Tormented Minds

Tormented Minds Ch.3


Tormented Minds Ch.3

All Yu-Gi-Oh! characters are are copyright of Kazuki Takahashi and Konami.

Here's my friend's Malikbunny's first fanfic saga of Yu-Gi-Oh! I, Extreme Aku,
am co-writer and some parts are the toned down versions of my Yami Bakura tales. Enjoy
this story, we worked hard on it. :) Please visit MB's great YGO artsite at:
http://www.internutter.org/alaer/my_yugioh_art.htm

Authors' Note: This is my first Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfic, so please be gentle on the
reviews. See complete details in ch. 1 foN.&nN.  I've based Yami Yugi (YYugi for
short) on how the manga version is more (meaning he's more dark and sinister than the
anime version). I'm using Tèa's Japanese name (Anzu) from now on. Tad bit
of yaoi/slash. R/R, please no flames! Also see the fic scene fanart piccys for this fic
series at my website. Enjoy!

Tormented Minds

Chapter 3

    It was one day before the dance and Serenity was getting extra
nervous. She had remembered how weird Bakura acted when she last visited his apartment.
His dad was never home much since he was an archaeologist, so Bakura was living alone all
the time. Serenity felt sorry for him and wondered if she should move in with him or
something. Maybe he would get un-weird then and stop talking to dead people despite how
real and possible it was. It couldn't be a healthy thing to do, he must be really lonely.
Serenity's mom probably wouldn't let her live in with him, but Serenity wasn't going to
tell her. She knew what she was doing. She was a reasonable person who could be trusted to
make the right choices. Serenity decided to ask Bakura if he would like having her stay
with him for as long as he needed.

    She called him first to let him know she was planning to come and
see him. She made up a story that her mom was gone on a business trip for a long time and
she was lonely. He asked her why didn't she invite Joey to stay at her mom's house.
Serenity felt subdued. She loved Joey, but he probably didn't want to stay at their mom's
house. There were too many painful childhood memories there. "Joey and I don't like
this house much. We had a lot of bad memories here. Please, Bakura, can I come over? I
really need to. I can't stand staying here all alone, I need to stay with you." she
insisted. "Well...alright, you can come and stay with me. I'll leave my door open for
you." he said, his voice feathery and gentle.

    Serenity felt an excited chill run up her spine. His voice was so
enchanting... "Thank you, Bakura. I'll be there in a while." They said goodbye
and hung up. She quickly went to her room and stuffed her overnight bag she used for
sleepovers with clothes and essentials. She went to her mom's room and told her she was
going to sleepover at a girl friend's house. She then quickly explained that she needed to
stay at that friend's house a lot since she was suicidal or something or othf thf that
nature and she had to help. Her mom understood and let her go. Serenity couldn't believe
how easy that was! No wonder Joey got caught up in gangs. Mom always let them do whatever
they wanted and never checked up on them.

    Serenity felt giddy with excitement as she walked to his apartment
complex. She kept trying to prove to herself that she was only staying with him to help
him not be lonely and get him to stop talking to dead people, but she had a nagging
feeling that that wasn't the only reason. She had deep feelings for him, she felt as if
she loved him enough to give her life for him.

    Serenity knocked and then turned the knob on his apartment door.
"Hello? Bakura?" she called, letting herself in. She didn't see him anywhere and
dropped her overnight bag on the couch. "Bakura?"

    He finally came out of the kitchen, holding his hand in a towel
which was bright red with blood. "Hi, Serenity. I didn't hear you come in." he
said, as if nothing was wrong. She gasped at his hand. "Bakura, your hand!" she
cried, staring in horror. "Oh, this? I accidentally cut my hand on the knife when I
was chopping some salad. I guess I should be more careful." He grinned as if where no
big deal at all and this sort of thing happened often. Blood dripped from the towel onto
the carpet.

    Serenity was worried for him big time. "Here, let me help you
get it cleaned up." she said, noticed two of his ring necklace's spears had blood on
them. "Alright. The bathroom's over here." He lead them there and she quickly
went to work cleaning his hand. She tenderly washed it carefully and applied hydrogen
peroxide and bandages. He watched her closely the whole time, making Serenity blush.

    "Thank you, it feels better." he said, his white hair
glistening in the dim light. They held hands for a few moments, looking at each other.
Serenity smiled happily. "You're welcome, Ryou..." She blushed again. Bakura
thought she was very pretty and even interesting. "Let's have dinner now." he
said, taking her hand with his good hand and escorted her to the kitchen.

    He served them salad and sat down. "Sorry, the beef's not done
yet." he apologized. Serenity shook her head and giggled. "It's alright, Bakura.
I can wait. I love salad besides." She took a bite and nodded. "Mmm, this is
really good! Bakura, you should be a chief. Really, this is so good."

    Bakura closed his eyes while he turned his head to the side cutely
and smiled proudly. "I'm happy you like it, Serenity." he said, feeling happy.
Ever since his ring ruled over him, he had nothing but pain, lots of trouble, and
blackouts. He had no real friends, except for those dolls he made to keep the souls he
stole. Even though he was a loner, he did occasionally desired company, even his yami's
company was better than nothing. He savored any and all moments he was free of his yami so
he could be in control again of what was rightfully his. His body and mind. That was why
his hand was cut, the ring had bitten him when he tried to take it off right before
Serenity arrived. He knew his yami wanted to hurt Serenity and use her. It would do
unspeakable terrible things to her with his body. He knew this because it told him so and
that's why he tried to get rid of the ring, but he failed. He couldn't warn her because he
feared she would think he was insane instead of possessed. Plus if he just even tried to
warn her, it would take over and she would be done for. 'I've got to keep him happy or
else, he'll hurt Serenity. She'll think it's me too and hate me... Then so will everyone
else, again and I'll have to change schools again... I don't want to leave, I like the
people here. Serenity reminds me of Amane too...'

