Ok so yeah, I know,its Tuesday. But I was on a trip and I didn't get back until yesterday and I tried to upload the chapter this morning but wasn't working. I don't know if that's an excuse or anything. (bows profusely anyway)

I did a bad thing. (shame) A while ago when I was writing this story there were parts (like in the illusion forest world thingie) that made me want to kill myself. So I was like, "this sux, I can't write." So I started writing a brand new story. And well to be perfectly honest the new story was pretty crappy (only took me 93 pages to realize this) but it did get me out of my non-writing funk. This weekend I brought my laptop along on my trip and was planning on working on my the new amazing story that I started this year when suddenly (dramatic pause) I started working on my old crappy funk story! So yeah I didn't get much work done on my new amazing story (cries).

Plus I broke my laptop. I dropped it and now the screen is all inky and cracked. Now I have to use this freaking heavy one that's like ten years old and the space bar sticks. (pounds space bar (DAMN YOU!))

Yeah, bad me.

Now, on with amazingness

This chapter is long... and complicated... lots of talking and threats and shouting.

Enjoy.

This chapter is dedicated to the marvelous PageTurn, who has claim to my future hand in marriage.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Chyaputa 23: Secret of the Bandit

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The temple's guardian stood in the center of the temple's main room, his feet placed firmly on the stone steps, back facing the three dark doorways where the chosen ones would soon emerge.

'All have passed,' he thought to himself. Hollow eyes gazed up at the stone tablet, lying on it back on top of the stone platform. 'My mission will soon be complete.'

There was a cold, deep chuckle from one of the dark corridors. The guardian did not have to turn to know who it was. He knew that voice; it haunted him in his nightmares, in his memories.

"Seems as though I am first to appear," the dark creature mused, walking further into the temples room. "How fortunate. This will go so much easier…"

"Welcome, chosen one," the guardian said, rotating to meet the figure coming out of the doorway. The teenager moved out of the shadows, the firelight from the torches surrounding the shrine was reflecting off his wild white hair. "You have passed all the tests I have lain out before you." The white haired figure smirked, black eyes cold.

"What did you expect? That your useless traps would stop me? Did you hope that the darkness would consume my tainted soul before I could claim all that is mine?" he snapped.

"I must admit, with your cunning I knew you would pass the first test," the guardian reflected.

"You did not think that the trials of my useless dolls would stop me." He stopped at the foot of the stone steps. "So you throw that hateful memory upon me once again!" he suddenly snarled harshly, mouth twisting.

"I was hoping it would stop you before you could get this far," the guardian admitted.

"But you forget, Shadi," the evil soul snapped with grim satisfaction glowing his black eyes. "That was three thousand years ago. That disgusting scene means nothing to me now."

"How quickly you change your goals, Bakura," Shadi said stiffly. Yami no Bakura's twisted insane grin widened.

"What are you going to do now, servant of Osiris?" Yami no Bakura questioned cruelly, as though he already knew the answer. "Try and stop me?" The dark soul lifted his head and cackled to the stone ceiling. "You couldn't do it back then and you won't do it now!"

"I will try," said Shadi, void eyes serious with a sudden urgency. "This time I have you at a disadvantage." He reached into his un-dyed linen robes and pulled out two golden items, one the shape of a large ankh, the other a set of scales.

"Oh," Bakura taunted, trembling with excitement. "I see the effects of your soul fusion were successful! Your poor friend Kalim's soul's forever to be bonded to you! All to get your hands on another item? How are you any different than me!"

"Kalim is as much a part of me as I am of him," Shadi corrected. Old buried hatred rising up in him, the first emotion he had felt in three thousand years. "We combined the power of our souls and our items to destroy you."

"Too bad for you priests, it didn't work," Yami no Bakura sneered, fingers twitching in excitement.

"But it will now," Shadi said. The golden items in his hands lit up, power surging around him, robes billowing in the agitated wind. "I will kill you before you can get your hands on any more items!" A cry of anguish, the dark power swirled in the air, flames clinging with blue embers to their torches on the walls. Shadi shot the power, intertwined with his own ancient sorrow, at the dark soul at the bottom of the steps.

