Hey, everybody. Dunno, this just came to me today. It's different. But we'll see how it goes. BTW, happy holidays!
"Bakura!!!" Yaminah screamed as she saw him pummel backwards, forcefully into the sands. Dark crimson liquid began to soak into the robe, blending with the original color near perfectly. Her wide, red eyes stung as she stared at him as he wheezed and struggled to find the strength to rise. She felt her body shake with fatigue and the sand beneath her swirl and rumble fiercely. Sweat and blood forced her dark robes to cling to her exhausted form. Her breaths came out in gasps almost as weak as Bakura's.
The tomb robber, coughed harshly, blood splattering upon the sand. "Kuso," he hissed. Tan limbs trembled violently during the attempt to raise the injured form to its hands and knees. Bakura hollered in pain as the earth shook fiercely and knocked him clear back to the ground. Curses trailed in his mind one after another, for it was hard enough to breath at this point. His bloody hand clawed at his chest. Pain shot through it with every breath and blood threatened to cut off his airways. Everything grew fuzzy and blurry as he tried to look around. Diaboundo was nowhere to be seen. Surely it hadn't been destroyed?! His thoughts were rudely interrupted by his body throwing up blood.
Yaminah looked from the battle to her friend and tried to make a dash over to him. She stumbled as the ground rumbled. She heard someone shout behind her in all the confusion.
"Chaos!! Look out!" Atemu shouted. "Your Chaos Mage!" Yaminah whirled, blood pounding in her ears. In the panic of seeing her Guardian about to be struck down by the enemy, she summoned up fire from the Phoenix. With a battle cry, she threw her hands out, palms extended forward and the fire blasted towards the assaulters. Nevertheless, she felt the stunning pain from her Guardian being attack. The blond couldn't help but stagger back as she felt her body grow weaker. Coppery tasting fluid ran across her tongue and to her teeth. Her head began to feel light and her thoughts became unclear.
Atemu's blond bangs whipped around as he quickly looked back at his comrades. One was fallen and the other looked like they were going to go down. Shakily, he wiped some of the blood running down the side of his face. His cape blew about from the harsh winds. If they could only last a bit longer . . . Gather enough strength to summon the Gods . . .
"Dark Magician!" he called, looking back to his own Guardian. "Dark Magic Attack!!" He pointed out to the target in the dark, ominous sky. The mage nodded and gathered the magical energies in his staff. The beam shot out into the sky and struck its target, but not before something else could strike the Dark Magician. Atemu shouted in shock as he struggled to maintain his equilibrium. His stomach twisted in displeasure to the point of nausea. The heat of battle was intense and the eardrum shattering level of sound was unbearable. Without warning, a blast struck just at his feet, sending both the Pharaoh and sand flying.
Atemu shuddered and faintly heard Yaminah screaming for him. He could hear her attacking with all her might, sending limitless flames toward the enemy. In the haze, he wanted to call to her, wanted to tell her to stop . . . Before . . . Before she ended up killing herself. Bakura was nearby, actually managing to get to his feet at a painstaking pace. He was clutching at the wall of jagged rock that they'd been forced towards.
"Pharaoh . . ." he rasped, looking overly blearily. "You're not dead are you?" The thief took several unsteady steps towards the other. Blood dripped from wounds and his mouth. One eye was more open than the other.
" I suppose . . ." Atemu managed, coughing soon afterwards. As he attempted to move, a new, deep wound made itself apparent in his shoulder. He hissed in pain and gritted his teeth. The Egyptian's battered body screamed in protested as he made his way into a slight sitting position. He fell back onto one elbow. Not long afterwards, the King of Thieves feel too his knees before him, retching blood. Before he could fall into the other, Atemu gripped Bakura's shoulder to balance him slightly. The sight was sickening, forcing him to look away slightly. "We . . . We must, Bakura . . . Find the strength . . ."
Bakura groaned as his pale violet eyes met the Pharaoh's crimson orbs. "To . . . Summon the Gods . . . Correct?" he spoke, voice barely even audible. Atemu nodded shakily. The thief tried to look about. "Chaos . . ." He finally laid his eyes on her as he found her form sprawled in the sand, shuddering and clenching at the grains beneath her.
