Part 44: Bleak Future

Young Ryuki could feel the heat from above and below him as he slowly returned to consciousness. He coughed up what appeared to be sand and then shielded his eyes from the hot sun. "Nani? Where am I? The desert?" he asked himself. He looked around him and saw sand, sand and more sand, a golden sheet that extended for miles around. There were a few tall brown rocks, some smooth and round while others were jagged and sharp and big enough to support the weight of several people. Ryuki stood up and brushed the sand off his black uniform. He saw that there were no other signs of life around him as the searing heat of the sun shone down on him. He pulled down his goggles over his eyes to shield them from the bright sun, so that he would have both of his hands free for other tasks. Thankfully, being a pyrokinetic/firebender had its advantages, as his powers allowed Ryuki to withstand the heat. Now that that was settled, he had to figure out just where he was. He felt an itch in the back of his neck and reached to scratch it only to discover that he was scratching where Ryuga had torn off his braid. His hair was short and spiky now.

His trained ears picked up some sort of pained moaning and groaning. He could recognize that voice anywhere. "Anubis-san!" he realized. He was alive! He followed the sound and found the unconscious form of the assassin lying facedown before him in the sand. How he got here and completely unharmed saved for a few cuts and bruises was miraculous. However, Ryuki had no time to think about that. Anubis needed help.

Ryuki quickly dashed towards Anubis, kicking up some sand as he did before kneeling down next to Anubis. He was shocked to see the left sleeve of Anubis' suit was ripped to expose a cybernetic left arm. He placed a hand on Anubis' back and shook him, rousing him awake. "Oy, Daijoubu ka?" he asked. When Anubis' eye cocked open he pushed Ryuki away violently, propping himself up with his good arm.

"Don't touch me!" Anubis snapped with utter revulsion. Ryuki was stunned.

"Hey, I was just trying to see if you were alright," Ryuki said, not appreciating the way Anubis was treating him. Anubis sighed.

"Sorry," he apologized. "Where are we?" he asked.

"A desert," Ryuki answered, stating the obvious. "But I don't know where exactly. Although, it looks familiar."

Anubis looked around. All desert looked the same to the untrained eye but he knew better. He stood up and said, "Course it looks familiar. This is the desert outside of Jump City."

Ryuki perked up, "The city? Sugoi! We can go back there and-"

"NO!" Anubis suddenly exploded, causing the green eyed teen to look startled. "We can't go back to the city."

"Why not?" Ryuki asked.

"Because it's been taken over by Orphenochs," Mortuary answered. He saw Ryuki's stunned expression. "We're back in the future, my present."

(The Present)

Ryuga, wearing Ryuki' face, looked up to see the Titans coming towards him in the air. He smiled a bit as he saw Jinx riding on a rock boulder that was being piloted by Terra. Beast Boy was carrying Cyborg in his pterodactyl talons as Mortuary rode on the changeling's back. Ryuga narrowed his eyes at Mortuary. He would have to finish him off when he had the chance. Renia was being carried by Blackfire as Starfire did the same for Robin.

They landed and Jinx hopped off the rock she was on before hugging Ryuga quickly, "You're okay!" she shouted out. Ryuga hugged her back, surprised and smiled. How he had missed this feeling.

"What happened to Anubis and Ryuga?" Robin asked quickly, surveying the damage.

"They just vanished," Ryuga said, his voice now sounding more like his younger counterpart's. "I don't know to where though." He then saw Cyborg with both his arms intact. "I see you're good as new, Cy."

Cyborg said, "Yeah, I thought I was going to be unarmed for a while but Renia used her magic-"

"Alchemy," Renia corrected abruptly.

"Right, Alchemy, and fixed me right up!"

"You must've kicked that Ryuga freak back to where he came from!" Beast Boy shouted out, doing kicking and punching motions.

"Ah, Garfield," Ryuga began, reminiscing, "Always with the funny quips." He glared, "In some of my weaker moments I almost miss your drawl sense of humor." Ryuga then sensed everyone's eyes trained on him. He had to get back into character. "I mean, yeah, sure, Beast Boy!" Beast Boy smiled at that. Shadow and Raven's eyes narrowed at him and Ryuga noticed. 'Do they suspect?'