The white haired demon did not even blink.

"Again," Yami no Bakura snarled, a hidden intensity exploding from his pale frame. "Too bad for you." Like a black hole, the power Shadi had thrown at his enemy collapsed upon itself. The air in the underground temple rushed around the two figures. Shadi stood stunned at the top of the steps, empty eyes suddenly filled with horror, wide and disbelieving.

"I-impossible… That was all my power…" Shadi's weak knees collapsed beneath him, the golden items grew dim in his hands, all of his energy drained in that last desperate attack. "How did you… with only one item?" Yami no Bakura raised one clever eyebrow.

"Shadi, you give me no credit!" Yami no Bakura cried, vines of darkness weaving through the air around him. "I have planned for this in advance. One item? You insult me…" Shadi felt all hope leave him in an instant.

"You… bastard…" Shadi grunted, his strength left with his hope.

(-) (-) (-) (-) (-) (-) (-) (-) (-) (-) (-) (-)

Yugi pulled his sore body up from the floor, bones cracking as though they hadn't been used in a while.

'How long were we out?' Yugi asked his other self, stretching out his arms and legs with difficulty.

No idea, Yami no Yugi responded. Look there's light ahead. Yugi turned in the direction his darkness had indicated. By the way the light was flickering, Yugi guessed it was from torches.

"Maybe we're back in the room where we started," Yugi said and move forward only to notice an unfamiliar weight swinging on his neck. He looked down to see the same golden upside down pyramid he had found in the maze hanging on the chain around his throat. "How did this thing become real?" Yugi questioned, examining the thing closely.

It probably has something to do with the dark power, Yami no Yugi said in Yugi's head. Maybe that guy will explain it to us. Yugi nodded and continued along the short passageway, emerging from his doorway into a room that he had definitely never seen before. The ceiling was much higher and the walls were completely covered in ancient Egyptian pictographs. In the center of the massive floor was a large Egyptian tablet, set on a stone platform as though it was some holy relic.

Yugi heard a thud and a curse from the doorway next to his own. The voice sounded familiar.

"Dammit! Where the hell…?"

"Malik-kun!" Yugi cried, peering curiously down into the corridor his friend's voice was echoing out of. "Are you there?"

"Yugi?" the Egyptian answered, walking into the firelight. He looked disheveled, his clothing wrinkled and his pale blonde hair untidy. "Did you get through okay?" he asked mildly.

"Yeah," Yugi said. "Have you seen Bakura-kun?"

"Ah… no, I, ah, just got out," Malik said stiffly. There was something unusual about his tone that made Yugi examine his friend more closely. He could just make out something on the Egyptian's copper skin in the dim orange light.

"Malik, is that a… bite mark?" Yugi asked bewildered. Malik jumped in surprise.

"What? Where?" he questioned hastily.

"On your neck," Yugi said, pointing. "Were you attack by something? It looks pretty bad." Malik took a giant step back, suddenly looking extremely flustered, Yugi thought Malik's face went a few shades paler, although it was hard to tell in the firelight.

"I… ah, yeah! I was!" Malik exclaimed enthusiastically, voice squeaking uncharacteristically. "There were these… ah, dog things! Chasing me around! Vicious! Yeah…" Malik mimed a large creature with his arms in mid air.

Yugi was very confused. "O…k," he said uneasily, shrugging off Malik's strange behavior off. There was a flash of gold near Malik's side. "What's that?" he asked more urgently.

"What?" Malik cried, looking around confused and panicking once again.

"That golden thing in your belt," Yugi said.

"Oh," Malik said, relaxing a bit. He pulled the long golden dagger like thing from his belt, the head of which was a round ball with the same golden eye as Yugi's puzzle. "It's just this thing I found. Yami said I should bring it with me… Why is it here? I thought it was part of the illusion."

