Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Yin Yang ❯ The Temptation of Freedom ( Chapter 2 )

AN: I'm not above killing for people to get reviews. Anyone you want rubbed out, you just give me a call, and in turn for a comment on this story, they're history! Anyone…anyone at all? …Oh fine. Here's chapter two.

 

Chapter Two- The Temptation of Freedom

 

Ryou awoke cramped to the sound of gibbering over a microphone. Drowsily he translated the Japanese as he tried to stretch out in the pitch-dark chamber.

 

“ We are now approaching the landing pad. Please make sure all personal items are obtained before exiting the aircraft. Welcome to Domino.”

 

He frowned.

 

/ I must be dreaming./

 

// Correction. You were dreaming. Good thing too. I needed some time to play.//

 

Familiar fear seized Ryou again as he sat bolt upright, wincing as his head slammed into something hard.

 

// Ouch! Watch the vessel!//

 

/ What did you do, Bakura!!?/

 

// Just shut up and let me have your body for a moment. I have to get us out of here.//

 

/ NO! Not until you tell me what you've done!/

 

//Look,// thought Bakura. Ryou was surprised at the gentle tone. It was the first time the spirit had not screamed at him. //I will tell you everything once we are on the ground, but right now you have to trust me. Tell me, why would I risk us when all I want is to be free?//

 

/ I DON'T KNOW BUT YOUR RISKING HAS COST ME EVERYTHING!/

 

//No, YOUR RESISTING HAS!//

 

/ YOU KILLED MY FRIEND!/

 

// I WOULDN'T HAVE IF YOU'D JUST TAKEN THE BLOOMIN' PUZZLE!!//

 

/ AH! STOP! YOU'RE HURTING MY HEAD!/

 

// WE'VE LANDED! MOVE!//

 

Ryou yipped as he was bumped from awareness and stuck in a familiar room, what Bakura told him was his `soul room.' He sighed as he looked around. Every time he came here, it was different. Once a happy place full of posters and history books and shelves upon shelves of this artifact or another from everywhere in the world, it was now a dusty, morbid chamber. The pictures of his father and Yugi had shattered. Rats scurried across the moth-eaten carpets. A TV in the corner that had once played music videos of bands like ABA and Greenday now blared a beastly metal group called Malice Mizer. The statue of the Virgin Mary that occupied the corner was now crumbling, and pain emanated from every nook and cranny.

But the worst was his reflection in the mirror. His hair was prematurely white and wildly long and spiked. His face was starkly pale, as was the case with most albinos, and harbored a pair of large, deep brown eyes. His cheeks were hollow, his once comely face strained with guilt and anguish.

 

He looked away and willed himself to see through his eyes. This was an odd feeling; like watching his life as a live movie, with an evil version of himself as the director.

He gasped. They were in what appeared to be a city square. Countless lights illuminated the darkened streets, advertising stores and clubs and restaurants . Cars trundled along the hectic roads, and a continual blabbering buzzed in his ears as the nocturnal populace yelled and conducted business, ( quite a lot of it illegal) in the open. In the center of the square garden a clock blazed with the time; 9:00 PM.

 

Everyone was Asian. He knew the speech. The writing was Japanese.

 

/ Bakura! Did you bring us where I think you did?!/ He asked, and Bakura chuckled as he waked the vessel forward.

 

// Surprise. I thought you might enjoy it here. I'm sorry we had to leave England, but Parliament would never have stood for a psychopath running about. Here, nobody will be the wiser to our crimes. We can start again.//

 

Ryou yelled in pure frustration. / You've killed again, haven't you?! I won't cooperate! Please! Don't make me hurt again…/

 

// I thought you might react that way. My mights are proving true. Don't you think I can feel your relief? Your elation at being out of that mental ward? //

 

/ Of course I'm happy! I, didn't do anything to deserve it!/

 

// Okay Ryou. I'm done with the arguing. We really are just wasting our time. Think about it. You want to die more than anything to stop me, right?//

 

/ YES!/

 

// But right now, I just want to show us a good time. Are you hungry? Of course you are. The vessel is. We are eating.//

 

Ryou let loose a great, shuddering breath. Because as much as he hated to admit it, Bakura was right. He was TIRED of fighting. Whenever he did, people died and he was plunged deeper and deeper into misery.

 

It wasn't worth resisting anymore.

 

/ Alright./ He thought back faintly. Just please, give me back control. I'll do whatever you want./

 

// Very well. As long as you follow my instructions, nobody will get killed. And try to enjoy yourself, Ryou. Remember, I can read your feelings and darkest desires. I know what you want.//

 

Ryou trembled as he was given control of his form. Every old movie he'd ever seen came flashing back to him. Movies on pacts with the devil which until recently he'd thought to be complete rubbish. He straitened up and tried not to look as if he'd just lost a major battle.

