Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Ryou Bakura: Harbinger of Trouble ❯ Lost and Found: Enter Yugi and Yami ( Chapter 9 )

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Takahashi does, and I think he should make a spin-off where Ryou's the star.

 

The sleep hadn't been too long, and it was barely an hour before Ryou was shaking Sami lightly, trying to wake her from the horrible excuse for sleep she had gotten. He received two growls in response; one from her, and one from the dog. She opened one eye, and then shifted uncomfortably. Malik had gotten up some time during her sleep, and next to him was another blonde man, quite possibly his twin. Except that this man was smug, his hair was spiked, and there was a coldness Sami didn't entirely trust. But even so, she couldn't take her eyes off of his mane of hair. She had never seen anything like it. To her, such hair shouldn't defy gravity like that.

 

“Who is this?” she asked finally, forcing herself to look away. She looked at Malik, but he simply looked away, his mouth frowning firmly. Thankfully, the man in question decided to answer for Malik. He grinned at Sami, crossing his arms.

 

“I am Ishtar, the better half of Malik,” Ishtar said, and when Sami gave him an odd look, he added, “I call myself Ishtar because I am half of Malik, literally. So, I deserve half of his name. Preferably the better half, which is certainly not Malik.” Sami raised one amused brow. That might've been true enough, but she was quickly guessing that whomever she was dealing with, he was much like an overactive child. She glanced at Malik, and saw that he certainly didn't appreciate the introduction. He glared furiously at the man, and stamped a foot.

 

“Screw you, Ishtar!” Malik exclaimed. Sami's eyebrow rose further. Malik had never mentioned a brother before. Nor had he mentioned being related to a complete lunatic at all. But Ishtar simply grinned even further.

 

“I'd like to see you try that,” he replied, and snorted when Malik finally lost it and lunged for him. He was prepared to send the boy into the ground, but then he felt an overwhelming chain of magic locking him in place. Sami held her hand up, looking at them both angrily. She obviously didn't want to hear them arguing, and personally, Ryou didn't blame her. They were pressed for time, after all.

 

“Both of you stop it or I'll end it my way,” she said harshly, “And trust me, that'll end in both of you being dead. Now then, what's so important that you had to wake me up!?” She looked at everyone as she asked this, for she didn't know whose idea it actually was to disturb her. Her gaze ended with Ryou. He was the one who physically woke her up. He shivered. Something about how she stared terrified him. It was like she was judging his soul with such a stare. As though she'd know if he decided to lie to her to save himself, which was something he faintly considered doing. He decided against it.

 

“Bakura and Ishtar normally don't have physical forms like this, and we thought you might be able to tell us why,” Ryou answered honestly, “And because we'd thought you'd like to find Yami.” That didn't lighten the woman's mood. She growled and forced herself out of the chair.

 

“Well, think again. I'd have preferred to sleep,” she replied curtly, straightening her shirt, “But now that I'm up, let's just leave. As to your first question, I have no answer. So stop wasting my time and bring me to where Bakura had said this spirit was.” Her voice was calm, but the undertone brought everyone to a sharp attention. Ryou led the way out of the room and down the stairs, toward the outside where night had successfully fallen. Dim stars twinkled unhappily in the black sky, and the smell of urine was strong now. Sami's dog whimpered and backed away as they turned the corner to the back of the building, where an open manhole sat. Sami peered down it for a second. Another sewer she'd have to go through. She could hardly contain her ecstasy at that.

 

“Should you use magic before we head down?” Ryou asked, and Sami shook her head as she inspected the hole. It was narrow enough for only one person to go down at a time. Standard for a sewer system, when she thought about it. But there was a new smell she hadn't recognized before. The air down there was stagnant. That was a very bad sign, both for her and for the spirits around them. No, magic definitely was no option.

