Tormented Minds

Tormented Minds Ch.4


Tormented Minds Ch.4

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 for A/N.  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. Lots of mature content too. R/R, please no flames! Also see the fic scene
fanart piccys for this fic series at my website. Enjoy!

Tormented Minds

Chapter 4

    Just then, the slow dance was over and Bakura and Serenity were
about to head outside for some fresh air. Joey didn't waste any time as he chased after
Bakura and Serenity outdoors. Tristan followed silently. Joey pushed Bakura away from his
sister. "Joey! What are you doing?" Serenity cried, shocked at her brother.
YBakura glared. "I say, that's uncalled for."

    "Yeah? Well, what I saw you doing to Serenity was really
uncalled for, jerk. Keep your hands off my little sister. She's too young for that kind of
stuff." Joey said, being protective. It might be a good thing that he didn't know
that Serenity was staying with Bakura already, the demented dove would have been killed by
now. No way Joey would allow any hanky-panky to his only sister.

    Serenity was immensely embarrassed. Joey was only a year older than
her, how could she be too young? It wasn't like she was a little baby. She was more mature
than him, so what was wrong with him? YBakura growled, disgusted. "If she didn't want
me touching her, she would have said so. Right?" He looked to her. Serenity nodded.
"Of course! Joey, I't sot some little baby, I can take care of myself you know."

    "I didn't say you were a baby, Serenity. I just don't want
anything bad happening to you, that's all." Joey said, trying to get the point across
that he was protecting her because he cared about her well-being. "Well, you sure act
like I am now! Nothing bad will happen to me. Bakura would never hurt me if that's what
you're trying to say." Serenity said, staring angrily at her bro.

    "Yeah, he won't, as long as he doesn't let that evil spirit
come back..." Joey said, looking suspiciously at Bakura, who grit his teeth. Yugi and
Anzu were there then. They had noticed their friends were not indoors moments ago and went
looking for them. "What's going on guys?" Anzu asked, concerned.

    "Bakura's trying to rape Serenity!" Joey blurted out his
main fear. YBakura scoffed. "Oh please! I was merely hugging her, that hardly
qualifies for sexual harassment." Serenity felt like disappearing, how could her
brother embarrass her like this?

    Tristan liked how this was heading, if things didn't go right
between Bakura and Serenity, he could step in and sweep her off her feet. "Oh, I
don't know, Bakura. From where Joey and I d, id, it sure looked like a lot more was going
on than just 'hugging'." he rubbed in, evilly. YBakura narrowed his eyes. "How
dare you-!" he started to say, but then Joey cut him off as he yelled in his face.
"You were sticking your hands down her skirt, you perv! Just admit it!"

    Serenity struggled with her hurt feelings. How could Joey be so
wrong? Anzu was shocked. Sweet innocent Bakura doing that? YYugi put his hand Joey's
shoulder. "Calm down, Joey. You're overreacting."

    "Overreacting!? No way I'm not!" Joey cried. Tristan
purposely said, "Yeah, he's just trying to keep Serenity safe, that's all. I don't
think he's overreacting." Anzu shook her head. "Come on guys. We know Bakura,
he'd never go too far with Serenity. He's not like that." she defended. Joey scoffed.
"Yeah, we know Bakura to lose it sometimes and go really weird, that's what." he
said, remembering all the bad stuff that had happened before. "How can you trust
someone like that? A regular Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."

    YBakura let poor Ryou hear Joey say that to try and brainwash him.
'Hear that? They never trusted you all along. They're not your friends.' Ryou was hurt by
Joey's words, but he would not be tricked by his yami. He knew it wouldn't do any good by
saying he didn't believe him, so he said nothing. 'Didn't you hear me?' His yami asked. He
kept silent. 'Shocked aren't you? You realize the truth then. Good.'

    Serenity couldn't take it anymore and ran back inside. Joey was
surprised. Couldn't she understand she couldn't trust Bakura? YYugi sighed. "Joey,
you shouldn't have said all that. You know Bakura's not the one responsible for all
this."

    Joey was confused. "HUH? What do you mean? I saw him!" he
cried. YYugi shook his head. "You saw someone else.&; Th; Then he looked at YBakura.
"Drop your act. I know who you really are." YYugi said, directly to the evil
spirit inside Bakura. Anzu, Joey, and Tristan stared. The evil spirit again!?

    He laughed evilly in his own special sexy way. "Sense me, do
you? Well, there's nothing you can do. Bakura and I are on agreeable terms now. He heard
what you said about him, Joey. He now knows that all of you were never his friends all
along." YBakura smiled. Joey felt guilty, he didn't really mean what he said all the
way, he was just really worried. He didn't care who it was, he didn't want his sister
being touched or used. "No, I didn't mean it like that! I really meant it for you,
you evil jerk. Why don't you leave Bakura alone for once?" Joey growled.

