Yami's koi: OMG… THANK YOU SO SO SO SO MUCH FOR THE GREAT RESPONSES! YOU GIES ROCK!
Neutral Man: Yamiskoi and me are friends again… Lol.
Yami's koi: yeah, that's right. Within five months, a lot of shit can happen. So anyways, thank you so much for the encouragement… It meant so much to me… Thank you.
Yugi sat, wrapped contently in Yami's arms, almost forgetting where they were until he heard the distant sounds of chains clinking against metal. He turned and stared up into the blackness, seeing the smallest speck of white light at the top, only slightly cut off by what he thought to be two figures staring down at him. Shuddering, he glanced over at Bakura, who was being quite possessive of a blushing, sighing Ryou.
"Bakura! I'm not a baby!" Ryou insisted, pushing off Bakura for a moment. The tomb robber grinned, pulling Ryou back into him.
"Whatever." The man mumbled, glaring over at the flickering torchlight. It was then that something occurred to Yugi, and the curious young man needed it answered quickly.
"Hey, Bakura… How did you know you wouldn't die when you let go up there?" He asked, addressing one of Yami's thoughts as well.
Bakura sighed arrogantly, flicking his hair back over his shoulders elegantly. Now was one of those moments when his secrets would be revealed, and everyone would adore him, thinking how great and devious he was… And then they would be forced to bow before him, until Bakura got fed up of all the ass licking.
Then again, in reality, all they thought about him was that he was a quick thinker.
"Well…" Bakura began, taking his time in smirking and swishing his long, snowy locks back over his shoulders, "… Back in my Tomb raiding days, I could have easily stolen other's spirits and strengthened them myself. However, Diabound was almost like a brother to me. That sounds weird I know, because I couldn't have conversations or fun with him like I can with you… Not that I wanted to, I had more important things on my mind… But we both shared a goal, an ideal. So, it was on them grounds we built up a sort of… Friendship. And eventually we began to trust one another.
"It was far from perfect. It wasn't exactly what I had had in mind when robbing a tomb. But it was there, and I suppose, after everyone else had left me, it was something. Sure, it couldn't replace food, water and that little empty space in side, but it distracted me from such worries long enough to keep a level head. Diabound and I… Were a great team. Whenever we knew that nothing was left to be done, we would run together, movements uniting into one.
"With this silent agreement, involved sort of side-pacts. One of them was to save each other's asses at whatever cost… To rescue each other from death before we were left alone, without the only bit of company that was keeping us sane. Today, it seems, that agreement still stands. After remembering the incantation to summon Diabound to my aid whilst falling, he saved me, using his magic to defy gravity… All to save the spitting image of the Tomb Robber." Bakura gestured to his right cheek, where Yami knew to be an old scar, concealed now by some old magic.
"He… He knew it was me. He said my spirit, deep down, hadn't changed. I was still the same ruthless killer and thief I was three thousand years ago." At this, a twinge of bitterness entered the man's voice, eyes becoming distant. "It was almost as if the weathering of this modern world had done nothing to affect me inside… But I beg to differ." He kissed Ryou on the forehead, the small hikari suppressing a pleased smile and a blush.
Sensing the boy's willpower to prevent these things from being shown, Bakura grinned and carried on, a bit of strength returning to his voice. "Since I heard that, I've been waiting here… Staring longingly at the treasure I should have stumbled upon three thousand years ago, when I raided this tomb the first time." Bakura ran a long, pale finger along a nearby sceptre, sighing. "It seems that old saying is right… Old habits die hard. Now I just want the goods even more." He stared at the gold surrounding him gleefully, grinning.
Yugi rolled his eyes. Once a Thief, always a Thief.
"Okay, but now what are we going to do? We can't stay here, waiting like bait, for Set to just come down here and, I dunno… What is it that evil psychopaths do these days, Bakura?"
Bakura flipped the small boy off with no shame or thought of the consequences it would bring. "Generally we eat your eyes and roast your stomachs in stew, using the lining as a fabric softener." He snorted at the thought, resisting the urge to laugh mentally. "Of course we don't! Malik might, but he's weird anyway."
"We get the point!" Yami cried, exasperated. "We need a plan! He'll figure out what you've done sooner or later Bakura, and we can't just sit here like nothing will happen! He won't forget about us over night, you know! We need a plan!"
Bakura glared at the Pharaoh, sighing and rolling his eyes theatrically. "Well now you've said that, a million escape plans come to mind." He whispered sarcastically, using great emphasis on the word 'million'. "Why, I have one right now! Would you wish to hear it? I will throw Pharaoh Dickhead's forth and Set will devour his spirit. Then I will take his destroyed hikari, Ryou and myself, and run like fucking hell. Sound good?"