 

“If I use magic here, there's a chance it'll backfire and ignite one of us. It's not worth the risk,” she stated, and jumped down the hole into the darkness below. Ryou followed her, landing briskly on the floor. Yugi climbed down the ladder, landing with a soft thud as he let go of the last rung, and Malik fell through, crashing ungracefully in a pile of filth. Ishtar simply appeared on the sewer floor, crossing his arms and grinning smugly at his other half.

 

“Nice landing,” he commented to Malik, who got up and dusted himself off in embarrassment, “Next time, try not to be such a spastic mess.” Malik twitched and threw a punch at the spirit, which missed entirely, not to anyone's surprise. No matter how physical his form was, Ishtar was still a spirit.

 

“I hate you!” he yelled, and Sami cut in again before he could try anything more.

 

“Enough!” she said sternly, and her voice cut across all other noises like a knife through butter, “Or do you really want to die!?” Malik shook his head vigorously, and Ishtar just snorted, looking away. To her, those were smart answers. She looked back to Ryou and asked, “Does Bakura know exactly where this friend of yours is?” Ryou hummed, and closed his eyes.

 

`Sami wants to know if you know where Yami is,' he said simply, surprised by how loud his thoughts suddenly seemed to be. Normally, their link was quiet and smooth. The air really must've been stagnant and lacking in energy for this to happen. Bakura stirred, appearing just slightly next to Ryou, and shook his head.

 

`No. This accursed stagnation is jamming my power up,' Bakura replied, irritated, `How Ishtar manages to solidify is a mystery to me. I could try taking over again, if you want.' Ryou refused that, and opened his eyes. Yugi and Malik were watching eagerly, wondering what Bakura had to report. Sami just seemed to wonder how his mind actually seemed to work. She frowned when he shook his head at her.

 

“He doesn't know,” Ryou said, and Sami's frown deepened, “The stale air's making it hard for him to concentrate.” Sami sighed. She expected that, but there was always room for a tiny bit of hope. Now they'd have to wing it, and without a map of the city's underground, that'd take an annoyingly long amount of valuable time. But they had no choice in that. She doubted a map of this city existed anymore.

 

“Then we'll have to continue onward and work with whatever I might be able to sense,” she replied grimly, tapping the hilt of her sword, “With my power, I should be able to sense magical energy even down here, and if he's a spirit, his body should give off something.” But what she didn't say was that even she was having difficulty sensing things. And it was best she didn't. She led them down a tunnel, where mildew crept along the damp walls. They faintly heard water running farther ahead. Mold was prominent now, and Yugi managed to sneeze a few times in the process; everyone else kept their breath held for as long as they could before needing to breathe. Finally, the end of the tunnel dumped into a large chamber. And Ryou suddenly stopped. He heard something. Just barely, but he heard it.

 

“Ryou, what's wrong?” Yugi asked, slowing down when Ryou didn't move. Ryou gestured for him to come over, and as he did, Sami and Malik came as well, concern coming through their faces. Ishtar raised an interested brow, but decided not to intervene. It didn't technically concern him, anyway. The noise came back again.

 

“Do you hear that?” he whispered. Sami strained to hear a bit, but she couldn't hear anything. All she heard was the water rushing by.

 

“Ryou, I don't hear anything,” she replied gently, but Malik shook his head quickly. Obviously, he could hear whatever Ryou was heading.

 

“No, I hear something as well,” he stated, “Sounds like… crying? Is someone crying?” Ryou nodded, and Yugi listened next. He heard it again. And he recognized the voice. It was Yami, but he wasn't actually crying. He was calling for someone to help him. Relief flooded Yugi. Yami was all right… he hoped.

 

“Yami!” Yugi exclaimed, “My god, he's all right!” Before anyone could stop him, Yugi ran far ahead, far too quickly. Sami cursed angrily. That wasn't something she wanted to have to worry about, and taking the rod from Malik, she ran after him. Malik blinked, unable to believe she was that fast, but he grabbed Ryou and ran after her, with Ishtar taking up the rear. They didn't need to know that Yugi running off alone was a bad thing. The tunnel he ran down twisted, bent, and wound through large iron blockades, smaller pipes leaking water from the damage done to them. It was slippery, but they managed to clear it before finding Sami and Yugi outside of a large, iron door. Ryou had to stop so suddenly that he almost crashed into them.