    "Come now. Why should I? Innocent minds are so fun to torment
and destroy. You can't stop me from doing what I want. Of course, you can try if you want,
but in the end I will win. Because if you try to attack or banish me, I'll kill Serenity.
Very slowly..." YBakura smirked, his brown eyes shining. Anzu felt a chill, how evil
he sounded and looked. 'That monster! Hurting poor Bakura and using his body like a
puppet! He threatened to kill Serenity, what do we do??' she wondered.

    Joey growled and got into YBakura's face. "I won't let you get
near my sister again, you creep! If you touch or hurt her or anything at all, I'll get you
for it! No demented sicko spirit is going to do anything to my sister with me
around!" Joey yelled, balling his fists. "Who said you'll be around much
longer?" YBakura said, malice in his voice. That's it! Joey threw a punch, causing
YBakura to fall to his knees. As bad luck would have it, Serenity came back to ask Bakura
if they could go home when she saw Joey slug him and was horrified. She immediately went
to YBakura's aid, who put on a pity act.

    "Bakura! Are you okie?" she cried, as he held his gut.
"I think so, but I don't know why Joey hit me." YBakura said in Ryou's gentle
voice. He pretended to double over in pain and groaned pitifully. "Joey, how could
you! He didn't do anything wrong!" Serenity cried, helping evil YBakura to his feet.
Joey was in such a hurry to warn her about the evil spirit inside Bakura, that he kept
sputtering and made a fool of himself. "Serenity, he's evil!" Anzu said.
"He's threat-"

    "Be quiet! I don't want to hear any of you! I'm tired of
everyone picking on Bakura! I love him, don't you understand?! Just go away and leave us
alone!" she yelled, angry at them all.

    "Let's go, everyone. She wants to be alone with him. We should
respect her request.&quYYugYYugi said, walking away. Anzu was shocked. How could Yugi
agree to leaving Serenity with the evil spirit?? She'll get hurt and killed! Anzu went
after Yugi to get him to change his mind.

    YBakura and Serenity were also walking away, leaving a
flabbergasted, lost for words Joey behind. He almost went after him to beat him up, but he
feared he'd honor his threat. Plus, he'd be hurting Bakura, who was an innocent victim
once again. He felt so torn. Tristan also felt like Joey. 'She said she loved him! There's
no hope for me now.' he thought feeling a heavy weight on his shoulders. 'With that evil
spirit back, who knows what will happen to Serenity. She doesn't even believe he has one,
I've got to convince her somehow!'

    Meanwhile, Anzu was talking with Yugi. "Yugi, you can't let
Serenity be alone with the evil spirit, he'll hurt her or something worse." she
complained as YYugi calmly drank punch. "Ha, he won't do anything to her, as long as
we don't do anything. Don't worry about it, Anzu."

    Anzu put her hands on her hips. "Yugi, you act like this is
some game. Serenity's in danger, we have to save her! We can't trust him not to hurt or
kill her if we don't do anything."

    "What we can trust is that he will kill her if we do do
something. Just forget about it." YYugi was nonchalant.

    "But we can't just let him get away with this! How come you
can't banish that evil spirit for good? How come he keeps coming back?" Anzu asked.
YYugi continued act as nothing was wrong. "Because he's persistent. I can only banish
him for periods at a time. We're lucky I can even do that."

    "Yugi, why are so cold about this? This is a big problem, that
freak inside Bakura could send Serenity to the Shadow Realm tonight to kill her. Why can't
we do something about it now?" Anzu was still worried.

    YYugi sighed irritably. "Because, Anzu, if we attack now,
Serenity will be killed. I know what I'm doing." Anzu would not give up. "But,
Yugi!"

    "Anzu..."

    The look on his face made Anzu shut her mouth finally. "Just
trust me on this one. There's nothing to worry about." he assured. She really hoped
so.

    Serenity was so mad at Joey that she swore she'd never talk to him
again. Not wanting to take a chance with the Hell Raisers again or any other gang for that
matter, they took the bus. Once back at the apartment complex, YBakura convinced Serenity
that he was alright. As he promised, Ryou had control over his body again.

    "I'm so sorry about Joey." Serenity apologized. Bakura
shook his head. "It's alright. Don't be angry at him, Serenity. He's your only
brother, you're lucky to still have him. I don't blame him, I would have done the same for
my sister."

    "Joey was just making a big deal out of nothing. He should know
you'd never hurt me. I know you, you'd never hurt anyone, just like Yugi." Serenity
went to the couch to sit down and think. "Do you remember what happened after we
stopped at the stop sign when Namu drove us to the dance? I can't seem to
remember..."

    Bakura remembered well. He didn't want to tell her the details,
she'd become traumatized once more and be afraid of him and think he lied when he said
none of what happened the night he almost died would happen again. "We stopped at the
sign and then we were at the school." he lied, feeling bad.

