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Powerless	By : Ochodre Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > Het - Male/Female Views: 2661 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh!, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
Author's Notes: This chapter involves an actual duel, zomg. There are some notes at the end for anyone who's not really into dueling and might be lost.
---

I hear the breath of ghosts

Hiding behind the wind

Like an icy choir exhaling

A promise to rescind
I hear the breath of ghosts

Whisper in my ear

With every drooling syllable

It preys upon my fear
I hear the breath of ghosts

Slowly fade away

With ever decreasing frequency

As colors change to gray...

~Assemblage 23, 'Breath of Ghosts'
As Ryou's sneakers pounded against the shadow-strewn pavement, he almost stopped to think about how incredibly foolish his plan was. Almost.
But he had started mulling over this idea the second it became obvious that the Pharaoh would not help them. Bakura had said there were two people that could help her; if one failed, he decided, it was natural to try the other. Even if that other was a deranged Egyptian.
Ryou did not expect Malik would comply with his wishes; he fully intended on fighting. He wasn't as sure in his ability to overtake the larger, Rod-wielding man without the element of surprise, but physical fighting wasn't what he had in mind. He had brought his deck.
After he and Bakura had gone back home, he had briefly turned on the news under the pretense of distracting himself. In truth, he was hoping that there'd be a story that detailed the last known whereabouts of the stranger terrorizing Domino. For once, luck was with him. When Bakura fell asleep, one look at her face - disgruntled, uncomfortable and twitching at half-realized nightmares - was all it took to convince him to challenge the tomb-keeper.
Ryou passed by the scene of Malik's last attack. There were police questioning bystanders, and paramedics loading unconscious people into the back of an ambulance. He used his abilities of introversion to render himself invisible in the crowd, staring at the ground and hunching his shoulders as he crossed the street quickly. Malik couldn't have gotten too far away by now.
He went around a few blocks, following only his gut and ducking away from the patrolling police cars. He felt a bit criminal for slinking around, but he didn't want a well-intended officer to stop him for questioning and slow him down.
Ryou finally spotted the tall, cape-swathed form of his target. He was walking down the street with several of his mind slaves, chatting jovially with them, even though they were silent and their motions jerky and zombie-like. Ryou set his jaw. He tried to draw on the same well of courage that had allowed him to tell off the Pharaoh, but it was much harder against a man that was much larger, and far less tolerant.
"Malik!" Ryou shouted as bravely as he could, pulling out his deck, "I challenge you to a duel!"
He came nowhere close to the level of intimidation the Pharaoh managed to instill in those words.
Malik's mind slaves acted first, turning around like dolls on strings, moving to protect their master. Malik was next, slowly turning, with a grin already on his face. He waved off his mind slaves dismissively, stepping forward.
"Well, look who it is," he chuckled, setting his chin against the Rod, "The thief's pet boy. What's the matter, don't you like what I did to your master?"
"I want you to change him back," Ryou demanded quietly, refusing to be intimidated as the larger male approached him.
"Hmm, hmm... now, why would I do that?" Malik twirled the Rod a little, scratching his head with the sweeping blades. "Personally, I much prefer him this way - but then, perhaps you're more inclined towards men."
"Just fight me!" Ryou bristled, shuffling his deck to distract his nervous hands.
Malik laughed and shook his head. "Touching, but I really have more important things to do than waste my time on love-struck mortals. In fact, since I'm in a good mood, I won't even kill you for distracting me."
Ryou watched him turn and start to head back down the street. Why had he figured that Malik would take him seriously? He sought for something to say, something that would make the Egyptian mad enough to fight him - then his eyes fell on a nasty bruise on the back of Malik's neck, from the comatose-inducing blow Ryou had landed during their last encounter.
"...I see I left quite a bruise," Ryou noted, letting his voice drop into the sly, dark tone Bakura always used while in his body.
Malik stopped. His head craned around again, but this time, there was no grin on it. "You were the one who did that?!"
Ryou allowed himself a slight smirk. Trying to emulate Bakura gave him a strange amount of confidence. "Unless you'd like me to give you another one, I suggest you not turn your back on me again."
Malik growled, an inhuman sound, gripping the Rod tightly as he removed his deck from his back pocket. "You asked for this, boy," he hissed, narrowing his dead eyes.
Ryou's smirk broadened. It felt alien on his normally sweet face, but part of him was genuinely happy. He was afraid, too, of course, but that part was overwhelmed by his nearly instinctual drive to fight for Bakura and what would make her happy.
Possibly because his fear of Malik was outweighed by his fear that he did, indeed, like what Malik had done to Bakura. It made him feel as though he had an obligation to help her get changed back.
He was getting too attached.

