Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Duel Master ❯ Prologue/Chapter One:: Darkness Cometh ( Prologue )

Title: Duel Master

Subtitle: Prologue/Chapter One -- Darkness Cometh

Series: YuGiOu

Author: Lady Katsuya Bakura

Genre: drama/angst/action

Warnings: violence, evil Yuugi (since when DON'T my fics have an evil Yuugi 0.0??), yaoi

Plot Bunny: It's been two years since anyone last saw Yuugi Mutou...... But now that Kaiba's holding a new tournament during winter vacation, just why are Marik's Rare Hunters back...when they're not even his anymore?

Disclaimer: You already know I don't own it, do I have to type it up for you again? If I owned it, you think you'd be seeing this on your TV screen rather than your computer one, ne? Oh, I only own Setsuna Seigyoku, Priestess of the Ankh. ^.^ I thought it was about time Shaadi-chan got a girlfriend *glomps Shaadi plushie*

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-- Prologue --

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There was nothing but darkness......always had been, always would be. He had been foolish to think that those idiots would bring some light into his life, but they only betrayed him in the end. Betrayed him for that baka no pharaoh, the so-called stronger side. While he was left to rot away in his own personal hell that had been part of his life since the turning age of four.

But these......inhumane hunters, humans with no souls, no light but just...darkness......they had taken him in once their former leader had left them, wanted him to show them the path. In return, they brought forth the darker side of his item and it had consumed him, consumed what was left of his halved soul into pure darkness. He was their king, their pharaoh. He was the one who would cover the world in shadows, unleash the shadow realm unto the unsuspecting pathetic race of Homo sapiens. And in turn, he would rule the world in an ever-cold grip of iron steel.

The Duel Master, that was what they called him, the Game King was that pathetic spirit's title but he......he won every duel he was challenged to, won so quickly the other player didn't know what had become of their life points. Or their soul and mind.

The Duel Master threw open the doors to his throne room, a cold smile on his hidden lips as he watched his hunters bow when he passed, sitting gracefully into the throne of cold stone, cruel eyes running over their hidden masses as the hunters scrambled to take their positions in the straight line he had ordered them to be in, kneeling down. There was silence before he spoke.

"There is to be another duel monsters tournament in Domino City, once again hosted by KaibaCorp.," he purred, orbs flashing momentarily in the darkness of the room. "I shall duel the Game King there, as I know we shall both be in the finals."

One soul swallowed deeply before talking. "If I......may say so, master......what if you're not ready to go against the pharaoh just yet?"

The Duel Master stood abruptly and the speaker cowered, the various gold on his master's body flashing in the fire-torch lights. "I have been ready since my item took what little light was left in my soul and granted me passage to the darkness. I have been ready since those fools betrayed me. You saw what I was capable of as the pharaoh's so-called "other half"......imagine what I am capable of now that darkness fills my being." The Duel Master flung open one of his palms, a fireball dancing above, barely licking the skin. He smiled coldly. "You know better than to question my orders, Seiya, do you not?"

Seiya swallowed once more, the other hunters backing away from their doomed companion. The rare hunter dared to look up, meeting the dark eyes of his master and nodding slowly. He knew he was looking death in the eyes as his master pointed the fireball hand towards him, not liking the way the depths of the eternal fire seemed to glisten in those once pure amethysts. 'My Ra......what have we done......?' The Duel Master watched on calmly as Seiya screamed bloody murder, cold eyes roaming his flame-embraced "body" before nothing was left but a burnt corpse. His blood amethysts searched around the room, a cruel smile curling over the cold one.

"Let his demise be a warning to all of you," he purred, tongue rolling over his lips as he began to saunter out of the room, taking his cloak from the hook by the door. "Defying my orders and telling me what to do will result in a death where you stand, understood?" His eyes glinted at their swallows and nods, fastening the black cloak around his neck and pulling the hood over his head, closing the door as he left. The Duel Master closed his eyes, touching the golden necklace that hung at the base of his throat. It glowed for a minute and the cold smile returned when the tauk(1) was done giving him directions.

'We shall soon see, my darkness, who is the true Game King..........'