    "Oh... I thought that's what happened too..." she said,
feeling lost. Since Bakura couldn't stand the tight leather much longer, he excused
himself to get out of them. Serenity offered to make them something to eat and went to
prepare something. Bakura took that extra time to get a shower. He usually took off the
ring to bathe but he was afraid to now. It seemed he couldn't live without it anymore.
When he was done, he wiped theged ged up medicine cabinet's mirror to look at himself. Was
he really in control all the way? He stared at his eyes to see the truth. He saw himself
thankfully. Not the evil spirit.

    He stepped out of the bathroom only in a very short towel and was
about to go to his room to get clothes on when Serenity appeared. "Oh! I'm so sorry,
Bakura! I wanted to let you know I made us some macaroni and cheese." she cried,
covering her eyes as her cheeks reddened. He was scared as well. "Um, thanks
Serenity...If you need to use the bathroom, you can." he offered, blushing.

    "Thank you. I think I'll take a shower too." she squeaked
and went past him, her eyes to the floor. She quickly went into the bathroom. Bakura
practically ran to his room to put lots of clothes on. "Oh, dear. How
embarrassing." he said out loud, wiping wet bangs out his eyes.

    Serenity couldn't get the image of a nearly naked wet Bakura out her
mind. He was so sexy! She couldn't help thinking naughty thoughts as she showered. In no
time, she was drying off and wrapped herself in a towel. She thought of how the towels
were probably used before by Bakura and now she was using them. 'Yum!' she thought as she
opened the door. 

    Being rather naughty, she jumped and landed hard and pretended to be
hurt. "OW! OW! I slipped!" she cried, smiling. Then she sat on the floor.
Instantly, Bakura came running in jeans and his favorite blue and white striped shirt.
"Serenity, are you all right!?" He stopped and stared with wide eyes. By her
smile, he could tell she wasn't at all hurt. She giggled and got up seductively. He looked
down at the floor, shamefully. "Don't tell me you did this on purpose?" he said
very quietly.

  p; Sp; She laughed and admitted the truth. "Yes, I did. I figured
since I got to see you; you can get to see me. It's only fair." she said, walking off
to get her other clothes in her overnight bag. He stood there for a moment and then went
back to his room. 'Can't think these thoughts!' He laid on his bed and covered his head
with a pillow. 'Must control hormones! Must think clean thoughts! Joey will kill me if I
don't control myself and think clean thoughts! Must not thif bef beautiful nearly naked
Serenity! Think of something ugly! Something really really ugly to turn me off!' he
repeated in thought. First he kept seeing pretty almost naked Serenity over and over. Then
lovely Marik. Then finally a terrible image of Lumis and Umbra kissing really helped him
get turned off.

    "Oh my God, that's so utterly wretched!" he cried, feeling
the need to puke. He sat up and shuddered. "Ewww! Blah, puke!" It took him a few
moments to calm down. He combed his nearly dry locks. "Ugh, what a gross image! The
scary thing is, it may be a true thing. UGGH!" He shook his head, trying to erase the
frightening image. "Gotta think of pretty things. Pretty, pretty, pretty..." he
said, thinking of Serenity. "Whew, that's better."

    He called out to Serenity to find out if she was done dressing. She
said it was safe to come out so he went to eat the food Serenity made for them. As they
washed the dishes together, Serenity said shyly, "Living like this feels like we're
married..."

    She had a dreamy look in her eyes. Bakura was taken aback, but he
had to admit, it did feel that way. "Yes, it does feel that way. Eheh heh..." he
replied, feeling embarrassed. He never thought he'd ever get married, it wasn't something
he thought about before. Being a husband or frighteningly enough a father were unknown to
him.

    Serenity leaned her head against his shoulder lovingly. She had
thought of marrying a lot before. She thought of it way back when she was a little kid and
lots of times now. Of course, she wanted a perfect man to be her husband. Bakura seemed to
fit the bill nicely. He was tall, handsome even pretty, independent, and so very gentle
and kind hearted. He didn't burp rudely like Tristan or stink like her brother Joey. So
what if he was a tad weird? She didn't care.

    'When we're a little older, I'll ask him to marry me...' Serenity
promised herself. "Oh, Ryou, you're so sweet. I can't see how anyone wouldn't love
you, you're so perfect..." she praised, snuggling him. He felt warm and happy, but
sad too. "Thanks, Serenity. But I'm not perfect. You're the one who's perfect. You're
beautiful and smart and sweet." he said. 'And free of problems like I have. You truly
are perfect, my dear Serenity...'

    When it was time to hit the hay, Bakura let Serenity sleep in his
comfortable bed while he stayed out and slept on the couch just like the two days before.
Serenity feebly thought of letting him sleep with her, to feed that feeling of false
marriage, but she was too shy to ask him. It might scare him away as well. He surely
wasn't a horny dog like her brother. So instead, she pretended he was in the bed with her
anyway, reliving his earlier touches. The small dolls all around her seemed to stare into
her soul. She was sure that she saw some opening their little sewn mouths to talk. They
didn't seem that weird before when she slept in that room two days earlier. 'Oh well, it
must be my imagination.' she hoped and closed her eyes and didn't open them whatsoever.

