Yu-Gi-Oh!, Darkest Powers, chapter 20
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
“No!” Yuugi yelled from afar. Whether he’d been able to overhear Bakura or he was just yelling ‘no’ in general, Jounouchi didn’t know as the next second, the attack of the red dragon-God all but blew them away. Even Bakura was thrown off of his feet and ironically, due to the robotic arms pinning them down, the Kaiba brothers, Malik and Jounouchi stayed in their place, unaffected by the huge displacement of air and energy.
“Fuck me!” Jounouchi coughed and wheezed. The area was swept clean of the robots, blown to bits, but the powerful attack had been absorbed by the stone slab, crackling from the residual energy. Jounouchi looked around to see where everyone was: the Pharaoh and Mahaado in the far distance; Ishizu somewhere in the middle, unharmed; Yuugi to the side with an incredulous look on his face and Bakura Ryou, unconscious, on the floor next to him. Bakura got back up on his feet again, grumbling and growling. Without his Ring, he was vulnerable to the attack of the God. He left the Pharaoh little choice but to attack though, lest everyone was overwhelmed and subdued by the robots. The red dragon-God lunged at Bakura, opening its lower jaw, breathing smoke.
“Unbelievable,” Kaiba said. He watched with wide eyes, unable to process what really was happening. The thief didn’t cower in front of the God; if anything, he straightened himself and faced him head-on, but his body language showed apprehension.
“Great going, Pharaoh!” Jounouchi was relieved. He wiggled and saw Malik struggling to get back up as well. “Malik, quick, tell me - does Bakura have some kind of control device for the robots?”
“He usually has a black device with him,” Malik said. “I guess it’s a tablet, but I don’t know where he keeps it.”
“I made it,” Kaiba grunted. “He forced me to work on this technology, threatening to kill Mokuba if I didn’t. I’ve known all my life that Gozaburo had stashed his war materials under KaibaCorp., but I never realized how much of it was still left. Robotics was a personal hobby of my adoptive father, and that’s just scratching the surface.”
Jounouchi nodded, grimacing. Mokuba had already filled him in about the man and his warmongering mentality. Kaiba wasn’t to blame here; Jounouchi would’ve done anything if his sister’s live was at stake. He addressed Malik again. “Can you reach my gun?”
“Yes,” Malik said and took the gun out of Jounouchi’s waist band. “I don’t know what you want, guns aren’t effective against Gods.”
“It’s not about the Gods.” Jounouchi turned around. “Can you fire a gun? Shoot the restraints!”
“No, are you insane?” Malik was shocked. “I’ll definitely hit you!”
“I’m willing to take that risk.” Jounouchi forced his arms backwards in an attempt to create as much room between his hands and his body as possible.
“No, I can’t!”
“Malik, you’re the only one with his hands tied in front of him,” Jounouchi said. “Shoot the restraints! I need to have my hands free!”
“I can’t! I’ve never fired a gun before!”
“Do it, Malik!” Jounouchi closed his eyes, preparing himself for a world of pain. Malik probably would misfire, and he would end up with a gunshot wound. Too bad, he didn’t have any other option at the moment. He could hear Malik breathe rapidly, panicked. This wasn’t one of his brightest ideas. He braced himself, ignoring the loud roars and screeches coming from the battlefield. Bakura’s Diabound had wrapped its large snake-like tail around the Pharaoh’s dragon-God’s neck and tightened his grip.
“What took you so long?” Bakura shook his fist at Diabound. The monster was neither impressed with his gesture nor with Mahaado’s Magus of Fantasy Illusion flying around him and firing energy bolts; the magician-priest’s kaa monster was no match for the humongous creature. The mystical stone tablet brimmed with the energy it was containing, sending out strong electrical jolts.
“Fire, goddamnit!” Jounouchi cried out. Malik obeyed and fired with his eyes closed. His hands shook too much and aimed the barrel of the gun too far to the left. The bullet ended up in the wall. “Focus! Focus, Malik!”
He fired again and the second bullet grazed Jounouchi’s upper leg. He bit back a loud curse as pain exploded in his body. Malik dropped the gun, aghast and afraid. Blood welled up, coloring the fabric of Jounouchi’s pants darker. Frantically, he tugged at the restraints.
“Try again!”
“No!” Malik shook his head, shivering all over. “I shot you! You’re injured!”
“Shoot it again!” Jounouchi snarled as he twisted his hands, struggling. Ignore the pain. In all his years as a detective, he miraculously never had been shot. So this was how it felt like… and to think that the bullet had merely grazed him. Sweat rolled down his face.
Kaiba spoke up, suddenly. “The second bullet went through its control panel! It’s short-circuiting!”