The Game King rolled his eyes, holding onto Yugi tighter. "Of course, but realistically… We need a plan."
"We decided on that ages ago, sweetheart," Ryou said sweetly – his special little way of letting everyone know that he was getting pissed off. Immediately Bakura got the hint, and so did the Pharaoh, after a small nudge from his hikari.
"So… Any vague ideas? Know any escape routes, Bakura?" Yugi asked miserably, wishing that he had some good source of light to help shake off the feeling that he was being watched. For some reason, he had always felt safest during the day.
The Thief sighed, feeling the cheek where he used to have a scar dejectedly.
"I could send Diabound on the trail, if that's what you mean, since it would be quicker." He answered at length, smirking. "But it would cost you. Plus, I won't know what he's found out until he returns to me. Our bond is not as strong now that I am Ryou's other half." He pulled the boy into his lap, grinning. "How about it?"
Yugi shrugged. "Hey, I can't think of anything else." He leaned forwards. "BUT USE YOUR FUCKING BRAINS!"
Bakura blinked in surprise at Yugi's outburst.
Jou and Seto, The Cabin
Chunks of yellow foam had been hurled across the room by this point at the young man's frustration, and Jou snarled at the clock.
Five minutes had passed since he'd last checked. FIVE! He'd called the emergency services, what, fifteen minutes ago! Why the HELL could you get a pizza delivered to your house in ten minutes, and yet an ambulance and the hospitals would take three days to even register what had been asked of them? Jou knew deep down that what he was saying was over exaggerated, but right now all he could see was Seto's bloodied face before him, causing him to flip out.
His moods had swung like an executioners axe those past few minutes, and he couldn't contain himself. Jou knew that some of the punishments he would receive for ripping apart the sofa would be both pleasurable and serious, scolding ones… But he couldn't care less.
The sounds of sirens filled Jou's ears, and it took him a full minute to comprehend who they were coming for. Glaring out of the window, he saw nothing for a good few minutes, hearing nothing more than the sounds of sirens approaching swiftly. Then, he saw it – the glorious, sparkling white ambulance, slowing down to a halt right outside the cabin. Without a second thought, he opened the door and yelled at the stressed men for being so late.
Somewhere in his sleep-like state, Seto must have smiled, for his body twitched but did not awaken fully. The paramedics, therefore, wasted more time (again, in Jou's impatient eyes) waiting to see if the teenage CEO awoke.
When he did not, they finally hauled him onto a stretcher and began to carry him out. Although before this had taken place, Jou had had every intention of leaving Seto. But when he looked at the man's broken face, he realised that he couldn't do it.
Sometimes, loving Seto could be easy. It could be hard depending on the situation and location, and of course if Mokuba was present, but otherwise, things went pretty plain sailing. They had fought – Oh, by fucking god, they had fought – But they'd always managed to work it out somehow. Smiling, Jou went to pull himself up into the back of the ambulance, where Kaiba was lying---
When he found himself alone, reaching out towards something that was not there. Sweat dropping, he realised that he had either:
Imagined the ambulance arriving and putting Seto onto a stretcher in his boredom.
Gotten distracted so quickly he'd not even noticed his lover had left him.
Either way, Jou felt like an idiot. He re-entered the cabin, staring at the empty patch of nothingness that had occupied Seto's previous place on the sofa. Knowing instantly what this meant, Jou balled his fists in anger, and began pounding the shit out of the already tattered sofa, a pink tint spreading across his cheeks.
Yugi, Yami, Ryou and Bakura
Realising instantly what Yugi had meant by his small outburst, he set Diabound on the tail and resumed his place behind Ryou, face set in an expression of deep thought and concentration. His light giggled for a moment before thinking deeply, searching desperately for an idea to get them out of this mess.
The silent brainstorming time, however, was cut short by the sound of Yami's deep, husky voice.
"I know that we have to avoid leaving Set and Brother Semerkhet to wreak havoc," He began, disturbing everyone's thoughts, "So maybe we should begin by discussing battle plans?"
Bakura rolled his eyes. "No shit. What do you think we've been doing, Pharaoh?" He sneered, as if someone with the lowest capacity of knowledge should have known this. "We could use Diabound, but I've been thinking of a back up plan in case they swoop down in on us before he returns." He leaned forwards, exposing his once scarred cheek, and sighed. For one moment, Yugi could have sworn that he saw the old scar return to the Thief's face, but then realised it must have been the flickering torch light playing with his active imagination. Even so, he blinked and stared at Bakura's cheek until the Robber felt uneasy, and touched his cheek.