 

/ Okay, Bakura. Lets be free./

 

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

 

Ryou entered the mall with a hoard of laughing teens in their school uniforms. He marveled at how late it stayed open, and how late they were allowed to stay out. Before the whole mess started, his curfew had been eight, and all the promenades in England couldn't compare with this.

 

// First thing's first.// Bakura snarled through the mind connection. // We have to get out of these hospital clothes. Let me in for a moment so that I can steal us some currency.//

 

/ No! You'll just send some perfectly nice fellow to that shadow place. I'll do it. I'm not as blundering as you think./

 

// Very well, but if anyone sees, they're gone.//

 

Ryou sighed, his heart sinking, and looked around.

 

Even now it was packed, with people from all classes crowding the stores and stands. Everything was washed in a deep blue type of bulb, making it very easy to both observe and remain, for the most part, unseen.

 

Ryou picked out a really rich looking man with short gray hair, mean blue eyes, and what seemed to be a permanent frown. His scarlet suit looked custom-tailored, and he stood against the opposite wall, yelling into a cell phone.

 

“ What do you mean he fell asleep at lessons again?! He's supposed to be training for the position of CEO! When I get home he's going to get the beating of his life, and that little brat of a brother of his too!”

 

As the albino strode over his Dark sniggered mentally.

 

// Oh, great way to appease your conscience, Ryou. Punish the evil-doer.//

 

/ Quiet./

 

Ryou waited until the man was even deeper engrossed in his tirade, then came out into the open and walked strait ahead as if he had a destination. Just as he planned, he rammed strait into the imposing stranger, making a big show of apologizing when in fact he was searching them man's pockets with his slender hands.

 

“ Eh, why don't you watch where you're going, kid?!” he bellowed, and Ryou inclined his head, holding those icy eyes fixed on him, distracting them from his true motive.

 

“ I'm terribly sorry, Sir/” he stammered in Japanese.

 

He was about to go, when suddenly his victim reached out, grabbing his left hand painfully. In it was the man's wallet.

 

“ Oh, thought you could pull a fast one on me, did you?” sneered the man triumphantly as he twisted the albino's arm at an excruciating angle.

 

“ I'll take care of you, you Euro-trash urchin. You'll regret ever messing with Gozaburo Kai-”

 

He never got to finish. Ryou gritted his teeth and kicked the man between the legs, then came around with a right hook, ramming his temple and knocking the scarlet-clad business man unconscious. As his victim loosed his grip and fell to the floor, Ryou flexed his arm and stared wide-eyed even as he walked quickly away.

 

// Way to go, Aboui!//

 

/ Wait…you did that. D-didn't you?!/

 

// Whatever you want to tell yourself. What's in the wallet?/

 

Ryou shook off his shock. Of course it had been Bakura. The spirit was just toying with him again. He looked in the wallet and had to support himself on a pillar to keep from collapsing.

 

/ There's over 3,ooo,ooo yen in here!/

 

// You're a good judge of character. Now quickly, into one of the shops. I hate this overly starched and completely stupid white uniform!//

 

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

 

Ryou tried very, very hard to feel bad over the money he'd stolen. He really tried, but it seemed that with every crime his conscience was dulled a little, until it came down to the point where he was just glad he hadn't murdered anyone.

As it was, when he left the “ Gap “ in his new outfit of dark blue jeans, a blue- and white striped shirt, and a navy blazer, he'd given up completely.

 

// It's only ten-thirty, Ryou, and we're starving.//

 

/ Food wasn't exactly the first thing on my mind./

 

// Come on, let it go. This is the first time you've been out on your own, with no ties or obligations and a load of cash. You can't still be complaining.//

 

Ryou smiled smally, resigned at last.

 

/ On the contrary. I was just wondering if they'd let us in there without ID./

 

The albino pointed across the wide hallway to a darkened cavern that emanated strobe lights. The outside was decorated like the entrance to a tomb, with falsely dusty and yellowed cinder outlining the entrance and fake hieroglyphs outlining the sign above.

 

Pharoah's Burial

 

Bakura sneered mentally.

 

// Sucker for history, aren't you?//

 

Ryou was about to think back something miffed, but Bakura interrupted him again, his voice much more awed and distant this time. The millenium ring flashed with his eagerness and he laughed.

 

// Ah, yes. I thought I sensed something strange. Go on, Ryou. There is an old soul inside awaiting you, though he does not know it. I believe you will enjoy each other.//

 

/ What on earth do you mean?/

 

// You'll see. Now do as I order.//

 

Ryou shook off this comment, and slipped inside.

 

TBC

 

AN: REVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEW!