Yu-Gi-Oh!, Darkest Powers, chapter 5
Title: Darkest Powers
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters
Pairings: Mahaado x Atemu, Yuugi x Atemu, Anzu x Otogi
Genre: supernatural elements, action/adventure, romance
Warnings: shounen ai, foul language, character death (will be warned for in the respective chapter)
Summary: (AU) When two CEOs end up dead in Domino City, detectives Jounouchi Katsuya and Honda Hiroto are put on the case. The investigation goes south when their best friend, Mutou Yuugi, is accused of the murders. Jounouchi goes into the city’s underbelly to clear his friend’s name, only to find out that the stage has been taken over by a master criminal known as The Pharaoh, and his mysterious bodyguard Mahaado…
Author’s note: Butchering of canon events to fit the story. Everyone is at least ten years older. Liberal use of the Japanese police procedure and legal system. Feedback is a great thing.
Key: ----- = scene change
“What an ass,” Jounouchi said as he left the building. Honda shook his head.
“You acted like an ass too.”
“Why were you so mad at Kaiba-kun?” Yuugi asked, sauntering behind them.
“I hate rich boys,” Jounouchi snarled. “Uppity rich boys who think they’re above the law just because they have a big pouch of money.”
“Jounouchi-kun, Kaiba-kun was raised in an orphanage,” Yuugi reminded him.
“Even worse,” Jounouchi gave back. “Self-made millionaires have such big egos, like ‘look what I’ve achieved, you lowly peasant’!”
“You’re not making any sense, Jounouchi.” Honda tried to calm him down. He knew that Jounouchi had grown up in an abusive household with his alcoholic father, and that he had to struggle and work hard to get where he was now. “Let’s get Yuugi home, okay?”
“Okay.” Jounouchi dug up the car keys from his pants pockets. He turned towards Yuugi. “Why did you mention ‘supernatural’ in Kaiba’s office?”
Yuugi looked embarrassed. “I don’t know, really. It’s just that… well, from what I read from your reports, especially in Dartz’ case, the killer almost isn’t human. I mean… no one saw him, in an office made entirely out of glass, and he could incapacitate three strong bodyguards in a matter of seconds…”
“I never figured you’d be interested in the supernatural,” Jounouchi said, who shuddered at the thought of anything otherworldly. He’d never been fond of scary ghost stories either. Yuugi made a dismissive gesture. “It’s not really important, Jounouchi-kun. Never mind.”
A slightly uncomfortable silence hung between them until they reached the car. Honda opened the door for Yuugi. He hesitated before getting in.
“I’m sorry guys,” he said, “I really tried to convince Kaiba-kun.”
“Stop apologizing, Yuugi,” Jounouchi said. “You did your best.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Slightly zapped.” Jounouchi grunted. “Then again, this little demonstration showed me once more that there are absolutely no connections to these cases, whatsoever. Pegasus: games. Dartz: artifacts. Kaiba: technology. It just doesn’t make any damn sense!”
“Don’t give up, Jounouchi-kun. There has to be something… and you’ll find it.”
“Just great,” Jounouchi said. He appreciated Yuugi’s support, but it just dawned to him that he was going to have to report back to Ushio, and the captain was going to grill him alive over his lack of tact and provoking Kaiba. He looked over his shoulder at the impressive skyscraper, and he had the sudden feeling that not even Kaiba’s precious technology would keep the killer out. But what would he know? The killer had eluded him so far… “I’m going to pull a double shift tonight.”
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Ushio wasn’t present at the police station, much to Jounouchi’s relief. Together with Honda, he went over every document, every file and every record of the two cases. They studied the pictures of the two crime scenes and dug through all the paperwork. It was getting late; the cleaning crew was taking care of the offices, deposing of the trash and mopping the floor.
“Maybe we should call it quits for today,” Honda said, yawning. “We’re hopelessly stuck, Jounouchi.”
“I know.” He was too tired to be upset. Every connection, every link and every theory so far had been rebuked. No secret lovers, no enemies looking for revenge, no disgruntled employees. Pegasus and Dartz had known each other as they had met on business networking events and Pegasus had actually expressed interest in Dartz’ artifacts, but he had never followed through and no further contact had been established. “Yeah, we should call it quits.”
His cell phone started ringing. Jounouchi exchanged a look with Honda.
“Just answer it,” the other said.
Jounouchi picked up his phone. “Moshi moshi?” He listened in and then his face lit up like a Christmas tree. He thanked the person on the other side of the line and disconnected.
“What?” Honda asked.
“Amelda has woken up and he’s able to talk. Let’s go to the hospital!”
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At this hour, Domino City hospital was enveloped in a quiet, almost eerie atmosphere of absolute silence. Jounouchi had to refrain from tiptoeing around, as he didn’t want to disturb the serene rest of the patients. Walking quietly but briskly, he reached Amelda’s room and briefly knocked on the door. Amelda’s face was as white as the hospital sheets and he craned his neck a little to see the two detectives enter. Next to his bed sat Varon, arms crossed and slouched in a chair with a blanket over his legs, firmly asleep. Amelda made a ‘silent’ gesture with his fingers pressed against his pale lips. Jounouchi kept his voice down.
“Where’s Rafael?” he asked.
“He was here this morning,” Amelda answered, sounding extremely fatigued. Honda noticed the empty food tray on the medical cart; Amelda had been eating, but undoubtedly Varon had also shared in the meal.
“How are you?”
“I don’t know,” Amelda said. “I feel as weak as a kitten. I can barely lift my arms.” He turned his head to Honda, a movement that seemed to take whatever energy he had left, out of him. “It’s so weird. My body doesn’t listen to me.”
“What does the doctor say?”
“My body’s functioning normally, albeit at a slower level. There’s no permanent damage of…whatever happened. He expects me to make a complete recovery… but slowly, very slowly.”
“I’m glad to hear you’re going to get better,” Jounouchi said, genuinely compassionate. He might be a little rough and curt around the edges sometimes, but he didn’t wish death or bad things upon anyone. “Can you tell us what happened?”