    Meanwhile, on the couch, a sleeping Bakura opened his eyes as his
yami took control again. He got up and went to his room quietly with a smirk on his
face...

    Serenity was half asleep when she heard the door open. She pretended
to be asleep, but secretly she was thrilled She wanted him to be with her at all times,
even in bed. Serenity didn't know why she felt like this, but she figured it must be
because she loved him so much. Carefully and silently, YBakura was next to her. His evil
brown eyes glowed with seductive spite as he embraced her from behind. Serenity couldn't
hold back her pleased feelings. "Hehee, Bakura, I know it's you." she whispered,
smiling happily. "Good." he rasped in that uncaring deep voice. She felt his
lips on her neck and sighed joyfully. He massaged her breasts as he pressed up against her
and straddled her. Serenity sighed again, but nervously. He never went this far before, at
least not this weirdly fast. He was rubbing harder, making her more excited. She moaned
happily and found herself swaying her hips in sync with his sways. He aroused her more and
more to the point where she was struggling to remove her panties. He was on top of her
then and ready to enter when she heard a voice in her head say, 'GET OUT OF THERE! RUN
AWAY!' The voice sounded like YYugi, but Serenity wasn't sure. She felt too passionate to
leave, she wanted to have sex with Bakura.

    'I TOLD YOU TO GET OUT OF THERE! GET OUT!!!'  the voice roared
in her head. She ignored it and didn't hear it anymore. She had no idea how painful, yet
enjoyable intercourse was. Bakura released his pleasure into her many times that night.
Finally it was over and she was falling asleep in his strong arms. Even though she felt
sore, she felt happy and truly calm for the first time in her life. Now she didn't have to
lie when she said she wasn't a virgin.

    Joey wanted to call his mom's house to talk to Serenity, but a
discouraging feeling always fell over him when he picked up the phone. He was so angry at
the evil spirit. How dare he threaten to kill Serenity, it was terrible! He wanted to rape
her too!  It made Joey's blood boil and he felt crazy at the same time. His sister
didn't want his help and that hurt a lot inside. So much so, Joey cried. When he realized
he was crying, he furiously wiped at his eyes and kicked his bed. His dumb father was
downstairs, totally drunk and sleeping on the couch, snoring like a disgusting pig.

    'He doesn't even know Serenity's in trouble. He never cared to know
anything about us!' Joey thought bitterly. 'Dumb jerk, why'd he have us anyways? To
torture? I hate him! I hate mom too. Stupid jerks, didn't even think ahead or anything.
How could they rip Serenity and me apart?? Serenity's all I got left for a real family,
now she's in danger and I can't do a f-ing thing about it!' Joey punched the wall and hurt
his hand, but he was too mad to care. 'And Yugi! My best friend. Overreacting! Doesn't he
know how important this is? But how can he? He's got no brothers or sisters.' Joey sat on
his bed and smoked one cigarette after another. "I promise Serenity, I'll get you
back safe and sound." he said and ground out his last cigarette. He kicked off his
sneakers and tried to go to sleep. He had a plan on how to save her the very next day.

    The next day at school, Joey waited for Bakura to get to class. He
wanted to talk to him before he knocked him out and tied him up to lock into the janitor's
room so he couldn't be allowed to get near Serenity again. He knew it wasn't Bakura's
fault for the evil spirit, but he was still in Bakura's body.

    Bakura was totally horrified when he woke up that morning naked with
Serenity who was also naked. She was waking up at the same time and had smiled fondly at
him. She told him how much she enjoyed the night before. Bakura had a huge lump of guilt
and worry in his throat. He asked if they really did it and she had nodded. He couldn't
believe it, he was going to get killed by Joey if he ever found out. He knew he couldn't
hide that fact from Joey, he wasn't too good at lying.

    He couldn't put off going to school any longer and went. When he
stepped into the classroom, he prayed Joey would give him time to talk before he destroyed
him. He noticed Joey staring at him from Yugi's desk. Bakura went to his desk and sat
stiffly. Joey went over to him and so did Tristan and Yugi.

    "Okie, you, what did you do to Serenity last night?" Joey
said in a dark voice. Bakura had a hard time facing him. Yugi looked at him and waved his
hands. "Wait, guys, it's Bakura. Not the evil spirit." he assured them. Tristan
breathed a sigh of relief. "Whew! I was afraid you were stuck in evil mode."

    "Tell me what happened last night!" Joey got impatient.
Bakura looked down at his desk. "Well...um...Serenity's not a virgin anymore..."
he admitted, feeling terrible. Joey was appalled and grew sorrowfully angry. "You
bastard!!!" he yelled, trying to choke poor Bakura. Tristan and Yugi fought him off
while Bakura gasped for air.

