Hey everybody! I started posting on in case people other than those who are at Pharaohs Palace and Yami no Kokoro wanted to read it. However, since no one reviews, I don't know if I should keep posting here or not. Please review, even if it is just to say that you love or hate the story. True, I will most likely ignoring truly insulting flames but any suggestions would be wonderful. Thank You.
Chapter 15:
Title: Shadow Wars Inc.
Author: Fairyfae
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: SetoxYami
Genre: Action, Romance, Angst
Spoilers: None of which I am aware.
Warning: Cussing, Gore, nothing worse than what has come before.
Disclaimer: Me no own...TT
Bakura snorted in disgust as the altered figure of the pharaoh gilded majestically up the stairs. Just looking at himself and the pharaoh, he knew that neither of them should be moving much less gliding anywhere. But there he was in all his be damned glory, moving as if he was walking, completely uninjured, dressed in riches instead of torn and bloody rags, into the temple that had been sacrificed to the desert approximately 3,000 years ago. Bakura's own body that was now a mass of mottled bruises from its repeated encounter with the door was only motivated to movement by his desire to match or beat the man in front of him. God he wished he still had his ring. Somehow he knew that he would need his shadow power in spades when he reached the roof. Yami's halt at the top of the stairs was so sudden that Bakura barely managed to not collide with his back.
Yami turned and captured Bakura's gaze with his own blazing red eyes before reaching out with a clawed hand to rend the remaining scraps of his sticky black shirt. Fist grasping the torn material, he pulled the clinging mesh off his chest leaving only the dried blood of monsters, the crusting substance throwing into relief the grooves and swells of his defined chest and abdomen. Voice booming he demanded, "Thief, you who have been an eternal thorn in my side, your time to serve me has arrived."
Bakura sputtered and tried to think of a fittingly scalding comeback, but the truly terrifying countenance of the man facing him stilled his tongue. This was not the same man he had been playing cat and mouse with for so many centuries. A dark chuckle shimmied down Bakura's spine, as the pharaoh expressed dark mirth, "I see your rebellion and I appreciate it for what it is but do not worry, you will like the task I have set up for you." Slowly, Yami drew his fingers over his chest bringing Bakura's gaze to the faint lines covering the bronze surface. "If these lines become as black as a moonless night, the pattern completely covering my chest and back, you will see to it that I am shoved out of this world and into the shadow realm. Do you understand me?"
Bakura's eyes widened drawing another frightening laugh from the one time pharaoh. "That's right thief. If I turn all the way into a shadow monster, your job is to banish me to the proper realm. You are to send me to join the priest you banished into that realm so many years ago. It will be your final task to dispose of me forever."
Bakura was still trying to gather his thoughts which had shattered into a million tiny fragments at the shock so carelessly delivered to him when the pharaoh threw open the door separating stairwell from rooftop. Yami never once looked up at what should have been the night sky as he paced across the roof towards the confident looking man standing near the roofs edge, Seth's small body held partially in front of him. However, Bakura was not so controlled. Never, in all his days of evil, had he seen anything like this. Was this what he had been inviting when he so carelessly abused his powers so many years ago?
Dominating the sky above the towering Kaiba Corp. headquarters was the threat of a storm more potent then the earth had seen since the first appearance of the seas. Greenish-black clouds of noxious gas writhed and danced with power and destructive potential, random zigzags of lightening weaving in and around the gaseous poison, each flash filling the air with the occasional low crackle and hiss. Peaking out of the cover provided by the unnatural storm was a pulsating monstrous mass of nightmarish creatures, each clawing against a practically invisible surface, like ravenous animals trapped within a bubble. Each claw scrape seemed to threaten the bubbles destruction, an event that would result in a massive rain of death and destruction on everyone below.
"Who do you think I am?" Yami's voice boomed easily projecting over the length of the roof, his blazing crimson eyes narrowed in scorn, eyebrows dipped to meet in the middle. Regally, he paused several meters short of the disgusting creature that had the nerve to call himself a man, the same repellent, revolting thing that had dared to threaten his dragon and all that which belonged to his dragon. Legs braced apart, posture ramrod straight, he leveled his finger at the stupid man currently holding Seth captive. "How dare you threaten what is mine!" The proclamation rang with threatening force but the man in front of him must have been delusional or stupid for the fool did not cower. Instead, the man had the audacity to smirk.