    He brushed his bangs out of his eyes and reached for his Occult deck
he left on the table. Serenity looked with interest. "Is that your deck,
Bakura?" she asked, eyes sparkling. She loved everything about him, he was too cool,
even though he talked to dead people. "Uh, yes." he said simply, organizing them
by combos and traps. Serenity leaned over to look at what kind of cards they were. An
Occult deck? 'Boy, he has the witches on the brain.' she thought, feeling weird. When she
was little she never liked witches or ghosts or anything like that. It was because once
she went Trick-Or-Treating with her childhood friends and Joey and she accidentally got
separated from them. She had wandered all around the neighborhood and saw a cemetery. She
was curious and went to look. She wasn't afraid of anything and was brave until she
thought she saw something terrible. It was all black with glowing red eyes. It called her
name in a dead whisper and began to shuffle towards her. She lost her courage and ran away
screaming.

    Serenity had screamed so loud and so much, Joey was able to find her
right away. Once she had calmed down and explained what she saw to Joey, he told her that
a demon tried to get her, but she was safe now. She hated Halloween ever since and
anything that was associated with it. She decided to tell him that she did not like that
deck and then share her story about hating Halloween. Maybe that'd get him to open up
some. "An Occult deck, huh? I never liked anything like that. When I was little on
Halloween I got lost in a cemetery and a black monster with red eyes tried to get me. The
stuff gives me the creeps."

    "A duel monster?" he asked, eyes on the cards. She made a
Jigglypuff face. 'He was barely listening to me!' she thought irritably. "No, it was
a demon." she said. Bakura looked at her then. "I see them all the time. It
doesn't bother me much anymore. Did you talk back to it?"

    Serenity shook her head. "No way! It was trying get me.
Creepy!" she cried, rubbing her hands on her arms as if she was cold. "If you
talk to one, it'll talk back." he said absent-mindedly, tending to the cards again.
Serenity didn't like how he was tuning out when she was trying to get him to talk to her.
She happened to look about the kitchen and saw a doll with brown long hair like hers in a
glass dome on the counter. "Hey, neat! That doll looks like me!" she cried,
going over to it.

    She picked it up and instantly Bakura took it away from her.
"Please. Don't touch it." he said, rather meanly tho thought as he put it
carefully back in the dome and put it up on the cupboard shelves where it'd be hard to
reach. Serenity made herself calm her anger. He probably had a good reason for not wanting
her to touch that doll.

    "Well, okie. What's up with it? It looks just like me. Did you
make it?" she asked. "Yes and no. Serenity, excuse me, I have to get the
beef." he said, standing in front of her waiting for her to move since she was in
front of the oven. His eyes looked sad and far away, like he knew important something that
she didn't.

    "What do you mean, 'yes and no'?" she pried. She wasn't
going to let him curl back into his shell that easily. He sighed. "Yes, I made it.
But it's not for reasons you think." he said, getting embarrassed. 'Great, now she'll
think I'm a perverted freak!' he thought sadly.

    "Okie..." she replied, getting worried. 'He acts like a
crazy person!' she thought, worried like crazy. 'He says weird stuff and talks to dead
people and is obsessed with wicca stuff. Oh my poor Bakura! He's going insane... I can't
leave him alone, he'll go off the deep end for sure.' There was a tense silence and
Serenity said, "Don't worry, it's alright with me if you like me... like that. I
don't mind."

    Since his back was turned to her, he whipped around to stare at her
with wide eyes. "Oh, no, no, I'm not implying that I-I... well, you know. I don't go
fantasizing about women, especially not you, I mean not in a bad way... D'oh! You know,
um... Er...Heh, this is quite embarrassing, isn't it?" he laughed nervously. Serenity
laughed too. "Uh, yeah..hehehe!" 'Oh my cards, he IS gay!' she thought, feeling
stupid. 'But why did he kiss me like he liked me before? Was he trying to make a fool of
me? No, that can't be true.'

    "Serenity, I do like you...a lot. I'm just not good at this.
Sorry if I sound weird." he explained, holding the pan of beef. Serenity suddenly
noticed he was holding the hot pan with his bare hands! As if he noticed it at the same
time, he quickly put the pan on the table and could feel his yami returning. 'Nooo, go
away, curse you!' he thought, feeling pain in his gut. He turned his back to Serenity and
gripped the counter tightly. 'Please, go away, I want Serenity to be my friend! I promise
to help you to take the Millennium items, just leave her out of it!' he thought hard,
trying to will his yami and the pain away.

    'Come now, you help me? How absurd, you're just as weak as the
vessel the Pharaoh inhabits. Don't bore me with your pleas, they make me sick! Just take a
nap now...' Bakura struggled not to scream from his intense pain. Serenity was concerned.
"Um, are you okie...?" YBakura let the counter go and he faced Serenity with a
sly look. "Never better. Shall we finish dinner now?" he said, his voice rough
and deep. She was taken back by this, but shrugged it off. She heard him talk in that
before when he showed her the Ouija board. She couldn't figure him out, but she was
determined to.

    "Yeah, sure." They sat down again and finished off the
beef. Serenity was determined to get Bakura to open up to her. She was glad she brought a
romance movie she borrowed from Anzu.

    Anzu had said watching romance movies got guys to open up like
flowers. Serenity wasn't too sure about that, it may work on Yugi, but it'd never get her
brother to open up. He'd just say it's sap and crap and then he'd go to another room. Same
with Tristan pretty much, though she did catch him reading a romance novel once. He had
begged her not to tell anyone else, it'd ruin his tough guy front he tried to have like
Joey. Maybe Bakura would open up if she got him to watch the movie with her, she was
willing to try anything. He seemed soft-hearted like Yugi, so it might work.

    She helped him wash the dishes and suggested they watch a movie that
she brought. He agreed and they went to the living room. She hurried to get the DVD out of
her bag and put it into the DVD player. Bakura helped her with it since she wasn't too
familiar with this certain brand, the buttons were located in different places than the
usual places. She sat down on the couch and felt light and happy as he sat close next to
her. She glanced at his fluffy white locks, how she wanted to squeeze them! They looked so
soft like Sharmen bathroom tissue...

    The movie started and as usual in all movies, the beginning was
SUPER boring and long. Bakura had leaned back on the couch and was vaguely watching. There
was a funny scene and they both laughed. Eventually, the romantic stuff began to come on,
but Bakura still seemed bored as before.