Encouraged, Jounouchi used brute force to pull his hands free. The mechanical arms disengaged and like dead weight, the robotic device fell on the floor. Jounouchi bit back another grunt of pain; the restraints had been very tight, and his arms had been clamped together in an unnatural position for hours. Fucking robots! He picked up his gun from the floor, ignoring the shaky Malik for now. Kaiba turned around, showing Jounouchi his bound hands.
“Release me,” he demanded. Jounouchi was tempted to shoot, but he used the butt of his gun to destroy the robot’s control panel instead. Kaiba grunted when he could move his arms again, rubbing his hands together before he went to help Mokuba. Jounouchi immediately located Yuugi. Diabound was struggling with the God and Bakura was too occupied to pay attention to Jounouchi, so he safely made his way over to his friend and Bakura Ryou, still unconscious.
“Jounouchi,” Yuugi said, dazed and confused. His eyes went wide when he saw the ominous dark patch on his pants. “You’re injured! You’re bleeding!”
“It’s just a scratch,” Jounouchi tried to reassure him. He wasn’t bleeding profusely, but he knew very well that a steady trickle could result into enough blood loss to have his body give out on him. He stuck his gun into his waistband again and tore a sleeve off of his shirt. Mahaado had no time to heal him right now, so he had to stop the bleeding himself. Jounouchi wrapped the sleeve around his upper leg and tied it firmly together. Yuugi tugged at Bakura.
“I can’t get him to wake up,” he said. “Please Jounouchi, we have to help him!”
“I’m sorry Yuugi, but he’s of very low priority right now,” Jounouchi said. He felt sorry for the poor delivery boy, drawn into this mess against his will. “We have to help the Pharaoh first, don’t you think?”
Yuugi agreed, but protested nonetheless. “We can’t leave Bakura-kun here like this.”
“Let’s get the both of you to a safer place,” Jounouchi said. He picked up Bakura effortlessly, he weighed absolutely nothing. He gritted his teeth. There was actually no such thing as a ‘safer place’ around here. The two god-like monsters occupied the grounds, huge bodies moving back and forth as they fought. Dark Bakura was close to the overloading stone slab with the Sennen Items and Marik had to be around somewhere as well. Hugging the wall, Jounouchi carried Bakura over to the rest of the group: Kaiba, who had freed Mokuba and Ishizu in the meantime, was now deactivating Malik’s restraints. Jounouchi carefully put Bakura down; he immediately slumped against the wall.
“Mokuba-kun, would you mind staying with Bakura-kun?” Yuugi asked. Mokuba nodded.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he shuddered.
“Kaiba!” Jounouchi called after him as the tall CEO stalked off. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
“I was forced to assemble this technology,” he said, without looking back. “I know where the control center is and I know how to destroy it. Don’t follow me. Keep an eye on Mokuba.”
He halted mid-step when he caught a good look at the Pharaoh, approaching the group with Mahaado in tow. He did a double-take and quickly looked over his shoulder and back again. “Yuugi? How..? What the hell..?” His confusion would’ve been amusing in any other circumstances, as the usually unflappable Kaiba Seto was now fumbling for words. The Pharaoh nodded at him.
“I wished we would have met in better times, Set,” he said.
“My name is Seto,” he managed to croak out. “Who the hell are you?”
Mahaado came up behind the Pharaoh, ready to defend him. “You always are so brash in the Pharaoh’s presence,” he said, shaking his head. “Some things will never change.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kaiba said. “Who are you?”
“Unfortunately, we do not have time for introductions,” Mahaado answered. “We need your help, friend. If you can destroy the heart of these robots-” he had difficulties pronouncing the foreign word, “-please, go ahead. We will catch up with you later.”
Kaiba knew better than to dawdle, even though he couldn’t help but to cast one more glance at the Pharaoh before hurrying away. Mahaado and the Pharaoh moved towards Jounouchi, who waved at them frantically.
Yuugi ran up to the Pharaoh and the magician-priest. “Please, we have to leave here! The stone slab is overloading with energy!”
“Aibou? What are you doing here?” The Pharaoh arched an elegant eyebrow. He looked haggard from the earlier fight. “You were supposed to stay safely at the mansion!”
“Mou hitori no boku,” Yuugi said sternly, “we’ll have to talk about that, but not now. We have to get everyone into safety!”
Jounouchi snickered when the Pharaoh turned slightly red. Not even Mahaado commented on Yuugi talking back to him. Right at that moment, the red dragon-God managed to throw Diabound off of him, roaring with the effort.
“Osiris is in pain,” Mahaado said. “Please Pharaoh, for your sake…”
Jounouchi quickly connected the dots: any time a monster, God or not, sustained damage, that very same damage was shared with its wielder, in this case the Pharaoh. He was experiencing the same pain as Osiris. It had to be excruciating, yet he was still standing on his feet.
“I cannot release him,” the Pharaoh said stubbornly. “Where are the others?”
