Chapter Twelve
Yugi and his group were trying not to panic as they made their way out of the schoolhouse and through the disturbing ghost town. When the bell started ringing again, they looked at each other in horror. Many of them bolted, running as fast as they could to get away.
Joey was one of the fastest. As he tore out of the town limits, he stumbled to a halt in surprised shock at the sight that greeted him. "Hey! Yami Bakura?! What the heck?! Where did you come from?!"
Yami Bakura, still held in Dark Necrofear's comforting embrace, looked up with a start. "Where did I come from?!" he retorted, relief and confusion flashing through his eyes. "Where did you come from?!"
"From back there!" Joey pointed over his shoulder. "At the creepiest of all spots around town—Cooperstown! We've been looking for you and Bakura for ages!"
Yami Bakura looked away. "Bakura is dead," he said bitterly. "This man killed him." He pointed to Johnson, who was still dazed on the ground from the Doom Gaze attack.
"No way!" Joey stiffened, clenching a fist. "I'd beat the guy up, but it looks like you already have that covered."
Yami Bakura gave a weak, hopeless shrug. "Bakura is still dead." He stared at Johnson without fully seeing him. Had he delivered justice, or blind hatred? Or had it started as one but become the other? Did it matter?
He never would change, would he? He couldn't react to something like this with anything other than hatred and rage. And under the circumstances, he couldn't make himself feel that he had done wrong. And, he was sure, that would mean he wasn't "good" by Shadi's standards. Probably in the eyes of Bakura's religion as well, even if Bakura himself would feel differently.
"No one could lose loved ones in such a cruel way without feeling hatred," the boy had told him more than once. "If it had been me in Kul Elna . . . Yami, I might have become even more vicious than you."
And then there was the conversation they had had in what seemed a lifetime ago now, when Bakura had told him that if the Pharaoh and his court had truly been responsible for the massacre, as Yami Bakura had fully believed, he would have been right to go after them and bring their rule down. This was the same type of situation, wasn't it? It was right to stop the Big Five. Perhaps . . . perhaps Bakura wouldn't be afraid of him for what he had done. Even though he certainly had gone past what was actually necessary to stop Johnson.
"Hey."
He jumped. Joey was in front of him now, actually looking concerned. "Are you okay?"
He shook his head. "No." There was no use denying it, no matter how weak it would make him look. But they wouldn't think him weak for loving Bakura that much. They would understand.
The others had caught up now. Atem stepped forward, his eyes filled with concern. "Bakura . . ."
"Don't call me that!" Yami Bakura snapped. "Bakura is his name and only his name now." He turned away. "I am merely a nameless thief."
"Well . . . we've gotta call you something," Joey said. "And you know, we started thinking you were dead too! But here you are! We must've all been in the same space, only Johnson made us think we weren't!"
Yami Bakura frowned. That made a certain sense. But even so, the spell was broken over this part of the area and there was no sign of Bakura. And anyway, if Bakura was alive, wouldn't Johnson have admitted it in a desperate attempt to save himself from Yami Bakura's heartbroken and crazed assault? Why would he be asinine enough to say nothing?
"Look," Joey continued impatiently, "we're all upset about Bakura, if he's really dead. In this place, I'm not so sure he is! But . . . no matter what's happened to him, the truth is that we were upset about you too!"
"What?" Yami Bakura stared. That was the last thing he thought he would hear.
"It's true," Téa said softly. "We didn't want you to be laying somewhere hurt either. You're Bakura's friend . . . and ours too. I know you probably feel like you're all alone now, but you're not! We all care about you!"
Yami Bakura turned his disbelieving gaze to her, then to each of the others. Yugi smiled and nodded. Atem and Marik, though more somber, nodded as well. Seto just folded his arms and looked skeptical. Mokuba also hung back.
"Okay, so maybe 'almost all of us care about you' would be more accurate," Joey said gruffly. "But Téa's right. I never thought I could feel that way about you after all the crud you pulled in the past. But . . . you really are different now that you're free from Zorc. You're still kind of weird and you like to freak me and Tristan out, but you don't do anything bad."
