Disclaimer: Nothing that resembles another's work is mine. :Bakura glares.: "You better hope not."
2/19/05
:………: Bakura's thinking
/………/ Ryou's thinking
((………))Akefia's thinking
"………" Normal speech
'………' Normal thought
Yami's have their own bodies. NO ROMANCE OR YAOI!
Summary: When an accident creates two Bakuras, how will Ryou deal with it? And now that Akefia shows his true colors, how can Bakura protect himself from being sealed into the Ring and having Akefia take his place in life?
Chapter TenBakura grinned, quite smug about his underhanded dealings and low shots against the restraints Akefia had placed around him.
He had successfully stopped his evil twin from sentencing Marik and Malik to the Shadow Realm, by subtly altering Akefia's Shadow spell without him knowing and having them sealed into the Rod instead.
He was quite proud of himself.
Now for his last trick, the one that will fully defeat Akefia's hold on him.
And then it was time to pay him back.
- (With Ryou)
Ryou slumped back, unnerved at Bakura's utter abandonment and unsure of what he could do to get his yami back.
And, on top of that, Akefia was acting strange. The double of his yami was strutting around the house as if he owned it, quite happy about something. And…………
And he had Malik's Millennium Rod? When did that happen?
Ryou narrowed his eyes.
"Akefia?" He asked, firmly.
"Hm?" Akefia answered, spinning about.
"Why do you have Malik's Rod?" Ryou demanded, suspicious thoughts crowding his mind and trying to get him to pay attention to them.
Akefia smirked. He was so far along in his plan that it shouldn't matter to reveal it to Ryou now.
"Easy, dear Hikari." Akefia began.
"Don't call me hikari. I'm not your hikari." Ryou interrupted, confused and getting angry at Akefia's behavior.
"But you are now. The reason I have the Rod is that Malik and Marik don't require it anymore. They are keeping each other company in the Shadow Realm, if I didn't miss my guess." Akefia said happily, brushing Ryou's protests aside.
"And Bakura?" Ryou gritted out, barely able to refrain from showing a side that only Bakura, Malik, and Marik have seen.
No one else has seen Ryou mad.
It was frightening.
Scarring.
And Akefia was the focus of that pent up rage that Ryou unleashed only at moments of utter fury.
"He's right with you." Akefia pointed out, grinning like a maniac.
"Huh?"
"He's in the Ring. Where I put him. He can supply us with more power than even the Millennium Puzzle. The fool has been hunting for the Millennium Items for over five thousand years, and he didn't realize the Ring has such great qualities on its own, and he brings those powers to light and makes them stronger." Akefia stated, snickering.
"So………..the Ring is better than the Puzzle?" Ryou asked, stalling for time while he tried to figure out what to do.
"Well, in a way. It depends how you look at it. See, the Puzzle has more power, but the Ring can steal souls, find anything, and summon monsters. And add to that the fact that the Puzzle's powers are unknown and you can only get normal Shadow Magic from it until you figure out its secrets." Akefia answered, his smirk growing in triumph at Ryou's apparent interest.
Ryou's eyes began to take on a dangerous light.
"And the rest of my friends?" He asked softly. While Bakura was possessed of a terrifyingly explosive rage that was so intense and fierce that it cowed anyone within sight, Ryou's anger built at a steady roll, slowly but surely, and unstoppable.
Pity the poor fool who got in his way.
And when the two were together, Ra and any other God have mercy on those they decided were to be punished.
And Akefia was the target.
"Oh, they shall be removed at my leisure. After I get the rest of the Items, and then harness the Pharaoh's power. Actually, I might just rid the world of him, as he isn't worth it." Akefia shrugged.
Ryou was utterly calm, and Akefia took that as a good sign.
He didn't know that Ryou had invited his friends over for the night.
And the doorbell rang just as Akefia thought he had won Ryou over.
"Who?" He asked, caught off guard.
"We're here!" Joey shouted as he, Yami, Yugi, Tea, Duke, and Tristan piled into the room.
"What?" Akefia asked again. Then he shrugged and smirked. "Oh well, I'll finish you now." He began to summon the Shadows, holding the Rod out and reaching a hand towards the Ring.
Ryou, despite his struggling, couldn't stop the sudden rush of power from the Ring into Akefia.
Bakura, locked in the depths of the Ring, felt his power being drawn upon strongly, and he hissed in sudden pain and tried to twist away, but the restraints he was bound by were too strong.
But they had a weakness, if Bakura could concentrate enough to work on it.
Yami tried to counter, but was shocked when his power was sucked up and used against him and his friends.
Ryou watched in horror as his friends were thrust against the wall of his house.
The anger that built up in him snapped.
And so did the bonds that bound Bakura.
Akefia jerked when the sudden inflow of power stopped, and a blinding flash left his snarling double facing him beside Ryou.
"You!" Akefia sneered. Yami and the others stared in shock.
Bakura began to laugh, a slow, dark laugh that Ryou and his friends recognized, but hadn't heard since Battle City.
Ryou felt his own anger forcing itself to the surface.
Ryou was a perfectly gentle, peaceful kid.
Until you attacked someone he loved.
And that person was Bakura.
Touch his yami, and die.
So Akefia found himself with only the power of the Rod to use as both Bakura and Ryou turned on him with the Ring's abilities.
Bakura laughed darkly, eyes reflecting the blackness of the Shadows, and even Ryou looked sinister.
The two of them forced Akefia into a corner.
Akefia smiled.
"Fools, you can't control me. I AM the Shadow Realm! You can't kill me!" Akefia crowed, fighting back to the best of his abilities.
Ryou snickered, sounding unlike his usual self.
Bakura smirked at his double, and played his last trick.
He held up a card.
It was Physical Double, the card that started all of this. But on the front of the card was a picture of Bakura, with a gray colored copy of him. The lizards that had been on there were gone.
Bakura tore it in half.
Akefia jerked as he felt a large amount of his power drain away.
Bakura then held up another card. This one was blank.
It was one of his soul cards, the cards he imprisoned souls in.
He used the Ring to capture the essence of Akefia. The pure Shadow Realm magical part of him.
And sealed it into the blank card.
Akefia snorted, this would never work. He couldn't be taken by so simple a trick!
But he was being forced into the card, and he couldn't do a thing about it.
Staring in horror, he disappeared, the Rod clattering to the ground.
And his face appeared on the card.
Bakura slumped, then, staggered to the side and collapsed on the couch.
Ryou, too, dropped. His anger had taken a lot out of him.
"What was that?" Yami asked, slightly afraid.
Ryou sighed.
"Akefia evidently was evil, trying to control me and use Bakura to further enhance his power. He sealed Malik and Marik into the Rod, and kept it for himself. He sealed Bakura into the Ring. He was going to send all of you to the Shadow Realm. We stopped him." Ryou ran a hand over his eyes and through his hair, feeling the after effects of his anger draining him.
"So, what do we do now? Is he gone?" Joey asked, looking over at the exhausted Bakura who had reached out from the couch to grab the Rod and pull it protectively close.
"No. We have to get rid of him still. He's sealed into the card for now." Bakura said wearily.
"Then why don't we do it?" Tea asked.
"Because he is still connected to Bakura. We have to figure out how to separate them first. We could end up banishing Bakura too." Everyone could hear Ryou's anguish at such a thought.
"How do we do that?" Yami asked.
"I don't know." Ryou answered.
"And he can still get out of the card if we don't hurry up and figure it out."
-(End Chapter)
Thanks to all reviewers and sorry for the delay in updating! I've been busy with getting stuff for the college I've been accepted at done!