi as the figure stared at the puzzle. Eventually the man sat down in front of his seat and said nothing. The bus rolled to a few more stops, letting people off and allowing new people to board.
The man in front of Bakura stopped to talk on the phone. Meanwhile, the bus pulled up at 31st street and Bakura got off. The tall man followed him toward the hospital, quickly saying something into the phone and hanging up. Bakura noticed and got nervous. He still had a complete block to walk and there weren't many people around.
He turned a corner hoping to find a building to go into but instead found more hooded figures. He started to yell but the one that had followed him first placed his hand over his mouth and drug him into the shadows of a dark alley. There he called someone else on his phone, and in no time a car had arrived to pick them up. The man pushed Bakura in and told him to be quiet and he wouldn't get hurt. Bakura said nothing. . .
They arrived at a building in a run down part of downtown Domino, called battle city for the "Duel Monster" tournaments that had been held there in the past and would be held in the future. The tall man, who Bakura had figured to be some kind of a leader for the others, knocked on the door and another hooded figure opened it. There were so many that Bakura figured running would be hopeless. He was pushed in and forced to sit in a chair where he was watched closely. It didn't take long for another hooded figure with a long rod of some sort approached him.
This figure laughed hysterically and pointed at Bakura with the rod he held. "You have something I want!" He pointed at the puzzle Bakura wore around his neck. "I find it odd that you are not the boy who once possessed it. But... what's in the puzzle is the only thing I'm after. But I can't simply take it from you. Do you own dueling cards?" The figure spoke in a scratchy villainous voice that was just a bit creepy, and it made Bakura uneasy.
"I have some... I don't play usually. I don't keep my deck with me either."
"Dammit. I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Marik and I'm sure you have met my loyal servants, they are all around you." Bakura looked up at the tallest one. "Ah, yes. I see you have met Odeon. Entrancing isn't he?" The figure called Odeon grinned silently.
"What do you want?"
"Your Millennium Puzzle of course! I don't desire to use it really, and I only need something from the puzzle, then it will be useless to me. So hand it over."
Bakura said nothing and looked at him with no fear in his eyes. He chuckled deeply and Marik took a step back. "You moron. You don't want the items? I will be more than happy to take them off of your hands."
"What is this? Have you no... fear..? You are in pursuit of the items also?"
"Afraid of who? You? Him?" He stood up and Odeon stood in front of Marik in a protective pose. Yami Bakura looked up at Odeon and made a shooing motion. "You're goons are pathetic and so are you."
Marik pushed Odeon out of the way and stood in front of Yami Bakura looking at him eye to eye. "You can do better? With my Millennium Rod I have anyone I want at my beck and call!"
Yami Bakura said nothing, but chuckled again. Thus pissing Marik off even more. Both were arrogant, and both were not in a mood to be taken lightly. "Hmm. You want only the puzzle?" Marik nodded and Yami Bakura continued with his proposition. "What is it that you are after then exactly?"
"This is personal business, the only thing I need or want it the Millennium puzzle. And after long, it will be quite useless to me. It will go much faster if you hand me the puzzle. It will be returned to you after a while if you cooperate."
"Then we don't have a problem really. If you join me, we can share the profits..."
"Join, YOU? I have established a secret society of rare hunters and I have unlimited resources..."
"It wont be much of a secret if you keep rambling about it. What do you plan to do with the puzzle? Are you after the pharaohs power?"
"No, I'm after the pharaoh period. Power means nothing to me, if it wasn't so useful I probably wouldn't even want the rod anymore."
"So you would be willing to give up the rod once your goal was reached?"
"Mmm..." And a nod.
"Well... Marik... If you don't intend to harness the power within the puzzle for yourself, then we may be able to work together. I can help you get whatever you want with the Pharaoh, then I'll take the puzzle and the rod off of your hands. I can't give it to you right now, for I only reside in it temporarily. I am a spirit of the Millennium ring, and opposition to the pharaoh. But once I have the ring again, and I discover how to force the Pharaohs hand and win his puzzle, then I will drain his power, and destroy him."
