Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Soul Of The Night ❯ Victory Is Ours! ( Chapter 14 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Victory Is Ours!
Ryou opened his eyes to find Bakura missing beside him.  Ryou yawned and stretched as the darkness surrounded him. He reached beside him and found the bed vacant. “Bakura?”
Ryou shifted on the bed and sat up. He gasped as he felt the baby stretch.  Ryou felt the child press downward as he crossed his legs.  Ryou stood and headed towards the archway to the other room.  He held onto the edge of the walls until he saw a dim light at the end of the room.
The hikari bit his lip as he pulled up his tunic. Ryou heard the sound of a skipping rock across the floor behind him. “Baby?  Bakura, is that you?”
An eerie silence answered Ryou’s curious question.  Ryou held his breath as another rock skipped across the ground.
“Bakura?” Ryou asked as he began to relieve himself.
Ryou heard a whimper of pain from the shadows. “Bakura, are you alright?”
“Hungry,” the weak voice struggled.
The hikari felt the baby jump and land on his pelvis. Ryou felt as if he couldn’t stop peeing.  Ryou sighed and raised his head. “At least this is better than when I was carrying Aria and Aten. I’m only having one baby this time.”
Ryou finished behind the pillar and lowered his tunic.  He walked towards the dim light in the opposite corner of the room.  In the corner, Bakura was sitting and skipping rocks across the floor.
“Baby? Bakura, are you alright?”
Bakura looked down sadly, his eyes looking into nothing before him. “Perhaps...he was right.”
“Who was right, sweetheart?” Ryou asked, tucking a lock of spiky, white hair behind Bakura’s ear.
Bakura sighed. “Ry, I want you to do something for me.”
“Anything, angel.”
Bakura’s shoulders sagged. “I want you.....to leave me here.”
“Have you lost your mind?” Ryou shook his head slowly. “We’re not leaving you in this tomb alone. You’re coming with us.”
“I should just stay here...alone and forgotten.”
Ryou caressed Bakura’s hair. “What has gotten into you? Where did this come from?”
Bakura opened his mouth. “I don’t know, Ry. I woke up....hungry....and now, all I want to do....is.....” Bakura lowered his head. The yami clenched his fists tightly. The yami’s cheeks became sprinkled with tears.
“Bakura, perhaps you are feeling these emotions from your younger self. He’s probably scared, poor thing.  We have to find him and get out of this tomb. I don’t know how much air is in here. It’s getting awfully hot and stuffy.”
Bakura raised his head to Ryou. “Why won’t you just leave me here? I’ll just waste and wither away. My spirit will fade into nothingness.”
Ryou grabbed Bakura’s arms and narrowed his eyes at his yami. “If you think for one second, Bakura Osiris Itemri, that I am going to leave you here, you have lost your bloody mind!”
The yami grabbed Ryou and pulled him close. Ryou felt his yami trembling. How much of this is coming from that poor boy in Marik’s custody? “Baby, it’ll be alright.”
“I love you, Ry,” Bakura whimpered into his hikari’s shoulder.
“Alright, ‘Kura, let’s get moving on. Aten! Robbie! Wake up, boys!”
Ryou helped Bakura to his feet and bit his lip again. Will I have to use the loo every two minutes? Baby boy, stop moving on my bladder!
Aten and Robbie stepped into the room tiredly and disheveled. “Morning, mother and Father Bakura.”
Bakura took a deep breath. “Morning, Aten. Did you boys sleep well?”
Robbie snickered. “Well, we tried last night.”
Aten grinned and stretched. “It was an interesting...and pleasurable experience.”
“Just like your father,” Yami Bakura sighed. Bakura took Ryou’s hand and lead the group into the next room. Aten held the torch and saw murals of Yami’s birth and boyhood decorated on the walls.  The group saw an image of the pharaoh holding baby Yami in the air.  The newborn boy was smiling as he looked down at the crowd.
Robbie pointed to the pharaoh. “Look, he has the Millennium Puzzle!”
In the succeeding murals on the walls, young Yami lead his father before the gods. “Yami was still a child when he came into power,” Aten said.