"I know well who you are pharaoh of a dead and gone era. I simply did not expect to get such a bonus when I began this task."
Snarling, Yami forced himself to not attack while Seth was still in danger. Instead, he demanded answers of the breathing, soon-to-be dead man in front of him. "What are you talking about?" Pausing, Yami narrowed his eyes. The shadow powers inside of him sensed something that his eyes couldn't see. Brow rising in realization, he accused, "You are not human. Show yourself at once. I will not talk to a coward that remains concealed within the body of a corpse."
Gloating laughter floated through the chill air, repulsing all that could hear it. Even the monsters constantly fighting to break the barrier seemed to pause a moment as if to measure the potential power of an enemy. "Ahhhh…" A slimy, repugnant voice echoed around the roof, making its origin impossible to distinguish, "I should have expected as much from the King of Games."
Gradually, the thick, greenish smoke seemed to go from gas to liquid, beading into clumps within the air like mercury on glass. Little by little, the mucous-like clumps flowed into one another until they congealed into one large, hovering blob. Tendrils of the blob reached out to envelop Mr. Hatahori, eating through his flesh as if it was acid. Seth released a high-pitched scream and struggled madly to get away from his captor, eventually managing to tear free. The arm that had held Seth still clung to him having separated from Mr. Hatahori's dissolving body. Scrambling away, Seth slid on his butt, pushing with his legs and pulling with his arms, never letting his eyes leave the horrid figure in front of him as it solidified into a devil-like creature. Trailing beside him was the arm and jacket of Mr. Hatahori. Breathing completely out-of control, he pried at the dead fingers clinging to him, fighting to dislodge the appendage.
"Devourer of Rotting Flesh, Eater of the Deceased, what are you doing in this world? I banished your being into oblivion centuries ago." Yami fearlessly faced the demonic creature in front of him. He knew this beast and he was furious at its presence in the mortal realm.
"Wouldn't you like to know, you who are gradually losing your soul to become one of us…a shadow monster ruled by bloodlust, banished to a darker realm and doomed to serve the whims of weaker creatures?" Feeling superior, the Devourer took time to explain his survival to the pharaoh, wanting to rub his continued existence in the others face. "Centuries ago, in the age of magical battles, you banished most of me, but a fragment of my being was able to hide in a ring, a randomly misplaced ring that just happened to be nearby. Over the centuries, I rebuilt myself within that ring, that ring that became lost in the mortal world until only a decade ago." The monster taunted the glowing figure, driving Yami closer to madness and the destruction of his soul, "Can you truly not tell what has been going on?"
The pharaoh's red eyes began to glow now that Seth was out of the way, his fury drawing a dangerously high amount of shadow magic into his body. Anger saturated his voice as he scorned the nauseating creature addressing him. "Do not play games with me weak one. You are not worthy of my time."
"Not worthy of your time." The creature's voice screeched in violent protest, "How dare you say that. When my plan is complete, all creatures of the shadow will worship me, their savior, their deliverer. And I…I will become all powerful, my strength constantly increasing with each human corpse I consume."
"You disgust me." Yami spit out, his words bursting with scorn, "Nothing but fools and lunatics would ever worship a creature such as you."
Lightening flashed continually in rampant fury, as the monster's bile spilled forth, "You know not that of which you speak, mortal. This human, this Mr. Hatahori that you've been hunting for so long worshipped me. He feel down on his knees and kissed my feet at the promises of money and power, money and power that I did give him for a time and in return, he gave me what I needed. He gave me the corpses of burned out children and the means to break the barrier between the shadow realm and the mortal realm. He injected the children with the formula I gave to him. The same formula used to make your talismans. Seeing the result he repented, but it was too late. He had already sold his soul to me. Time and time again, I made him feed me and when he took his own life, I took his body so I could remain active in the mortal realm and continue my plan to destroy the barrier between the two worlds. With each greedy human that bought one of those children from us, with each calling of a monster from the shadow realm, the barrier was weakened. Now, thanks to my efforts and some of your own little talismans, the barrier is about to break and my host is no longer of any use to me."