“Don’t worry about Mokuba, Ishizu, Bakura and Malik,” Jounouchi said, tumbling over his own words. “Kaiba went off to destroy the command center of the robots and when he does, we won’t have to worry about them anymore.”
“I understand. Hopefully Set will succeed soon…” his voice trailed off.
Mahaado looked at him worriedly. “What should we do, Pharaoh? Marik has to be around somewhere too.”
“Call back your Magus,” the Pharaoh said. “We will retreat for now.”
“Pharaoh, without your Puzzle-” Mahaado started, but his voice was drowned out by Osiris’ mighty growl, as the God arched its back and used its razor sharp pointy tail to whack at Diabound. The sharp, protruding scales on Osiris’ tail scratched Diabound’s eyes and Bakura screamed in pain accordingly. He buried his head in his hands, blood dripping between his fingers. He shared a similar bond with Diabound like the Pharaoh and Osiris; any damage to Diabound hurt the thief and without his Ring he was twice as vulnerable. Diabound fell onto the ground, creating a large cloud of dust.
“The Items..!” The Pharaoh took a step towards the stone slab, but Mahaado pulled him back rather roughly, yanking at the rim of his torn and tattered cape.
“No! It is too dangerous!” Mahaado called his Magus and pointed his monster towards the slab. Before the Magus could gather the Items, a large metal door behind the slab opened, revealing robots. An endless sea of robots. Jounouchi grunted.
“Kaiba,” he muttered under his breath, “you better destroy that command center soon, or else…!”
“Do not fear,” the Pharaoh said. “Osiris will take care of them. We will be-” he doubled over as he grabbed at his chest, agony written all over his face.
“Pharaoh!” Everyone yelled. The accompanying roar of Osiris was unmistakable. Diabound held the God in its grip again, twisting its neck. Bakura’s hatred and anger fueled the monster with relentless power and strength, surpassing the God’s. Mahaado put his arms around the Pharaoh to support him.
“Let him go, Pharaoh! Let him go! You cannot sustain all of us any longer! Please!”
“We have to be victorious,” the Pharaoh said, groaning in pain. “Light has to survive…”
“We will be victorious, Pharaoh,” Mahaado said. He looked up at his Magus and barked orders at him in Ancient Egyptian. The monster flew away. Mahaado turned his attention back to the Pharaoh. “I will not allow anything to happen to you.”
“Eh, guys?” Mokuba said. “We… sort of are trapped, if you know what I mean.”
The robots ahead of them and the strangled God and Diabound and Bakura behind them; Jounouchi could hear the thief cackle. Another shiver ran down his spine. Of course the thief would enjoy the sight of the struggle and the onslaught at hand. He pulled out his gun again, turned around and pointed it straight at Bakura.
“You got yourself a sacrifice,” Jounouchi said. “You have a body. You’re not immortal, Bakura. I’ll put enough bullets in you that you can’t be resurrected. In fact, before anyone can resurrect you, they’ll have to search for your brain all over.”
The thief didn’t even bat his eyes. “I command monsters the equals of Gods,” he said, wiping for a last time at his face, smearing blood all over. “I pilfered tombs of Pharaohs, I have vanquished death - and you think a bullet to the head will stop me?”
“He’s right, Jounouchi-daimyo,” Marik’s voice came from the left and Jounouchi swirled around, pointing his gun at the new target. “And the same goes for me.”
“You can pump all your bullets into us,” Bakura laughed, “but you will never kill darkness. Just give up, Jounouchi.”
He lowered his gun again. Bakura was right, of course. This was far beyond normal human comprehension. This went above and beyond reality… and rationality. Jounouchi narrowed his eyes. Rationality… he had noticed something earlier, something that seemed of little significance, and Marik’s appearance reminded him.
“Darkness isn’t the most powerful force in the world,” he said. “Wherever there’s darkness, there’s light. In everyone’s soul.” Jounouchi refused to lower his eyes and he stared at Marik. “Even in yours.”
Marik did that curiously-tilt of his head again, his golden earrings shifting with the movement. Bakura made a snorting sound, as if he was going to break out in either a laugh or a coughing fit.
“Of all of the prisoners, Malik was the only one with his hands tied in front,” Jounouchi continued. “You might have pummeled and beaten him, but you didn’t restrain your light half too tightly, did you?”
“Robots held him down,” Marik said. “Not me.”
“Yes, but robots don’t decide whether hands are tied in the front or in the back,” Jounouchi insisted. “You attached the robots to everyone. You fastened the robots on everyone’s back, pinning them down… except for your light half.”
“What is he talking about, Marik?” Bakura snarled.
Marik shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s just running his mouth.”
“Then make him shut up,” Bakura said. Marik showed a wicked grin in return and took a step towards Jounouchi.