Yaminah laid there, shutting her eyes tightly. Tears of pain and frustration threatened to escape past her eyelids. She could feel blood mingling with the tears, for when she tried to open her eyes slightly, red filled her vision. A sob barely pasted her lips as she shut her eyes again. This wasn't how it was suppose to end. Not even close. Everyone was going to die . . .
Atemu had to look away from that sight as well. Hot tears were coming to his own eyes. His thoughts were similar to his friend's. Only . . . This was his fault. He should have been able to prevent this, damn it. Thoughts shattered as he screamed in agony. The Pharaoh's chest felt like a blade had gone through it and even felt that way physically as a now familiar taste of copper reached his mouth. So much blood . . . It was everywhere. Bakura looked over at him faintish in alarm, trying to understand what was happening. He as well though screamed as something blasted with force into his back and sent him tumbling across the sands. He came to a halt and laid still, eyes staring blankly in the opposite direction of the fight.
Yaminah looked up in horror and tried to scream for her friend. Bloody tears smeared her face. When she tried to move, her legs refused to reply except in pain. She cursed miserably as she tried once again to get back up. Though, she seemed completely unaware of the dangers behind her. The young woman's mind was simply filled with the horrors of what lay before her.
The Pharaoh, on the other hand, did see what was going on behind Yaminah and felt himself starting to force himself up. Witnessing Bakura's demise had already been too much, it had even left tears lingering in his eyes in all the chaos that was going on about them. Said tears broke loose as he saw the attack being unleashed behind his other friend. Atemu barely noticed as he feet got themselves planted in the sand beneath him and dizzily sent him staggering towards the attack.
Yaminah felt Atemu suddenly fall across her and clutch her tightly. "YAMINAH!!!" he screamed as he shielded her with his own body. His tears fell across Yaminah's ear and practically scalded her with their intensity. The scream carried as it back shrill and one of immense pain.
"YAMI?!!!" she screamed in panic before everything exploded.
&&&
Chaos awoke with a start as she heard a door shut abruptly downstairs. Afternoon sunlight shone through half shut blinds, blanketing the room in a sleepy daze. The yami looked up from where she was laying on her stomach in her bed. The alarm clock read 1:34 PM. With a groan, she turned to her side and slid out from under the sheets and got up. She stretched her arms up over her head and laced her fingers as she leaned back a bit to get her spine to pop several times.
After stretching a little and feeling joints crackle and pop, Chaos scratched her scalp with one hand and walked out into the hall. She vaguely remembered going to bed last night. Or was it this morning? Yes, she was pretty sure it was sometime this morning. Somewhere in the blonde's memory, she recalled leaving her laptop after a long night at the computer.
What was today? Saturday? Or was it Sunday? It had to be one of the two, because there'd been the door shutting. That had to have been Tazi or one of her friends, which meant there was no school. With a yawn, Chaos descended the stairs.
"Aibou?" she called sleepily. There was some shuffling downstairs, sounded like it was coming from the kitchen.
"You're finally up, Chaos?" Tazi replied. "It's about time! You were up all night on the computer again, weren't you!" The last part came in an accusing tone. The yami simply smirked a bit.
"Perhaps," the spirit said. When she reached downstairs, she found her hikari scuttling about. "What's the rush?" Tazi didn't pause as she continued to go about, putting some things away and grabbing a bite to eat.
"You didn't hear? The Ishtars are back for a visit!" Tazi exclaimed happily. "I'm gonna go over to the Game Shop with everyone else. Marik's over there right now." Chaos nodded unenthusiastically. She vaguely remembered the Ishtars, and she had no curiosity to further her knowledge of them.
"Who's all over there?" the yami asked half heartedly as she picked up some magazines off the floor and put them back on the coffee table in the living room.
"The usual of course," Tazi told her. "Plus Duke, Marik and Mokuba I think." Chaos rose an eyebrow in confusion and looked over.
"Mokuba? What's he doing over there?" Slight curiosity came to her voice and mind. She picked up another magazine and then stood up straight.
