***
At that time, Ryou’s father is at the museum with the police and co-workers and does not know that Ryou had gone. The night guard is giving his story to the police, but upon searching the museum, they cannot locate the tablet or any of the thieves. “We’ll let you know if we find anything or need more information,” the detective says.
Ryou’s father returns home. It is so late at night that it is almost morning, so he does not feel the need to go into his son’s room and wake him up to tell him about what happened. Unfortunately, the phone rings and he would soon discover the truth. “Hello?”
“Is this the Bakura residence?”
“This is. Who’s calling?”
“I can assure you I am not with the police. I believe I have something of yours.”
“You’re one of the thieves from the museum!”
“I see cleverness runs in the family.”
“What do you mean?”
“As I said, I have something of yours, but I don’t mean the tablet. It seems your son took it upon himself to try to stop us, and since he won’t tell us where he hid the tablet, I was hoping you could get the information out of him.”
“You better not have harmed him!”
“He will not be harmed so long as he tells you where the tablet is and you bring it to us. The police no doubt have the place canvassed by now, so we can’t risk going back for it ourselves.”
The thief hands Ryou the phone. “Father, I’m so sorry,” he says sadly.
“We’ll talk about this later, Ryou. Just tell me where the tablet is so I can get you out of there.”
“I was hoping the police would find it, but I guess they just assume that the thieves got away with it.”
“Just tell me where to look and I’ll come get you first thing in the morning.”
“It’s in the fourth stall in the men’s bathroom on the first floor. Right behind the toilet.”
The thief takes the phone back and says, “I don’t care how long it takes you to get it out of that museum undetected. Just do it and come to the warehouse district. And remember - no cops.”
The thief hangs up, and Ryou’s father angrily puts the phone down. Ryou is all he has left, and he is not about to lose him too.
***
Hours later, Ryou’s father finds the tablet exactly where Ryou had said he had hidden it. He discreetly puts it into his rucksack and leaves the museum. Hang on, Ryou. I’m coming.
On the way out, he is stopped by a concerned co-worker who is being questioned by a police officer. “You look rattled, Bakura. Don’t worry, they’ll find the tablet and the ones who stole it.”
“I know. I’m just stressed out. This hasn’t been easy on my son either.”
“Your son?”
“Yeah. He suspected something like this would happen and feels guilty for not being able to help.”
The co-worker laughs. “That’s so like him. Just tell him there’s nothing he could have done.”
“Right. I’ve got to go now. I’ll tell him that.”
As he leaves, the other police officers make a decision to tail him.
***
Dr. Bakura arrives at the warehouse district, where two men are waiting for him. “Did you bring the tablet?” one of them asks.
“Where is my son?” Dr. Bakura asks hotly. “I demand to know.”
“And we demand the tablet,” the other one shoots back. “It’ll be a fair exchange if you simply follow us."
“And how do I know I can trust you?”
“Because if you don’t, you’ll never see your son again.”
Grudgingly, Dr. Bakura follows the two men into a warehouse and down a secret staircase leading to their underground base. There, Ryou is still a prisoner at the thieves’ mercy. He is unharmed yet exhausted.
“Ryou!” Dr. Bakura yells.
Ryou is now wide awake and alert. “Father!”
“Hand over the tablet, sir, and you can have your boy back,” the leader says.
Dr. Bakura takes the tablet out of the bag and hands it over to the leader. “Take the damn thing.”
“You swear this is the real one?”
“I swear. Now let my son go.”
The leader nods and the thieves guarding Ryou let Ryou up and shove him toward his father. However, as the two of them turn to leave, more thieves block their path. “I reunited you with your son, but I can’t allow you to leave. The police may have followed you. Now you both shall witness the reincarnation of the dark lord. Our master will rise once again!”
“What is he talking about?” Dr. Bakura asks Ryou.
“The writing on the tablet as well as the composition of the tablet itself has the power to bring back some evil ruler or other that they follow. That’s all I know.” Ryou sighs. “I’m sorry for getting you into this mess, Father. It was reckless of me.”