“No, Marik.” It was a miracle that Ishizu’s voice was overheard with all the noise. “Please.”
He scrunched up his face. “Stay out of this, pretty sister. Your part is over.”
“Jounouchi is right,” Ishizu said, unperturbed by his curt words. “You are an entity of violence and destruction, but not even you are mindless, soulless. You showed mercy to Malik in your own way.”
Marik pulled out something from behind his back - a golden artifact. It was the Sennen Rod.
“Stay away from me!” he growled.
“You idiot!” Bakura raged. “You took the Sennen Rod out of the slab! What the hell is going on with you?”
“Marik is a Tomb Keeper.” Ishizu said. She turned her head to address Bakura. “No matter what lies you whispered into his ear, no matter what you promised him, no matter how much you used him - he is still one of us.” With a compassionate smile on her face, she turned back to Marik again. “I do not care what you do to me,” she said. “I do not care about what you did to me. I forgive you. You are one of us.”
“Sister,” Malik said, standing next to her. “You know what and who he is. He doesn’t deserve any forgiveness, and neither do I. For what I’ve done…”
A hitch in her voice. “You are both my brothers.” She took a step forward. “I believe in both of you.”
Marik’s facial expression was a grotesque mixture of disbelief, anger, abhorrence and disgust. He lifted up the Rod, the eye on the sphere glowing ominously.
“Put that back into the slab!” Bakura barked at him.
Ishizu wasn’t going to back down. “We guarded the Rod and Tauk for millennia. By any rights, it should be ours.”
“You’re nothing but weak pawns,” Bakura said disdainfully. “You’ve always followed your equally weak Pharaoh, blind to everything he has done!”
“We are not the demons in this legend,” Ishizu said. “You are, Bakura!”
“You dare call me a monster,” he hissed, “when you are in his company?” He pointed at the Pharaoh.
“What?” Yuugi took the Pharaoh boldly by the arm. “He’s not a monster!”
“You’d think so?” The menacing glare in Bakura’s eyes made him shiver. “You have no idea what he has done to me, my family…”
“Pharaoh, do not listen to him,” Mahaado interrupted him. “You are not to blame. Let us hurry and leave!”
The scar on his face crinkled as Bakura frowned. “Fine,” he said, voice low. “I don’t care about any of you! You will all die! Diabound!”
Diabound increased his stranglehold on Osiris so hard that the Pharaoh cried out and sunk to his knees. Mahaado was barely quick enough to prevent him from falling to the cold, hard floor and the next moment, Osiris disappeared. Laughing, Bakura pulled out a black device from the folds of his cloak and tapped onto it. Immediately, the robots engaged into attack, jumping at everyone in sight. Ishizu screamed as robotic arms wrapped themselves around her. Malik came to her rescue, tugging at the arms and ripping at the technology while Marik, uncanny fast, used the Sennen Rod to destroy the oncoming waves of robots.
Mahaado’s Magus joined him, but his attacks weren’t as intense; Jounouchi realized that the magician-priest was tired, having suffered from the earlier damage to his monster. Adding the strain of keeping the Magus afloat while supporting the Pharaoh, who looked worse for wear after summoning and sustaining two Gods, it was a miracle that Mahaado was still standing on his feet. Yuugi kneeled next to the Pharaoh, his hands on his shoulders.
“Take my energy!” He offered even though he hadn’t much energy left himself. Marik continued destroying the robots, enjoying the mayhem. Malik used a robot’s leg to whack at the electronic devices. Ishizu and Mokuba retreated to a corner, taking the unconscious Bakura with them. Surprisingly swift, Diabound moved its large body behind the thief, towering over him.
“I don’t care about any of you,” Bakura repeated, “I have waited long enough! I will kill you all! Diab-”
“No, Bakura,” an ominous voice echoed. Jounouchi covered his ears. Mahaado looked up, confused as to where the voice came from.
“Z-Zorc?” Yuugi asked softly.
Bakura looked annoyed. “What is it? I’ve done everything you wanted. All the Sennen Items are present. I’ll pry it from their dead hands!”
“We need the Eighth Key,” the disembodied voice spoke, raspy, low, as if millennia of dust and sand had worn on the vocal cords. It grated on everyone’s nerves.
“Soon, you’ll have your body,” Bakura said confidently. His diabolical grin told Jounouchi more than enough. The whole lot of them was going to be used as a sacrifice for this Zorc guy, except for the Pharaoh… who was awaiting an even worse fate, of that he was sure.
“Pharaoh, so nice to see you,” the voice came again. “Forgive me for not meeting you face to face. That will happen soon, as my… associate pointed out correctly.”
“You will never be resurrected, Zorc,” the Pharaoh said and pushed at Mahaado and Yuugi to get up. “I will seal you away for good!”
