Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Vampire Hunter D.
Once again, thank you very much to my beta reader, and that unwavering patience that all of you have! Or maybe it's impatience...
Chapter Twelve: A New Destiny
Anzu screamed in horror at the sight before her eyes as her child wept uncontrollably on her shoulder. Yugi felt as if all of the air had been sucked out of his lungs, and that regaining the precious oxygen would be impossible. Jounochi had dropped his rifle in dismay, all of his conditioning useless in this situation. D…
D felt that if there was any time to die, he better do it right now.
Bakura blinked, unsure of what exactly had just happened. The man before him was just as surprised. His colorless hand crept up to the hole just under the opening of his left breast pocket, and felt the lazy trickle of blood run across his fingers. Bakura's own left hand moved to where his right lung was hidden under his ribs, forgetting that he was still pointing the gun at the vampire, unaware of the blood he was losing. The young man coughed and could taste copper in his mouth. In unison, both of the combatants pulled their hands away and marveled at the crimson that dyed their pale hands.
"What!" the vampire cried in agony as he fell to his knees, "but you're just…"
"Going to take care of him…now," Bakura wheezed, a smile stealing across his face. He moved his right arm up, then down, and then yet again from side to side and bared his teeth as he aimed for the man's head. "May the shadows eat your soul, from my personal beliefs to yours." He fired twice into the other man's head before dropping the gun in a convulsion of pain.
"Bakura-kun!" Yugi shouted, hurrying to his friend's side. Bakura held his hands across the bullet wound and sank to the ground, a small moan passing through his lips. He felt like he had been hit with a pole instead of a bullet, and although he felt winded and could taste the blood when he had coughed, he swore he felt something hard against his fingers, and pushing on it caused more pain than good. Bakura could feel Yugi trying to lift his shirt as Jounochi pulled him into a reclining position, moving his arms away from the site of the wound.
D could only stare as the men tried to situate his friend to assess the damage he had taken. His tongue itched and his stomach contents felt as if they were the sea itself, crashing and turning within him, begging for release. He did his best to ignore the nausea that threatened him, and turned slowly to look at Anzu. She stood there in shock, her eyes flicking to the incapacitated vampire and then to Bakura, who hissed in pain as Jounochi finally managed to pull his right arm up and away from his shirt so Yugi could see what he was doing, bouncing the sobbing baby, trying to soothe it when it was obvious she could not be so easily soothed herself. He felt no comfort in that sight so he turned back to the three men, and begged to whoever was listening that his friend was okay.
"We have to stop the bleeding," Yugi said, viewing the hole the bullet had created in the man's chest, "Wait…what the hell is this?"
Across the man's torso was an angry red patch. It was something neither Yugi nor Jounochi had expected, and their eyes met in confusion and fear. Bakura groaned and swatted at Yugi who jumped back in surprise. Wrenching his right arm away from Jounochi who was in shock that Bakura had even had the notion of hitting Yugi, he forced his index finger and his thumb into the hole, tears pouring from his eyes as he searched. Yugi had just enough time to register that the man was looking for the bullet when a shadow above them all caught his attention. He turned and was promptly kicked in the face by the man they had forgotten. He felt the rubble scratch at his cheek and cried out as the man's foot impacted with his stomach. Jounochi stood, leaving Bakura to his strange task, and lunged at his friend's assailant. What he had not been expecting was for the man to turn, and he lost his footing, staggering over both of his ailing friends and face planting into the dirt. Embarrassment and hatred flowed through him.
"I'll kill the son of a bitch that killed my master!" the older man howled, utterly mad, turning his head toward D for a split second, "And then I'm taking you back, you ungrateful little shit!" He advanced on Bakura who had turned away from the commotion in order to concentrate. Even if he had been turned in the right direction, he would have never seen the man coming. His eyes watered in pain as he finally managed to yank the bullet that had somehow miraculously been stopped in between two of his ribs. Ignoring the pain of the mysterious bruise, he sighed a little in relief before he felt a strong hand pull him up by the shirt collar and was raised to where his feet dangled just above the ground. He gasped in surprise looking to the side in order to see his captor's face, which was pulled back into a sneering grin.
"I'm going to kill you," the man started, "I'm going to kill you, but just as a little surprise present, I'm going to tell you what is going to happen to your precious little town once I return with the boy."