---
Yugi stared at low hanging moon in his window. He couldn't sleep. There was a buzz in the air, something he couldn't identify as anything other than creepy. He'd felt the same the night the Rod was stolen...
He may not have had any powers like Atemu, but he had been the holder of the Puzzle long enough to have a sense for dark magic. The small boy glanced over at the floor, where the Pharaoh lay on his makeshift bed. Sleeping on the floor of Yugi's bedroom was the best compromise he could come to; it was sufficiently close to his partner without truly invading his space.
"Pharaoh?" Yugi asked quietly, reaching out and shaking the slightly larger boy's shoulder. He was a little hesitant to disturb him. The former ruler had come home in something of a mood, after leaving mysteriously. It wasn't like him to not at least tell Yugi where he was going, but he hadn't said anything before he left, or after he returned.
"Mh? What is it, Yugi?" Atemu sat up slightly, rubbing one of his eyes.
"Can you feel that?" Yugi murmured, glancing out the window.
The Pharaoh furrowed his brow in puzzlement, before his eyes widened in realization. "A Shadow Game!"
He stood up quickly, pulling on his Item and looking back at Yugi. "Come on, partner. We have to stop this!"

---
Sure enough, they came to a dark stretch of street with an unnatural black cloud cloaking several dozen yards of pavement. But it was dissipating even as they ran up to it, and soon revealed the only remaining participant.
Malik shook his head, chuckling as black wisps of fog curled around his cape. There was a deck of cards laying scattered on the ground several feet away.
"You!" Atemu balked and stood in front of Yugi protectively. "The thief wasn't lying!"
"Oh? Well, good evening, Pharaoh. It seems I'm getting to meet all of my old friends tonight," Malik laughed to himself, "Shame that the last one had to leave so quickly."
The Pharaoh's Puzzle was already glowing. "I'll fight for the freedom of whoever you sent to the Shadow Realm, you monster," he growled, and his hand went for his deck --
"Out of my way!"
An angry, female shriek startled him, and a blur of white shoved him aside bodily. The Pharaoh stumbled, and all eyes turned to the enraged girl that was suddenly amongst them.
"Where's Ryou?!" Bakura demanded of all of them, a dangerous fire burning in her eyes. The Ring was around her neck this time, and seemed to glow with a malevolence all its own.
"Ryou? Oh, the boy," Malik shrugged, "I'm not sure which part of the Shadow Realm I sent him to... I wasn't really paying attention."
"Brother!" Ishizu and Odion weren't far behind Bakura, but they both kept their distance. They knew to be wary of their possessed sibling.
Atemu was confused. He had been certain he had gotten rid of Malik's dark side. He looked at the other tomb-keepers for explanation, but Bakura's infuriated voice interrupted him before he spoke.
"You will fight me, you bastard," Bakura seethed at Malik, running over to Ryou's cards and gathering them up, "Right now!"
Malik laughed again, folding his arms, "I'm so popular tonight. I'm honored, but really, I have better things--"
"You should listen to my host, young spirit."
Everyone stopped and looked at Bakura once again. Atemu clutched his Puzzle. He could feel the presence of an incredibly dark force, one that made even Malik's black aura pale in comparison.
A dull look overcame Bakura's face, and her eyes went blank. Her voice had become deeper and otherworldly. She froze, swaying in place slightly, before a strange grin curled across her lips.
"I am sure you don't care about your siblings," the distorted voice continued, and she cocked her head. The Ring glowed. "But I'd wager that your host does."
"What are you getting at?" Malik scowled, looking confused and perhaps a bit intimidated. He felt the same thing as Atemu. "Your act doesn't fool me. I eliminated your powers, girl--"
"The girl is no longer speaking."
Bakura's head bobbed. She was like a marionette being puppeteered by someone lacking the patience for elegance. Atemu closed his hand over his Puzzle and stood closer to Yugi. Bakura must have been right about that, too - he hadn't managed to get rid of her darkness completely, and sensing her weakness, it had come back with a vengeance.
"I have my reasons for wanting to fight," it continued, using Bakura's voice, "So why don't I give you some? Two, to be precise..."
The thief's slim hands motioned skywards, and two dark forms burst out of the ground, directly behind Ishizu and Odion. The undead duel monsters, made very real by the Ring's magic, lurched towards the older Ishtars and set blades and bony claws against their throats. They struggled, but they were without any Items and powerless.
For once, the smirk was wiped from Malik's face. Something seemed to flash in his eyes, a glimpse of his true self breaking through. His face twisted slightly, distorting into an angry grimace, and he started to thrust the Rod forward - before yelping and dropping it, his hand burning.
"Tomb-robber, stop this! This is--"Atemu went for his Item next, but it seared his hand too, and the Puzzle likewise clattered to the ground.
"Idiots," Bakura's head was tilted back, and her light, feminine laugh sounded disturbingly sinister, "The same hate and blood that fuels those Items is precisely what gives me my strength. Do you really think you can use it against me?"
Malik shook his head, the spirit forcing himself back in control. He snarled and picked up the Rod, ignoring the pain. The dark fog started to coalesce around them once again. "Very well then, whatever you are. If you wish to join your former vessel so badly, I'll oblige."
Bakura's body suddenly jerked, as though her strings had been cut, and she stumbled back into awareness. She looked distinctly unsettled.
The Pharaoh could only watch as the darkness enveloped both thief and spirit once again.