"Perhaps you would feel differently had you seen me ten minutes ago," Yami Bakura said as he finally found his voice. "I used the Pharaoh's idea of playing Berserker Soul so I could attack Johnson again and again. I didn't even notice when his lifepoints dropped to zero; I just kept going."
Everyone looked at him in surprise for a moment—not because of what he had done, but how he had known to do it.
". . . My idea?" Atem said at last.
"My shadow in the Millennium Puzzle saw you," Yami Bakura said. "When we merged again, I gathered all of those memories."
Atem looked away. ". . . Of course." He had learned of the shadow some time ago, but it still seemed awkward to remember that Yami Bakura had been spying all that time.
"You were hurting," Téa said quietly. "Just as Atem was back then."
Yami Bakura raised an eyebrow. "You're saying that it doesn't bother you?"
"Well, you're right that we didn't see you," Joey said. "Maybe we would've thought you were a raving nutcase. But . . ." He heaved a sigh. "When we'd really stop to think about it, we'd understand."
Téa nodded. "I would have known right off the bat. I was with Atem during that dark moment in his life. I knew exactly why he attacked Weevil the way he did, and I couldn't blame him. But I couldn't stand to see him like that, in so much pain. I had to make him stop."
Yami Bakura bowed his head. This still seemed unreal. No one could ever take Bakura's place, and none of them would try. But . . . to actually know that some more of the people he had hurt cared about him was incredible, overwhelming. It was more than he deserved.
Yugi looked up at him. "We want to be your friends . . . if you'll have us."
"You're not just saying this because Bakura is dead and you feel you owe him something," Yami Bakura said slowly.
"No!" Joey burst out. "What the heck? What kind of a thing would that be to do?!"
"It's a legitimate question, especially after we weren't as close to Bakura as we should have been," Atem said. "But no, we sincerely mean it."
"That's right," Marik spoke at last.
Yami Bakura looked up again. "Thank you," he rasped. At that moment he didn't look like the strong and proud Thief King at all, but a tired and heartbroken man, weighed down by millennia of pain and loss.
"I am . . . glad you're alright," he stammered. And he was, really. He was still hurting that Bakura was not with them, but he had not expected that. He had determined Bakura was likely the only one dead, however; it would have been too strange for everyone to have died at that time. Johnson acting as though Bakura was the only one gone had only confirmed his feelings.
Seto still looked skeptical. "You are?" he said.
"It's funny, I guess, but I believe him," Joey said. "I don't think he could swallow his pride and say that if he didn't mean it."
"I agree," said Atem.
"Yes, that is correct." Yami Bakura still looked and sounded tired. "I was sure you were alive, but I didn't know where to look."
That was when a turquoise convertible suddenly drove up. "Hey! Joey! Yugi! Téa! Atem!" Tristan called. He leaped over the door of Duke's car and ran over to the group.
"Tristan!" Yugi waved, hurrying to meet him.
"Joey!" Serenity quickly followed.
Joey perked up. "Serenity!" He ran over and pulled her into a hug. "What the heck are you doing out in all this?!"
Serenity clutched him close. "Did you really think I'd stay away?"
"No, but I was hoping." Joey looked over as Tristan studied everyone present. His stomach started to knot.
"So where's Bakura?" Tristan frowned.
Everyone looked down.
"Tristan . . . Bakura is . . ." Téa brushed at her eyes. "Well, we're not sure. There was an explosion and he disappeared, but so did Yami Bakura and he's back now. . . ."
Tristan looked to Yami Bakura in shock and anger. "How did that happen to Bakura?!" he demanded. "You're supposed to protect him! Why didn't you?!"
"Tristan!" Yugi gasped.
Yami Bakura jerked, staring at Tristan with an unreadable expression. Everyone tensed. Was he going to snap again? Would he attack Tristan as he had Johnson?
Instead he turned, his hair flying out around him. "Because he was protecting me!" he spat. He looked down at Johnson. "And if he wasn't dead, don't you think this fool would have told me to save himself?!"
Tristan flinched. "Well, I don't know!" he shot back. "Why don't we wake him up and find out?!"
