Disclaimer : I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Curses.

Notes : This is a relatively AU story, yaoi and a bit of yuri. J/S, YY/Y, B/M, a little Mai/Sh. This story contains violence to a good degree. Would be picking up after Battle City basically, along those lines.

Summary : Semi-AU. It would seem Jonouchi will have a greater role to play in the resurfacing of the past memories, though it doesn't bode well for Yami. Violence, obsene language later, maybe lemon, depends. Yaoi, J/S, YY/Y, B/M, O/DR.

| …| Hikari speech, || …|| Yami speech, :…: A person's thoughts.

Legend of Red Eyes

Part 4

By Reppa

The night of their special visit to the Museum finally arrived thankfully. Of the first to arrive, Jonouchi and Ryuuzaki made their way in, weaving through the front portion of the building towards the front room. Both hadn't bothered to dress up, wearing their casual wear. If Isis felt insulted, that was tough luck. They rounded the last corner to come up to the exhibit hallway, the doors wide open in a greeting sort of fashion.

Nearby stood Isis with the mysterious Shadi Yugi always told him about. They seemed in heated conversation for a while as the two teens made their way towards Malik and Bakura who were standing in the entrance way, Jonouchi glanced at the Ishtar sister for a moment, "What are they doing, huh?"

"Oh, she's just making sure for the hundredth time that this is completely safe." The younger Ishtar sibling replied, waving a hand dismissively though he got a perplexed and somewhat worried look from the Dinosaur duelist. "What?"

"What do you mean, making sure it's safe? You guys looked at it before, why would it be dangerous now? That stuff isn't….cursed is it?" Ryuuzaki's brows furrowed slightly, casting the dark hall ahead a weary glance with a frown. He was highly superstitious and all the myths on cursed tombs in Egypt did little to make him feel at ease, "I am not stepping in there if it's cursed…"

"Relax, will you? My sister had Shadi make sure the curses, if there were any, were taken care of so it should be one hundred percent safe. Maybe not dispelled, but at least in check."

The white haired tomb robber smirked however, rubbing his chin for a moment, "Though the story I gathered from his sister on the tomb these artifacts are from is quite…interesting to listen to…"

That got both Jonouchi and Ryuuzaki as white as sheets as they leaned forward, at the same time wanting to hear and a little too scared to know. Malik rolled his eyes as his friend continued, his voice low and haunting as he told them what he heard. "They say that the archeologists of the tomb site were slaughtered as they stood. Magic sifted through the air along with the howl of a dead spirit. Then…the wires strung along the upper ceiling holding the lights gave a low creak before they went snicker snap and sliced every man and woman in the tomb in pieces within seconds. No one survived…"

When he finished, Bakura smirked wickedly as he got the desired effects. Jonouchi looked blanched still, gulping loudly and looking horrified as ever. Malik looked a little fearful himself while Ryuuzaki looked petrified, eyes as wide as plates before he jumped screaming as someone's hand came to rest on his shoulder, whirling around and punching the offender in the stomach. Said offender was Otogi who grunted and fell backwards, rubbing his sore stomach, "What the -cough- hell is wrong with you?!"

"Don't you ever sneak up on me after I hear ghost stories ever AGAIN!!" The lavender banged brunette howled, ready to pounce on him, his earlier fright being forgotten in agitation. As Ryuuzaki started to scowl, hiss, and spit like a cat at Otogi, Jonouchi looked to see that the others were coming along. Yami, Yugi, and the Kaiba brothers.

Pausing for a moment, Yami glanced at the two bickering to the side before he smiled in welcome to Jonouchi, "Prompt are we? Tell me they won't be doing that the entire time now, I'd like to hear what Isis has to say."

"Nah, Ryuu will calm down eventually. Otogi got it coming to him what with his sneaking up on him after Bakura told a horror story." Malik pointed out, shoving the tomb robber lightly with a delicate frown. Though he loved Bakura's wicked ways, he always had fairly bad timing with his evil habits, like now especially. "Anyway, since we're all here now, I think we can start browsing while Isis gets ready."

Yugi and himself hung back as the others filed into the gallery, the two hanging back for the elder Ishtar. Jonouchi made a bee line towards the sarcophagus, being observed quietly by the azure eyed CEO who raised a brow at him, :What is that mutt doing?: Taking a glance at his younger brother for a moment, who was looking over papyrus scrolls, Seto followed a slight distance behind the blond to see just what he was so interested in. He tilted his head, looking at the Egyptian coffin curiously.