---
"Here we find ourselves again," Malik sneered, "Only this time, you've brought a friend, I see."
Bakura steeled herself against the cool wind that blasted from the Shadow Realm, shifting her glare from Malik to the spirit that hovered behind her. "Why did you assist me?"
"Simple, pretty vessel," the spirit purred, "I want you to lose so I can have your body. Unlike you, I hardly care about the physical details of the body I inhabit."
"What a friend!" Malik laughed, glancing down at his deck. He still held the hand from his duel with Ryou. "But even I feel two against one is a bit unfair. And besides, I wouldn't want to make the duel too rough, seeing as I'm fighting a lady. I am quite the gentleman, after all--"
"Enough of this!" Bakura snarled, quickly taking out her deck and drawing a handful of cards.
"Tell you what," Malik began, glancing down at his hand, "I'll make this simple. Your vessel actually put up quite a fight. He got me all the way down to 800 life points and destroyed most of my monsters. If you can destroy the one monster I have left - just one - I'll give you back everything taken from you. I won't even reset my life points."
Bakura bristled at the insult to her dueling skills, but remained alert. He was setting the conditions of a Shadow Game. He could not lie or rescind. There had to be a catch, though. His sister had said he wanted to lose. Was he not going to wait for the Pharaoh to fight him? "And if I don't?"
"Then I think that spirit will get his wish," Malik smiled..
"What about Ryou?" She narrowed her eyes, gripping her cards tightly.
"If you lose, you'll be able to spend all eternity with him in the Shadow Realm. How romantic," Malik chuckled, tilting his head at one of his cards in particular. "Though you might be seeing him sooner than you think."
"Just go!" Bakura hissed around the knot of anxiety building in her throat and stomach. Perhaps he wasn't trying to lose. What kind of monster would he risk an entire duel on? Had he managed to get his god card back? Was it something as powerful...?
Either way, a quick glance at her hand eased her fears. Her deck had been good to her, and had already given her Destiny Board and several spirit cards, along with Cyber Jar, Dark Necrofear and Earl of Demise. Unless this monster could survive her Jar and finish off her 8000 life points in less than five turns, she had already won. And since she knew his plot, she could hopefully prevent him from being able to bind himself to the Rod. She grinned slightly, "Let's see this all-powerful monster you have."
"Very well then," Malik's grin matched hers, and he lifted the monster card, revealing it. She squinted. It had the orange border of an effect monster, and she blinked as she recognized the art on the card.
Shining Angel? That was a weak monster, with only 1400 attack points and its effect only kicked in when it was destroyed. Even then, it was nothing more impressive than letting the user summon another Light-type monster in its place, and Malik had said he was out of monsters. She furrowed her brow, and he set it down in attack position.
"I see that you're confused, thief," his grin widened, "Were you perhaps expecting the Winged Dragon of Ra? No, this card will be much, much better than that. Why, I think you'll be flattered..."
A white glow formed in front of Malik, slowly taking the shape of the angel on the card. One pair of golden wings uncurled from the monster, then another set unfurled, revealing it completely. Bakura paled, and the spirit behind her started laughing.
Ryou blinked and squinted at the dark clouds enveloping them. Dark as it was, it was bright compared to where he had been.
"Bakura? I... what's that behind you? What's going on--" He yelped when he turned and saw one of the large golden wings sprouting from his back and holding him aloft.
"I took a page right out of your own book, thief!" Malik cackled, insanity creeping into his voice, "A fitting tribute, I think, to such a lovely woman. Your move."
"No!" Ryou struggled, wings flapping uselessly. He couldn't move from attack position.
Bakura stared in disbelief for a long moment, before shaking her head. She drew quickly; Dark Hole. That wouldn't work, but she could still win this duel without hurting him. "A nice trick, but useless. I play--"