 

“What's the hold-up?” Malik asked as he skidded to a halt. Sami looked at him, that grim expression crossing her face once more. Nothing good would come from her.

 

“Stagnation's coming from there,” she stated, “But I don't know what it's from. And I don't like it.” Malik shrugged. To him, the only way to know was to go inside. As he went for the knob on the door, Sami tried desperately to tell him to stop, but she wasn't fast or firm enough. The knob turned and the door swung open. The chamber was large, but what took up most of that chamber was a huge machine, rumbling gently as it worked. Steam issued out of it, and the acrid smell of staleness was much stronger than it had been before. This was definitely where the stagnancy was coming from.

 

“What the hell is it?” Malik asked, as they walked into the chamber, the machine looming high above them. Sami gave it a long look, examining every facet she could see. It was large, and black, though in the light, it was possibly gray. Turrets and holes dotted two strips that ran down it vertically, where the steam was pumped out. Through one big hole, she saw gears running underneath. Clearly, it was an ancient machine. Grime and dirt covered the bottom, which she didn't dare to touch. How long it'd been there, though, she couldn't begin to guess.

 

“A pump engine,” she replied quietly, almost amazed with the hulking contraption, “Designed to distribute that steam, but it's clearly very old. I'm to guess it's what was used to supply energy before electricity was discovered, but it may very well be even older than that.” Ryou was impressed. He wouldn't have necessarily been able to figure that much unless his father had been there with him. Malik just whistled, looking at the control panel beside the machine. It had buttons and levers all over, but without understanding how it worked, he didn't dare suggest touching them. Even Sami wouldn't know how they worked.

 

“Do you think it's what's causing the air to become so stale?” Ryou asked her. Sami crossed her arms, considering it. That was a very good possibility; the only thing that'd dissolve that solution was if more machines like that happened to be down here. And she hadn't heard anything.

 

“Definitely,” she finally replied, her voice so certain that he didn't disbelieve her, “We need to shut it down. Regardless of if it's been tampered or simply shutting down from rot, it's going to kill the inhabitants and any wanderers who manage to come through if we don't.” Ryou didn't disagree. The smell was horrible. But they didn't know how to shut it off, and Sami wasn't about to use magic to do it. Finally, Malik took action. He turned to the machine, and raised just one hand.

 

“Stop!” he said, with as much dignity and pride as he could. But the machine kept going, and he said more forcefully, “I command you to stop!” The machine ignored his request. Not that it could've obeyed, anyway. It was a machine. An old machine. But that didn't keep Malik from twitching.

 

“I DEMAND THAT YOU STOP THIS INSTANT!” he screamed, and only then, did Yugi come up and calm him down.

 

“Malik, stop. That's not going to work,” he said, “This will.” He walked right over to the panel at that point. Ryou didn't exactly know what a stupid idea should've looked like, but right then, Yugi pretty much explained it to him. He smashed every button he could, pulled anything that'd move, and pounded the panel as hard as he could. Sami watched in wide-eyed disbelief. She didn't care what part of Oblivion she was in; that would never have worked. Finally, the panel ignited, forcing Yugi to run away before he was lit. Sami barely snorted.

 

“Nice,” she said sarcastically, “I'll be sure to attach a post-it to the body bag explaining just how you got yourself killed.” Yugi frowned as Sami snorted again, but as she turned back to the machine, what happened next pretty much blew her mind. Ishtar actually kicked the machine. He knocked it so hard that it practically crumbled onto the floor in a heap of smoldering parts. Never in her life had she seen anyone be able to accomplish that.

 

“How on earth… did you do that!?” she demanded, bewildered, “How… and why… who taught you this?” Ishtar merely grinned, crossing his arms triumphantly, and nodding.