"Wha?" was all Bakura could manage. He saw Jounochi standing out of the corner of his eye, and was frightened to see him holding the left side of his face, blood pouring from whatever cut was under it. Yugi was in no better shape, he could barely get to his knees, the previous blow so extreme. He could not see D or Anzu from this vantage point.
"Wha?" the man snorted, "After I return with His son, he is going to turn that town into another little crater on this little island called Japan . He's going to take the stragglers and make himself greater than we could ever hope to be."
"Why his side though?" Bakura heard Jounochi manage, his voice strained. "Aren't you human like we are, or whatever?"
"I, unlike you, was hand picked by Him in order to create a better world. One where those who were truly strong could rule, those who were evolutionarily better! And He promised once the initial stages were over, He would allow my master, or even Himself to make me one of them."
"You're sick," Anzu spat.
"And wrong," D added, "If it was that simple, then he would have done it already, and I wouldn't have been…necessary."
Bakura could almost feel the stares that D was receiving and added, "He failed before, what makes you think he'd win this time? And what makes you think he'd hold his end of the bargain?"
The man scowled. "I don't know your purpose, kid; maybe he just got bored and wanted to see what the results could offer. You on the other hand," he turned his attention solely on Bakura, "You are the whole reason that this is even happening. I want you to know that, know that the destruction of your home is all your fault, before you die."
"Oh, just stop talking already," Bakura responded, lashing out with both of his feet and catapulting away from the man as he pushed against him. He landed on his back, again knocking the wind out of himself, and realized that no one was in a good enough position to help him. As the glint of the gun caught his eye he noted the man was still close and well armed enough to take his life without a thought. Yugi and Jounochi would probably take care of him after that, but in the end, what would happen to D? His secret was out, and Bakura had no idea what either man thought of the situation. As the man pulled back the trigger, Bakura closed his eyes and begged for a chance to ensure D's safety.
It was when he heard Yugi gasp that he opened his eyes and saw something big above him, something that had fingers the size of his ever darkening bruise, something that was a black spot on the twinkling background of the night sky. A wind tunnel of sorts formed in nanoseconds above their head, and Bakura opened his mouth in shock as the man was struck by this force and blown into the side of the military vehicle, amazed that such force had not affected anyone else around it. It hovered there long enough for Bakura to think of something that D had said in what felt like years. It looked like the card the boy had pulled out of his deck, but he did not have his cards with him, nor did he even think he had the power to summon it. Yet it was there.
"What the—" Jounochi whispered, tilting his uncovered eye to the sky. The creature shifted its long, shadowed tail and disappeared, showing no signs of it ever having been.
Bakura took in a deep breath and glanced behind him. D was in mid tackle pose, as if he had been planning on bum rushing the man who now lay yet again at the wheel of the vehicle, his eyes pointing to the dark sky. Straightening up, and still looking upward, the child made his way to Bakura's side and sat beside him in awe. No one said anything for a long time.
Finally after the chill of the night settled into his bones and the pains of the gaping wound in his chest returned full force, Bakura sighed and turned onto his side, hoping to push himself up with his arms. "I would very much like to go home now," he muttered as he nearly belly flopped in his attempt.
Yugi limped over to his side and sat down, mirroring D as he stared into the sky. "What's going on?" he asked; touching his raw face tenderly, "I'm not sure I get it."
"Neither do I, buddy," Jounochi added, steering clear of the two bodies that lay on the opposite side of their discussion. "But I sure do want some answers."
D turned to Bakura, his eyes full of unease. The man held out an arm and the boy quickly scooted toward him, too aware of how the tables could turn at this moment. Anzu had finally come out of her daze and was giving them a strange look. She rubbed Etsu's back robotically; her attention fully concentrated on the child and wounded man before her. It was not just her; without looking, Bakura could guess that Jounochi was watching them, and that Yugi had now pried his eyes away from the empty sky to look at them.
Letting out a painful sigh, Bakura raised his head to face the others' silent confusion and accusation. Indeed they watched him with interest. "I…" he began, having difficulty finding the words to start, "I won't start off by apologizing, because I have nothing to apologize for." D's grip on his shoulders tightened and Bakura flinched. "Where I was for the past three years was the closest anyone could come to hell on earth, and I wasn't about to let an innocent child suffer it any longer. So while it hurts me that you all were attacked for my decision, I'm not sorry I rescued him."