    "Joey, stop it! It's not his fault!" Tristan said, holding
his friend back. Yugi felt sad. Poor Serenity didn't listen to him when he warned her last
night. "That's right Joey, my spirit telepathically told her to get out, but she
didn't. She wanted to do it. You can't blame Bakura, he's every bit torn up inside as you.
I know I would be." the small teen said.

    Joey shivered with sadness. "I couldn't protect her..! I should
have followed her last night, but instead I stupidly stood there like a moron! Why..?
Why!?" he cried, tears welling up in his eyes. Bakura looked down at the floor.
"I should have committed suicide..." he said softly. Yugi was concerned.
"No, Bakura! You can't kill yourself, don't even think like that! You're my friend.
Our friend. And we love you. Killing yourself will only break Serenity's heart. Ours
too."

    "Yugi..." Bakura said, looking at him. He could see he was
dead serious about what he just said. It was true, Serenity would be so sad if he died, he
knew this when he couldn't live without the ring. She might even kill herself to be with
him and he didn't want that. He had to find that spell to banish the evil spirit in him
forever, he just had to!

    Tristan felt sad as well, he felt different now. Serenity could stay
with whichever guy she wanted, he didn't mind anymore. As long as she was happy. Suddenly,
a familiar person joined them. "Yugi, what's happening?" Duke asked, his bright
Christmas green eyes shining. Yugi smiled, but then went solemn.

    "What's the matter with you people? Someone die?" Duke
joked, adjusting his ponytail. Joey went away, not wanting to discuss it with Duke. Joey
still considered him a jerk, since he had to be his dog slave for a few days until Yugi
came to save him. Tristan shook his head and went with Joey. Bakura was staring off into
space, like he was on another planet.

    "Jeez, who died?" Duke asked, not understanding. Yugi
shook his head. "Bakura scored with Serenity." he said, embarrassed to explain.
Bakura groaned in shame and hid his face in his arms. Duke was shocked and wanted to know
details. "What? Hey, no fair! I had a crush on her first." he complained. 'Man, o awo away for two weeks on a business trip and look what happens.'

    "I didn't know you liked Serenity, Duke." Yugi said,
surprised. Duke's cheeks grew red. "Er, yeah. For a while now. I just didn't have the
nerve to ask her up front, you know what I mean?" he said, swiping a hand through his
shiny raven black hair. Bakura began slamming his fist up and down on his desk in
frustration.

    "Well, since you've had your fun with her, can I have a go at
her?" Duke asked Bakura. Joey didn't miss that line and flew at the dark haired teen
to kill him. "Touch her too and you DIE!!!!" Joey shrieked, choking him. Once
again Tristan and Yugi had to pry him off the other guy. Duke coughed and held his sore
neck. "Ugh, I was just kidding!!" he cried.

    "How can you be kidding about stuff like that? It's
horrible..." Bakura said softly, his voice muffled by his sleeves. Joey nodded with
his fist to Duke's face. "Yeah, you jerk! My sister isn't some sex toy you can use up
and throw away like trash!"

    "Hey, I'm not implying she was! I like her too. Man, why am I
getting the third degree, I didn't f*** her." Duke snapped, knocking Joey's fist out
of his face. Bakura let out a shaky cry of shame. Yugi and Tristan both felt sorry for the
demented dove. Joey couldn't stand feeling like this, totally helpless. It was the worst
feeling, it made physical punches seem like nothing.

    Anzu finally arrived. "Hi, guys. Hey, Duke, you're back! How
was the trip?" she asked. He closed his eyes and twirled one hand above his head.
"So-so. Trying to get the rights for this new game, it's going to take a while to get
it into the market. Oh, I have recently been assaulted by Joey." he said, glaring.

    "Joey? Why?" Anzu was confused. "Because I said I
wanted fun with Serenity since Bakura had a turn at scoring with her." Duke said,
hands on his slim girly hips. <<Hehee:P>>

    Bakura got up from his desk and left quickly. He couldn't take it
anymore. Anzu stared in shock and then glared at Yugi. "I told you we should have
done something last night! But you said you knew what you were doing! Leave them alone,
you said. Forget about it, you said. Yugi, this is partly your fault!" she yelled.

    Yugi believed that and felt rotten. "No, it's not his fault,
Anzu. It's my fault, I didn't follow them or anything. I'm the older brother and I failed
miserably protecting Serenity. It's my fault, not Yugi's." Joey defended.

    "It's really Bakura's fault, you know. He's the one who had sex
with her." Duke said, annoyed. If it wasn't for that dumb business trip, he could
have tried to make Serenity his. Bakura, of all people, beat him to it. 'And I thought he
was gay...' he thought.

