A Whole New Perspective
By: Seena

Chapter 1: The Castle, Part 1 - Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Mokuba


A.N. I constantly wonder what goes through people's heads. I especially wonder what goes through the head of someone like Yami Bakura. So, I decided that because I was most likely never going to get an official response telling me his every thought (and that would be too long to read, anyway; the guy's a few millennia old, do you have any clue how many thoughts he must have had over all that time?), I'd do the next-best thing - make a fanfiction! This is my interpretation of what Yami Bakura was thinking at various times during the show. Basically, the events as he sees them. (I hope this turns out better than it sounds!)

On a sidenote, even though it goes against my nature, I'm going to be using the American names (blah!), because I only have access to the english dialogue. *snaps fingers*

While I know I should be starting at the Shadow Realm Duel, or possibly a little before then, (ideally, I'd start with Monster World in season 1, but I'm still in the process of trying to get the footage (which isn't in the US at ALL...), so I don't know if I'll EVER get around to doing that; all I have is about three minutes and twelve seconds of a video clip, and a few pictures with chinese subtitles (which my friend Victor translated for me, thanks Victor!), which isn't enough for a chapter) but I'll be skipping around. I'll most likely have to reorder the chapters sometime, but whatever!

Please review!

Disclaimer: Oh, darn. I hate these things. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!. I don't own any of its associated characters, either... I don't own much of anything. *looks depressed*. I also don't get any money for doing this (or anything else, for that matter). Life sucks.

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It was like floating and falling at the same time. I hated it.

At least I didn't have a physical body. For once, I was grateful for this; the Reaper of Cards' scythe when right through me. It didn't even hurt, really. I remember the look of confusion on what you would call his after about twenty passes of his weapon, he finally gave up, going to search for easier prey.

After some time, effort, and energy, I was able to transport myself back to the Shadow Realm. A fat lot of good THAT did me, but at least I didn't have to bother with mild annoyances like the Reaper anymore.

And so now, here I was, floating just like I had been for the last few thousand years or so. It was impossible to tell time, really. Minutes dragged by like hours - what, did you think the days would pass quickly in a place like that? - and I fell into a circle of anger and despair with the world and with myself.

If only the stupid Pharaoh of the puzzle hadn't cheated, if only my stupid Hikari hadn't betrayed me... if only the match had been fair and honourable...

If only got me no where. It didn't matter anymore, I was here, and it wasn't going to change. Life - if that's what you wanted to call it - sucked.

I down and started pondering all of the different ways I could torture Yugi once I finally found a way to break the seal that bound me to the Shadow Realm. I thought of a million plans to get the Millennium Items, none better than the last. I thought of-

Something shifted.

My eyes opened wide with surprise. The seal hadn't been broken, exactly... but there was a slight hole, a portal, if you will, connecting the Shadow Realm with the real world. I could sense it.

I looked around wildly. Now was my chance to escape, now might be the only opportunity I would get for a long while...

I spotted the portal, which, surprisingly, wasn't particularly far away. As the portal widened, a strange man in brown robes fell through from the other side. That man... he's dressed as a Duelist from MY time! I realized with shock.

I didn't have too much time to ponder the man or the situation, however. The portal would only stay open for a few seconds more...

That was all I needed.

~~~~~~~~~~

I wasn't entirely sure WHERE I was; while it wasn't the Shadow Realm, it didn't look like the real world, either. I looked around quickly - though no one could see me, of course, as I had no body - and took note of my surroundings. The floor and walls and ceiling were all made of smooth, polished stone, and on one wall hung a painting of a golden-haired lady.


On the other side of the room stood many more Duelists, who were dressed from my era as well. A silver-haired man - Pegasus, I believe his name was - was clad in similar clothing, but what intrigued me most about him was that, in the place of his left socket, he wore the Millennium Eye.

He was busy babbling something about sealing souls - as if that was a special talent that only HE possessed, hmph! - at three intruders; one of whom which was my host! What a wonderful turn of events this was. I didn't even need to go looking for Ryou anymore.

Well, if Pegasus plans on stealing the souls of my host and his comrades, he has something coming to him. He's certainly in for a surprise...

Wasting no time, I took advantage of the situation, diving back into the Millennium Ring without a moment's hesitation. Now that my soul was directly connected with my source of power, saving Ryou and his friends shouldn't be difficult...

After taking a quick moment to adjust, I summoned forward the Millennium Ring, taking over Ryou's body in the process. He seemed... surprised that I had somehow returned, though he made no move to resist me. Gods, he really is desperate... I thought.

Ah, possessing a body once again felt so good! I couldn't resist letting out a slight chuckle as I raised my head and looked Pegasus in the eyes. Change of plans. I informed him.

What's this? I sense a dark soul within your Ring!

Although he didn't speak the words, I could hear them clearly enough. I realized then that we were inside his mind, in his Soul Room.

But that didn't matter now... we'd be returning to the real world soon enough...

You may indeed sense me now, but you won't remember any of this later. I responded evenly as light poured forth from my Millennium Item. Pulling more energy from my Ring, I cried, ERASE THEIR MINDS!

And with a flash of light, the Ring did just that.

With a second flash of light, we were gone.

