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the_goldenpath) wrote2009-03-26 05:51 pm
the_goldenpath) wrote2009-03-26 05:51 pm
Entry tags:
- clashshipping,
- darkshipping,
- psychoshipping,
- red dawn,
- yamishipping,
- yu-gi-oh!: all cast,
- yu-gi-oh!: jounouchi katsuya,
- yu-gi-oh!: jounouchi shizuka,
- yu-gi-oh!: kaiba gozaburo,
- yu-gi-oh!: kaiba mokuba,
- yu-gi-oh!: kaiba seto,
- yu-gi-oh!: mutou yuugi,
- yu-gi-oh!: pharaoh atemu,
- yu-gi-oh!: priest mahaado,
- yu-gi-oh!: yami no bakura,
- yu-gi-oh!: yami no malik,
- yu-gi-oh!: yami no yuugi
Yu-Gi-Oh!, Red Dawn, Yamishipping, part 9/1
Title: Red Dawn or the World ends Tomorrow
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Pairings: Yamishipping (YnY x YnB x YnM), Anzu x Honda, unrequited Yuugi x Anzu, one-sided Mahaado x Atemu
Warnings: violence, angst, potty mouths, shounen-ai, major character death!
Genre: AU, science fiction, action/adventure
Diclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to Takahasi Kazuki. No money is made off of this. Fic written just for entertainment purposes.
Summary: Seven Items, seven Generals. What once was the peaceful green Earth has turned into a war-ridden danger zone under the tyrannical rule of Kaiba Gozaburo, with Domino City, Japan, as the centre of his empire. The resistance, led by young rebel Mutou Yuugi, is searching for a way to retrieve the seven so-called Sennen Items, as they are believed to hold the power to bring universal peace. It’s only a matter of time before Yuugi crosses paths with the Generals in his search, ultimately meeting the most powerful of them all: the one they call ‘Pharaoh’.
Author’s note: Feedback is greatly appreciated. I refer to Yami no Malik/ Malik no yami no jinkaku as ‘Marik’ for the flow of the story.
Key: ----------- = scene change
--------------------
Maybe this situation would’ve been amusing to him, if it hadn’t been for the Item around the neck of his doppelganger. Bakura was careful – it never paid off to rush into something head first – as he didn’t know his opponent. Their faces and physique were almost identical, but were they also the same in mind and soul? If so, his opponent would prove to be tough, and he would need all his wits and strength to defeat him.
His eyes were all but glued to the pendant. An Item. A veritable Sennen Item, and he wasn’t the only one. That other kid, the Marik look-alike, also had one! How could that be? Hadn’t the Generals searched all over the world for these Items? If only he could get his hands on them… Marik would never part with it if he managed to get one, he loved everything gold. Bakura licked his lips. He had enough tricks up his sleeve to get what he wanted. He wanted to achieve his goal, and with two Items, he could definitely turn the tables around. He didn’t want to be a General himself, far from it, but with two Items, no one would ever boss him around like a mere servant or bodyguard. Who knew what more he could use the Items for…
Licking his lips again, Bakura forced himself to look at his opponent, not at the Item. The other hadn’t said a word since they ‘met’, but kept staring at him. Chocolate brown, soft eyes. Compassionate eyes. Bakura wanted to gag. His doppelganger was a lot friendlier on the eyes, his similar bone-white hair framing a gentle face with soft, almost caressing strands. Bakura shook his head. That he even used these words to mentally describe the other, it was downright sickening.
“Who are you?” He demanded to know. This was a bad joke, a distraction! He didn’t believe in ‘darker side’ of the soul, he was the one and only Bakura.
“Bakura Ryou,” the other answered calmly. The Ring chimed, but it could also have been a simple gust of the wind; the sound send chills down Bakura’s spine. There was something strange about this Item – Bakura craved it the instant he saw it, but a nagging voice in the back of his mind told him that this Item wasn’t for him… for anyone of them. What nonsense!.
“You bear my name, and you look like me, what do you want from me?”
“Your life.”
Now this was amusing; Bakura would’ve howled with laughter if these ominous, unsettling feelings weren’t plaguing him. The other Bakura sounded deadly serious. He narrowed his eyes.
“How do you suggest you are going to take it?” He had the advantage of the shadows, unless this other Bakura had the same powers. Had Gozaburo crafted two similar creations, and was one of them a fluke? No, that couldn’t be. If Gozaburo had created the other Bakura as well, he wouldn’t have given him an Item. Everyone knew that Gozaburo wanted the Items for himself. He licked his lips once more, anxiously.
“You can’t use your shadows against me,” the other Bakura announced. “I am the other part of your soul, and therefore you cannot hurt me, nor can I hurt you.”
“We’ll see about that,” Bakura growled instinctively, and his hands went to his pockets. He had enough knives on him to slice anyone apart – and he wouldn’t hold back on this weird doppelganger! He was going to kill him, and take his Item and hang it from his own neck in victory!
He had two knives out when the sky was brightly lit with an intense, golden glow. He didn’t stop to watch or to marvel at it, even though the other Bakura, slightly confused, looked up, wondering where the light was coming from. Fool! He was wide open for an attack, and Bakura lunged at him, knives flickering in the same, golden light.
-------------------------------
“You’re going to cut yourself, pretty little one.” Marik hid a short chuckle behind his hand, even though his eyes never left the young boy coming towards him.
“I know exactly how to use this,” Malik said. The dagger felt heavy in his hand, heavy yet… disturbingly comfortable. In his mind, he had played this particular scene over and over again, ever since Isis had told him. She was dead because of her visions, those visions he had hated for all his life. He couldn’t deny that they all had come true, and he had hated Isis, the Items, the Gods, everything, for it. He hated that she had become a General, working for that bastard of a Kaiba Gozaburo, and giving him no explanation but the infuriating “My visions have shown me that I have to do this”. Malik had felt alone all his life, darkness eating at his heart, hatred consuming him. His sister a General, his adoptive elder brother killed by the Elite Troops, his hatred had grown so much that it had given birth to an entire different personality - the one that was standing in front of him, listening to the same name with only one letter different. Marik.
He wasn’t going to be fooled by those bland, pupil-less eyes. Isis had told him how strong the other was; hatred and darkness fueled him. Malik forced his breathing under control – he had to be in perfect control. He had to remain calm. If he got angry now, he was going to ruin it for everyone. Ruin it for the whole world. It creeped him out to look at Marik’s face; when relaxed, he almost looked child-like with his flawless skin and small lips pursed. His eyes were darting back and forth, curiously following him.
“You’re going to cut yourself, pretty little one,” Marik repeated. “Kiddies like you shouldn’t be playing with nasty, sharp daggers.”
“You’re the kid here,” Malik snarled. Calm. Keep yourself goddamn calm! “You were created from me, from my family, and you have brought nothing but pain and misery.”
“I don’t even know you,” Marik answered, offended. “This is the first time I meet you! Why all the pretty hatred, pretty little snotty kid?”
“Stop it,” Malik said, relieved that his voice sounded calm, yet stern. “You’re nothing but a creation, so you can be killed. Your darkness won’t taint this world any longer.”
“I haven’t done a thing,” Marik complained, but he shifted his stance and his muscles tightened, tensed. He didn’t clench his fists, but kept his fingers curved, claw-like. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Enough with this shit,” Malik replied and moved a little to the side. They were close to each other; just a few steps away. They circled around each other, Malik’s eyes on Marik’s claw-like hands, Marik’s eyes on Malik’s Sennen Rod. They were gauging each other’s reaction, taking in each other’s strength, estimating each other’s weak points. At first sight, Marik appeared physically stronger, but Malik had the advantage of a stabbing weapon.
“Enough it is, then,” Marik taunted him. “So, what are you waiting for, mm? Stab me. Come on, stab me, pretty little fucker. Stab me and make me feel pretty pain-pain-pain, let me see pretty blood, let me see pretty bones. Come on then!”
Maybe it was the mocking tone of his voice, maybe it was the tension, or because of Isis’ recent death. Anger possessed Malik, even though he had tried to suppress it. He all but jumped forward, his hand reaching for Marik while he raised his other hand with the dagger up high, ready to plunge it in. Marik was faster and turned just a little, catching the full brunt of Malik’s weight and smoothly moved with him, throwing him on the ground and immediately rolled over, his nails sinking into his skin and slicing, blood immediately welling up.
Malik cried out in pain and frustration. He hammered down with his hand, stabbing Marik in the shoulder blade. The excited cry of pain that elicited the other shocked Malik, even though he should’ve known - Isis had told him that his dark side thrived on blood and pain. He had no time for analysis. Marik grabbed Malik at the throat, sharp nails embedding into his skin.
“You’re so fucking dead,” he growled, his other hand grabbing Malik’s arm with the Sennen Item. His body trembled from the pure excitement of the pain, and his breathing was heavy from pleasure. Blood dripped from his shoulder, blood, such a pretty sight and he wanted to taste it, smear it all over his face and drink it, but for now, he had this pesky kid to deal with.
