My Pet Yami

The Countdown to Death

 

            Yami carefully folded the letter to Yugi and slipped it into a white envelope. He looked
around the office he’d hidden himself in since Bakura and Marik had left for a way to get the
letter to his hikari. He noticed a wood mail holder hanging on the wall with the words
“outgoing” and “incoming” on separate slots.

Perfect.

He peeled a stamp off of the roll he’d found in the desk drawer and pressed it onto the corner of
the envelope.

“Aibou” he sighed somberly as he looked out the window.

Yami’s thoughts were quickly diverted as the sound of chains clinking against leather rattled
outside the office door.

“I’ll look for the little fuck in here, you go check in the basement.” Marik yelled from beyond
the closed oak door.

“He’d better hope you find him, because I’ll rip his fucking eyes out and shove them up his royal
ass! And don’t think I won’t!” Yami heard Bakura shout back venomously.

The gold knob on the door rattled and slowly turned.

Yami bit his lip as Marik shoved the door open. His hands began to tremble very slightly. He
took a deep breath as Marik stared him down.

Marik grinned ambiguously as he quietly closed the door. He was careful not to spill a bottle of
beer he was carrying.

Yami kept a close eye on him. If he made any sudden moves, Yami wanted to at least be able to
defend himself from the more masculine Egyptian.

To Yami’s relief, (and surprise) Marik reached into the pocket of his long black leather jacket
and pulled out a small bag of sour cream and onion flavored potato chips.

“You’re so pretty when you’re scared, pharaoh. Here, catch.” He smirked as he tossed Yami the
unopened bag of chips.

“You better eat those fast, Bakura’s really bent out of shape over you not coming when he
called you downstairs.”

Yami ripped open the bag of chips and stuffed a fist full of them in his mouth. He continued to
keep an cautious eye on Marik though.

“How are those new piercings doing? Are they causing you much discomfort?” Marik ask as he
walked over to the window.

“I....don’t..feel....a thing.” Yami responded between bites. The potato chips tasted way better
than they should have. He managed to consume the entire bag in less that a minute. It had been
many hours since he’d had anything, so he’d eaten the chips a little too fast. Damn it. He should
have saved some for later. It could be quite some time before he’d get anything to eat again.

            The chains on Marik’s leather jacket clanged together as the Egyptian the came walking
toward Yami. He wore a blank expression on his face, so Yami couldn’t tell what Marik was
thinking. It made him a bit nervous. Unlike Bakura, Marik was unpredictable. Bakura was
always an ass. He’d lash out at Yami at every given chance. Yami had noticed Marik had
moments where he , dare say, seemed to be somewhat nice? Seemed to care? Seemed to feel
remorse? Was this one of those moments?

“I know I said eat fast, but damn pharaoh, you practically inhaled those. Here, you can have the
rest of this.” Marik laughed as he handed Yami his half drank bottle of beer.

The salt on the potato chips had made Yami very thirsty, so he took the beer from Marik and
chugged it down before Marik changed his mind.

Marik chuckled lightly and sat on the heavy oak desk.

“Whoa pharaoh, slow down. That’s beer you know.”

Yami poli off off the entire contents of the bottle in one breath. He didn’t care what it was, he
hadn’t had anything to drink since he inhaled a few pints of bath water earlier that morning.
Yami set the empty bottle on top the desk and looked up at Marik.

“Can I ask you something?”

Marik shrugged his shoulders.

“Go ahead”

Yami shifted around uncomfortably. The fresh ampallang piercing he’d received was feeling
rather uncomfortable. He still hadn’t figured out how to stop it the barbell from vibrating.

“Is there any way to turn this thing off? Yami ask pleadingly and he motioned downward with
his hand.

Marik nodded his head.

“Yes, Would you like me to show you how?”

The look in Marik’s eyes unnerved the pharaoh. He wasn’t sure if this was one of Marik’s nice
moments, or if it was one of his demented cruel jokes. Yami swallowed hard as he nodded his
head.

“I’d appreciate that.”

Yami closed his eyes as Marik hopped off the desk and kneeled in front of him. His heart raced
as Marik’s hands got closer to his sore manhood.

“This might feel a little weird, but it shouldn’t hurt.” Marik mused as he did something to make
the piece of jewelry stop vibrating.

Yami let out a sigh of relief as the vibrating ceased.

Marik looked over the fresh piercing and smiled.

“It looks nice, does it hurt much?”

The tip of Yami’s shaft pained him quite a bit, but Marik didn’t need to know that.

“No” Yami answered sternly.

Marik lightly kissed the head of Yami’s manhood and got to his feet. He didn’t say another
word. He just stared at the thin pharaoh ambiguously.

             The sound of the door being kicked open and hitting the wall caused both Marik and
Yami to jump back.

“There you are, you stupid, piece of fucking shit wannabe god!” Bakura growled evilly as he
stepped into the room. He had a wild, insane look in his eyes that sent chills down Yami’s spine.

Bakura lunged forward at Yami and wrapped his fingers around the pharaoh’s throat.

