Angel and Demon, Part 2

Chapter 2: The Demon's Demise

 Bakura slid to his knees at the doctor's words as all of Ryou's friends ran into the hospital catching only the last part of the report.

 "A coma," Malik repeated, hoping he heard wrong. To his dismay, as well as the others, the doctor nodded.

 "Oh God," Tristen muttered. Yami Malik hugged his hikari while Joey hugged a sobbing Yugi, Yami waking over to where Bakura was.

 "Bakura," he asked, wondering if he was alright, a first in his spiritual lifetime. The former Tomb Robber's face was blank, his dark eyes held no emotion whatsoever. It was as if he either had no soul or he was fighting with himself at the moment. Which, in truth, he was with his conscious.

 'Oh Ra, Ryou!'

Too late now. You'll never get your chance at forgiveness...or love.

 'If I only could've-'

Could've, would've, should've. What ifs mean nothing in this world, baka. Maybe in the next lifetime, huh? That is, if Ryou ever does get reincarnated.

 'He's not dead yet, so shut the fuck up!'

Why should I? You know I'm right. All the abuse you've done to him could cause his soul to become a wanderer in purgatory. Living his own personal hell because of you. And what will you get when he dies? A one-way trip back into the ring with no hope of escaping or even being reunited with him again.

 'He's not DEAD YET!'

I beg to differ. In this day and age, if one doesn't awaken from a coma, they pull the plug on the life support unit that’s the only thing keeping him alive. You know I'm right, because you've seen them done it before!

 This was true. Bakura was checking on Ryou after the hikari broke his wrist when he spotted a mourning family in another room, the doctor stating it was time after a year of waiting for the person to wake up. It was starting to become too much for him.

 "Bakura," Yami was now waving a hand in front of the spirit's face, when he got up from his knees and ran out of the hospital.

* * * *

 "That son of a bitch," Malik snarled, anger flashing in his lavender eyes.

 It was already nightfall and the gang had to head home. Bakura didn't come back at all when the doctor allowed them to see Ryou, which only anger not only Malik further, but everyone else as well.

 Ryou was lying in a hospital bed, a life support unit attached to him through numerous wires and tubes. His arm and leg were in a cast and set on slings hanging from the wall, the numerous scratches covered in gauze. From the look of things, he was peaceful, the heart monitor beeping his slow heart rate.

 "How can he leave you here like this," the pale-haired teen whispered, noting how the moonlight made Ryou look like an angel, "Doesn't he even care at all about you? Does your existence have no meaning?"

 He was rewarded with silence, except for the heart monitor.

"Why did this have to happen Ryou," Malik continued, "I mean, you're the most vulnerable out of all of us hikaris. I mean, Yugi's strong in spirit and I can challenge anyone without breaking a sweat, but you? You have a strong heart, but it seems that it's also your weakness."

 He sighed as he pulled out Ryou's deck, shuffling it for a minute. Both Ryou and Bakura had the ability of fortune telling, stating what one's future held. He was being taught by Ryou at the time of the accident, so he had very little experience how it worked.

 He placed the cards in order as taught on one of the tables, flipping the first one over, revealing the past.

 It was the Man-Eating Treasure Chest. What one thought would be a great treasure turned out to be a trap all along.

 Malik smirked, which explains how Ryou felt before and after meeting Bakura.

 The next card, the present, was the Man-Eater Bug. One who doesn't watch out for himself would end up in great peril, or even lose their own life.

 Malik couldn't help but smirk at the irony of that. He hoped the third card brought something promising.

 He blinked as he flipped the last card, the one representing the future. Why would it be the Change of Heart?

* * * *

 It was a week after the accident. James was told of everything from Sugoroku and was able to catch an early flight by going to another airport. His first stop back in Domino was the hospital, where the doctors explained everything and let him see his son. James burst into tears at the sight of Ryou.

 Mr. Wheeler and the Taylors came over, along with all of Ryou's friends, to give condolences to James. Some were worried that he would do something crazy, but he promised them he wouldn't. James hated alcohol, since his own wife died from a hit-and-run by a drunk driver and forbid it in his household, and he was too hopeful that Ryou would awaken anytime soon.

 Bakura had seem to disappear off the face of the Earth, since he wasn't home all week and no one had seen him. They searched for him for days before giving up, not sure what to do.

 The police had arrested the drunk driver on charge of DUI and possible involuntary manslaughter. He wasn't that hard to find, considering Ryou's blood was still staining the bumper and most of the front of the car.

 James was looking at the latest finds from Egypt, calling the head of board and demanding an emergency leave, extending for as long as he could managed. The board took pity on him and gave him four months, with the catch that he does his studies on new finds at home, a catch James didn't see a problem with.

 He picked up the ancient papyrus and scanned it into his computer, saving it for later research. after looking at his translations, he determined that it stated:

 "In the time of the ancient game, a man appeared before the Pharaoh and challenge him for the items he and his high priests possessed. He had violated the tombs and dragged the mummified corpse of the previous pharaoh to the palace, a sign of such disrespect that he was punished violently for it with defeat.

 "That did not stop the thief though, for he challenge one of the high priests and killed him, taking his item. As his punishment, the thief's soul was bound to the Item, using ancient magic to seal him within. Only the light of a forgiving soul can ever free him, and only this light can pierce through his darken soul and break the shackles of his binds."

 "Weird," James thought, believing that the papyrus had to have come from Yami's time, and the thief sounded much like Bakura. He didn't had long to think about it, for the news had just came on.