Suddenly the sky was brightened, and he immediately sat upright, pinning Malik between his legs to hold him down. His mouth fell just a little open when he realized what the light exactly was, and he smiled – not his usual deranged smile, but a fond, longing smile, of someone who had been waiting for a long lost lover to return.
“Pretty golden God,” he whispered.
-------------------------------
Kaiba bit on his bloodless, chafed lips and refrained from grunting. His fingers were clasped around the steering wheel, and he forcefully avoided looking at them. He had a vague idea about his bad condition, and he didn’t want to be confronted with his bony fingers. The leather of the steering wheel felt hot to the touch, but he had been through so many unpleasant situations that he couldn’t care less; a little heat was nothing compared to being starved to death. What little food he had managed to keep down was his only source of energy, as well as a few glasses of that carbonated drink Otogi had found, fueling his system with caffeine.
He knew that something else was also fueling him: anger, because of what Gozaburo and Noa had done to him, and a burning, passionate desire to see those two dead, or at least punished for their crimes. Gozaburo had ruined everything what the name and the person Kaiba stood for, and even though it wasn’t his ‘real’ family name, he felt attached to it and he felt the need to defend it against his adoptive father’s warmonger. Look at what Gozaburo had done to the world, to the population, to this city – Domino City should be filled with people, with traffic, with kids, with adults. The empty streets and their bad condition were signs enough that Gozaburo didn’t care for this world, he didn’t care for anything but his own goal to reach immortality. Kaiba snorted.
Otogi sat next to him in the passenger’s seat, with Mokuba in his lap. Mokuba was the one to apply pressure to the gas pedal, and would operate the brakes as soon as Kaiba nudged him. Otogi held his hand on Mokuba as he was in an awkward position, wedged between the dashboard and the shift stick; but at least he could reach the pedals. It was either Mokuba or Otogi, and the latter hadn’t felt anything for crawling between Kaiba’s skinny legs to put his hands on metal pads that were foreign to him anyway. He had never been in a position to learn how to drive, though he wasn’t surprised that Mokuba actually knew the basics. Otogi could have enjoyed the car ride, really – it was quite amazing to travel this fast, and the car itself was fascinating – if not so terrible much depended upon it. He glanced at the backseat for the umpteenth time, his ponytail smacking him in the face. Kaiba’s precious laptop and the bag with the Items and the rest of their provisions were strapped into the seat belts, but with the speed they were going at, Otogi didn’t trust them to stay where they were. The roads hadn’t been maintained for years, and he lost count of the numbers of bumps and potholes. His ass felt sore and bruised, and he didn’t want to think about what Kaiba was feeling; with his skinny body, he would feel each and every little obstacle.
“That we even managed to get this car,” he said for the fourth time. Mokuba turned his head around and beamed at him. The kid was having fun with this dangerous ride!
“Nii-sama can do anything!” He cheered, and pressed his hand further down on the gas pedal, speeding the car up some more. “It wasn’t as hard as you thought, right?”
It had been Kaiba’s brilliant idea to block all the elevators but the one they were using, rushing down to the garage that was unlocked due to the power fall-out. Otogi thought he was going to collapse and die from dragging Kaiba all over the place, but he had been able to muster enough strength to get everyone in the car, including the laptop and the bag with Items. Neither one of them had any idea of how much fuel was left in the tank; Kaiba had made the choice for the convertible without elaborating his choice, eliciting loud cheers from Mokuba because he wanted to feel ‘the wind blowing through his hair’. Well, the kid had his wish fulfilled, and was probably regretting his choice now that he was stuffed between the dashboard, his brother’s legs and the pedals.
“How much further is it?” Kaiba gritted through his teeth, and this was the first time Otogi could hear the pain he was suffering. Any moment now, Kaiba could collapse from sheer exhaustion, and Otogi didn’t need to be a nurse to see the bad situation he was in.
“Hold on,” he said. “We’re close now, we’ve almost reached the city.”
“You said that five minutes ago,” Kaiba sneered, but kept his eyes on the road. They had passed a few signs with ‘Domino City’ on it, but the actual distance had been unreadable. Otogi had difficulties with his orientation; he had never approached the city from this side. Which way was the quickest one to the Game Shop?
“Really, just really close,” Otogi said and tried to recognize any of the roads and buildings he saw. His grip on Mokuba shifted a little, and the kid slid almost entirely under the steering wheel.
“Heey! I don’t want to get stuck here with my head!”
“Watch it,” Kaiba barked and he tugged at the steering wheel. The car moved towards the left, hitting a bump in the road that send them flying off of their seats. If this had been anything but a convertible, they all would’ve hit their heads.
“I’m sorry, nii-sama,” Mokuba whined from down below.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Kaiba grumbled but it was so low and soft that only Otogi could overhear it. He was sure it was only meant for him, and he winced from the bump. He glanced quickly at the backseat, noticing that the laptop and the bag with the Items were still there, much to his relief.
After another few minutes, he gave a sudden yell.
“All right! See that building over there, to your right? You have to take the next exit!”
Domino City High had been the municipal school, but it had been long deserted. Its principal building with a large tower was however a typical landmark; an easy recognizable landmark for everyone. The tower used to hold a clock, which had disappeared; Otogi took it that the clock had been used to announce classes and the start of the school day. Just like driving a car, Otogi had been deprived of going to school like a normal kid, and many others with him. It was another thing that Kaiba Gozaburo had destroyed for them.
Kaiba grumbled again but followed Otogi’s ‘order’, as he took the next exit and drove downhill, towards a large intersection.
“Let go of the gas, Mokuba,” he said. His hand grabbed the stick and he shifted into a lower gear at the same moment Mokuba took his hands away from the pedal. The engine howled and the car slowed down considerably. The roads in town were in even worse condition than the highway, and Otogi kept his eyes peeled for any obstacles – Kaiba was beyond exhaustion. They were running out of time, and they had come too far to crash at the very last second.
“Straight ahead,” Otogi said, adrenaline rushing through him. He had managed to escape the KaibaCorp. building, he was still alive, and he was soon to be reunited with his friends and the Resistance! Passing the intersection, they drove into the northeast direction for another few minutes, until Kaiba suddenly called out: “Hit the brakes, the brakes!”
The car came to an abrupt halt, and Otogi almost smacked into the dashboard. Annoyed, he wanted to yell at Kaiba for the sudden stop, but he refrained from commenting as he saw the large crater in front of them. Large parts of the road were just… melted away. Mokuba used the opportunity to climb back into Kaiba’s lap. He winced visibly from his younger brother’s weight, but didn’t protest.
“Good call,” Otogi muttered. He had misjudged the size of the crater, and from up close he could see there was no way they could drive past it. He could still see wisps of smoke rising up from it. He didn’t know what or who could have caused this… but it meant that they had to find an alternative route, and his mind was already going over the possibilities.
Kaiba pulled at the stick, shifting it into reverse. “Gently, very gently push the gas pedal,” he told his brother, his voice hoarse. Mokuba answered with a sincere “Yes, nii-sama!” and slid back into his previous position, ducking under the dashboard. Very slowly, the car backed up, enlarging the distance between them and the smoldering crater…
“Wait! Wait!” Otogi almost whacked Kaiba in the face.
“What?”
“Wait!” Otogi pushed at the car door in an attempt to open it. He muttered under his breath when he couldn’t get it to open fast enough and quickly, he hoisted himself out of the car. He swung his legs out of the car while he dumped Mokuba unceremoniously, eliciting another “Heeey! Watch the head!”.
“What the hell is he doing?” Kaiba leaned against the steering wheel, his chest heaving. He was so tired, and his body ached all over. His eyes followed Otogi nonetheless, and he didn’t understand why he was running straight for the crater, taking a turn to the right at the last moment, waving maniacally with his arms.
Mokuba got up again, an annoyed frown marring his face. He looked over the edge of the dashboard. “What’s going on? Where did Otogi go to?”
“I don’t know.” Kaiba shrugged and leaned into the steering wheel. Not very comfortable, but he could rest his chin on the wheel and close his eyes…so tired…
“Nii-sama, there! People! Over there!” Mokuba’s voice was loud, and he opened his eyes again. He looked into the direction Mokuba was pointing to, and despite everything, his lips turned into his characteristic smirk. We made it.
------------------------------
Running as fast as he could, past the immense crater, Otogi waved and yelled frantically. He had spotted people, and his hopes went up significantly; please, let it be members of the Resistance! Even if they weren’t, they would probably know where the members were, wouldn’t they? It had to be! He couldn’t make out if they were male or female; two people, huddled together, walking at a very slow pace - and he could see why, as the taller one was limping.
“Heeey! Heey!” He yelled, trying to get their attention. “Wait! Wait!”
His heart fluttered when they indeed halted. Hopefully they could tell him where Yuugi and Shizuka were!
