Summary: In the end, it all comes down to pride. Oneshot.
Warnings: Spoilers for Duelist vol.17 and all the way through the Millennium World Arc (English versions), so stop now if you don't want to know. POV is second-person present tense.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!. Not even a little bit.
This ficlet came to me as I was re-reading through my volumes of Yu-Gi-Oh! It's probably been done, but so what? I can still put my version up. Dialogue is taken directly from Duelist vol.17
OOOO
Pride
You don't do it because you like the boy.
That isn't your motive in the slightest. The boy is just a vessel, simply the one who happened to connect with the Millennium Ring. He's got a weak mind and a weaker will, and it's a miracle his soul hasn't been torn to shreds from everything you've been him through. He's tougher than he looks, even if he's a weak pansy. Unfortunately, you need him, though you wish you didn't. You have no form, so you have to have someone else bear your spirit while you put your plan into motion. You need the boy, but you hold no affection for him. He's just a vessel, and you'll use him however you need to, to get your way.
In the end, as Slifer bears down on the boy and the Pharaoh looks on with pain and indecision on his face, as Marik gloats in your mental ear, it all comes down to one thing.
In the end, it all comes down to pride.
People may not think you have pride, but you do. Once upon a time, you were a thief and a tomb robber (you remember your memories, even if the Pharaoh foolishly lost his own) but you had your own rules of engagement. The fact that most people you came across died wasn't your fault. They simply couldn't handle your games.
And when you made a deal with Zorc Necrophades, you sold your soul to the devil, but you still had all your pride. Now, you're a mix of your thieving self and the dark God, and sometimes the line between the two blurs. But even when your identity wavers, at least you have something to hold on to. You still have your pride.
And Marik, in one quick move, tries to take that away.
When the fake Marik on deck begins speaking, you aren't sure what the Rod bearer is planning. But then you feel your control slipping, you feel the boy being pushed forward, and you growl. You were fine having Marik in your head, but only as long as he was tagging along. After all, this is your body, your vessel, and you don't need to share it with anyone. Especially not with a silly brat who has the past mixed up and doesn't deserve something as powerful as the Millennium Rod. (Just because you're working with Marik doesn't mean you like him).
You watch impassively as the boy falls to his knees, clutching his wounded arm (you did that, but you're allowed. He's your vessel.)
"So that's your game, Marik…" Your voice is flat and emotionless, because you're trying to hold your anger back. "You've tied Yuugi's hands."
"As per our agreement." Though you can't see it, you can feel the intruder's smirk (and he became an intruder as soon as he usurped his position in the boy's mind.)
You're silent a moment, staring out outward. You could do this. You could let the situation stay the way it is, let the Pharaoh call Slifer off (and he would, because that's just the sort of bleeding heart the Pharaoh is now; Yuugi's made him weak) and you could win. If you do nothing, you'll win, just like Marik promised, and you'll get the Millennium Rod and Yuugi and the Pharaoh will never get all the God cards.
You could.
But it comes down to your damn pride, and the boy groans in pain (you never even noticed the pain of the wound, but the boy seems to be feeling it all too much) and something inside you snaps.
"But still," you start, taking one step forward in this mental world inside the boy.
"Even I have ways I like to win and ways I hate to win!" The Ring around your chest begins to glow, and all of your anger is directed at one person only; Marik. Suddenly, this is no longer about a grudge against the Pharaoh or a battle for power. This is about your pride and the rage at someone who so easily thrust it aside.
"Stay out of this, Marik!" you yell, one receding cry as the glow envelops you and the switch is made. You feel an echo of Marik's feelings in your mind, confusion and anger and a touch of betrayal, and you open your eyes on the Duel Deck with a manic grin on your face.
"Yuugi…I'll let you win this time! Attack me!" The confusion is still on the Pharaoh's face, but with your words there's resolve. The Pharaoh won't attack the boy, but he'll gladly attack you, strike you down with God's power to win.
You didn't do it for the boy. You need him, but you didn't do it for him. Slifer's attack would have killed the boy; you know that, the Pharaoh knows that, and Marik knew that, which was why it was such a good ploy to use. You need a body to fulfill your plan, and if you lose the boy, it might be another thousand years before another person comes along with the strength to bear the Ring and not dissolve into flame (by then, everything will be over, and your chance will be lost). But it's not about the boy.
It's just that, if you're going to win anything, you'll win your own way, and if you're going to lose, you'll do it your way. You may be a sore loser, but you're an even sorer winner if your pride has been hurt, And this…oh, how this would have hurt your pride.
You're laughing as Slifer's fires burn across your body, because you can feel Marik in your mind, and you know you've won. You lost the battle, but against the usurper, you won.
In the end, it has nothing to do with the boy. It's just a matter of pride.
After all these years, your pride is all you've got left.
You're not going to give that up. Not for anything in the world.
OOOO
If anyone can read that scene in the manga and tell me it wasn't pride that made Bakura take Slifer's blow, I'll give you a thousand cookies and a Blue-eyes (imaginary). Because admit it. It was all about pride.
I hope you liked it, and I hoped I got the character down alright. If you have any thoughts on how to better this, I'd be glad to hear it. I'd also be glad to hear anything else you have to say, even if it's nothing more than a 'Good job, I liked it!' That's what the review button is for, after all.
~Until next time!