Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Three-In-One Combo ❯ Eclipse ( Chapter 26 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Author's Notes: First of all, this is LONG. So I hope you've got a while. This monster chapter could have taken me ages to write, and could easily be two short chapters, but it isn't. You have Seena and Chibi to thank for this. They got me to hurry up and just write it already! Thanks! ^_^
And this all came to me in biology class a couple days ago. Ooh, BIOLOGY class is more inspirational than SOME muses, apparently. We get to play tug-o-war with Shadi here. Poor guy.
Did you all really think Yami Bakura sounded that evil? I was going for mean, but not hard-core evil. Maybe creepy, but definitely not THAT evil. He just likes blood, that's all. Well, in this chapter, he'll be anything but evil.
Everybody go read Jaid Skywalker's story The Next Generation (or something of the sort), because it's got Shadi, Ankh, and Scale, and Scale is done PERFECTLY!
Anime*Angel*Fox, sure, stick an OC or two in as long as he/she/it isn't romantically involved with Ankh, Scale, or Shadi.
Eep, Li. I know how that is. Stupid schoolwork… Thanks for all the stuff, and thank you for not kissing me too. Yaoi's great to read, but I don't swing that way either. ^_^
JessiChi, I actually was originally planning to have the spell work for everyone but Ankh and Scale, but your idea of Bakura changing too interested me, so I worked it in.
And Rosz, I think I answered all of your questions in here.
Finally, I have pictures of nice Scale (http://indigo.1afm.com/images/nicescaledraw.jpg) and evil Ankh (http://indigo.1afm.com/images/antiankhdraw.jpg). Aw, Scale looks so nice... Ankh looks scary, though.

Shadi: Indigo does not own Yu-Gi-Oh. She expects to receive the DVDs next week, however.



Three-In-One Combo!



Shadi had finished more than half of the warding spells. He only had the Ring, Ankh, and Scales left to do, so he decided to take a break and get something to eat. He left everything as it was and walked into town to find something good.

Scale had given up on trying to make Ankh mean, and after much angry screaming, he retreated to his own soul room. He had only succeeded in making the other spirit upset and a bit annoyed. They had been concentrating so intently on each other that neither had noticed another presence flit through Shadi's unconscious mind to find the transport ritual. Shadi himself had all of his attention on his warding spells, so he didn't notice either.


Bakura had forcibly blocked out Shadi's conscious thoughts in favor of that he was looking for. After all, if he looked through and reacted to the uppermost thoughts, someone like Shadi or Ankh would surely know he was there. Upon finding what he was looking for, Bakura quickly reported back to Malik, who took a few minutes to practice the transport ritual on himself before he was satisfied.


Shadi, meanwhile, was fairly oblivious to everything. He was slowly returning home, gnawing on a large piece of chicken on a stick. Ankh and Scale were both caught up in their own thoughts, so he enjoyed a rare moment when no one was bothering anyone else. He took his time eating, and then went to finish the warding spells.

Suddenly, Shadi felt a jerk at his mind. Someone was trying to take control of him, but it wasn't Ankh or Scale. Luckily, he recognized what was happening right away and yanked his mind away. After Scale, he was used to things like this, but this was stronger than Scale had ever been.

/Ankh! Scale!/ Shadi called. They knew instantly what was going on, and leapt to keep the invader out. Between the three of then, they managed to hold off the foreign force easily.


"Why is it taking so long?" Bakura complained.

"He's resisting," Malik growled. "It's as if he knows how to keep control of his own body even against the Rod. Help me, will you?"

"Of all the incompetent…" Bakura muttered. He clasped both of his Items in one hand, drawing on their power, and put his other hand on the Rod.