"Well I'm not sure... I don't want the pharaoh destroyed. I need him... His survival is important to me."
"I don't have time to wait for your answer. I have things to do. Museums to visit... I will negotiate, however."
Marik looked at Bakura questioningly. He did not know wether or not he could trust him, but he was willing to take a chance. "Then you have the power you desire, and I will have the Pharaoh, unharmed. These are my terms. If you don't like them take your negotiations elsewhere, and I shall take my rod elsewhere. Not to mention the puzzle. Because I will get it eventually, and you will be out of luck."
Yami Bakura grumbled and reluctantly agreed to Marik's terms.
"No tricks..." he held out his hand and Yami Bakura stared at him.
"I can't trust you to seal this agreement with just a handshake."
"Oh? Then what did you have in mind."
"A contract, written in blood."
Marik looked at Bakura reserved, yet he was not really surprised.
"In my old age, I prefer to do things by the more old fashioned ways, rather than by doing just the most conservative."
Marik unsheathed his dagger, hidden within his Millennium Rod. "Lets do it then. I don't have any more time to waste talking with you. I have things to do as well."
Bakura told Odeon to get some paper, a small container and a feather pen. Odeon looked at him angrily and Marik nodded at him, gesturing for him to obey. Odeon grumbled and walked off. After Marik and Bakura carried out their agreement, Yami Bakura headed toward the hospital again, forging a plan to somehow keep the puzzle for at LEAST one more day... 'Once I have the power, and my ring, I will obtain Marik's rod, and become even more powerful. Then our deal will be over and I can destroy the weakened Pharaoh anytime. This plan is guaranteed to succeed... as long as we both keep up our ends of the bargain.'
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Bakura came home the next morning, hitching a ride on Tristan's motorcycle. The wind through his hair and the feeling he got from holding onto Tristan seemed to ease his mind... for the time being. Tristan pulled up to the driveway and waited. Bakura hesitated.
"You ok, bud? You're hanging on pretty tight back there."
Bakura released his secure grip. "Oh, sorry about that. Things are going on at home. I'm not sure I really want to be here right now. Facing my father has proved rather intimidating..."
"You wanna come back to my place? My parents are out of town and you can stay as late as you want. We could rent some movies, get some pop corn..."
"No. Its alright, thanks. I have to come home eventually and there's no need in stalling."
"I see."
Bakura could tell a twinge of disappointment in Tristan's voice. "We can hang out some other time." He then thanked him and walked up to front door. Tristan stayed and watched, making sure he got in the house safely. They waved goodbye once Bakura's father answered the door and Tristan left.
"Good morning father.," Bakura said timidly.
"How is your friend?"
The son replied that Yugi had not woken up, but that he had seemed healthy to the doctors when he left. He was glad his father hadn't gotten straight to last night's incident. Bakura would rather not have talked about it, but it was still rather unavoidable.
"Son, sit down." Mr. Bakura said to him, nodding toward a chair in the kitchen. Bakura sat down and avoided eye contact. "Son, if something is going on with you, I really want to know. I know its hard for you not having a mother, and you might feel like something in your life is missing. But look at society, Ryou. Everywhere there are drunks, drug addicts, and convicted felons, you can't live your life that way. You'll only end up in prison... or dead." He placed a hand on Bakura's shoulder and looked his son in the eyes.
Bakura looked at his father and then back down at the floor. His eyes were watering. His father noticed and handed him a paper towel from the roll on the table. "I may not say it often, but I love you son. That's why I worry about you. I don't want to punish you, because I know that you have always been a respectable son and student. That's is perhaps why I am troubled by your arrest."
"I'm baffled too, father.," Bakura said between sobs. "I can't remember anything I did, it seemed like I got on the bus yesterday morning, and then I was dropped off at the police station. I don't remember anything in-between!"