Bakura nodded. “He was young, but settled into his new position quite easily so I heard on the streets.”
Bakura lead the group into the next room and looked up with surprise at another room of tablets, some of which had not been destroyed.  Ryou and Bakura walked along the left side of the room, their eyes looking at the mixture of tablets intact and smashed. “Lava Golem. Demon Mirror. Lord of the Lamp.  Cobra Jar. They weren’t touched.”
“Those are Marik’s monsters,” Ryou said.
Aten walked towards a tablet depicting one of his father’s most treasured monsters. “Nobleman Eater Bug.  Father didn’t destroy it.” The Egyptian’s hand drifted down the stone. “Daddy.”
Robbie reached down and grabbed a stone. “What did Marik have against these monsters?”
“He didn’t want these monsters to be used against him, so he destroyed those loyal to us. He kept his loyal servants intact,” Bakura said.
Ryou heard a hissing sound behind him. “Did you hear that?”
Bakura turned his head and saw a giant cobra slither from the Cobra Jar tablet.  “Ry! Look out!”
Aten and Robbie turned to see the Cobra open its mouth toward Ryou and lunge for the hikari.
Ryou screamed and ran behind Bakura as the creature’s maw bit the ground where Ryou had stood.  Bakura grabbed Ryou’s wrist and pulled him down the hall. Aten and Robbie grabbed stones and threw it at the large cobra. The serpent lunged for Robbie. Aten grabbed a broken tablet and threw it at the cobra’s head. The serpent hissed as the rock hit its head.
Aten grabbed Robbie’s arm and pulled him down the hallway. The Caucasian teen limped as fast as his walking stick would carry him. The serpent opened its jaws to bite the escaping teens. Aten pushed Robbie through the archway to the next room. The serpent’s fangs embedded themselves into the walls before they could bite into Aten.
Robbie winced as he raised his head. He grabbed his walking sticks and looked into the open mouth of the cobra. Aten used the torch to burn the flailing tongue of the serpent.
Ryou helped Robbie to his feet and backed away from the entrance. Bakura grabbed his dagger and sliced off the tongue of the serpent trying to wrap itself around Aten. Bakura grabbed Aten and pulled him away from the bleeding serpent tongue.
“Thank you, Father Bakura.”
“Are you alright, boy?”
Aten nodded. “I’m alright.”
Bakura pat Aten’s shoulder and took Ryou’s hand again. “It seems as if Marik gave himself a prime advantage over Yami. Yami still has the Egyptian gods to protect the palace. He won’t be able to summon anything else.”
Ryou looked back at the hissing cobra as they left the room. He held tightly onto Bakura as he caught his breath.  Aten grabbed Robbie’s hand and followed his mother into the next room.
Bakura, Ryou, Aten, and Robbie fell silent as they entered a large room. A large black ankh stood amongst a floor of red brick.  Pieces of smashed tablets littered the ground.  
Bakura slowly approached the ankh of black obsidian.  “I’ve seen this room before.”
“Where?” Robbie asked.
Bakura closed his eyes. “Ry, remember Duelist Kingdom? Tristan, Anzu, and you were climbing up Pegasus’ castle walls to get into his forbidden room?”
Ryou groaned. “How could I forget? She was saying how friendly we were because we were climbing up the side of the building. She kept saying we’re going to make friends with the clouds. She gave me a headache.”
“Pegasus sent us to this strange room with people chanting and we saw an ancient duel. Remember?”
Ryou held his head. “I barely remember. I remember Pegasus wanting to get a hold of my Millennium Ring when you took over my body.”
“Pegasus?” Aten asked. “Who was that?”
“This was before you were born, Aten. I was only fourteen at the time.”
Bakura ran his fingers through his hair. “It was an ancient duel. Ry, this is where the ancient pharaohs dueled!”
Robbie turned and looked at the only stone tablet standing in the room: Winged Dragon of Ra. “Hey, guys! Only the Winged Dragon of Ra remains!”
Ryou held onto Bakura nervously. “Let’s get out of here.”
Bakura lead the group out of the room through another hallway with pictures of Yami. Ryou stopped through the hallway and gave a frightened gasp. “‘Kura?”