"Ut," Malik interrupted her, showing her the other card in his hand, "Destiny Board won't help you now. My other card is Heavy Storm - it'll just obliterate your game board. Goodness, you're such a cheater. I've already made things so easy for you; is it so much to ask for you to try to win fairly?"
Bakura panicked just a bit. She couldn't summon Necrofear or Earl of Demise without tributes, and Cyber Jar's side effect sent all monsters to the graveyard. All of her wonderfully destructive monsters and trap cards were suddenly useless. The thief closed her eyes and braced herself. Perhaps her next draw would be more helpful, but she had to leave herself wide open in the mean time.
"I end my turn," she muttered quietly.
"Giving up already? Where's that fighting spirit?" Malik lowered his head, "You know what this means. Shining Angel, attack her directly."
Ryou protested, struggling harder, but he was forced to lurch forward. "No! I won't hurt her! You can't--"
But he was unable to break free of Malik's command, and he came at her, fist pulling back. His punch connected with her jaw and sent her reeling.
"Bakura!" Ryou cried out, and tried to reach for her, but since his attack was over, he was drawn back to his side of the field. "No," he croaked, wings curling slightly.
Bakura stumbled back to her feet and rubbed her jaw, tasting blood in her mouth. She had no idea her vessel could hit that hard. It brought her life points down to 6600 and left her feeling slightly betrayed. Malik was laughing.
"It's not Ryou's fault," she said to herself and drew once more. She became tense. Raigeki wouldn't help her either. She inhaled raggedly, shuffling her hand, "I... end my turn, again."
Ryou's eyes went wide, and she looked away from him, but stood her ground.
"Cards not being kind, are they? Or is it that they're being too generous?" Malik taunted, then motioned forward, "Well, time for another attack. Shining Angel, put some color in her pale face. Black or blue, preferably!"
Ryou wailed, but was once again propelled forward against his will. He struck her in the cheek, hard enough to leave a nasty, bruised welt that forced her right eye closed. Bakura was unable to hold back her cry of pain this time.
"I'm sorry," he whimpered helplessly, tears streaming down his face as his body was pulled back away from her.
"You know, according to the boy's memories, those same fists used to snap concrete blocks," Malik noted casually, as if sharing a bit of interesting trivia, "I'm afraid your pretty face doesn't stand a chance."
Bakura clutched the tender side of her face, her heart racing. It went against everything in her being to allow herself to be attacked like this, but she would not be made to destroy Ryou. She hadn't let Malik sacrifice him before, in the fight with against Pharaoh and his Sky Dragon, and she wouldn't let him now.
The spirit leaned down, whispering in her ear. "This is all a bit familiar, isn't it...?"
Unbidden, memories of the nightmare she'd had of Ryou rose to the surface of her memory, conjured by the spirit's will. "Heh heh. Let's hope he sticks to punches, mm?"
"Get away from me!" she snapped, her voice slightly muffled by her swollen lip. She knew the spirit was conspiring with Malik, trying to unsettle her, trying to make her so desperate that she fought back, force her to do something she'd regret. The draw of her next card didn't help, either. Mirror Force. It wouldn't destroy him instantly, but it would destroy him.
Nevertheless, she refused to bow to them. She still had 5200 life points.
"I end my turn," she hissed, and Ryou cried audibly now.
"Really, now, I expected more from you," Malik let out an exaggerated sigh, "To think, I once admired you. I might even call you a bit of a role model. Don't I ring any bells? A powerful Egyptian man, full of hatred and bent on revenge..."
Bakura looked up at him and narrowed her one good eye, "You are nothing like me."
"Oh, not now, certainly. But back then," he grinned darkly, "we might as well have been cut from the same cloth. But I digress. This is so easy it's becoming tedious. Shining Angel, why don't you see if you can break her nose this time?"
He did. Her head cracked back, and Ryou was spouting gibberish now, trying to beg her to fight back, but he was far too choked up to speak properly. Blood trickled from her nose, and blackness pooled around her formerly good eye.
