Chapter Six: The Final Threshold.

Backstage as set pieces were moved and the final scenes were beginning, Joey and Weeval on stage acting as Ublado/Don Juan and an Extra/Passarino, Yami pleaded with Pegasus once more.

"You have to stop this show and get Sango away form Li Zhou," Yami/Yugi said. "He's capable of anything!"

"I'm not stopping short of the theatre burning down," Pegasus said, "Now excuse me, I have to go on."

"Pegasus, if anyone I care for gets hurts because if this, I swear you will feel my wrath." Yami/Yugi said.

Onstage, Joey - no longer in the fat suit- went behind the curtain of the front set for 'Don Juan' and as the script said, The Phantom came. But unlike the rehearsals, Li Zhou snuck behind and first covered Joey's mouth with ether.

"Nighty night." Joey said collapsing. Li Zhou/Bakura placed the noose around his neck, and put on the cape and black mask, waiting for his cue.

(Sango, entering the stage dressed as a gypsy girl)
"…No thoughts within her head but thoughts of joy!
No dreams within her head no dreams,
Within her heart but dreams of love!"

(Weeval, as Li Zhou enters)
Master?

(Li Zhou)
Passarino- go away!
For the trap is set and waits for it's prey…

You have come here In persuit of your deepest urge,
In pursuit of that wish
Which till now has been silent…
Silent…

I have brought you, that our passions May fuse and merge-
In your mind you've already Succumbed to me,
Dropped all defenses,
Completely succumbed to me-
Now you are here with me:
No second thoughts You've decided…
Decided…

(Walking towards her, looking in her eyes her face mesmerized)
Past the point of no return-
No backward glances:
The games we've played till now
Are at an end…
Past all thought of 'if' or 'when'
No use resisting:
Abandon thought and let the dream descend…

What raging fire shall flood the soul?
What desire unlocks it's door?
What sweet seduction lies before us?"

Past the point of no return,
The final Threshold-
What warm unspoken secrets will we learn?
Beyond the point of no return…

(Sango, rising form the floor, letting the fabric on her shoulders drop, revealing more skin)
You have brought me to the moment
When words run dry,
To that moment where
Speech disappears into silence…
Silence…

(Walking towards him, raising her hands to entwine in his fingers, while the audience an all looking from backstage and on stage are entranced)
I have come here, hardly knowing The reason why…
In my mind I've already Imagined our bodies entwining
Defenseless and silent-
And now I am here with you:
No second thoughts,
I've decided…
Decided…

Past the point of no return-
No going back now:
Our passion-play has now, at last,
Begun…
Past all thought of right or wrong-
One final question:
How long are we to wait, before we're one
?

When will the blood begin to race,
The sleeping bud burst into bloom?
When will the flames at last Consume us…?

(Both, Sango turning to face the audience, Li Zhou's arm's wrapped around her)
Past the point of no return,
The final threshold-
The bridge is crossed
So stand and watch it burn…
We've passed the point of no return…"

Now, Li Zhou turned Sango to face him, and he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a huge diamond ring- not the prop ring from before, but a real one. 'What are you doing?' Bakura asked in their minds.

'I'm giving her our ring,' Li Zhou answered.

'That's my grandmother's ring,' Bakura objected, 'She said I was only supposed to give that to the girl I marry.'

'Exactly why I'm giving it to her,' Li Zhou said slipping the token onto Sango's finger. Then he sang, looking deeply into her frightened eyes:

Say you'll share with me
One love, one lifetime…
Lead me, save me from My solitude…
Say you want me with you Here beside you…
Anywhere you go let me go too!
Christine! That's all I ask of-

Before he could finish, Sango closed here eyes, and ripped the mask from him, revealing the hideous face underneath. The audience screamed, the people backstage gasped, and Serenity, running out, stepped on the curtain, which ripped and revealed the body of Joey, unmoving and still. She screamed, and Li Zhou and Sango disappeared.

As everyone rushed around on stage, acting their parts, in the excitiment, accidentally let go of his fox fire bombs, erupting the stage in flames!

"Oh my god!" Pegasus cried as people screamed and swarm towards out the emergency exists. "My Theatre! It's ruined!" Kaiba grabbed him and pulled him out the fire exit.

Meanwhile, Miroku could only think of Sango. Where was she? Where had Li Zhou taken her? He ran back into the smoldering backstage area.

"Is he crazy!" Mai yelled as they all ran out, carrying a still unconscious Joey.

"Either that or bravest guy here," Inu-yasha answered.

Elsewhere, Miroku was covering his mouth from the smoke when he heard Li Zhou singing:

Down once more, to the dungeon
Of my black despair!
Down we plunge into the prison
Of my mind!
Down the path into darkness
Deep as
hell!

"Help!" Sango screamed.

"Patience, my dear, we'll be free of this place in but a moment," Li Zhou said, leading her to a fire escape. Then, running up the metal stairway behind them came Miroku.

"Li Zhou! Let her go!" Miroku demanded.

"Wait, my dear," Li Zhou said, "I believe we have a guest. Sir, this indeed an unparalleled delight. I had rather hoped you come here. And now my wish comes true. You have truly mad my night!"

"Enough, Li Zhou! The play's over! We have to get out of here, or we'll all die!"

"Your lover makes a passionate plea," Li Zhou said, grinning psychotically at Sango.

"Miroku, please get out of here," Sango begged him. "He's completely insane."

"At least let me get Sango out of here," Miroku begged.

"I won't you so much as touch her unless we finish our duel," Li Zhou said, revealing his duel disk. Miroku activated his, and got out his deck.

