Okay, here we go. I finally have a good idea of what happens to Bakura in the end of the Battle City stuff, so I can really start cranking of this fic. Basically all you who voted said that you wanted Arumi and Kurama to be a couple, so I'll start heading that way with their scenes. If you didn't vote and you don't want this fic to become romancy then too bad, you should have voted! Okay, so let me tell you where we stand on the Yu-Gi-Oh part of this fic, now that I've finally got that figured out. Yugi has the God cards as well as the Millennium Puzzle, Rod, Ring, and Necklace. Bakura no longer has his ring, but the evil spirit still has some control over him and he also has Pegasus's eye.
I have another poll for you guys. Two questions this time. I think it would be cool if Yukina and Shizuka (also known as Serenity, Jonouchi's sister) met. They're both so innocent and child-like, I think they would make the fic interesting. Plus the fact that Honda likes Shizuka just like Kuwabara likes Yukina, so it create good opportunities for scenes with those two, even though Kuwabara reminds be more of Jonouchi then Honda. Question number two is if I should add Mai into the story. She's pretty funny and spunky and she has an interesting romantic life with Jounouchi. By interesting I mean that they both obviously like each other, but neither one will admit it. Once I figure out exactly which YYH characters I want to add to the story I'll give you a poll on them too. But for now, just answer those questions. Thanks to every one who's reviewed so far! Now...ON WITH THE FIC!!!
-Kessen: Bakemono no Hishi (Fight to the Finish: Secret History of the Monsters)
Duel 5: Bakura no Kyoki (Bakura's Madness)
Arumi blinked at the empty space where Shadi had been mere moments ago. Now she found herself sitting next to Shuichi in an empty room, the only sound coming from the explosions and screams on the TV.
"Um...where'd he go?" she asked uncertainly, glancing at the door. He couldn't really have just gotten up and left without either of them noticing, could he?
Kurama glanced at Arumi, wondering the same thing. She looked stronger now, healthier. Most of the color had returned to her previously pale skin and her eyes were much brighter then they had been, as well. She looked herself again. Arumi suddenly sighed, having decided not to worry about what had happened to the strange Egyptian and his scales.
"Well, I guess I passed his test, if nothing else," she said, beginning to pick up her cards from where they lay spilled across the floor.
"It would seem so," Kurama agreed, still watching her wearily. He had no idea how long the powers of the bracelet would be held at bay. One plan to stop the bracelet's powers had already failed and it might cost Arumi her life if it happened again.
"I still don't understand how these monsters could have been brought to life," Arumi muttered to herself, staring down at a monster card she had retrieved from the floor. "Unless..." she trailed off, deep in thought.
"Unless what?" Kurama asked, more then ready for answers. Arumi jumped, having forgotten he was there. She glanced at him, but said nothing. She still didn't know much about him. She had been unconscious during most of her stay here at his house after all.
"Nothing, it doesn't matter," she said quickly, shaking her head. Kurama saw that Arumi, like him, wasn't quite that quick to trust anyone with her secrets and decided to come back to that question later.
"Tell me more about this card game. What was it called?" he said casually, picking up one of the cards from the ground. The card was green and had the words Change of Heart printed on it and depicted an angel-like woman with a graceful, white angel wing on one side and a dark, bat-like wing on the other.
"It's called Magic and Wizards," Arumi explained, smiling at the chance to talk about her favorite game. "There are three types of cards. Magic, trap, and monster cards. The monsters are the ones that are destroying the world as we speak, traps are purple and have various effects to hurt or aid monsters as well as the duelist, and you're holding a magic card. Magic cards are green and work in much the same way as traps. Each duelist starts with 8000 life points. They lose life points as monsters are destroyed. The first to lose all their life points loses."
Arumi was about to say more when the door burst opened and three people came running in. Two were boys and the other was a girl. One boy had black hair that was slicked back, making him look like a punk. He was wearing an oversized white shirt and a pair of jeans. He quickly slammed the door behind him. The other boy had orange hair that looked like it might be curly had it not been coated with gel and had on a red muscle shirt and white pants. The girl was the strangest of the group. She had bright pink eyes and long blue hair and was wearing a white and pink striped shirt with jeans.
"Kurama!" they all shouted almost simultaneously. They looked like they were in a hurry, but they all stopped dead when they spotted Arumi.
"Um...who's Kurama?" she asked, blinking confusedly at them all.
"Who's the chick?" Yusuke asked, giving Kurama a sly look. Kurama quickly stood up, trying to hide the fact that his cheeks had gone slightly red at Yusuke's obvious dirty implications towards what he was doing there with Arumi.
"Could we talk in the kitchen?" he said sternly, the statement not at all a question, as he lead the way out of the room.
"Um...sure," Kuwabara mumbled, exchanging a glance with Yusuke before following and leaving Botan to try and sort out the mess they had made with Arumi.