"So that is what you've been doing all this time. You've been starting up little mini-wars, aggravating humans into calling enough shadow monsters to weaken the barrier. And when it breaks, then what," the pharaoh harshly condemned the creature in front of him, "You think the other monsters will worship you in gratitude, you think you will have so many humans to eat that you will become invincible. Do you think that if I became a shadow monster, you would ever rule me?" Manic laughter mocked the gloating being, "You are a pathetic fool. All this planning for nothing. You are weak and you will always be weak. You never had any chance, especially against me."
"You dare to say that. Especially now…now that the barrier is about to be broken and you yourself are about to lose your soul," the Devourer screamed in rage and a ring glowed somewhere on the roof, "Reaper of Souls and Vampire Lord, attend me! Ghouls and Goblins, ghosts and zombies, come now and destroy this arrogant being!"
The sky bucked and vibrated as repulsive, rotting creatures fell against the sky bubble's surface, stretching and distorting it like saran wrap before pushing through the barrier to fall to the ground and approach the undaunted, golden man standing in the center of the roof.
Yami's laughter echoed as it gained a frantic, insane edge, his voice ridiculing all things around him. He felt the madness return, bloodlust dominating his thoughts. This fool thought a few monsters could defeat him, a god among gods. With just a thought, he called forth monster after monster, surrounding himself with power, each monster's appearance weakening the barrier and increasing his insanity. Soon, the Black Luster Knight, the Flaming Swordsman, and a million others surrounded him, each attacking at his behest. "Do you think these monsters will worship you fool, these who have served me for so long!" Laughter continued to escalate as the rooftop became saturated in fluids and unidentifiable body parts. Monster tearing into monster, claw meeting claw, magic deflecting magic, bodies exploding in a conflagration of inhuman color.
Striding though the massacre, Yami approached the incredulous frozen figure of his enemy, his turn to gloat having arrived, protecting his back was none other than the Dark Magician. "Is this your power Devourer? Did you eat body after body and still only gain this much power?" Slowly, Yami lifted his hand, ready to decimate the being in front of him with his own, long held ability to crush the minds and souls of others when a voice broke through his insanity, when his soul felt the approach of its other half.
"You suicidal idiot! What are you doing up here!"
Spinning, Yami starred, pupil's again visible, heart breaking and sanity returning as he took in the appalled, blue-eyed face pinning him too place. Seto was looking at him, and reflected in the man's blue eyes, he saw a monster.
Above the cacophony of battle, a young boy's scream wrenched Seto's eyes away from him. Yami, still hurting, followed his dragon's gaze, only to see that his distraction had put Seth into danger. While he had been looking at Seto, the Devourer had been escaping, pausing only to take Seth as hostage. Thankfully, Seth was no passive hostage. Violently, the young body convulsed and twisted in his captor's grip, desperately trying to get away and slowing the other's progress to the edge of the roof.
"Halt! You will go no further!" Yami demanded, voice deadly enough to halt the other in its tracks. He saw desperation in the creature's eyes and he knew not to try anything at the moment. There was no telling what an animal would do when cornered.
The Devourer leveled its putrid gaze at the pharaoh and growled, "You may be able to destroy these monsters but you can't stop the barrier from breaking. You can't save this child and you can't save this world. How does it feel to know that this world is doomed and you contributed to its downfall?"
Having somewhat returned to his senses, Yami lowered his head and dropped to one knee startling all the on-lookers, the continual battle grinding to a temporary cessation. "What is it you want? Do you want me as your slave? You've already stated that it is too late to save the world. Allow me at least to save the boy. Will you take me as hostage in his place?"
"You?" the devourer went from incredulous to vindictive, "You would give yourself to me? You would allow me to do to you anything that I wanted? You would swear to call no other monster to your aid?"
"I swear to you that, if you release Seth, until one of us is destroyed, I am yours to do anything with as you wish. I swear that I will not call any monsters to my aid." Yami's voice was sure and even, his words witnessed by all the monsters surrounding them. Each monster was filled with the knowledge of how powerful the Devourer had just become. The Devourer now controlled one of the most powerful beings ever.
"No Yami! Don't!" Yami felt his heart warm as Seto's words drifted across to him, his concern easily evident.
"We all do what we must. Out life's journey is determined by the strength of our souls." Yami looked deep into Seto's eyes as the other struggled to approach him with his battered body. "I trust in the strength of your soul Seto. You will survive this."