“Dartz asked us to help out with a shipment,” Amelda said. “Varon and Rafael were joking about what we were doing, and I was just laughing along. We often do shipments for Dartz and if it’s local, we deliver it ourselves. I had to ask Dartz something about the address, so I went into his office.”
This waterfall of words depleted the rest of his energy and Amelda closed his eyes, his chest slowly rising and falling. Jounouchi mouthed at Honda: “Did he fall asleep on us?”
Honda shrugged and mouthed back: “Let’s wait a couple of minutes.”
As if on cue, Amelda opened his eyes again. Honda took the glass of water from the cart and handed it to him; he took a few sips.
“Thank you.” Amelda shifted around to lean on his left side. He continued talking: “I had just entered Dartz’ office, when all hell broke lose. I heard Varon scream and I turned around to see what was going on. He was on the floor, catching his arm, and Rafael… it happened so fast, so fast. Before I knew it, I was on the floor myself, pushed aside like a piece of paper.”
He cleared his throat and added sourly: “I know I look frail compared to a powerhouse like Rafael, but I do stand my own. I’ve had extensive training and I know how to respond in critical situations. However, I don’t think anyone could’ve foreseen this.”
“Could’ve foreseen what?” Jounouchi asked.
“An intruder…” he didn’t say ‘killer’, “…with such speed and such… strength. I never felt something or someone touch me, yet I ended up on the floor as if hit by a freight train. Dartz was already dead and I heard laughter, and a strange language.”
“Can you identify the language?”
“No.” Amelda shook his head, visibly upset. “I know Japanese, a little bit of English and my native language… but nothing comes even close to what I heard that guy speak.”
“That ‘guy’,” Jounouchi’s voice rose in excitement, “can you describe him?”
“I was losing consciousness,” Amelda defended himself. “My vision was blurred, my head was spinning. I saw him… he wasn’t that tall, but he had very conspicuous hair.”
“Very conspicuous hair,” Jounouchi parroted. “Like what?”
“Like this.” Amelda moved his hands up to form triangular shapes around his head. “Spiked, black with red tips and yellow bangs framing his face. Something gold, too… I’ve never seen something like that before, ever! I couldn’t see his face, but that hair! Before I lost consciousness, I wondered why a criminal would want to carry such a striking feature. I’ll never forget the way
his hair looked.”
Jounouchi’s blood turned into ice. He purposely didn’t look at Honda, knowing he was thinking the same. He had a picture of Yuugi on his cell phone, taken when they had been goofing around one day. He was sorely tempted to show the picture to Amelda, but he feared the answer.
“You really couldn’t see his face? What else did you see? Clothes? Can you describe his clothes?” He pressed on until he was startled by Varon, who tugged at his shoulder.
“That’s enough for now, please,” he said. “Can’t you see he’s exhausted? He needs his rest.” He motioned at Honda. “Detective? This way.”
Varon worked them out of the hospital room, but not in a hostile manner. “Come back tomorrow,” he said, “or any other day you want. As you’ve seen, his energy is very limited.”
“We understand,” Honda said. “What’s going to happen to him, and you for that matter?”
“Our employer will find us new clients,” Varon grimaced. “Bodyguards are very much in demand now that two CEO’s have been killed and others are threatened or burgled.”
Jounouchi frowned. “Your employer? Don’t you mean Dartz?”
“No,” Varon said. “Oh, did no one tell you? He hired the three of us from Zorc Security Inc.. Rafael already has another client and I can take my pick of the litter, but I want to stay with Amelda. To look after him, you know. I don’t like to see a friend of mine alone in a hospital.”
“That’s kind of you,” Jounouchi said. He appreciated such loyalty. Varon seemed to be a little flustered by the compliment. They said their goodbyes and not a few meters outside the hospital room, Honda said, aghast: “What the hell? He described Yuugi!”
“I know, but that’s impossible,” Jounouchi said. “He was losing consciousness. He was suffering from trauma and shock. He had just seen someone killing his boss.”
“He’s a witness, Jounouchi,” Honda said, sounding like he was eating a mouthful of lemons. “He described Yuugi’s hair to a T. Don’t tell me there are many more people with the same hair.”
“His eyesight was blurred.” Jounouchi gritted his teeth. “He said he was losing consciousness, he wasn’t thinking straight! He wasn’t seeing straight!”
“Jounouchi!”
“Shut up!” Jounouchi increased his pace, but no amount of physical distance between him and Honda made a difference in their similar thoughts.
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“It’s late,” Honda pointed out. Jounouchi didn’t even deign to give an answer. His knuckles turned white from the grip he had on the steering wheel. The quaint building where Yuugi lived was well-lit by the street lanterns, and his apartment on the second floor was modestly lit. Jounouchi hadn’t expected Yuugi to be up at this hour, running close to midnight.
“It’s not possible,” he said, repeating himself for the umpteenth time.
“I know. How do you think I’m feeling? That I’m happy to arrest him?”
“Of course not. We have to follow procedures.”
“Procedure is, to have Amelda draw up a sketch in collaboration with our sketch artist. Procedure is, to have Amelda look through mug shots. We both know our fucking procedures and we both know Yuugi personally. If we hadn’t, we’d be looking for a guy with an eccentric hairdo for the rest of our lives.”
“But we do know him,” Jounouchi said curtly, “and we know him very well. Well enough that he’s not a killer.”
“What’s the big deal anyway?” Honda asked, but he sounded nervous. “We can prove in a heartbeat that he has nothing to do with either Pegasus or Dartz. He has never been to their companies, he has an alibi…”
“You damn well know that the captain will take us off of this case as soon as he figures out how well we know Yuugi. Heck, even without that knowledge, he’ll take us off the case. Yuugi worked together with us to draw up that profile, and the captain will want to avoid conflict of interest at all costs.”
“This case is ours,” Honda grumbled. “The other teams are far too incompetent.” He left it at that, obviously torn. Jounouchi opened the door of the car. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to tell him.”
“That’s breaking every rule, Jounouchi.” Honda had already stepped out of the car as well.
Muttering under his breath, he followed his colleague and crossed the road. Jounouchi was at the door and knocked a few times. He’d been here so often that the whole bizarre nature of this situation made his stomach turn upside down. For a moment, he thought that Yuugi wasn’t home, that he had left the lights on - but where would plain, average Mutou Yuugi go to at this time of hour?
