Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Yu-Gi-Oh! Lament of the Condemned Souls ❯ Inescapable Truths ( Chapter 3 )

Finally up! Gah! Sorry it took me so long. Not only do I have writers block, but my computer decided that it didn't want to run the word program that has ALL my stories on it anymore and promptly deleted it. Thankfully, all my stories were saved, I just couldn't reach them because my computer got rid of the software I needed and REFUSED to reupload the software! Unfortunately, no computer seems to have this blasted program so I actually had to find a computer compatible (the software is from 1999. -o-) and upload it. -Sigh-

ANYway, I've decided that I want to develop Bakura's (Yami Bakuras) character a little more, maybe not a whole lot, but definitely more than the show/manga. The creator just basically said "Something bad happened to him when he was little and now he's just nuts! So I can make him do whatever the heck I want him to do!" Sooo, I looked at a bunch of psychology books and found some stuff, so I'll be trying to develop him more, because he's pretty much my favorite character in Yu-Gi-Oh!

Another thing, the gang just calls him 'the spirit of the ring' and Atemu just calls him 'tomb robber'. That's just what they called him in the show/manga and I'm going to stick to it because I seriously doubt they stopped to ask this homicidal maniac what his real name was. (For obvious reasons, they wouldn't want to call him Bakura, their friends name.)

Another thing: Kaiba! Yes, Kaiba! I've been debating on whether or not to bring him in (just like I'm STILL debating on whether or not to kill of a few characters -o-), so I'm going to let the readers decide. I do have a part for him if you guys say yes, but on the other hand we don't really need him. lol So you better tell me what you think or else I'll decide and it won't be pretty.

Dislcaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or anything else in this story. Although I am responsible for butchering the characters and this horrible story line. lol

Enjoy!

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Chapter three: Inescapable Truths

The rest of the night went on without any trouble. The three hung out at various game stands, winning most of the time and Jo even entered a food contest. However, when Jo ate two more plates of hotdogs after he was officially declared the winner, their adventurous night had to be curtailed. Instead, they sat on a grassy hill waiting for the fireworks to start.

“Isn’t it supposed to start soon?” Yugi asked, sitting on the ground with his arms behind him propping him up.

Jo squinted at his watch through the darkness. “It should be starting any second now.” He laid down on his back, his arms behind his head. He and Honda had long since ditched the costume to play games and win food contests after they realized it was impossible to sit down.

Honda sat beside Jo right leg lifted to his chest with his arm resting on it. “They should have festivals like this more often.”

“Yeah,” Yugi agreed.

There was a bright light as a firework went off in the distance making the sky a reddish yellow color. The little dots of color started falling towards the ground, soon disappearing only to be replaced by another burst of color.

Loud cracking sounds announced every new firework as they lit up the sky with their various colors. The fireworks brightened up the darkened sky with various vibrant colors, subtly bringing out the twinkling dots called stars.

All the other people were down the hill sitting on benches or chairs, ‘ewing’ and ‘awing’. The three were all alone on top of a large hill. No one else had wanted to make the trek, but they thought it was worthwhile for their first class seats.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Yugi whispered as another firework went off.

“Ugh! I don’t feel good.” Jo quickly got into a sitting position, holding his stomach. “I think I’m going to hurl.”

“Hurl that way.” Honda pointed his finger away from the two, back towards the other side of the hill.

“Naw. It’s alright now,” Jo announced, keeping his hand against his mouth. “I swallowed it.”

“That’s disgusting!”

Yugi laughed, shaking his head at his friends. “Anzu coming soon,” he said, changing the subject. “I think maybe in a day or two.”

“Really?” Jo asked, perking up when he heard the news. “Did you get a letter from her or something?”

“Yeah.” Yugi nodded. “She said she should be here for the weekend, or something like that.”

“So how’s she doing?” Jo questioned, getting back to his comfortable position, now that he was feeling better.