     Bakura left the school and ran away into the nearby woods. He
ran until his lungs burned and he couldn't take another step. He leaned against a tree and
held his head in despair. He really wanted to die still, despite what Yugi said about them
all loving him. "How can they love a monster like me?" he cried, tears falling
down his cheeks. "I've been cursed all my life. Maybe it was a good thing no one
wanted to be my friend before. If I was any kind of human being, I would have been able to
control this spirit inside of me. Yugi can do it, why can't I? WHY!?"

    He torn open his shirt and grabbed the ring to stare at it.
"Ever since I got you things changed... For the worse. But I can't part with you, you
are me. I'm a horrible monster. I wish someone would come and put me out my misery!!"
he yelled, leaning against the tree again. The shame inside him was destroying him. Tears
fell from his cheeks faster.

    "Be careful for what you wish for..." said a familiar
voice. Bakura looked around and then saw Marik walking up to him. "Why are you
crying? You did what you always wanted." he said, kneeling down to his best friend.
Bakura looked away. "I didn't want to hurt her..."

    "What are you talking about? You didn't hurt her, she enjoyed
herself. She's not at all suspicious. She adores you, fool. Don't be so compassionate, it
makes me sick. Don't you realize we are winning here?" Marik said, wiping Bakura's
tears away. "Stop suppressing yourself, you know you wanted to have sex with her,
just like I do."

    Bakura didn't want to admit that he actually did want to do it with
Serenity, but he was too kind and a gentleman to do so. His yami took care of what he
feared to do.

    Marik buttoned Bakura's shirt, concealing the ring within.
"Decide what you want to do. Do you want to die or do you want to live to keep on
loving Serenity? I know you love her as much as you love me, so decide. If you want death,
I'll be happy to comply." He reached for his Millennium Rod.

    Bakura didn't want Serenity to weep over his corpse, so he stood up.
"I want to live, but I don't want to share her with you. I share myself and that
should be enough. If you are any kind of friend, you'll leave me alone." 

    Marik's eyes narrowed, but he backed off. "Fine. I'll see you
later then." The tan teen left, walking back to the school. Bakura sighed and
summoned his courage to return to school, but first he needed to do something important.

    When Joey got his first chance, he went looking for Serenity. He had
to talk to her. It took him some time to find her, but when he did, he could tell she was
still mad at him. "Hey." he said, standing next to her as she drank from a water
fountain. "We've got nothing to talk about." she said and began walking away.
Joey went after her of course. "Serenity, no wait! Please, you've got to hear me out.
I didn't mean to treat you like a little kid last night, I was just worried for your
safety."

    "I know that, Joey, but I don't need you hovering over me in
everything I do. I can take care of myself." she insisted. "Of course you can,
but I still don't want anything remotely bad hapng tng to you. I care about you, Sis. I
love you." Joey said, feeling mushy, but it was important for him to say those words.

    "I love you too, Joey. Bakura said I shouldn't be mad at you
and I'm not anymore. Thanks for trying to protect me, but I didn't need it this time. You
can trust Bakura to take care of me now." she said, smiling. Joey felt a yucky
feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Serenity, you've got to understand. Bakura's got
an evil spirit inside him that makes him do terrible things. You've got to be careful
around him, okie?" Joey said, trying to give her some space on protection, although
he would still be watching over her just the same.

    Serenity put a hand to her forehead like she was trying to remember
something. "I think I had a dream where he told me that too. And he almost died when
he tore off his ring and I threw it away. But I had to give it back to him so he wouldn't
die... It's kinda blurry, but I can remember those parts of the dream."

    Joey was surprised. 'Serenity knows about the evil spirit and still
isn't wed?'ed?' "Serenity, if you need any help at all, just use this and beep me.
I'll come." He handed her a small machine that was like a homing device if activated.
Then Joey would be able to find her easily with the other seeker device, both of which
were NOT made by Kaiba Corp. Heehee>:D

    "Thanks, Joey." she said, taking the beeper and putting it
into her pocket. "Serenity, I know what happened last night..." Joey said,
sounding glum. His sister squeaked in surprise. What did he know?

    "I know what you and Bakura did together... I think you made a
bad mistake. What if you..you know, get pregnant..?" Joey said, quietly looking
downwards. Serenity was ashamed. "I-I dunno...I didn't think...How'd you find out?
Did he tell you??"

    "Yeah, he did. He's really bad off now. You know, struggling
with the evil spirit and everything. He's really ashamed and you should be too,
Serenity." he said, feeling mortified. Serenity felt really embarrassed. Why didn't
Bakura just keep quiet about it? Was he trying to show off and then when Joey got on his
case, did he get ashamed? No, Bakura wouldn't show off, he must have really been ashamed.
It was so weird, it seemed like he wasn't at all against it when he went to her last
night. Was that the evil spirit? "I guess I do feel ashamed now..." she said
softly. If it was the evil spirit, then...ewww...!