Previous chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |10 |11 |12 |13 |14 |15 |16 |17 |18 |19 |
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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
“No!” Yuugi yelled from afar. Whether he’d been able to overhear Bakura or he was just yelling ‘no’ in general, Jounouchi didn’t know as the next second, the attack of the red dragon-God all but blew them away. Even Bakura was thrown off of his feet and ironically, due to the robotic arms pinning them down, the Kaiba brothers, Malik and Jounouchi stayed in their place, unaffected by the huge displacement of air and energy.
“Fuck me!” Jounouchi coughed and wheezed. The area was swept clean of the robots, blown to bits, but the powerful attack had been absorbed by the stone slab, crackling from the residual energy. Jounouchi looked around to see where everyone was: the Pharaoh and Mahaado in the far distance; Ishizu somewhere in the middle, unharmed; Yuugi to the side with an incredulous look on his face and Bakura Ryou, unconscious, on the floor next to him. Bakura got back up on his feet again, grumbling and growling. Without his Ring, he was vulnerable to the attack of the God. He left the Pharaoh little choice but to attack though, lest everyone was overwhelmed and subdued by the robots. The red dragon-God lunged at Bakura, opening its lower jaw, breathing smoke.
“Unbelievable,” Kaiba said. He watched with wide eyes, unable to process what really was happening. The thief didn’t cower in front of the God; if anything, he straightened himself and faced him head-on, but his body language showed apprehension.
“Great going, Pharaoh!” Jounouchi was relieved. He wiggled and saw Malik struggling to get back up as well. “Malik, quick, tell me - does Bakura have some kind of control device for the robots?”
“He usually has a black device with him,” Malik said. “I guess it’s a tablet, but I don’t know where he keeps it.”
“I made it,” Kaiba grunted. “He forced me to work on this technology, threatening to kill Mokuba if I didn’t. I’ve known all my life that Gozaburo had stashed his war materials under KaibaCorp., but I never realized how much of it was still left. Robotics was a personal hobby of my adoptive father, and that’s just scratching the surface.”
Jounouchi nodded, grimacing. Mokuba had already filled him in about the man and his warmongering mentality. Kaiba wasn’t to blame here; Jounouchi would’ve done anything if his sister’s live was at stake. He addressed Malik again. “Can you reach my gun?”
“Yes,” Malik said and took the gun out of Jounouchi’s waist band. “I don’t know what you want, guns aren’t effective against Gods.”
“It’s not about the Gods.” Jounouchi turned around. “Can you fire a gun? Shoot the restraints!”
“No, are you insane?” Malik was shocked. “I’ll definitely hit you!”
“I’m willing to take that risk.” Jounouchi forced his arms backwards in an attempt to create as much room between his hands and his body as possible.
“No, I can’t!”
“Malik, you’re the only one with his hands tied in front of him,” Jounouchi said. “Shoot the restraints! I need to have my hands free!”
“I can’t! I’ve never fired a gun before!”
“Do it, Malik!” Jounouchi closed his eyes, preparing himself for a world of pain. Malik probably would misfire, and he would end up with a gunshot wound. Too bad, he didn’t have any other option at the moment. He could hear Malik breathe rapidly, panicked. This wasn’t one of his brightest ideas. He braced himself, ignoring the loud roars and screeches coming from the battlefield. Bakura’s Diabound had wrapped its large snake-like tail around the Pharaoh’s dragon-God’s neck and tightened his grip.
“What took you so long?” Bakura shook his fist at Diabound. The monster was neither impressed with his gesture nor with Mahaado’s Magus of Fantasy Illusion flying around him and firing energy bolts; the magician-priest’s kaa monster was no match for the humongous creature. The mystical stone tablet brimmed with the energy it was containing, sending out strong electrical jolts.
“Fire, goddamnit!” Jounouchi cried out. Malik obeyed and fired with his eyes closed. His hands shook too much and aimed the barrel of the gun too far to the left. The bullet ended up in the wall. “Focus! Focus, Malik!”
He fired again and the second bullet grazed Jounouchi’s upper leg. He bit back a loud curse as pain exploded in his body. Malik dropped the gun, aghast and afraid. Blood welled up, coloring the fabric of Jounouchi’s pants darker. Frantically, he tugged at the restraints.
“Try again!”
“No!” Malik shook his head, shivering all over. “I shot you! You’re injured!”
“Shoot it again!” Jounouchi snarled as he twisted his hands, struggling. Ignore the pain. In all his years as a detective, he miraculously never had been shot. So this was how it felt like… and to think that the bullet had merely grazed him. Sweat rolled down his face.
Kaiba spoke up, suddenly. “The second bullet went through its control panel! It’s short-circuiting!”