The door slid open.
“Jounouchi-kun, Honda-kun,” Yuugi said, the surprise obvious in his voice. “Come in!” Yuugi would never deny them entrance, no matter what time or day. Jounouchi and Honda stepped inside and followed him upstairs. Yuugi went straight to the kitchen to make tea. “Yuugi,” Jounouchi said. Better to get the bad news out first.
“Yes, Jounouchi-kun?” Yuugi turned on the water cooker and fumbled around with the teabags.
“Yuugi, it’s about the CEO killer,” Jounouchi said.
“I knew you would solve this case!” Yuugi arranged the teabags. “Congratulations!”
“No Yuugi, it’s about…” His tongue was totally tied, “…someone described you as being… present when Dartz was killed.” Jounouchi couldn’t get it over his lips. ‘Yuugi’ and ‘killer’ simply didn’t belong into one sentence.
Yuugi dropped the rest of the tea. “Me? Present? I… of course not, Jounouchi-kun! I have never heard of Pegasus-san and Dartz-san before, and I’m not the kind of person to…”
“Your hair,” Honda spoke up, “the witness described your hair into detail.”
Maybe Yuugi realized that Jounouchi’s ‘someone’ went to ‘witness’ in Honda’s words, but his first reaction was to bring up his hand to his hair and touch it, as if he was checking it was still there. It would’ve been either silly or endearing at any other moment, but not now.
“M-my hair? But…”
Jounouchi decided to intervene before Yuugi would drop the water cooker on the tiled floor and he took it out of his hands.
“Sit down, please, Yuugi,” he said. “It’s not as serious as it sounds.” That was probably the worst thing he could’ve said, because as soon as Yuugi sat down at the kitchen table, he started to shake uncontrollably. Jounouchi felt bad. He shouldn’t have come here. He should’ve talked to Ushio first and leave it to the captain. Jounouchi knew the procedures and he knew his friend - and Yuugi came first, before every procedure, damnit. For a moment, he thought that the other was hyperventilating, but Yuugi got himself under control and stared at Jounouchi and Honda with his large eyes.
“I don’t understand,” he finally said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Could there be someone who dislikes you?” Honda asked, even if he couldn’t imagine there would be anyone disliking Yuugi.
“I… I don’t think so.”
“What about a patient of yours?” Jounouchi had been so upset that he hadn’t entertained the thought that someone might be trying to frame Yuugi. “Someone who’s capable of doing this? Someone with a grudge, trying to get revenge? Someone who could imitate you?”
“I… I don’t believe that any of my patients would or could do that, honestly! This is a mistake, a very big mistake…”
“Listen Yuugi, we know that you’re not capable of doing… what has been done.” Jounouchi still refused to say ‘killer’ and ‘Yuugi’ in one sentence. “I want to get to the bottom of this. So if you know anything…”
Yuugi slouched in his chair. “No, none of my patients come even close. I have never had a patient with a grudge against me.”
“We’ll have to check your files,” Honda said. “We’ll go through them to see who could match the profile.”
“Absolutely not. That’s doctor-patient privilege!”
“Yuugi, your files will be examined anyway if we’re going to investigate,” Jounouchi said, his stomach turning upside down once more. “This is a lead we have to follow. More so, our captain will do it himself if he finds out. We’re trying to help you.”
“I know, and I’m very grateful for your help,” Yuugi said. He shivered. “I’m not afraid of the police procedures and I don’t want you to risk your jobs, Jounouchi-kun, Honda-kun. It’s not worth it. I have faith in the system.”
Silence. Jounouchi knew he couldn’t force Yuugi to talk about his patients right now, but he also believed Yuugi that he didn’t know anyone who wanted to hurt him. Maybe it didn’t have to do with pain, anger or revenge. Maybe a patient had decided to frame Yuugi simply because he was the easiest target to frame. He didn’t want to think about that, as he could already see the toll it was taking on Yuugi.
“You know, I’ll stay here for the night,” Jounouchi spoke up. The couch in the living room would do perfectly.
“I’ll stay here too,” Honda immediately offered. “You shouldn’t be alone right now, Yuugi.”
“Thank you, guys.” Yuugi was still shaky. “I really appreciate it. You’re the best friends anyone could ever ask for. I don’t want to impose on you. Go home and get your rest, you’ll need it.”
“Yuugi…”
“A night on the couch isn’t going to help,” Yuugi said. “I… want to think about all this. Please.”
“If you’re really sure,” Jounouchi said, hesitantly.
“Yes, I am.” Yuugi took a deep breath. “You told me before to stand up for myself more often,
Jounouchi-kun.”
“You certainly pick the weirdest moment to do so, Yuugi. We’re genuinely worried about you.”
“I know. It’s not easy, for none of us. We all better get to bed and get up safe and sound in the morning.”
------------------------------------------
Jounouchi tossed and turned in his bed, unable to sleep. He was restless and spend his time waking and dozing. After a couple of long hours, he decided to get up. Sleep wouldn’t come for him this night and the broken dreams tired him out, instead of resting up. Sighing, he glanced at the alarm clock. It was four in the morning and he yawned. He could go down to the station and try to get some work done, like typing up Amelda’s report. Jounouchi shuddered at the thought. The captain was following their progress like a hawk, he would recognize Yuugi from Amelda’s description. Ushio wouldn’t waste one minute to arrest him. Could there really be someone else with a hairdo as freakily similar as Yuugi’s? Jounouchi splashed cold water into his face and tried to fix his hair, before throwing on some clean underwear, a pair of jeans and a baggy shirt. He couldn’t help but shiver once more. It wasn’t cold at all in his apartment, but that sinking feeling that something bad was going to happen, wouldn’t leave him. His kind, gentle, not-hurting-a-fly friend had just been accused of murder, what could be worse?