"Same with me," Yugi said, raising his golden upside-down-pyramid-shaped puzzle by its loop. Malik frowned skeptically.

"What is that thing?" Malik asked curiously.

"I don't know either," Yugi admitted. "I just sort of found it too." He briefly described his experience with in the dark maze.

"Well, what do we do now?" Malik asked scratching his head, copper skin glowing in the orange light.

"We wait for Bakura-kun, I suppose…" Yugi suggested.

"No need," a sharp voice spoke from the shadows. Both Yugi and Malik jumped in surprise, looking around.

"Bakura-kun?" Yugi questioned walking further into the dark stone temple. "Are you here?" A familiar dark voice chuckled from inside the shadows. Then Yugi spotted him, his white hair revealing his position in the darkness. He was crouched on top of the tablet on the stone alter in the center of the room, his black trench coat made him look like his was clothed in shadows but he was too far away for Yugi to make out the expression on his face.

Then a shock rippled through Yugi's consciousness and he came to a sudden stop. It was as if a cold hand had clawed its way up Yugi's spine; he shivered convulsively. Something was wrong, very wrong.

"What's going on?" Malik asked, remaining pleasantly unsuspecting for the moment. "Where's that temple guardian guy?"

"Right here," Yami no Bakura hissed, not moving out from the shadows.

"Malik…" Yugi spoke warily, eyes wide and suddenly cautious.

"What is it Yugi?" Malik asked. Yugi pointed transfixed at a spot at the foot of the stone steps.

The temple guardian was laying face up towards the ceiling, lifeless eyes wide, mouth open and stretched as if he had been screaming. Yugi did not have to look closer; he knew the man was dead. He caught Malik's shocked gasp beside him.

"How did this happen?" Malik gaped unbelievingly; staring horrified at the body. Yugi's eyes were no longer on the body but on Yami no Bakura.

"It couldn't be…" Yugi said carefully, eyes glancing from the body up to Yami no Bakura. "…You killed him?"

"What are you talking about, Yugi?" Malik cried. "Bakura wouldn't…"

"So quick to claim my involvement? I see you've learned well from your dark side…" Bakura's dark soul commented casually. "Don't worry, this guy's death is no great loss anyway. In fact he should be grateful, he died fulfilling his mission…" Yami no Bakura hissed. He swung his legs over the side of the stone tablet so that they hung a few inches off the floor. His form was very relaxed, dark eyes glittering mischievously like a child who had just gotten a hold of a machine gun. "But since he's gone now, I'll explain it to you. The golden items you both hold in your hands are two of seven objects called the Sennen Items."

"Sennen Items…" Yugi repeated, looking back down at his golden puzzle in awe.

"They are the powers of darkness that exist in this temple," Yami no Bakura continued smugly. "They are Yami no Artifacts, hidden away underground for centuries. They have been waiting all that time for the chosen ones to arise again to release them."

"But if there are seven items that doesn't make sense," Yugi commented pondering. "That guy said before we entered the next test that his mission would be finished after he gave us the power. That means all the items would have had to been given out to people but we should only have three."

"Correct!" Yami no Bakura cried, pointing triumphantly down at Yugi. "That is true but what you don't know is that this guardian already had two Sennen Items in his possession…"

"But that still doesn't add up," Malik added staring down at the dead body at the bottom of the steps. "There would still be two items left over."

Yugi gasped, hit by a sudden realization. "Wait! Remember what that guy also said before we entered our trials? 'I'm glad to see all five of you have made it'," he recalled. "So he was talking about the ones who would claim the items?"

"Yes," Yami no Bakura said, face darkening. "You see, all five chosen souls were in that room."

"But who are the other two souls?" Malik questioned.

"Well, lets see…" Yami no Bakura brought up a hand as though to count on his fingers. "One, the Sennen Puzzle…" he pointed to Yugi. "Two, the Sennen Rod…" he pointed to Malik. "Three, the Sennen Ring…" He raised up another golden object, in the shape of a ring, five golden pointers clinking menacingly along its edge.