"Ryou, are you participating in any illegal activities?" Mr. Bakura choked on his words. "Drugs or anything, son?" His father took his hand of his sons shoulder and got a saddened look on his face that Bakura had never seen before. It was disappointment...
"No, father." Bakura looked up at his dad now. "I don't know what's going on with me. My friends have told me I've done a lot of strange things and I'm almost afraid of myself. But I don't let anyone know. I figure if I ignore It... It'll just... go away."
"I think you should go to the hospital, Ryou. I don't want to jump to assumptions, but you may have some kind of personality disorder. The way you act now, compared to the way you act when I'm not around..."
"No!" Bakura yelled this loudly and it took his father back some. He had never been the one to yell... especially at his father. "I'm just under stress that's all." Bakura blocked his father's idea from his mind and pushed it away. His father got up and hugged him and then left the room. Bakura sat and wondered about what his father had said, and about the Millennium items. He tried to piece together what might have happened, how he could have blacked out...
"Here." Bakura's father reentered the room and handed him the Millennium Puzzle. Bakura looked up at him. "Since it doesn't belong to you, you should return it to its rightful owner. I trust you wont be threatening anyone else with it. There's not much damage you can do with it anyway, but I know you're responsible enough to return it to Yugi's grandfather since he is in the hospital." He gave Bakura a $20 bill and told him to take the greyhound to 31st street in downtown Domino. "I know the bus doesn't cost much, but you can grab lunch or something while you're out. I'm upset that you are suspended, but you need to get out of the house more anyway."
"Yes, father. I wont let you down this time. Thanks for trusting me..."
Mr. Bakura nodded and patted his son on the back. "Everything's going to be fine."
Bakura left the kitchen to take his shower and threw on his striped blue shirt and a pair of jeans.
"Don't forget your coat son. Its going to be raining later on."
"Thank you father." He exited the house for the bus stop with the puzzle in his hands.
The bus pulled up and Bakura stood there. "You getting on, kid?," the driver asked.
Bakura said nothing and put the puzzle around his neck. He boarded the bus, payed the driver and went to a seat a great distance back. He sat and waited as he held the Millennium Puzzle and looked down at it wonderingly. The bus stopped and picked up more passengers...
A tall, dark man in a hooded cloak walked toward the back of the bus and stopped in front of Bakura. Bakura noticed his glare and nervously said hi as the figure stared at the puzzle. Eventually the man sat down in front of his seat and said nothing. The bus rolled to a few more stops, letting people off and allowing new people to board.
The man in front of Bakura stopped to talk on the phone. Meanwhile, the bus pulled up at 31st street and Bakura got off. The tall man followed him toward the hospital, quickly saying something into the phone and hanging up. Bakura noticed and got nervous. He still had a complete block to walk and there weren't many people around.
He turned a corner hoping to find a building to go into but instead found more hooded figures. He started to yell but the one that had followed him first placed his hand over his mouth and drug him into the shadows of a dark alley. There he called someone else on his phone, and in no time a car had arrived to pick them up. The man pushed Bakura in and told him to be quiet and he wouldn't get hurt. Bakura said nothing. . .
They arrived at a building in a run down part of downtown Domino, called battle city for the "Duel Monster" tournaments that had been held there in the past and would be held in the future. The tall man, who Bakura had figured to be some kind of a leader for the others, knocked on the door and another hooded figure opened it. There were so many that Bakura figured running would be hopeless. He was pushed in and forced to sit in a chair where he was watched closely. It didn't take long for another hooded figure with a long rod of some sort approached him.
This figure laughed hysterically and pointed at Bakura with the rod he held. "You have something I want!" He pointed at the puzzle Bakura wore around his neck. "I find it odd that you are not the boy who once possessed it. But... what's in the puzzle is the only thing I'm after. But I can't simply take it from you. Do you own dueling cards?" The figure spoke in a scratchy villainous voice that was just a bit creepy, and it made Bakura uneasy.
"I have some... I don't play usually. I don't keep my deck with me either."
