AN: This chapter wasn't edited, so I'm sorry if it's not as smooth as other chapters. It was long, so it was kind of hard to catch any mistakes by just glancing over it quickly (I'm trying to update before tomorrow, because I'll be gone for a few days). I'm sorry if it's rushed, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

Thanks to…

casaragi: lol. I also despise the voice of the 'dark/black' thing. Thanks for the review!

dragonlady222: Go Ryou! He really is growing up to be a good, little prince. Thanks for the review!

Shamise: Thanks! Thank you for the review!

FlyingShadow666: lol. Thanks for the review!

The Vampire Prince: Hey, you do not! When you actually try, not just scribble whatever you want, it's always great. Thanks for the review!

Roae: Hehe, I'm still learning, but I'm glad it's paying off. My first stories for school used to be really stiff, and my teacher was always like, They aren't human! Add emotion! Lol. When Bakura calls Ryou 'kid', it just seems normal, ya know? More natural-like? (nods). Oh, Ryou doesn't have a yami, not in this story. (I don't think he's had one in any of my stories, actually…) And I'm glad you liked the try vs. do conversation! It was hard to set up, and make it not cheesy. Lol. (Fisting a shirt means grabbing it, I thought…;; I'm not so sure anymore) I hope you like this chapter, though I didn't get to edit it thoroughly. Thanks for the review!

Chapter Twenty Five: Potential

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Several years back…

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"No! Papa, no! Papa!" The boy screamed, crying openly as he clawed fruitlessly at the guard's arm around his neck. Ever-licking flames of fire were reflected in his eyes as he was taken farther and farther away from the vain wailing of his dearest father. Soon, his own shouting turned to incoherent yelling and screaming. He pounded the officer with his elbows, but the heavy metal armor just bruised his elbows.

The weakness he felt, the helplessness, was enough to drive him insane. He tried to bite the metal gauntlet around his neck, but nothing released that iron hold.

"PAPA!"

All of a sudden, he was floating for a minute before he fell onto the guard. Not even glancing back to see why the guard had dropped him, the boy sprinted as hard as he could toward the burning hut.

"Idiot!" someone said, yanking him back. The boy screamed again, flailing his arms as the hut collapsed. "You could've died, you fool!"

"I'd rather die!" the boy screamed, tears running down his cheeks. "I'd rather die, let me die! Father! Oh my god, don't leave without me!"

His savior slapped him. "Don't say such a thing! Death should not be welcomed so openly…"

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Ari was growing restless. Stupid Roman! he couldn't help thinking as he stood behind a pillar, watching the foreigners beat what was left of the Royal Guard senseless. Hitting them is not going to provide answers. They are too strong for that…

The urge to pound the soldiers, he could understand. He wanted to extract and relieve some of the resentment that haunted him, but he was trying hard to keep his eyes on the goal: kill the Royal family.

He glanced over at Juno, and saw his friend's expression agreed with his thoughts. When will the stupid foreigners ever learn?

Finally, the captain of the Romans screamed in frustration as he stalked away from the silent bloodied and bruised bodies of the guards. He started cursing in his native language before he fiercely drew a breath and regained his calm almost instantaneously. He gave Ari a look that said, You try.

Ari grinned, loving this adrenaline rush. He knew exactly what to do. "Juno, drag the Royal Guard's Captain over here." Ari himself strode casually over to the fallen guards, who were all glaring at him.

"What is the meaning of this?" one of the them huffed, holding his side as he struggled to breathe. "You are of Egyptian descent, yet you are in league with these dirty Roman pigs?"

Chuckling quite coldly, Ari bent down and jerked the man's face close to his. "Listen. Egyptians aren't that much worse. They pillaged the villages of poor, hardworking folk all the time. So get off your high horse and look around, ya hear?" His voice wasn't threatening, but almost cheerful-like. However, the way that the man smiled so easily while talking about such a thing scared the guard. Was this man sane?