The hairs on the back of Yugi's back were prickling. Something was wrong, something was very, very wrong.

"Four, the Sennen Eye …" Yami no Bakura reached into the pockets of his long black coat and pulled out a round golden ball. Then, to Yugi's and Malik's utter horror, a glowing transparent form of a young man with silvery long hair and a patch over his left eye appeared above Yami no Bakura's head. His good eye held an empty lifeless look; his body was curled up like a doll, rotating slightly in the darkness of the temple.

"Pegasus-san!" Yugi cried in horror.

Pegasus! Yami no Yugi exclaimed as well.

"You know that guy?" Malik asked curiously.

"He was patient in the mental hospital," Yugi explained bewildered. "But how is he here?"

"Five," Yami no Bakura continued as though there had been no interruption, his voice hissing unkindly. "The Sennen Tauk…" He pulled a golden collar out of his pocket.

The spectral form of Ishizu Ishtar, long black hair flying around her closed dead face, surfaced next to Yami no Bakura's shoulder.

"Ishtar-sensei!" Yugi gaped, stunned and shocked. He heard the air escape from Malik's lungs as he saw his sister's stiffened dead form floating there. Malik's violet eyes were unusually round; horror echoed all his features.

"Ne-san…" he mouthed hopelessly, copper face pale. "Why is she…here?"

"And of course, the Sennen Key and the Sennen Scales, gifts from our fallen guide." Yami no Bakura revealed two more golden items from the folds of his coat. One was in the shape of a large ankh, the other a set of ancient measuring scales. His eyes practically sparkled as he said, "That makes seven…"

But Malik was back. His face suddenly hardened, burning rage ran through his skin. "What have you done to my sister, you bastard?" he cried hatefully. Yami no Bakura actually grinned as though Malik's reaction amused him.

"What? You're not pleased, Malik? I thought you said you wanted her dead? Didn't you wish she'd die? I made your wish come true!" he explained graciously, face lighting up insanely.

"WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO HER! BAKURA!" Malik screamed. Before Yugi could stop him, Malik had raised the Sennen Rod over his head and charged blindly at the white haired demon, golden blade flashing.

"Malik!" Yugi cried a warning, trying to stop him but it was too late. Malik didn't even have time to reach the bottom of the stone steps when the ring-like pendent around Yami no Bakura's neck suddenly glowed and with a flash of golden light Malik was thrown across the room by a blast of shadow magic. He landed flat on his back, sliding across the floor. Yugi ran to his side. "Malik are you alright?" he asked urgently.

"I'm fine!" Malik growled angrily, pulling himself to his feet.

Across the stone temple Yami no Bakura tilted his head back and laughed, Yugi winced at the piercing sound. "Is that all you can do?" he cried.

"Bakura!" Yugi cried stepping in front Malik before the Egyptian could respond. Bakura stopped laughing, his gaze focusing on Yugi. "What is going on? Why are Pegasus-san and Ishtar-sensei here?"

"Here?" Yami no Bakura asked. He straightened himself up, standing on top of the stone tablet dominantly, all five golden object glistening threateningly in his pale hands. "They are the other two chosen ones, of course. But you misunderstand, their bodies aren't here anymore. Their flesh is long dead. Now only their souls remain. They are all part of my collection now."

"Your collection?" Yugi repeated. He felt sick. Malik behind him was trembling with anger, violent violet eyes trying to drill holes in Yami no Bakura's head.

"Did you know," Yami no Bakura commented, a pale finger tracing the eye of his Sennen Ring. "My yadonushi's item can tract down other Sennen Items," Yami no Bakura explained. The five pointers on the outside of the Ring glowed and trembled threateningly. "But its true power is the ability to seal souls."

"Seal souls?" Yugi repeated, cold feverish sweat on his shaking hands.

"Seven years ago that man Pegasus came to Egypt," Yami no Bakura explained, jabbing his thumb back at the floating image of the one eyed man. "That man found some interesting stuff here then came back to America to make games."