 

“Didn't you ever watch Walker, Texas Ranger?” Ishtar asked, “That show teaches me everything!” Sami's eyebrow raised again. Clearly, she was having a hard time wrapping her head around that. She shook her head, walking to a door the machine was hiding.

 

“I don't want to know. It's better that I not know,” she mumbled, her voice echoing slowly over the room, “I don't need to know why these idiots still idolize a moron like Chuck Norris.” Ryou just snorted at first, but now he was just laughing. Her reaction was just too priceless. Malik just shook his head.

 

“Good job, moron. You broke whatever was left of her sanity,” he growled to Ishtar, stalking after her. The door opened on rusted hinges and led to a cold, drafty corridor that went straight until it came to a single cell. Pitch-black shadow covered nearly all of the cell, but they could make out a single stone bench. On that bench sat Yami, arms crossed with one leg over the other. And he looked vaguely annoyed. There was no mistaking that he wasn't crying at all beforehand. Sami looked at him, and then over at Yugi. The similarities were amusing to her.

 

“Should I guess as to why he looks like you?” she asked, and then chuckled, “Anyway, it appears we've found him now. Can we leave?” Ryou just patted her back, but everyone else seemed to ignore her. Yugi ran to the bars as Malik unlocked the door, swinging it open. Yami stalked out, and patted Yugi on the head, smiling slyly.

 

“It's about time you got down here and found me, Yugi,” he said in a surprisingly smooth voice. Yugi just nodded, and Ryou glanced at Sami. She seemed mildly infuriated that everyone ignored her, but she softened as Yami spoke. Inwardly, Ryou twitched. Yami had a bewitching effect on many people. Or an infuriating one, depending on who he was dealing with.

 

“How did you get down here?” Yugi asked him, as they all walked down the corridor, back to the room where the ruined machine sat. Yami just chuckled as he saw the smoldering pile. He could only guess as to what happened.

 

“As a being of magical substance, I felt a terrible disturbance. I wanted to investigate it,” he replied, and Ryou saw Sami's look harden, “But it drained my energy and I couldn't move. I almost melted away… until just a few hours ago.” Ryou blinked. Just a few hours ago was when Bakura had become a physical force as well. Ishtar had taken an actual form not even two hours ago. He glanced at Sami suspiciously, but she wasn't looking at him.

 

`That's a correct assumption,' Bakura stated, confirming Ryou's thoughts. Ryou frowned. Magic. Magic was causing all of this. Sami was causing the magic that was causing this. And Sami was currently tapping her foot on the ground near the machine.

 

“This damned thing was causing our power to be jammed,” she said, and snorted, “Good thing we decimated it. Now we can get going and get back on track.” Ryou blinked again. In all of the confusion, he actually forgot that he was here because Sami needed her things. And she already had them. No wonder she wanted to leave.

 

“What?” he asked, his mind slow from finding Yami. Sami raised her eyebrow a third time, and this time her lips twitched with annoyance.

 

“Katsaiga? The Mystic? Running away? Any of that even ring a bell?” she asked almost coldly, “Come on, Ryou. Enough fooling around.” Ryou frowned. He hadn't forgotten, after all, but he certainly didn't like her tone. His friends were important to him.

 

“Hey, just because you have an agenda doesn't mean we didn't!” Malik exclaimed, when Ryou didn't speak. Sami's eyes narrowed. Ryou half expected a dagger to come flying toward them, but she didn't lift a finger. She turned around angrily. And at that moment, Ryou really would've preferred to be dead. Angering Sami was the last thing he wanted, because she was the only one capable of killing the Mystic.

 

“What's going on?” Yugi asked, looking at his friends. Malik was already glaring at Sami, but Ryou did his best to explain. Or, explain what he understood of the situation. Unfortunately, Sami didn't offer any help with that. She was upset.