    She pinched her nervous hands between her knees, feeling flustered.
Anzu said boys usually never made the first move, so it was up to her. Serenity had a
sneaky suspicion that Anzu had her theories proven by only one guy. Of course, Yugi would
never make the first move, he was too shy. 'Oh well, Bakura couldn't be shy, at least he
didn't act like it last time...' she thought. Nevertheless, she leaned back and used his
shoulder as a pillow. Being brave, she reached up and felt one of his long white locks.
How incredibly soft it felt, like petting a baby bunny. He had a gentle sweet fragrance
that surprised her. She always remembered how smelly Joey was often due to his sweating
(since he was constantly fighting or something that involved a lot of physical activity)
or smoking illegal junk. She knew he drank too, but luckily he had stopped that, at least
she hoped he did. She wasn't used to having a boy around that didn't smell anything less
than horrible.

    She felt his hand on her shoulder and he ed hed her close to him. He
chuckled deeply, yet it was inaudible. It was like he was pleased having her with him like
this. His hand moved from her shoulder to her ear, which he rubbed gently. Serenity
shivered, it felt pretty nice. His hand then moved to her hair where he caressed it. She
sighed in delight, what bliss. She always liked it when Anzu braided her hair, it felt
extra cool having a guy touch her hair. She kept her eyes on the movie just the same.

    "You like that?" he asked, sounding so confident and cool,
it made Serenity feel so meek. She peeked up at him in utter awe, his eyes were so
beautiful... "Uh, yes..." she answered, being shy. He chuckled again,
seductively. She looked down and blushed hard. How'd he manage to be so successful at
being so incredibly sexy?

    "What a naughty girl you are, trying to get me into that
mood..." he purred, softly. He stroked her hair over and over. Serenity didn't know
how to answer that. She wanted him to open up, but she did want to make out with him as
well. She figured she'd better say something. She didn't want to appear like a wimp.

    "Well..is it working?" she said softly, not believing
herself. She was never one to be sassy. "Hmhmm, you've intrigued me. But that's
all." He got up suddenly and walked a few steps away. As he expected, she followed
him. "Hey!" she cried, running into him as he stopped. He turned around and had
a wicked smile on his pretty face. "Do you desire me, Serenity?" he said, not
really asking a question at all.

    "I-I, uh..." she squeaked, feeling so ultimately meek and
embarrassed. He laughed softly, closing his eyes in smugness. She stood there, blushing
like crazy. She couldn't believe she got herself into this! How embarrassing!

    Without another word, he took her into his arms and kissed her
deeply. His hands caressed her back as she had one hand on his cheek and her arm encircled
around his neck. She felt lustful for him suddenly, like a spell overtook her.

    They were back on the couch with Serenity on top of Bakura. She had
unbuttoned his shirt and he allowed her to kiss his neck and below. Serenity wasn't sure
if the ring was glowing on its own or if it was catching the light from the nearby lamp.
It looked so beautiful, she traced her finger over the eye. The metal felt alive almost,
it seemed to breathekurakura purred in deep joy as she touched the ring. She felt like she
should kiss it, like she must. She placed her lips on the eye and immediately she felt
like she was kissing real flesh. Confused, she stopped and ran her hand over the eye. It
was gold, not flesh.

    Bakura was in complete ecstasy. He enjoyed having her kiss the ring,
since she was really kissing the yami that way directly. The yami wanted her body and
soul, but he promised Marik's yami that he would let him have her to play with before he
ruined her. Marik's yami promised to not kill her as well, not until they got their fill
of her and used her up. YBakura thought back to when he and Marik planned it all out.
"It's like killing two birds with one stone," YMarik had said. "Once she's
reduced to a dried up mind slave, that pathetic brother of hers will be ruined as well.
Then we'll diminish him to a mind slave as well and have him kill himself before Serenity.
Of course, I'll allow her to be briefly free of my power so she can witness the lovely
death of her dear brother. She will want to die as well and will beg me to kill her."

    YBakura had frowned. "Why should you get the glory of killing
her? I want to taste her blood as much as you do." YMarik snarled at him. "Fine,
since you want to whine about that, you and I will kill her together."

    Serenity had let Bakura open the front of her blouse and feel about.
She knew she shouldn't be letting him grope her like that, but she felt too passionate to
reason with herself. A few moments of sweet kissing went by then Bakura's hands went to
Serenity's pants to attempts to remove them. 'No! Don't!' YBakura ignored the protest
Bakura yelled in his head. 'I said STOP IT! I won't let you steal her innocence you
monster! Especially not with my body!!!'

    'Shut up, you worm. I'm trying to have some fun here. Go back to
sleep.' YBakura snapped, unbuttoning Serenity's jeans. She made no moves to stop him and
it frightened Bakura. 'You think you can always make me sleep, but I've figured out a way
to control you!' he yelled at his yami. He thought hard, imagining him getting off the
couch and throwing the necklace away.

    Then he opened his eyes. He was off the couch and the necklace was
in the far corner of the living room. He gasped for air hard, unable to believe he
actually took control at last. But how his head hurt, it felt like there were millions of
jackhammers pounding his brain. He fell on one knee and held his head. The pain was so
bad. His heart pounded and he felt cold. Serenity went over to help him when she saw him
fall.

    "Ryou?? Are you alright? What's wrong?" she asked,
worried. He knew he had to warn her about his yami, she just had to believe him.
"Serenity, you've got to stay away from me. I have a terrible evil spirit inside of
me. He wants to hurt you and he tried to do so right now. I was able to stop him, but it
was hard. My head hurts so much, I can't barely think straight." he explained,
praying she believed him. "An evil spirit...?" she whispered, remembering that
Anzu and Joey had told her that Yugi had said he was afraid of a spirit inside of him. Was
there a connection? Bakura squeezed his eyes shut when a hard wave of pain washed over
him. "Ahh-urggh..!" he cried, grabbing his stomach, collapsing. Not that pain
again, it was worse than before and with his head pounding, it felt like he was in Hell.

    "Ryou?! Ryou, please, get up! Oh my God! Oh, ohhh! Where's your
phone?" she fretted, thinking she should call 9-1-1 or help of some kind. "No,
that won't help...!" he struggled through clenched teeth. "The ring! Get rid of
it, throw it away, or something! Hurry! I can't touch it!"