He turned slightly, looking to see if any of the others were paying attention. Yami and Ryuuzaki stood before the tablet, looking over the details with Otogi a few feet to the side watching them as he had nothing better to do. His brother was taking his time going from showcase to showcase while everyone else was outside the gallery talking. At least he had some semblance of privacy as he approached the blond's side. "What is it?"

"Don't pay much attention to the little title and description posts do ya?" Jonouchi looked to him, brows perked. His eyes glimpsed down briefly, taking in the purple long jacket the brunette wore with his black clothing. He had to say, it looked nicer than the white. "Not a bad jacket. Purple's a good color on you."

With having turned away, looking back down at the sarcophagus as he moved around it, he missed the slight blush that overtook Kaiba's face. A compliment like that was hardly what he expected. Leaning forward, he took a closer look at the heavily ornate coffin, hiding his face till the warmth subsided. Letting Jonouchi see him blushing was the last thing he wanted at the moment. He frowned slightly, looking at the upper region of the sarcophagus, "The Red Eyes?"

"Noticed that too, huh?" Seto nodded in return as the blond rounded the case to come back over to him, hands shoved into his pockets. "Those little description thingamabobs aren't that informative."

"The information we are meant to learn will be dispensed by Isis as she explains then. It will be better that way…" The brunette was thankful his face wasn't so flushed anymore, though some little heat still lingered and he continued to keep his face from the other's sights.

As the two of them were busy observing the Egyptian coffin, Yami strained with his violet eyes as if he could read the texts carved on the stone. Unfortunately he couldn't make head or tails of it. Not only was half of it in a change new variety of hieroglyphs and in a long range of riddles and the such. What he could most definitely discern were the carving of the Red Eyes and another of a more different monster, one of which was five headed, but he was sure wasn't depicting the Five God Dragon.

"Uh huh…" Ryuuzaki frowned a little, head tilting from side to side as he pursed his lip. None of it really made any real sense to him and he wasn't aware it bore images of Duel Monsters. But he had to admit, it was a pretty impressive piece as were all the other items. The Dinosaur duelist took a look over his shoulder at the black haired teen who stood away from them, he didn't look too interested by everything around him.

While the group gallery browsed, they weren't aware as the air grew somewhat chill. It was a few moments as it seemed the temperature dropped further as Kaiba rubbed his arms, frowning, "Who turned the AC down?" The others were beginning to notice, all of them bundling up in their jackets or shirts. Jonouchi turned from side to side, looking for a switch for the air conditioner if there was one, though even so, finding it on the black walls would have probably been difficult.

All of a sudden, things started to get stranger. The lights flickered several times, causing them to become just slightly more alert than before. Absorbed in their slight confusion, the small group weren't aware of the creaking wiring above their heads near the ceiling. The problem wasn't noticed until it soon escalated, the wire snapping loudly, the lost end spitting out to lash at the nearest person. Seto was the unfortunate target, the thin metal slashing his arm and causing him to cry out.

Meanwhile, the others' tore their eyes to him in surprise, Yami and Ryuuzaki realizing late that the wire broken loose was what held the heavy tablet up against the ceiling. The two had been mere moments away from being crushed when they both fell to the side, clear of the harm thanks to Otogi. The obsidian stone fell to the ground with a thunderous crash, breaking into pieces behind them. Ryuuzaki gasped, covering his head as he closed his eyes as he cowered under the black haired teen, "Holy fuck…! It's cursed, I knew it was stupid to come in…!"

"Get down!" Jonouchi barked, grabbing both Mokuba and Seto and yanking them to the floor as more wire went ripping in the air, barely missing them as they ducked down. He jumped at a loud slamming noise and as he looked up, he saw they gallery doors shut on their own before he caught a glimpse of the others on the outside. All of them looked shocked at the ruckus.

"Isis, what's going on?" Bakura demanded as they rushed to the doors. No amount of pulling could open them no matter how hard they tried. The elder Ishtar rushed away, more than likely to get a hold of Shadi. "That fumbling oaf, he didn't do it correctly…! The Pharaoh better still be alive damnit!"

Malik rolled his eyes as Yugi was pretty much, more or less freaking out. Of all the times the tomb robber had to be his usual self, the sandy blond swat his arm, "I'm so glad you're concerned with everyone else in there. Help me get it open!"

As the three of them tried their best to reopen the double doors, the others' had to continue dealing with the fracas inside. By now, the glass had broken and wire was still snapping around with the intent to slice into whatever poor soul it could. Yami and everyone else remained on the ground, covering their heads as they waited. They were too busy protecting themselves they weren't aware of the glowing eyes of the sarcophagus.