“Have you seen…” He skidded to a halt when the smaller of the two turned around, revealing herself to be a woman, face smudged and dirty, her hands and arms showing abrasions, matted strands of her short chestnut hair plastered against her cheeks.
“Anzu..!”
“Otogi!” She yelled and she almost dropped the man she was half-carrying, half-dragging. Otogi recognized him immediately and was quite surprised to see the magician-General right here, but he moved towards Anzu to give her an awkward hug. She moved her free arm around him, grabbing at his shirt, and she laughed out loud, slightly hysterically.
“We were so worried about you! We thought… Gods, we thought that you were dead! After we didn’t hear from you for so long…”
“It’s all right,” Otogi said, hugging her close one more time before letting her go. His eyes darted automatically towards the magician-General, who was dressed in his rather formal robes. Strange that he wasn’t wearing his usual armor. To his surprise, he noticed the man’s leg all bandaged up, a hue of blood visible through the fabric.
“Otogi,” Mahaado said, “have you seen the Pharaoh? Please…”
He shook his head regretfully. “I managed to get out of the KaibaCorp. building, buy we haven’t seen anyone since.”
Anzu didn’t pick up on the ‘we’ and patted with her hand all over Otogi, the nurse in her at work.
“You’re suffering from malnutrition,” she said, frowning. It was a good thing she hadn’t seen Kaiba yet. “Who did this to you? You need extra vitamins, minerals and…”
“Anzu, please, not now,” Otogi said. “Come, we have to get back to the car.”
“Car? You arrived here by car?”
“I have the Kaiba brothers with me,” he said and she froze on the spot.
“What? What in the world, Otogi..?”
“No, not Noa,” he quickly said. “It’s too much to explain now, but we need to get back to the car. Only then we can find the Pharaoh. I fill you in as we go, all right?”
She trusted him unconditionally, but her face showed a deep, puzzled frown when she followed him. To speed up the process, Otogi took Mahaado’s other arm and swung it over his own shoulders, supporting the magician-General. It earned him a surprised, but genuine grateful look, and Otogi simply nodded in return. Frankly, Mahaado would hold them up for too long if they kept the previous slow pace up; furthermore, Otogi had seen the patch of blood on his leg increasing. Judging from all the fabric Anzu already used to bandage it, Mahaado wasn’t the only one in need of professional, medical assistance.
As they reached the crater and made their way past it, Otogi feared for one split-second that Kaiba had driven off. He couldn’t see the car until Anzu poked him in the ribs, squeezing past Mahaado to do so.
“Over there!”
Relieved, Otogi guided them towards the vehicle with the engine still running. Kaiba had parked the car next to a wall to get out of the hot sun, and he glared at Otogi when he saw who he had with him.
“You idiot, why do you bring a General with you?” Even with his voice raspy and hoarse, Kaiba sounded like a commander - almost as much as Gozaburo. Mahaado lifted up his head when he heard the voice, but his surprise wore quickly off.
“I expected you to not die anytime soon, Kaiba. Whatever they tried to get out of you, they never got it, did they?”
“No they didn’t,” Kaiba answered stiffly and Mahaado chuckled, dissolving into a groan when Anzu abandoned him, leaving it to Otogi to support him. She closed the distance between her and the car with three firm steps.
“What on Earth happened to the both of you?” She asked, voice shrill, staring aghast from Kaiba to Otogi and back again. “It’s a miracle you’re still breathing! You’re dehydrated, malnourished - no, you’re completely emaciated, and…”
“Save it,” Kaiba barked. “Get into the car if you all must tag along and hurry up about it!”
“I wish I had still my supplies with me,” Anzu said and continued poking Kaiba, suddenly taking his head into her hands and forcing him to open his mouth.
“What the hell are you doing, woman?” He managed to croak out before she pulled at his tongue.
“You’re in no condition to drive. Get into the backseat, I’ll drive.”
“You can drive?” Otogi asked dumfounded. Mahaado leaned heavily on him, trying to find an easy stance to get the weight off of his leg.
Anzu nodded. “My father taught it to me before he… well, he thought it would come in handy. He wanted me to be able to take care of myself as much as possible. He hated being dependant.”
“We need to find the Pharaoh, please,” Mahaado interrupted. Anzu tugged at the door and opened it, almost causing Mokuba to roll out. He showed her an apologetic smile, which she immediately returned, smiling widely.
“At least someone is completely safe and sound!”
Otogi avoided looking at her charred skin. Both her and Mahaado had been the victim of… something, maybe an explosion, even though the magician-General hadn’t suffered any burn wounds. Whatever had happened, it was horrible - but they didn’t have the time to stand still and think, they had to be on the move.
A short discussion spawned between Anzu and Kaiba about who was better fit to drive, which ended with a loud “You’re going to kill everyone because you’re dying behind the wheel” from Anzu, who by then unbuckled Kaiba and helped him out of the car, propping him on the backseat before he could even protest. Otogi had to suppress a snicker. It was the first time, and probably the only time, that he saw Kaiba Seto obey, and a woman to boot - he sat in the back of the car, eyes widened in shock that he had been bossed around. Mahaado came to sit next to him, with Mokuba wedged between them. The kid didn’t mind the magician-General’s presence, if he already paid attention to it. He latched onto his brother, and even tried to make him eat something from the provisions they had brought.
Otogi ignored Mokuba enthusiastic babble on the backseat and turned towards Anzu, who had buckled herself up and moved with her hand over the shift stick, her feet on the pedals.
“All right, let’s see… gas… brakes… yes, yes, I think I got it!” She stepped onto the gas pedal, the engine roaring with power. She grabbed the shift stick and looked at Otogi.
“I don’t know where Yuugi is,” she said, her eyes showing a brief glimpse of sadness before turning a little distant again. Compassion could get you killed on the streets, but Anzu would rather die than abandoning her friends. “I can take you to the place I last saw him.”
“That’s fine by me,” Otogi said and his breath hitched in his throat. A bright light washed over them, and Anzu cried out in surprise, lifting up her hands to shield her eyes. Mokuba tried to crawl into his brother’s lap, scared. Mahaado’s eyes widened, his mouth falling open in shock.
“Oh, this is bad, this should not be happening,” he moaned.
“What’s going on?” Otogi found himself oddly staring into the light; despite its intensity, it was easy on the eyes. Anzu moved her hands away, staring as well. The light was golden, almost warm, almost.. friendly, inviting.
“Drive,” Mahaado hissed. “In name of the Gods, drive!”
Anzu looked bewildered from Mahaado to Otogi, but her hands clasped the steering wheel and her foot pushed the gas pedal in. The car sped forward and they raced into the heart of the city.
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“Holy fuck… holy fuck.” Jounouchi stared at the giant bird-beast that had spread its wings over Domino City. He and Honda looked at the… creature, baffled, and finally he snapped his jaws shut.
“Another God,” Honda was quick to understand, “just as we thought we had managed to survive one..!”
“Oh man…”
“What do we do now? We need to find the others.”
“We were going after the Pharaoh, and so we’re going after him,” Jounouchi smacked Honda against the shoulder, but not too harshly. He wanted to find his friends as well, as fast as possible; he hated not knowing if they were injured or not from the previous blast. At this moment however, the Pharaoh was the biggest threat; if they didn’t stop him and his cursed Gods, people were going to die.
“What about Yuugi? Shizuka, Anzu…”
“They’re alive,” Jounouchi said. “They are! We go after the Pharaoh and we take him out. Without him, the God will disappear! Come on Honda, we can’t stay here any longer!”
He grabbed his friend at the arm, dragging him away. Honda looked over his shoulder and freed himself from Jounouchi’s grasp.
“What about them?” He nodded with his head, obviously torn between following Jounouchi and helping out Malik and Bakura. Jounouchi was speechless for a moment, trying to make the right decision. Malik rolled over the ground with his look-alike, both screaming and yelling in anger, even though some of the screams seemed more excited than anything else. He shuddered. From the vigor Malik was stabbing the other with, the man should have been dead ten times over by now, but he simply laughed, and screamed some more. He was the one moaning in pure delight. Jounouchi shuddered again.
Bakura on the other hand… Bakura was just staring creepily at the other Bakura. They weren’t even moving. There was barely any distance between them, and they just kept staring… until the Bakura in the black trench coat looked up at the sky to stare at the golden light and the summoned God, and the other Bakura lunged for him, knife in his hand. Jounouchi saw the attack and his body was on the verge of taking a sprint and jump between them, to break up the fight… but he restrained himself and turned around, just as both Bakura rolled over the ground, a surprised cry ringing in his ears.
“This isn’t our fight,” he said grimly. He didn’t know what Isis had told her brother and his friend. He had barely interacted with the woman at all, and large parts of the conversations about the Sennen Items and their effects had been wasted on him. He had caught wind of the ‘dark halves’ and that it was a job that could only be done by Malik and Bakura. “This is their fight, and if we don’t find the Pharaoh and keep him from doing what he’s doing, we’re all going to die.”