"Don't fight," Téa pleaded. "You're both hurting, but that won't help!"
Yugi nodded. "We need to be united against the Big Five, not fighting among ourselves!"
Tristan clenched his teeth. "What happened to the guy anyway?" he asked, looking down at the dazed Johnson.
"He's the one who caused the explosion," Atem said. "Apparently he dueled Yami Bakura and Yami Bakura eventually snapped and attacked him." He looked down. "Just as I did on the train with Weevil."
Seto reached and grabbed Johnson's arms, hauling him to his feet. "Well, I have to admit the thief did us all a favor. Now I'm not letting Johnson out of my sight."
Johnson flinched, beginning to revive as Seto tied his wrists behind his back. "Mr. Kaiba, what . . ."
"Save it," Seto interrupted. "You're coming with us. I don't suppose you'd be worth anything to the other members of the Big Five as a bargaining chip."
"Bargaining for what?" Téa blinked. "They'd never agree to stop their plans if you give Johnson back. . . ."
"If Bakura's alive, maybe we can trade him for Johnson," Mokuba suggested.
"I don't know what to believe on that," Seto said. "Nor do I think this snake would tell us the truth. He probably doesn't even know what the truth looks like anymore; he's lived with lies for so long."
"You won't have any luck trying to trade me for that boy," Johnson insisted.
"Why not?" Yugi frowned. "Is Bakura really dead? Or do the Big Five just want him for some reason?"
"Look at the evidence," Johnson smoothly replied. "You found the scraps of his incinerated clothing. My world has disappeared and he hasn't returned. What does that say to you?"
"It says to me that you need to shut up before I take my turn beating you up!" Joey retorted, shaking a fist in Johnson's face.
"Alright, let's just keep going," Yugi said. "Tristan, where did you guys come from?"
"From Nesbitt's section," Tristan scowled. "We were just about to clobber him in a duel and he teleported out so he wouldn't have to suffer defeat."
"Okay, so we probably don't want to go that way," Yugi said. "How about we keep moving right? I think we're almost back to the city now. We'll probably come down in Lector's section if we stick to the right."
"Fine with me," Tristan said.
"But hardly any of you guys are going to fit in the car," Duke remarked.
"Hey, now that we're away from that creep show, we can ride Red Eyes again," Joey said. "That's what I'm gonna do."
"That sounds like fun," Serenity smiled.
"It sure is!" Joey exclaimed, before realizing what she meant. "But . . . uh, you don't wanna ride way up high like that, do you?!" Worry flickered in his eyes.
"Yes, I do, Joey," Serenity insisted. "I'll be fine! And hey, it's not every day that I get to ride your favorite Duel Monster!"
"That's true," Joey said slowly, scratching his head. "Maybe if you hold on to me, you won't fall. . . ."
That was when the Magicians finally decided to speak and make their presence known.
"Hello," the Dark Magician greeted Atem.
Atem turned and stared. How had he not noticed these two were here? "Mahad?" he gasped.
The Dark Magician looked alarmed. "Oh no," he exclaimed. "Master Mahad is the great first Dark Magician. We've all heard many tales of him. I am just a lowly servant, striving to become even half as great as he."
Yami Bakura rolled his eyes.
"I . . . I see," Atem stammered, clearly surprised to meet a Dark Magician who wasn't Mahad.
"I will do all I can to protect you and the others, my Pharaoh," the Dark Magician said.
"And so will I," the Dark Magician Girl beamed.
"Thank you," Atem said, still reeling.
David leaned over to Duke while everyone else sorted out where they wanted to ride. "So, do we tell them about running into you-know-who, or do you think we should wait and see if she'll show up on her own this time?" he whispered.
Duke paused. "Honestly, I'm inclined to say we should wait. Joey's already had a lot of false hopes about her coming back. But let's leave it up to Tristan and Serenity, at least for now. They're closer to Joey than we are."
"Right now, Tristan looks mad enough to bite through metal," David noted.
A sigh from Duke. "Probably a combination of running into you-know-who, then Nesbitt, and now coming and finding out about Bakura. That's a lot for one day, especially for a guy who doesn't always do so well at keeping his temper. He's always good at it when Joey's losing it, but not so good when it's something that hits him especially hard."