    "Bakura left school when Duke kept talking about it and he
didn't come back. He didn't come looking for you, did he?" Joey asked. Serenity shook
her head. "No, I didn't know he was even upset. I should find him. He needs me."
she said, thinking of where to look first.

    "Don't worry, Serenity. I'm sure he'll come back. If he
doesn't, then I'll go look for him." Joey said. "I promise."

    Bakura had taken a special spell book from his apartment and went
back to the woods at school. He concentrated hard and chanted a spell to separate him from
the evil spirit. At first, it didn't seem to work. Frustrated, he slammed the book shut.
"I knew this wouldn't work..." he said sadly. Suddenly a flash of light
exploded. Bakura felt like something ripped out of him and he fell down. He was
unconscious for a few moments and didn't see his evil spirit in a separate human form run
off, smirking evilly. He looked exactly like Bakura, except he was yami. The grave side
effect had occurred... Along with two others...

    Eventually, Bakura got up and shook his head. "Did I do
it?" he wondered. He searched his mind. All the times before, he was able to feel the
evil spirit's presence, but now it was gone. Completely gone. Bakura wasn't sure if it was
a trick or not, but he had to test out the truth. He carefully took the ring off his neck
and dropped it beside him.

    He waited nervously several minutes, but he didn't feel sick or any
pain. "I-I...really did it! I got rid of the evil spirit...! YES!" he cried,
jumping up and punching the air joyfully. "I can finally live! I'm free!" He got
up and went back to school with his spell book. He couldn't wait to let the others know.

    Even though the teachers chewed him out in front of the other
students, he didn't feel bad. He was free to control his body as he pleased. Serenity
would be safe even around him. It was a good feeling. He was determined to take any
responsibility if Serenity got pregnant. He'd make the curses the evil spirit left into
blessings.

    When he got his first chance to tell the others the good news, it
was a silent free period. "Guess what, Yugi." he whispered excitedly.
"What?" Yugi sensed something different about him. "I performed a spell to
banish the evil spirit inside me! I'm free at last!" Bakura said, having a hard time
keeping his voice down.

    "REALLY!?" Yugi cried out loud. "Mr. Mutou. Mr.
Bakura. Is there something you'd like to share with everyone here?" the teacher on
duty asked meanly. "Nothing!" Yugi squeaked. For a second he was quiet then he
said, "I'm so happy for you. Are you sure the spell worked?"

    "Mr. Mutou, this is called a silent study period. There is to
be no talking whatsoever." the teacher growled, waving a ruler threateningly at poor
Yugi, who stood up to apologize. "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to-" he tried to
say, but the teacher glared. "Just sit down, Mr. Mutou."

    "Yes, sir." he squeaked and sat. Bakura narrowed his eyes.
'The teacher needs to be taught a lesson. He shouldn't get away with being mean to us.' he
thought.

    Thankfully, there wasn't much school left and it was time to go
home. Yugi told the others the good news. "Guess what, everyone! Bakura banished the
evil spirit for good." Yugi said, smiling happily.

    "Really? How do you know for sure?" Joey asked, not
believing it at first. "Yeah and how'd you do it, Bakura?" Tristan asked.
"Well, I got one of my spell books and I found the right spell staring right up at
me. I casted it and at first, nothing happened. But then I woke up feeling wonderful. I
know it's gone. Watch this." he said, taking the Millennium Ring off his neck and
dropping it to the sidewalk like it was nothing. "Before I tried to get rid of it
myself when the spirit was still inside of me and when the ring left my body, I felt
horrible ungodly pain and I almost died. But now, I can live without it. I can't sense the
evil spirit inside me anymore. Yugi can't find it in me either. Isn't that right,
Yugi?"

    "Yeah, that's right. I can't sense the spirit whatsoever."
Yugi agreed. Bakura retrieved his ring and put it back on. He stret and and walked ahead
of them. "I haven't felt like this before. To be free is like a dream come
true." he said, smiling happily and closing his eyes cutely.

    Anzu, Joey, and Tristan all felt relieved. No more evil spirit for
good. "Let's celebrate at my house." Yugi offered and they all went over to his
house to have a party. Joey said he'd call Serenity at Yugi's to come and they would
surprise her with the good news then.

    Serenity didn't hear any word from Joey about Bakura, so she hurried
to his apartment to see if he was there. She unlocked the door and found YBakura sitting
on the couch sorting out tarot cards. "Hi, Bakura!" she said, dropping her stuff
on the floor and sat next to him. He looked at her and smiled innocently. "Serenity,
how nice to see you." he said, his voice disguised as gentld kid kind. Serenity felt
odd. Something wasn't right. She could feel a terrible aura. She suspected this may be the
yami. He didn't hurt her before, but maybe it was because she didn't know it was him and
didn't resist him. So she decided to play it safe and acted like he was the nice Bakura.
But she had to figure out a way to leave and fast.