Through the deserted streets, Jounouchi drove to the police station. Nobody from the graveyard shift was surprised to see him and he sat behind his desk, after treating himself to a large mug of coffee. The caffeine was perforating his already upset stomach. He felt awful. Jounouchi checked his mailbox. Mako had sent him the autopsy report on Dartz. He decided to keep that for later, not in the mood to read about death in the early morning. Sometimes an autopsy report could reveal surprising details, but at the moment, Jounouchi didn’t want to deal with it. He assumed Dartz had bled to death due to the stab wound anyway. Going through all his files again,
Jounouchi was surprised when the display of his cell phone lit up. He flipped the device open.
“Hirutani,” he said. “What’s up?”
“Jounouchi, you’re the only one who can help me!” His colleague breathed heavily, his voice panicked. “Go to interrogation room 4!” Muffled screaming, a loud roar and a lot of unidentifiable noises, then the line went dead. Alarmed, Jounouchi grabbed his gun and ran to the interrogation rooms, located on the ground floor. Number 4 was at the end of the hallway, and a few other colleagues had gathered in front of the one-way mirror, looking aghast and pointing at was happening inside.
“What’s going on? What are you doing here?” Jounouchi snarled.
“We don’t dare to go in,” a young officer whimpered.
“Where’s Hirutani?” The same officer pointed at the one-way mirror. “Where’s the captain?”
“On his way! Do something, Jounouchi!”
Usually, Jounouchi would’ve stormed in without using his head; something compelled him to look through the mirror first. Hirutani was driven into a corner of the interrogation room and Jounouchi immediately recognized the one towering over him; the wild hair and the strange, pupil-less eyes with definitely the craziest look that Jounouchi had ever seen, were a dead giveaway. Marik Ishtar was fucking strong, the muscles in his upper arms showing and rippling as he held Hirutani effortlessly down, laughing out loud and yelling at the same time in a language that wasn’t remotely close to Japanese.
Jounouchi grabbed the young officer at his arm and shook him back and forth. “Call Isis Isthar from the national museum,” he barked at him. “Call her! She can calm him down!” He let go of him and, with one hand on his gun, Jounouchi entered the interrogation room.
“Marik!” he called him out, but he didn’t receive a reaction. “Marik! Let go of him!” What was he supposed to do? Shoot him? Hirutani gurgled. Jounouchi decided to try physical force first and grabbed one of Marik’s arms to pull him away from Hirutani. He couldn’t get him to budge. Jounouchi pulled harder, trying to take him into a headlock, but Marik didn’t move an inch. More so, he focused the rest of his strength on Hirutani, his fingers digging into his throat. The detective started to choke as his air was cut off, powerlessly beating against Marik’s chest. Jounouchi tugged and pulled. Marik was a solid force, and he was going to kill Hirutani if he didn’t do something, right now! He took one of the fold-up chairs, lifted it high over his head and smacked it down with all his might on Marik’s back. He didn’t even flinch, but he stopped choking Hirutani. Laughing, Marik turned around, showing Jounouchi a large, warped smile, baring his teeth.
“Konnichiwa, Jounouchi-daimyo,” he said, his voice low.
“Marik, please calm down,” Jounouchi said, surprised that Marik recognized him - and surprised that Marik was still standing. Jounouchi wasn’t a wuss; he had used all of his strength when he slammed the chair down. Its legs were bent and he threw it aside.
“I am the darkness,” Marik said, taking a step towards Jounouchi. Combined with his unnerving smile and his weird eyes, Jounouchi didn’t like what he was seeing. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, mixed with fear. He had been through life threatening situations before, but he had never felt as scared as for this young man, with the emotional range of a seven year old, wasn’t that what Hirutani had said? “I am the darkness!”
“You are the darkness,” Jounouchi repeated, much calmer on the outside than he was on the inside. “Tell me what I can do for you. Can I help you?”
“You can die,” Marik answered as if it was the most normal thing in the world. “He’s coming, you know. The ultimate darkness, and then it’ll be too late for you, your friends and everyone in this world. Except for me. I’ll welcome the pain and the burning, and it will be wonderful and glorious.”
Jounouchi nodded. “I understand. Can you tell me more about this darkness? Is he the one who’s coming?”
“You won’t recognize him. You’re not worth his time, you’re not worth his attention. You’re nothing but a grain of sand under his feet. The darkness is pretty, you know. He’s golden and dark. Red eyes like blood, dark lines like the depth of a grave. He’s beautiful, pretty pretty darkness mine, and you’re not worth his gaze.”
Jounouchi braced himself, his body tensing up. Marik had picked up the chair and dragged the piece of furniture behind him, fingers clenched around the crooked, bent leg. Hirutani was on the floor, unmoving, far too silent. Drops of sweat rolled over his face.
“A beautiful, pretty darkness,” he repeated.
“Yes, yes, he’s beautiful and merciless, deadly and lovely, dark and cruel! You don’t know him. You don’t have the right to come close to him! You need to die! All of you need to die!” Marik moved so fast that Jounouchi had barely enough time to lift up his arms, to fend off the inevitable blow. Bracing himself for the impact, he suddenly heard a sharp voice, calling out Marik’s name and he stopped, the chair hovering in mid-air.
Jounouchi lowered his arms again. Isis stood in the middle of the interrogation room, her posture rigid, her eyes blazing fire.
“Marik, put the chair down.”
Marik did immediately as she ordered. The chair clattered to the floor. “Sit,” she said, and without protest, Marik sat down on the other chair, at the table. Jounouchi ignored her for now and quickly made his way over to Hirutani. To his relief, he had just kept quiet, weakened and unable to help Jounouchi during the brawl. He could hear Isis in the background, talking in Arabic to Marik. Jounouchi helped Hirutani to his feet.
“Are you all right?”
It took Hirutani a couple of tries before he could speak. “Let’s go to my office.”
“No, you need medical attention,” Jounouchi said sternly. Hirutani touched his throat, and made a sour face.
“I’m all right. I’ll just have a gruffer, sexier voice from now on.”
“My apologies, detectives.” Isis appeared calm and composed, all natural. “I would like to accompany you to your office.”
“What about him?” Jounouchi made a crude gesture at Marik.
“He’s under control now,” Isis said and lo and behold, Marik had put his head on his arms, as silent as a sleeping toddler. “We can leave him here.”
“I need a glass of water.” Hirutani’s voice croaked and broke the awkward moment.