Bakura stopped and looked at the wall.  Pharaoh Yami battled with Slyfer the Sky Dragon hovering above him. Yami’s opponent with white, spiky hair was protected by Dark Master Zorc.
“Father Bakura, I’ve never seen that monster,” Aten said. “Is it yours?”
Bakura nodded quietly. “I rarely summon Zorc.”
Robbie’s eyes widened as he look at the picture. “It looks like you’re summoning the devil!”
Bakura touched the image of Zorc. “In a way, Robert, I am. Zorc is the ultimate King of Shadows. He made the Shadow Realm come into existence.”
“I thought it was the Land of the Dead,” Robbie said.
“It is. Human beings were turned into monsters. Human souls who are repenting for their sins are condemned to Purgatory, right? Those souls do not rest. Monsters do not rest. They are puppets for human entertainment...tortured souls turned into horrible monstrosities.” Bakura sighed. “Dark Master Zorc answers to the King of Shadows whose heart burns with darkness.”
Robbie and Aten looked at Bakura uneasily. “Are you alright, Bakura?”
“It is hard to fight the corruption of a Millennium Item. Perhaps that is what turned Ishtar into what he has become. He has given in completely to the anger and darkness within himself. A soul shrouded in darkness.”
“What’s stopping you from doing the same?” Robbie asked.
Bakura looked at Robbie and Aten. “Because my family needs me and I will not rest until they are safe.”
Ryou looked down and rubbed his belly. The baby had become still. He must be tired after all that bouncing.
“Right now, I’m worried about Marik and Malik. I don’t know what happened to them, but we need to get to the bottom of this.”
Ryou nodded. “We will. Then we’ll get home and be a family again.”
Robbie and Aten held their breath as they heard footsteps.  Ryou held onto Bakura tightly as the footsteps marched in the distance. The yami brought Ryou into a hiding place followed by the teenagers.
Ryou heard the familiar chattering of a bug down the hallway. /That sounds like Nobleman Eater Bug./
//Marik....he must be nearby.//
/There must be hundreds of people, Bakura! There’s so many of them!/
//The Ishtars and the Tombkeepers are on the move.//
Aten held his breath as Robbie wrapped his arm around him. Ryou clutched onto Bakura as they heard the army march nearby.
“Aten, stay here with your mother," Bakura whispered as he released Ryou's hand. /Yami, don't leave us!/
//I want to see for myself.// Bakura said, breaking away from the group.
Bakura crept along the wall of the hallway. Shielded by the darkness, Yami Bakura kneeled as he watched an army of Tombkeepers march down an adjacent hallway.  Each Tombkeeper appeared armed with multiple weapons.  Bakura saw horses moving with the troops.
For the first time in my life, I pray for Yami's victory.
**********************
Yami glared at the young girl in his throne room.  Yugi and Seto watched anxiously as Aria kneeled before the pharaoh against her will.
“I hope that a few days in the dungeon has taught you some manners, my dear.”
“I will still not hand over my father to you!” Aria protested.
Yami grinned. “How did you come from the loins of a common dog such as him?”
Aria’s lip curled in disdain. “My father is twice the man you will ever be!”
Yugi held out his hands to Yami. “Pharaoh, you cannot expect her to listen passively to you drag her father’s name through the dirt.”
“I will drag her father through the dirt when I catch him! He is a dead man when I find him.”
Aria shook her head. “I know what you did to my father. You are a man of cruelty.  You are a soul-less coward.  Black blood flows through your veins. You don’t feel.  My father would never torment others for his own pleasure and sexual gratification.” Aria swallowed. “I know what you did to him. My father suffered at your hands. He bled for your pleasure. How can you call yourself a man when you feel no compassion for the suffering of innocent people?”
Yami raised his hand to strike Aria across the face, but Seto grabbed the pharaoh’s wrist.
“Do not lay a hand on her!” Seto exclaimed. “You gain nothing by beating her.”
Yami pulled his hand away. “High Priest, you will not interfere!”
Yugi stood in front of Aria. The girl watched in amazement as Yugi shielded her from Yami’s rage. “Don’t hurt her!”