~~~~~~~~~~

The Ring was still glowing, giving off a golden light. Ryou was still aware of my presence, but that didn't matter. He wouldn't talk.

I sat on the edge of Ryou's bed, rather tired from exerting so much energy, when I didn't have that much in the first place. But my worries were far from my mind. I had a new target...

You cannot hide from me, Pegasus. You're Millennium Eye... will soon be mine.

Laughing to myself, I retreated into my Ring, content to make plans for tomorrow, and let Ryou reassume control of his body.

~~~~~~~~~~

I was still in the process of recovering my energy from my stay in the Shadow Realm's graveyard - I was mostly done, actually - only half-paying attention to my Hikari's conversation. I knew Yugi's duel was about to start; I didn't particularly care, but I figured I should root through Ryou's memory later, to find out some more information on Yugi's cards and strategy. In the meantime, I laid on the makeshift bed in my Soul Room, listening to the distant voices of my host and his friends above me.

Tristan, where are you going? That was Ryou's voice, I heard it often enough.

I'm going to see if I can find Kaiba or Mokuba anywhere. came the response. This interested me, so I decided to pay a bit more attention to the conversation. Because if I can get em back, even without their souls, then Pegasus won't hold all the cards!

This truly was intriguing. I took over Ryou's body momentarily, watching Tristan dash off down an empty corridor. A search for their empty vessels... not a bad idea... I thought to myself.

But the match was starting, and Ryou would be looked for. I relinquished control to him again, but this time, I kept my eyes wide open.

~~~~~~~~~~

A few turns into Yugi's match with Pegasus, something caught my intention. It certainly wasn't Yugi or his duel; rather, it was the man on the phone... the head of security... Croquet? He was speaking in a low voice, so as not to disturb Pegasus from dueling. Even with my excellent ears, I couldn't make out a word he was saying, so I summoned forth a little bit of power from the Millennium Ring, just to enhance my hearing.

Doing the best I could to ignore Joey and Téa, who were shouting encouragement to Yugi (for all the good it would do him), I focused on Croquet. My brow narrowed slightly from the strain. It took a couple of seconds for me to focus my power properly, but what I heard was worth the wait. Let's see what Croquet's up to, shall we? I thought.

...What? What do you mean, Mokuba's missing?' He is instrumental in the plan to take over Kaiba Corp.! As my heightened hearing kicked in, my eyes widened slightly in interest. Find him immediately. ...Idiot! How hard can it be to recapture a soulless body? ...Do not make me come down there...

Hmm... interesting, I muttered. This situation was getting more and more intriguing. No doubt, Tristan had managed to find one of the Kaiba brothers, and had triggered an alarm. What an amateur.

Having heard all I needed to, I closed my connection and cut back my power. I came to the conclusion that I could easily benefit from this set of circumstances; should I come into the possession of an empty vessel like Mokuba, I would no longer have to deal with Ryou's resistance and betrayal. Not to mention, the idiot in the trench coat sounded like he had bit off more than he could chew. And it was bound to be more interesting than this Duel. My mind made up, I took complete possession of Ryou's body, and began to walk down the nearest hallway.

Hmm? You got somewhere to go, Bakura? A voice from behind me called. I froze.

Crap. I had completely forgotten about those two idiots. It was too late to switch places with my Hikari again, being as I had just locked him in his soul room, and if I just ran off, they'd be sure to follow. So I did the only thing that one could do in such a situation. I winged it.

Yes. I thought I'd go and check on Tristan. I answered, giving the best impression of my Hikari as I could.
He has been gone a long time, Téa pointed out.

Too long, if you ask me! Joey agreed. I mean, what could be more important than this match?

I couldn't believe my luck. They were actually falling for it! What losers. They really were stupider than they looked; I hadn't thought it that it was possible. Hm. I'll be sure to ask him. I replied, heading back down the hallway...

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Well? What do you think? The Castle, Part 2, (imaginative title, no?) is next. Please review, and feel free to flame as long as you have a logical point to make. Thanks!