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-- Chapter One --

- Domino City, after hours -

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Ryou walked alone on the streets, jacket wrapped around his body as the cold wind whipped around him, silvery hair swirling into his chocolate eyes. The high school student was heading home after a night at the Arcade with the others, watching the pharaoh kick everyone's butt......

It just wasn't the same without Yuugi and everyone agreed with him that things would never be the way they were before the incident, they still kept up hope even after two years of silence that the small one would be alright. And since the pharaoh hadn't returned to the puzzle that was left behind they could only assume the little one was still alive in some way.

Ryou hated winter, everything about it reminded him of when his mother died and he was given the ring......it was also the same time of year that Yuugi had disappeared two years ago. On All Soul's Day to be precise. Kaiba was holding a tournament next week, to honour the poor boy's lost soul Katsuya had said, another Battle City. Even his own yami, the formally tormenting Bakura, was saddened by his disappearance, Ryou had sworn on his mother's grave that when the tomb robber had been told of the pharaoh's hikari's disappearance he'd seen a tear trail from the cold chocolates when he'd slipped out of the soul room. He supposed even Yuugi's enemies and rivals liked the spirit he had, the pure child-like energy he'd held.

Ryou wiped a tear away from his eye before it could get frozen, watching a small plop fall onto his hand before it began raining down like the weather in England. He cursed silently to himself, trying to bring his light blue jacket over his head. He was wearing a long-sleeve turtleneck underneath the short-sleeved jacket but it was still cold.

A sudden tug and the millennium ring rose from his chest where it lay, one of the pointers dragging him along. Forgetting about the rain, Ryou let go of his jacket and clung to the ring as it began pulling him through the darkened streets of Domino, rain cascading down on his small, lithe body......one thing they'd noticed when Yuugi had disappeared was that he'd taken the millennium tauk with him.

'PleasebeYuugipleasebeYuugipleasebeYuugi,' the half-albino's mind chanted as his ring began slowing down when he turned another street corner, coming to a walk near an alleyway. The ring glowed so brightly he could have used it as a flashlight, indicating that there was an item in the alleyway. He felt a tug from it and Bakura appearing beside him, holding an arm out that told his hikari to stay back. Ryou obeyed, orbs glimmering with the slightest bit of hope. He had wanted to apologize to Yuugi for so long......that night he hadn't been in the best of moods as his father had just announced he wasn't coming home for the boy's birthday and had taken his anger out on the little one. 'Forgive me, Yuugi, I was wrong. I was so wrong......'

Bakura's order was futile though as a fog of psychic darkness pulled them both right at the very back of the alleyway which seemed to go on forever. They finally stopped and were dropped unceremoniously onto the ground, the lighter half of the two noticing vaguely that it wasn't raining here. A sudden voice caught his attention.

"Well," it purred, the familiarity of the voice almost scary. "What have I caught? A tomb robber and his hikari, not exactly what I was looking to reel in but none the less you'll do for my message to the pharaoh." Ryou blinked in the darkness, his eyes still getting adjusted. As if a mental order, the ring began to glow brightly, giving him the light he wanted.

His breathing immediately quickened at reorganization, scrambling to his knees and staring up at the dark pools of amethyst hidden under a veil of black cloak. He swallowed as he stood, stumbling slightly into Bakura's arms as the one name escaped from his lips.

"Y-Yuugi?" Ryou whispered as the hood was taken off. //Ryou.// Bakura's voice was in his mind as he felt the spirit's grip on his arms tighten almost painfully. //It's not Yuugi......at least not the little one we used to know.//

"Oh you are right about that, tomb raider," he purred, crossing his arms the way Otogi used to and giving a cold smile when two sets of chocolate orbs looked at him, shocked. "And don't be so surprised, after all the Yuugi you knew before was a naïve angel whereas I......I am everything he wasn't." Amethysts locked with chocolates. "Mutou Yuugi is dead and in turn the Duel Master was created in his ashes, born from the darkness of the tauk and the boy's soul, born from his hatred and rage. Darkness which you were partly to create, Ryou Bakura," the Duel Master purred, pressing a finger to the silver-haired one's chest and locking eyes with him once more before they traveled to the eye of Horus on the ring and closed. A moment later, they opened once more and Ryou realized that Bakura was no longer beside him.