I've heard this before! Yami no Yugi said to Yugi through the puzzle. The dark creature that impersonated aibou told me this story. Yugi frowned, confused.

'Pegasus also has a connection to Egypt,' Yugi thought pondering. 'What exactly is going on here?'

"The man became rich beyond his wildest dreams," Yami no Bakura continued carelessly. "Until one day he hosted a charity auction at a mental health center in Japan, it was a way of introducing the popular game to Japanese public but a strange incident occurred…" At this Yami no Bakura grinned. "While in the center he met a young patient by the name of Ryou Bakura." Yugi and Malik both stiffened, as though they could both guess what was about to happen. "They talked for a while, Pegasus showed my host the game he had invented, Duel Monsters, but I noticed something. I sensed the dark power within his soul. When my host met this man I knew who he was. Gradually I realized he had the power to read minds. I couldn't let this precious opportunity pass, so I sealed a part his soul into me, the part that contained that dark power of course."

"So he lost his ability," Yugi concluded. He remembered when Pegasus had tried reading his mind in the hospital.

'And I thought he was just insane…' Yugi thought pityingly.

"But keep him alive!" Malik snarled. "Why?"

Yami no Bakura shrugged. "I was curious," he admitted. "Even I at that time didn't understand these strange dark powers so I kept him alive to see what would happen." Yami no Bakura's grin deepened. "Naturally he went insane with the sudden loss of his powers, seems as though he had been depending upon them his whole life." He scoffed coldly. "Weakling."

"And he was put in a mental hospital," Yugi continued.

"But don't feel special Malik," Yami no Bakura taunted coolly. "I got rid of him soon afterward when it became clear that he was useless to me. Your sister was not the only one I killed…" Malik snarled again and made to lunge at Yami no Bakura again but Yugi grabbed both his arms this time and held him desperately back.

"Stop Malik!" Yugi ordered. "He still needs to explain!"

"I sick of these explanations!" Malik cried angrily, struggling against Yugi's hold. "He KILLED Ne-san! Now I'm going to KILL him!"

"You can try!" Yami no Bakura spat and laughed again.

"But why Ishtar-sensei?" Yugi questioned, finally making Malik calm down a bit. "If she had powers of her own, why try to study ours and blame it all on a mysterious disease?"

"Because Ishizu tried to ignore her abilities," Yami no Bakura answered smoothly. "She saw what was happening to her brother so she believed anything supernatural was dangerous. Even when her visions warned Ishizu of her own death, she ignored them. She saw the future, Malik's future," Yami no Bakura explained gleefully, staring down at Malik couched and broken on the floor. "And she lost all hope. You'll be pleased to know that at the end her life she thought of you, Malik," Yami no Bakura taunted coldly, dark eyes boring into Malik's.

"You killed the others," Malik snarled heatedly. "If you wanted all these Sennen Items things why didn't you try to kill Yugi and I before hand!"

"That was the original plan," Yami no Bakura admitted truthfully. "I was going to take your soul first, Malik, but your darker half kept an annoying close watch on you after we escaped from the hospital. I thought I had a chance in the first test while we were all trapped in that illusion world. It would have been the prefect opportunity to finish off Malik and not have my motives questioned. So I made a temporary truce with Yugi to try to convince his darker half to kill both of you. But your dark personality," Yami no Bakura spat pointedly at Yugi, scowling darkly, "Having gone soft under the influence of his container, refused to kill Malik or even Yami no Malik! You disgustingly weak guys and your weak morals stood in my way again…" Yami no Bakura added loathsomely. "I had no choice but to wait for this moment to take the items from you. At least I would be guarantied to over power both of you." Yami no Bakura smirked spitefully.

"You bastard!" Malik screamed, flinging himself at Yami no Bakura, eyes mad. Yugi had to hold him back again. "I'll kill you! I'LL KILL YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"

"But why?" Yugi cried above Malik's screams. "Why are you doing this?" There was still some part of Yugi, some small tiny piece of him that didn't want to believe it.