Jounochi removed his hand from where it covered his face and Bakura flinched as he saw the slowly crusting blood that covered its side. Thankfully it came from a cut across the man's eyebrow, but it still caked over his eye enough to force it closed. The man shook his blood covered hand and a few droplets rained on the earth. D averted his eyes from the place as quickly as possible; the smell of blood was so overwhelming now that he had to keep a hand over his mouth to hide what protruded. Jounochi glanced at the boy with his good eye and then back to the man who was again holding a hand to his wound site. "That's all fine and dandy, Bakura, but how can we trust you are you?" He began, wiping his hand against his jeans.
"I…what?" the man asked, confused.
"That guy, whoever or whatever he was, said that you were some sort of experiment, and then that other guy tried to kill you and some kind of monster appears out of nowhere and solves the problem for you. A really familiar looking monster. So, how do we know that you are who you say you are? For all we know, the Bakura that was our friend could be dead somewhere and you could be…"
Bakura's eyebrow raised, unable to determine what the man was saying. "I could be what?"
"You could be that other one. You could have been tricking us this whole time."
Bakura stared in shock, unable to think of anything substantial to say. The accusation had come from nowhere, the idea so ridiculous that there was a possibility that it made sense. But he was Bakura, he was not the "other one" the "voice" his other half…And it was like they thought he knew why that creature had come, how it had come, and it boiled his blood.
"That," he responded, "Is the STUPIDEST thing I think I have ever heard come from your mouth Jounochi. The only way anything like that could ever happen is if they had the Millennium Items which they don't! And I don't. I would have at least expected you to start off with 'is that your real body Bakura?' not 'You must be that other one that we don't like just because a monster popped up!' And another thing –"
"Stop!" Yugi shouted, and then clutched his head as his own voice created an earthquake within his skull, "That's enough! Pointing fingers at each other isn't going to get anything done; we should be more worried about what that guy said about Domino."
Silence once again stole across the group, and the severity of the situation made it so when they all began to talk again there was no bickering, just quick agreements and even faster actions.
"Yugi, Bakura, and I will go back to the city to scout and make sure whatever they plan to make happen doesn't even get to stage one," Jounochi commanded, "Anzu, you take Etsu and D with you to…"
"The docks," both Bakura and D replied.
"On the most northern part of the city," the young man added.
Jounochi raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Because unless they somehow managed to figure it out, none of them can swim," D explained, "We'll have to find a working ship that has suffered the least bit of damage and that still might be able to run. Being on shore would be too dangerous for all of us. When you meet others you should tell them something similar."
"But like you said, the fuel will be no good!"
"You have a better idea?"
"What if they don't believe us?" Yugi asked, "This entire thing hasn't even been explained to us yet and I'm still having trouble grasping it all even after seeing it."
"We'll manage," Bakura said, "But there is not much time, and our main issue will be Kaiba. He might believe that you channeled confidence every time you dueled but I doubt vampires are top of his 'Real Life Threats' list."
"But-" Anzu began, "what if there are more where I'm taking them?"
"I don't think my father or his subordinates would think that far. I believe it is safe to assume he is going to wait for my 'safe return' before actually causing any damage, at least until he finds out that I'm not coming back," D said, finally removing his hand from his mouth. He looked up at the woman and added, "and Anzu san, I know that it must be difficult to even think about allowing me to come with you, that it might be safer if I just disappeared, but I promise that both you and Etsu-chan are safe…I'm not like them."
Anzu flushed a deep red color. "No! I wasn't thinking that at all," she disclaimed, kneeling down and pulling the boy into a hug to his surprise. "I'm worried for all of us, that's all. We aren't prepared for anything like this!" She turned her face up, and set her full gaze on Yugi, "What are you going to do if they are already there?"
"Save as many as we can and get out," came his curt reply. Tears welled up in Anzu's eyes, but she nodded with the understanding she had gained six years ago. There would be no stopping them.
"Be careful," she said, grabbing D's hand.
"Alright," Jounochi called and cracked his fingers, "Anzu, we'll drop you off on the street that leads to the docks and then make our way to Kaiba's to give him the news."
"Glossing it over to where he'd believe it, of course," Bakura interjected.