"Anyway…" He threw an unsure glance at Yugi. "… What happened last time Set was sealed?"
"It didn't work, he was awoken and now we're on the run from him?" Ryou asked dully, grimacing. "I believe he… He'd cut up his brother's body parts into fourteen pieces, right? Then he… His father… No, wait, Osiris' son, Horus, defeated him in battle and Ra helped him to be locked away…" He glanced at the two impressed Egyptians. "Am I right?"
Yami nodded first, collecting his thoughts when he saw a pebble fall from nowhere. Everyone glanced up uneasily, but saw nothing but a tiny pinprick of light shining upon their dirty, bloodstained skin. Slowly lowering the long-held gaze up at what appeared to be nothing, Yami began to speak once more.
"Yes, you're right, Ryou. Ra was the one to finally seal him away, by the most gruesome ways possible… I won't go into details. I believe that we will need to find a key of some sort that will seal him back again… Or, if that fails, then we'll get Ra onto him," He said, cracking his knuckles.
"A key. Where the hell will we find a key, Pharaoh?" Bakura asked sarcastically, mocking the man before him. At this, however, Yami rose to his feet, jaw clenched in anger.
"You fucking--"
"Ooh, the Pharaoh is coming to get me! Oh, I am so scared!" Bakura cried, in a fake-girlish voice. "Oh, no, please don't hurt me! Then we'll never find the key---"
CRACK!
Bakura, who had been prancing around the Game King tauntingly, was left off-balance, staggering to keep his footing. Ryou gripped his shoulder, as the man was still without his shirt, and stared up in fear at the place from where he fell. Mimicking his action, Yugi swallowed and stepped away from Yami to look up.
And what he saw made his stomach turn to ice. The tiny spot of light that had once been visible had now expanded… But the glimmer was now not white. The colour of the light was red, and just in the middle, there were two figures, descending at an alarming pace towards the group of four.
Almost as if he was possessed somehow, Bakura stepped back. He glanced at his hikari, who had not moved an inch due to fright. His hazel coloured eyes were wide, and his lips had parted slightly to form the look of someone paralysed in fear. His bloodstained but otherwise pale cheek twitched as the man gulped.
"Ryou, get out of the way." Bakura said quickly and loudly, hoping the message would get through. His coequal began to tremble, obviously having not heard him.
"They're h-here…" He stuttered in a small whisper. The Thief gasped inwardly. Yugi and Yami had already stepped back, seeing the force Set and Semerkhet were falling. It was only Ryou now, but he could not move. With every passing second, the two beings of darkness were getting closer, and Bakura kept calling his loves' name.
"RYOU!" Bakura yelled this time, leaping towards Ryou to shove him out of the way, just as Set plummeted to the place where the young light had been just a moment ago. Bakura cried out in pain, his already injured shoulder being clipped by the God's hand. He wouldn't have been surprised if it was broken. He grinned feebly, picking himself up off the floor to glare at the God who had once been imprisoned.
"So… It's you." The Thief stated simply, one hand gripping his damaged shoulder, fingers massaging at the skin to help ease the pain somewhat. He smirked. "What difference does it make? We couldn't finish the riddle. We're finished until we do."
One side of Set's decayed mouth stretched, tearing the weak, paper-thin flesh that was left there. With a bandaged hand, he brushed the dead skin away, and Ryou squeaked, fear once again consuming him. He wanted to move, to hide behind Bakura like the scared little child that he was, but found that his limbs were too heavy, that he could not move a muscle. Sure, he was still breathing, but what good what that do him if he wanted to attack in battle? You may have thought of several good things that would come out of Ryou being able to breathe whilst fighting, but in the poor hikari's fragile state, he could not think of any advantages it would give him.
With Set's dead skin falling to the floor, Semerkhet's chains rattled impatiently by his master's side. The God sighed, turning to stare at the numerous heaps of gold that were situated around him.
"My riches," He said quietly, gesturing to the piles with that slight smile of his. "They should have been removed from this place when Bakura had visited me the first time, or even when I was buried alive."
Bakura shrugged, speaking to his companions out of the corner of his mouth:
"Not entirely true. I stole some of his treasures, more than he could imagine. I sold it on the black market for a fortune."
Obviously hearing this, Set's face turned into one of mild anger, but not of surprise. Bakura shrugged again.