    Serenity grabbed the ring and ro tho the door with it. She tossed it
out into hallway and slammed the door shut. The ring didn't feel like metal, it felt like
it was a living breathing thing and it totally freaked her out. Quickly, she went back to
him. "Alright, alright, I got rid of it." she said. Bakura struggled to breathe,
he couldn't believe how horrible the pain was. He suddenly realized he couldn't live
without the ring and felt panic mix with his pain. This sort of thing never happened
before! 'I'm going to die!' he thought, tears escaping his eyes. "S-Serenity..."
he gasped, trying to tell her he was painfully dying and would need the ring to survive,
but he couldn't get the words out.

    He began to go unconscious and Serenity was really scared. He wasn't
responding to her anymore. "Bakura? Bakura? No, no, no...!" she cried, shaking
him, but he was like a rag doll. She noticed he stopped breathing. "Bakura, please
no!" She remembered something then. How Yugi would go crazy if he didn't have his
puzzle with him almost all the time. Like he needed it to live...

    Serenity ran out to the hallway to get the ring, which now felt like
how gold should feel. She rushed back and put the loop around his neck and pressed the
ring to his bare chest. Nothing happened for almost five minutes, Serenity was sure he had
died somehow and it was her fault, at least she felt like it.

    She cried over him, shaking uncontrollably. How would she explain
this to Joey and the others? Hello, guess what! Bakura's dead! She loved him so much,
why'd he have to die just like that? 'No.. he can't be dead... He just can't be...' she
thought, blinded by her waterfall of tears. She laid her head against his chest and
continued to sob.

    Then she heard it, a heart beating. His chest moved her head and
down very slightly. She jerked her head up and stared. Since she couldn't see due to her
tears, she furiously wiped them away. "Bakura...?" she whispered, afraid he
would stop breathing again. She felt his forehead and it was hot. 'My God, he must be
burning up, I've got to cool him down or something.' She put a cushion under his head and
went to the kitchen to get a cold glass of water for him.

    She carefully gave him the water which he actually swallowed
normally. But he wouldn't open his eyes or talk. He was moaning and shivering in pain, he
sounded so distressed. His breathing sounded and looked labored. Serenity worried all over
again that he might slip away, so she stayed by his side. She didn't want to move him
since he might get worse, so she kept giving him water until he turned his head away and
groaned irritably. She wished she knew what to do to help ease his pain and make him
better. So she just sat by him, worrying. She tried massaging his stomach since he was
clutching that area with his hands. After three hours, Serenity felt tense. She was
getting so tired, but she didn't want to leave him in fear he'd pass away. She was too
scared to leave him so much so that she couldn't even go look for the phone to get some
help. Serenity struggled to keep her eyes open over and over all night, but then she
jerked herself out of deep sleep. She had laid her head on Bakura's chest and had fallen
asleep. She instantly began to check if he was still breathing and he seemed a lot better.
He didn't have his features all tightened up and he was breathing calmly. She turned her
head to the clock and it read 5:38 AM.

    Her hand brushed against the ring and it felt alive, but then not
when she touched it again. "Mm-mm..." Bakura murmured softly, like he was
finally waking up. "Ryou?" she said almost silently. She watched him open his
eyes. "S-Serenity..." he said and coughed hard. He held his head and moaned.
"Oh, my head...God, it hurts..."

    "Ryou, are you okie now..?" she said, feeling relief wash
over her. He looked down at his chest and saw the ring there. His eyes turned to her and
were filled with sorrow. "Why...?" he whispered.

    Serenity stared back at him. "B-because I didn't want you to
die..." she answered. Bakura had liked Serenity before, but now he felt love for her.
True love. She really cared about him. His yami only felt lust for her and now Bakura
instead felt love for her and he vowed to protect her from him somehow. He was determined
to find the right spell to extract the demon inside him so he could be free. It would not
be easy, but he was going to try, even if he had to ask help from other demons...

    "Serenity..." Bakura wanted to tell her thank you and how
he felt, but he couldn't find the right words. She shushed him by putting her fingers on
his lips. "I know..I understand." she said and kissed him passionately. He
returned the kiss.

     When Anzu thought she got Yugi to give up his PlayBoy
magazines, she thought she had succeeded. She was wrong. She caught Joey, Tristan, and
Yugi all enjoying several dirty mags all at once. She knew they all belonged to Yugi,
because Joey and Tristan were begging him to let them borrow and keep several of those
filthy things. They wouldn't ask that if he wasn't the owner of them, now would they?

    "YUGI!" she yelled, her hands on her hips. He squeaked in
surprise and cowered before her vicious expression. "Oh, hi, Anzu..!" he said
nervously. She could easily see he was guilty of being naughty again. Joey frowned.
"Aw, man. The censor queen is here. Come to ruin all the fun." he groaned
irritably. Then he ignored her. "So, how about it, Yug? I'll be your slave for a week
if you let me keep these two measly boring magazines. Con, on, it's a great deal for you.
I'll do anything you want. Carry your books, kick your cat, shoot those birds who keep
crapping on your Grandpa's car, anything. You name it, you got it."

    Tristan began to bargain with Yugi then. "Tell you what, Yugi.
I'll be your slave for two weeks and I'll even do your homework if you let me
just borrow one. That's even a better deal!" Yugi wasn't too crazy about
Tristan's offer, he didn't want him to do his homework. 'He's not as smart as me... I'll
get bad grades if he did my homework.' he thought.

    Anzu growled viciously. "You guys are so so SO SICK!!!"
she roared, slapping all three of them. Yugi cried. "Why do I get hit? I didn't even
accept any of those offers...!" he whimpered. She shook her head. "You're the
owner of those dirty poor-excuses for books, Mr. Mutou, you deserve more than a
slap."

    "OoooOOOOoooo!" Joey and Tristan said together.
"She's piping hot now, man!" Joey said, brushing his blonde bangs out his pretty
brown eyes. Tristan wiggled his fingers in a ghoulish manner. "You better watch out,
Yugi. She's going in for the kill!"

    Anzu glared at them. "You idiots stay out of this. Yugi and I
have some things to discuss." Joey laughed. "Nah, we'll hang around and see you
chew Yugi's butt out. It's fun to see that popping red vein in your neck anyway."
Anzu got more angry. "I do not have a vein sticking out of my neck!" she
growled, the vein blowing up in size quickly.