"Yami Bakura looked ready to sock him when he snapped at him," David said.
"If Tristan keeps pushing his buttons, he just might," Duke said. "I just hope they're not both going to come with us."
When all the arrangements were made, Tristan had decided to ride Red Eyes. Yami Bakura was still standing on the ground, his fists clenched. "We'll just walk," he said, indicating himself and Dark Necrofear.
Yugi regarded him in concern. "Are you sure?"
"There's room in the car," Duke said, "since most people wanted to see what it was like to ride a dragon."
Yami Bakura hesitated for a long moment. But he couldn't deny the practicality of moving faster. "Fine," he grunted at last. He nearly threw himself into the backseat of the car. Dark Necrofear silently entered after him.
David stared at her. "That Duel Monster has always given me the heebie-jeebies," he hissed to Duke. "That soulless look and her broken doll that moves and talks on its own. . . ."
Duke just shrugged. "If she's on our side, I don't care."
"She is," Yami Bakura insisted.
"Then let's go." As Red Eyes cast a huge shadow over the car while taking flight, Duke revved the engine to keep pace with him on the ground. He started down the road, which was thankfully modern asphalt and not a bumpy dirt trail. Yami Bakura just folded his arms, apparently not planning to volunteer much more, if anything, to the conversation. Dark Necrofear felt likewise.
David was alright with that.
xxxx
Bakura was both surprised and not surprised when he emerged from the strange conference room prison to find himself in KaibaCorp. Naturally, where else would the Big Five be operating from?
He hurried to the elevator and down to the first floor. He didn't know how or who, but he had to find someone to help him get back to the others. Yami Bakura was so devastated and heartbroken! And the effects of the Change of Heart card would likely only last for a few minutes. Gansley could start coming after him before he even made it out of the building.
To his relief, he made it downstairs and outside without difficulty. And to his amazement, a Marauding Captain ran right up to him. "Excuse me, are you Ryou Bakura?" he greeted.
Bakura blinked rapidly, bemused. "Why yes . . ."
"Then come with me," the Marauding Captain beseeched. "Your friends are looking for you."
Bakura perked up. "Have you seen Yami and the Pharaoh and the others?!"
"No," the Marauding Captain said slowly. "I've come on behalf of my master, Valon."
More confusion. "Oh. . . . The bikers are looking for us?!"
"They, and some others." The Marauding Captain gestured down the street. "Please, come with me."
Bakura followed, agreeably. "Who else is looking?" he wondered. "Tristan and Duke?"
"Solomon Muto and a woman," the Marauding Captain told him. "One my master is quite fond of. I believe her name is . . ."
"Mai?!" Bakura stared. The bluish-purple convertible was coming down the street now, driven by Mai Valentine with Solomon in the passenger seat. Valon was riding on his motorcycle next to the car, while a blue sedan followed behind.
"Oh! Bakura!" Solomon leaned on the top of the door as Mai pulled over to the curb. "Good, you've been found! Where are the others?"
"Up near the mountains," Bakura exclaimed. He pulled the back door open and hurried inside. "We must find them immediately! Yami thinks I'm dead. . . ." He swallowed hard.
"Why on Earth does he think that?!" Solomon exclaimed.
"Talk later, drive now!" Mai interrupted. She floored the gas pedal and swerved to the left to head for the mountains.
Bakura yelped, flying to one side of the car. "The Big Five deliberately tricked him so he'd snap!" he cried.
"And did he?" Solomon frowned.
"Yes, but not the way they wanted." Bakura finally managed to pull the seatbelt down. "They wanted him to use the Infinity Ring in a burst of hateful rage so that it would turn on him and burn him up. Then they could take it." Angry tears pricked his eyes. "He didn't use it at all. He had Dark Necrofear attack one of the Big Five over and over again. Then he burned out because it wasn't bringing me back . . ." He trailed off.
"How do you know all of this, Bakura?" Solomon gently asked.