Encouraged, Jounouchi used brute force to pull his hands free. The mechanical arms disengaged and like dead weight, the robotic device fell on the floor. Jounouchi bit back another grunt of pain; the restraints had been very tight, and his arms had been clamped together in an unnatural position for hours. Fucking robots! He picked up his gun from the floor, ignoring the shaky Malik for now. Kaiba turned around, showing Jounouchi his bound hands.
“Release me,” he demanded. Jounouchi was tempted to shoot, but he used the butt of his gun to destroy the robot’s control panel instead. Kaiba grunted when he could move his arms again, rubbing his hands together before he went to help Mokuba. Jounouchi immediately located Yuugi. Diabound was struggling with the God and Bakura was too occupied to pay attention to Jounouchi, so he safely made his way over to his friend and Bakura Ryou, still unconscious.
“Jounouchi,” Yuugi said, dazed and confused. His eyes went wide when he saw the ominous dark patch on his pants. “You’re injured! You’re bleeding!”
“It’s just a scratch,” Jounouchi tried to reassure him. He wasn’t bleeding profusely, but he knew very well that a steady trickle could result into enough blood loss to have his body give out on him. He stuck his gun into his waistband again and tore a sleeve off of his shirt. Mahaado had no time to heal him right now, so he had to stop the bleeding himself. Jounouchi wrapped the sleeve around his upper leg and tied it firmly together. Yuugi tugged at Bakura.
“I can’t get him to wake up,” he said. “Please Jounouchi, we have to help him!”
“I’m sorry Yuugi, but he’s of very low priority right now,” Jounouchi said. He felt sorry for the poor delivery boy, drawn into this mess against his will. “We have to help the Pharaoh first, don’t you think?”
Yuugi agreed, but protested nonetheless. “We can’t leave Bakura-kun here like this.”
“Let’s get the both of you to a safer place,” Jounouchi said. He picked up Bakura effortlessly, he weighed absolutely nothing. He gritted his teeth. There was actually no such thing as a ‘safer place’ around here. The two god-like monsters occupied the grounds, huge bodies moving back and forth as they fought. Dark Bakura was close to the overloading stone slab with the Sennen Items and Marik had to be around somewhere as well. Hugging the wall, Jounouchi carried Bakura over to the rest of the group: Kaiba, who had freed Mokuba and Ishizu in the meantime, was now deactivating Malik’s restraints. Jounouchi carefully put Bakura down; he immediately slumped against the wall.
“Mokuba-kun, would you mind staying with Bakura-kun?” Yuugi asked. Mokuba nodded.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he shuddered.
“Kaiba!” Jounouchi called after him as the tall CEO stalked off. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
“I was forced to assemble this technology,” he said, without looking back. “I know where the control center is and I know how to destroy it. Don’t follow me. Keep an eye on Mokuba.”
He halted mid-step when he caught a good look at the Pharaoh, approaching the group with Mahaado in tow. He did a double-take and quickly looked over his shoulder and back again. “Yuugi? How..? What the hell..?” His confusion would’ve been amusing in any other circumstances, as the usually unflappable Kaiba Seto was now fumbling for words. The Pharaoh nodded at him.
“I wished we would have met in better times, Set,” he said.
“My name is Seto,” he managed to croak out. “Who the hell are you?”
Mahaado came up behind the Pharaoh, ready to defend him. “You always are so brash in the Pharaoh’s presence,” he said, shaking his head. “Some things will never change.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kaiba said. “Who are you?”
“Unfortunately, we do not have time for introductions,” Mahaado answered. “We need your help, friend. If you can destroy the heart of these robots-” he had difficulties pronouncing the foreign word, “-please, go ahead. We will catch up with you later.”
Kaiba knew better than to dawdle, even though he couldn’t help but to cast one more glance at the Pharaoh before hurrying away. Mahaado and the Pharaoh moved towards Jounouchi, who waved at them frantically.
Yuugi ran up to the Pharaoh and the magician-priest. “Please, we have to leave here! The stone slab is overloading with energy!”
“Aibou? What are you doing here?” The Pharaoh arched an elegant eyebrow. He looked haggard from the earlier fight. “You were supposed to stay safely at the mansion!”
“Mou hitori no boku,” Yuugi said sternly, “we’ll have to talk about that, but not now. We have to get everyone into safety!”
Jounouchi snickered when the Pharaoh turned slightly red. Not even Mahaado commented on Yuugi talking back to him. Right at that moment, the red dragon-God managed to throw Diabound off of him, roaring with the effort.
“Osiris is in pain,” Mahaado said. “Please Pharaoh, for your sake…”
Jounouchi quickly connected the dots: any time a monster, God or not, sustained damage, that very same damage was shared with its wielder, in this case the Pharaoh. He was experiencing the same pain as Osiris. It had to be excruciating, yet he was still standing on his feet.