    "Whoa, there she blows!" Tristan teased as Joey and him
hit high fives. Anzu stamped her foot. "I don't get a vein in my neck!" she
yelled. Bakura was watching from a distance ever since Anzu began her yelling. Bravely and
possibly foolishly, he went up to them and said, "But, Anzu, there is a vein popping
out on your neck. Right there." He pointed and she grabbed him by the collar.
"Are you saying I get so mad that I have a VEIN on my neck!?" she yelled, not
believing any of them. She hated how boys stuck together to tease a girl. She didn't want
to believe she had an ugly red vein sticking out.

    "Uhh-uh, y-yes! There's really a vein!" Bakura squeaked,
wrenching free and escaping from Anzu's wrath. He stood near Yugi and Joey. "Okie,
that's it. I'm tired of you guys picking on me. I'm going to be a model soon and I can't
afford to hear any jokes about non-existent veins in my neck." It was important to
Anzu that she really got to be a model clear and free. She didn't want to go back to the
BurgerWorld ever again. She didn't even want to believe the truth about the vein.
"And I want to know why you guys can't control yourselves and forget porn for
once."

    "What else is there in life?" Tristan joked and Joey
added, "Without sex there would be no human population. It's important to everyone
and life itself that we males must have the constant need to breed otherwise we'd be
extinct."

    Yugi and Bakura were horrified at what Joey said. How embarrassing!
But just the same, they couldn't help agreeing. Of course, they wouldn't voice their
opinions. Anzu would destroy them and she was getting ready to so to Joey and Tristan. She
went over and kicked them both in the groin. Yugi was really scared, he hoped she wouldn't
kick him. 'Just keep your mouth shut and you'll get out of this alive.' he thought to
himself, hiding the mags into his desk then. Bakura began to inch away to return to the
safety of his desk. "Stop right there, mister." she ordered and he sweated
nervously. "Let me live." he begged, but she could hear the humor in his voice.

    "Maybe. Tell me. Bakura, Yugi, do you agree with those two over
there?" she growled dangerously. Joey and Tristan were trying to recover from the
terrible attack. Bakura put his hands up. "Not in a bad way, I don't." Yugi
stared in fear. 'He said the wrong thing...' Yugi thought as he saw the very angry look in
Anzu's eyes. She was so fed up that she'd kill just about any boy right now.

    "What do you mean, 'not in a bad way'?" she asked, getting
her foot ready. "Well, you have to admit, without men, there wouldn't be women.
Eheheh!" Bakura said, smiling cutely. POW! Poor Bakura doubled over in pain and held
himself. "But it's the truth! My God! You man killer!" he choked out, struggling
to stand. He had a hard time getting back to his desk.

    Yugi frantically thought of a believable excuse to save him from
getting kicked in the groin. He couldn't say he agreed and he couldn't say he didn't
agree, because it wouldn't be true and he was sure Anzu wouldn't fall for his lies.

    He decided to beg for mercy. He went on his knees and bowed before
her. "Please, my dear sweet Anzu, don't punish me with your foot! I'm sorry! I love
you, don't hurt me please!" he cried, his arms stretched out as he bowed up and down,
begging for more forgiveness. She almost let him go when his hand 'accidentally' flipped
up the front of her skirt as he was bowing upwards and they saw more than they should
have. Yugi was promptly kicked twice and then class started. Yugi felt like he was going
pass out, why'd she have to kick him so hard and twice? He didn't really mean to flip her
skirt up, but he didn't mind seeing a free show. 'I wish she'd reward me more instead of
punishing me. Aw, man, why'd I have to fall in love with a nut kicker? Jeez...' he thought
sadly, holding himself trying to ease the pain.

    Yugi was determined to make things right again between them by
cutting school during free period to buy her fresh roses. Luckily he had enough time to
give them to her before the next period. "Anzu, please don't be angry with me. I
truly am sorry. I didn't mean to flip up your skirt too. Forgive me?" he peeped,
holding the twelve roses of white, pink, and red. Anzu loved the roses and hugged him.
"Oh, Yugi! They're beautiful, thank you! Alright, I forgive you. I'm sorry for
kicking you and the others. I'll try to control my anger more." she said, giving him
a kiss on the lips even though there were lots of people rushing about. He blushed hard.
"Anzu..." he squeaked, happily.

    "Well, Yugi, tonight's the dance. I guess you don't have to get
me more flowers, these will do." she said, winking. Yugi beamed. "Thanks,
Anzu." he said, summoning his courage and kissed her hand. She giggled like the freak
she was. "Oh, Yugi, you're so cute." Sluffluffed his bangs, which he enjoyed.
Anything not painful from Anzu was a blessing.

    "I'm going to wear that outfit you helped me pick out
before." she said, winking again. Yugi glanced about nervously. "That
one? Cool!" he said, thinking how her curvy figure would fit into that revealing
outfit. He thought up many naughty dirty things then. "Eww, Yugi, stop drooling. What
are you thinking about??"

    Serenity twirled her dress out as she displayed it for Bakura.
"Isn't it pretty? Joey bought it for me." she said, happily. The white-haired
teen nodded. "You look wonderful, Serenity." he praised. She went up to him to
straighten his choke collar. "Thanks. You look wonderful yourself, Ryou." He put
his hand behind his head and laughed. "Really? I'm not used to wearing the same stuff
Yugi wears. It's tight clothing." he said, adjusting the pants again. He didn't like
squeezing tight clothes, he liked comfortable loose clothes. He wasn't used to showing off
his pleasing frame, but he figured he should get used to it since he was going to be a
model soon. Serenity secretly liked how cute his butt looked in those leather pants. She
was glad no more of what happened the night before would happen again. Bakura told her he
could control the spirit inside of him better because she was with him and it was half
true. The thing he didn't tell her was that the yami could come back at anytime and finish
what he tried to start. Bakura feared that his yami would take over at the dance and hurt
Serenity and probably hurt him too. He remembered a lot of times where he had bruised and
cut himself because the yami made him. He knew he was due for another beating soon,
especially now that he took control by himself instead of the yami letting him.

    They left for the school then and halfway there, a motorcycle pulled
up to them. Marik took his helmet off and smiled at them. "Where are you
heading?"