'This has to be a mistake,' Yugi pleaded. 'Bakura wouldn't do this. He's our friend. Why would he kill all those people?' Yugi felt nauseous. 'How could he do this…?'

Aibou… the voice within his heart spoke. Yugi knew immediately what his other self wanted and silently he excepted.

A flash of golden light, the puzzle around his neck glowed. He slipped backwards, deeper into the mind, feeling his other self come up and take control of the body. Yugi floating by and watched.

"Bakura!" Yami no Yugi cried forcefully, red eyes ablaze with anger. "Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to collect all the Sennen Items!"

The evil smile on Bakura's face vanished. To Yami no Yugi's surprise he suddenly looked angry, even more so even than Malik.

"So you come out at last, mighty one," Bakura spat, poison in ever syllable, black eyes flashing deathly at him. "Come to protect your lighter half? Do you think I am telling him lies?"

"What is your goal, Bakura?" Yami no Yugi shouted taking a step forward. "Why are you collecting the Sennen Items?"

"Why?" Yami no Bakura repeated incredulously. He slid off the stone tablet and stood on the stone altar, shadows and dark power whipping around his head, his white hair flying. Both Malik and Yami no Yugi could feel the impending dark aura coming off his body. "Why! Tell me, why is it you people always ask, 'why'? Why? Why do you think? To own the unlimited powers of darkness for myself! To complete my mission! Why else? Do you think I have some goodly righteous reason for pursuing these items? I am sorry to say that you are very much mistaken. Do you think the people who made these items in the first place had any other reason?" Yami no Bakura hissed, his voice was practically a whisper but somehow Yami no Yugi and Malik caught every word. "You see this lovely slate behind me," Yami no Bakura said gesturing to the stone tablet behind him. "This is where these precious Yami no Sennen Items where made, three thousand years ago."

"Three thousand years ago?" Yami no Yugi exclaimed, shocked.

'That's the same time that guy was talking about!' Yami no Yugi thought.

"Did you know that the pictographs in this temple actually tell a story? Apparently there was a time three thousand years ago in ancient Egypt when there were real monsters…"

"Bakura, what happened three thousand years ago?" Yami no Yugi demanded, his curiosity getting the better of him. Yami no Bakura scowled even more deeply.

"So it is true, you have not retrieved those memories yet," the dark soul commented vaguely. Yami no Bakura's eyes went very strange, they were empty, going completely black so that there was no difference between his pupils and his irises so not a light shone within them. "After three thousand years its not surprising. We've been trapped in darkness so long, barely managing to keep our own souls existing. I did not even remember… until today."

"Retrieved those memories?" Yami no Yugi said, he was listening carefully now. "What are you talking about? What do you know?"

"I knew from the moment I met your host there was something different about you," Bakura explained. "I resisted the impulse to kill you and I didn't know why… Do you remember when I told you that you and I are different from Yami no Malik?" Yami no Bakura questioned curtly. Yami no Yugi nodded suspiciously.

"Different?" Malik questioned, looking between Yami no Bakura and Yami no Yugi. "Different how?"

"You said we were not created by our lighter halves," Yami no Yugi recalled, red eyes fixed on Yami on Bakura's ghostly face.

"That's right," Yami no Bakura agreed. "And now I know why. We really existed three thousand years ago."

"But how is that possible?" Malik snapped. "How did you survive for three thousand years?"

"The reason has to do with the event," Yami no Bakura explained darkly. "Three millennia ago, the kingdom of Egypt was in chaos. The pharaoh of this great kingdom gave the order to create the legendary dark Sennen Items in hopes of using their power to purify the land. But you see there is a price for making these evil items," Yami no Bakura growled. There was no humor left in his face, no excitement lighting up his features. There was something cold and closed echoing in his stance, his face covered in shadow. "To make the Sennen Items, you must give ninety-nine live sacrifices."

"Live sacrifices?" Malik mouthed lip trembling. He stared down at his golden Sennen Rod as though he could see the blood dripping off its surface.