"Mokuba and Marik have been writing back and forth as pen pals for quite some time. They're pretty good friends now," Tazi explained. She took a bite of the sandwich she'd put together quickly. "Wanna come with?" Chaos combed a hand through her hair. It seemed that this really wasn't a question of choice. This was more of a "come give me a ride over there" question.
"Sure, why not," was the dry reply. "I'll go get dressed." With that, Chaos went upstairs to get a change of clothes.
&&&
The Game Shop was full of chatty teenagers, one pre-teen, two Egyptian spirits and a senior citizen. The group was crowded around Marik as he spoke about his stay in Egypt after Battle City. The Egyptian seemed excited and much more light-hearted than he'd been. He'd finally gotten to enjoy living his life in the light, with his loving family. Frankly, he seemed more like a normal teenager.
Solomon listened to them all as he rearranged the display cases. It was nice to see things so peaceful. With society these days, there was less and less of a chance for the youth of today to enjoy life. The grandfather looked back to the small closet behind the counter.
"How is the inventory coming along?" he asked the former Pharaoh. Yami looked up from the clipboard.
"It's almost finished, grandfather," he replied calmly. Inventory was not his favorite chore in the world, but he chose to bare with it and hope Bakura and Chaos would choose not to harass him too much about it. No matter how many times he thought over it, Yami couldn't figure out why he associated with such people, or why they were his peers.
As he glanced towards the talkative group, he smiled a bit. But he also paid close attention to Marik. While he believed the boy himself was pure, the Millennium Rod hooked on his belt was something to keep an eye on. The Pharaoh had witnessed the end of Malik, but then again . . . He sighed and simply assumed he was being paranoid. A sign that he'd been around Bakura far too long.
The tomb robber that hid himself in a corner perked up when he saw the red Toyota pull up outside of the shop. The yami and hikari of the Millennium Bracelet got out and were greeted by the light-hearted jingle of the bell above the door. Tazi immediately dashed over to her groupies and mingled while Chaos slinked in towards Bakura's corner. He smirked a bit as he watched her yawn.
"You look like crap," he commented with amusement. Chaos rolled her eyes and then rubbed them slightly.
"I only got up a little bit ago," she mumbled, barely able to finish before another yawn came on.
"Pulled another all-nighter?" asked Bakura, thought not sounding the least bit surprised. His friend nodded as she scrapped the top of her head. The thief shook his head and sighed. Chaos then blinked and looked around Bakura.
"Did you . . . Put your hair in a ponytail??" Chaos turned him about slightly to inspect the spiky tail of hair. She resisted the urge to snicker. It looked decent actually, but it was amusing nonetheless. Bakura looked over his shoulder.
"I thought I'd try something new," explained the tomb raider. "Honest opinion, Chaos." The spirit pursed her lips, trying to think of how to fulfill that request.
"It's different . . . I think I even kinda like it. It needs a little work though . . ." Chaos pulled out the band and combed her fingers through his hair a bit, then put it back up. "There, that's better."
" . . . . Thanks," Bakura said as he reached back to feel the less tangled ponytail. It was strange, having someone do his hair . . .
Chaos smirked. "Maybe we can get you an earring next. A silver hoop perhaps?" Bakura grunted.
"Don't count on it."
They both watched as the Pharaoh handed the clipboard to Solomon and began to make his way to the back. Almost immediately, they began to follow. They'd almost caught up when they reached the door. Chaos stopped and muttered something before letting Yami pass. Ever since the incident with the mistletoe. She preferred to avoid entering a room the same time as anyone. The Pharaoh often felt the same way.
Yami looked over his shoulder and frowned. "What are you following me for?" he demanded. The two behind him shrugged.
"Got nothing better to do," Chaos commented.
"Except make your life miserable, Pharaoh," added Bakura, smirking.
Yami, looking put out, got a pop out of the fridge. "I'm not the one wearing a pony tail," he muttered as he got the ice tray out of the freezer. Bakura growled.
"Don't even start making comments about hair, Pharaoh!" he exclaimed, pointing a finger accusingly. "You're certainly not one to talk!" Yami twisted the tray and caused several cubes to pop out of their slots.