    "The school for the dance. Remember, you didn't want to
go." Bakura said, not liking to have to talk to Marik while his yami watched over
them like a hungry shark. Marik was his best friend, but not the yami. Bakura didn't care
that he was pretty insane, he didn't see him that way. More like he was obsessed with
getting revenge on the Pharaoh. Bakura knew if he was in his shoes, he would have done the
same.

    Marik's eyes shined. "Oh yeah, that was because I had something
important to do, but I got done early. Want me to drive you there?" Serenity couldn't
help looking at Namu's beauty. He was just as sexy as Bakura, maybe even more so since he
was so exotic looking. "That's alright, Namu. We're fine." Bakura refused the
offer.

    Marik shrugged. "Suit yourself. It's just I've heard that some
Hell Raisers are out tonight. Hear they are looking for pretty girls to sacrifice to their
eight-headed gods. I don't think it'll be safe for you two to walk to the school. They
might mistake you for a pretty girl too, Bakura." he teased, showing his pearly
whites.

    "Har har. Very funny." Bakura said bitterly. Serenity grew
wary. She knew about the Hell Raiser gang too, there were plenty of rumors about them.
They worshipped evil spirits and got powers by sacrificing pretty girls. It was unknown
when they would look for a new sacrifice. They even killed babies!

    "Come on, just get on. I'll get you two there in no time. I'll
protect you from those sickos out there." he said attractively. Bakura finally
relented. "Alright, make room. Here, Serenity you get on first. I'll hold you from
behind." he said.

    "And you can hold me from behind. We'll make a human
sandwich." Marik said, charmingly. Serenity blushed. Why'd he have to be so lovely
too? She was beginning to feel her old feelings for him coming back. She put her hands
around Marik's waist and Bakura put his hands around her waist. "Hold on tight, I
don't want you falling off. I don't have insurance, heh heh." Marik teased as he
revved up the motorcycle. Bakura hoped that his yami wouldn't try to pop out while being
so near Marik's yami. He could easily imagine the horrors that could happen. Gang raping,
torture, peeling her eyeballs out and that would be the mild stuff.

    Things went smoothly for a minute or two, but when Marik slowed down
for a stop sign, a gun went off and they nearly got hit. Several more shots were fired and
Marik pulled a .35 mm pistol from his jeans pocket and fired back. Bakura held Serenity
and tried his best to cover her as a human shield. "Those stupid fools." Marik
growled, shooting expertly into the trees. Two guys fell out, one shot in the side and the
other in the leg. The rest of the gang popped out from their hiding places to approach
them.

    Serenity was terrified, she knew these where the Hell Raisers for
sure. Joey had told her what every rival gang's symbol was and the Hell Raisers' symbol
was 666 on their foreheads or hands along with pentagrams. She was too scared to express
her fear. Bakura held onto her even tighter. 'If they dare hurt Serenity, I'll kill them!'
he thought angrily. "Yo, freshmen. You da one who shot my buddies over there?"
the leader from the hellish gang asked, whose name was Biff.

    "If you had a brain, maybe you could answer that yourself, drop
out. But then again, maybe not." Marik said, grinning. Biff spat his pot cigarette
onto the road. "The way I see it is that, you crippled my men. You give up the bike
and we won't kill you." the evil dork threatened.

     "Just try and take it, you half-nutted ***holes from
Hell." Marik said, his smile never fading. Biff went over to fight Marik, who was
eager to make a new kill. Serenity watched as the leader tried to throw punches and the
like, while Marik landed powerful blows and hits all over the guy. "You dirty little
f-ing bastard!" Biff cursed, trying to get his bearings straight.

    "Why thank you." Marik said, flexing his strong muscles.
Serenity could tell he worked out at the gym or something, how awesome. She suddenly felt
guilty, she loved Bakura, not Namu. She must remain true to Bakura, but it was so hard to
do while she watched Marik fight. It couldn't be possible to love two men at once could
it...?

    Of course, Biff's idiotic buddies tried to attack Bakura and
Serenity then. The white-haired teen glared at them while Serenity prayed Joey would find
them or something. Bakura wished he had his gun, but he left it at home. He didn't even
bring his hunter's knife which would have been handy right now. All he had was his ring
and the thuggy gang drop outs looked like they wanted it.

    "Hey, Biff! Lookie here what whitey's got! He's got some kind
of gold necklace thing!" one jerk said. Bakura narrowed his eyes. "Really? Take
that too, these geeks are gonna pay for messing with us!" Biff said, finally getting
hold of Marik and was choking him. Marik had dropped his gun, but he was able to reach
around and get his rod, which he whammed down on Biff's head to make him let go.

    "Bakura, what are you waiting for? Take my bike and get out of
here!" Marik yelled, unsheathing his rod to reveal the dagger. "Aw, is he gonna
run away like a coward?" one member snickered to another. "Yeah, leave the girl,
she'll make a good sex toy before we kill her!" Bakura grew extremely angry and soon
his yami surfaced. Serenity noticed the change and was scared of not the Hell Raisers, but
of Bakura.

    He laughed softly at first, then loudly, sending chills down many of
the members in the gang. Serenity shivered too, he sounded so evil... Marik smiled evilly.
'So you've returned...'

    In one quick movement, YBakura backflipped over Marik's bike and
snatched up the gun. "We'll see who the real cowards are here and who kills
whom!" he said in that frightening sinister deep voice. Serenity flew down and hid
against the bike as YBakura began shooting. She saw the gang members drop one by one until
some got enough brains to escape.

    Biff saw his gang leaving him behind and was peeved off. "You
little freaks!" he yelled, losing his power since he had no gang to support him
anymore. "Enjoy the fires of Hell." YBakura said and fired a clean shot to the
head. The moron fell dead onto the pavement. Marik applauded his friend. "Very well
done, Bakura. I was a bit worried I might have blood stains on my clothes tonight. You
clean-cut killer you." Marik put his hand out for his gun. YBakura gave it back and
stretched. "It's good to out again. Somewhat refreshing to kill like that." he
said, smiling cutely.

    Poor Serenity didn't feel like she was ever going to be safe again.
Yugi's friends were terrible murderers! Bakura's yami came back and she was really afraid.
Marik seemed to enjoy killing too, almost like he had a yami himself...

