"… Ryou…" Bakura gasped, jumping to his feet. He tried to rush to his former host's side, but Anubis kept a tight grasp on his chains. The more he struggled, the more painful a struggle it became. Ripples of energy surged through the metal, tearing at his skin like an immortal fire. "Get off me you dog-headed freak! Let me go!"

The thief continued to resist, watching Ryou's lifeless body out of the corner of his eye. Since the duel ended, his spirit hadn't even moved.

"If he's going to die with me, let me fucking see him!" Bakura shouted. "How hard is that?"

"Osiris sees no need to show mercy to the likes of you." Anubis snarled back. "Your request will not be granted!"

"It's not my request! It's his, damn you!" Bakura stretched his neck around, thrusting his body towards Ryou's again. "I didn't bring him here! He did that to himself! He wanted to see me! At least… At least honor that!"

Anubis restrained him again, pushing his body onto the stone floor. Behind him, the tribunal of forty-two gods once again began to take their seats. Osiris had retired to his podium, proceeding over the jurisdiction of dead souls. Thoth had obtained another tablet, and returned quickly to his post.

Bakura watched, as a pair of Anubis' underlings lifted the weak Ryou to his feet. His head fell forward, still giving no conscious response. They turned him to face Osiris, as though he were about to be judged.

"Kill me!" Bakura shouted, trying to interrupt the next tribunal. "Isn't that what you wanted! Kill me now!"

"Your time will come, thief." Anubis snarled, and slammed his staff into Bakura's back again. Bakura refused to acknowledge the pain, and pushed himself off the ground.

"Do whatever you want with me! Let that bastard devour my fucking heart! But he doesn't deserve it!"

"Silence!" Anubis struck him in the back of the head. The thief flew forward, still caught in the chains.

"No!" Bakura shouted even louder, resisting with every last ounce of energy that he had. "He doesn't deserve to die with me!"

"Silence." Osiris finally intervened. "He entered this world on his own free will. His intentions were pure, and the lord of wisdom will record that. The curse upon the name Bakura, which has lasted for thousands of years, will be broken. His name will forever be remembered as the completion. But that cannot erase the terms of the challenge, as inscribed in stone."

The lord of the dead stood over the prisoner.

"There is no need for a trial, nor the weighing of his heart." He announced, as Ma'at lowered herself from the scale. She took the feather from the second dish, and gently slid it back into her headband. "As dictated before the duel began, the mortal, Ryou Bakura, has judged himself. And he will receive the same punishment as befitting the Bakura, the king of thieves."

"You can't do that!" Bakura shouted, struggling again. The white energy coursed through his body, making his white hair stand even more on end, but he ignored the pain. "You can't do that! You call yourself a God! Only a fucking demon would do that!"

"Of that, you would know." Osiris answered, silencing Bakura for a moment.

And the deity was right. How often did Bakura do exactly what he was pleading for the lord of the dead to not do? In thousands of years, he hadn't shown mercy. So how could he expect Osiris to show mercy on his behalf? It was, just as the god had said, unthinkable.

Through the last few moves of the duel, something else was also made very clear. Bakura couldn't get it out of his mind.

Ryou was trying to resurrect him. And in the end, he was the monster that destroyed Ryou. His hikari, a pure soul that would have been destined for eternal paradise, was now tainted with darkness. And Bakura only had himself to blame. Ryou said it himself. He came here… to see him again. It was for him. It was because of him that he would die.

"Please…" Bakura dropped to his knees, powerless, and with little rage. "Just let him go."

Anubis loosened the chains a little.

"I… I will go quietly." Bakura finally lowered his head, and glanced in the direction of Ammut. He patted his chest with a defeated touch. "Here I am. Take my heart, and devour it. Just… Please, don't take his…"

Osiris stood, watching what happened. Deep in his soul, he was touched by the sudden softness in the thief's heart. But one act of kindness after three thousand years is not enough to sway the eternal judge. And one plea for mercy is not enough to save the life of the one who condemned himself.

"Ammut, devourer of the wicked." Osiris raised his hands. "Carry out the sentence, immediately."

The crocodile-headed beast walked forward from the hall of Ma'at. She had a smile on her face, pleased to end the life of the most sinister criminal that had ever walked the earth.

"Take the thief first. He who followed the darkness will continue to follow it."

Bakura only nodded, giving the unconscious hikari one last glance before turning to face his fate. The underlings carried the boy from the platform, standing behind the chained thief.

"I… I'm sorry, Ryou…" he whispered, as he stood before Ammut. He clutched the necklace his former host had given him, and could almost feel Ryou's weak heart beating within him. "Everything I ever did. All the pain I caused you, all the times I hurt you. Please, just know this, before you die… I'm… I'm sorry…"