He was suddenly scared. Scared stiff.

"Wh......what have you......?"

"...Done to Bakura?" The Duel Master brushed a blonde lock away from his soulless orbs, eyeing the young half-albino once more as a tongue rolled over his lips. "Just banished him back to the ring......so I could talk to you alone." Dark chains suddenly appeared to wrap around Ryou's arms and legs and drag him to the wall roughly, making him cough slightly when his back was brutally slammed against it. "I control what moves in the darkness, Ryou, what creatures appear from it. I could even control your yami if I wanted and he would have to watch everything my orders command him to do to your beautiful body." He walked over the short distance, closing the gap between them and meeting the fearful gaze of the hikari, trailing his hand almost delicately down his former friend's cheek. "I can hear all your thoughts, I know all your hopes and dreams. I know what truly happened that night and, quite honestly, I don't give a damn about your true feelings about it." The Duel Master lowered his lips to Ryou's ear, brushing his upper lip against it slightly. "Take this message to the pharaoh, little one, do not stop until you get there as I will find you. Tell him that I shall see him in the tournament......and we shall see who the true game king is. He should be prepared, because if he isn't then the world shall succumb to my rule of darkness.........."

The chains disappeared and the other began to walk away as Ryou fell to the ground, the rain starting to come through the barrier as Yuugi pulled the hood over his head again. "Don't bother me with your lies about friendship and love," he hissed venomously as the silver-haired boy opened his mouth to say something. "Because that's all they are -- pathetic lies and hallucinations, a weakness the darkness doesn't need." Ryou wiped his eyes free of the tears that were beginning to trail down his cheeks and the other snorted disgustedly. "You're so pathetic, so useless it's no wonder they didn't take you as their leader instead of me. But of course, I wouldn't trade that moment for anything because that was when I learned that life was a dream, an endless dream of forgotten and forbidden memories, hidden desires and wants along with hidden secrets. If I had worn the tauk back then maybe I wouldn't have turned out this way. But you can't change the course of history."

Ryou watched him walk away and vanish into the night before coming to grips with the situation, vaguely noticing his yami reappearing beside him. Yuugi was back but not the one they had known him to be and the look in his eyes...... Ryou shivered and looked up at Bakura, who was looking off in the direction the other had walked and frowning. The hikari's own chocolate orbs narrowed a bit. "Yami, do you have any information I should know of?"

The ice-haired tomb robber glanced at him as they began to walk out of the alley, the ring leading them in the right direction. "Not really, no, just a theory...... In Akhenaten's tomb(2), there were hieroglyphs that stated of an apocalypse in the future world. The dark ones, lead by one called the Duel Master, will conquer the world and rule a land of darkness. Only six shall be able to stop them." Bakura shoved his hands into his pockets as they turned a corner. "That's all I know."

Ryou raised an eyebrow skeptically, deciding not to ask anything more about it. After all, his yami had been a tomb raider, you'd think he'd know what was written in Akhenaten's tomb one way or another. He frowned once more, coming to a stop and raising a hand to his chin, resting his elbow under the other's palm. "Maybe the six you mentioned are the other item holders and ourselves? After all, Yuugi still has the tauk so it makes sense somewhat that there would only be six, but doesn't Shaadi have two items?" Bakura shrugged and they stayed in silence.

"Ah-ah-ah," a voice taunted in their minds, a purr that wrapped around your ears like silken fire. Ryou froze and his yami grew defensive, looking around for the source. "That's not the way I instructed you, little Ryou. I believe I said run - do not walk - to the Pharaoh, go to him for protection." Bakura snarled and the Duel Master laughed inside their minds, long and loud. "Hm, to do it or not to do it, that is the question."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Ryou asked, swallowing when he felt icy hands grip at his shoulders before disappearing into nothingness. "To strip you of your yami," Yuugi's voice purred sadistically and the ice-haired teen shivered when ghostly lips trail up his jaw to his ear. "Strip you of your defenses." A low chuckle. "I love it when you look like a rabbit caught in headlights. You always did look beautiful like this......"