    "Serenity, get up. It's all over now. You're safe." Marik
said gently, peeking over the other side of the bike. She didn't answer, she was
traumatized. YBakura went down to get her off the ground. "Come on, Serenity. Let's
go." he said softly, just like nothing happened. She avoided looking at them, she was
so scared. Marik sighed irritably and mouthed the words to Bakura, <Erase her mind>.

    Suddenly, Serenity didn't know what happened before they came to
that stop sign, all she knew now was that she was at the school. YBakura thanked Marik for
the ride and his friend parked his motorcycle. "You know, I think I'm going to come
with you. Serenity, you did say Yugi's here, right?" he asked, his lilac colored eyes
excited her.

    "Um, yes. Yes he is, with Anzu." she replied. YBakura did
not like how Serenity was showing interest in his friend, but they did promise to share
her. He didn't want to share, but he no choice at this point. Soon, Marik would be dead,
the Rod his, and Serenity his mind slave. He could wait and pretend to be cool with
sharing until he got his chance to destroy Marik. Then Yugi would be next.

    "How nice." Marik said and went in. YBakura hmph'ed
irritably. 'Your days are numbered my dear friend.' he thought.

    Marik went looking for Yugi right away. It took him a while, but
then he saw him at the punch table with Anzu, Joey, and Tristan. He could easily shoot
them all, but he wanted them to suffer painful deaths. Instant death was too kind. Marik
was somewhat peeved to discover Bakura got to Yugi first. 'His ring helped him. Well,
it'll help me when I have it and he's dead. Then Serenity will help me destroy that
pathetic brother of hers, which will in turn destroy Yugi. I know how much he loves him.
Makes me sick, true brotherly love. It's complete garbage.'

    "Namu! You made here afterall!" Anzu said, being cheerful.
She was in a great mood since Yugi had apologized with roses and kissed her hand. Those
things meant a lot to her. "Um, yes. I saw Bakura and Serenity and drove them over
here on my motorcycle." he said, being all polite and sweef cof course, Yugi's yami
didn't buy it. He could see right through him and narrowed his eyes. He could smell blood
on them and that meant they didn't just drive straight to the school. He looked at Joey's
little sister. Had she been tormented? She didn't act like it...

    Tristan was super annoyed to see Namu once again. 'Doesn't this guy
ever go away!?' he wondered. 'What's he gonna do, steal more girls out from under me?'
"Hey man, thanks for driving them here. I heard rumors that the Hell Raisers are out
tonight looking for any freshmen they can rob or kill off. Dirty guys kill innocent babies
even, how low!" Joey did NOT like that gang.

    Anzu gasped in shock. "How can they kill little babies? That's
awful!" she cried. Marik snickered. "Every abortion clinic kills babies
everyday, what's the big deal if someone else does it? The result is the same,
death." he asked, smiling. Tristan didn't like how Namu acted, it was almost like how
Bakura acted when that evil spirit in his ring took over him. He was sure that ring was
purified by Yugi and the spirit was gone. Bakura loved that ring too, it always came back
to him somehow...

    Yugi sniffled. "All those poor babies...!" he cried, tears
filling up in his eyes. YBakura had a plan to make Marik look totally evil and get
Serenity to despise him. 'I have no patience to share anyway. What do I need to listen to
him for? He's nothing compared to me. He thinks he can unleash more wicked horrors than
me, he's sadly mistaken. The world will run thick with blood before I even begin my
carnage...' the white-haired teen's yami thought evilly. 'Bakura, I'll make a deal with
you. If you obey me in every way, I'll allow you the freedom of your body and mind, how's
that?ray ray me in any way and you will suffer like before.' His yami said to poor good
Bakura. 'As long as you don't hurt my friends, I'll do whatever you ask...' he agreed.

    'Good. I will give you control once this dance is over. Now sleep.'
YBakura said, in complete control once again. Anzu was jabbering about how awesome she
thought Serenity's dress was and saying her dress was extra special because Yugi picked it
for her. "That's so delightfully sweet." YBakura said, cheerfully.
"Serenity picked out this outfit. I don't know, I hope I don't look silly."

    YYugi knew that YBakura was the one who was in control and YYugi
wasn't happy about it. But he didn't stir up any hostility. After all the guy was wearing
his taste in clothing. "Those garments fit you well, Bakura. You should dress that
way more often. It's the best style." YYugi praised.

    "You know something, Halloween's coming up soon, which
teacher's house do we toilet paper this year?" Joey asked, suddenly thinking of
mischief. "Definitely Ms. Chono. Let's egg her car too." Tristan agreed.
"She expelled some more kids for having a condom wrapper in their desk, isn't that
crazy? I mean, anyone could have put that wrapper in anyone's desk, doesn't mean it was
theirs."

    "Yeah, stupid Ms. Chono, who does she think she is? Does she
want kids to have unprotected sex? Jeez, I tell you the time we live in now is like Hell.
Everyone's against teens. At least the adults are anyway." Joey complained, wishing
he could step out for a quick smoke. He pulled a cigarette pack from his pocket and
sighed. "Dang school doesn't even let ya smoke outdoors, sheesh. Get caught and it's
detention for a week."

    Yugi felt a tad guilty since he was having faint cravings. 'Don't
these patches work?' he thought. 'Stupid things cost so much and don't even do anything.'
Bakura shook his head. "How could have you gotten hooked on that stuff? Cigars are
better, at least you don't get addicted to them." he said.

    "Where I come from, we get to smoke all the pot and weed we
want. We're encouraged to do it. Pleases the so-called gods of the night." Marik
said. "It's interesting how it's illegal here."

    "Um, can we quit talking about drugs, please?" Anzu said,
waving her hands. "Come on, Yugi, let's dance." She pulled him away from the
others and YYugi showed off his perfect moves. Serenity was inspired. "Let's go too,
Bakura. I'd love to see how you dance." she said, pulling him out to the dance floor
as well. YBakura went to put YYugi's moves to shame, but it wasn't easy. Marik watched his
best friend and licked his lips. 'How seductive you are, Bakura...' he thought evilly.

    Joey and Tristan were surprised. "Wow, Yug sure has some good
moves there. Wonder where he learned them." Tristan said, thinking out loud. Joey
shrugged. "Who knows. Bakura's sure trying to out do him, it's almost like a rival
game. I'll bet you anything that those two are gonna come back here, swig down some punch
and then challenge each other with a bet. You just wait and see. Yug's done this before
with some other dance king, who's now the dance chump." Joey said and then got an
idea. "Heeey, let's get everyone to make bets who's the best dancer and we'll rake in
the dough. Lots of girls like Bakura still and I know pretty many dames that like Yugi,
even though Anzu's always lurking about. Let's do it."