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Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters
Pairings: Mahaado x Atemu, Yuugi x Atemu, Anzu x Otogi
Genre: supernatural elements, action/adventure, romance
Warnings: shounen ai, foul language, character death (will be warned for in the respective chapter)
Summary: (AU) When two CEOs end up dead in Domino City, detectives Jounouchi Katsuya and Honda Hiroto are put on the case. The investigation goes south when their best friend, Mutou Yuugi, is accused of the murders. Jounouchi goes into the city’s underbelly to clear his friend’s name, only to find out that the stage has been taken over by a master criminal known as The Pharaoh, and his mysterious bodyguard Mahaado…
Author’s note: Butchering of canon events to fit the story. Everyone is at least ten years older. Liberal use of the Japanese police procedure and legal system. Feedback is a great thing.
Key: ----- = scene change
“What an ass,” Jounouchi said as he left the building. Honda shook his head.
“You acted like an ass too.”
“Why were you so mad at Kaiba-kun?” Yuugi asked, sauntering behind them.
“I hate rich boys,” Jounouchi snarled. “Uppity rich boys who think they’re above the law just because they have a big pouch of money.”
“Jounouchi-kun, Kaiba-kun was raised in an orphanage,” Yuugi reminded him.
“Even worse,” Jounouchi gave back. “Self-made millionaires have such big egos, like ‘look what I’ve achieved, you lowly peasant’!”
“You’re not making any sense, Jounouchi.” Honda tried to calm him down. He knew that Jounouchi had grown up in an abusive household with his alcoholic father, and that he had to struggle and work hard to get where he was now. “Let’s get Yuugi home, okay?”
“Okay.” Jounouchi dug up the car keys from his pants pockets. He turned towards Yuugi. “Why did you mention ‘supernatural’ in Kaiba’s office?”
Yuugi looked embarrassed. “I don’t know, really. It’s just that… well, from what I read from your reports, especially in Dartz’ case, the killer almost isn’t human. I mean… no one saw him, in an office made entirely out of glass, and he could incapacitate three strong bodyguards in a matter of seconds…”
“I never figured you’d be interested in the supernatural,” Jounouchi said, who shuddered at the thought of anything otherworldly. He’d never been fond of scary ghost stories either. Yuugi made a dismissive gesture. “It’s not really important, Jounouchi-kun. Never mind.”
A slightly uncomfortable silence hung between them until they reached the car. Honda opened the door for Yuugi. He hesitated before getting in.
“I’m sorry guys,” he said, “I really tried to convince Kaiba-kun.”
“Stop apologizing, Yuugi,” Jounouchi said. “You did your best.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Slightly zapped.” Jounouchi grunted. “Then again, this little demonstration showed me once more that there are absolutely no connections to these cases, whatsoever. Pegasus: games. Dartz: artifacts. Kaiba: technology. It just doesn’t make any damn sense!”
“Don’t give up, Jounouchi-kun. There has to be something… and you’ll find it.”
“Just great,” Jounouchi said. He appreciated Yuugi’s support, but it just dawned to him that he was going to have to report back to Ushio, and the captain was going to grill him alive over his lack of tact and provoking Kaiba. He looked over his shoulder at the impressive skyscraper, and he had the sudden feeling that not even Kaiba’s precious technology would keep the killer out. But what would he know? The killer had eluded him so far… “I’m going to pull a double shift tonight.”
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Ushio wasn’t present at the police station, much to Jounouchi’s relief. Together with Honda, he went over every document, every file and every record of the two cases. They studied the pictures of the two crime scenes and dug through all the paperwork. It was getting late; the cleaning crew was taking care of the offices, deposing of the trash and mopping the floor.
“Maybe we should call it quits for today,” Honda said, yawning. “We’re hopelessly stuck, Jounouchi.”
“I know.” He was too tired to be upset. Every connection, every link and every theory so far had been rebuked. No secret lovers, no enemies looking for revenge, no disgruntled employees. Pegasus and Dartz had known each other as they had met on business networking events and Pegasus had actually expressed interest in Dartz’ artifacts, but he had never followed through and no further contact had been established. “Yeah, we should call it quits.”
His cell phone started ringing. Jounouchi exchanged a look with Honda.
“Just answer it,” the other said.
Jounouchi picked up his phone. “Moshi moshi?” He listened in and then his face lit up like a Christmas tree. He thanked the person on the other side of the line and disconnected.
“What?” Honda asked.
“Amelda has woken up and he’s able to talk. Let’s go to the hospital!”
---------------------------
At this hour, Domino City hospital was enveloped in a quiet, almost eerie atmosphere of absolute silence. Jounouchi had to refrain from tiptoeing around, as he didn’t want to disturb the serene rest of the patients. Walking quietly but briskly, he reached Amelda’s room and briefly knocked on the door. Amelda’s face was as white as the hospital sheets and he craned his neck a little to see the two detectives enter. Next to his bed sat Varon, arms crossed and slouched in a chair with a blanket over his legs, firmly asleep. Amelda made a ‘silent’ gesture with his fingers pressed against his pale lips. Jounouchi kept his voice down.
“Where’s Rafael?” he asked.
“He was here this morning,” Amelda answered, sounding extremely fatigued. Honda noticed the empty food tray on the medical cart; Amelda had been eating, but undoubtedly Varon had also shared in the meal.
“How are you?”
“I don’t know,” Amelda said. “I feel as weak as a kitten. I can barely lift my arms.” He turned his head to Honda, a movement that seemed to take whatever energy he had left, out of him. “It’s so weird. My body doesn’t listen to me.”
“What does the doctor say?”
“My body’s functioning normally, albeit at a slower level. There’s no permanent damage of…whatever happened. He expects me to make a complete recovery… but slowly, very slowly.”
“I’m glad to hear you’re going to get better,” Jounouchi said, genuinely compassionate. He might be a little rough and curt around the edges sometimes, but he didn’t wish death or bad things upon anyone. “Can you tell us what happened?”
“Dartz asked us to help out with a shipment,” Amelda said. “Varon and Rafael were joking about what we were doing, and I was just laughing along. We often do shipments for Dartz and if it’s local, we deliver it ourselves. I had to ask Dartz something about the address, so I went into his office.”