Honda pursed his lips. He knew Jounouchi was right, but he didn’t like running away from a fight, especially when he thought the fight was unfair. They didn’t know how strong those doppelgangers were, so how fair could this fight be? Malik and Bakura weren’t his intimate friends, but they were part of the Resistance as they had showed their willingness to help and take on these dark look-alikes, and that was enough for Honda
“Let’s go,” Jounouchi all but growled, feeling frustrated himself for exactly the same reasons. He started to jog, away from the fight, and didn’t look back, not even to check if Honda was following him.
“He can’t be far,” Honda caught up with him, keeping up with the pace. His eyes darted from the buildings to the ground, spying for rubble on the pavement so he wouldn’t trip.
“He must be close to the God,” Jounouchi agreed. The others couldn’t be very far either, or so he presumed. The blast had flung them all away, enough to disperse them, but not far enough to be completely out of reach. Gods, he hoped he was right. He would take more burn wounds from a blast if that meant he could get closer to his friends; and as long as he didn’t know if his sister was safe, dying wasn’t an option for him.
They went around a corner, slowing down as the street was filled with debris. Climbing over a particular large chunk of concrete, Honda slipped and fell. He tumbled on top of Jounouchi, both losing their balance and smacking to the ground.
“Smart move, asshole,” Jounouchi muttered as he touched his jaw, then stuck his finger into his mouth to cheek his teeth. To his relief, he didn’t encounter any blood, so nothing was broken, not even chipped. Honda dusted himself off as he got up, glaring at the offending concrete.
“It would be so much easier to walk through the streets if all that debris wasn’t there!”
Jounouchi got up as well and held his hand above his eyes. The light was much more intense here, but he could still easily look into it. It felt… warm and comfortable, like a blanket, even though the God-beast itself was nothing but menacing. How strange… there was no time to pursue this train of thoughts, and he resumed his earlier jog.
“We’ll search in squares,” he said, “from block to block, until we find the Pharaoh or the others.”
“We’re not that far off,” Honda answered, also noticing how the light grew more intense.
It took them only a few blocks to find someone – not the one they had been searching for in the first place, but the one most important to Jounouchi. Shizuka was standing close to a sturdy wall, a little huddled in the shadows, trying to make herself as invisible as possible.
“Shizuka!” He cried out, forgetting that there probably was a very good reason why she was hiding in the shadows.
“Onii-chan!” Shizuka lost the same precaution, straightening herself immediately and running in the direction of his voice. He opened his arms and embraced her, lifting her up from the ground.
“Shizuka, are you all right? Are you alone? Where’s Yuugi?”
“Onii-chan,” she said again and ruffled his hair. “My hand… my pinky finger. It hurts. Something scorched me, and it burns and itches…”
Honda and Jounouchi both looked at her hand and the makeshift bandages. “Anzu will have to take a look at it,” he said.
“You found Anzu-san?” The girl got all excited. Jounouchi wished he would have thought his words over instead of giving his sister false hope.
“She’ll probably be around here somewhere,” he answered sheepishly and berated himself mentally when he saw the disappointment on Shizuka’s face.
“Yuugi-kun is over there, he was going to check something out,” Shizuka lowered her voice. “I think that Pharaoh dude is close by…”
Honda snickered at hearing Shizuka use the same reference to the Pharaoh as her brother, which wasn’t all that surprising. The warmth and light was pretty intense here, even more than they felt previously.
“Over there, where?”
“He went to the north,” Shizuka pointed out. “He told me to stay here. We were only the two of us. I was waiting for him to return.”
“All right, stay here,” Jounouchi said. “We’re going to see if we can find Yuugi.”
Shizuka immediately latched onto him, her fingers clenching at his torn clothing. “No!”
“Shizuka, it’s far too dangerous,” Jounouchi tried to persuade her. “There’s another God, and…”
“Is that where the… heat is coming from?” She sounded confused. “It feels so calm and gentle, like a sun caressing your skin.”
Jounouchi and Honda exchanged quizzical looks. ‘Calm’ and ‘gentle’ wouldn’t be exactly the words they would use to describe the God, even though the warmth was comfortable. They were able to see the God, Shizuka wasn’t. Jounouchi took his sister by the hand and pulled her even closer.
“All right, you can come with us,” he said. If they were going to die, be it because of the God or anything else, they would be together, not separated. Honda looked like he understood. Jounouchi felt a wave of pity for him; Anzu’s whereabouts were still unknown, and he knew his friend’s thoughts were with his fiancée.
“Let’s go!”
-------------------------------
He sat upright, just staring at the bright light, an infatuated look on his face.
“Pretty golden God...” he repeated, dropping his hands in his lap. He had forgotten about Malik, about the fight, and everything and everyone around him, only the light and the God mattered to him.
Malik breathed heavily from the exertion. He was on the ground, skin chafed, clothing torn, pinned down by the other’s legs. He could barely move but twitch his torso a little, and he already knew that trying to push the other off of him was of no use. Marik was too strong to be simply thrown off. Malik stabbed his counterpart’s leg, but as Marik was completely entranced by the appearance of the God, he barely registered the pain. Malik touched his own throat, feeling the bruises form on his skin. This was no of use. He had apparently lost the fight even before they started; how was he supposed to battle his dark half anyway?
He tried to get his thoughts straight. There had to be a way he could use Marik’s distraction to his advantage. So much anger, so much hatred. Isis had died in vain; she had died when she had touched her Item. It made no sense. According to her, that Item that belonged to their family in the first place. She had been so evasive, refusing to answer all of his questions. Malik had loved his sister dearly, despite her being a General, despite her being on Gozaburo’s side. He had still loved her even after Rishid died in an attack from the Elite Troops. His brother… he could cry when he thought of Rishid who had been adopted into the family a long time ago. He had fought for freedom, for his own existence, for Isis to be safe and free from Gozaburo’s claws…
Sometimes Malik thought that Isis had killed Rishid, if only to keep him from getting too close to her, and trying to prevent her from doing what she had to do. Her visions had shown her that she was going to defect to the Resistance, hand them the Items, and then… die. Her body had simply disappeared, leaving him literally with nothing to hold. She had died in his arms, sharing her last moments with him. Why hadn’t she told him everything? Why had she only said that he could do this, he could make the darkness go away, without elaborating? The Item wasn’t even working on him! Malik had stabbed Marik numerous times; he should have been long dead by now! Only blood was flowing… blood.
Lifeline. Blood was the lifeline of one’s body. Blood was what Malik had tied to Isis, their family blood, Ishtar blood. Separated, diffused, created… this was different. The other part of his soul, who was bleeding but didn’t feel pain, and when he felt pain, he enjoyed it. Malik had never enjoyed pain. He knew why this other one had been created. Hatred and anger, sadness and pain.. but they weren’t brothers. They weren’t connected by family ties or blood. Malik opened his eyes, knowing that he was on the right track.
“Pretty golden God,” the other repeated and now that he was still distracted, Malik plunged the dagger into his right upper leg again and let go of it, leaving the Item embedded in the flesh. Marik’s body shook a little, shocked by the sudden movement, and he looked down, amused.
“You tried that before, pretty little thing,” he sing-songed. “It didn’t work. Beautiful little me, you’re so pathetic. I have to kill you. I’ll kill you with my hand on your pretty little neck and I’ll snap it. Yes, yes, that sounds perfect.”
“You can’t kill me,” Malik said. “Because you are a part of me. Killing me would mean killing yourself. But then again, you already are dead. You have never lived. You are a creation. You are from my mind.”
“You talk pretty shit,” Marik answered brusquely. He lowered his right hand to grab the Item. “I have never seen you before in my life.”
“I have seen you countless of times.” Malik all but smiled. “Pretty hatred, come back to me.”
Marik narrowed his eyes and yanked the Rod out of his leg, undisturbed by the blood flowing from the injury. He lifted it up, the dagger dripping with blood. With an inhuman growl, he lowered the Item, the dagger aiming for Malik’s head, right between the eyes – when he suddenly halted. His arm refuse to move, and the tip of the dagger was just an inch away from Malik’s skin. He didn’t dare to breathe, but there was no fear in his eyes.
“Pretty hatred, come back to me.”
“No.” Marik stared at his hand, clutching the Item, trying to move. “What… how? I can’t come back to you. I don’t belong to you…”
“You belong to someone else,” Malik answered, “but you don’t belong in this world. Your time is up, darkness of my soul. I accept you and your hatred as a part of me, to complete my soul again.”
The eye attached to the sphere of the Rod started to glow as if he had spoken a magic word. Marik stared at it, confused yet curious, until he suddenly got scared.
“Take it away from me,” he cried out, “take it away from me!”
Malik moved up his hand and took the Item simply out of Marik’s hand, the sphere still glowing. Marik was unable to move, but Malik could – he moved away from under him, relieved when he was standing up again, ignoring the pain he was feeling. He held the Item high, but reached with his other hand for Marik.