Seto starred into Yami's face and tried to decipher what the other was trying to say to him. Did Yami mean for him to fight? Did he mean for him to save Seth?
Again secure in its superiority, the Devourer threw Seth towards Seto, reaching out instead to embrace the approaching pharaoh, "You have no conception of the hell to which you have just condemned yourself. I will truly savor each moment of your suffering." Wrapping a deformed arm securely around Yami, trapping his arms to his side. "And your suffering starts now."
The Devourer lifted its free hand, causing the jacket that had once belonged to the deceased Mr. Hatahori to levitate towards him. With malicious ease, he withdrew from the pocket a modified tranquilizer gun, one adapted to shoot long, pointed medical needles. The interesting device was set to fire the needle, the plunger designed to depress upon impact thereby injecting high quantities of a drug into a victim's blood stream or musculature. "I think I will allow Seth to see his 'friends,'" the creature snarled in disgust, "one more time before I consume his burned out body." The Devourer aimed the gun at Seth who had been running towards the suffering form of his father, depressing the trigger just as the young boy reached his destination.
"No! Seth!" Yami screamed and then his eyes widened in horror at the happenings of the next two seconds.
Seto had fallen to his knees on his trip across the roof, but had otherwise managed to remained upright. As the projectile approached his small son's back, he shoved the boy down, taking the dart into his own heart.
"Noooooo!" the pharaoh's agony touched the heart of even some of the monsters on the roof, each one that was not pure evil, bowing their heads in respect as the former priest fell to the ground to the accompaniment of Seth's screams, "Father, father."
The tall brunet convulsed around the needle buried in his heart, eyes turning black as iris gave way to pupil. The pain was excruciating, the pressure seemed to tear him apart. Time became irrelevant as his mind sank into itself, making Seto wander down dark, endless catacombs. He passed his trophy room, he descended the hidden stairwell to view his room of forgotten and buried memories and then he kept moving. He kept moving until he reached the core of his soul and witnessed the magnificence sleeping there.
He stared in wonder at three, resting blue-eyed white dragons. Cautiously, he approached the one lying closest to him. Hand trembling, he reached out to stroke the majestic sweep of its forehead. Huge, sleep-filled eyes blinked open causing Seto to rapidly withdraw his trembling appendage, the fanged jaw gapped in the approximation of a yawn. The monster's gaze slowly came into focus to examine the spirit hovering in front of it. Closing its mouth, the monster blinked and then seemed to radiate with joy. How Seto knew it was radiating with joy and not anger, he wasn't sure. He just knew.
"Master!"
The deep, booming voice filled the air around him as if thrown at him from all sides. Suddenly, two other sets of giant blue eyes flashed open and long necks swung upward into a completely awake and alert position.
"Master? He's here?" This voice vibrated through the room like the first, only instead of being deep, it was soft and feminine.
"He's there! Look! He's over there! Our master has come to visit us!" This voice was male but it was more a tenor where the first voice had been a bass.
"You've come to see us again master," the female voice uttered while one of the dragon's bowed its head and nudged Seto's whole body in affection. Seto just stood stunned as he received the affection the three massive beasts showered on him. Gradually, he caressed each of there heads and flanks, revealing in the perfection and strength of their forms.
Coming out of his haze and still stroking each beast in turn, "You speak? And I can understand you? And one of you is female?"
He heard all three chuckle at his expense before the bass answered. "Of course we can speak master. We are creations of your soul. Is it possible that we would be too stupid to develop our own language?"
A grin split his face for the first time since he could remember. His dragons were real and they lived inside him, "Of course not. You are all geniuses, I'm sure of it."
The tenor broke in, "Now you see the source of our humility."
Interrupting the moment of joy reluctantly, the female asked, "Is there a reason you have come to summon us master? Do you need out assistance?"
"Do I need your assistance?" Seto repeated back as he blinked at her stupidly, only for the fantastic events of the last few days to flash though his mind like a cheep B-rated movie. "Oh my god! He's in trouble. He saved my son and now he's in trouble because of it!"
Seto watched as the three dragons twisted necks to look at each other knowingly, the tenor addressed him, "He is in trouble is he? Well then, we have no choice but to go save him." Battle-lust bled into the animals' eyes as the female directed a statement at Seto, "Lead us into battle again master. We are ready to serve you."