Aria’s head snapped up as she heard a dragon roar nearby. Aria, Yami, and Seto ducked as an explosion shattered Yami’s balcony. Yugi gasped as he turned around. Aria stared wide-eyed as rubble littered the ground.
Yami narrowed his eyes. “The Tombkeepers! Guards! Assemble our troops!”
The soldiers released Aria and fled from the room. “I will deal with you later.”
The pharaoh fled from the room.
Aria struggled with the rope binding her wrist as the dragon in the sky roared again. Seto ran behind Aria and tried to untie the rope. “Yugi,” Seto called. “Get out of here!”
“What about you?”
Seto looked at the short duelist. “Yugi, go!”
“Uncle Yugi! Please save my children! Get them somewhere safe!” Aria pleaded.
Another explosion blasted through the wall of the throne room, sending rock into the throne room.  Seto grabbed Aria’s arms, pulled her to her knees, and raced her behind Yami’s golden throne.
“Yugi, go!” Seto called.
The short man ran from the throne room and down the hall. Guards were screaming in panic and racing towards the arena to gather.  Yugi raced towards Seto’s harem where he heard women and children screaming.  Yugi burst through the door and found Glenn trying to keep the women calm.
Joey raised his head in alarm. ”Yug, what the hell is going on?”
“The Tombkeepers are attacking the palace! We have to get these women somewhere safe!”
Joey, Yugi, and Glenn jumped as an explosion ripped through the balcony of the harem and crashed into the opposite wall.  Two of the women in the group were hit by rocks from the wall.  Yugi watched in fear as the women collapsed on the ground, their heads bleeding profusely from their injuries.
Glenn raced to the women’s side and checked their pulse. “Yugi, get the women out of here!”
“Where is Seto?” Joey asked.
“He’s trying to free Aria! Where can we go that’s safe?”
Joey looked around anxiously. “The bedroom doesn’t have an opening to the outside!”
Joey ran across the room and opened the door. Several women followed him as the others held their children anxiously.
Yugi pointed the women towards Joey. “We’ll be safe in there!” Yugi looked around in a panic. “Glenn, where is Umi and the kids?”
“They’re playing outside!” Glenn called out as he tried to stop the bleeding from the head of the surviving woman. “Get into the room!”
“Come with me!”
Glenn shook his head. “I have a job to do! Stay with the others, Yugi!” Another blast rocked the palace as Yugi watched his lover race to save the woman’s life.
Yugi ran to Glenn and kissed him on the lips. The duelist ran towards Joey standing by the door.
Joey shut the door behind Yugi. The women crowded in the corner and prayed to the gods for deliverance.  The blond gasped as explosions were heard through the walls.  Yugi jumped as he heard another explosion nearby. “Glenn, be careful.”
***********************
Seto and Aria ran to the hallway and saw the Winged Dragon of Ra flying by the palace. Yami Marik rode on the head of the dragon, raising his Millennium Rod into the air. “Surrender, pharaoh, or the Shadows will claim your soul!”
“Oh my god,” Aria whispered.  “Father Marik!”
“Aria! Seto!”
Seto and Aria turned their heads to see Glenn running down the hallway. The skinny man panted as he ran down the hallway from the harem. “Glenn, what are you doing here?”
“I’m going to tend to the injured, Kaiba. You and Aria should get to the harem where you will be safe.”
Aria watched the Winged Dragon of Ra blast holes into the arena walls where her father told her he had been forced to fight wild beasts unarmed.  “I don’t think we’d be safe anywhere.”
Glenn grabbed Seto’s arms. “Seto, you have to get to the harem! Joey and Yugi are with the women!”
Aria turned to Glenn quickly. “What about my boys?”
“Umi, Kai, and Rhett are not with them. They were outside playing when all the commotion started.”
Aria gasped and covered her mouth. “My boys need my help!”
Before Seto could protest, Aria ran down the hallway.  Glenn and Seto followed her through the hallway filled with rubble.
Aria grabbed a spear which lay near the body of a dead soldier.  The teenage girl held the spear in her hands and felt her canines sharpen.  Her eyes faded into black coals with red spikes.  Her spiky hair grew sharper and more pronounced.