“She said she was doing well,” Yugi said smiling. “I wonder what it’s like in America. She said there’s a lot of burger joints.”

Jo’s eyes lit up at this information. “We should go there sometime.”

“How can you even think of food after all those hotdogs you ate?” Honda asked, a disgusted look on his face.

“It’s not like I’m going to eat burgers now,” Jo argued.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you did,” Yugi piped up.

“Yugi!” Jo exclaimed. “I thought you were on my side!”

Yugi giggled. “I’m sorry Jo, but I’m just going to have to side with Honda on this one.”

Jo grumbled, glaring at the two.

“So what are we going to do tomorrow?” Yugi asked, changing the subject. “I think the store is going to be a bit busier tomorrow. Do you think you guys can help out a bit?”

“Sure,” Honda said, watching as the sky light up again. “I don’t have anything planned. Except bother Jo maybe.”

“Ha, ha,” Jo said sarcastically. He turned towards Yugi. “Yeah I’ll help. Just as long as Gramps doesn’t make me clean the back again. It’s pretty scary back there.”

Honda raised an eyebrow at Jo.

“I’m serious!” Jo defended. “There’s like no lighting back there so you can’t see where you’re going and there are tons of huge spiders back there that jump on you! And I could have sworn I heard a rat. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a dead body back there.” He paused for a moment in his rant, before looking at Yugi. “There isn’t….is there?”

Yugi laughed, dismissing the question even as Jo continued stared him down. “Alright. No back room for you Jo.” He looked back at the fireworks as another one lit the sky up magenta pink. “Just come over whenever you can.”

“So, no dead bodies?”

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The light of the outside came through his window, illuminating his entire room. The lump underneath the comforter groaned and pushed itself further in the bed, hoping to save itself from the light of morning.

“Yugi! It’s time to get up.” There was a knock on the door. “Honey, it’s already noon. I think it’s about time you get up.”

“Noon?!” Yugi exclaimed, throwing the blanket off him and getting into a sitting position. “Already?”

“Lunch will be done soon,” his mother said on the other side of the door. “You should wash up.”

“Mm-kay.” Yugi rubbed his eyes and got to his feet. Stepping over the kimono he had carelessly tossed aside the night before, he grabbed a spare set of clothes and got in the shower.

It didn’t take him long before he was dressed and ready to get some food. He stopped at the door to stare at the desk. He felt a sense of foreboding as he remembered what was inside one of the drawers.

“They can wait just a few minutes,” Yugi mumbled to himself, walking over to the desk. He was tired of feeling this dread. “Lets just get this over with!”

He opened the drawer and stared at the box for a few moments. He was half expecting it to be gone, taken away by some mysterious force, but was it was still there, in the same place had put it yesterday. Picking it up, he grabbed the knife and slowly started opening.

He quickly cut the tape off then put the scissors aside. Taking a deep, cleansing breath, he opened the box. There was tissue covering the entire thing as if what was in there was fragile and he could see bubble wrap underneath some of the tissue.

He could hear his heart thumping in his ears as he reached over and pulled the tissue out. He could almost make out a shape within the mounds of bubble wrap but it was still unclear what exactly was inside. Carefully grabbing the bulky mound he opened the bubble wrap and proceeded to unravel the item.

There was a crash as he dropped the content on the ground. He was breathing heavy, eyes wide as he backed away from the item as if it could attack him at any moment. His heart fell like it was pounding out of his chest as he struggled for breath.

Thump, thump.

He put his hand against his heart to try and stop it. It had to be a mistake. He was just seeing things. It really wasn’t in the package.

He took a few steps forward, his eyes watching the box wearily. When he got close enough, he peered back in.

The color drained from his face. “No way. . .”

Thirty days : Nineteen hours : Twenty-nine seconds

The door jingled and a girl stepped in, a bright smile on her face. She walked in a few steps, looking around for any sign of life. “Hello?”

