Ba-Ku-Ra!

By: Miss-DNL & RenagadeRexRider

Chap 22: Journey Home

Pushing open the door to his room Ryo felt his heart leap for joy as he caught sight of his Father sitting up in the bed looking startled. He still looked tired and worn but for the moment the long haired boy didn't care as he flung himself into his father's arms letting out an overjoyed cry, "Father!"

Ryo's Father, Rikai, was caught off guard and let out a loud surprised gasp when he was suddenly impacted by his son flying into him. Bewildered for a moment he had to take a moment to register just what had hit him. Seeing his son burying his face in his clothing his eyes softened. Looking up at his son's two friends, Anzu and Honda, he silently motioned for them to give him a moment with his son. The two nodded and left the two alone. Stroking his son's long white hair he spoke softly to him, "I'm fine Ryo, I'm fine."

Observing the scene for a moment Akefia followed Anzu and Honda's leave and left the father and son alone for the time being, "... "

Finally pulling back, Ryo looked his father over, concern very clear in his light green eyes. Knowing what his father had gone through he wanted to be certain he was fine, "Are feeling okay? How did you get here?"

Rikai rubbed his neck, a father was supposed to be concerned about his son not the other way around, "I'm fine Ryo," He smiled to emphasize his words and ruffled Ryo's fluffy white hair before putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "I'm a bit sore and don't really feel that rested despite just waking up...but I'm fine. I assure you son I'm alright, okay?"

When he saw his son had calmed enough he moved onto his other question, "As for how I got here...I don't really remember." He admitted as he tried to piece together what happened, "I was at work...then things get fuzzy. Something about a call...next thing I know I woke up here." Rikai scratched his head finding his blurry memory puzzling. He wasn't so old that his memory was going, at least he hoped so. Turning his attention back to his son he smiled proudly, "Your friends told me what happened though, I have no clue why Pegasus took me hostage. They also told me you came here and saved me." Before his son could say anything Rikai pulled him into a warm and loving embrace, "I couldn't have asked for a better son. Thank you Ryo."

Ryo went speechless at his words; hugging his father back he shed a few tears of joy before managing to speak, "I'm just glad you're okay Father..."

Smiling, Rikai ruffled his hair again, "And I am because of you." He frowned sadly knowing his son would have been worried sick about him, he was the only family he had left. A teenager should have to worry about such things, but his son had pulled through it in stride. Still a little more reassurance wouldn't hurt, "I know you must have been worried sick Ryo but I'm fine now okay? Don't worry."

Finally convinced his father would be alright Ryo calmed and smiled at him, "Okay, Father." He replied softly before remembering the other person they saved, to which he looked over to the couch, "Hey, what happened to Mokuba?"

Rikai turned his head to where the child had been, "The child that was over there? He woke up a little while after I did. A couple of your friends, one called Yugi and a blond, went to go help him find his brother."

For a fleeting moment Akefia felt some envy towards how Rikai and his son interacted, but noticing Ryo's emotions level out Akefia took it as a sign that things were settling and perked hearing what his father had said, "Then all of the souls were rightfully sent back, hn?"

'Seems so...' Ryo replied to the spirit as he watched as his Father get out of bed, carefully monitoring for any bad signs. Relieved to see none, he gets off the bed with him.

Rikai opened the door and motioned for his son to come with him, "Come on, we should join with the others." For a moment he blinked curiously, "Wonder if they've found him already."

Akefia huffed at Rikai's comment, "If that bastard priest cares as much for his brother as he appeared too... obviously, I don't doubt he has."

'I hope so...' Ryo said thoughtfully to the thief. He quirked a brow at how the spirit addressed the CEO and decided to ask, 'Why did you call him a priest?'

Akefia frowned for a moment as the question pulled up memories. With a quick huff he answered, "He looks remarkably like someone I once fought and he happened to be a High Priest... Somewhat like Yugi bears a strong resemblance the Pharaoh," The Thief King huffed distastefully, "and frankly that pisses me off..."

'Huh, odd...' Was all Ryo said to that, deciding not to question which exactly he was pissed off about; he had a good feeling which anyway. Coming into the hall he saw that Honda and Anzu where still waiting for them, "Has Yugi, Jonouchi and Mokuba found Kaiba yet?"

Honda shrugged plainly, "Don't know..." Points down the hall, "They went this way, come on."

Following the group of teenagers Ryo's father blinked in surprise and confusion, "Kaiba? As in Kaiba Corp? Why is he here?"

"Pegasus wanted to take over the company." Anzu explained while keeping a look out for their friends.

Rikai scratched his blue haired head; he failed to understand why he had been dragged into this. What did an archeologist and a millionaire have to do with the man who created Duel Monsters? Giving up on trying to understand, he sighed, "He must have been a strange man..."

Hearing the comment the King of Thieves chuckled, "he has no idea..." Ryo had to agree with this, his father would never know just how strange Maximillian Pegasus was. It wasn't anything his father really needed to know either so he kept quiet on the subject.

When they reached the front of the castle Honda looked out the window, and once he did he brightened before exclaiming, "Hey there they are!" Quickly he headed outside with the others following close behind. Meeting up with Yugi and Jonouchi, Honda was stunned by the sight of the typically stoic Seto Kaiba hugging his little brother Mokuba. Taken aback, all he could manage to say was, "Wow...didn't expect that..."

Surprised as well by the display, Ryo just rubbed his neck, it was good to see that Kaiba did have a soft spot for his brother. Albeit a small and a rather hidden spot, but a spot all the same. Smiling slightly he thought, 'Good to see he does care...'

Looking at the sight the Thief King only huffed bluntly, not at all moved by the sight, "So it seems."

After a moment Ryo realized something, turning his head to the others he says, "How are we going to get home?"

"Good question..." Honda said slowly as he looked out at the harbor where the water was bare of any vessels, "I didn't see any boats waiting out in the harbor..."

"Eh!? What!?" Jonouchi exclaimed in shock.

This caught Mokuba Kaiba's attention, and after a quick glance from them to his brother he surprisingly says, "Hey Kaiba, let's let them ride in the helicopter too...please." He begged.

"Wha-" Kaiba began but cut himself off when he looked at Yugi, putting aside his pride for the time being he forced himself to say, "Fine but only because I owe Yugi..."

'Looks like we're in for a helicopter ride...' Ryo thought, rather surprised that Kaiba was going to cooperate and give them a ride back home, but it seemed he disliked being indebted to his rival even more than helping him. Either way it was a relief to know they wouldn't be stranded on the island.

The Thief King huffed to this, "Well that's one thing dow-" He stopped cold, "Wait..." Akefia said slowly now really wanting to know the answer of what he thought this meant, "Does he mean that flying thing?"

Following the others back through the forest to the clearing where the helicopter had landed Ryo answered his yami, 'Yes, that's right.'

The Millennium Ring shuddered in response to the Thief King's strong repulsion to the idea. He didn't like the thought of riding in the metal contraption, as a spirit in the Ring or not he didn't like it. He didn't understand how that thing was possibly capable of flight even if he had seen it with his own eyes. It just didn't seem right for metal to fly. "Ngh...," he managed through gritted teeth, "we're going to HAVE to aren't we...?"

'With no other boats, yes.' He answered before chuckling lightly at the Thief King's strong apprehension of riding in the helicopter, 'You don't like the helicopter do you?'

The Ring gave a strong twitch when the Thief King heard Ryo laugh, resulting in a yell of protest from the spirit, "I am NOT scared!"

'I didn't say you were.' Ryo replied lightly with a smile.

Realizing he was saying the truth, the Thief King went silent not wanting to purpose the conversation any longer and dig his hole any further. Thankfully his host didn't push the matter any further, but Akefia didn't really expect him to. The spirit of the Ring kept quiet all the while the group made the trek back to the monstrous machine.

"Haven't been on these for a while..." Ryo's father said mostly to himself as they began to pile into the helicopter.

By the time everyone had gotten into the helicopter Ryo had ended up pretty much sitting on this father's lap. He smiled sheepishly at the situation; he had forgotten that Kaiba's helicopter wasn't exactly a large one. The flight back was going to be interesting to say the least. "It's a bit tight..." He commented seeing everyone crammed together.

Yugi sweat dropped and warily said, "I don't think it was made for this many people..."

Regardless of the conditions Kaiba abruptly took off giving the gang a brief scare, ignoring the angry yells Jonouchi gave him as a result. On the way off the island they picked up the female duelist Mai, who hopped on via the ladder built onto the helicopter. It made things more cramped than before but the gang endured. Soon enough they were flying over the crystal blue ocean waters. For a small helicopter the vehicle could move surprisingly fast but then again it was owned by Kaiba who accepted nothing but the best.

Out on the waters was a seemingly normal yacht, the sides baring some Egyptian markings; however, what was strange was its location which was not far from Pegasus's island. A hooded form came out onto the deck with a much taller hooded person in tow. The two cloaked people headed over to a man who was waiting for them. Holding a tanned hand out, the smaller hooded figure expectantly said, "The papers?"

The American Bandit Keith wasted no time and handed over the papers he had found in Pegasus's hidden vault, "Right here, Master Malik."

Without missing a beat, Malik took them and looked them over, a dark grin formed on his lips, "So Obelisk is in Egypt too. Only Osiris was taken to America..." He said as he looked at the locations. He had known where Ra and Osiris were; only Obelisk had eluded him. He had believed prior that the third god card was hidden in another country. Thankfully he had thought of checking what Pegasus knew before looking.

'Heh-heh, trying to throw me off, eh sis?' He thought to himself; his older sister would have to do better than this to throw him off. He may be young but he was no fool.

"Good work Keith, we didn't get the Toon Cards but you did fulfill your objective. You may leave." Though he dismissed his servant, Malik kept his eyes on the papers as Keith nodded quietly and left looking relieved. Heading to the front of his ship, the larger cloaked man silently remained where he was. Malik chuckled to himself, things were finally coming together, "Heh-heheh, soon the Gods will be mine."

Hearing a helicopter fly overhead Malik looked up and gave a small grin. Seeing the Kaiba Corp logo he could guess who was on board.

On the helicopter the Millennium Ring's pointer shifts, reacting to the Scepter despite the distance between them. Immediately this catches the attention of the King of Thieves who was at first confused by the sudden reaction from the item, "Eh? The hell?" How could it be picking up an item all the way out here? Realization dawns on the thief when he realized which item the Ring was reacting to, "You have GOT to be joking!"

Also noticing the pointers move Ryo looked out the window of the helicopter and spotted the boat floating on the surface of the ocean. He knew of only one other person with a Millennium Item that could possibly be close by, 'Malik...'

Seeing Ryo looking out the window Jonouchi got curious about what his friend was looking at and peeked out as well. Surprised to see a boat out this far he pointed it out to the others, "Hey, guys look there's a boat!"

The blond woman Mai quirked a brow, it was odd to see a boat out this far, "That doesn't look like one of Pegasus's..." She noted seeing the Egyptian marking, "it doesn't have the I2 logo on it..."

"That's right..." Akefia said with a low growl, it still made him seethe how he threatened his host, "of course he'd have to be close by..." With the Scepter's power, the user could be very far away from his puppet but there was always something to be said about being closer to oversee the task one's self. Knowing nothing could be done now the Thief King let it go for the time being, "Doesn't matter, he's one we'll deal with another day..."

Watching them fly away from the yacht Ryo nodded mentally to the Thief King, there was no doubt in his mind that they'd cross paths again.

The leader of the Rare Hunters chuckled as he watched the copter fly away before peering back down at the papers, 'Soon, very soon everything will be ready. Pharaoh's life will belong to me and there will be nothing that can take that from me!'

After a long flight, despite Kaiba's speedy flying, the group finally made it back to Japan landing on the Kaiba Corporation's tower. The group said their farewells to the Kaiba brothers and made their way down to the ground floor, which they were escorted to by one of the employees. Coming out onto the streets the gang said their good-byes to each other and went their separate ways. Ryo and this father took a cab and made it back to his apartment seeing at it was closer than his father's home.

Once inside his apartment Ryo stretched his arms out, the long flight and taxi ride had left him feeling really stiff. Now feeling a bit loosened up he let out a calm sigh, "Ah, it's good to be home!"

Hearing his son's happy chime Rikai chuckled lightly, it was good to be around his son again. Rikai smiled when his son turned to him and gave him a hug, "Welcome home Father!"

"It's good to be back," Rikai said warmly. When his son let go he made his way over to the bathroom, "I'm going to go clean up. I'll stay here for a while. Okay?"