/Stay on guard, it will come again./

\\Who the hell is doing this? And NOW, of all times!\\

//It feels like… the Rod!//

\\If your priest friend is responsible for this, I'll kill him myself…\\

//No, I think it's the boy. Malik, wasn't it?//

\\How DARE a mere MORTAL --\\

There was another sharp tug at Shadi's mind, and they all quickly put up their defenses. But this one was more than three times as strong as the first. Inside the mind Shadi, Ankh, and Scale were still fighting against the usurper with all their might. But outside, Shadi's body went rigid. As his lips moved, a younger voice came from his mouth and began to chant something.

//What--?//

/The transport ritual!/

\\Stop it!\\

/Help me, then!/ Shadi drew on his Items' powers and tried to disrupt the spell. He managed to make himself stumble over a few words here and there, but he couldn't stop it completely. The ground rippled.

//Oh Ra, it's still happening…//

\\What's that little idiot doing!? Doesn't he realize --\\

Having gotten hold of all of their souls in addition to Shadi's body, Malik completed the spell and pulled them towards him. It wasn't perfect, but the end result would be the same.

Shadi, Ankh, and Scale made one last desperate attempt at resistance, but then they all blacked out as Shadi's body sank through the floor.

*********************************************************** ***********************

When Shadi and his spirits woke the next morning, they were in a small, bare room. Shadi was tied tightly to a chair that was bolted to the floor near the back wall. Shadi blinked at a tall man in a dark robe who was watching him.

"Malik-sama," the robed man called. "He is awake." Of course, Shadi understood everything the man said, though he was speaking Japanese. He did notice an Egyptian accent, however.

The door banged open and Malik entered the room, followed by Bakura.

"What are you doing?" Shadi asked quickly, glaring at them. "And what time is it?"

"A man in your position hardly has to worry about petty things like time," Malik said, smirking. "You know me and Bakura, I'm sure. We would like to play a game with you. To relieve you of your Millennium Items."

On cue, both the Ankh and the Scales glowed and the two spirits separated from their host. The tall robed man seemed a bit surprised, though the others were unimpressed by this.

Scale bore down on Malik, ready to kill the boy. "What the hell do you think you're doing, you fool!? Your timing couldn't be worse! Do you realize what you interrupted!? Your family's supposed to know about things like this, you ignorant little twit! Don't you ever stop to think things through!?"

As Scale continued to scream at Malik, Ankh walked over to Bakura. "This is really the worst time you could have picked," he said, almost glaring at the former thief. "I think we may all be in a lot of trouble. And could someone PLEASE tell me what time it is?" Bakura just stared at Ankh doubtfully.

"Almost 8:20. My watch is a bit fast, though," the tall robed man said quietly. Ankh paled and stared at him.

"And YOU! You're always butting in where you don't belong! I should have sent you to Anubis when I had the chance!" Scale shouted at Bakura.

"Oh go send yourself to Anubis. Do us all a favor!" Bakura shot back.

As the shouting match continued, Ankh ran back to his host. "Shadi, it's going to happen any minute! What can we do?"

"…Only pray to the gods that you can be restrained and that no one else decides to cause any trouble," Shadi said quietly. Ankh turned to look at the others, really frightened by now.

Suddenly Scale stopped yelling. The anger lines on his forehead disappeared and his eyes grew slightly wider. The same thing seemed to be happening to Bakura. Both of them looked a bit ashamed. Outside, the sun's light was very slowly being covered.

"Why am I doing this…" Bakura murmured to himself, looking down at his Ring.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you," Scale said, looking worried and apologetic.

"What's with you two?" Malik asked, glaring at the two spirits.

"Today is the double eclipse of Mercury and Venus. I had really hoped that you would realize that, with all your family's knowledge," Shadi said, speaking quickly. He had been struggling against the tight ropes, but now he stopped, saving his energy for more important things.

"But that's only every ten thousand years! It can't be --" Malik was interrupted by a low, harsh laugh. All eyes turned to the green-clad spirit in the middle of the room. Deep, cruel furrows had appeared on Ankh's forehead, and his eyes had become even more slanted and narrow than the darkest of the other spirits'. A bloodthirsty grin had spread over Ankh's face, and it looked too wide to be natural. His dark green eyes scanned the others, especially those holding Millennium Items.