“Time to go.”
“Time to go?” His voice was child-like.
“Yes, time to go.”
Their hands touched, and the next moment he was gone. No body, no blood, no nothing… Malik didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed. He had expected something more grand, something earth-shattering perhaps, and not something… as silent as this. Staring at the Rod, the glow had worn off, and he didn’t feel any different than before. He still was angry, almost feeling an urge to kill, but he squashed that train of thoughts. Malik quickly looked around to see if he could find the end cap of the Rod; he had dropped it just before the fight had started.
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Continued here
Previous chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Pairings: Yamishipping (YnY x YnB x YnM), Anzu x Honda, unrequited Yuugi x Anzu, one-sided Mahaado x Atemu
Warnings: violence, angst, potty mouths, shounen-ai, major character death!
Genre: AU, science fiction, action/adventure
Diclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to Takahasi Kazuki. No money is made off of this. Fic written just for entertainment purposes.
Summary: Seven Items, seven Generals. What once was the peaceful green Earth has turned into a war-ridden danger zone under the tyrannical rule of Kaiba Gozaburo, with Domino City, Japan, as the centre of his empire. The resistance, led by young rebel Mutou Yuugi, is searching for a way to retrieve the seven so-called Sennen Items, as they are believed to hold the power to bring universal peace. It’s only a matter of time before Yuugi crosses paths with the Generals in his search, ultimately meeting the most powerful of them all: the one they call ‘Pharaoh’.
Author’s note: Feedback is greatly appreciated. I refer to Yami no Malik/ Malik no yami no jinkaku as ‘Marik’ for the flow of the story.
Key: ----------- = scene change
Maybe this situation would’ve been amusing to him, if it hadn’t been for the Item around the neck of his doppelganger. Bakura was careful – it never paid off to rush into something head first – as he didn’t know his opponent. Their faces and physique were almost identical, but were they also the same in mind and soul? If so, his opponent would prove to be tough, and he would need all his wits and strength to defeat him.
His eyes were all but glued to the pendant. An Item. A veritable Sennen Item, and he wasn’t the only one. That other kid, the Marik look-alike, also had one! How could that be? Hadn’t the Generals searched all over the world for these Items? If only he could get his hands on them… Marik would never part with it if he managed to get one, he loved everything gold. Bakura licked his lips. He had enough tricks up his sleeve to get what he wanted. He wanted to achieve his goal, and with two Items, he could definitely turn the tables around. He didn’t want to be a General himself, far from it, but with two Items, no one would ever boss him around like a mere servant or bodyguard. Who knew what more he could use the Items for…
Licking his lips again, Bakura forced himself to look at his opponent, not at the Item. The other hadn’t said a word since they ‘met’, but kept staring at him. Chocolate brown, soft eyes. Compassionate eyes. Bakura wanted to gag. His doppelganger was a lot friendlier on the eyes, his similar bone-white hair framing a gentle face with soft, almost caressing strands. Bakura shook his head. That he even used these words to mentally describe the other, it was downright sickening.
“Who are you?” He demanded to know. This was a bad joke, a distraction! He didn’t believe in ‘darker side’ of the soul, he was the one and only Bakura.
“Bakura Ryou,” the other answered calmly. The Ring chimed, but it could also have been a simple gust of the wind; the sound send chills down Bakura’s spine. There was something strange about this Item – Bakura craved it the instant he saw it, but a nagging voice in the back of his mind told him that this Item wasn’t for him… for anyone of them. What nonsense!.
“You bear my name, and you look like me, what do you want from me?”
“Your life.”
Now this was amusing; Bakura would’ve howled with laughter if these ominous, unsettling feelings weren’t plaguing him. The other Bakura sounded deadly serious. He narrowed his eyes.
“How do you suggest you are going to take it?” He had the advantage of the shadows, unless this other Bakura had the same powers. Had Gozaburo crafted two similar creations, and was one of them a fluke? No, that couldn’t be. If Gozaburo had created the other Bakura as well, he wouldn’t have given him an Item. Everyone knew that Gozaburo wanted the Items for himself. He licked his lips once more, anxiously.
“You can’t use your shadows against me,” the other Bakura announced. “I am the other part of your soul, and therefore you cannot hurt me, nor can I hurt you.”
“We’ll see about that,” Bakura growled instinctively, and his hands went to his pockets. He had enough knives on him to slice anyone apart – and he wouldn’t hold back on this weird doppelganger! He was going to kill him, and take his Item and hang it from his own neck in victory!
He had two knives out when the sky was brightly lit with an intense, golden glow. He didn’t stop to watch or to marvel at it, even though the other Bakura, slightly confused, looked up, wondering where the light was coming from. Fool! He was wide open for an attack, and Bakura lunged at him, knives flickering in the same, golden light.
“You’re going to cut yourself, pretty little one.” Marik hid a short chuckle behind his hand, even though his eyes never left the young boy coming towards him.
“I know exactly how to use this,” Malik said. The dagger felt heavy in his hand, heavy yet… disturbingly comfortable. In his mind, he had played this particular scene over and over again, ever since Isis had told him. She was dead because of her visions, those visions he had hated for all his life. He couldn’t deny that they all had come true, and he had hated Isis, the Items, the Gods, everything, for it. He hated that she had become a General, working for that bastard of a Kaiba Gozaburo, and giving him no explanation but the infuriating “My visions have shown me that I have to do this”. Malik had felt alone all his life, darkness eating at his heart, hatred consuming him. His sister a General, his adoptive elder brother killed by the Elite Troops, his hatred had grown so much that it had given birth to an entire different personality - the one that was standing in front of him, listening to the same name with only one letter different. Marik.
He wasn’t going to be fooled by those bland, pupil-less eyes. Isis had told him how strong the other was; hatred and darkness fueled him. Malik forced his breathing under control – he had to be in perfect control. He had to remain calm. If he got angry now, he was going to ruin it for everyone. Ruin it for the whole world. It creeped him out to look at Marik’s face; when relaxed, he almost looked child-like with his flawless skin and small lips pursed. His eyes were darting back and forth, curiously following him.
“You’re going to cut yourself, pretty little one,” Marik repeated. “Kiddies like you shouldn’t be playing with nasty, sharp daggers.”
“You’re the kid here,” Malik snarled. Calm. Keep yourself goddamn calm! “You were created from me, from my family, and you have brought nothing but pain and misery.”
“I don’t even know you,” Marik answered, offended. “This is the first time I meet you! Why all the pretty hatred, pretty little snotty kid?”
“Stop it,” Malik said, relieved that his voice sounded calm, yet stern. “You’re nothing but a creation, so you can be killed. Your darkness won’t taint this world any longer.”
“I haven’t done a thing,” Marik complained, but he shifted his stance and his muscles tightened, tensed. He didn’t clench his fists, but kept his fingers curved, claw-like. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Enough with this shit,” Malik replied and moved a little to the side. They were close to each other; just a few steps away. They circled around each other, Malik’s eyes on Marik’s claw-like hands, Marik’s eyes on Malik’s Sennen Rod. They were gauging each other’s reaction, taking in each other’s strength, estimating each other’s weak points. At first sight, Marik appeared physically stronger, but Malik had the advantage of a stabbing weapon.
“Enough it is, then,” Marik taunted him. “So, what are you waiting for, mm? Stab me. Come on, stab me, pretty little fucker. Stab me and make me feel pretty pain-pain-pain, let me see pretty blood, let me see pretty bones. Come on then!”
Maybe it was the mocking tone of his voice, maybe it was the tension, or because of Isis’ recent death. Anger possessed Malik, even though he had tried to suppress it. He all but jumped forward, his hand reaching for Marik while he raised his other hand with the dagger up high, ready to plunge it in. Marik was faster and turned just a little, catching the full brunt of Malik’s weight and smoothly moved with him, throwing him on the ground and immediately rolled over, his nails sinking into his skin and slicing, blood immediately welling up.
Malik cried out in pain and frustration. He hammered down with his hand, stabbing Marik in the shoulder blade. The excited cry of pain that elicited the other shocked Malik, even though he should’ve known - Isis had told him that his dark side thrived on blood and pain. He had no time for analysis. Marik grabbed Malik at the throat, sharp nails embedding into his skin.
“You’re so fucking dead,” he growled, his other hand grabbing Malik’s arm with the Sennen Item. His body trembled from the pure excitement of the pain, and his breathing was heavy from pleasure. Blood dripped from his shoulder, blood, such a pretty sight and he wanted to taste it, smear it all over his face and drink it, but for now, he had this pesky kid to deal with.
Suddenly the sky was brightened, and he immediately sat upright, pinning Malik between his legs to hold him down. His mouth fell just a little open when he realized what the light exactly was, and he smiled – not his usual deranged smile, but a fond, longing smile, of someone who had been waiting for a long lost lover to return.
“Pretty golden God,” he whispered.