Dizziness overwhelmed Seto for the hundredth time that day, but this time, when his mind steadied, it steadied completely. He was again on the roof, crouching on the floor lengths away from that thing that was holding Yami captive.
"Father!"
"Kaiba?"
Seto craned his neck to see both Bakura and Seth standing over him, Seth with concern and Bakura with calculation.
"Keep quiet." Seto barked, slowly pushing himself to his feet, all his injuries unfelt and ignored. Power ran through his body and he needed an outlet. Scanning the roof, he took in all the monsters that were again locked in an eternal battle. Deeming them unworthy of his attention, he continued to look. Finally, his eyes settled on the perversion of Yami's body, hovering in the air wrapped in the grasp of a sickening green mist. Something about that mist infuriated him. Seto felt his body change, he felt the shadows approach him; he registered their clinging presence as they entered his ears, nose, and mouth. He knew when the shadows grasped the creatures bellowing a battle cry in the depths of his soul, and he knew when they approached the gateway that the shadow magic had created to the mortal realm right above his heart. In the back of his mind he exalted in the terror exhibited by Seth and Bakura as they scrambled away from him while at the same time remembering that it was they he was fighting to protect. The two parts struggled briefly before his protective side won.
The sounds of clashing swords, roaring monsters, and dying screams were halted abruptly when the three magnificent creatures appeared trumpeting a warning for all to hear. The lightening illuminated the brilliant white of their hides, their purity dispelling the surrounding darkness. Succumbing to their master's need for revenge, the dragons decimated the undead population on the roof with their own luminous and deadly burst of electricity, their awesome power eliminating all but the monsters that served the pharaoh. Upon finishing their task, they settled lightly to the ground in a semi-circle around their master only to bellow in anger at the voice, which dared to mock them.
"So what will you do now, priest? I hold your lover in my grasp and I, myself, am little more than mist at the moment. How will you destroy the mist and how will stop what even your pharaoh couldn't"
Seto's eyes flashed in vindictive glee as he spoke to mock the other, "You are nothing to the likes of us. You think you defeated him with your little trick. Did you not know that his promise not to harm you did not preclude me harming you? He knew all along that your death was to be my pleasure. You are simply the fool that attacked the wrong enemy."
A growl traveled the night sky as the mist tightened around the floating body drawing a groan from between fangs. Voice brimming with unfounded superiority, the monster continued to brag, "Wrong enemy? You think that you, a mere human can defeat what the pharaoh could not with all the added power of a shadow monster? I appreciate our effort to make me laugh before you die? You can't even attack me as long as I hold him. You are helpless."
Seto just laughed, expression condemning the other as a slug, a slimy, skinless creature to low and disgusting to deal with, "The only beings that are truly helpless are those that forget the source of their power." At that moment, Seto gestured to one of the beasts surrounding him and that beast immediately went to retrieve the small grotesque prize Seto sought.
Disbelieving, the Devourer scorned Seto who now held the detached arm of the former Mr. Hatahori, "You think that the human was the source of my power. You are the fool."
Seto just smirked as he withdrew something from the limp fingers. "Not the man, but the link. The one remaining item that allowed you to remain in this world. The thing that created the elixir you've been injecting children with left and right. In fewer words, the ring." Eyes narrowed in victory, Seto threw the shinning bit of metal into the air above his head. It arced through the air, reflecting the light for a few brief moments before three streams of pure, white fire met above the brunet's head to incinerate the small item.
Suddenly, the bubble popped but no creatures fell out. Instead, the wind picked up, creating a whirling vortex that sucked up all matter made of shadows. Oddly, the wind did not even stir Bakura, Seth, Seto, or the three blue-eyes. It only seemed to attach itself to monsters and shadow matter. Blood, body parts, and whole creatures were picked up and pulled towards the portal like so much debris into a black hole.
Caught up in the nightmarish whirlwind, Seto's heart stopped. There, close to the portal, was none other than Yami. He too was being sucked into the other world. His heart revolted. This could not happen. The other was not allowed to leave him for any reason.