There was a grunt and a thud as Juno heaved the body of the Royal Guard's Captain toward Ari.

"Is he still conscious?" Ari asked, turning away from the fallen guard.

"Yeah…barely, though." Juno unceremoniously dropped Marik onto the ground, and kicked the body for good measure.

Ari studied the tanned youth before him, remembering too clearly the encounter they had had earlier in the youngest prince's room. What was his name again? Ah, right…Marik…

Slowly taking out a knife, he flipped Marik over so that his back was on the ground. The remaining guards, all sprawled on the ground just a few feet from their leader, watched as Ari ripped open the teen's shirt.

"Now, Royal Guards of the Palace…" Ari tilted his head to one side, feeling his nerves surge with excitement. To hold the lives of so many just at the tips of his fingers was such an exhilarating feeling.

Ari played with the blade in his hands, kneeling next to Marik as he carelessly said, "If you want your captain to live, reveal to me where the hidden room is."

Out of the corner of his eye, Ari could see the guards hesitating as they exchanged looks. Nonetheless, they remained silent.

"Your loss," Ari said with a shrug. He raised the blade high, making sure he took his time. Then, he couldn't help grinning as the thought of plunging the sharp knife into a government mutt entered his mind.

Revenge was only a stab away, and he felt thrilled to know the sweet taste.

Then, suddenly, his hand seized up as a short sword was shoved through his palm. The sword dropped right next to Marik, clattering loudly. Yet no one heard the metal hit the ground as Ari screamed.

Ari dropped his knife, cradling his hand as he cried. It was bleeding so much, but his mind was too much in a panic to comprehend the actual pain. It was the hole that was scaring him so much.

As he brought his hand to his chest, Ari saw Marik glare at him, huffing as his body fought the poison that was running amok in his system. Revulsion nearly made Ari's stomach roll over at the thought of this so called 'captain' gouging his hand. His hand!

"Die, you bastard!" Ari shouted, scooping up his weapon in the other hand.

He got as far as the top of his swing, right before the downward stabbing motion before another silver dagger sliced the top of his hand.

Another scream escaped Ari's lips as he jerked back, stumbling as far away as he could from Marik's body. Because his entire focus was on his mutilated hands, he couldn't possibly have seen the smaller, steel knives fly all over the room. Each blade brought down many Roman and Egyptian men alike, hitting their marks dead on.

He retreated behind a pillar, still screaming as his eyes never left his bloodied hands.

Juno cussed vibrantly as he rolled away just in time, a knife nicking his arm just a bit. It was enough to draw blood, as well as anger. What a curse! Just before they were about to kill this 'Marik'! Juno thought about killing the captain himself, but when he glanced back down, the beaten Royal Guards had pulled themselves together and were fiercely protecting their own. He turned to the doorway, trying to find the culprit who had thrown their nearly completed plan into chaos.

Juno couldn't help but be amazed at the near perfect aim of every dagger as each one buried itself into a companion of his. Who the hell had such accuracy?

His answer was immediate; that white-haired teen, standing a few feet from the doorway of the dining hall.

A snarl ripping from his throat, Juno started charging toward the Egyptian intruder as memories of Ari's hands entered his mind. This man is going to die!

Juno's target turned just a few seconds before they collided. He saw the teen's surprised face, but it still wasn't enough to slow the thief down at all.

He cross-blocked the attack perfectly. "Get out of the way!" he shouted at Juno, overpowering the soldier almost instantly. Juno flew backwards, his sword escaping from his grip.

Letting out another yell, Juno dove at Bakura with bare hands, his eyes murderous. Bakura growled in annoyance as he wrestled his attacker to the ground as the little number of Royal Guards he could muster in the Palace ran past him, into the room. Fighting roared in his ears as he fought the desperate grip of his foe clawing at him.

Ari slipped out from behind his pillar, his face bent on revenge as he strode toward Bakura. Ignoring the 'small fry' swarming around him and his throbbing hands, he regretfully felt the tendrils of that sweet taste he had almost felt escape him.