“How may I help you?” Grandpa asked, walking out to the counter. His eyes widened slightly when he realized who she was. “Ho, ho, ho! I almost didn’t recognize you Anzu! My have you grown up.”

Anzu grinned. “It’s nice to see you too, Mr. Muto. I heard that you shop is still doing well?”

“As good as always,” Grandpa replied. “Did you have a nice flight?”

“Yes,” Anzu said. “I came in last night but I was to tired to come see you guys. Sorry about that.”

“It’s alright,” Grandpa said. “It’s quite a time difference. Nine hours, right?”

“Unfortunately,” Anzu said, walking up to the counter. “Say, is Yugi around? I would really like to see him.”

“Ho, ho, ho,” Grandpa chuckled. “He went out a half hour ago to meet his friends before the business picks up. I think he went to a burger joint.”

“Burgers, huh?” Anzu looked back at the doors, then at Grandpa. “I think I’ll wait for him here. Need a helper by chance?”

Thirty days : Nineteen hours : Ten seconds

The three sat in the bench, staring at one another grimly. Hamburgers and drinks lay forgotten on the table, the main focus on the shortest of the three.

“That’s impossible,” Honda said again, as if by saying it, it wouldn’t be true. “There’s just no way it could have gotten here.”

Yugi shook his head, eyes cast downward. “I don’t know. It was in a package.”

“Was there a return address?” Jo asked.

“No. There was only my name and address.” Yugi put his head in his hands. “I don’t know what to do! It’s supposed to be over . . . Why isn’t it over?”

“Wait now,” Jo spoke up. “Just because it’s back doesn’t mean we’ll get caught up in another mess.”

Yugi shook his head again, letting his bangs go back and forth. “No. I-I didn’t tell you guys before, but something happened yesterday.”

“What do you mean?” Jo asked, brow furrowing in concern.

“It was after I left to go home to get dressed,” Yugi started. “I went through the park and I noticed there was an ambulance truck over there. So I went to see what happened. The guy who did those juggling tricks was there; dead.”

“Man,” Jo shook his head. “Did they catch the killer?”

Yugi’s face became grim. “That’s the thing. They don’t know what happened. Apparently there was nothing wrong with him. The only thing they can think of is loss of blood and even that seemed to be an impossible cause of death.” He shook his head. “Something was carved into his chest, guys. Carved.”

“What did it say?” Jo and Honda held their breath, staring at their friend with uneasy eyes.

“The police said someone had written ‘The darkness cannot die’ on it,” Yugi whispered, staring back up at them.

Jo let out a low whistle. “Now that’s strange. But it can’t have anything to do with us because we didn’t know him all that long. Besides, there are many cults here. It could have been one of them.”

“That’s not it.”

“What? Not it?” Honda asked. “What do you mean that’s not it?”

“I saw Bakura at the festival.”

“What?!” Jo cried, a confused look upon his face. “What was he doing there?”

“I don’t know,” Yugi shook his head again. “In fact, I’m not even sure it was him but the person had white hair. And right before I saw him, I was at this booth playing a game. I won the game and I heard someone behind me call me ‘King of Games’. That was when I saw him. I tried to follow him, but he just disappeared into the crowd. That’s when I met up with you two.”

Honda and Jo looked at each other. “Do you think that maybe, erh, the spirit of the ring is back?” Honda asked, looking back at Yugi. “It’s stupid to think, but he has come back from impossible situations before.”

“But the ring was buried,” Jo argued. “We watched the tomb collapse on it.”

“Yeah, and I watched it fall into a Goddamn forest in the middle of nowhere,” Honda growled. “Yet he still came back.”

“It might explain the sentence carved into the mans’ chest,” Yugi whispered. “He always called himself the ‘darkness’. Maybe-maybe he is back?”

The three went silent, staring at each other. People bustled around talking to one another animatedly, unaware of the danger that was present. Only those three knew.