"I was a Tomb Robber, after all. It was my decision to either rob your tomb first and then kill you, or kill you first and never return to this place again. Of course, I chose the first option." A small smirk greeted Bakura's lips, and Set began to glare at him. It wasn't a glare of anger, however, just one of deep thought.
'Bakura is their best ally…' The ancient God thought, eyeing the others with little concern. 'It would make sense to have him take the fall of death first. That would then destroy Ryou's spirit, who would most likely kill himself to join his lover in death, which would only leave the Pharaoh and his midget hikari, Yugi.
'But to deceive Bakura… That is a difficult thing to do. He fooled me many a times already, and I was never prepared for any of the consequences or traps he had laid out for me. He's a master of mystery.
'However… Maybe I'm thinking too hard. I just told myself, as soon as Bakura has gone, then the others shall be child's play. I will just need to approach the Thief with caution.' Set mulled, all the while staring out of his once gloriously golden eyes sockets, lips curling into somewhat of a grin.
Jou, the cabin
Sure, Seto would be pissed. Jou would just have to accept that and move on… And accepted it he had.
In nothing short of ten minutes, he had gathered together an admirable amount of supplies. Food and water had been his main concerns, but now that he'd thought carefully about things, he would need a weapon of some sort too.
So there he was, shifting aside yellow pieces of foam in the living room to search for something that at least vaguely resembled a weapon. A sharp knife, he's already got. Now he was looking for something such as a gun, when a sudden brainwave washed over him.
Bakura is a Tomb Robber. He has weapons. It would make sense to raid his room and suitcase.
Berating himself for his slow uptake, Jou made his way upstairs, edging around the spot where Seto had fallen. In a few short moments, he had reached the main rooms, and found suitcases in one, and four unmade beds in another. Rolling his eyes at how alike he and his friends are, he made for the room with the suitcases. He rummaged through the first, but found little else than duelling disks and cards. Eventually realising that this must belong to Yami or Yugi, Jou moved onto the next one. Spotting a green and white striped shirt, the blonde grinned, hitting the jackpot.
Of course, Jou hadn't hoped to find anything of great magnificence – Bakura would have taken his best weapons with him when he rushed out to save his beloved hikari. But even so, Jou found a nice collection of short swords and a small automatic pistol. He attached the sheath to his side, short sword sticking out from under his jacket ever so slightly, and then found the ammunition that came with the gun. He grabbed these and attached these to his belt, picking up his bag to make sure he had everything.
"I jus' hope it ain't too late for Jou to save the day!" The blonde cried to himself, leaping down several steps at a time, reaching the ground floor in an instant. He moved towards the front door – in fact, he had in hand on his keys to insert into the lock – when he heard his cell ringing.
Placing the keys into the lock and turning them to unlock the cabin door, Jou answered the call.
"Y'ello?"
"You are FUCKING dead when I see you, sexy."
Jou blushed instantly, hearing Seto's groggy but still powerful and carrying voice from down the phone. He sweat dropped, knowing what the man was thinking. A slight blush passed over his cheeks, and Seto carried on at the silence.
"Can you tell what was wrong with that sentence?"
Jou swallowed, licking his lips. "You… You called me sexy…" Jou pointed out, slowly, quietly, even though no one was there with him.
It was true: he'd been called this. But worse of all, Seto only said things like that… word… when he was deeply, truly pissed off.
"Correct," Kaiba's silky voice said, just a tinge of anger in it now. "And do you want to know why I am angry?"
Jou sighed, kicking the floor with his foot as if Seto was actually there, in front of him. He nodded, even though his lover wouldn't know that, either. It was all part of what he did whenever he'd done something wrong in Seto's eyes.
"I'll tell you why," Seto continued, "Because I know my puppy is going down into those caves, and he's going without me. He's going to get hurt."
Jou blinked rapidly. He hadn't expected a response like that. "Huh?" He asked dumbly.
If Seto had been there, he would have probably rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Look, mutt, you don't have a lot of time. I'm just slightly concussed, the doctor's say, but even so, they're keeping me in this shit hole until I show signs of definite recovery. And if you die, I'm coming after you in the afterlife Yami keeps talking about."
Jou was about to say something, when he heard the loud, carrying voice of a young lady – a nurse, probably – berating Seto for using his cell phone when so near medical equipment – most of which he was hooked up to.
"All right, lady, now fuck off." Seto replaced the earpiece back to his ear as if nothing had happened. "So just be careful, pup. Don't die on me in there. I love you."
Jou grinned, "I love you too, ya big puff." With this, he hung up.