Kaiba bit on his bloodless, chafed lips and refrained from grunting. His fingers were clasped around the steering wheel, and he forcefully avoided looking at them. He had a vague idea about his bad condition, and he didn’t want to be confronted with his bony fingers. The leather of the steering wheel felt hot to the touch, but he had been through so many unpleasant situations that he couldn’t care less; a little heat was nothing compared to being starved to death. What little food he had managed to keep down was his only source of energy, as well as a few glasses of that carbonated drink Otogi had found, fueling his system with caffeine.
He knew that something else was also fueling him: anger, because of what Gozaburo and Noa had done to him, and a burning, passionate desire to see those two dead, or at least punished for their crimes. Gozaburo had ruined everything what the name and the person Kaiba stood for, and even though it wasn’t his ‘real’ family name, he felt attached to it and he felt the need to defend it against his adoptive father’s warmonger. Look at what Gozaburo had done to the world, to the population, to this city – Domino City should be filled with people, with traffic, with kids, with adults. The empty streets and their bad condition were signs enough that Gozaburo didn’t care for this world, he didn’t care for anything but his own goal to reach immortality. Kaiba snorted.
Otogi sat next to him in the passenger’s seat, with Mokuba in his lap. Mokuba was the one to apply pressure to the gas pedal, and would operate the brakes as soon as Kaiba nudged him. Otogi held his hand on Mokuba as he was in an awkward position, wedged between the dashboard and the shift stick; but at least he could reach the pedals. It was either Mokuba or Otogi, and the latter hadn’t felt anything for crawling between Kaiba’s skinny legs to put his hands on metal pads that were foreign to him anyway. He had never been in a position to learn how to drive, though he wasn’t surprised that Mokuba actually knew the basics. Otogi could have enjoyed the car ride, really – it was quite amazing to travel this fast, and the car itself was fascinating – if not so terrible much depended upon it. He glanced at the backseat for the umpteenth time, his ponytail smacking him in the face. Kaiba’s precious laptop and the bag with the Items and the rest of their provisions were strapped into the seat belts, but with the speed they were going at, Otogi didn’t trust them to stay where they were. The roads hadn’t been maintained for years, and he lost count of the numbers of bumps and potholes. His ass felt sore and bruised, and he didn’t want to think about what Kaiba was feeling; with his skinny body, he would feel each and every little obstacle.
“That we even managed to get this car,” he said for the fourth time. Mokuba turned his head around and beamed at him. The kid was having fun with this dangerous ride!
“Nii-sama can do anything!” He cheered, and pressed his hand further down on the gas pedal, speeding the car up some more. “It wasn’t as hard as you thought, right?”
It had been Kaiba’s brilliant idea to block all the elevators but the one they were using, rushing down to the garage that was unlocked due to the power fall-out. Otogi thought he was going to collapse and die from dragging Kaiba all over the place, but he had been able to muster enough strength to get everyone in the car, including the laptop and the bag with Items. Neither one of them had any idea of how much fuel was left in the tank; Kaiba had made the choice for the convertible without elaborating his choice, eliciting loud cheers from Mokuba because he wanted to feel ‘the wind blowing through his hair’. Well, the kid had his wish fulfilled, and was probably regretting his choice now that he was stuffed between the dashboard, his brother’s legs and the pedals.
“How much further is it?” Kaiba gritted through his teeth, and this was the first time Otogi could hear the pain he was suffering. Any moment now, Kaiba could collapse from sheer exhaustion, and Otogi didn’t need to be a nurse to see the bad situation he was in.
“Hold on,” he said. “We’re close now, we’ve almost reached the city.”
“You said that five minutes ago,” Kaiba sneered, but kept his eyes on the road. They had passed a few signs with ‘Domino City’ on it, but the actual distance had been unreadable. Otogi had difficulties with his orientation; he had never approached the city from this side. Which way was the quickest one to the Game Shop?
“Really, just really close,” Otogi said and tried to recognize any of the roads and buildings he saw. His grip on Mokuba shifted a little, and the kid slid almost entirely under the steering wheel.
“Heey! I don’t want to get stuck here with my head!”
“Watch it,” Kaiba barked and he tugged at the steering wheel. The car moved towards the left, hitting a bump in the road that send them flying off of their seats. If this had been anything but a convertible, they all would’ve hit their heads.
“I’m sorry, nii-sama,” Mokuba whined from down below.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Kaiba grumbled but it was so low and soft that only Otogi could overhear it. He was sure it was only meant for him, and he winced from the bump. He glanced quickly at the backseat, noticing that the laptop and the bag with the Items were still there, much to his relief.
After another few minutes, he gave a sudden yell.
“All right! See that building over there, to your right? You have to take the next exit!”
Domino City High had been the municipal school, but it had been long deserted. Its principal building with a large tower was however a typical landmark; an easy recognizable landmark for everyone. The tower used to hold a clock, which had disappeared; Otogi took it that the clock had been used to announce classes and the start of the school day. Just like driving a car, Otogi had been deprived of going to school like a normal kid, and many others with him. It was another thing that Kaiba Gozaburo had destroyed for them.
Kaiba grumbled again but followed Otogi’s ‘order’, as he took the next exit and drove downhill, towards a large intersection.
“Let go of the gas, Mokuba,” he said. His hand grabbed the stick and he shifted into a lower gear at the same moment Mokuba took his hands away from the pedal. The engine howled and the car slowed down considerably. The roads in town were in even worse condition than the highway, and Otogi kept his eyes peeled for any obstacles – Kaiba was beyond exhaustion. They were running out of time, and they had come too far to crash at the very last second.
“Straight ahead,” Otogi said, adrenaline rushing through him. He had managed to escape the KaibaCorp. building, he was still alive, and he was soon to be reunited with his friends and the Resistance! Passing the intersection, they drove into the northeast direction for another few minutes, until Kaiba suddenly called out: “Hit the brakes, the brakes!”
The car came to an abrupt halt, and Otogi almost smacked into the dashboard. Annoyed, he wanted to yell at Kaiba for the sudden stop, but he refrained from commenting as he saw the large crater in front of them. Large parts of the road were just… melted away. Mokuba used the opportunity to climb back into Kaiba’s lap. He winced visibly from his younger brother’s weight, but didn’t protest.
“Good call,” Otogi muttered. He had misjudged the size of the crater, and from up close he could see there was no way they could drive past it. He could still see wisps of smoke rising up from it. He didn’t know what or who could have caused this… but it meant that they had to find an alternative route, and his mind was already going over the possibilities.
Kaiba pulled at the stick, shifting it into reverse. “Gently, very gently push the gas pedal,” he told his brother, his voice hoarse. Mokuba answered with a sincere “Yes, nii-sama!” and slid back into his previous position, ducking under the dashboard. Very slowly, the car backed up, enlarging the distance between them and the smoldering crater…
“Wait! Wait!” Otogi almost whacked Kaiba in the face.
“What?”
“Wait!” Otogi pushed at the car door in an attempt to open it. He muttered under his breath when he couldn’t get it to open fast enough and quickly, he hoisted himself out of the car. He swung his legs out of the car while he dumped Mokuba unceremoniously, eliciting another “Heeey! Watch the head!”.
“What the hell is he doing?” Kaiba leaned against the steering wheel, his chest heaving. He was so tired, and his body ached all over. His eyes followed Otogi nonetheless, and he didn’t understand why he was running straight for the crater, taking a turn to the right at the last moment, waving maniacally with his arms.
Mokuba got up again, an annoyed frown marring his face. He looked over the edge of the dashboard. “What’s going on? Where did Otogi go to?”
“I don’t know.” Kaiba shrugged and leaned into the steering wheel. Not very comfortable, but he could rest his chin on the wheel and close his eyes…so tired…
“Nii-sama, there! People! Over there!” Mokuba’s voice was loud, and he opened his eyes again. He looked into the direction Mokuba was pointing to, and despite everything, his lips turned into his characteristic smirk. We made it.
Running as fast as he could, past the immense crater, Otogi waved and yelled frantically. He had spotted people, and his hopes went up significantly; please, let it be members of the Resistance! Even if they weren’t, they would probably know where the members were, wouldn’t they? It had to be! He couldn’t make out if they were male or female; two people, huddled together, walking at a very slow pace - and he could see why, as the taller one was limping.
“Heeey! Heey!” He yelled, trying to get their attention. “Wait! Wait!”
His heart fluttered when they indeed halted. Hopefully they could tell him where Yuugi and Shizuka were!
“Have you seen…” He skidded to a halt when the smaller of the two turned around, revealing herself to be a woman, face smudged and dirty, her hands and arms showing abrasions, matted strands of her short chestnut hair plastered against her cheeks.
“Anzu..!”
“Otogi!” She yelled and she almost dropped the man she was half-carrying, half-dragging. Otogi recognized him immediately and was quite surprised to see the magician-General right here, but he moved towards Anzu to give her an awkward hug. She moved her free arm around him, grabbing at his shirt, and she laughed out loud, slightly hysterically.