Yami choked for air as Bakura squeezed his windpipe. Yami’s face began to change to red, and
than to purple as he gasp for air. He tried to wiggle himself free from Bakura’s death grip, but he
was once again over powered. Bakura’s rage and hatred for Yami was fueling his strength. The
tomb robber’s chocolate eyes glowed with anger.

“I hate you pharaoh......I’ll never forget the life I had to live because of you. It’s only fitting that
a man you mistreated so badly is the one who squeezes your last breath from your pathetic
body.”

Yami continued to struggle, but it was of no use.

Everything went black.  

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

            Yami had no idea how much time had passed since he’d blanked out. All he knew was
that there were thick metal cuffs securing his wrists and ankles to a cold metal chair and that
his neck throbbed with intense pain. He slowly opened his eyes.

The entire room was dark except for a candle burning in the corner. The sound of footsteps
echoed down from the ceiling above Yami’s head. A quite a bit of noise accompanied the
footsteps. It sounded like there was a struggle going on in the room above him.

Yami knew by the musty smell that he was in the basement.

The footsteps above him began to grow quieter. The creek of an opening door, followed by the
clacking of two sets of boots hitting wood began to worry the helpless pharaoh. The voices he
heard confirmed his fear.  

“Here, hold this while I find the light switch, Ishtar.” Bakura’oiceoice echoed through the
darkness.

“Hey look, I just wrote my initials in blood on your wall!” Marik boasted moments later.

“Oooh, you’re so talented.” Bakura snorted back.

            Yami cringed as the foot steps stopped outside the door to the room. The last time he’d
seen Bakura, the thief had choked him senseless. Yami prayed to the gods that Bakura was in a
better mood now. His neck felt bad enough already.

The door opened slowly and a bright beam of light hit Yami in the face, temporarily blinding
him.

“Looks like he lived.......damn it.” Bakura scoffed as he handed the bright flashlight off to Marik.
The thief was also carrying a brown cardboard box. He walked over to Yami and set the box at
the pharaoh’s feet.

Bakura stood in front of Yami wearing a sadistic smile.

“We brought you some gifts, would you like to see them, pharaoh?”

Yami hated the way Bakura called him “pharaoh.” The sacrilegious tomb robber never reed
ed
to Yami as pharaoh unless he was mocking him. Yami wasn’t going to honor Bakura with a
response. It wasn’t worth what energy he had left.

Marik walked behind Bakura carrying the flashlight. He shined the light up at his own face. The
way the light illuminated his face made him look more evil than usual. Yami couldn’t help but
notice he had fresh blood steretered on his face and in his hair. Yami’s crimson eyes shifted over
to Bakura. The tomb robber was sifting through the brown cardboard box. Oddly enough, he
didn’t have any blood on him.

“Let me give the pharaoh my gift first.” Marik insisted.

Bakura pulled a long black jewelry box out and handed it to the Egyptian.

Marik traded Bakura the flashlight for the rectangular box. He grinned wickedly as he stood
before the pharaoh.

“I thought of you when I saw this. I think you’ll like it.”

Yami watched cautiously as Marik opened the box in front of him. He was relieved when he saw
it was only a black leather collar.

Marik pulled the collar out of the jewelry box and held it up for the pharaoh to see. Two thin
gold chains dangled from a gold ring attached to the front of the collar. Yami only moved his
eyes when looking the “gift” over. The rest of his body remained perfectly still as Marik leaned
over and fastened the collar around the pharaoh’s bruised neck. Marik’s hands felt like ice as
they touched Yami’s skin.

“Definitely an improvement, wouldn’t you say, Bakura?” Marik smiled proudly as he stood back
and looked at Yami’s new jewelry.

Bakura purposely flashed the bright light of the flashlight in Yami’s face again.

“Attach the chains” he snapped coldly.

Marik smirked at the pharaoh as he reached for one of the shorter gold chains.

“You are going to look so hot.” he purred as he connected the chain to the gold ring in Yami’s
tender left nipple. Yami hissed through his teeth as Marik gave the chain a little tug.

Bakura looked up and chuckled at the pharaoh’s discomfort.

“Fucking little pussy.” he jeered.

Marik took a second shorter gold chain between his long fingers and clipped it onto Yami’s right
nipple, but this time he did it very gently. Marik traced his finger around the swollen flesh,
causing Yami to flinch.

“You are one sexy little bitch, pharaoh. ” Marik lustfully purred.

Yami tilted his head up toward the ceiling and bit his lip.

“Tell me what is going to happen to me.” Yami spoke in a weak voice. No matter how hard he
tried to be strong, his voice continued to fail him.

“You want us to ruin our surprise, pharaoh?” Bakura chuckled as he connected a black wire to
one of the legs of the metal chair Yami was being held in. “Well you can just forget it!” he
hissed as he attached a red wire to the opposite leg of the chair.

Yami swallowed hard as Bakura hooked the wires up to a box that was about the size of a 5
gallon fish aquarium. The numbers 00.00 appeared.

“Haha!” Bakura laughed evilly as he adjusted the numbers to read 24.00.

“Oh shit!” Marik suddenly exclaimed. Like a bolt of lightning, the blond yami took off on a dead
run up the basement steps.

