For worse
# CW: Well, it'd be pretty damn boring if it ended on this chapter. I seriously need a new minor plot to keep it going! Yami: Or you could try giving me a little personality for once. #
Bakura hummed to himself, for the mere relief of a sound.
But this sound only brought back unwanted memories.
He had never heard Xatrina sing.
He never would.
She wanted to sing for a career.
She probably would. And he, Bakura, would not be there to hear.
Or maybe, he thought in horror, he would hear her. On the radio. On television.
'You were just listening to the amazing debut single of Trina Moncrieff.' Blared his radio of the future, 'This song will be available in the shops from this Friday.'
And he'd be sitting there, alone at home, reminiscing cheerlessly of the short time he had spent with this siren of a superstar.
He bit his swollen lower lip. It was purpling with the cold.
Flecks of snow stuck fast to his long, unruly hair, and the hems of his jeans were stiff with frost.
'I told you we should have turned back.'
'Go away!' Bakura threw himself into the heaping snow and lay there, face down, sobbing.
He felt like Gollum in Lord of the Rings. There was evil inside him, and he couldn't chase it away. And no one cared.
Yugi? Joey? Tristan? Téa? Duke? They were peers, classmates, not friends.
Mai? Serenity? They were friends of his classmates.
Xatrina? He had been the first teenager she had ever met.
Given the time to get to know him, she'd go off with Téa or someone.
He didn't matter.
He had no one, no one but this, this creature inside him, taking over him, killing, breaking, destroying, cursing.
He was cursed. No, worse, he was a curse.
'Tristan should have let him take Mokuba's body when he had the chance.' Wept Bakura, but stopped. That was wrong.
Maybe Tristan didn't care, but he would never step back and watch the spirit take over Mokuba. But then, how could he leave the spirit in Bakura? Of course, he didn't care.
'That's right, feeble minded boy.'
'You're right. I am.'
'You're alone.'
'Yes.'
'All alone.'
The wind was bitter up here.
They could feel it through the chopper's insulated leather seats, which Joey soon expressed.
'Man, my butt's freezin' off!' he complained loudly.
'Well, that certainly is a shame.' Smirked Kaiba, 'Soon you'll have to start talking through your mouth.'
'You keep talkin', Kaiba, and you'll have neither!' threatened Joey.
They were interrupted by a horrified shriek from Xatrina.
Looking down, they saw a trail of dark prints through the unblemished snow along the ridge of hills.
At the end of the long, winding line of marks, by one solitary skeletal tree, in a dip surrounded by huge standing stones placed by miners of years gone by, lay a white haired boy, face down in the pearly snow.
'He's not moving!' panicked Duke, and Téa hit him hard.
'Seto! Land now!' cried Mokuba, and Seto let the chopper drop.
Painfully slowly, they touched down into the deep snow, and Xatrina was out like a shot.
She skidded on her knees beside her best friend's motionless form, and dumbly shook his left shoulder.
It was hard and freezing, but he lifted his head slowly, as if waking.
'Trina!' he gasped, his face lined with frozen tears, 'No! Go away! I can't see you again! Never!'
'Please,' said Trina, 'You're wonderful. You can't just stay here to die.'
'I'd much prefer it!' burst out Bakura.
The rest of the group, including Mokuba and Kaiba, were surrounding the pair now.
Xatrina leant down and hugged Bakura tightly, but he pushed her away into the snow. And this time, it wasn't for a laugh.
'Leave me alone!' he stood up shakily, 'I don't want you to ever see me again. You may not care for me, but I certainly care for all of you chaps.'
'But Bakura, we do...' began Yugi.
'GO AWAY!' Bakura roared, and his millennium ring trembled and glowed around his neck.
He threw his arms out, and rings of energy, like powerful ripples from the blast of a bomb, pulsed from the ring.
The effect was devastating.
The whole circle of people were actually blown backwards, as if by a mighty gale, taking to the air like ungainly birds.
Bakura was thrown back too, striking his head on the hard icy ground. He lay motionless again, while the ring worked its evil.
Duke was the first to suffer, smashing his shoulder hard against one of the standing stones.
He whimpered, and sunk to the ground, still pressed to the rock by the force.