"We should get back to the Tower," Cyborg said, checking the time on his arm, "It's nearly dinner."

"Yes, we must partake in the feast of dinner!" Starfire exclaimed giddily. Ryuga could just vomit at that.

"But I'm cooking," Ryuga said, remembering how he would always cook to avoid Cyborg and Beast Boy's constant (not to mention pointless) bickering. Even after 15 years he still hated it.

Everyone cheered, well almost everyone. Shadowcobra just stared at the Dragon Knight with a look of distrust and suspicion while Raven did the same.

Ryuga carried Jinx, bridal style, as the girl looped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. He smirked before his feet shot out fire to propel him into the air with the others. Shadow and Raven stayed behind and talked.

"There was something off about him," Raven said. "But I'm not too sure."

"It was his aura," Shadowcobra replied. "It felt more malevolent for some reason. It could just be Yaminekoryu, but I'm going to keep an eye on him just to make sure." Raven nodded before they both took off after their friends and teammates.

(The Future)

Ryuki and Anubis walked through the desert. Anubis was sweating and took a swig of water from his canteen to cool off. One had had finished the container was empty, so he just tossed it aside. Ryuki didn't feel all that thirsty; he was used to this kind of heat. However, Anubis seemed dehydrated, looking like he would collapse at any moment. Ryuki was following behind the assassin, afraid he might set off his anger. Was this Mortuary's future? What had caused this? He then thought about what he saw in his future and did not like it one bit. How could he have turned into that monster? It jut didn't make any sense. He looked up to see Anubis stagger in his steps. The heat of the sun was not helping with their situation. Ryuki used his powers to create a cup of ice, which was filled with cold water. Taking it firmly in hand, he walked over to Anubis.

"Here," Ryuki offered. "Drink this. It'll help." Anubis ignored him, despite how inviting the cup of ice and ice water looked. "Hey!" Ryuki called after him and walked to his side.

"I don't need your help," Anubis said briskly.

"What you need and what you want can be two different things," Ryuki told him. It was the same line he used when he had first met with Shadow after offering him his friendship in which the Snake Knight had responded, "I don't need friends." Ryuki sighed, "Look, you're dehydrated and sweating. I'm used to this heat, but you look like you could use a drink in a big way. You either take this now, or I'll wind up carrying your unconscious body to wherever we're going. Which would you prefer?"

Anubis turned to give him an even gaze and sighed. "You probably wouldn't make it without a map."

"I'm a good tracker, my ojiichan said so," Ryuki countered. "Now, take this and take a few sips. Rub the ice on your face too. There's plenty where that came from." Anubis relented and took the ice cup and took a drink of water before rubbing it all over his face. He felt slightly refreshed as the cold liquid covered his face a bit and quenched his dry throat. Ryuki smiled. He then turned serious. He wanted answers, "What happened?"

"What?" Anubis replied but he knew what Ryuki wanted answers for.

"How did I become that…that…" Ryuki began, trying to find the right words.

"Monster?" Anubis offered. Ryuki nodded. He sighed, "I'll tell you on the way. Right now we need to get to camp."

Ryuki blinked, "Camp?"

(Back in the present)

Ryuga, still in Ryuki's guise, was in the kitchen and cooking up a storm as the Titans waited for him to finish. Lucky for him he still remembered how to cook even though he had never needed to since the day he had ascended his throne. He was an Orphenoch so psychic powers couldn't work on him, at least if he was conscious. His mental shields were strong, though, and would take a lot of effort to make even a slight dent in them. He was actually plotting in his mind.

'Poisoning? No, too easy.' He was plotting the Titans' death.

When they had returned to the Tower, Ryuga had quickly retreated into Ryuki's room to take a shower. Time traveling always left some sort of residue that could get ugly if not cleaned off as soon as possible. When he did, Brimstone just looked at him and growled. Ryuga was tempted to just snap the hound's neck, but decided to just give the dog a deadly glare and Brimstone backed off, whimpering fearfully.

Ryuga had looked into the mirror and mused, "My old face." He looked around, "My old room." The memories, his human memories, began to take hold but he shook them away. No point of reminiscing at all though.