“I cannot release him,” the Pharaoh said stubbornly. “Where are the others?”
“Don’t worry about Mokuba, Ishizu, Bakura and Malik,” Jounouchi said, tumbling over his own words. “Kaiba went off to destroy the command center of the robots and when he does, we won’t have to worry about them anymore.”
“I understand. Hopefully Set will succeed soon…” his voice trailed off.
Mahaado looked at him worriedly. “What should we do, Pharaoh? Marik has to be around somewhere too.”
“Call back your Magus,” the Pharaoh said. “We will retreat for now.”
“Pharaoh, without your Puzzle-” Mahaado started, but his voice was drowned out by Osiris’ mighty growl, as the God arched its back and used its razor sharp pointy tail to whack at Diabound. The sharp, protruding scales on Osiris’ tail scratched Diabound’s eyes and Bakura screamed in pain accordingly. He buried his head in his hands, blood dripping between his fingers. He shared a similar bond with Diabound like the Pharaoh and Osiris; any damage to Diabound hurt the thief and without his Ring he was twice as vulnerable. Diabound fell onto the ground, creating a large cloud of dust.
“The Items..!” The Pharaoh took a step towards the stone slab, but Mahaado pulled him back rather roughly, yanking at the rim of his torn and tattered cape.
“No! It is too dangerous!” Mahaado called his Magus and pointed his monster towards the slab. Before the Magus could gather the Items, a large metal door behind the slab opened, revealing robots. An endless sea of robots. Jounouchi grunted.
“Kaiba,” he muttered under his breath, “you better destroy that command center soon, or else…!”
“Do not fear,” the Pharaoh said. “Osiris will take care of them. We will be-” he doubled over as he grabbed at his chest, agony written all over his face.
“Pharaoh!” Everyone yelled. The accompanying roar of Osiris was unmistakable. Diabound held the God in its grip again, twisting its neck. Bakura’s hatred and anger fueled the monster with relentless power and strength, surpassing the God’s. Mahaado put his arms around the Pharaoh to support him.
“Let him go, Pharaoh! Let him go! You cannot sustain all of us any longer! Please!”
“We have to be victorious,” the Pharaoh said, groaning in pain. “Light has to survive…”
“We will be victorious, Pharaoh,” Mahaado said. He looked up at his Magus and barked orders at him in Ancient Egyptian. The monster flew away. Mahaado turned his attention back to the Pharaoh. “I will not allow anything to happen to you.”
“Eh, guys?” Mokuba said. “We… sort of are trapped, if you know what I mean.”
The robots ahead of them and the strangled God and Diabound and Bakura behind them; Jounouchi could hear the thief cackle. Another shiver ran down his spine. Of course the thief would enjoy the sight of the struggle and the onslaught at hand. He pulled out his gun again, turned around and pointed it straight at Bakura.
“You got yourself a sacrifice,” Jounouchi said. “You have a body. You’re not immortal, Bakura. I’ll put enough bullets in you that you can’t be resurrected. In fact, before anyone can resurrect you, they’ll have to search for your brain all over.”
The thief didn’t even bat his eyes. “I command monsters the equals of Gods,” he said, wiping for a last time at his face, smearing blood all over. “I pilfered tombs of Pharaohs, I have vanquished death - and you think a bullet to the head will stop me?”
“He’s right, Jounouchi-daimyo,” Marik’s voice came from the left and Jounouchi swirled around, pointing his gun at the new target. “And the same goes for me.”
“You can pump all your bullets into us,” Bakura laughed, “but you will never kill darkness. Just give up, Jounouchi.”
He lowered his gun again. Bakura was right, of course. This was far beyond normal human comprehension. This went above and beyond reality… and rationality. Jounouchi narrowed his eyes. Rationality… he had noticed something earlier, something that seemed of little significance, and Marik’s appearance reminded him.
“Darkness isn’t the most powerful force in the world,” he said. “Wherever there’s darkness, there’s light. In everyone’s soul.” Jounouchi refused to lower his eyes and he stared at Marik. “Even in yours.”
Marik did that curiously-tilt of his head again, his golden earrings shifting with the movement. Bakura made a snorting sound, as if he was going to break out in either a laugh or a coughing fit.
“Of all of the prisoners, Malik was the only one with his hands tied in front,” Jounouchi continued. “You might have pummeled and beaten him, but you didn’t restrain your light half too tightly, did you?”
“Robots held him down,” Marik said. “Not me.”
“Yes, but robots don’t decide whether hands are tied in the front or in the back,” Jounouchi insisted. “You attached the robots to everyone. You fastened the robots on everyone’s back, pinning them down… except for your light half.”
“What is he talking about, Marik?” Bakura snarled.
Marik shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s just running his mouth.”
“Then make him shut up,” Bakura said. Marik showed a wicked grin in return and took a step towards Jounouchi.
