AN: Oh my gosh, it took soooo long to get this chapter up. Please enjoy! This one took a whole lot of work. I hope it turned out okay…

Thanks to…

gecko-grl-2: I think this one will…reveal some more things for you. Thanks for the review!

The Vampire Prince: I worked hard on that! Yay, I'm glad someone noticed. Thanks for the review!

dragonlady222: Ryou is such a sweet little boy, but he can be quite firm in whatever it is he believes. Ah, the perfect prince! Lol. I also hope that Marik will be helped soon, and that Bakura doesn't suffer too much. That stupid metal plate…thanks for the review!

Carmen-Nemrac: lol. Bouncing off the walls, huh? I do that a lot, too, when I'm really happy. I'm glad you liked the bolded words so much. It took a while to think of it. I'm quite happy you loved it so much! Thanks for the review!

Anei Aikouka: The thieves are trying to kill Marik, but they were informed that he wasn't patrolling the palace like he was supposed to. So, they decided to break into the room that he was most likely to be in: Ryou's room. Ari, huh? He's an interesting fellow. I hope this chapter will clear some things up. He's just really confused right now. Thanks for the review! I'm glad you liked Bakura's reactions.

Anime WarriorSkye: Hehe, I feel quite special indeed. Thanks for the review! (If I put up my email address on my author page, will you be able to email the picture to me?)

Chapter Ten: Decision

Ari paused, his hands still resting on his former friend's shoulders. Even though he no longer considered this white-haired, half-albino a street brother, he was still quite attached to the thief. Hearing a little royal brat telling him not to touch Bakura sent him in a rage.

"What do you know about him?" Ari hissed, turning on his heel and rushing at Ryou. The child squeaked as Ari gripped his throat. "He hates your kind, filth like you. After all, you were the ones that took Kaiya away." The man's eyes flashed as his clasp tightened, resentment evident in his face. "You killed his sister. I bet he would be happy…if I made you disappear."

Ari saw the child's eyes widen in fear, but he didn't scream. Tears ran freely down the young one's cheeks, yet it only made Ari nearly crush the boy's windpipe.

A sudden thud made Ari immediately release his hold on the child and spin around, his sword pulled out and ready.

Standing tall and baring his teeth stood the Captain of the Guard. One hand held his bleeding side as his other brandished a short sword. Panting heavily, Marik forced himself into a fighting stance.

"Get your hands off the prince!" With a bellicose shout, Marik drove his weapon straight for the opponent.

There was a clash as metal scraped against metal. Barely blocking the oncoming attacks, Ari screamed for someone to kill him. No one could get close enough, without facing the risk of getting diced to pieces, as Marik's seemingly flawless swordplay continued to drive Ari into a corner.

As soon as the attention had been averted from him, Ryou had crawled out of bed and slid next to the dazed Bakura. A tall masked assassin had spotted him, and was coming straight at the little prince with a long knife in hand.

Desperate, Ryou groped around for any dropped weaponry, but found none. Terror and panic seized his mind and he burst out crying, his shaking hands probing the ground for anything.

There was a surprised gasp and Ryou instantly looked up. Writhing on the ground was the assassin that had nearly sent Ryou off to the realm of the dead. There was no knife in his hand.

Trembling, but on his feet, was Bakura. Clenched tightly in his hands was the silver blade.

The thief stood there, swaying for a moment, as if waking from a dream. With a snarl, some other person came running straight for Bakura.

He probably would have been stabbed. By the way he was barely staying on his feet, there was no question about it; he was in no condition to fight.

Which was why Ari had wedged himself between Bakura and the fine, thin blade of his ally.

A deadly silence hung in the room as all fighting came to a stop.

"What are you doing?" the attacker hissed.

Ari didn't know. Fumbling for words, Ari stuttered, "B-Bakura…he's…he's with us."

Marik, who had been holding his sword at one man's throat, nearly dropped his weapon. He slowly turned to Bakura, disbelief clearly written all over his face.

Ryou really wished he had heard wrong, or that he was going deaf. The child's hands fell to his sides, his entire body motionless.

There was a low growl as Bakura said, with much difficulty, "Who said?"

Ari steeled himself against June's glower as he looked Bakura straight in the eye. "We aren't alone anymore, Bakura," he murmured, dead serious. "Do you remember our village two years ago? How those disgraceful bastards of the Pharaoh butchered our people? How we so wanted revenge, to undo the injustice that surrounds Egypt herself?"

Bakura couldn't think straight. He tried to force down all the pain plaguing his body, but it wasn't happening. He slowed his breathing, trying to remember, as tiny bits of energy flowed back to him.

There was a small nod from Bakura.