"Neither are you in the long run, tomb robber," he retaliated without turning around. Chaos slumped in a chair and groaned as she prepared herself for this argument . . . Again. Yami filled the glass halfway with ice before popping the top of the root beer can. He carefully poured the pop in, trying not to make it foam up too much. The two argued about hair for a little bit before settling down at the table with Chaos, who had begun shuffling a deck of cards.
"So Marik's back," Bakura simply commented, tapping on the top of his can before popping the tab. Yami nodded. "Have you sensed anything of that crazy bastard?"
"No . . ." the Pharaoh replied cautiously. "Though I wouldn't let down my guard. I witnessed his apparent death, but that doesn't really mean anything."
"From what I've heard, let's hope you're just being skittish," Chaos mumbled, dealing out cards. Yami could only hope that was true. He reached out to pick up his cards as he crunched some of the ice from his glass. Bakura leaned back and took a drink of Coke.
"For the love of Ra, no wonder you keep losing, Pharaoh," he commented out of the blue. Yami looked up in annoyance.
"What's that suppose to mean?!" he demanded. Needless to say, the Pharaoh was quite tired of losing at poker to these two. Repeatedly. He may have been the King of Games, but it seemed the line was drawn at five card draw.
"It's bad karma to touch the cards before I'm done dealing, baka," Chaos piped in with an explanation for Bakura's comment. Yami rolled his eyes.
"That's ridiculous," he muttered. The other two yamis looked over at him with a 'look'.
"You're the one that keeps preaching about the Heart of the Cards," Bakura noted dryly. "Perhaps you should expand that to all your card playing games. Then maybe you wouldn't keep losing all that money." This sardonic comment resulted in a glare of daggers from the Pharaoh.
Chaos finished dealing and scooped her cards and took a look at them, trying not to wince at the awful hand. "He's got a point you know . . . I mean, if you believe in that. Surely you should think a little bit on the subject of karma." Yami sighed.
"If there was such a thing as karma, you two should be traveling on the back roads of Kentucky in a hick freak show," he snapped in exasperation as he himself picked up his hand. The other two snickered slightly.
The group of amigos herded through the kitchen, as their destination was the living room. Tristan and Joey shook their heads, they didn't understand why Yami kept insisting on humiliating himself like that repeatedly. Duke and Marik blinked, honestly surprised to see the three coexisting so peacefully. Mokuba shook his head and started to pull Marik towards the living room. The three hikaris and Téa stopped and looked at them, appalled.
"Yami!" all three of them cried. All three yamis wince and looked up.
"What?!" Bakura cried, looking at his hikari in feigned innocence. Feigned innocence that failed, by the way.
"Yah?" Chaos looked up calmly.
"Yes, Aibou?" Yami asked.
"You know this isn't fair, you guys!" Téa scolded to the two troublesome yamis. She received scowls from both of them. "Yami, you shouldn't keep letting them hustle you like this!!"
"I'll try and remember that, Téa," he muttered. It wasn't that he liked losing . . . Pride was at stake here. And because he was the King of Games, he was quite proud. There was a lot to be lost.
Tazi and Ryou continued to look at their yamis disapprovingly while Yugi looked at his own pleadingly. "You can't keep losing money like this, Yami!" The Pharaoh grimaced.
"Maybe I won't lose this time . . ." The other two busted out into laughter. Even Yugi couldn't help but giggle a bit, but stopped when Yami looked at him in shock.
"Well . . . Good luck!" Yugi said sheepishly as he went off to the living room. The other two finished scolding their counterparts and followed after him.
"You know . . ." Chaos said deviously. "We could always call Kaiba. I'm sure he'd love to join this." Yami growled.
"Do so and you'll be spending the next several millennia and then some in the Shadow Realm," he threatened. Bakura whistled.
"Someone's been skipping anger management class again," Bakura said in a sing song voice. Well . . . As much of a sing song voice that Bakura could ever have. Yami slammed his fist on the table.
"Dammit! For the last time, Bakura!! I don't take anger management class!" he snapped. Chaos grinned.
"Then maybe you should start. And meanwhile . . . Thank you for showing me your hand, Pharaoh." Yami let out a cry of frustration and threw down his cards, cursing.
"So you're folding?" asked Bakura.