Shadi stared urgently at Scale, who finally managed to pry his eyes away from Ankh to look at his host fearfully. Their Eyes locked. Scale's hand went to his Scales, which no longer bore the Eye of Horus. Shadi concentrated on the Scales and the Ankh, which had somehow grown an Eye of Horus right above its crossbars, though he couldn't move enough to touch either. Shadi gave a slight nod, and he and Scale quickly forced this Anti-Ankh back into his Item.

It took all of Shadi's energy, combined with as much as Scale could give, to keep this Anti-Ankh inside. After a struggle, Anti-Ankh managed to take over Shadi's body, but then Shadi trapped him there by locking the soul room doors and holding him inside the body. Ankh tried to escape the restraints binding him, but he couldn't.

The others stared in horror. Scale approached slowly and touched the rope on Ankh's wrist, partly to make sure it would hold and partly hoping to help Shadi. In a flash, Anti-Ankh flipped his hand up and around to grab Scale's wrist. An eerie redness pulsed from Anti-Ankh's hand into Scale's arm. Scale cried out in pain and tried to yank his arm back, but Anti-Ankh had a firm grip on him.

"Stop! What are you doing!?" Bakura exclaimed. He ran over and helped Scale get out of Anti-Ankh's grasp. While Scale retreated to cradle his injured arm in a corner, Bakura frowned at the spirit in the chair. "I thought you were a healer! How can you hurt people? And I thought he was your friend!"

Anti-Ankh gave a derisive laugh. "How ignorant you are, thief. Anyone with a talent for healing is wasting the gift if he can't learn to cause injuries was well. And I have no need for 'friends.'"

"You're lying. You don't mean that. I'll prove it with the Eye," Bakura said, squeezing the Millennium Eye. But then he paled and stepped back. "You're… not lying." He whirled around and went over to Scale, who was still trying to overcome the agony in his arm. "What made him so cruel… even evil… all of a sudden?"

Scale opened his mouth, but was overcome by another wave of pain. Malik, who had been watching everything, quickly explained to Bakura about the eclipse.

"I think I understand… So then if your spirit being nice to you now?" Bakura asked.

Malik winced. "No, but he's not the same kind of spirit that you all are. And the other one in the Rod… I never feel him much, but I don't think he's any different either."

"No," Scale gasped, fighting against the pain. "Shadi… did a spell to keep the spirits from changing. But he didn't get to the Scales, Ring… or Ankh."

Bakura was silent for a moment, absently stroking the Ring, which no longer had the Eye of Horus on it. "So the Ankh spirit has complete control over Shadi, then?" he asked. Scale nodded. "I didn't realize… Perhaps I should let Ryou have his body back…"

Malik whacked Bakura's head with the Rod. "You idiot! What will that accomplish? YOU can be slightly useful. Ryou would just make things worse."

The three in the corner were so busy concentrating on each other that they didn't notice Anti-Ankh start staring at Rishid. The tall man's eyes glazed over and he slowly began to walk towards the bound spirit.

Scale noticed some movement at the edge of his vision. Looking up, he saw Rishid reaching for Anti-Ankh's restraints. "What's he doing?" Scale asked quickly. The other two looked up. Malik, thinking fast, hurtled the Rod at his friend.

"Rishid! What are you doing!?" Malik shouted, stalking over to his servant. Scale and Bakura followed worriedly. Rishid gripped his shoulder where the Rod had struck him and moaned, shaking his head vigorously.

"Was he controlling you or something?" Malik asked, picking up his Rod. "Honestly Rishid, I thought you'd have something that stopped him from doing that." As he spoke, he took the dagger out of his Rod and stood uncertainly by the chair where Anti-Ankh was staring at him. He started lowering the dagger to the rope on Ankh's right wrist…

"Malik, no!" Bakura said, quickly pushing the Rod away. Malik staggered back, clutching his head. Now it was Bakura who stood before the Anti-Ankh, green eyes boring into his brown ones. His eyes unfocused slightly.