"I was being held prisoner in a room with screens," Bakura said. "The Big Five were monitoring everyone. And when I learned that they had wanted Yami to use the Infinity Ring so it would backfire, I . . . did something horrible and I don't regret it." He gripped the knees of his pants.
"What did you do?" Mai asked.
"Well, for some reason I found myself holding a Change of Heart card," Bakura said. "I guess I subconsciously grabbed it off the ground after trying to save Yami from that explosion. I could have used it as soon as that one Big Five member walked into the room where they were holding me, but I just couldn't see myself mind-controlling any human being, even them. Then when I knew what their plan had really been, I lost control of myself and used it to escape." He looked down. "I actually took away someone's free will. And when I don't regret it . . . doesn't that make me as bad as they?"
Mai and Solomon were silent for a moment. Then, gathering his thoughts, Solomon said, "The Change of Heart only works for one turn, doesn't it?"
"Yes," Bakura said slowly. "But how does that matter? I still did it. And I'm not sorry."
"At least he's surely free of the effect by now," Solomon said. "And I think motivation comes into play a lot in a situation like this. The Big Five are controlling the entire city and all of our fates because of their own selfish notions. You found out that your dear friend was being tortured because they wanted him to die and leave the Ring behind for them to take. You knew you had to get out of there and find him. And when you learned the extent of their evil, you felt it justified to use the Change of Heart card to get away."
"I suppose," Bakura said softly.
"Hey, it's a lot better than joining an evil cult to get ultimate power," Mai said. "My motivation had nothing to do with wanting the power to protect anyone or anything noble like that. I just couldn't lose any more. I had to win. And that blinded me to what was really going on."
"But your situation wasn't so cut-and-dry either, Mai," Bakura objected. "Yami Marik completely devastated you. You can't just immediately bounce back from being emotionally broken. I know that all too well from personal experience . . . and from trying to help Yami after Yami Marik tortured him for days on end. You weren't yourself. Neither was he. It took weeks to really get him back to some semblance of normalcy, and that was only because I was there," he softly added. "After Battle City, you were all alone. You didn't have anyone to help you overcome Yami Marik's lingering evil."
Mai smiled, a bit ruefully. "I try to tell myself that," she said, "but it doesn't do a whole lot of good. I just can't reconcile myself with what I did." Softer, she added, "So how can I think anyone else can?"
"Joey forgave you long ago, Mai," Solomon said quietly. "Actually, I doubt he ever blamed you for one moment. He knew something wasn't right. He knew you would never join Dartz in your right mind."
"I like to think he's right," Mai said. "And Tristan's worried that I'll hurt Joey again. He has every right to worry."
"He'll come around," Bakura insisted. "If he can forgive Yami, he can forgive anyone!"
Mai looked at him in the rear-view mirror. "That's another thing," she said. "I know Yugi and the rest said that there was some evil spirit possessing you in the past. I guess that's 'Yami'? What's up with him and you being so close? And apparently having separate bodies?"
Now Bakura's smile was rueful. "That's quite a long story," he said. "And what about you, Mai? What made you finally decide to come back?
"That," Mai said, "is another long story. One I'll probably be telling soon, when we find Joey."
"Fair enough," Bakura said.
"Oh," Solomon realized, "you probably don't know about the Pharaoh either, do you, Mai?"
Mai blinked. "The what? Oh . . . wait." She frowned. "Dartz was always talking about the Pharaoh. He said . . . Yugi was his vessel?"
"That's right," Solomon nodded. "A lot of the times you thought you were talking to Yugi, you were actually talking to the Pharaoh. He went away for a while, but now he's come back, and he also has a separate body."
"Well, that's . . . good to know," Mai said slowly.
"Oh, and Mai?" Bakura suddenly said. "Yami can change his appearance, so if he does that around you, don't be too surprised."
"Okay," Mai said, though she really didn't understand at all.
"He might do it to tease you, especially if he sees you're shocked by it." Bakura had a funny little smile now. It softened as he continued, "But he's harmless."
"I'm glad," Mai said. "I could tell you were a loner in the past. Being one myself, I can spot one a mile away. You needed some friends."
"I have the best ones I ever could," Bakura said. "And so do you."
"I know," Mai said quietly.