This waterfall of words depleted the rest of his energy and Amelda closed his eyes, his chest slowly rising and falling. Jounouchi mouthed at Honda: “Did he fall asleep on us?”
Honda shrugged and mouthed back: “Let’s wait a couple of minutes.”
As if on cue, Amelda opened his eyes again. Honda took the glass of water from the cart and handed it to him; he took a few sips.
“Thank you.” Amelda shifted around to lean on his left side. He continued talking: “I had just entered Dartz’ office, when all hell broke lose. I heard Varon scream and I turned around to see what was going on. He was on the floor, catching his arm, and Rafael… it happened so fast, so fast. Before I knew it, I was on the floor myself, pushed aside like a piece of paper.”
He cleared his throat and added sourly: “I know I look frail compared to a powerhouse like Rafael, but I do stand my own. I’ve had extensive training and I know how to respond in critical situations. However, I don’t think anyone could’ve foreseen this.”
“Could’ve foreseen what?” Jounouchi asked.
“An intruder…” he didn’t say ‘killer’, “…with such speed and such… strength. I never felt something or someone touch me, yet I ended up on the floor as if hit by a freight train. Dartz was already dead and I heard laughter, and a strange language.”
“Can you identify the language?”
“No.” Amelda shook his head, visibly upset. “I know Japanese, a little bit of English and my native language… but nothing comes even close to what I heard that guy speak.”
“That ‘guy’,” Jounouchi’s voice rose in excitement, “can you describe him?”
“I was losing consciousness,” Amelda defended himself. “My vision was blurred, my head was spinning. I saw him… he wasn’t that tall, but he had very conspicuous hair.”
“Very conspicuous hair,” Jounouchi parroted. “Like what?”
“Like this.” Amelda moved his hands up to form triangular shapes around his head. “Spiked, black with red tips and yellow bangs framing his face. Something gold, too… I’ve never seen something like that before, ever! I couldn’t see his face, but that hair! Before I lost consciousness, I wondered why a criminal would want to carry such a striking feature. I’ll never forget the way
his hair looked.”
Jounouchi’s blood turned into ice. He purposely didn’t look at Honda, knowing he was thinking the same. He had a picture of Yuugi on his cell phone, taken when they had been goofing around one day. He was sorely tempted to show the picture to Amelda, but he feared the answer.
“You really couldn’t see his face? What else did you see? Clothes? Can you describe his clothes?” He pressed on until he was startled by Varon, who tugged at his shoulder.
“That’s enough for now, please,” he said. “Can’t you see he’s exhausted? He needs his rest.” He motioned at Honda. “Detective? This way.”
Varon worked them out of the hospital room, but not in a hostile manner. “Come back tomorrow,” he said, “or any other day you want. As you’ve seen, his energy is very limited.”
“We understand,” Honda said. “What’s going to happen to him, and you for that matter?”
“Our employer will find us new clients,” Varon grimaced. “Bodyguards are very much in demand now that two CEO’s have been killed and others are threatened or burgled.”
Jounouchi frowned. “Your employer? Don’t you mean Dartz?”
“No,” Varon said. “Oh, did no one tell you? He hired the three of us from Zorc Security Inc.. Rafael already has another client and I can take my pick of the litter, but I want to stay with Amelda. To look after him, you know. I don’t like to see a friend of mine alone in a hospital.”
“That’s kind of you,” Jounouchi said. He appreciated such loyalty. Varon seemed to be a little flustered by the compliment. They said their goodbyes and not a few meters outside the hospital room, Honda said, aghast: “What the hell? He described Yuugi!”
“I know, but that’s impossible,” Jounouchi said. “He was losing consciousness. He was suffering from trauma and shock. He had just seen someone killing his boss.”
“He’s a witness, Jounouchi,” Honda said, sounding like he was eating a mouthful of lemons. “He described Yuugi’s hair to a T. Don’t tell me there are many more people with the same hair.”
“His eyesight was blurred.” Jounouchi gritted his teeth. “He said he was losing consciousness, he wasn’t thinking straight! He wasn’t seeing straight!”
“Jounouchi!”
“Shut up!” Jounouchi increased his pace, but no amount of physical distance between him and Honda made a difference in their similar thoughts.
-------------------------
“It’s late,” Honda pointed out. Jounouchi didn’t even deign to give an answer. His knuckles turned white from the grip he had on the steering wheel. The quaint building where Yuugi lived was well-lit by the street lanterns, and his apartment on the second floor was modestly lit. Jounouchi hadn’t expected Yuugi to be up at this hour, running close to midnight.
“It’s not possible,” he said, repeating himself for the umpteenth time.
“I know. How do you think I’m feeling? That I’m happy to arrest him?”
“Of course not. We have to follow procedures.”
“Procedure is, to have Amelda draw up a sketch in collaboration with our sketch artist. Procedure is, to have Amelda look through mug shots. We both know our fucking procedures and we both know Yuugi personally. If we hadn’t, we’d be looking for a guy with an eccentric hairdo for the rest of our lives.”
“But we do know him,” Jounouchi said curtly, “and we know him very well. Well enough that he’s not a killer.”
“What’s the big deal anyway?” Honda asked, but he sounded nervous. “We can prove in a heartbeat that he has nothing to do with either Pegasus or Dartz. He has never been to their companies, he has an alibi…”
“You damn well know that the captain will take us off of this case as soon as he figures out how well we know Yuugi. Heck, even without that knowledge, he’ll take us off the case. Yuugi worked together with us to draw up that profile, and the captain will want to avoid conflict of interest at all costs.”
“This case is ours,” Honda grumbled. “The other teams are far too incompetent.” He left it at that, obviously torn. Jounouchi opened the door of the car. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to tell him.”
“That’s breaking every rule, Jounouchi.” Honda had already stepped out of the car as well.
Muttering under his breath, he followed his colleague and crossed the road. Jounouchi was at the door and knocked a few times. He’d been here so often that the whole bizarre nature of this situation made his stomach turn upside down. For a moment, he thought that Yuugi wasn’t home, that he had left the lights on - but where would plain, average Mutou Yuugi go to at this time of hour?