“We were so worried about you! We thought… Gods, we thought that you were dead! After we didn’t hear from you for so long…”
“It’s all right,” Otogi said, hugging her close one more time before letting her go. His eyes darted automatically towards the magician-General, who was dressed in his rather formal robes. Strange that he wasn’t wearing his usual armor. To his surprise, he noticed the man’s leg all bandaged up, a hue of blood visible through the fabric.
“Otogi,” Mahaado said, “have you seen the Pharaoh? Please…”
He shook his head regretfully. “I managed to get out of the KaibaCorp. building, buy we haven’t seen anyone since.”
Anzu didn’t pick up on the ‘we’ and patted with her hand all over Otogi, the nurse in her at work.
“You’re suffering from malnutrition,” she said, frowning. It was a good thing she hadn’t seen Kaiba yet. “Who did this to you? You need extra vitamins, minerals and…”
“Anzu, please, not now,” Otogi said. “Come, we have to get back to the car.”
“Car? You arrived here by car?”
“I have the Kaiba brothers with me,” he said and she froze on the spot.
“What? What in the world, Otogi..?”
“No, not Noa,” he quickly said. “It’s too much to explain now, but we need to get back to the car. Only then we can find the Pharaoh. I fill you in as we go, all right?”
She trusted him unconditionally, but her face showed a deep, puzzled frown when she followed him. To speed up the process, Otogi took Mahaado’s other arm and swung it over his own shoulders, supporting the magician-General. It earned him a surprised, but genuine grateful look, and Otogi simply nodded in return. Frankly, Mahaado would hold them up for too long if they kept the previous slow pace up; furthermore, Otogi had seen the patch of blood on his leg increasing. Judging from all the fabric Anzu already used to bandage it, Mahaado wasn’t the only one in need of professional, medical assistance.
As they reached the crater and made their way past it, Otogi feared for one split-second that Kaiba had driven off. He couldn’t see the car until Anzu poked him in the ribs, squeezing past Mahaado to do so.
“Over there!”
Relieved, Otogi guided them towards the vehicle with the engine still running. Kaiba had parked the car next to a wall to get out of the hot sun, and he glared at Otogi when he saw who he had with him.
“You idiot, why do you bring a General with you?” Even with his voice raspy and hoarse, Kaiba sounded like a commander - almost as much as Gozaburo. Mahaado lifted up his head when he heard the voice, but his surprise wore quickly off.
“I expected you to not die anytime soon, Kaiba. Whatever they tried to get out of you, they never got it, did they?”
“No they didn’t,” Kaiba answered stiffly and Mahaado chuckled, dissolving into a groan when Anzu abandoned him, leaving it to Otogi to support him. She closed the distance between her and the car with three firm steps.
“What on Earth happened to the both of you?” She asked, voice shrill, staring aghast from Kaiba to Otogi and back again. “It’s a miracle you’re still breathing! You’re dehydrated, malnourished - no, you’re completely emaciated, and…”
“Save it,” Kaiba barked. “Get into the car if you all must tag along and hurry up about it!”
“I wish I had still my supplies with me,” Anzu said and continued poking Kaiba, suddenly taking his head into her hands and forcing him to open his mouth.
“What the hell are you doing, woman?” He managed to croak out before she pulled at his tongue.
“You’re in no condition to drive. Get into the backseat, I’ll drive.”
“You can drive?” Otogi asked dumfounded. Mahaado leaned heavily on him, trying to find an easy stance to get the weight off of his leg.
Anzu nodded. “My father taught it to me before he… well, he thought it would come in handy. He wanted me to be able to take care of myself as much as possible. He hated being dependant.”
“We need to find the Pharaoh, please,” Mahaado interrupted. Anzu tugged at the door and opened it, almost causing Mokuba to roll out. He showed her an apologetic smile, which she immediately returned, smiling widely.
“At least someone is completely safe and sound!”
Otogi avoided looking at her charred skin. Both her and Mahaado had been the victim of… something, maybe an explosion, even though the magician-General hadn’t suffered any burn wounds. Whatever had happened, it was horrible - but they didn’t have the time to stand still and think, they had to be on the move.
A short discussion spawned between Anzu and Kaiba about who was better fit to drive, which ended with a loud “You’re going to kill everyone because you’re dying behind the wheel” from Anzu, who by then unbuckled Kaiba and helped him out of the car, propping him on the backseat before he could even protest. Otogi had to suppress a snicker. It was the first time, and probably the only time, that he saw Kaiba Seto obey, and a woman to boot - he sat in the back of the car, eyes widened in shock that he had been bossed around. Mahaado came to sit next to him, with Mokuba wedged between them. The kid didn’t mind the magician-General’s presence, if he already paid attention to it. He latched onto his brother, and even tried to make him eat something from the provisions they had brought.
Otogi ignored Mokuba enthusiastic babble on the backseat and turned towards Anzu, who had buckled herself up and moved with her hand over the shift stick, her feet on the pedals.
“All right, let’s see… gas… brakes… yes, yes, I think I got it!” She stepped onto the gas pedal, the engine roaring with power. She grabbed the shift stick and looked at Otogi.
“I don’t know where Yuugi is,” she said, her eyes showing a brief glimpse of sadness before turning a little distant again. Compassion could get you killed on the streets, but Anzu would rather die than abandoning her friends. “I can take you to the place I last saw him.”
“That’s fine by me,” Otogi said and his breath hitched in his throat. A bright light washed over them, and Anzu cried out in surprise, lifting up her hands to shield her eyes. Mokuba tried to crawl into his brother’s lap, scared. Mahaado’s eyes widened, his mouth falling open in shock.
“Oh, this is bad, this should not be happening,” he moaned.
“What’s going on?” Otogi found himself oddly staring into the light; despite its intensity, it was easy on the eyes. Anzu moved her hands away, staring as well. The light was golden, almost warm, almost.. friendly, inviting.
“Drive,” Mahaado hissed. “In name of the Gods, drive!”
Anzu looked bewildered from Mahaado to Otogi, but her hands clasped the steering wheel and her foot pushed the gas pedal in. The car sped forward and they raced into the heart of the city.
“Holy fuck… holy fuck.” Jounouchi stared at the giant bird-beast that had spread its wings over Domino City. He and Honda looked at the… creature, baffled, and finally he snapped his jaws shut.
“Another God,” Honda was quick to understand, “just as we thought we had managed to survive one..!”
“Oh man…”
“What do we do now? We need to find the others.”
“We were going after the Pharaoh, and so we’re going after him,” Jounouchi smacked Honda against the shoulder, but not too harshly. He wanted to find his friends as well, as fast as possible; he hated not knowing if they were injured or not from the previous blast. At this moment however, the Pharaoh was the biggest threat; if they didn’t stop him and his cursed Gods, people were going to die.
“What about Yuugi? Shizuka, Anzu…”
“They’re alive,” Jounouchi said. “They are! We go after the Pharaoh and we take him out. Without him, the God will disappear! Come on Honda, we can’t stay here any longer!”
He grabbed his friend at the arm, dragging him away. Honda looked over his shoulder and freed himself from Jounouchi’s grasp.
“What about them?” He nodded with his head, obviously torn between following Jounouchi and helping out Malik and Bakura. Jounouchi was speechless for a moment, trying to make the right decision. Malik rolled over the ground with his look-alike, both screaming and yelling in anger, even though some of the screams seemed more excited than anything else. He shuddered. From the vigor Malik was stabbing the other with, the man should have been dead ten times over by now, but he simply laughed, and screamed some more. He was the one moaning in pure delight. Jounouchi shuddered again.
Bakura on the other hand… Bakura was just staring creepily at the other Bakura. They weren’t even moving. There was barely any distance between them, and they just kept staring… until the Bakura in the black trench coat looked up at the sky to stare at the golden light and the summoned God, and the other Bakura lunged for him, knife in his hand. Jounouchi saw the attack and his body was on the verge of taking a sprint and jump between them, to break up the fight… but he restrained himself and turned around, just as both Bakura rolled over the ground, a surprised cry ringing in his ears.
“This isn’t our fight,” he said grimly. He didn’t know what Isis had told her brother and his friend. He had barely interacted with the woman at all, and large parts of the conversations about the Sennen Items and their effects had been wasted on him. He had caught wind of the ‘dark halves’ and that it was a job that could only be done by Malik and Bakura. “This is their fight, and if we don’t find the Pharaoh and keep him from doing what he’s doing, we’re all going to die.”
Honda pursed his lips. He knew Jounouchi was right, but he didn’t like running away from a fight, especially when he thought the fight was unfair. They didn’t know how strong those doppelgangers were, so how fair could this fight be? Malik and Bakura weren’t his intimate friends, but they were part of the Resistance as they had showed their willingness to help and take on these dark look-alikes, and that was enough for Honda
“Let’s go,” Jounouchi all but growled, feeling frustrated himself for exactly the same reasons. He started to jog, away from the fight, and didn’t look back, not even to check if Honda was following him.