"We can do it now, Bakura," Ari said, his voice slightly cracking. He smiled, crying silently. "The Romans, they're on our side now," he whispered. "We're going to overtake the Pharaoh, we'll kill him, we'll avenge your sister and my father. We'll save others from the same fate as ours."

Bakura opened his mouth, then closed it. Ryou, who was standing behind him, was in complete shock. His father…had ordered an attack…to kill people? His father had actually…Ryou slammed his eyes shut, feeling like his heart was caught in his throat.

"Kill the captain with us, Bakura," Ari convinced, "Look at the big picture. All those victims, their families and friends, we're going to fight. We're going to kill those who preyed on our villages. Stay with us…to witness the new age to come."

Another silence.

Bakura's shoulders were hunched, his head down. Ari, thinking that he was confused, reached out to pat his arm.

Before he even got close, Bakura did something to make him stop.

He made eye contact with him, only to find the thief's eyes full of sadness.

"Do you honestly believe that?" Bakura softly asked, almost mournfully. Ari was too startled to say anything. "Ari…would your father be happy knowing that you plan to kill in his name?"

The street rat stepped back, shaking his head. "No…no." He looked at Bakura with almost pleading eyes. "That's not true."

When all Bakura did was stare at him, Ari lost his temper.

"Are you just going to let them go for killing Kaiya?" he demanded to know. "Are you-"

Bakura shook his head, unshed tears glistening in his lavender eyes. "Kaiya is gone," he whispered in a trembling tone. Swallowing hard, he explained, "No amount of bloodshed will bring her back."

"Then stop the bloodshed with me!" Ari begged. "Kill the gluttonous royalty, the cause of all the deaths! Don't let people suffer for the idiocy of kings!"

At Ari's words, Bakura could also feel a strong desire for revenge and the need to kill those who had ruined his entire life. Bakura was silent for a moment, his eyes focused on the knife in his hands. He could feel Ryou's anxious eyes on his back, and he glanced up, meeting Marik's distrustful yet hopeful expression. He blinked, staring at the captain for only a second more before turning away.

He came to a decision. Damn my lack of commonsense. Bakura took a deep breath, fighting down the agony that ate at the back of his mind. So much for running away. Somewhere inside of him, a voice was sneering, Oh, please, like you didn't know.

Bakura turned around with the dagger held loosely, knowing quite well that everyone was watching his every move. Yet he felt so calm, knowing that they were in a room of assassins about to tear Marik and Ryou, and perhaps him as well, to shreds. Shoving this thought out, he knelt next to Ryou, who had the look of a lost child.

"I didn't know…" Ryou hiccupped, trying hard not to cry. The anguish and regret in his chocolate eyes hit Bakura pretty hard. "I didn't know father had killed-"

The thief placed a finger over Ryou's lips, hushing him. Then he lifted the prince's chin, examining his throat.

Lightly running a finger over the handprint that seemed to swallow the child's small esophagus, Bakura murmured, "Does it hurt?"

Ryou's eyes grew wide as Bakura grinned and pulled him close with his right arm, using his body as a shield, as his left threw the blade with excellent accuracy. Over the thief's shoulder, the little prince could see Marik's fluid movements as he sprang into an attack.

Ari was caught off guard as one of his men went down, a silver knife digging deep into his leg. The single action of his trusted friend crushed his hopes so firmly he had to scream.

A man, June, slapped him, yelling at him to pull his act together. Ari spun around, one of his many scrambled thoughts reminding him of the captain. I have to kill him! was the only thought running through his mind. He couldn't fail. He had to prove Bakura wrong. Choosing the side of nobility was not going to save his skin. That bastard…only thinking about his own life. He doesn't care about what they did to his sister! What a monster!

He spotted the captain, and blindly swung at him.

Marik blocked the attack with ease, and kicked Ari away. It was getting hard to fight, especially with the knife buried in his side. The thought of safeguarding Ryou had been enough to keep him going, but now, it was getting hard to see.

There were shouts at the door as the Palace Guards came streaming in.

June grabbed Ari, yelling for a retreat, and dragged his half-crazed companion out onto the patio and into the darkness. Mayhem and reckless violence ensued as the guards subdued any assassins that couldn't get away in time. Some of the soldiers caught Marik as he tumbled for the ground, entirely spent.

Bakura released his hold on Ryou, turning away as he clutched his burning left shoulder. His hand barely made it before the blackness took him.

AN: Hey, I updated before midnight! Man, I'm sorry if this chapter isn't the greatest. I worked hard on it, but it seems my efforts were doing nothing. I edited like crazy, and rewrote almost the entire second half. (sighs) I hope it was…satisfactory, at the least. Please review! (This story is no where near ending, by the way). I'm hoping to have the next chapter up by either Thursday or Friday.