 "Good evening ladies and gentlemen," a news anchorwoman greeted, "In tonight's news..."

* * * *

 He had been living in the woods of the park for a week now, his clothes dirtied and torn. His hair a mess of knots, twigs, and anything else that got stuck in there, making him seem homeless.

 He walk out of the woods when no one was around, walking over to the TV shop that had the news on, showing a picture of Ryou lying in his hospital bed.

 "Ryou," the figure's moaned, his voice strained and dry from lack of fluids. He inched his face closer to hear the TV.

 "Young Ryou Bakura of Domino City is in a coma after being hit by a drunk driver and dragged four blocks on June 13, a week ago. His doctors have stated there may be hope of him awakening, but they aren't placing bets on it."

 The figure ignored the witnesses' remarks, although many were giving condolences and offers to stand on trial for Ryou's family.

 "We have an update," the anchorwoman stated, getting the figure's attention.

* * * *

 "Yami," Yugi cried out, "Come quick!"

The former pharaoh ran down the stairs, cladded in black sweats and a black wife beater because of the heat, and sat down next to his hikari as the anchorman continued.

 "The police have reported-"

* * * *

 "-that they have found the person that ran over Ryou Bakura."

"Alright," Joey rubbed his hands together, "Can't wait to see 'im so I can slug the son of a bitch!"

* * * *

 "Here it comes," Tristen said to no one in particular, as they show a picture of the car with blood still stained on it's front.

 "Isn't that-"

* * * *

 "As you can see, the driver didn't even clean up the blood from where the victim was hanging from."

 "That car looks familiar," Mokuba stated.

"Yes," Seto agreed, looking at it closely, "It does."

* * * *

 Malik unsheathed his blade, licking it as his eyes were glued to the TV. Yami Malik cracked his knuckled, then thought of something.

 "Hey, isn't that house-"
 "The car belonged to seventeen year old-"

* * * *

 The figure, now appearing to be Bakura, growled in anger, as he saw the person being arrested. The face was concealed because of minority, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who he was...or rather, she.

 "Tea Gardener."

* * * *

 "I KNOW MY RIGHTS," the young girl screamed as she was hauled into the station, "I ALSO KNOW I DIDN"T RAN OVER RYOU! HE'S ONE OF MY FRIENDS!"
 "Okay then," one of the officers said, "Then why was his blood all over your car?!"

 "I don't know," she replied, "All I remember was driving home a week ago and I saw the blood on there the next morning. Nothing happen!"

 "Were you driving on Lener Lane?"

"Yes, I was. It's the fastest route home!"

 "Ms. Gardener," the other officer began, "We receive reports about a young boy with white hair that was being dragged by a car matching your car's description at 3:45 PM June 13th. The caller stated that her husband had to pull a drunk woman that matches his description out of the car just to stop you and hold you down while others of the neighborhood pulled him out from underneath. The poor kids was screaming his brains out, crying until he shed blood for tears, until MP's came by and gave the kid a few sedatives just to calm him down. Now, the man holding you down went to see if the victim was alright and the woman took off in her car. No one was able to catch her and today we had reports from the school you go to that matches you to the description."

 Tea couldn't believe that. Sure she only had a few drinks with friends before that, but that shouldn't have affected her at all. She was pushed and pulled, had her fingers covered in ink and then placed on paper, then had her picture taken before placed in a cell. She would have to call her dad to pay her bail in the morning.

* * * *

 James was surprised as the door swung open and a disheveled Bakura limped in, looking like he been through hell. The elder grabbed a blanket and wrap the shivering spirit with it, seeing that it was raining when they made the announcement.

 James helped Bakura sit down and took off to make some soup to warm the spirit up. He may hate Bakura for hurting Ryou, but he didn't want another one in the hospital.

 "Mr. Bakura?"

James was almost shocked at the yami's voice. It was soft, breaking, as if he were a child that realized he did something wrong and was afraid of the consequences, but stood his ground. This was not the Bakura everyone knew.

 "Yes," the elder replied, walking over to him.

"It's my fault that Ryou's in that condition," the yami said softly, "I told him not to hang out with his friends and he was on his way home that day, doing just as I told him to."

 Tears began to fall from his eyes and James wondered if Bakura was alright. This was not normal, not by any means.

 "Please punish me."

Now that shocked the elder so bad, he thought he was going to have a heart attack. Why would Bakura want to be punish for something he didn't do?

 "What kind of punishment," he asked, not sure what to do.

"Beat me."

 "What? No."

"Why not," Bakura's broken voice was rising now, standing towards the taller man, "I beat on your son mercilessly. The couch, the rugs, and the walls are still stained with his blood and he didn't even do anything wrong but went out with his friends! Did you see the mark on his arm? I did that, out of anger! I've done more things in my lifetime than any stupid terrorist; at least they have a reason, I didn't and I still don't."

 At this time, Malik and Yami Malik had arrived at the house, surprised that the door was open. That was quickly replaced with shock at Bakura's next words.

 "I won't fight back at all. You can do what you want with me. It's the only thing I can think of before I go after Tea for what she did to your son."

 James was at a loss for words, not knowing what to do. On one side, his anger was pushing him to take the open invitation and beat the crap out of him. The other side, his more honorable side, told the other to go to hell and this wasn't right. However, the elder caught a flash of emotion within Bakura's eyes before they closed, the spirit awaiting the beating as if he did this before.

 James lifted his fist....

TBC