“It’s all right, Ryou. I too can be a little reckless.”
***
Outside the perimeter, the cops tailing Dr. Bakura report back that he is in the warehouse district and has gone inside a building. They do not know anything for sure, but it looks suspicious so they call in some back-up.
***
Ryou and his father are not tied up, but they are under tight security from their captors as they are forced to witness the alchemic resurrection of the thieves’ dark ruler.
Taking the real tablet up to the small shrine as before, the leader reads the inscription off the tablet, which begins to glow and react. “Domination through evil!” the leader yells madly, holding the tablet high. His insane laugh soon turns into a scream, however, as his body disintegrates and a portal opens up beneath him while the tablet hangs in midair.
“‘Equal or greater value?’ Idiot,” Spirit Bakura scoffs.
“What’s happening?” Ryou asks, seemingly the only one to see or hear Spirit Bakura.
“I don’t know,” Ryou’s father replies.
Before Spirit Bakura can explain, a twisted figure rises out of the portal and claims the tablet. “Foolish mortals!” its deep voice bellows.
“That can’t be our leader!” screams one of the thieves. “I’m out of here!” Most of the rest of the thieves follow, but the dark lord begins to tear through the building, making their escape all the more difficult by having to dodge chunks of debris. The scene at the warehouse district turns to mass chaos as the dark lord begins destroying everything indiscriminately.
Ryou and his father manage to make it out of the area safely, but the police run around in a frenzy trying to catch the escaping thieves; some fire their weapons at the monstrous dark lord, but to no avail.
“It looks like those cultists got more than they bargained for,” Ryou’s father says. “Are you all right?”
Ryou nods. “I can’t believe we couldn’t stop it. Now that that thing has fused the tablet into itself, how is anyone supposed to be able to stop it?”
“I have a plan,” Spirit Bakura says telepathically.
“Was this the end of the world you were talking about?” Ryou telepathically says back. “What sort of plan?”
“Do you trust me?”
“Not particularly, no.”
“Well, like it or not you’re going to have to trust me in order for this to work. We can stop this rampaging beast with the Millennium Ring. I call this technique the ancient Egyptian laser beam, or Zorc’s inferno.”
“What?”
“We’re sending this thing back to the depths. Can’t bring anyone back to life, though, so you’d better make sure your father gets to a safe place.”
Police, paramedics, and firefighters have arrived on the scene to evacuate people. Ryou and his father go with them, and the police detain them for questioning. While they are waiting, Ryou sneaks off during the commotion. I’m sorry, Father, Ryou thinks to himself again. Once he manages to slip past as many people as possible to a somewhat deserted area, Ryou says, “Okay, I’m trusting you. Take over and do your thing.”
Spirit Bakura takes possession of Ryou’s body and exercises full control over the Millennium Ring. He is within range of the supposed dark lord. “Deus ex machina,” Bakura mutters, using his shadow powers to zap the dark lord into nonexistence.
Ryou appears in spirit form next to him “You did it!”
“What was done is now undone. You may thank me later. Now to erase their minds!”
“Wha-?”
***
The scene turns back to the interrogation room where Ryou finds himself giving his statement to the police. It turns out that Bakura had changed everyone else’s memory of the incident to some explosives accidentally being set off in the building during the ransom drop. This is the story that Ryou cops to, and soon he and his father are allowed to go home.
“It’s too bad that the tablet was lost in the blast. But at least I have you back, safe and sound,” Dr. Bakura says, wearing a fatherly grin. He puts his hand on Ryou’s shoulder. “I’m proud of you, son. Although it didn’t turn out well, your intentions were good and you were very brave. I’m glad you’re all right.”
“Me too, Father. I’m glad we both made it out of this in one piece.”
When they arrive back at their apartment, they are in need of some long overdue sleep. Ryou enters his bedroom and sets his bag down. Gingerly, he takes the teddy bear his girlfriend gave him and puts it back in the place he normally keeps it. He smiles at it for a moment before going to bed.
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