“That fucker is going to pay if he hurts my Umi or my children!”
Glenn watched Aria sprint down the hallway. “I’ve never heard her use such language!”
“It’s Yami Aria.  This isn’t good. Glenn, you shouldn’t be out here,” Seto protested.
Glenn stood tall and proud. “I am a nurse, Kaiba.  I took the oath to protect life and I will not back down from my duty.”
Seto nodded. “Alright. Let’s follow Aria.”
Glenn and Seto followed Aria outside the protection of the palace.  They arrived next to Yami Aria, who was glaring at the Winged Dragon of Ra. The yami girl chuckled.
“NIGHTMARE DRAGON! COME TO ME!”
Seto and Glenn waited anxiously for Aria’s monster to appear. “What the hell?  What’s keeping the Nightmare Dragon?”
Glenn watched as soldiers lay bleeding on the ground, begging for medical help. Glenn broke from the crowd to begin tending the injured.
Yami Aria growled. “NIGHTMARE DRAGON! COME TO ME!”
Seto held his breath as Aria’s dragon never came. “Blue Eyes White Dragon! Rise!”
Yami Aria and Seto looked around. “Something is wrong,” Aria said.
Seto’s eyes widened as he looked at the Winged Dragon of Ra. “General Anubis was saying that the sacred tablets were destroyed.”
The Winged Dragon of Ra landed before Yami Aria and Seto. Yami Marik crossed his arms as he sat on the head of his dragon. “Well, well, if it isn’t Little Lady Bakura! How convenient!”
“Father Marik, what do you want?”
“To be your king. My demands are simple: surrender, my lovely stepdaughter, or I shall see to it that you pay the ultimate penalty.”
Yami Aria held the spear in front of her. “What have you done with my husband and my boys?”
Yami Marik grinned. “Perhaps they are playing Hide-and-Seek from my pet dragon.” The Winged Dragon of Ra raised its head and roared into the air. “Or perhaps they served as a little snack for my pet. He has a ravenous appetite, you know.”
Yami Aria’s lip curled in disdain. “If you hurt my husband or my children--.”
Yami Marik pointed the Millennium Rod towards Yami Aria. “You are hardly in a position to make demands. May the clouds cover the land of Egypt in ceaseless Shadows!”
Yami Aria and Seto watched as dark, menacing clouds appeared from nowhere.  Seto heard thunder rolling in the distance.  “Blue Eyes White Dragon!”
Yami Marik grinned. “Your beast cannot hear you. I’m afraid he has fallen to pieces, Kaiba. May the Egyptian god Shu strike down those who would stand against the future king of all!”
Seto covered his face behind his arm as the wind whipped around him. Aria felt her feet slide backwards across the sand.  Seto grabbed onto Yami Aria’s arm.
“The Millennium Rod controls the elements! Remember when Marik would get depressed, the clouds would roll in and it would rain?”
Yami Marik raised the Millennium Rod towards the sky. A torrential downpour of rain pummeled the people and buildings.  Seto felt his skin sting with the force of the rain droplets.  
Yami Aria watched her stepfather point the Millennium Rod towards the gate.  “Uncle Seto, run!”
Seto watched the giant iron gate become red-hot and melt.  Yami Marik’s Tombkeeper army broke through the gate with Malik at the forefront.
Seto heard two children scream behind him towards the arena. Through the heavy rain, he could barely see Umi holding onto his children.
Seto hastily retreated to the arena. Seto grabbed Rhett. “We have to get to the harem. That’s where all of the women and children are hiding!”
Kai watched his mother combat a hooded Tombkeeper. Yami Aria’s spear clashed with the staff of her opponent.  Yami Aria trapped the man’s weapon on the ground and punched him in the face. The man staggered back as he lost his balance. Kai watched with wide eyes as his mother pierced the man’s stomach with her spear. When her opponent fell dead onto the floor, Yami Aria grinned.
Umi grabbed Kai and followed Seto towards the palace. Seto turned his head to see Glenn tending quickly to injured soldiers.