The door slid open.
“Jounouchi-kun, Honda-kun,” Yuugi said, the surprise obvious in his voice. “Come in!” Yuugi would never deny them entrance, no matter what time or day. Jounouchi and Honda stepped inside and followed him upstairs. Yuugi went straight to the kitchen to make tea. “Yuugi,” Jounouchi said. Better to get the bad news out first.
“Yes, Jounouchi-kun?” Yuugi turned on the water cooker and fumbled around with the teabags.
“Yuugi, it’s about the CEO killer,” Jounouchi said.
“I knew you would solve this case!” Yuugi arranged the teabags. “Congratulations!”
“No Yuugi, it’s about…” His tongue was totally tied, “…someone described you as being… present when Dartz was killed.” Jounouchi couldn’t get it over his lips. ‘Yuugi’ and ‘killer’ simply didn’t belong into one sentence.
Yuugi dropped the rest of the tea. “Me? Present? I… of course not, Jounouchi-kun! I have never heard of Pegasus-san and Dartz-san before, and I’m not the kind of person to…”
“Your hair,” Honda spoke up, “the witness described your hair into detail.”
Maybe Yuugi realized that Jounouchi’s ‘someone’ went to ‘witness’ in Honda’s words, but his first reaction was to bring up his hand to his hair and touch it, as if he was checking it was still there. It would’ve been either silly or endearing at any other moment, but not now.
“M-my hair? But…”
Jounouchi decided to intervene before Yuugi would drop the water cooker on the tiled floor and he took it out of his hands.
“Sit down, please, Yuugi,” he said. “It’s not as serious as it sounds.” That was probably the worst thing he could’ve said, because as soon as Yuugi sat down at the kitchen table, he started to shake uncontrollably. Jounouchi felt bad. He shouldn’t have come here. He should’ve talked to Ushio first and leave it to the captain. Jounouchi knew the procedures and he knew his friend - and Yuugi came first, before every procedure, damnit. For a moment, he thought that the other was hyperventilating, but Yuugi got himself under control and stared at Jounouchi and Honda with his large eyes.
“I don’t understand,” he finally said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Could there be someone who dislikes you?” Honda asked, even if he couldn’t imagine there would be anyone disliking Yuugi.
“I… I don’t think so.”
“What about a patient of yours?” Jounouchi had been so upset that he hadn’t entertained the thought that someone might be trying to frame Yuugi. “Someone who’s capable of doing this? Someone with a grudge, trying to get revenge? Someone who could imitate you?”
“I… I don’t believe that any of my patients would or could do that, honestly! This is a mistake, a very big mistake…”
“Listen Yuugi, we know that you’re not capable of doing… what has been done.” Jounouchi still refused to say ‘killer’ and ‘Yuugi’ in one sentence. “I want to get to the bottom of this. So if you know anything…”
Yuugi slouched in his chair. “No, none of my patients come even close. I have never had a patient with a grudge against me.”
“We’ll have to check your files,” Honda said. “We’ll go through them to see who could match the profile.”
“Absolutely not. That’s doctor-patient privilege!”
“Yuugi, your files will be examined anyway if we’re going to investigate,” Jounouchi said, his stomach turning upside down once more. “This is a lead we have to follow. More so, our captain will do it himself if he finds out. We’re trying to help you.”
“I know, and I’m very grateful for your help,” Yuugi said. He shivered. “I’m not afraid of the police procedures and I don’t want you to risk your jobs, Jounouchi-kun, Honda-kun. It’s not worth it. I have faith in the system.”
Silence. Jounouchi knew he couldn’t force Yuugi to talk about his patients right now, but he also believed Yuugi that he didn’t know anyone who wanted to hurt him. Maybe it didn’t have to do with pain, anger or revenge. Maybe a patient had decided to frame Yuugi simply because he was the easiest target to frame. He didn’t want to think about that, as he could already see the toll it was taking on Yuugi.
“You know, I’ll stay here for the night,” Jounouchi spoke up. The couch in the living room would do perfectly.
“I’ll stay here too,” Honda immediately offered. “You shouldn’t be alone right now, Yuugi.”
“Thank you, guys.” Yuugi was still shaky. “I really appreciate it. You’re the best friends anyone could ever ask for. I don’t want to impose on you. Go home and get your rest, you’ll need it.”
“Yuugi…”
“A night on the couch isn’t going to help,” Yuugi said. “I… want to think about all this. Please.”
“If you’re really sure,” Jounouchi said, hesitantly.
“Yes, I am.” Yuugi took a deep breath. “You told me before to stand up for myself more often,
Jounouchi-kun.”
“You certainly pick the weirdest moment to do so, Yuugi. We’re genuinely worried about you.”
“I know. It’s not easy, for none of us. We all better get to bed and get up safe and sound in the morning.”
------------------------------------------
Jounouchi tossed and turned in his bed, unable to sleep. He was restless and spend his time waking and dozing. After a couple of long hours, he decided to get up. Sleep wouldn’t come for him this night and the broken dreams tired him out, instead of resting up. Sighing, he glanced at the alarm clock. It was four in the morning and he yawned. He could go down to the station and try to get some work done, like typing up Amelda’s report. Jounouchi shuddered at the thought. The captain was following their progress like a hawk, he would recognize Yuugi from Amelda’s description. Ushio wouldn’t waste one minute to arrest him. Could there really be someone else with a hairdo as freakily similar as Yuugi’s? Jounouchi splashed cold water into his face and tried to fix his hair, before throwing on some clean underwear, a pair of jeans and a baggy shirt. He couldn’t help but shiver once more. It wasn’t cold at all in his apartment, but that sinking feeling that something bad was going to happen, wouldn’t leave him. His kind, gentle, not-hurting-a-fly friend had just been accused of murder, what could be worse?