Bakura shook her head, vision filled with stars. The pain in her face was becoming unbearable; her head rang, and her neck ached from being snapped back three times now. Her footing was shaky, and she fought to keep a grip on her cards. She had endured far worse beatings in the past, but never in a body as weak as this one - and never from someone she trusted so much...
"You're not doing him any favors by letting him live," the spirit hissed softly, and his voice seemed to swim around her head, "If you lose, I'll get your body, and what use do I have for such a weakling? I'll kill him first. I'll stab him over and over--"
Bakura found a sudden strength in a new wave of rage, and she peeled her lips back in a fearsome snarl, even though the motion strained her damaged features. "You will not touch him!"
"Oh, it won't be me anymore. I'll be you. What would he do against you? He loves you so much he'd let me carve him up!"
Her rage wavered in the face of growing fear. She was in a catch-22. If she destroyed Ryou, he'd be sent to the card graveyard, and a mortal like him would be destroyed instantly in such a place. Not even the Pharaoh's magic would bring him back. But if she lost, the spirit would win and take her over. Desperate, she drew, and cried out in frustration. She was down to 3800 life points and she had drawn Trap Hole, a card that was utterly useless to her.
"Besides, if you do win, you'll be me again anyway. He said he'd give you back everything you lost if you destroyed the boy - that includes what the Pharaoh's game took away. We'll be one again. You'll have all that strength, plus your own body this time! Absolute freedom and power! That is what you want, isn't it...? Aren't you getting a bit tired of failing all the time? We'd be unstoppable..."
"I end my turn!" Bakura shouted above the poisonous promises of the spirit, trying to shut him out.
"Hm... if that's your choice. I don't even have to possess you to get my way..."
Malik glanced at his deck and drew a card, examining it. He grinned slightly, "I play Forceful Sentry. Show me your hand, thief - or rather, show us."
Bakura blinked, wondering what the purpose of that would be, but complied. In her fingers was a destructive spread that, under any other circumstance, would've been a great draw. It seemed like, besides Malik and the spirit, Fate itself was mocking her.
Malik snickered. "Get rid of Trap Hole - I want him to get a good long look at the other cards. See, boy?" He waved a broad hand at the cards she held, "She can destroy you any time she likes. You'd better start hitting her harder if you don't want to die!"
Ryou paled slightly, but shook his head. "Bakura, please," he swallowed, "Use your cards. It's better than hurting you again..."
"Be quiet," she growled, but it was forced. She'd never seen him look so torn and broken before.
"Go on and hit her again - aim lower this time," Malik commanded with wicked glee. "Attack!"
Ryou flew forward, coming much nearer than he had on previous attacks. She blinked up at him with one bleary eye as his wings cast shadows on her, strangely comforted by the brief closeness. He looked away in utter guilt.
Bakura's eyes bulged slightly as he punched her squarely in the stomach, knocking the breath out of her. She doubled over, gasping and nearly dropping her cards as she fell to her knees. Her strength was being sapped, and her life points had fallen all the way to 2400. Hope rapidly left her along with it, the familiar sting of inevitable defeat sinking into her chest.
She drew again, unable to get up off her knees. Man-Eater Bug. Tears of pain and desperation threatened in her eyes. Bakura didn't even have to announce the end of her turn, this time; her hanging head made it obvious. The spirit was laughing, loudly, happily. He could smell victory.
Malik rolled his eyes. "This is pathetic. You look like an abused dog. Shining Angel - kick her like one."
Bakura didn't look up in time to see Ryou's roundhouse kick come at her head, but she certainly felt it. She fell to one side, barely catching herself with the hand that held her cards. Her arm shook, and she swayed. The shadows of the game seemed to grow much darker, and it was so tempting to just fall down and give in to them, to let them win...