"Yeah," Jounochi agreed, glancing at Bakura with silent distrust mixed with admiration, "we should get going, we've lost the light, and that means we lost our edge. Damn, I still can't believe it."
"Believe what?" Yugi asked.
"That we're getting back into this magical and occult stuff again, you know how it always made me feel."
"Well, I'm just grateful you didn't pass out like you did in Death T, although that had been helpful back then," Anzu said, and the adults laughed, lightening the dark situation.
If it had been just that simple, then there would have been no change. If everything could have been saved, life would have returned to the "normal" the people were used to; it would have been just a hiccup. Some men are prideful, however, and their beliefs are not swayed. They believe the tower of their brilliance will forever be structurally sound, but do not understand if enough pressure is applied in the right area by a person with more ambition, that the tower will not just crumble; it will fall, and destroy all that was its inspiration. The predator will become the prey. D knew this theoretically, and knew that it may apply to his father in time, but when the few that were saved were able to count their losses, he would realize that the all encompassing crash he heard was not just concrete collapsing into concrete, glass shattering against metal, but the fall of a people's pride. And he would know himself then and there, and find that he could truly hate.
After they had left Anzu with Etsu and D on the abandoned road that would lead them to their salvation, Jounochi led the remaining men back to the center of the city. They could not warn any from Domino North at that time, the story had not been fully formed between them, so they passed through the quiet streets just happy to know the destruction had not yet begun. It was imperative to get to Kaiba quickly however, because even if the city was separated, he would be the one to create enough unity to save them all. Or so they hoped.
Considering their positions in the city's political structure they were able to get to Kaiba's office which still lay, albeit precariously, at the top of the skyscraper with little more than just saying their names. They were stopped once by a guard that Yugi knew.
"Hey, Yugi! I thought you had a few days off?"
"I do, but I have to talk to Kaiba for a second," he replied, smiling. They met no other distractions afterward.
Now they stood at the strong doors that blocked the view of who could have been called the most powerful man on this side of Japan. Jounochi turned to the other two and sighed. Yugi looked down at his hands and began to play with the ring on his finger. Bakura moved his own hand away from the small wound on his side and wiped what blood he could on the back of his jeans. Not one said a word for a moment that seemed to stretch for hours.
"Any ideas?" Jounochi asked finally.
"Not a single one," Yugi replied.
"There's no more time though," Bakura said, glancing over his shoulder, "the more time we sit here and do nothing, the more of a chance there is that they'll—"
"Stop!" Yugi cried, finally letting his hands come to rest, "I don't want to hear it. But what do we say?"
They looked at each other again, and Bakura moved to the forefront suddenly. "I should be the one to figure it out," he started, "You could say I started all of this. I should be the one to fix it."
"That's a lot to put on your shoulders, Bakura," Jounochi said.
"I'd rather it be on my shoulders than of the entire city."
"I just don't understand it, though!" Yugi exclaimed, "Why did any of this ever have to happen? I thought we were through with this, all of it! And now, not only do we have to deal with something that isn't supposed to exist, we have to deal with the powers of the Millennium Items, and we don't even know what's controlling it!"
"That's if everyone's telling the truth," Jounochi muttered. Bakura glanced at him and just shook his head.
"Our destiny must not be through with us then, Yugi, if this is the case," Bakura offered.
"My destiny, my fate, was to bring the items together, and let the pharaoh rest."
"Destiny is mysterious," Bakura said darkly, "Personally I would rather have my fate in my hands. It hasn't dealt me a fair hand for this life, I can tell you that. So let's stop wasting time mourning over our loss of control and just get this over with before anyone has to die."
"Aside from those freaks," Jounochi snapped.
To this Bakura did not reply; he instead chose to open the doors unannounced. The secretary who had been eavesdropping at this time with growing curiosity jumped up in surprise, but her protests were not heard. The door was already closed behind them.
It was not known to any of them that at this point power had changed hands. It was not know that once again their lives would suffer a drastic change. But as they approached the man's desk it was clear to them that their new task would be difficult, even if they did not realize that whom they faced was not that task at all. A strand purled and stitched, a strand cut from the final product, a strand somehow lost among the others that weaved this tale, which would have to find its own way back into the quilt that dictated life…this is what awaited them.