Hearing his father would be staying at his apartment Ryo brightened immediately, "Yes, of course!" Heading to the kitchen Ryo called to his father, "I'll make something to eat." Peeking back out of the kitchen he saw his father nod and go into the bathroom, the sound of the shower running was heard soon after.

Akefia watched as Rikai left for the bathroom then turned his attention back to his host as he began to prepare food, "So I guess we'll be seeing more of him for a while..." He noted before chuckling feeling the teenager's lifted spirits, "That should please you."

As he cooked Ryo kept smiling at the thought, 'Yes, I don't get to see Father often and now I don't have to worry about him being threatened.'

"Heheh... with you around, not a chance, heheheh" The Thief King commented with an amused laugh. The boy had proved himself to be very able on the island and it was still a bit of a surprise to the thief.

Ryo laughs at the thief's comment as he continued to cook. By the time he was finished with the meals his father had cleaned up and soon they were eating together on the couch watching television. It was a peaceful, simple moment but Ryo enjoyed it greatly. So long as his father was around he didn't care what they did.

Looking at his son Rikai was happy to see the bags under his eyes were all but gone, "You seem to be doing better." Ryo turned his head to his father as he spoke, "Finally getting enough sleep?

Knowing what he was talking about Ryo paused a moment, the thought brining up a lot of bad memories of how the other yami tormented him, leading to a lot of sleepless, fearful nights. He was still around sort of, but things were indeed better than before. He smiled to keep his father from wondering anything, "Yes, I'm fine. I'm doing much better lately."

Reassured Rikai smiled, happy to hear that, "That's good, I'm glad you're doing better Ryo. I was getting worried," It had always bothered him to leave his son alone when he was having such bad sleeping troubles, but if he hadn't they wouldn't have any money. His type of job didn't give him many options either. Shifting, Rikai spotted the glinting golden Ring around his neck, "You're still wearing it after all this time?"

Ryo nodded readily, "Yes, you gave it to me on my birthday after all."

Hearing that Rikai smiled, appearing amused he playfully nudged his son's shoulder while chucking lightly, "I still can't believe I found it at a street vendor."

Akefia had been watching the magic box in front of them with some interest, wondering how it worked and what was going on in the moving pictures it showed, upon hearing Rikai's claim he deadpanned. He had gotten the Millennium Ring, a powerful item with shadow magic from where!?

"A street vendor? What the hell!?" He exclaimed, the thief couldn't believe his vessel had been sold at a street vendor, most likely for cheap!

'I don't really know...' Ryo admitted with a sweat drop.

Akefia sighed, nothing he could do about it, "Whatever... at least I was 'asleep' for that..." he muttered, the idea rather insulting. He chuckled wistfully before suddenly saying, "He really does mean a lot to you, doesn't he?"

Ryo blinked a bit at the suddenness of the question but answered still, glancing briefly at his father who was still watching television, 'Of course, he's my Father...after the accident he's the one that took care of me. He works a lot to make sure I can eat. I don't know what I'd do without him.' The long haired teen answered honestly while looking down at his food.

Akefia listened closely to the boy's answer before huffing dully, "Who could say?" The King of Thieves replied. With nothing else to say, he turned his attention back to the TV thinking to himself, 'At least you had one left, boy...'

Short chapter I know, but this was just tying things up. A transitional one. But. Now we're officially done with Duelist Kingdom! Battle City won't start just yet though we have some Pre-Battle City things to go through. Important set up stuff :) We'll be moving to it soon!

Just like to thank all our supporters for following us this far! We've made it through and arc and it's thanks to you guys to help keep us motivated on this collaboration! We're very thankful and we hope you'll enjoy the Battle City arc! Ryo will be even more involved in this arc than in Duelist Kingdom! The epic has just begun my friends so stick around!

As this is base directly off our rp, we pretty much have nearly all of the rp done for it so we'll continuing at this pace for some time :) I personally hope you'll like how I play as Malik and his Yami ;) their probably my favorites to play as (Ryo of course is also one of my favorites ^^)

Also Rikai is a name Renagade came up with, we just didn't want to leave Ryo's father namless

This chapter was written by me edited by Renagade Rex Sphix

Renagade Rex Sphinx-Thief Bakura & Rikai

Miss-DNL: Ryo, Pegasus, Bandit Keith, Malik, Anzu, Jonouchi, Yugi, Mai

Please follow/favorite & Review! Help keep us going!