"Dammit. I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Marik and I'm sure you have met my loyal servants, they are all around you." Bakura looked up at the tallest one. "Ah, yes. I see you have met Odeon. Entrancing isn't he?" The figure called Odeon grinned silently.
"What do you want?"
"Your Millennium Puzzle of course! I don't desire to use it really, and I only need something from the puzzle, then it will be useless to me. So hand it over."
Bakura said nothing and looked at him with no fear in his eyes. He chuckled deeply and Marik took a step back. "You moron. You don't want the items? I will be more than happy to take them off of your hands."
"What is this? Have you no... fear..? You are in pursuit of the items also?"
"Afraid of who? You? Him?" He stood up and Odeon stood in front of Marik in a protective pose. Yami Bakura looked up at Odeon and made a shooing motion. "You're goons are pathetic and so are you."
Marik pushed Odeon out of the way and stood in front of Yami Bakura looking at him eye to eye. "You can do better? With my Millennium Rod I have anyone I want at my beck and call!"
Yami Bakura said nothing, but chuckled again. Thus pissing Marik off even more. Both were arrogant, and both were not in a mood to be taken lightly. "Hmm. You want only the puzzle?" Marik nodded and Yami Bakura continued with his proposition. "What is it that you are after then exactly?"
"This is personal business, the only thing I need or want it the Millennium puzzle. And after long, it will be quite useless to me. It will go much faster if you hand me the puzzle. It will be returned to you after a while if you cooperate."
"Then we don't have a problem really. If you join me, we can share the profits..."
"Join, YOU? I have established a secret society of rare hunters and I have unlimited resources..."
"It wont be much of a secret if you keep rambling about it. What do you plan to do with the puzzle? Are you after the pharaohs power?"
"No, I'm after the pharaoh period. Power means nothing to me, if it wasn't so useful I probably wouldn't even want the rod anymore."
"So you would be willing to give up the rod once your goal was reached?"
"Mmm..." And a nod.
"Well... Marik... If you don't intend to harness the power within the puzzle for yourself, then we may be able to work together. I can help you get whatever you want with the Pharaoh, then I'll take the puzzle and the rod off of your hands. I can't give it to you right now, for I only reside in it temporarily. I am a spirit of the Millennium ring, and opposition to the pharaoh. But once I have the ring again, and I discover how to force the Pharaohs hand and win his puzzle, then I will drain his power, and destroy him."
"Well I'm not sure... I don't want the pharaoh destroyed. I need him... His survival is important to me."
"I don't have time to wait for your answer. I have things to do. Museums to visit... I will negotiate, however."
Marik looked at Bakura questioningly. He did not know wether or not he could trust him, but he was willing to take a chance. "Then you have the power you desire, and I will have the Pharaoh, unharmed. These are my terms. If you don't like them take your negotiations elsewhere, and I shall take my rod elsewhere. Not to mention the puzzle. Because I will get it eventually, and you will be out of luck."
Yami Bakura grumbled and reluctantly agreed to Marik's terms.
"No tricks..." he held out his hand and Yami Bakura stared at him.
"I can't trust you to seal this agreement with just a handshake."
"Oh? Then what did you have in mind."
"A contract, written in blood."
Marik looked at Bakura reserved, yet he was not really surprised.
"In my old age, I prefer to do things by the more old fashioned ways, rather than by doing just the most conservative."
Marik unsheathed his dagger, hidden within his Millennium Rod. "Lets do it then. I don't have any more time to waste talking with you. I have things to do as well."
Bakura told Odeon to get some paper, a small container and a feather pen. Odeon looked at him angrily and Marik nodded at him, gesturing for him to obey. Odeon grumbled and walked off. After Marik and Bakura carried out their agreement, Yami Bakura headed toward the hospital again, forging a plan to somehow keep the puzzle for at LEAST one more day... 'Once I have the power, and my ring, I will obtain Marik's rod, and become even more powerful. Then our deal will be over and I can destroy the weakened Pharaoh anytime. This plan is guaranteed to succeed... as long as we both keep up our ends of the bargain.'
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