Ryuga was keeping his eye on the two resident sorcerers (Renia was an Alcemist and despite training with Rorek did not count as a sorcerer). When they had returned they had kept their eyes trained upon him. Could they have suspected that something was wrong? No way, but he couldn't risk it. His plans would be ruined if his true nature ever came to light.

The Orphenoch Lord continued to cook, making the Titans their (most possibly) last meal.

(Back in the Future)

Anubis and Ryuki continued to walk as the Dragon Knight continued to make ice cubes for Anubis to refresh himself with.

Anubis began his tale, "It all started 15 years ago. We had a mission. Slade sent his robots and your sister to steal something from the S.T.A.R. Labs branch in JC. It was supposed to be something that could boost his power." He continued, "We went into action as soon as Robin gave the word. We fought and fought, stopping them the best we could, but…" He stopped in his tracks. "We're here."

Ryuki stopped too as they were standing in front of a large rock. "What is this place?" Ryuki asked. "It looks like a rock to me."

"That's just what we want to make you think." He knocked on the rock and it sounded like steel. "This is one of the last few remaining places that the humans can call a safe haven. It also happens to be my headquarters." There was a sound like swishing metal before Anubis walked in, actually disappearing into the rock. He peaked out, "Well, what are you waiting for?"

"A hologram," Ryuki admired before he followed after Anubis.

There were a set of stairs and Ryuki followed Anubis down them. When they had reached the bottom, Ryuki could hardly believe his eyes.

It was a hidden city, right under the desert!

"Sugoi ne," Ryuki said in awe.

"It's a real sight, ain't it?" Anubis said, smirking proudly. "I founded this place so humans could always have a place to call home. None of the other cities up there are safe now, not since the Orphenochs took over and…"

"Sir!" Anubis was interrupted as a man, dressed in what appeared to be an old Smart Brain Operatives uniform with a helmet saluted him. "I'm glad you have returned, sir." Anubis returned the salute and Ryuki mimicked him.

"At ease, soldier," He then took off his watch and gave it to him. "Get this to the Professor. She can fix it for me." The soldier saluted and then dashed off to where Anubis had ordered him to go.

"You seem pretty important down here," Ryuki said admirably.

"Yeah, I am," Anubis said. "Follow me."

Ryuki followed Anubis and saw all of the people. Some were dressed in rags, while some of them were wearing the same uniform as the soldier before had been. He saw children playing and small shops. However, Ryuki could also feel a small, but obvious, sense of desperation.

"Anubis, when you said it was all my fault, what did you mean?" Ryuki asked. Anubis stopped in his steps and sighed. He turned and looked at the young man, boy, in front of him. Despite missing the braid, this was how Ryuki had looked to him before…before that dreadful day.

"We meet the others first, and then we talk," Anubis said before turning around and walking away. Ryuki quickly followed after him.

(Back in the present)

It was just after dinner before some of the Titans retreated for their rooms. Those that chose to do otherwise stayed in the living room to do their thing, like playing videogames or competing against one another in chess. Ryuga was sitting on an armchair with Jinx in his lap watching as Pluto, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Robin played a racing game. Ryuga rolled his eyes. He had lost taste in these 'toys' a long time ago.

Brimstone and Silkie both growled and hissed at Ryuga. However, the disguised Orphenoch's eyes just glowed a bit before they backed off, whimpering in fear. He smirked.

"Wonder what's wrong with them?" Jinx asked.

"I don't know," Ryuga shook his head, mimicking Ryuki's confused expression. He leaned up to give Jinx a kiss. She kissed him back

"Maybe they smelled something they didn't like," Shadow supplied. He was playing a game of chess with Raven. Ryuga inwardly growled as he pulled his lips away from Jinx's neck and glared at Shadow.

"Let's go to my room," Ryuga insisted before whispering something suggestively into Jinx's ear. Jinx gasped and blushed a bit before she gave him a smirk.

"Sure," Jinx purred before he lifted her up and began carrying her towards his room.

Shadow raised a palm and created a small shadow snake. It hissed. "Follow them," he commanded and it slithered down his arm and to the floor, slithering after the couple.