Then Serenity, skidding along a particularly stony piece of ground and gashing her legs.
Kaiba, too, was turned round in mid air and thrown against a limb of the single tree, which struck him across the stomach. He groaned, winded, and hung there like a wet towel over a clothes horse.
Slowly, the powerful waves subsided, and there was silence, broken only by a small groan from Duke.
Kaiba unfolded from his branch and fell to the floor below in a crunch of snow.
Serenity drew a hissing breath and stood up carefully, blood trickling from her legs, bare beneath her shorts.
Joey ran to her and inspected the damage.
'Oh, man! I told you not to wear your shorts up here in the cold!' he said.
But she insisted she was Ok, so they both ran over to see how Duke was.
He wasn't so good.
He knelt on the floor, clutching his shoulder. He was clearly in pain.
Tristan (surprise) and Yami helped him to the chopper, where he remained, paler than the snow.
No one but Mokuba went to Kaiba's aid.
'Seto? Are you Ok? Do you need a doctor?' Mokuba was fussing over him as he always did.
'I'm Ok, Mokuba.' Gasped Kaiba, standing up briskly, 'Just a little winded. I'm going to have one heck of a bruise.'
Xatrina had been with Bakura all this time, trying to revive him.
The group crowded round.
Finally, Bakura coughed and opened his eyes blearily.
'Please.' He begged again, pathetically, unaware of the devastation he had just caused, 'Go back. You don't deserve to be victims.'
'We won't be.' Soothed Trina, 'If it takes us our whole lives, we'll help you.'
'But, the fate of the world? The evil? Surely you have other things on-'
'That's Yami's task, and the other guys'.' Said Xatrina, 'but my task will be to help you fight this evil, to stop the magic of the millennium ring, to get your life back.'
Bakura was suddenly overcome. He let out a sob, and Xatrina hugged him tightly. He didn't shove her away this time.
In the silence that followed, he was conversing animatedly in his head.
'So they do care. You were wrong.'
'So were you.'
'She's going to help me get back my life.'
'In doing so, she will be taking mine away! This, I cannot allow.'
# CW: Well, it'd be pretty damn boring if it ended on this chapter. I seriously need a new minor plot to keep it going! Yami: Or you could try giving me a little personality for once. #
Bakura hummed to himself, for the mere relief of a sound.
But this sound only brought back unwanted memories.
He had never heard Xatrina sing.
He never would.
She wanted to sing for a career.
She probably would. And he, Bakura, would not be there to hear.
Or maybe, he thought in horror, he would hear her. On the radio. On television.
'You were just listening to the amazing debut single of Trina Moncrieff.' Blared his radio of the future, 'This song will be available in the shops from this Friday.'
And he'd be sitting there, alone at home, reminiscing cheerlessly of the short time he had spent with this siren of a superstar.
He bit his swollen lower lip. It was purpling with the cold.
Flecks of snow stuck fast to his long, unruly hair, and the hems of his jeans were stiff with frost.
'I told you we should have turned back.'
'Go away!' Bakura threw himself into the heaping snow and lay there, face down, sobbing.
He felt like Gollum in Lord of the Rings. There was evil inside him, and he couldn't chase it away. And no one cared.
Yugi? Joey? Tristan? Téa? Duke? They were peers, classmates, not friends.
Mai? Serenity? They were friends of his classmates.
Xatrina? He had been the first teenager she had ever met.
Given the time to get to know him, she'd go off with Téa or someone.
He didn't matter.
He had no one, no one but this, this creature inside him, taking over him, killing, breaking, destroying, cursing.
He was cursed. No, worse, he was a curse.
'Tristan should have let him take Mokuba's body when he had the chance.' Wept Bakura, but stopped. That was wrong.
Maybe Tristan didn't care, but he would never step back and watch the spirit take over Mokuba. But then, how could he leave the spirit in Bakura? Of course, he didn't care.
'That's right, feeble minded boy.'
'You're right. I am.'
'You're alone.'
'Yes.'
'All alone.'
The wind was bitter up here.
They could feel it through the chopper's insulated leather seats, which Joey soon expressed.
'Man, my butt's freezin' off!' he complained loudly.