Scale put a hand on Bakura's shoulder, snapping the other spirit back to himself. "You have two Items. You're stronger than him, and don't let him try to convince you otherwise," Scale reminded him softly.

Bakura blinked and nodded, staring clearly back at Anti-Ankh. "Leave my friend Malik alone," he commanded. "And everyone else too."

"Wait, hold on a minute," Malik said. "Your friend? I don't know about that."

"What fools…" Anti-Ankh muttered. He looked up at Scale. "You, on the other hand, could be of some use to me. I want the power to send souls to Anubis. You would do it for me, wouldn't you?" he asked enticingly, with an insidious smile.

"I… no!" Scale said, shaking his head before Anti-Ankh could take control.

"I remember how eager you have always been to use the Scales' power," Anti-Ankh tried again impatiently.

"But… I really don't want to do that to anyone," Scale said, keeping all of his mental defenses up. "No one deserves that."

"Oh cone on, you're being ridiculous about this!" Anti-Ankh spat. "You're acting weaker than you ever thought our idiot host and I were put together."

Scale suddenly looked worried. "I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have been so mean to either of you. I never really meant it, even then. You two are my best friends. Please don't take what I say too seriously."

Anti-Ankh screamed in rage and smashed Scale's mental barriers. Scale was just raising his Item and turning around when Bakura knocked the Scales out of his hands. Scale shivered and kicked them over to the side of the room.

"Malik, do you think we should find Yugi?" Bakura asked quietly. "The Puzzle's the strongest Item, and --"

"How stupid ARE you!?" Malik exclaimed. "He's our MORTAL ENEMY! He wouldn't help us! And if that maniac took control of HIM, we'd be in trouble! He could crush all of our minds, or worse!"

"You two are trying to get all of the Items, correct?" Anti-Ankh suddenly asked with a frightening, oily smile. No one answered him, so he continued. "How about a game, then? If I win, I get your Items and you untie me. If you win, you get my Items."

"The Scales are mine, you can't wager them!" Scale protested. Anti-Ankh ignored him.

"Hmm… Give us a moment," Malik said. He and Bakura went over by Rishid to talk quietly.

"Shadi… I hope you're all right," Scale murmured. He stood there staring at Anti-Ankh until Malik came over, grabbed him, and dragged him over to the others.

"How long at you all going to be like this?" Malik hissed to Scale. "It's not all day, is it?"

"No, just two hours," Scale said softly.

"Rishid, how long has it been?" Malik asked sharply.

Rishid glanced at his watch. "Just over an hour."

"And what do we have to play with?" Malik asked. He, Rishid, and Bakura all pulled out dueling decks. Scale had only one card, and knew that Anti-Ankh didn't have any more than two. Bakura also had two ten-sided dice from the tabletop RPG he used to play.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Bakura asked. "I don't think gathering the Items is such a good idea anymore…

"Don't back out now!" Malik growled, glaring at him. "You'll want them again in an hour."

"But what if you lose?" asked Scale worriedly, not really sure which side he was on.

"You've got luck in games," Malik pointed out. "That's your problem to worry about. So if we lose, it's your fault." He stood up to look at Anti-Ankh again. "All right, we accept. Here's what we have to play with." He showed the cards and dice.

"I won't use any cards but my own, so we'll use the dice. Of course, I'll need at least one free hand to roll with," Anti-Ankh said with a fiendish grin.

"No. We'll each have someone roll for us," Malik said, looking at Scale.

Unfortunately, Anti-Ankh caught on. "I choose Scale. Since he's closest to me, of course," he sneered.

Malik glared at both of them. "Fine. I pick Rishid, then. Bakura will keep score and make sure no mind control goes on." Anti-Ankh looked a bit put out by this, but he agreed.