    Tristan was all for it. Making money was always his thing.
"Yeah! Cool!" he exclaimed. "Wanna help us, Namu? We'll give you a
worthwhile cut of the profits no matter who wins." Joey asked Marik. The tan teen
pretended to be meek. "Well, I don't know. I guess I could keep track of all the bets
for Bakura." Marik went off into the crowd.

     Joey and Tristan didn't have a hard time getting people to bet
on Yugi, whenever the King of Games did his thing, he almost always won. Soon there was
good money going towards them. All the bets stopped when the DJ kept putting on slow songs
to Joey and Tristan's dismay. "Oh well, I was getting tired anyway hunting for bets.
Man, some of those Bakura-lover girls were really rude when I asked them to pay up when
Yugi won. Brain-dead dames." Joey complained, counting up the cash.

    Tristan nodded. "I know! One nearly took my head off when I
asked for her hundred dollar bet. She should have known better." Nevertheless, the
boys counted the money happily. "Cool! There's enough here for us to pig out on pizza
and porn mags for two weeks!" Tristan said. They found Namu and kept their promise.
There was plenty to share. "Here, man. Your cut." Joey said, holding out a fair
share. Namu yawned. "I don't want it, give it to Bakura or Yugi. I'm going
home." And just like that he left without saying bye or anything.

    "Whoa, he must be loaded if he turns down that kind of
money." Tristan said in a hushed surprised voice. "That or he's totally crazy.
Oh well, more for us!" Joey said happily. "Uh, shouldn't we give that share to
Yugi then?" Tristan said. As much as he didn't like Yugi very much since he stole his
best friend right out from under him, Tristan was still a fair person.

    "Yeah, I guess. Look at the guy. He's really got that
nut-kicker Anzu trained. I've never seen her be so...now what's a good word to use?"
Joey put his hand on his chin in thought and stared at the ceiling. "So dog-like? A
mutt on a leash?" Tristan offered. "Yeah, that's it! Dog girl. It's about time
someone else gets called a dog besides me. Hmph."

    Meanwhile, Anzu was once again in deep awe for YYugi, everything
about him was utterly sexy and perfect. His velvety deep voice, his hot frame wrapped in
tight shiny black leather, his piercing purple eyes that made you turn into putty, and
that confident, powerful attitude caused Anzu to drool up a storm. She had her head on his
shoulder as they danced. It was not only enchanting to be in the arms of one of the most
hunkypoo hotties of the universe, but it was pure Heaven having that hottie love you back
as much as you loved him. YYugi was admiring her as well. Her light brown short hair that
was always kept clean and natural, the incredible breast and rear sizes, the long smooth
legs, and the best part was her face and eyes. He could always see her feelings for him in
her pretty blue eyes. Those feelings excited little Yugi into being a shy blushing stiff
board of cute innocence, while enticed the yami into a lewd mood.

    "Oh, Yugi, this is the best time I've ever had so far..."
she whispered happily, bringing her head up to face him. He smiled, taking hold of her
chin. "I feel the same way too, Anzu." he agreed, his voice making her want to
strip him right there and then. She struggled to keep her hands from unbuttoning or
tearing the leather off. She gazed into his eyes, ready to explode with passion. He
laughed softly. "I know what you want to do. Behave yourself for now, I'll reward you
later..."

    Anzu couldn't hold back the happy squeal that erupted from her, but
YYugi silenced her with a powerful kiss. Serenity happened to peek at Anzu and Yugi from
time to time and saw the kiss. She realized how familiar it looked, Bakura kissed her the
same way before he jumped off the couch and threw away the ring. She had a faint memory of
him telling her it was evil, but now when she tried to remember what happened after he
threw the ring away, she couldn't remember. It was almost like it was all a dream. Like
the kind that you try to remember, but you just can't. It was weird...

    Instead of worrying about it, she enjoyed being with Bakura. His
white long locks showered her with softness since she was resting her head on his
shoulder. She looked over at Anzu again for inspiration. She really adored the love Yugi
and Anzu shared, it was so ideal. She was sure she had that kind of love with Bakura,
though she wasn't completely sure. Long before, Joey had told her and everyone else he
could, that Bakura had a lot of bad rumors hanging around him. He put the 'b' in bad luck
charm. People around him suddenly disappear and were never seen again. Why'd he have to
change schools so many times? There had to some kind of a problem...

    Serenity couldn't believe how people could create such terrible
rumors about such a nice wonderful person like Bakura. She was with him for the whole
weekend and she didn't disappear or anything bad. The wicca stuff did freak her out a bit,
especially talking and writing to a dead sister everyday, but Serenity began to see that
he really loved his sister. Joey loved her, so she understood a brother/sister
relationship.

    Serenity wished she could have met Amane, she was probably beautiful
and smart like her brother, Bakura. She thought of asking Bakura to see a photo of her
maybe, but she wasn't sure if that'd be a good idea. She didn't like to admit it, but he
seemed obsessed with his sister. She thought maybe there was incest, but instantly she
felt shameful. He couldn't be like that. No way!

    'What about all those tiny dolls that look like people he keeps in
his room?' a nagging voice asked her. It was true, there were more than plenty of those
small dolls arranged nicely in his room. What did he need them for? If it was a
collection, it was strange because a lot of those dolls were butt-ugly. She then
remembered the special doll of her that he didn't want her to touch. Serenity got a
worried feeling that maybe he was obsessed with her instead of being in love with her.
Once again she felt ashamed. 'How can I think these horrible thoughts about him when he's
been so kind to me? I'm the one who's bad, getting attracted to Namu again. I've got to be
more faithful.'

    YBakura was resting his head against hers as they danced, embracing
her. She didn't mind his naughty hands feeling about where they didn't belong. But Joey
minded. "Hey!" he cried not liking what he saw. "What?" Tristan looked
up from putting the money into order with the bills all facing the same way. Joey didn't
answer and went right to beat some white fluff out of the demented dove.

To Be Continued...