Through the deserted streets, Jounouchi drove to the police station. Nobody from the graveyard shift was surprised to see him and he sat behind his desk, after treating himself to a large mug of coffee. The caffeine was perforating his already upset stomach. He felt awful. Jounouchi checked his mailbox. Mako had sent him the autopsy report on Dartz. He decided to keep that for later, not in the mood to read about death in the early morning. Sometimes an autopsy report could reveal surprising details, but at the moment, Jounouchi didn’t want to deal with it. He assumed Dartz had bled to death due to the stab wound anyway. Going through all his files again,
Jounouchi was surprised when the display of his cell phone lit up. He flipped the device open.
“Hirutani,” he said. “What’s up?”
“Jounouchi, you’re the only one who can help me!” His colleague breathed heavily, his voice panicked. “Go to interrogation room 4!” Muffled screaming, a loud roar and a lot of unidentifiable noises, then the line went dead. Alarmed, Jounouchi grabbed his gun and ran to the interrogation rooms, located on the ground floor. Number 4 was at the end of the hallway, and a few other colleagues had gathered in front of the one-way mirror, looking aghast and pointing at was happening inside.
“What’s going on? What are you doing here?” Jounouchi snarled.
“We don’t dare to go in,” a young officer whimpered.
“Where’s Hirutani?” The same officer pointed at the one-way mirror. “Where’s the captain?”
“On his way! Do something, Jounouchi!”
Usually, Jounouchi would’ve stormed in without using his head; something compelled him to look through the mirror first. Hirutani was driven into a corner of the interrogation room and Jounouchi immediately recognized the one towering over him; the wild hair and the strange, pupil-less eyes with definitely the craziest look that Jounouchi had ever seen, were a dead giveaway. Marik Ishtar was fucking strong, the muscles in his upper arms showing and rippling as he held Hirutani effortlessly down, laughing out loud and yelling at the same time in a language that wasn’t remotely close to Japanese.
Jounouchi grabbed the young officer at his arm and shook him back and forth. “Call Isis Isthar from the national museum,” he barked at him. “Call her! She can calm him down!” He let go of him and, with one hand on his gun, Jounouchi entered the interrogation room.
“Marik!” he called him out, but he didn’t receive a reaction. “Marik! Let go of him!” What was he supposed to do? Shoot him? Hirutani gurgled. Jounouchi decided to try physical force first and grabbed one of Marik’s arms to pull him away from Hirutani. He couldn’t get him to budge. Jounouchi pulled harder, trying to take him into a headlock, but Marik didn’t move an inch. More so, he focused the rest of his strength on Hirutani, his fingers digging into his throat. The detective started to choke as his air was cut off, powerlessly beating against Marik’s chest. Jounouchi tugged and pulled. Marik was a solid force, and he was going to kill Hirutani if he didn’t do something, right now! He took one of the fold-up chairs, lifted it high over his head and smacked it down with all his might on Marik’s back. He didn’t even flinch, but he stopped choking Hirutani. Laughing, Marik turned around, showing Jounouchi a large, warped smile, baring his teeth.
“Konnichiwa, Jounouchi-daimyo,” he said, his voice low.
“Marik, please calm down,” Jounouchi said, surprised that Marik recognized him - and surprised that Marik was still standing. Jounouchi wasn’t a wuss; he had used all of his strength when he slammed the chair down. Its legs were bent and he threw it aside.
“I am the darkness,” Marik said, taking a step towards Jounouchi. Combined with his unnerving smile and his weird eyes, Jounouchi didn’t like what he was seeing. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, mixed with fear. He had been through life threatening situations before, but he had never felt as scared as for this young man, with the emotional range of a seven year old, wasn’t that what Hirutani had said? “I am the darkness!”
“You are the darkness,” Jounouchi repeated, much calmer on the outside than he was on the inside. “Tell me what I can do for you. Can I help you?”
“You can die,” Marik answered as if it was the most normal thing in the world. “He’s coming, you know. The ultimate darkness, and then it’ll be too late for you, your friends and everyone in this world. Except for me. I’ll welcome the pain and the burning, and it will be wonderful and glorious.”
Jounouchi nodded. “I understand. Can you tell me more about this darkness? Is he the one who’s coming?”
“You won’t recognize him. You’re not worth his time, you’re not worth his attention. You’re nothing but a grain of sand under his feet. The darkness is pretty, you know. He’s golden and dark. Red eyes like blood, dark lines like the depth of a grave. He’s beautiful, pretty pretty darkness mine, and you’re not worth his gaze.”
Jounouchi braced himself, his body tensing up. Marik had picked up the chair and dragged the piece of furniture behind him, fingers clenched around the crooked, bent leg. Hirutani was on the floor, unmoving, far too silent. Drops of sweat rolled over his face.
“A beautiful, pretty darkness,” he repeated.
“Yes, yes, he’s beautiful and merciless, deadly and lovely, dark and cruel! You don’t know him. You don’t have the right to come close to him! You need to die! All of you need to die!” Marik moved so fast that Jounouchi had barely enough time to lift up his arms, to fend off the inevitable blow. Bracing himself for the impact, he suddenly heard a sharp voice, calling out Marik’s name and he stopped, the chair hovering in mid-air.
Jounouchi lowered his arms again. Isis stood in the middle of the interrogation room, her posture rigid, her eyes blazing fire.
“Marik, put the chair down.”
Marik did immediately as she ordered. The chair clattered to the floor. “Sit,” she said, and without protest, Marik sat down on the other chair, at the table. Jounouchi ignored her for now and quickly made his way over to Hirutani. To his relief, he had just kept quiet, weakened and unable to help Jounouchi during the brawl. He could hear Isis in the background, talking in Arabic to Marik. Jounouchi helped Hirutani to his feet.
“Are you all right?”
It took Hirutani a couple of tries before he could speak. “Let’s go to my office.”
“No, you need medical attention,” Jounouchi said sternly. Hirutani touched his throat, and made a sour face.
“I’m all right. I’ll just have a gruffer, sexier voice from now on.”
“My apologies, detectives.” Isis appeared calm and composed, all natural. “I would like to accompany you to your office.”
“What about him?” Jounouchi made a crude gesture at Marik.
“He’s under control now,” Isis said and lo and behold, Marik had put his head on his arms, as silent as a sleeping toddler. “We can leave him here.”
“I need a glass of water.” Hirutani’s voice croaked and broke the awkward moment.
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