"That's right," Bakura spat even more coldly. "Ninety-nine villagers from a local thief town were sacrificed for the mighty pharaoh's cause! An entire village massacred…"

"How do you know this Bakura?" Yami no Yugi questioned cautiously.

"I have seen it," Yami no Bakura answered hollowly. The very air in the room went suddenly still, Yami no Yugi felt his own heart slow down. "The darkness showed me that scene. That's when these memories started coming back…" Yami no Bakura hissed nastily. Yami no Yugi stared hopelessly at the floor, words of the dark creature coming back to him.

"Did you know, mou hitori no boku, the monsters in ancient Egypt were summoned using dark magic, like the kind you and Bakura-kun and Malik-kun have? …They were originally created to protect the city against invaders but then one day the monsters fell into the wrong hands and starting attacking the city and the people …"

'Everything that guy was true,' Yami no Yugi realized, his hands clenching and unclenching in frustration. 'They weren't just random stories! Could he have been trying to tell me something? To warn me?'

An electric jolt of sudden suspicion shot through Yami on Yugi's heart. "Could it be…" Yami no Yugi spoke suspiciously. "Bakura, are you that pharaoh?"

"Me?" Yami no Bakura cried humorously. He laughed again, cold harsh and icy. "You've got it wrong, mighty one. I am not this pharaoh, you are."

"What!" Yami no Yugi exclaimed stunned, taking a step back.

"Yugi-kun?" Malik cried, staring utterly shocked at Yami no Yugi.

Mou hitori no boku, Yugi spoke. It couldn't be…

"If I am the pharaoh then who are you?" Yami no Yugi questioned fiercely.

"Apparently, you created your own worst enemy that day," Yami no Bakura commented coolly, straightening back up. "Turns out there was one survivor of the Kuru Eruna massacre, a boy who had watched as his entire village was slaughtered," Yami no Bakura explained, tone deadly calm and blank. "He grew up carrying the hatred and pain of his clan, growing stronger, even stronger than the pharaoh's own priests, perhaps even stronger the pharaoh himself…" Yami no Bakura's face cracked into a cold unhealthy grin. "He was called 'the Thief King' and ruled over the darkness and commanded it as he pleased! He attacked the pharaoh, stole a Sennen Item! Destroyed the pharaoh's precious city!" Yami no Bakura's grin widened painfully, white fangs could be seen in the darkness.

"That is not the end of the story?" Yami no Yugi questioned stiffly, red eyes narrowing.

"Indeed," Yami no Bakura spat ruthlessly. "With last of his power, the pharaoh and his remaining priests sealed the thief king's and the pharaoh's souls, as well as all the dark magic, away into the Sennen Items. The items were locked away, never to be used again. The pharaoh's and the tomb robber's souls forever tied to earth with these golden items." His story was finished. No one moved for a few moments, letting these words sink in.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Well, there you go. That's the plot for the entire story. I'm sure a lot of you already figured most of it out anyway.

Actually this is one scene cut in half but you see why I had to end it there.

This was one of those death chapters I was talking about. The ones I can't get through without pulling out my own hair or trying to commit seppuku.

Alas, poor Shadi. (sniff)

Malik is so awesome.

Yami no Bakura's a bastard. The fucking hottest bastard of them all but we've been over this already.

Yeah, that was the only part of the Egyptian arch that I liked. The whole Shada and Kalim combining their souls thing cause it really makes sense when you think about it.

Yami no Bakura calls the Sennen Items Yami no Artifacts sometime during the series. Yeah, basically Dark Artifacts, but you all aren't stupid so you probably figured that out too.

Again much apologies for being late... again. Sorry.

NEXT CHAPTER! Can you say, CLIMAX? I can. Its climax time, everybody! (everybody cheers) Lots of dramatic things, people falling unconscious and being smacked around with various forms of shadow magic. And of course who could have a climax without Yami's cheesy sayings.

Yeah so now we got... I think... four chapters left. (cries)

REVIEW!

Pretend there's a witty and creative comment here, I'm too tried to be funny.

REVIEW!