“Lets lay low,” Yugi said suddenly. “Maybe if we don’t do anything, we won’t get sucked into whatever’s happening. Lets just forget this happened.”

“Agreed,” Jo nodded. He looked down at the cold food on the table, then back at his friends. “You going to eat that?”

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Yugi hurried home, mind reeling over the past few events. The little world he had created after their adventure was falling apart. It seemed that it was impossible for him to have a normal life.

He opened the door to the shop and walked in, looking around. There were a small group of people browsing and only one was manning the register.

“Anzu?!” Yugi cried, eyes widening at the girl who was currently taking the costumers money. “Is that you?”

Anzu looked up from the desk and smiled brightly. “Hey Yugi! Grandpa told me that you were out so I decided to help out around the shop. It’s pretty busy today.”

Yugi walked over to the counter, mouth agape in shock. “When did you get back?”

She laughed, putting the money in the cash register. “Last night. I was to tired to come visit you so I went straight to the hotel.” Turning towards the costumer, she handed his merchandise to him. “Have a good day, and be sure to come again!”

The man nodded and walked off, soon replaced with another costumer.

Yugi stared at Anzu for a few seconds before opening another cash register and beckoning over a few people. She was exactly the way he remembered her, if not a little more muscular. But that was to be expected if you got into dance. What had shocked him the most was the fact that she was wearing blue jeans. He couldn’t remember the last time she wore pants.

“So how are Jo and Honda doing?” Anzu conversed.

“They’re doing well,” Yugi replied. “They got back from Jo’s mom’s house a few days ago. It seemed like they had a good time there.”

“How are you doing?”

Yugi was silent for a few minutes, debating on whether or not to tell her what had happened. “How long are you staying?” he asked, changing the subject.

Anzu stared at him worriedly, before answering the question, “A week, maybe two. No one has reserved my room yet so I still have a while before I make my decision.”

“Got any plans on what you’re going to do?” Yugi asked.

“Not really. I just thought we’d go with the flow,” Anzu admitted. “Like we always do.” She turned towards him. “You know you can tell me if something’s bothering you.”

Yugi laughed uneasily. He should have known better than to think he would get out of it so easily. “I’m fine, really. Just didn’t get to much sleep.”

“Strange,” Anzu said slowly, making sure he heard every word she said. “Grandpa told me that you slept until noon. It sounds like you slept well.”

He tugged at his shirt color, suddenly finding it very hot. “Erh, well I had a hard time getting to sleep.”

“Yugi,” Anzu warned, placing her hands on her hips.

“I’m fine,” Yugi sighed exasperatedly. “You don’t have to worry about me like I’m some kind of kid.”

Her features softened. “You know that’s not why,” she whispered, looking down. “I don’t want you to hold everything to yourself. That’s why you have friends. To lean on.”

“I know,” Yugi said, looking up at her with a smile. “I’m doing fine. Don’t worry yourself, okay? I want you to enjoy your stay back here.”

She stared into his eyes, trying to depict any kind of weakness or lie. In the end, she let out a small sigh. “Alright.” A small grin came across her face. “I heard that there’s a good movie playing today in a half hour. Why don’t we go?”

“Sure!” Yugi said, excitedly. “I’ll go call Jo and Honda!” He quickly grabbed the phone and started dialing a number.

“No!” Anzu cried. “I was hoping it would just be -erh- you and me.” She looked away from him, a blush creeping upon her face.

“Um, okay.” Yugi blinked. He put the phone back down and looked back up at her. “Sounds good. I’ll go tell Grandpa that we’re going.” He looked back at the store, finding only one person left browsing. “Honda said he’d be coming by soon so Grandpa should be fine on his own.”

She smiled in relief. “Alright. I’ll handle the cash register.” She watched as Yugi dashed into the back room where Grandpa awaited. It had been a long time since she’d seen him and, though she wouldn’t ever admit it, she had been thinking about him non-stop since she had left. She often found herself wondering if she wouldn’t like Yugi if the spirit was still around, but she dismissed it. She didn’t like him because the spirit once inhabited Yugi’s body, but because Yugi was Yugi - no one else.