Soon the wires rapid movements died down and they started to sit up carefully. Otogi frowned, looking around before he looked down at the two underneath him, "Though I know this is never a good thing to say, I think it's over…"

"Oh right, jinx it!" Mokuba cried out, his expression a very fearful one as he clung to his older brother. The two started to sit up as Jonouchi leaned back, wincing, he had covered them both from any harm which ended up sustaining himself several cuts in turn. The younger Kaiba gasped, noticing, "Jonouchi, are you okay?!"

The blond made to reply, before he paused, looking up at the gurgling sound he could hear from the Egyptian coffin. All the others froze in place, expecting the worst. A dark liquid oozed from the lining between the top and bottom pieces before a stream of the juice sprayed from the mouth of the Red Eyes head, splashing Jonouchi and the Kaiba brothers. The trio split away, scrambling to get away though as they did, the sprinklers over head switched on, getting them all wet. A strange, coppery smell filled the room soon and Yami gaped, realizing just what the liquid was, "Blood..?!"

"Ew…!! I want out..!" Ryuuzaki jumped up, rushing to the door with his hands covering his head as if it did any good now. With the other's following suit, Jonouchi, Yami, and Otogi pushed on the door to open it, though it refused to budge.

"Why won't it give?!?" Kaiba practically roared, pulling his jacket up over his head. His little brother and himself were completely drenched in blood as was Jonouchi. He gripped Mokuba's hand tightly, keeping him close as the three kept trying to push the door open before it gave way suddenly, causing them to fall forward at the other's feet.

"Are you guys okay?!" Malik gasped, moving with Yugi and Bakura to hurriedly pull them off the floor as Ryuuzaki and the Kaiba brothers rushed out. Crimson red blood leaked out, crawling onto the floor outside the room as it continued to rain behind them, "What the hell happened?!"

"You tell us, I thought it was safe…!!" The Dinosaur duelist all but screamed at him, wiping at his arms as if it'd get the bloody stains out of his clothes. His knees buckled as he plopped onto the floor, giving up as he sat there trying to regain a more calmed composure.

Both Mokuba and Seto were no where in sight now, leading them to assume either the older had pitched a fit and left or that they had hurried to the bathroom. Finding this a good idea, Jonouchi headed in that direction, passing by Isis who looked a mix of livid and deeply worried. She breathed a slight sigh as she saw them, "Is everyone all right? Where is Kaiba?" The woman looked past, observing the damaged as she stopped in front of Yami, "Are you all right, Pharaoh?"

"I'm fine, though I think Kaiba has a cut as well as Jonouchi…what happened in there?" The embodied spirit frowned at her, arms wrapped around his relieved Hikari. It was a sight for sore eyes to come out and see Yugi's worried face, he felt himself relax slightly.

"The curse the items still retained. Shadi had lied to me. He had indeed neglected to at the very least shield them…" The Ishtar sister scowled, very pissed indeed, she seethed where she stood.

Meanwhile, Seto and his young brother were in the bathroom. The CEO had picked his brother up, setting him on the counter as he ran the faucet and tried his best to get him at least a little cleaner. He couldn't believe what happened. Either he was deathly wrong on the hocus pocus business or it had been some horrifyingly cruel joke. Kaibe of course, chose the latter. And now his little brother was probably traumatized beyond all help.

"Ugh, Seto, it's not gonna come out of my closes…" The dark haired boy whine, slightly blurry eyed. What had just happened was unreal. He hiccupped a little, heart racing. He eyed the cut his brother had on his arm and pointed at it with concern, "You have to clean your cut, it can't get infected..!"

"He's right. First things first.." The two nearly died of fright, Seto more so as his arm was grabbed. Jonouchi took soap and water to clean the cut the brunette had as he looked between the two, despite the stinging pain he had himself. His gold brown eyes settled on Kaiba with a frown, "Are you two okay?"

The bloodied CEO's eyes widened slightly as heat rushed to his face again as it had before. He was well aware of the wounds on the blond's back and rather grateful he had protected them though he wouldn't let himself say so outloud. Snapping back to reality, he shook his head quickly.

"We're fine, as a matter of fact we are going now…!" Blushing darkly, though invisible with the blood smeared on his face, Kaiba pulled away from him, grabbing his brother up against him. He wanted to go home immediately and clean himself and Mokuba off. "Tell Isis that if she ever asks me to something like this again, she can burn in hell!!"

End of Chapter 4