What could help her now?
"Good thing one more hit will finish you off. This duel isn't even good for a laugh at this point," Malik snorted, sounding bored.
He was right. She was down to 1000 points. She distantly heard Ryou's voice, sobbing as he pleaded for her to destroy him. Faintly, she heard the spirit laugh and start to boast of the things he would do when he had her body. She sensed him heading over to Ryou to taunt him specifically.
Bakura barely managed to lift herself back to her knees, fingers trembling as she reached for her deck once again. They came to rest on the next card, and it took more force than she expected to push it off the top of the deck and into her hand. Wearily, she looked down at what she'd drawn, certain it'd be another useless monster or trap card...
She blinked.
Ryou was running out of hope himself, when suddenly, he quieted his sobbing down so that he could better listen to a strange sound coming from Bakura. He was the one who heard it first, and he glanced over at her in disbelief. But soon, it was loud enough for Malik and even the spirit to take notice.
Bakura was laughing.
It was not a mad, desperate laugh brought on by the shock of defeat. It wasn't a bluff to try and confuse them. It was a real, genuine, victorious laugh, the kind of laugh she hadn't been able to have in ages.
She lifted her head with sudden life in her eyes, and a defiant grin on her otherwise broken features.
"I play," she wheezed, slamming the card down on the field with the last of her strength, "Change of Heart!"
The smirks that had been on both Malik and the spirit's face suddenly disappeared. In their absence, a smile spread over Ryou's face.
"What?! No!" Malik stepped back. He didn't have time to prepare for the magic required to bind himself to the Rod, surprised by the sudden turn of events.
Ryou spread his wings and flew over to her side, spreading his wings in front of her protectively. She smiled weakly. This seemed familiar, too. She was hunched over as he had been, and his wings were spread as her arms had been in the face of the god dragon...
"Destroy them, Ryou," Bakura ordered quietly, "Destroy them both."
Ryou complied eagerly, wings lifting him high, before he swooped down like a hawk. He slammed into Malik with all the strength of his protective rage, and his attack sent out a wave of blinding light. It slowly engulfed Malik's side of the field, and the spirit was caught up in the blast as well. All the shadows withered, chased away
by the bright light.
A howling wind rushed over the field and muffled the screams and protests of the spirits. Malik's life points fell to 0.
As Ryou's attack dissipated, the shadows of the Realm suddenly zeroed in on Malik, before rushing to swallow him like a swarm of enraged insects. The shadows were hungry, and made hungrier by their joy to have captured two new victims instead of the previous single offering. In the face of their ancient bloodlust, even the spirit's dark power wavered for a fleeting moment. It was long enough for him to be devoured.
Suddenly, the Game was over, and Ryou fell back to the earth, normal again. He quickly scrambled back to his feet and ran over to where Bakura had fallen.
"Did it work?" she asked in a voice that was little more than a groan.
He kneeled down beside her, and without a second thought, scooped her up into his arms. "You won," he congratulated her, tears of happiness following the streaks of their earlier desperate counterparts. His joy was only diminished by the fact that all the damage he had caused had carried over into the real world, and her face was a mess.
"Idiot," she muttered, but curled up and pressed her bruised and bleeding face against him, "I knew you'd gotten your stupid self into trouble."
He laughed quietly, downright happy to hear her call him names for once. Ryou held her tight and set his head against hers, his tears trickling down to her face.
The spirit's words echoed in her head, though she knew it was her own memory, and not the spirit speaking them.
'He loves you so much...'
An unusual warmth replaced the physical pain, making it minor, bearable, unimportant. She reached her shaking arms up and set them around his neck.
She supposed it was no coincidence that it had been his soul's card that had saved her.