 

“So then what's happening is true,” Yami murmured, and then said, “I've sensed a bad feeling for some time now. If what you say is true, I insist I come along.” At this, Sami turned around sharply. Her pupils had narrowed to mere slits. Ryou knew what might be coming soon: one sword and possibly a dead friend.

 

“Absolutely not!” she declared furiously, “Ryou, we will not be doing this!” But again, no one listened to her. They walked out of the room, Malik purposely ignoring her remark at that point. Her jaw just dropped, and angrily, she began to regret bringing Ryou with her. She was quickly taking a backseat on a journey she had started before she even met them. It was a long moment before she stormed after them, and then through them without a word, taking the lead. Yugi bit his lip, knowing that they just angered her again. He glanced back, but Malik wasn't looking at her, and Ryou was talking with Malik.

 

“Now what can we do?” Malik asked him, as Sami silently led them through the tunnel and then onto the street. Ryou smiled, until he saw Sami's look. It was a quick glance, but he caught it. She was beyond just angry. She was outraged. He wanted to try calming her down, but she was too quick with the question.

 

“We go back to the room and you idiots rest,” she grumbled, “I'm going to try cooling down before I actually strangle one of you, Ryou.” Then, she stormed off again. They were close enough to the inn to not need her help. Ryou's frown deepened. He looked at Malik for help, but the boy just nodded and pointed his chin to where Sami left. Ryou took a deep breath and ran after her. He knew why she was getting mad. This was supposed to be her adventure, and it was turning away from what she needed to do.

 

“Sami, wait!” he called, as she slammed the doors to the inn open. She turned sharply to him, her eyes cold and unyielding. In the dim light, with the wind blowing her hair around her, she looked like the pinnacle of evil. He actually shivered again.

 

“What is it now!?” she demanded, “We're not staying. I'm leaving and that's final. Tomorrow, if you want to stay, do it without me.” Ryou winced. She was pissed.

 

“Sami, I'm sorry,” he said gently, “I didn't know they'd want to come.”

 

“But I did, and that's what I wanted to avoid,” she retorted angrily, “And because you live around here, I helped you. And now it's costing me. I told you, Ryou. I told you not to waste my time, and that's what you're doing.” Hearing it so plainly stung at him. Now he knew why he was afraid of her. Any minute she chose, she'd end his life. And now seemed like a good moment for her. If he had any hope of living, he'd have to find a way to calm her down. But how did one calm down a raging Chesier?

 

“Sami, please, just listen to me,” he begged, “It'll be okay.” Unfortunately, that wasn't the right thing to say. She laughed bitterly, shaking her head.

 

“You don't understand, do you?” she asked him, her voice surprisingly calm, “Ryou, this isn't about being okay. This is about our world. Mystics do not belong here, among us. They're tyrants. They'll destroy this world if we don't do something. And I can do nothing while your friends are here! Do you understand? Do you understand why I'm angry?” Ryou nodded. He understood perfectly. He knew what was going on, because he was obviously involved in some way. He had seen Sami use magic. He knew the danger of what could happen, either in taking too much time or in Sami turning against him. He'd be dead.

 

“I know,” he said, trying to remain as calm as her, “Sami, trust us. We want to help you.” Sami seemed to grow more rigid with that idea. Then, she simply turned and began up the stairs as everyone else walked in, looking up and wondering what was going on.

 

“If my trust costs me my life, then I hope you enjoy the rest of yours,” she replied sternly, quietly, as she walked the rest of the way up the stairs. Something about how she implied that scared him nearly shitless. If she did die, he wondered what might happen then. But it wouldn't matter. Either way, personally, he was now screwed. Without greeting the others, he walked up the steps, trying to figure out just what to do with his new mess. No option looked relatively promising, except to just sleep on it. And that's what he intended as he thought of it.

 

-----------------------------(End Chapter)

 

After going through the sewers and finding Yami, Ryou now needs to deal with the fact that Sami's not liking how things are turning out. And if it keeps up, he might find himself short one life. How will he turn around her anger, and where will his friends need to head next? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!