(In the Future)

"Hey, Craig," spoke a Chinese man with short black hair with some green in it. Ryuki blinked. He looked an awful lot like…

"Hello, Jake," Craig said, greeting the other man back.

'Jake?' Ryuki looked over the man. He was in his early thirties and well built with strong muscles. He wore a pair of camouflage pants with a red shirt that had its sleeves torn off. Around his waist was a belt with daggers on the side. He also wore a pair of leather combat boots. He had several scars on his arms and wore black cut off gloves. Ryuki could only imagine his dragon form.

"So, you're back," said a lovely woman with chin length black hair with a single pink streak running through it. Dressed in dark green cargos and a green tank top, a sword was slung over her back. She also wore a pair of metal bracelets around her wrists and she wore the same pair of combat boots as Jake. She went over to Jake and gave him a kiss on the lips. Jake kissed back. She noticed that Craig had company. "Craig, who's your new friend over there?"

"This kid?" Craig pointed to Ryuki. "Just found him and rescued him from some Orphenochs," he lied.

"My name is Ryu," Ryuki said, using an alias.

"You look kinda familiar, Ryu," Jake said. "You come from New York or something?"

Ryu remained silent.

"Lay off him, Jake," Anubis said. "He just told me that he saw his whole family getting slaughtered by Orphenochs. Cut him some slack!"

"Whatever, dude," Jake shrugged. "Oh, and Ryu," Ryuki looked up. "Welcome to the resistance." Jake took Juniper's hand and they walked away.

"Come with me," Anubis said and Ryuki followed him towards a door. Craig entered a code into a pad and placed his hand on it. The door opened and Anubis pushed Ryuki in before he entered as well. "I guess you want answers right now, huh?"

"I do," Ryuki nodded. "What happened to him…me?" He wanted to know what had caused the creation of Ryuga.

"As I told you before, there was a mission," Craig said, eyes closed. "Long story short: Robin led us to stop Slade, and your sister was there helping those robots steal something for him. We did what we always did and kicked robot butt. However, whatever was inside the lab self-destructed. Jinx was the only one who… didn't make it." Ryuki eyes widened.

"Jinxy-chan…she…" Ryuki started.

"She died instantly when the explosion went off," Craig admitted sadly. "There was barely anything left of her when we salvaged the remains of the lab. If it's any consolation to you, she would have felt no pain."

"Then what?" Ryuki asked.

"You pretty much locked yourself in your room after her funeral, feeling absolute regret, grief and guilt for what had happened to Jinx. You blamed yourself and you stopped smiling. A few weeks later there was another mission and you came along, despite Shadow's insistence that you stay behind due to your emotional, not to mention psychological, imbalance. It was just a routine bank robbery, but before Robin could give the order you just dashed in and tore the criminals apart. You killed the bank robbers with you bare hands, kid." Ryuki remained silent as Anubis continued. "You left after that and we didn't see you again for 2 whole months. When you did come back, you had joined Occultus as one of his generals and began attacking the city with his army of Orphenochs. Terra, Renia, Blackfire, Shadowcobra and Pluto were the only Titans that survived."

"No…" Ryuki looked at his hands, which were shaking.

"Afterwards, Occultus awoke the Orphenoch King by using you as its vessel. Occultus attempted to take control of you, but you killed him. I know this because I was there with Shadow, Terra, Renia, Blackfire and Pluto. It changed you. You became something else, something utterly sinister, and we were forced to leave when Zandia blew up. We thought you perished with it, but we were proven wrong when you came back to participate in the Zodiac Tournament. You won in the end, and the wish you made was to be granted. You wished for the complete dominion over the Earth. The world belonged to the Orphenochs, and you were their King. By then, what was left of your humanity was long gone."

"Masaka…What happened to the others? What about the Justice League?"

"You, I mean Ryuga, blew up the Watchtower. You even poisoned Superman with Kryptonite right before you tore his head off. Ryuga tore off my left arm and destroyed my right eye, but thankfully Pluto managed to fix them right up before he died at your hands. That was 10 years ago. Later on you also massacred Terra, Blackfire, Shadow…"

"No more!" Ryuki begged, hands on his ears. "Please, no more!" he cried. He fell to his knees. "I couldn't have! I couldn't!"