“No, Marik.” It was a miracle that Ishizu’s voice was overheard with all the noise. “Please.”
He scrunched up his face. “Stay out of this, pretty sister. Your part is over.”
“Jounouchi is right,” Ishizu said, unperturbed by his curt words. “You are an entity of violence and destruction, but not even you are mindless, soulless. You showed mercy to Malik in your own way.”
Marik pulled out something from behind his back - a golden artifact. It was the Sennen Rod.
“Stay away from me!” he growled.
“You idiot!” Bakura raged. “You took the Sennen Rod out of the slab! What the hell is going on with you?”
“Marik is a Tomb Keeper.” Ishizu said. She turned her head to address Bakura. “No matter what lies you whispered into his ear, no matter what you promised him, no matter how much you used him - he is still one of us.” With a compassionate smile on her face, she turned back to Marik again. “I do not care what you do to me,” she said. “I do not care about what you did to me. I forgive you. You are one of us.”
“Sister,” Malik said, standing next to her. “You know what and who he is. He doesn’t deserve any forgiveness, and neither do I. For what I’ve done…”
A hitch in her voice. “You are both my brothers.” She took a step forward. “I believe in both of you.”
Marik’s facial expression was a grotesque mixture of disbelief, anger, abhorrence and disgust. He lifted up the Rod, the eye on the sphere glowing ominously.
“Put that back into the slab!” Bakura barked at him.
Ishizu wasn’t going to back down. “We guarded the Rod and Tauk for millennia. By any rights, it should be ours.”
“You’re nothing but weak pawns,” Bakura said disdainfully. “You’ve always followed your equally weak Pharaoh, blind to everything he has done!”
“We are not the demons in this legend,” Ishizu said. “You are, Bakura!”
“You dare call me a monster,” he hissed, “when you are in his company?” He pointed at the Pharaoh.
“What?” Yuugi took the Pharaoh boldly by the arm. “He’s not a monster!”
“You’d think so?” The menacing glare in Bakura’s eyes made him shiver. “You have no idea what he has done to me, my family…”
“Pharaoh, do not listen to him,” Mahaado interrupted him. “You are not to blame. Let us hurry and leave!”
The scar on his face crinkled as Bakura frowned. “Fine,” he said, voice low. “I don’t care about any of you! You will all die! Diabound!”
Diabound increased his stranglehold on Osiris so hard that the Pharaoh cried out and sunk to his knees. Mahaado was barely quick enough to prevent him from falling to the cold, hard floor and the next moment, Osiris disappeared. Laughing, Bakura pulled out a black device from the folds of his cloak and tapped onto it. Immediately, the robots engaged into attack, jumping at everyone in sight. Ishizu screamed as robotic arms wrapped themselves around her. Malik came to her rescue, tugging at the arms and ripping at the technology while Marik, uncanny fast, used the Sennen Rod to destroy the oncoming waves of robots.
Mahaado’s Magus joined him, but his attacks weren’t as intense; Jounouchi realized that the magician-priest was tired, having suffered from the earlier damage to his monster. Adding the strain of keeping the Magus afloat while supporting the Pharaoh, who looked worse for wear after summoning and sustaining two Gods, it was a miracle that Mahaado was still standing on his feet. Yuugi kneeled next to the Pharaoh, his hands on his shoulders.
“Take my energy!” He offered even though he hadn’t much energy left himself. Marik continued destroying the robots, enjoying the mayhem. Malik used a robot’s leg to whack at the electronic devices. Ishizu and Mokuba retreated to a corner, taking the unconscious Bakura with them. Surprisingly swift, Diabound moved its large body behind the thief, towering over him.
“I don’t care about any of you,” Bakura repeated, “I have waited long enough! I will kill you all! Diab-”
“No, Bakura,” an ominous voice echoed. Jounouchi covered his ears. Mahaado looked up, confused as to where the voice came from.
“Z-Zorc?” Yuugi asked softly.
Bakura looked annoyed. “What is it? I’ve done everything you wanted. All the Sennen Items are present. I’ll pry it from their dead hands!”
“We need the Eighth Key,” the disembodied voice spoke, raspy, low, as if millennia of dust and sand had worn on the vocal cords. It grated on everyone’s nerves.
“Soon, you’ll have your body,” Bakura said confidently. His diabolical grin told Jounouchi more than enough. The whole lot of them was going to be used as a sacrifice for this Zorc guy, except for the Pharaoh… who was awaiting an even worse fate, of that he was sure.
“Pharaoh, so nice to see you,” the voice came again. “Forgive me for not meeting you face to face. That will happen soon, as my… associate pointed out correctly.”
“You will never be resurrected, Zorc,” the Pharaoh said and pushed at Mahaado and Yuugi to get up. “I will seal you away for good!”
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