'Well, that certainly is a shame.' Smirked Kaiba, 'Soon you'll have to start talking through your mouth.'
'You keep talkin', Kaiba, and you'll have neither!' threatened Joey.
They were interrupted by a horrified shriek from Xatrina.
Looking down, they saw a trail of dark prints through the unblemished snow along the ridge of hills.
At the end of the long, winding line of marks, by one solitary skeletal tree, in a dip surrounded by huge standing stones placed by miners of years gone by, lay a white haired boy, face down in the pearly snow.
'He's not moving!' panicked Duke, and Téa hit him hard.
'Seto! Land now!' cried Mokuba, and Seto let the chopper drop.
Painfully slowly, they touched down into the deep snow, and Xatrina was out like a shot.
She skidded on her knees beside her best friend's motionless form, and dumbly shook his left shoulder.
It was hard and freezing, but he lifted his head slowly, as if waking.
'Trina!' he gasped, his face lined with frozen tears, 'No! Go away! I can't see you again! Never!'
'Please,' said Trina, 'You're wonderful. You can't just stay here to die.'
'I'd much prefer it!' burst out Bakura.
The rest of the group, including Mokuba and Kaiba, were surrounding the pair now.
Xatrina leant down and hugged Bakura tightly, but he pushed her away into the snow. And this time, it wasn't for a laugh.
'Leave me alone!' he stood up shakily, 'I don't want you to ever see me again. You may not care for me, but I certainly care for all of you chaps.'
'But Bakura, we do...' began Yugi.
'GO AWAY!' Bakura roared, and his millennium ring trembled and glowed around his neck.
He threw his arms out, and rings of energy, like powerful ripples from the blast of a bomb, pulsed from the ring.
The effect was devastating.
The whole circle of people were actually blown backwards, as if by a mighty gale, taking to the air like ungainly birds.
Bakura was thrown back too, striking his head on the hard icy ground. He lay motionless again, while the ring worked its evil.
Duke was the first to suffer, smashing his shoulder hard against one of the standing stones.
He whimpered, and sunk to the ground, still pressed to the rock by the force.
Then Serenity, skidding along a particularly stony piece of ground and gashing her legs.
Kaiba, too, was turned round in mid air and thrown against a limb of the single tree, which struck him across the stomach. He groaned, winded, and hung there like a wet towel over a clothes horse.
Slowly, the powerful waves subsided, and there was silence, broken only by a small groan from Duke.
Kaiba unfolded from his branch and fell to the floor below in a crunch of snow.
Serenity drew a hissing breath and stood up carefully, blood trickling from her legs, bare beneath her shorts.
Joey ran to her and inspected the damage.
'Oh, man! I told you not to wear your shorts up here in the cold!' he said.
But she insisted she was Ok, so they both ran over to see how Duke was.
He wasn't so good.
He knelt on the floor, clutching his shoulder. He was clearly in pain.
Tristan (surprise) and Yami helped him to the chopper, where he remained, paler than the snow.
No one but Mokuba went to Kaiba's aid.
'Seto? Are you Ok? Do you need a doctor?' Mokuba was fussing over him as he always did.
'I'm Ok, Mokuba.' Gasped Kaiba, standing up briskly, 'Just a little winded. I'm going to have one heck of a bruise.'
Xatrina had been with Bakura all this time, trying to revive him.
The group crowded round.
Finally, Bakura coughed and opened his eyes blearily.
'Please.' He begged again, pathetically, unaware of the devastation he had just caused, 'Go back. You don't deserve to be victims.'
'We won't be.' Soothed Trina, 'If it takes us our whole lives, we'll help you.'
'But, the fate of the world? The evil? Surely you have other things on-'
'That's Yami's task, and the other guys'.' Said Xatrina, 'but my task will be to help you fight this evil, to stop the magic of the millennium ring, to get your life back.'
Bakura was suddenly overcome. He let out a sob, and Xatrina hugged him tightly. He didn't shove her away this time.
In the silence that followed, he was conversing animatedly in his head.
'So they do care. You were wrong.'
'So were you.'
'She's going to help me get back my life.'
'In doing so, she will be taking mine away! This, I cannot allow.'