"You took over the world, kid," Anubis said sadly, "and destroyed everyone and anyone that would dare oppose you, heroes and villains alike. It was then that we decided to try and see if we could change history so that this all never happened. The watch I had was a time traveling device and I was sent back to the past with it to undo all of this. It was our only chance."

Ryuki lowered his head and was silent for several seconds. Then he simply uttered two words, his voice low but determined: "Do it."

(In the present)

Ryuga laid Jinx upon the bed and licked his lips as he grinned, gazing down upon her. His hands went up and down her sides before he leaned down to kiss her neck. Jinx moaned as her own hands began rubbing up and down his back. He licked and nibbled on her neck before going up to kiss her passionately on the lips. Their mouths opened and their tongues wrestled. His hands went to her back to pull down the zipper.

That was when Jinx placed a hand on his arms, stopping him. "W-wait," she said, a bit out of breath and cheeks flushed.

"What now?" he growled a bit, impatient.

"Maybe… maybe I'm not in the mood," she said.

His eyes glared. 'Not in the mood?' However, he let his cool remain. There was no reason to blow his cover now. "Very well," he said, pulling her up. "Maybe later?"

Jinx smiled and looped her arms around his neck, kissing him. "Maybe later." She then walked out of the room.

Ryuga walked over to his mirror and smashed his fist into it. "KUSO!" he swore.

(In the future)

Anubis wasn't sure if he had heard right. "What?"

"Didn't you hear me?" Ryuki said before looking up at him, "I said DO IT! That was your mission, wasn't it? To kill me and to undo all this, this nightmare? Come on! Do it!" Tears fell from his eyes. He was begging for death. "Come on…come on…" He smashed his fists on the floor. "What are you waiting for? Do it!" He cried.

Anubis looked at the gun in his holster and back down on the man, no, boy on the floor in front of him, begging to be killed. Right now, at this moment, he was seeing the friend that he had lost, the Ryuki before he had been stripped of his humanity.

"No," Anubis said firmly.

"Why not?!" Ryuki shouted out at him. Anubis didn't give him an answer, choosing to just walk out and close the door behind him.

"Hey," Anubis heard a voice say, followed closely by someone appearing into view before him.

"Oh, it's you, Danny," Anubis said.

Danny Phantom was now an adult, clad in the same uniform his evil future alternate self had worn, but minus the cape. He was quite muscular. His hair was still as messy as ever, but he had pulled it back a bit into a ponytail. He also had a goatee and his green eyes shone with experience.

"I told you it was a bad idea," Danny said. "Clockwork told me that things happen for a reason and because of what you guys did we're now stuck with Ryuga in the past and him here. What are you gonna do now, smart guy?"

"Look, Danny, I'm thinking," Anubis said gruffly to his 2nd in Command.

"Thinking, huh?" Danny responded sarcastically. "Maybe you should've thought harder! We can't just kill him to undo all this! It wouldn't be fair to him at all."

"I know that now," Anubis said with a sigh. "It's just, seeing him now, I see the boy who used to be my friend. It ain't easy to see him now and to also see the monster he would become if he were to stay alive."

"So, what are you going to do now?"

Anubis shook his head. "I just don't know."

(Back in the present.)

Ryuga was watching a movie with the Titans. He sat next to Jinx with an arm around her shoulders. For some reason she fidgeted a bit before she relaxed against him. His eyes wandered around and looked over the Titans. Soon his true plan would be implemented, and he would finally have what he had desired all these years.

Raven and Shadowcobra's eyes narrowed at the disguised Ryuga.

The alarm suddenly blared and Ryuga grinned. Tonight was the night.

(Back in the future)

Anubis walked back into his office to see Ryuki still curled up in the fetal position. Ryuki looked up. "Are you going to kill me now? Please, just do it."

Anubis shook his head. "No, I won't. I have something else in mind." He then gave Ryuki something, and the Dragon Knight's eyes widened with joy.

(Back in the present)

Slade's robots were robbing a branch of S.T.A.R. Labs and carrying various hi-tech equipment. Copycat was leading them.