"Leave him be," Bakura demanded. Another dark laugh. "Mm, I'm afraid I can't, spirit. Seeing him squirm is so delicious......" Ryou gasped when he felt ghostly fingertips trail along his stomach. "Wouldn't you agree?" There was laughter when Bakura clenched his fists, turning his head away. "After all, isn't that the reason why you beat him in the first place? What made you stop?" The darkness around them seemed to smirk. "But I really should be letting you get on your way to the Pharaoh and I shall think over the concept of banishing your powers, Yami no Bakura......" The voice disappeared in a whisper......as if it had never been there in the first place.........

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- elsewhere in Domino -

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Mutou Yugi pulled the thin blankets around his body tighter, gripping them. He hated winter, it was always so cold in the rickety old building that had become his home over the past two years. He was thin - terribly close to being anorexic somewhat, his amethyst orbs were dulled and his hair hung limp in an unfocused ponytail from not being washed that often. The tauk hung around his neck and his clothing was nearly worn and tattered.

But he wouldn't go back, he'd never go back...... Nobody would have remembered who he was anyway, they had perfect, wonderful Yami to count on.

"Cold, are you?" a voice purred from somewhere in the room. Yugi sat up, a small ounce of fear clutching his heart. Living on the streets these past two years had taught him to become ruthless and cold-hearted, merciless even when it came to gang fights and he had needed to become a light sleeper in case anyone snuck up on him during the night but this...... He looked around before noticing the cloaked figure sitting on one of the fallen beams, the figure seeming to sigh.

"I remember being here - the cold, lonely nights, having to steal to eat what I could...... But of course, it changed......and for the better." The person stood from where he sat, making the small one jump to his feet, hand moving swiftly to the bloodstained knife hidden in his faded, tattered jeans. The other smirked, the gesture hidden by the cloak's hood - he'd been expecting this reaction. The little one had become a bloodthirsty angel.........he remembered the adrenaline rush all so vividly.

Yugi swallowed slightly, distrust dancing in his eyes. "Who are you?" he spat, amethysts narrowing almost to the point of looking cat-like. "What do you want with me?" The being spread its arms like an angel spreading its dove wings......or a fallen spreading blood-tipped raven ones. "I am merely offering you the chance, Yugi Mutou, to become everything you have ever dreamed of......in a dark, twisted way. I went through the same transformation, the same pain that you went through two years ago......and I rule over the future world."

A blink. "The future world? What do you mean by that?" The stranger removed the hood of the cloak and the teen gasped at the resemblance, swallowing at the dark bloodstones and the tricoloured hair stood out like white on black, so to speak.

"I control time, space, anything else you can dream of. I AM you, little Yugi, a dark version of you. And you are the future ruler of the universe, the one they call the Duel Master........."

End of Prelude/Chapter One

To be continued......

Is it just me, or does the tauk never get enough credit? I think I'm an Isis fangirl now...... *blinks*

Akhenaten was the only Pharaoh I could think of......at the moment anyway.

Katsuya-chan's EndNotes: PLOT TWISTER STRIKES AGAIN!!! *watches a cow fly by* Heh, mooooo...... *shakes head and returns to original sentence* Didja like the twist towards the end? I kind of borrowed that from last night's episode of Charmed but other than that...... WEEEEE!!! Yumah-chan's back once more! ^.^ *huggles him*

Yumah/Duel Master: You! Off my body!

Katsuya-chan: Hee ^o^ *lets go* I've been wanting to write something like this for so long and now it's begun! YAY! Oh, I need your vote for the next chapter of "In The Dark Of The Night" -- SHOULD I write the chapter based on the past and show you why Yami deserves what he's getting or SHOULD I just continue with it. And do you think I should continue with "Dark Angel" or just leave it where it is? I'm also going to be coming out with a Noa/Mokuba fic called "Roses Are Red", so look out for it! ARIGATOU FOR REVIEWS!!!! *sends Yumah off to huggle reviewers*

Yumah/Duel Master: Damn onna......

Katsuya-chan: *glares* I HEARD THAT!! *watches Yumah scurry off and makes a whip-lash noise*