Glenn rushed towards a soldier with a wound in his shoulder. Glenn used the man’s clothing as a compress. “Stay with me, man,” Glenn said to the hyperventilating soldier.  Glenn’s dark hair, soaked with rain, fell around his face. “Don’t die on me. Hang in there.” Glenn tied the material around the man’s shoulder.
Malik saw Glenn tending to the injured soldier. “I shall put a stop to you!”
Malik raced towards Glenn, sword raised in the air.  Glenn gasped and rolled out of the way as Malik’s horse trampled the man he had struggled to rescue from death’s clutches.
Glenn sat on the ground and looked up at Malik. “I could have saved his life!”
“I will send you to join him!” Malik coaxed his horse towards Glenn.  
The male nurse tried to regain his feet as Malik forced the horse to trample him to death.  Glenn grabbed a sword and looked at the horse. “Forgive me.”
Glenn stabbed the horse in the chest. Malik rolled off the horse. Glenn stood up and held the sword in shock. The Egyptian hikari grabbed his sword and lunged for Yugi’s lover.  
Yami Aria turned her head to barely see Malik and Glenn locked in a bitter fight.  She turned from the Winged Dragon of Ra and raced towards Malik.  “Glenn!”
Glenn heard Yami Aria call to him.
//Hikari, it’s time.// Yami Marik chuckled as the bitter battle raged around him. “Winged Dragon of Ra, eliminate them.”
The Winged Dragon of Ra flapped its wings and took flight over the battlefield.  
Malik turned from his battle with Glenn and raced towards the palace.
Yami Aria and Glenn watched the Egyptian flee from combat towards the castle. A bright light shone in the sky.
Yami Aria raised her head to see the Winged Dragon of Ra glowing brightly in the sky.  “Umi....”
“ELIMINATE THEM ALL!” Yami Marik called from the sky as the Winged Dragon of Ra rained blasts of fire onto the combatants below.
**********************************
Yami watched intently as the Millennium Puzzle hung around his neck.  He held his sword, ready to defend his throne.  The doors to the throne room were closed as sweat trickled down his body.  Without Slyfer, he doubted he could defeat the invaders. The Dark Magician failed to answer his call. Obelisk had also failed to defend his master.  Every one of his monsters failed to join him in defense of the castle.
The pharaoh heard loud explosions from outside the palace. The warring armies were raising their voices in anger and pain.  
Yami watched the doors to the throne room blast open as he held his sword before him. Ten Tombkeepers surrounded the pharaoh and pointed their weapons towards him.
“You fiends! Leave this place!”
The men laughed. “You have to hand to help you in your fight, pharaoh.”
Malik sauntered into the doorway with a proud smile on his face. The Egyptian chuckled as he stood behind his army. “Surrender, pharaoh, and we might let you live.”
“Who are you?”
Malik grinned. “You will be learning it soon enough, Pharaoh Yami. I am Malik Ramses Ishtar, the rightful heir to the throne of Egypt.”
“That’s absurd! You do not have royal blood in your veins!”
“I have suffered at your hands enough to earn my rightful place as king!”
Yami lowered his weapon. “You are ill-equipped to rule my kingdom! Do you think you can just walk in here and declare yourself king?”
Malik snapped his fingers. “You know, Yami? You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking! I should just leave.” Malik turned and stopped. “There is, however, one piece of leverage that you should know about.” Malik grabbed Yugi and pulled him into the throne room by his collar. The Egyptian threw Yugi to the ground with a grin. “It would be a pity if something happened to him.”
Yugi looked up at Malik with fear and swallowed nervously. “Malik, it’s me! Yugi! Don’t you know who I am?”
Malik pointed his sword at Yugi. “Future target for my blade?”
Yugi slowly rose to his feet and looked at his former nemesis. “Malik, it’s me, Yugi! You know me. I know you know me! Why are you doing this?”
“You want a reason?I owe you no reason.” The Tombkeepers closed in on Yami. “Surrender your kingdom.”
Yugi turned to Yami. “Don’t do it, Yami!”
Yami watched Malik place the tip of his sword against the back of Yugi’s neck. The shorter man gasped and held his breath. Yugi watched his yami drop his sword on the ground. “Pharaoh.”
Malik grinned. “VICTORY IS OURS!”