He saw Juno standing before the thief, and couldn't help but grin. Bakura, you're going to lose-

An arrow thudded into Juno's back. Bakura took the opportunity to slide out from underneath the stunned man as quickly as he could.

Ari, equally stunned, watched Ryou run up next to Bakura. "I thought I told you to stay outside!" Bakura barked, immediately standing in front of him as a shield.

Ryou ignored him, concern overpowering his attention. "I didn't kill him, did I?" Ari heard him whisper as the child clutched his bow close.

Ari felt hatred swell up inside of him as another scream ripped his throat.

"Quit pretending like you care!" Ari screamed, stamping toward the two snow-haired opponents.

Ryou immediately hid behind Bakura, peeking out from behind the thief with wide, chocolate eyes.

This angered Ari even more. Royal, my ass! More like coward! "You kill people all the time! You kill so many innocents, you tear apart the land! You kill family and friends, and you dare to pretend to care about one of our deaths?" Ari shouted.

The young prince slammed his eyes shut, trembling. "I-I didn't kill anyone…" he said, his voice shaking. "I-I didn't…I w-wouldn't…He's not dead…"

Bakura grimly reached back and gripped the child's arm. He wasn't about to let Ryou have a chance to recall what he had to Roman soldiers in his angered state. Facing Ari, the thief clenched and unclenched his fists as he said, "How can you get mad at us, when you kill our family and friends, too? Have you seen the bloody massacre you left in the front yard?"

Ari laughed despite himself. He wrung his bloody hands in front of him as he thought, Bakura, I'm going to make you suffer. I am going to make you go through hell and back.

"That's nothing compared to the blood you sow in our fields."

"It's still a life!" Bakura shot back, suddenly angry. "How can you talk about the lives of others in such a way? Like they're just numbers or something? You're not the only one that has lost a precious one!"

Ari's eyes narrowed as he glowered at Bakura, the desire to kill him intensifying. "My father's life is worth more than any of the filth that sides with the government."

A blank, ominous wave crashed through Bakura's mind as memories of his sister riddled his eyes. He was about to draw his weapon when Ryou's hold on the back of his shirt tightened.

Bakura took a shaky breath in as he glared at Ari.

Get ahold of yourself.

Ari smiled.

He is insane.

I can't believe I almost fell for his taunt…

It was then that Bakura noticed the fighting sounds had nearly subsided. The words of the man echoed throughout the room as the thief took a quick glance up. On one side of the hall, the Royal Guards he had brought in had managed to drag most of their own wounded to safety. However, on the other side, stood venomous Romans glaring at their enemies as they tried to lick their own wounds.

"Tell me what's so great about our government?" Ari said. Every ear was now listening. "A Pharaoh who orders the deaths of his own people, and royalty that gets fat off of foods enough to feed an entire village! These aren't things to be proud of! What can we, as Egyptians, boast about our government? The government is supposed to protect its people!"

Silence met his outburst. For a few seconds, the only thing that could be heard in the room where almost everyone was glaring at someone was Juno's heavy breathing. Bakura was about to say something, when Ryou took a small step forward.

"I…"

The small voice piqued the attention in the room to Bakura. Bakura glanced behind him as Ryou, staring at the ground, tried again.

"I…I never knew about all these bad things our soldiers have done…and I have to say, I don't think our government is that great," Ryou quietly admitted. "But...if you took over, or the Romans…there would be fighting like this all the time, right? There will be killing like this all the time, right?"

"And you're saying we should just let the government do what it wants?" Ari spat, his thirst to kill spreading toward the child as well.

"I can…talk with father…but…" Ryou slowly brought his gaze to match Ari's. Determination was evident in his features as Ryou calmly and confidently said, "I promise that I'll change it. I'll change it for the better."

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AN: Please review! I'm sorry for the abrupt cut, but it was kind of getting a little long. Um, expect the next update around Tuesday or Wednesday night! Thanks for reading.