She blushed and looked back into the shop. There was always that possibility looming over her that he no longer liked her in that way. That he had grown up and gotten over that crush he had had on her all that time ago. What if she was to late to return his feelings?

“I’m ready to go!” Yugi said, interrupting her thoughts. He walked out of the back room and towards her. “So! What movie are we going to see?”

A smile came across her face. Somehow, everything would end up all right in the end. It always did.

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The hum of the motorcycle was deafening as he sped down the road. The wind tore against him, prickling his face and whipping his clothes about. Any other day he would be enjoying the cool rush of air, however today was quite a different matter.

He always knew somewhere deep down that it hadn’t ended that day. There was just something so wrong with the way it had ended. It was almost to perfect and well-planned out. He had always told himself that he only felt that way because life had been so hectic back then so it would only make sense that it would end chaotic as well.

Now, he thought otherwise.

His mind was all jumbled up. Everything had just become much more complicated. Why did this have to happen now of all times? Why now? Why couldn’t it have happened five months ago right after the so-called ‘end’?

He made a sharp left, his body leaning as if it was one with the motorcycle.

It would end now. They would all make sure if it. He would make sure of it. No one would ever have to suffer again after this. This would be the end.

He bit his lip. But still, how did the Millennium Puzzle find its way back to Yugi?

Something darted out into the road in front of him. There wasn’t enough time to stop the motorcycle; he was going to fast. In desperation, he veered to the right just in time to avoid hitting the thing in the road.

He barely had time to let out a scream as he crashed, the force of the impact sending him flying backwards. There was a loud explosion and he felt the heat against his skin as he landed on the ground painfully. Groaning, he attempted to lift himself up, but cried out in agony when he felt a searing pain in his ribs. Shadows danced around his eyes as he laid on the ground in agony. The last thing he felt before the darkness consumed him was the burning sensation of fire…

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“You never did tell me what this movie is supposed to be about,” Yugi said, arms crossed in a childish way.

“You’ll see when we watch it,” Anzu replied with a mysterious smile. “It’s supposed to be really good. According to the critics anyway.”

“Since when do you pay attention to what the critics say?” Yugi pointed out.

“Fine,” Anzu huffed. “We don’t have to see it if you don’t want to. We can always just watch that sappy love story that came out yesterday.”

“Okay! Okay!” Yugi laughed. “You win! We’ll see this mysterious movie you picked out.” He paused slightly. “Could you at least tell me the name?”

“But that would give it away!” Anzu cried. “And you don’t want to give away the surprise, do you?”

“Apparently not,” Yugi pouted, shifting his eyes to the road. On the other side of the road he could barely make out a shadow just standing there, as if it was waiting for something.

He squinted his eyes and stopped moving, much to Anzu’s dismay. “The movie’s starting soon,” she started, but Yugi cut her off.

“Do you see that over there?” he asked, pointing towards the shadow. “What is it?”

Before the girl had time to reply a motorcycle came shooting around the corner and the shadow moved into the street. It stopped right in the motorcyclists’ way.

Anzu let out a scream as the motorcyclist made sharp turn and rammed right into a telephone pole. The motorcyclist was thrown backwards as the motorcycle exploded into flames.

Yugi’s heart was pounding in his ears. He knew that motorcycle! “Call 911!” he shrieked, running after the fallen motorcyclist. He grabbed the mans shoulders and started pulling him back, away from the flames.

Anzu rushed to his side and gasped. “Oh-no,” she whimpered, as Yugi took off the helmet. “Honda!”

Thirty days : Sixteen hours : Forty-two seconds

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Alright! That's it and remember to tell me, in any way you like, if you want Kaiba in or not.

Thank you AMK for the review! I miss you! *Glompies*