"What were you thinking, barging in like that?!" Kurama hissed at his so called friends once they were in the kitchen.
"Sorry man, we didn't know you busy," Yusuke snickered.
"I wasn't!" Kurama protested, his cheeks burning again. He glared for a moment longer before sighing and dropping into the nearest chair, rubbing his temples tiredly. "What are you here for?" he asked as Yusuke and Kuwabara took seats as well.
"Long story short," Yusuke said, "Koenma doesn't know what the hell is going on and the monsters are heading this way. They'll show up in the city anytime now, so Koenma gave us these special barrier things to use on our houses. They'll keep the monsters from destroying anything within the barrier, and keep anyone inside the barrier asleep. But really man, who's the girl?"
"Her name is Nubayuki Arumi. If the monsters are as close as you say I don't have time to explain it all, but I think she may be able to help us stop them," Kurama explained.
"No offense, but how can she help?" Kuwabara asked. "I didn't sense any energy in her, she seemed like a normal human."
"Appearances can be deceiving," Kurama said, standing up. "Let's set up the barrier and go to Genkai-sama's temple. I take it she has taken adequate precautions?"
"Yeah, she has a barrier up that works like the others except it doesn't put anyone inside it to sleep," Yusuke answered.
"Before we go, do you know where the shrimp is?" Kuwabara asked.
"No, but Hiei can take care of himself. I wouldn't worry about him," Kurama answered as he lead the way out of the kitchen and back to the living room.
Yugi sat with his friends, watching the news. The monsters had yet to appear in Domino, but he was sure it wouldn't be long before he found a Kuriboh in his room.
"What can we do?" Jonouchi asked as he watched the screen in frozen horror.
"Maybe..." Yugi began, staring down at the deck of cards he had been holding to verify that the monster really were from Magic and Wizards. "Maybe if those monsters are real, we can summon real monsters too."
"Yes, that is the only way to fight them," a voice behind them made them all turn.
"Shadi!" Yugi cried.
"Hey, yeah. You're that freaky guy from the museum!" Jonouchi added, his voice clearly saying how much he distrusted Shadi.
"Mutou Yugi, I have come with a message," Shadi said, ignoring Jonouchi's remark.
"What is it?" Yugi asked, standing up and walking around the couch to stand in front of Shadi.
"Be careful," Anzu warned from behind him.
"There is an item in Tokyo that may be able to stop the monsters," Shadi said quietly, his dark eyes staring unblinkingly at Yugi.
"A Millennium Item?" Yugi asked. But that couldn't be, could it? There were only seven Millennium Items. He had four of them and Shadi had two. The only one that was unaccounted for was Pegasus's eye, but how had could it have gotten to Tokyo?
Shadi nodded. "You have not heard of it because it was never meant to be found," he said, seeing the confused look on Yugi's face. "A young girl is in possession of this item. You can find her at a temple in the mountains belonging to an old woman known as Genkai-sama. But be cautious, Mutou Yugi, for there are dark forces at work against you and time is not on your side." With that, Shadi shimmered and seemed to fall out of focus and was gone.
"Okay...that was freaky," Jonouchi said.
"So what do we do know?" Honda asked, watching Yugi.
'What do you think?' Yugi asked the spirit of his puzzle. 'Shadi would not lie. If he says the item that will defeat these monsters is in Tokyo, then we should go there,' the spirit replied.
"Yugi?" Anzu asked when her friend didn't respond. Yugi turned to them with a hardened look of determination on his face.
"Ojiisan (Grandfather)," Yugi said quietly.
"Yes Yugi?" his ojiisan replied, already knowing what the boy would ask.
"Can you drive us to Tokyo?"
They had managed to get Arumi out of the house and set up the barrier around Kurama's house without her suspecting anything. It was a good thing she didn't have high spirit awareness, because Kurama was really not in the mood to answer all of the questions she would have asked about the glowing blue sphere that now surrounded his house. He was thankful that his 'kasan hadn't been woken up by the noise Yusuke and the other's had made when they had shown up and he could breath easy now that he was sure she would be safe.
They began their walk to Genkai's, all but Arumi on the watch for any sign of the monsters. They had only told Arumi that Genkai's temple would be safe, but she hadn't asked any questions about it. At the moment, she was deep in conversation with Botan, explaining to her about Magic and Wizards and how she thought the monsters from the card game had come to life. Botan had been skeptical at first, but the more she listened, the more it seemed to fit. And besides that, it was really the only theory they had at the moment.
After a time, Arumi had shared all that she knew with the group and they walked in silence. In his mind, Kurama cursed that Genkai's temple was so far away. He felt exposed and was growing tired of constantly looking over his shoulder. Arumi seemed to sense how uncomfortable he was and dropped back to walk by him.