"And our… scorekeeper… may set the rules," Anti-Ankh said, knowing that Bakura no longer wanted to win the Items. And that with Scale rolling the dice, he would win.

"Well… all right. Each of you will have a die, and when you roll, the lowest number wins. You'll roll against each other 1001 times, no matter how much ahead either of you gets." Bakura found a pen and a piece of paper in his host's pocket to keep score on.

Rishid and Scale each took a die. These had once contained a bit of Bakura's mind to make them roll winning numbers for him, but now they were just ordinary dice. The rolling commenced.

Scale and Rishid took their time rolling, and Bakura always paused between rolls to announce the winner of the round and the total score so far. This put Anti-Ankh in a very bad mood, but he couldn't do anything about it. He tried to kick Scale, but he could barely even reach a few inches in front of him. So Scale scooted a few more inches away and they continued, hoping that the hour would pass and Ankh would return to his old self before he won. Because despite the fact that Scale was trying to lose, he couldn't get nearly enough bad rolls.

After about 200 rolls, Anti-Ankh suggested that they just concede defeat since he was obviously winning anyway. But Malik refused.

Soon after the 500th roll, the door burst open and Isis appeared. She had seen a vision of something horrible happening. Malik insisted that they pause the game so he could explain the situation to her. He began speaking, but suddenly her eyes got a glazed-over look. Scale, Bakura, and Rishid watched in concern as Malik kicked her in the shin and pulled her out of the room to continue their discussion.

"Ankh, please stop this. You'll hate yourself for it when we all go back to normal," Scale said quietly as Bakura and Rishid discussed the score in hushed voices.

Anti-Ankh gave Scale a withering look. "When I win the SIX Items here, I'm sure I'll be powerful enough to stay this way. And you will hate yourself for the way you are acting as well. So why don't you do yourself a favor and kill yourself right now?" He spat on Scale's face.

Scale looked very hurt as he wiped his face clean. "I--"

Anti-Ankh focused all his power into his finger and shot a highly concentrated beam of redness at Scale, who yelped and jumped away. "Do not speak, you filthy, worthless worm. I am your master, and you will grovel before me. Next time you anger me, it will mean your death."

Scale crouched trembling before Anti-Ankh as Malik and Isis came back. Isis glared at Anti-Ankh and shot Scale a sympathetic glance. Bakura stopped Anti-Ankh from taking control of her again. She stood against the wall behind Malik, and the game continued. Outside, the sun had been black for a long time, but it would be completely uncovered again before long. The game continued.

After 998 rolls Anti-Ankh had easily won, but there were three more rolls left. Rishid and Scale tossed their dice. As the dice left his hand, Scale's eyes began to narrow, and his forehead fell into its anger lines again. Bakura's face was doing the same thing. Both of their Items grew their Eyes of Horus once again.

Meanwhile, Ankh's eyes returned to their former kind brightness and his forehead smoothed out… except for lined of fear and worry.

"What… what have I done!" Ankh wailed. Shadi was suddenly in the chair again, having let Ankh back into his soul room. He looked very tired.

Scale got up and stalked over to Malik, getting right up in his face. "If you EVER do ANYTHING like that again, I will kill everyone you hold dear slowly and painfully in front of you before I send you to Anubis." With that, he disappeared back into his own soul room. His Scales, still lying on the ground by the wall, went with him.



Endnotes: Whew, that was long and intense. My shoulders are all stiff now. Oh, in the mythical "first season," Bakura played a tabletop RPG with Yugi called "Monster World," and he used his ten-sided dice in it. So that's your lesson of the day.
Were you happy with everyone's characterization? I'm not sure if Bakura was very good… I liked Scale a lot, but Ankh didn't reach the level of evilness I wanted until right near the end. And I'm sure there were gaping plot holes everywhere, but all in all, I liked this chapter. Even if it was murder to type. What do you think of it?