Bakura set the timer down in front of Yami and grinned wickedly.

“This is it, pharaoh. The time has finally arrived for me to take my ultimate revenge on you for
everything that you’ve ever done to me!”

Yami glared at the tomb robber as he watched Bakura press a red button. The numbers on the
timer began to count down backwards.

“What’s the meaning of this, thief! What are you up to!” Yami demanded.

Bakura stood before the pharaoh incarnate and ran his deathly cold hand along Yami’s cheek
bone. His chestnut eyes flickered with malicious intent.

“Do you have any last words, mighty god of Annu?”[1]

Yami was in no position to argue with the thief, so he just glowered back into Bakura’s evil
chocolate orbs.

“Fine, you have no last words.” Bakura snapped as he slapped Yami across the face. “You have
exactly 24 hours to think about all the evil you brought into this world, all the lives you ruined,
and all the trouble you brought about. When the timer attached to your chair expires, all of your
worst fears will be reality. Enjoy the darkness.......pharaoh.”

Yami swallowed hard, but didn’t respond to Bakura’s threat. His crimson eyes burned with fear
and anger.

Bakura laughed insanely as he began walking out of the dark room.

“Xer Xu em Xennu kekui! Hahaha!” [2]

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

23.00

“I can’t believe I’m letting you do this to me........I just can’t believe it.....” Yami thought to
himself as he sat in the cold, dark basement. The minutes seemed like hours, and hours felt like
days as he watched the numbers counting backward on the timer. Yami’s mind began to wander
as the darkness and silence began to play with his mind. He was trapped. There was no escape
from whatever fate the evil tomb robber had bestowed on him. The last few words from the wily
white haired hooligan echoed through Yami’s mind.

“......all the evil you brought into this world, all the lives you ruined, and all the trouble you
brought about........”

“I never brought evil into the world! ” Yami shouted to himself out loud. The word “evil” kept
running through his mind. What was evil? Where did it come from? How thin was the line
between the two greatest forces in the world? Yami had always tried to do what he thought was
good, but was it really good? Or was good actually evil, and evil actually good? Who was the
judge of what was right and wrong? Had he been mislead his entire life? What made “good” so
good anyway? Yami thought back to what his father had inadvertently done to Bakura’s village.
If his father was supposedly good, why did evil come from his actions? Nothing good came from
the making of the Millennium items, only more pain and sorrow. And now that pain and sorrow
had spilled into the 21^st century. Yugi’s nervous breakdown wasn’t a “good” thing, and Yami
blamed himself for it happening. If he never would have made Yugi break up with Joey, Yugi
probably would have been just fine. After much thought, Yami came to the conclusion that there
really wasn’t a difference between good and evil. Only differences in points of view. Bakura had
seen his entire get boiled alive, so was he actually in the wrong for wanting revenge? After all,
he was only human at the time of Kuru Elna’s demise. Not only was he human, he was a young,
impressionable child who’d watched his entire world get ripped away from him. To Bakura,
good was evil.

19.00

The time continued to pass by slowly. The house was silent except for the constant ticking noise
coming from the timer attached to his cold metal chair. He’d contemplated good and evil
already, and found no definite answer. There was no way to determine what was actually good
and what was actually evil. It was useless to think about it any longer. Yami stared at the only
focal point visible in the room, the digital timer.

The seconds ticked away right before his eyes.

He had no clue what would happen after the time expired. What was inside the box? A bomb?
Was he going to get blown to smithereens? Would demons crawl out of the box and drag him to
hell? 

14.00

Only 10 more hours left until Yami would discover his fate. He decided it was time to pray to
Osiris to have mercy on his soul in his second afterlife. The more Yami thought about it, the
more he believed that the box contained something that would end his existence.

08.00 

Thoughts of Yugi were the only thing keeping Yami sane by this point. Yugi’s bright smile,
Yugi’s sparkling violet eyes, Yugi’s tender touch. All three of those things gave Yami a little
comfort in what he believed were hist fst few hours.

01.00 

Only one hour left. The end seemed inevitable. There was no way out. Yami had accepted that
he was going to die. He felt he was ready to go to the next world even though he didn’t feel it
was his time. There was so much more he’d wanted to do before his final hour. There were still
many loose ends he hadn’t taken care of. The child he’d created with Isis for one. He was
leaving behind his legacy before they could meet. He didn’t even know if the child was male or
female yet, and it pained him to think of the child growing up without ever knowing its father.
What was worse though? Never knowing who created you, or knowing them and losing them?

Yami’s eye lids began growing heavy. He’d been up for 24 hours straight thinking about
anything and everything, and his mind was exhausted.

“Xer Xu em Xennu kekui” he sighed as he drifted off to sleep.

5........

4.........

3.........

2.........

1.........

                         

TBC..................................

[1] As you may know, Atemu’s (Atem, Tum, “the closer,”) main cult center was in Heliopolis. In
ancient Egypt, “Annu” was the word for Heliopolis.

[2] Ancient Egyptian for “light has fallen into darkness”(literally-Hath fallen light into the
darkness)