"Blue-eyes!" Seto demanded and one of his beasts bent, allowing him to mount. Up he soared at an incredible speed, heart racing with exhilaration at the power he felt in his control. He had said he would never allow the other to leave and he would be damned if the other ever did. Quickly, he approached the hole, framed on two sides by the remaining two blue-eye's. Periodically, one of them would spout flame to repel one of the weaker creatures being pulled into the portal. Seto screamed in frustration as his mount stopped short of his destination.
"What! What are you doing! We have to get him!"
"No master! We cannot! If we take you any closer to the shadow realm you will be sucked in yourself. Without your rod, you'd have no way to get back out and you would surely die a horrible death."
"I don't care!" Seto shouted as he watched Yami whirl around, getting closer and closer to the dark world visible through the portal in front of him. "One of you get him and bring him close enough!"
Seto heard the female, "I will try master but I cannot guarantee anything. We can barely hold our ground here. The vortex is trying to suck us in too. We are somewhat safer because we are tied to you, a mortal, but this close to the shadow world, that tie matters less." Suddenly, one of the dragons rocketed away from his side, wings fighting mightily against the winds, struggling towards Yami's tossing figure. She came close to him but she was fighting a losing battle, each moment she lost ground.
"No! Please gods No!" Seto screamed as half the dragon's body disappeared into the portal, Yami's body mere moments from following.
Now suck up to her neck, the monster made her last seconds in the mortal world count for something. She may not have been able to carry out her master's last wish, but she could make it so one of the others had a chance. Painfully, she stretched her neck out to its full length, thereby letting her shove the pharaoh back away from the portal before she disappeared.
Seto starred on in sorrow as one of his soul beasts disappeared from his site after such a short time together. Tears blurring his eyes, he again began to watch as the pharaoh resumed his approach to the portal.
"Master!" Seto looked over at the tenor, "I have a plan!"
Mind sharpening at the ray of hope, he shouted over the noise, "What!"
"Look there! It's the pharaohs soul monster."
Looking to the spot the dragon had indicated, he saw the dark magician being throw around on his way into the portal "What of it!"
"Think master! A shadow monster cannot really harm his/her master. That's why the serpent's poison couldn't hurt your little girl. It could only temporarily stun her until she developed a full immunity. If I can get the magician close enough to your pharaoh, he can blast him over to you."
Without further explanation, the second dragon jettisoned towards the dark magician. Seto did not know if the monsters could communicate with each other but the magician seemed to be fighting its way towards the white rocket. Finally, the two met and the Dark Magician mounted the dragon, the two merging into another creature entirely. Seto looked on in wonder as the now, more powerful being fought its way towards the pharaoh.
Yami blurrily opened his eyes only to find himself nauseated by the twirling colors and violent wind surrounding him. He had a moment's sympathy for any clothing he had ever put into a dryer. He swore to use a line from then on. Confused and disoriented by vertigo, he focused on something flying towards him, a voice reaching his ears just barely,
"Master! My pharaoh! This will hurt but only for a moment! I always have and I always will protect you!"
Yami blinked, and whispered, "Mahaado?" He watched as the figure mounted on the approaching dragon's back leveled a staff at him and fired. His chest felt like it was just hit by a sledgehammer as multi-colored lights danced in front of his eyes, his body flung backwards until a warm hand closed around his wrist.
"Hold on!" a familiar voice shouted pulling him up onto an airborne mount. Exhausted, Yami looked over his shoulder to see his dragon, arm now clasped around his waist to keep him from being stolen by the wind, guiding none other than one of his blue-eyed white dragons to the roof top. Upon hitting the ground, Seto dismounted, never letting go of Yami. Yami felt himself pinned flat to the ground by the full-length of his dragon's body, his dragon's dragon towering over them both. Eventually, the wind died down and Yami felt the pull on his body dissipate.
Yami felt a rumble against his chest when his protector spoke, "This is the last time I'm going to save you damn it." Yami grunted as Seto collapsed into unconsciousness, only to follow the brunet's path moments later.
The dragon snorted, content now that his task had been complete. Slowly he lowered his neck to stare at the white-haired one before sending a telepathic command. "Protect them."
Bakura starred back, "Do I look like the nurturing type to you?"
The blue-eyes growled and Bakura knelt rapidly down beside the unconscious pair, "I've always wanted to be a mother."
Giving a final blue glare, the monster disappeared.
Seth stood paralyzed as he whispered to the now clean, still air. "Whoa! That was my dad's. Bella is never going to believe this."