---
Bakura slowly became aware of some of the activities around her. She felt a strange, weightless sensation, before she realized Ryou was carrying her.
The two Ishtars had been freed, since the monsters the dark spirit had summoned were destroyed after the duel was over. They had rushed over to the collapsed form of their brother, and were smothering the confused, dazed - but now normal - boy with hugs.
Ishizu composed to herself and explained the situation to the Pharaoh, and they exchanged nods. Simultaneously, they looked over at Ryou and Bakura. The thief had just enough energy to glare at the former king.
He approached them, his head lowered slightly. "My... apologies," he sighed, "I should have had more faith in you. Ryou... thief... I will see if I can help you, now."
They both perked at that. Ryou had started to set her down, when a confused sound from the Pharaoh made them pause and look up.
"What's going on? The Puzzle, it's," he held the pyramid in his hands, looking at it at every angle, "It's... dead."
"What?" Bakura scowled, but felt her own Item. She hadn't been startled at the lack of its magical energies since she had grown used to their absence, but now she could sense absolutely nothing. No magic, no power, and thankfully, no spirit.
The Pharaoh quickly walked over to Malik and picked up his Rod. "The Rod, also... there's nothing here, anymore. It's just gold."
"What's the meaning of this?" Bakura sounded suspicious, still gripping her own Item and glaring down at its limp pendulums. To be cut off from her own Item was bad enough, but for all of them to suddenly 'die'...?
"I believe it means, Thief King," Ishizu stood, stepping away from her brother and leaving Odion to console him, "that you have finally succeeded in putting the souls of your family to rest."
Bakura just blinked up at her, uncomprehending.
"With the dark side of my brother banished, along with the manifestation of your own hate, the unbalance in our world brought by the Shadow Games was corrected. Everything that didn't belong in this world was finally expelled," Ishizu met Bakura's gaze, then moved to the Pharaoh, "The Games are over, and the ninety-nine spirits that fueled the power of the Millennium Items are now at peace."
"So everyone's Items..." Yugi started, poking the Pharaoh's puzzle curiously.
"Nothing but ancient metal, now," Ishizu finished, smiling.
It took a while for the news to register for Bakura. She'd... won? Not just the duel, but she'd finally finished something that had tormented her for so long, for over three millennia?
She hadn't killed the Pharaoh. She hadn't gathered all the items. She hadn't even had any of her occult powers. The time when she was at her weakest, lowest point, deprived of all the things she'd always depended so much upon, was the time she had won.
The thief laughed in quiet disbelief. She hadn't been powerless.
She had never needed power in the first place.
It was finally over. The spirit, the voice, her eternal tormentor, was gone. No more stupid Shadow Games. No more monsters, ghosts, and nightmares. No more dark magic. A long-deserved sense of relief filled her and further eased any pain she felt, but it would take weeks for the revelation to really sink in.
"But you didn't change back...?" Ryou's uncertain observation interrupted her thoughts, keeping his eyes on her. They were large, brown, and so deeply concerned that she felt somewhat embarrassed to look into them.
She realized that also meant there was no way to get her old form back. It would take a while for that to sink in, too.
"No, I suppose I wouldn't," Bakura conceded, wincing. It hurt to talk. "His condition for changing me back was to destroy you. That was... unacceptable."
Ryou said nothing, but she could feel his smile on her, and his arms tightened a little. If she'd had any more energy, she would've snapped and told him to put her down, but she was exhausted. Besides, she was still holding his neck.
"Just take me home," she murmured, closing her eyes and settling her face against his shirt. As an afterthought, she added, "idiot."
She couldn't see him, but she knew Ryou was still smiling, and they left the Pharaoh and the Ishtars behind to deal with the aftermath. Bakura had done enough.
Home.
She hadn't had one of those in a long time.
And if this was the price for a home - for peace - for Ryou - well.
For once, she was willing to pay instead of steal.
---
I know not everyone is into the actual game, so here are some notes (keep in mind I don't duel seriously IRL, so I dunno any weird rule adjustments they've made. I mostly just play in video games) :
Why did Bakura's life points start at 8000? That's the default amount in the real game, they just halve it on the show to make things go faster, I think. God, they draw out duels long enough, I hate to imagine if they had more life points...
I based most of Bakura's cards on cards she used in the show, but some of them were guesses. She just seems like a risky, destructive person, so I ventured to guess her deck was the same.
Why didn't Bakura set any monsters in defense mode to protect her life points? Well, either they needed tributes (can't summon them until you already have monsters on the field to sacrifice, or in Necrofear's case, three fiend-type monsters in the graveyard), or they were effect monsters. Some effect monsters have side effects that either kick in when they're flipped over, or when they're destroyed - and monsters are automatically flipped when they're attacked, so attacking them activates their effects, even if they're immediately destroyed afterwards. Cyber Jar destroys all monsters on the field, and Man-Eater Bug destroys any one monster on the opponent's side of the field.
As for the other cards:

Destiny Board: Her signature card from Battle City, this is a pretty nice set of cards. Essentially, the first card is a trap card, and is a quick-play trap, meaning you can activate it at any point during your turn or your opponent's turn. After the end of your opponent's turn, you're allowed to sift through your deck to find the next Spirit card (I, N, A, L in the American version, E, A, T, H in the Japanese version) and place it next to Destiny Board. In five turns, you spell either FINAL or DEATH and you win automatically, ala Exodia.
The drawback is that if any of the Spirit cards are destroyed, already in the graveyard or otherwise put out of order, all of Destiny Board is rendered null. You also can't play any other continuous magic or trap cards, since Destiny Board takes all the slots. (In one of the games I have, Bakura likes to keep playing Destiny Board after he already has one continuous magic card out. I laugh at him, until I realize I'm laughing at a bunch of pixels.)
Shining Angel: Pretty much described it. You can look at it here: http://www.pojo.com/yu-gi-oh/cotd/Sept03/ShiningAngel.jpg

Heavy Storm: Destroys all magic and trap cards on the field, hence why it's a killer for Destiny Board.

Dark Hole: Destroys all monsters on the field.

Raigeki: Destroys all monsters on the opponent's side of the field.

Mirror Force: A trap card that, when activated, destroys the attacking monster and all other monsters that are in attack position.

Trap Hole: Another trap card. This one will automatically destroy a monster that's summoned if it has over 1000 attack points.

Forceful Sentry: Allows the player to see the opponent's hand and chose a card to be discarded.

Change of Heart: The card Ryou picked as his favorite in the episode 'Evil Spirit of the Ring'. It was also the episode in which Bakura turned people into duel monsters, and some people might recognize a bit of dialogue in this chapter from it. Anyway, this is a magic card that lets the player take control of a monster on the opponent's side of the field for one turn.
Well, I hope I managed to write a duel that was somewhat interesting, if not cheesy. XD
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