"Shuichi-kun, are you alright?" she asked quietly.
"I'm fine," Kurama said quickly, giving her a smile. She didn't seem convinced.
"Domo arigato gozaimasu for all you've done for me. I don't think I ever properly thanked you," she said after a few moments. She blushed as she said it, quickly lowering her head so he wouldn't notice. She still liked him as much as ever, but she was afraid that saying anything about it would only drive him away.
"You don't need to thank me, anyone would have done the same," Kurama said modestly.
'Yes but it wasn't just anyone, it was you!' Arumi thought, causing her to blush harder. Suddenly, a sound from the right made her stop.
"Arumi-chan? What is it?" Kurama asked, turning back to see that she had stopped.
"I don't know. I heard something," Arumi said, peering into the trees they were walking by. Something lunged at her and she screamed and fell back. An ugly green monster that she easily recognized as the Hitotsu-Me Giant gripped her neck in its strong hand and lifted her off the ground. She tried to call for help, but the monster's hand closed around her throat until she thought it would break. She couldn't breath at all. And then, suddenly, the monster's arm was severed from it's body by something long and green.
Arumi fell to the ground and ripped the dismembered arm from her neck, gasping and choking as she was finally able to breath again. She looked up to find the monster bleeding and looking angrier then ever. It hardly seemed to notice its arm was gone, or the blood that was pumping furiously from the wound. It turned to attack the one who had severed its arm, but was cut in half by the same green thing and Arumi had to turn away to keep from vomiting as the bloody halves of the monster collapsed in a pile on the ground.
The monster didn't stay there though. As soon as Arumi turned back, the monster, or the scattered remains of it, glowed and turned to beams of light that quickly gathered and flew towards Arumi. She watched in shock as they were absorbed into the eye of her necklace, which also glowed. Then the light faded and the blood on the sidewalk was the only thing left to suggest that the monster had even been there.
"Arumi-chan, are you alright?" Arumi heard Shuichi ask. She looked up, and her heart stopped. He was holding a long, green thing, the same green thing that had killed the monster! She quickly scrambled to her feet, her eyes never leaving the green whip-like thing in his hands.
"Arumi-chan?" he tried again, but she only continued to back up. She stared at the green thing for a moment longer before turning and fleeing through the trees.
"Wait!" Kurama cried, but she was gone.
"Well, you really freaked her out now," Yusuke sighed. "And what was the deal with the monster getting sucked up by her bracelet like that?"
Kurama sighed, "I don't know, but we can't let her go off alone."
"Right," Botan agreed. "We promised Koenma-sama we'd be at Genkai-sama's in," she paused, looking at her watch, "fifteen minutes. So, Yusuke, Kuwabara and I will go on ahead and you go get Arumi-chan."
Kurama nodded and kicked into a run in the direction Arumi had gone.
Bakura Ryo felt like he was sleepwalking. It was mid-afternoon and he was walking down the street in a daze. He didn't know where he was going or why, his feet seemed to be moving on their own. This shouldn't be happening! His Millennium Ring was gone, so why was he still not in control?
He had no idea how long or how far he walked, but he suddenly found himself in front of Yugi's game shop. He tried the door to find it locked. With no regard for himself at all, his fist raised on its own and punched through the glass. He could feel the glass slice through the skin and was dully aware of pain, but it didn't stop him. He unlocked the door and stepped inside, quickly closing it after him. His feet crunched over the glass on the floor as he made his way towards the door behind the counter that lead up to Yugi's home.
The living room was just as deserted as the store. Yugi must have gone somewhere. But he wasn't concerned with that. He didn't know why he was here and he was sure he would hate himself for it later when he fully realized what he had done, but at the moment the less people around, the better.
He slowly made his way to Yugi's room. Something there was drawing him to it. He could feel whatever it was calling to him, beckoning him to come. He turned. It was in the closet. Throwing opened the door, he dropped to his hands and knees and retrieved a large box from the very back of the small closet. Brining it out, he found it was locked, but he easily broke the small padlock with a "Magic 8 Ball" he found on Yugi's desk.
He opened the box with a certain feeling of expectancy, like a child on Christmas, and came face to face with a treasure trove of Millennium Items. There was only one he was interested in, however. Carefully, he lifted the Millennium Ring from the box and placed it around his neck, immediately loosing consciousness altogether.
Now the spirit of the ring was in control. He laughed darkly as he dug into his pocket and retrieved the Millennium Eye, throwing it into the box and closing the lid.
"So, the 8th Millennium Item is in Tokyo, at Genkai's temple," he said to himself, having gained the information through the small portion of his soul that he had implanted in the Millennium Puzzle. "Soon it and the puzzle shall be mine!" he cried as he stood up, carrying the box under one arm and laughing darkly to no one in particular.