Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Nor do I own Batman. I just noticed that Kaiba is a lot like Bruce Wayne, and decided to run with this story. So sue me (on second thought please don't)!
Author's Note: First off, I'd like to thank Margherita-Lily and Suma-dragon's child for the comments. Secondly, I'm sorry I didn't update last week, but our wireless was messing up and my sibs are complete computer hogs. Lastly, for my fans of Vampyre Story, I should be updating soon. If you haven't read it you should.
Sunlight streamed in through the window, accompanied by the sound of a pair of blue jays disputing ownership of a crust of bread. The room was stark white and contained a bed, two chairs, and a cart filled with complicated-looking instruments.
Serenity Wheeler occupied one of the chairs. She sat next to the bed and held the hand of the man who lay there. Her face was stained with tears.
The face of the man in the bed was only half visible. White gauze bandages swathed the left side of Ryou Bakura's head from throat to crown. He was asleep, his heartbeat and other vital signs monitored by the wires and tubes that connected his bed to the instrument-laden cart. Now and then the visible portion of his face twitched and grimaced, as though reacting to an unpleasant dream.
In the corner of the room stood two more individuals. A tired-looking Seto Kaiba watched as Dr. Denquel, an elderly black man with a long, sensitive face, checked the output of the monitoring device.
Serenity gave a small sigh and lifted her eyes from her fiancé's unconscious face. "Doctor," she said softly, "will he be all right?"
"He'll pull through," Dr. Denquel answered with a nod. "He's lucky Batman got him here so quickly."
Seto considered the bandaged half of Ryou's head. "What about his face?" he asked in a low voice.
"That's a different matter," the doctor replied gravely. "Though a plastic surgeon should be able to repair most of the physical scars."
Seto nodded slowly. He watched the signs of inner torment twitch and strain his friend's face. "I'm more worried about the psychological scars," he murmured.
Sunset came in a blaze of orange above the Domino skyline. Rupert Dartz stood before the large picture window in his penthouse apartment and scanned the evening newspaper. A file photo of Ryou Bakura displayed the district attorney's winning smile beneath a banner headline: BAKURA CAUGHT IN REFINERY PLANT - DA DAYS MAY BE OVER.
Mai was reading over Dartz's shoulder. "Looks like Ryou-boy's finally out of your hair," she said with an airy smile.
"I wish I could be sure of that." Dartz strode to the fireplace and tossed the paper into the flames. The fire leapt eagerly. In a moment, one side of Ryou Bakura's face had shriveled and darkened beyond recognition. Mai came up behind Dartz and slipped her arm through his. The pair watched intently as the flames devoured the rest of the front page.
The patient sat stiffly upright against his pillows as Dr. Denquel snipped and pulled at the bandages on the left side of his face. Ryou felt like an onion that was being unpeeled. A young nurse held a tray of instruments at the doctor's side.
"Now, you understand there's going to be some visible damage," Dr. Denquel said as he worked. "But I've already scheduled a consultation with a top-notch surgeon and…" He paused as he gingerly removed the last layer of bandages.
The doctor's eyes grew wide. The nurse looked up and gave an involuntary gasp, quickly covering her mouth with her palm. Metal instruments rattled on the tray.
"Well?" the patient asked. His voice was rasping, guttural, as he looked back and forth between doctor and nurse. "Give me a mirror."
"Umm…" Dr. Denquel eyed him uncertainly. "Ryou, it might be a good idea to wait until-"
"I said give me a mirror!" He reached out and grabbed the doctor by his collar, the stethoscope knotting in his powerful fingers. "Now!"
Serenity waited patiently for the elevator doors to open. She was dressed in an expensive pale blue suit and she carried a large bouquet of daylilies and roses. The expression on her face reflected in the shiny metal doors was both nervous and hopeful - with good reason, she told herself. Today was the big day - the removal of the bandages that meant that Ryou's recovery could begin. Perhaps now the two of them could start putting the awful events of the past few weeks behind them and get on with their lives. Finally the doors slid open and she emerged into the long corridor.
She had started briskly down the hallway when a howling scream erupted from on of the private rooms at the far end. There was the sound of furniture being toppled and glass breaking, then a thin man burst out of the left-hand room and stumbled into the center of the hallway. Dressed in pajamas and a robe, he stood barefoot on the cold tiled floor, his chest heaving. He was staring down at the polished tile and he seemed confused, disorientated. The right side of his face was turned toward Serenity.
"Ryou?" She began to hurry toward him. "What happened?" As she neared him, he lifted his head and turned slowly to face her. Serenity's footsteps slowed as the left side of his face came into view.
It was as if an invisible line had been drawn down the exact center of his face from forehead to chin. To the left of that line, the skin was ghastly, mottled blue-gray in color, its rough surface pebbled with small wart-like bumps. The left side of his lips were bright red and grotesquely swollen and drawn back in an hideous, permanent leer, while his left eye bulged from its socket like the yolk of an uncooked egg, its black pupil fixed malevolently on the woman who approached. The hair on the left side of his head stood up from his scalp in a coarse tangle.
The other side of his head had not been injured. The fact that "Radiant Ryou" Bakura still peered uncertainly from the right side of the bisected face made the leering travesty of the left all the more horrible.
Serenity felt her heart hammering in her chest as she stared at the awful contrast. A pink haze swam across her vision and she fell slowly to the floor, the flowers spilling out of their tissue paper wrapping to scatter in a pool of red and orange at her side.
The divided man walked stiffly forward and stood over his fiance for a long moment. He looked back over his shoulder. Noises were beginning to come from inside his room. The elevators gleamed at him from the end of the hallway. "Good-bye, Serenity," he rasped as a buzzer began to sound insistently. Then he lowered his head like a bull and charged off down the corridor.
Remember fans, I use your comments, questions, and wild accusations to fuel my writing flame. So the more there are the quicker I'll have the next chappie up!
Lots of love on my birthday,
Cazuuki