    She went to look in her bag and pretended she lost something
outside. "Oh no. I lost something outside I think. I'll be right back." she
said, suddenly. The strangeness in her voice alerted YBakura. 'She senses me...' he
thought, narrowing his eyes watching her leave. 'Time to make her my complete slave...'

    Serenity went to her mother's house to think of what to do. For some
weird reason, her mom wasn't home. She sat down at the kitchen table to think. The phone
rang and she hesitant to answer it until she saw the caller ID screen. Yugi's name and
number was displayed. "Huh? Why would Yugi call me?" she wondered. She answered
the phone.

    "Hello?" she said. "Serenity? Come over to Yugi's.
We've got a big surprise waiting for you here. Hurry, you'll totally love it!" Joey
said, sounding really hyper. "Sure, okie. I'll be there soon." she promised and
they hung up. She wondered what the surprise was and knew she would find out faster if she
got to Yugi's faster.

    She took the bus and wondered if YBakura was suspicious, since she
didn't come back. She didn't think she was being followed. Well, she hoped not.

    She got to the Kame Shop in five minutes and said hi to Yugi's
grandpa. He asked her if she wanted to buy something and she said no and went up to Yugi's
room. "Hi, guys, I'm here!" she called out. "Hey, Serenity, it's good
you're here." Tristan said. Yugi held out some potato chips. "We're having a
party!"

    "Wow! How come?" she asked, unsure of what would happen
next. Joey went up to his sister. "Bakura banished the evil spirit from himself, he's
totally in the clear! Isn't that awesome?" he cried. Serenity was unsure. She was
sure she had seen the evil Bakura back at his apartment.

    "Really?" she asked, feeling hopeful. Bakura beamed.
"Of course. I did a spell and now I'm free of that monster. Look." He took the
ring off his neck again and tossed it to her. She caught it and was ry suy surprised.
"Wow...!"

    "Wow is right." a mean familiar voice said. Bakura
couldn't believe he was looking at himself, well, his yami that is. Serenity didn't have
time to react as he grabbed her and took the ring away from her. "You! I thought
Bakura banished you for good!" Anzu cried. Fear gripped them like an ice cold steel
hand. YBakura laughed. "When will you realize that I am never going away? Foolish
mortals." he spat hatefully. "Creep, let go of my sister or else you'll be
sorry!" Joey growled.

    "No, you'll be sorry if you try to rescue her. She's going to
make a nice addition to my soul collection." YBakura said. He wanted them to try and
save her so he could show them something that would truly scare them. Bakura saw a hard
plastic toy football on the floor. He quickly grabbed it and threw it hard at YBakura's
head. It distracted the evil spirit long enough for Serenity to wrench away. She ran into
Joey's waiting arms. "Oh, Joey!" she cried.

    "Don't think you've won. I still have this." YBakura held
up the VooDoo doll of Serenity. "This is something I can use to torment and
eventually kill Serenity with. Do you want a demonstration?" He didn't wait for them
to answer and squeezed the doll mercilessly. Serenity cried out in pain and gripped her
sides. Joey and Bakura tried to help her, but there was nothing they could do to ease her
pain.

    "Stop it, you monster!" Anzu cried. "How can you be
so totally heartless?" Evil YBakura smirked. "I don't know, I just am. Come and
attack me. I'll make quick work of her." He squeezed harder. Serenity screamed unable
to stand it. "You dirty sleaze! I'll make quick work out of you!" Joey roared
and immediatelnt tnt to attack him. Unfortunately, YBakura caught his fist and pushed him
back into the others with uncanny strength. "Don't tempt me..." he said and put
his thumb over the doll's face to suffocate her. The poor girl struggled for air even
though nothing physical was stopping her. "Just leave Serenity out of this! It's my
puzzle you're after, so come and get it." YYugi said. He'd do anything to help his
friends. YBakura smiled and allowed Serenity to breathe.

    "Alright. We'll do a trade. The girl's life for your Millennium
Puzzle." YBakura held out his hand while Yugi's friends protested. "No,
Yugi!" Anzu cried. She went and put her hands on his. "I know what I'm doing,
Anzu." he said and pushed her hands away. He went up to the demon and put his hand
out to YBakura. "Give me the doll first and I will give you the puzzle." he
said, purple eyes unrelenting. YBakura scoffed. "Lies! We'll both give our trades at
the same time." YYugi knew he shouldn't trust him, but he slowly began to put the
puzzle into his hand, while YBakura was doing the same with the doll to his hand.
Suddenly, he snatched the puzzle away and withdrew the doll. "HAHAA! Fool! Did you
think I'd really trade with you? Now I have the Millennium Puzzle and soon I will have
ultimate power to crush you all! Stupid mortals! HA HA HA!" the white haired demon
laughed. YYugi grit his teeth. What a foolish mistake he had made!

To Be Continued...