Yami, Bakura, Yugi, Ryou, Set and Semerkhet
Almost as if reading his enemy's mind, Bakura gave off his confident grin. Sure, his stomach injury was still stinging slightly, but the power of love would quell it, he thought with a smirk. He drew a sword from his belt quickly.
"So, are you gonna stand there taking in my gorgeous appearance, or are we gonna fight?" Bakura asked, deep voice lowering slightly with tension and excitement. Even though he knew this was neither the time nor the place, Ryou couldn't help but feel oddly aroused by the sound of his yami's voice when it was so low.
Bakura smirked. /I'll deal with you later/ he thought to his hikari, grin widening. Ryou immediately blushed, and Yugi giggled. They made such a cute couple.
Not to mention Ryou would be getting some good sex.
Set regarded the king of thieves with his devious grin. "Has your little light ever seen just how many scars you keep concealed from him?"
Bakura quirked an eyebrow. "What are you getting at? I thought we were here to fight." He gestured at Yami to fuck off, when he heard his heavy footfall approach him. "My fight, my fight only." He mumbled in Egyptian, not bothering to give Ryou an interpretation. He needed to be in the right frame of mind to fight someone, and Ryou would definitely distract him.
Set shrugged the bone of his shoulder. Bakura noticed it had some blood spattered on it, but he had no idea where from.
"I was merely saying… Ryou thinks you're so beautiful, I'm sure… But has he seen what your real face looks like?"
Bakura's raised eyebrow rose even higher. "You mean… The scars on my face?" He asked slowly, deliberating whether Ryou had ever seen them. He turned his head ever so slightly, so he could see the pale boy behind him staring at him, obviously confused.
"What? Bakura has scars on his face?" Ryou asked innocently. Yet when he spoke so sweetly, he glared again at Set, who was standing a little ahead of Semerkhet to show off his superior-ness in the Egyptian hierarchy. It was making him sick… They both obviously had the intention of taking out the strongest person here first, but before they could do that, they wanted to try and make him feel bad so that his mind would be distracted by how he looked.
Then again, that definitely didn't sound like Bakura. The only time he'd ever been distracted in battle was when somebody else's life or body was in danger… Usually this meant Ryou was hurt, but the boy pushed those facts aside with a little smile and blush. Even though they were true, Ryou too, could not afford to become preoccupied by other thoughts not directly connected with the battle at hand.
Bakura nodded, but all Ryou could really see was his spikes bouncing up and down. He giggled, despite himself. It looked cute.
"Yeah, no thanks to raiding tombs and getting filthy rich," Bakura added, with a smirk. He knew that Ryou's giggle had not been about the thought of Bakura with a horrid face. In that case, it was all right.
Set grinned, showing off chipped, almost none-existent teeth, decayed and browned by the years gone by.
"You will not find it so funny when I force him to reveal them." The maddening grin stayed there this time. Before anyone could blink, Semerkhet darted forwards, having every intention of keeping Bakura still.
Of course, the elite Thief had been anticipating a move such as this, so he eluded it, ducking to the left. Semerkhet's hand curled around nothingness.
Without a moment to spare, Bakura turned his body so he was facing Semerkhet's back. He had left it wide open. Without any further ado, he pushed his sword into the hollow of the creature's back. It made an interesting sound when the remaining skin was breached, and Bakura frowned, feeling little or no resistance as he urged the sword to go even further through the being's body.
Semerkhet, of course, lurched forwards (that is, away from Bakura, given their current positions), so that the sword merely hung through mid air. The ghost's chains clanked as he turned, glaring with hollow eyes into the chocolate ones of Bakura.
The Tomb Robber raised an eyebrow, but before he could make any kind of smart-ass comment, he felt something warm graze by his cheek. He turned around instantly to look at Set with wide, glaring eyes.
Sadly, this was exactly what the God had wanted.
Yami's koi: Yay! Another chapter is done! XD I've been off of school this week, so I've been writing like crazy. I wrote the last part when I was drunk, so please excuse any errors.
Neutral Man: then why are your other fics on hold still?
Yami's koi: because… I have yet to complete some of those I have on adultfan before I do anything else.
Readers: damn you!
Yami's koi: anyways, thank you so much for reading this… And for picking up from where I last left off. Your reviews of encouragement and understanding meant more to me than anything else. It's thanks to you that I've been writing this story again, not just resorting to writing a big fat 'DISCONTINUED' sign on the summary… Thank you so much!
Neutral Man: But the next time her mother is a bitch, you'll all know about it.
Yami's koi: that's for sure. I will post the next chapter in a matter of weeks. So hold on tight, and please drop me a review!