"I play Kycoo the Ghost destroyer lay this face down," Miroku said as the heat of the inferno grew around them."

"I play Protector of the Sanctuary in defense mode," Li Zhou/Bakura said. "And I lay this face down."

"Now I acitvate Bad reaction to Simochi," Miroku said, "And take control of your monster with Snatch Steal. Now you'll lose 2000 points every."

"No," Li Zhou said. "I only have 8000 points! I must play my magic cards, quickly. I playDestiny Board!" Above them, a giant board covered in letters and surrounded my spirits appeared, and the letter F was illuminated. "Now I can play Spirit Message I," the letter I lit up. "Do your worst, Monk!"

"Very well, I shall," Miroku said, "First I'll equip Protector of the Sanctuary with Malevolent Nuzzler , increasing it's attack to 1800. And now I play equip my Ghost Destroyer with the Sword of Dark Destruction, raising his attack to 2200 points. And because you have no monsters on your side of the field, I will attack!" The Protector and masked monk charged and both struck Li Zhou, making him cry out in pain, and his life points drop to 4000.

"Curse you," Li Zhou said. "I play Spirit Message N. And turn about is fair play. I play Change of Heart and take back my Protector and play Fiend's Hand Mirror. This lets me switch the effect the of a spell or monster to a monster, and I choose Snatch Steal, and take Kycoo. Now your points are wide open." Both monster attacked Miroku, knocking him down, and his life points dropped to 4000 as well.

"What was that? It felt real," Miroku said, struggling up.

"Of course it was," Li Zhou said, "We've been playing in the Shaodw Realm since this duel began."

"What?" Sango exclaimed.

"The winner of this duel gets the girl, loser goes to the Shadows," Li Zhou said, laughing.

"Miroku, if goes to the Shadows, so does Bakura!" Sango said.

"Oh that's right," Li Zhou said. "How silly of me to forget."

"You monster!" Miroku shouted, "I personally would love to banish you, but Bakura's is a good soul, I won't let suffer for your dementia. I play D.D. Warrior Lady to defend my life points, and lay this down."

"Good," Li Zhou said. Suddenly he felt Miroku's earlier trap, as ghostly hands reached inside and seemed to twist and squeeze all his internal organs, zapping of energy.

"Was that…?" Li Zhou.

"Bad Reaction of Simochi," Miroku said. "Now you only have 2000 points."

"So do you, because of my Hand Mirror. And because of Snatch Steal is also on my side of the field, so you fall victim to your own trap."

As the hands came in and wrenched at Miroku, he yelled "I play Remove Trap!" The hands dissipated, but the damage was done. They were both down to only 2000 life points.

"My turn," Miroku said.

"Miroku, stop this!" Sango begged, crying. "I don't want either of you to die!"

"I have no choice," he said, coughing. "The fire's getting worse. Even the Shadow realm won't protect us form it for long. I play one card face down… Trust me, Sango, this is for the best."

"Indeed," Li Zhou said. "Before long you won't even remember him. Here it is, Spirit Message A. And now I attack your D.D. Warrior Lady with Protector of the Sanctuary."

As the monster charged to attack, Miroku smiled and said "I reveal the trap, Destruction Ring!"

-Transtion-

From outside, as fire men swarmed about with hoses, there was suddenly a huge explosion from the back of the theatre.

"Sango!" Kagome screamed.

"Oh God," Mai said, covering her mouth.

"Look!" Hojo said, as two figures came running from the flames. Sango and Miroku came rushing out, hand in hand, their faces smudged in soot as they ran to hug their friends.

"Where is Bakura?" Yami asked.

"Li Zhou ducked out the back." Miroku said.

"We have another one," Said a fireman as he led a person draped in blanket out of the building. The figure revealed his face.

"Bakura," Tea said.

"It's over now." Bakura said. They slowly led him to the ambulance, passing Sango as they went.

Transition-

As he lay in the hospital bed, his head and leg and back wrapped in bandages because of the burns, Bakura looked at the newspaper that reported n the theatre fire. It said until the accident, the show had been spectacular. And the undaunted Pegasus vowed to rebuild his masterpiece before the summer season was over, and reopen with 'West Side Story' instead, much to the disappointment of many 'Phantom' fans, who's hearts had been stolen by the alluring performance of Ryo Bakura.

Then, Sango came into the room, lightly tapping the door.

"Oh," Bakura said, feeling akward. "Hello"

"Hello," she said, uncomfortably.

"Are you alright?" Bakura asked.

"I'm fine. How about you?"

"I've been worse," he said, joking. "What are those?"

"The only things that survived the fire," Sango said.

"My Grandmother's ring," Bakura said, accepting the treasure.

"I thought you would want it back."

"What else have you got?"

"The mask," she said, pulling out the Phantom's white mask. "I thought you might want it as a memento."

"No thank you," Bakura said. "I want to forget this ever happened."

"You know," she said, "It wouldn't have been like this if you had just been yourself."

"I know," Bakura said. "But he's getting stronger. It's harder for me to resist his will… I know he still wants you. And I can't let him hurt you or anyone else again. So, I think it would be best if we were just friends…"

"Wow," she said. "That's weird. I actually came here to break up with you." Bakura's twisted up and fell down, then righted himself. "You see," she continued, "Someone else has offered me a ring."

"I understand," Bakura said. She came forward, and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, then, laying the mask on the table beside the get well roses and a program from the show, she left, as outside the window, cherry blossoms began to fall.

The End

-Authors' Note-

We hope you guys like this story. But now we have to ask you something very important.

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