"I don't know what Slade-sama wants with all this equipment, but I bet it's gonna be big," Copycat snickered. "Alright, hurry it up, you metal heads! We're barely running on schedule. Slade-sama wants all this equipment before…" A birdarang flew past her face and imbedded itself into a wall, "… the Titans get here." She turned to where the birdarang came from, and lo and behold, at the door were the Titans.

"Doing some late night shopping, Kat?" Robin asked, smirking cockily.

"Well, you know me, I prefer to be thrifty," Copycat retorted. She then commanded, "ATTACK!"

Robin was about to shout, "Titans! Go!" But then a black and red blur leapt past him. It was Ryuga, and he was ripping through the Slade-Bots with a ferocity neither Kat nor the Titans had ever seen before. Copycat's eyes went wide open as her mouth fell off its hinges. She had never seen her brother this savage before and…wait a minute. She narrowed her eyes. Something just wasn't right.

Ryuga had finished off all of the Slade-Bots on his own in a matter of seconds, leaving the Titans, except for Shadowcobra and Raven, to look at him with shock. Beat Boy whistled.

The brief calm that followed was quickly interrupted, however.

"You're not my brother," Copycat accused, pointing at Ryuga. "Just who the hell are you?"

The Titans looked at her like she was crazy, all but two.

"Um, are you out of your mind?" Mortuary pointed to his head. "How can you say that isn't your brother?"

"Actually, she's right," Shadowcobra said, "That isn't Ryuki."

Raven agreed, saying, "Shadowcobra's right."

All the Titans turned to look at Ryuga, who found his own fingers a more interesting thing to look at for the moment. He soon looked up at everyone and his eyes narrowed, glowing RED, before he grinned. "How did you find out?"

The Titans gasped. "Who are you?"

Ryuga snapped his fingers and reverted to his true form, shocking the Titans. Jinx felt sick. She had let that… thing kiss her? She was holding her stomach and had a hand on her mouth. She was ready to puke.

"Who the hell are you?" Copycat shouted.

"Kat, I'm hurt," Ryuga pouted, feigning sadness, "How can you not recognize your poor sweet little twin brother?" He then smirked, "Because he suddenly grew a backbone, that's what!"

Shadowcobra explained, "He's Ryuki's evil future self." Copycat nodded and then looked at Ryuga. Damn, her brother turned completely badass!

Ryuga said to Shadowcobra, "You were spying on me, weren't you?"

Shadowcobra replied, "That's right. I sent a shadow agent to spy on you and I had just gathered enough evidence to expose you. I was going to do it after this mission, but since Copycat so kindly pointed it out on her own…"

"Well now, I should put my plan into motion a little quicker then," Ryuga said, flashing a sadistic grin.

"Plan? What plan?" Terra asked. Ryuga fired an energy blast at S.T.A.R. Labs, resulting in a powerful explosion that forced the Titans to take cover. Amidst the confusion, Ryuga made a grab for Jinx and she struggled against him.

"LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" she shrieked as she began to wave her arms and legs around. Ryuga was having trouble keeping his hold on her.

"TITANS! GO!" Robin commanded, and all of them began their attack on Ryuga. Ryuga rolled his eyes and then glared at them. They all froze in an instant.

"What?" Robin tried to move but his body was frozen.

"Robin, I cannot move!" Starfire panicked.

"What's going on?" Beast Boy asked.

"It's a little trick I developed, same as this handy little one here," Ryuga said before he slashed a portal into future. "Now that I have my queen, I will bring her to the future so that she may rule with me. Of course, she'll need to be modified and turned into an Orphenoch, too, but that's a small price to pay." Ryuga lifted up Jinx to look her dead in the eyes. The witch tried to look away, but was held in a sick, twisted thrall. "You'll love it, Jinx, ruling by my side. Trust me on that, my Queen."

To Be Continued…

Okay, the reason this chap is called Bleak Future was because of the answers that Ryuki had from Anubis and they weren't the ones he would have liked. What is Ryuga's plan? What will Ryuki do? What is Anubis' decision? Well, stay tune for more.

A shout out to Jazzpha. He helps me edit my fics, this one and including Advent Knights of Legend. A very talented writer!

And Zombi138 gave me the idea to make Danny Anubis' 2nd in command!