“He can’t be far,” Honda caught up with him, keeping up with the pace. His eyes darted from the buildings to the ground, spying for rubble on the pavement so he wouldn’t trip.
“He must be close to the God,” Jounouchi agreed. The others couldn’t be very far either, or so he presumed. The blast had flung them all away, enough to disperse them, but not far enough to be completely out of reach. Gods, he hoped he was right. He would take more burn wounds from a blast if that meant he could get closer to his friends; and as long as he didn’t know if his sister was safe, dying wasn’t an option for him.
They went around a corner, slowing down as the street was filled with debris. Climbing over a particular large chunk of concrete, Honda slipped and fell. He tumbled on top of Jounouchi, both losing their balance and smacking to the ground.
“Smart move, asshole,” Jounouchi muttered as he touched his jaw, then stuck his finger into his mouth to cheek his teeth. To his relief, he didn’t encounter any blood, so nothing was broken, not even chipped. Honda dusted himself off as he got up, glaring at the offending concrete.
“It would be so much easier to walk through the streets if all that debris wasn’t there!”
Jounouchi got up as well and held his hand above his eyes. The light was much more intense here, but he could still easily look into it. It felt… warm and comfortable, like a blanket, even though the God-beast itself was nothing but menacing. How strange… there was no time to pursue this train of thoughts, and he resumed his earlier jog.
“We’ll search in squares,” he said, “from block to block, until we find the Pharaoh or the others.”
“We’re not that far off,” Honda answered, also noticing how the light grew more intense.
It took them only a few blocks to find someone – not the one they had been searching for in the first place, but the one most important to Jounouchi. Shizuka was standing close to a sturdy wall, a little huddled in the shadows, trying to make herself as invisible as possible.
“Shizuka!” He cried out, forgetting that there probably was a very good reason why she was hiding in the shadows.
“Onii-chan!” Shizuka lost the same precaution, straightening herself immediately and running in the direction of his voice. He opened his arms and embraced her, lifting her up from the ground.
“Shizuka, are you all right? Are you alone? Where’s Yuugi?”
“Onii-chan,” she said again and ruffled his hair. “My hand… my pinky finger. It hurts. Something scorched me, and it burns and itches…”
Honda and Jounouchi both looked at her hand and the makeshift bandages. “Anzu will have to take a look at it,” he said.
“You found Anzu-san?” The girl got all excited. Jounouchi wished he would have thought his words over instead of giving his sister false hope.
“She’ll probably be around here somewhere,” he answered sheepishly and berated himself mentally when he saw the disappointment on Shizuka’s face.
“Yuugi-kun is over there, he was going to check something out,” Shizuka lowered her voice. “I think that Pharaoh dude is close by…”
Honda snickered at hearing Shizuka use the same reference to the Pharaoh as her brother, which wasn’t all that surprising. The warmth and light was pretty intense here, even more than they felt previously.
“Over there, where?”
“He went to the north,” Shizuka pointed out. “He told me to stay here. We were only the two of us. I was waiting for him to return.”
“All right, stay here,” Jounouchi said. “We’re going to see if we can find Yuugi.”
Shizuka immediately latched onto him, her fingers clenching at his torn clothing. “No!”
“Shizuka, it’s far too dangerous,” Jounouchi tried to persuade her. “There’s another God, and…”
“Is that where the… heat is coming from?” She sounded confused. “It feels so calm and gentle, like a sun caressing your skin.”
Jounouchi and Honda exchanged quizzical looks. ‘Calm’ and ‘gentle’ wouldn’t be exactly the words they would use to describe the God, even though the warmth was comfortable. They were able to see the God, Shizuka wasn’t. Jounouchi took his sister by the hand and pulled her even closer.
“All right, you can come with us,” he said. If they were going to die, be it because of the God or anything else, they would be together, not separated. Honda looked like he understood. Jounouchi felt a wave of pity for him; Anzu’s whereabouts were still unknown, and he knew his friend’s thoughts were with his fiancée.
“Let’s go!”
He sat upright, just staring at the bright light, an infatuated look on his face.
“Pretty golden God...” he repeated, dropping his hands in his lap. He had forgotten about Malik, about the fight, and everything and everyone around him, only the light and the God mattered to him.
Malik breathed heavily from the exertion. He was on the ground, skin chafed, clothing torn, pinned down by the other’s legs. He could barely move but twitch his torso a little, and he already knew that trying to push the other off of him was of no use. Marik was too strong to be simply thrown off. Malik stabbed his counterpart’s leg, but as Marik was completely entranced by the appearance of the God, he barely registered the pain. Malik touched his own throat, feeling the bruises form on his skin. This was no of use. He had apparently lost the fight even before they started; how was he supposed to battle his dark half anyway?
He tried to get his thoughts straight. There had to be a way he could use Marik’s distraction to his advantage. So much anger, so much hatred. Isis had died in vain; she had died when she had touched her Item. It made no sense. According to her, that Item that belonged to their family in the first place. She had been so evasive, refusing to answer all of his questions. Malik had loved his sister dearly, despite her being a General, despite her being on Gozaburo’s side. He had still loved her even after Rishid died in an attack from the Elite Troops. His brother… he could cry when he thought of Rishid who had been adopted into the family a long time ago. He had fought for freedom, for his own existence, for Isis to be safe and free from Gozaburo’s claws…
Sometimes Malik thought that Isis had killed Rishid, if only to keep him from getting too close to her, and trying to prevent her from doing what she had to do. Her visions had shown her that she was going to defect to the Resistance, hand them the Items, and then… die. Her body had simply disappeared, leaving him literally with nothing to hold. She had died in his arms, sharing her last moments with him. Why hadn’t she told him everything? Why had she only said that he could do this, he could make the darkness go away, without elaborating? The Item wasn’t even working on him! Malik had stabbed Marik numerous times; he should have been long dead by now! Only blood was flowing… blood.
Lifeline. Blood was the lifeline of one’s body. Blood was what Malik had tied to Isis, their family blood, Ishtar blood. Separated, diffused, created… this was different. The other part of his soul, who was bleeding but didn’t feel pain, and when he felt pain, he enjoyed it. Malik had never enjoyed pain. He knew why this other one had been created. Hatred and anger, sadness and pain.. but they weren’t brothers. They weren’t connected by family ties or blood. Malik opened his eyes, knowing that he was on the right track.
“Pretty golden God,” the other repeated and now that he was still distracted, Malik plunged the dagger into his right upper leg again and let go of it, leaving the Item embedded in the flesh. Marik’s body shook a little, shocked by the sudden movement, and he looked down, amused.
“You tried that before, pretty little thing,” he sing-songed. “It didn’t work. Beautiful little me, you’re so pathetic. I have to kill you. I’ll kill you with my hand on your pretty little neck and I’ll snap it. Yes, yes, that sounds perfect.”
“You can’t kill me,” Malik said. “Because you are a part of me. Killing me would mean killing yourself. But then again, you already are dead. You have never lived. You are a creation. You are from my mind.”
“You talk pretty shit,” Marik answered brusquely. He lowered his right hand to grab the Item. “I have never seen you before in my life.”
“I have seen you countless of times.” Malik all but smiled. “Pretty hatred, come back to me.”
Marik narrowed his eyes and yanked the Rod out of his leg, undisturbed by the blood flowing from the injury. He lifted it up, the dagger dripping with blood. With an inhuman growl, he lowered the Item, the dagger aiming for Malik’s head, right between the eyes – when he suddenly halted. His arm refuse to move, and the tip of the dagger was just an inch away from Malik’s skin. He didn’t dare to breathe, but there was no fear in his eyes.
“Pretty hatred, come back to me.”
“No.” Marik stared at his hand, clutching the Item, trying to move. “What… how? I can’t come back to you. I don’t belong to you…”
“You belong to someone else,” Malik answered, “but you don’t belong in this world. Your time is up, darkness of my soul. I accept you and your hatred as a part of me, to complete my soul again.”
The eye attached to the sphere of the Rod started to glow as if he had spoken a magic word. Marik stared at it, confused yet curious, until he suddenly got scared.
“Take it away from me,” he cried out, “take it away from me!”
Malik moved up his hand and took the Item simply out of Marik’s hand, the sphere still glowing. Marik was unable to move, but Malik could – he moved away from under him, relieved when he was standing up again, ignoring the pain he was feeling. He held the Item high, but reached with his other hand for Marik.
“Time to go.”
“Time to go?” His voice was child-like.
“Yes, time to go.”
Their hands touched, and the next moment he was gone. No body, no blood, no nothing… Malik didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed. He had expected something more grand, something earth-shattering perhaps, and not something… as silent as this. Staring at the Rod, the glow had worn off, and he didn’t feel any different than before. He still was angry, almost feeling an urge to kill, but he squashed that train of thoughts. Malik quickly looked around to see if he could find the end cap of the Rod; he had dropped it just before the fight had started.
Continued here
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