This is the prologue, hope you enjoy!
Warning: Violence and gore
Also big thanks Miqu and Tori's Yami no Game for beta reading this for me!
I never had a normal childhood, that's to say, I hardly had one at all. I wasn't born like the other kids. I had to fight my way into existence. You see, I shouldn't technically exist. I was born at the age of ten when Marik, the boy whose mind I share, had to undergo an ancient ritual. He was scared out of his mind and in order to cope with the pain he was receiving, he shut out his emotions which he unknowingly transferred over to me. I already shared all of his emotions, but this new wave had doubled my ability to feel. In order words, I felt twice the pain, the hurt, the neglect, the angriness, the jealousy, the contempt... the love. It was too much for my mind to handle alone and all the negative feelings had overwhelmed everything that ever made me humane. It had broken me, left me an empty shell of unwanted self-loathing and unholy existence, but that would soon change…
Dealing with the sudden abundant of emotions took a great deal of concentration and by the time I had them under control, my mind had become strong enough to take over Marik's and possess his body! It was to be mine, Marik was broken with sorrow and taking over should have been easy, however, I had not accounted for the servant boy. In my temporary absence, Odion, Marik's 'brother', had sworn loyalty to him and became his friend, thus allowing Marik to redevelop the basic feelings of thrust, love and joy. Odion's constant presence around the boy also helped him keep me away, but I was patient. I wasn't just a voice in his head anymore, I was there and I wanted to live, no, I was going to live.
There had been few instances where I could take over Marik's mind without being sent back by Odion, but those never lasted long until finally, that day came. Marik and his sister Ishizu had snuck out to get a view of the surface world and at their return, they were greeted by their father, whipping the life out of Odion's back. This was my chance, maybe my only chance, so I had to act quickly. The loyal servant was unconscious and the other me was mentally unstable, so I crossed over the bridge of our shared mind and took control. I squeezed my hands together for the first time and took my first real breath of air, oh how it felt good to be alive! Truly alive, and not just a third wheel sitting in the backseat and forced to watch helplessly as I couldn't move or speak for my own.
I caught the whip that lashed out at me just in time and gave the old man my best smirk. Humph, I was the one in control now. I made my way towards the huge stone table holding the Egyptian artifacts and claimed the Millennium Rod for my own. By its glow I could tell it had accepted me as its master and I didn't hesitate to immediately use it on the man who had been the cause of my suffering. I would have never existed and have been trapped in the darkness of my own mind had Marik's father never initiated his son to the Tomb Keeper's legacy. It was his fault I had suffered so much! But now, there was nothing stopping me from getting my revenge. With one swoop of my wrist I sent the old man flying against the wall trapped within the yellow squiggly lines. With every step I took towards Mr. Ishtar, the man was one step closer to death's door and I relished the sight of fear on his face.
I grinned manically as I brought down the mighty weapon in his gaped mouth and ripped out his tongue so that he wouldn't talk back as I unleashed my bottled up hatred upon him. Next I stabbed his hands, for never having been allowed to touch, then his feet, for never having been able to go where I want. After that, I slashed the back of his knees and watched as he struggled to stand, it was so entertaining! But I had a job to do, so I got back to work. I stabbed the inside of his elbows, the skin was so soft there and by Mr. Ishtar's screams I could tell I had hit a sensitive area. Good! Next I took my time with the shoulders before making my way up to the face. I dangled the sharp end of the Rod right before his eye, giving him a second to realise what I was about to do, and a single tear shed from his violet orbs. Oh joy, what a scream I earned! It was ear-crushing and I enjoyed every moment of it! The eyeball and nerves hung on the bloody Millennium Item like a dango on a chopstick. I made him look at it and he screamed, making it all too easy for me to shove it in his mouth and force it down his throat. He managed to spit out some of the juices, but I crushed his jaw with my tiny hand, forcing him to swallow the organ, otherwise he would choke.
The old man had ceased screaming, he had lost a lot of blood and I could feel him wasting away. I had to be quick. I brought the weapon down on his heart and he gasped, coughing out blood that blended with my already red soaked hair. I brought it down again, and I got the same result, but on the third try, Marik's father had already died. His limp body sagged across the wall, leaving a strawberry-jam-looking substance to paint the dusty bricks, and I admired my work.
Who knew I could paint such a wonderful canvas with my own family's blood?!
The thought made me cackle at the top of my lungs, oh how it felt good to laugh! It was yet another reason I wanted to stay alive and I wasn't going to let anyone take that away from me! That meant I had to take care of Odion now…
I regained my seriousness and hurried over to the unconscious body of the servant boy. I was ready to stab him like I had my 'father', but for some reason, the bald teenager had chosen that precise moment to open his eyes and call out to his master. Instantly I felt Marik fighting back against my mind, and I was losing…
No! How could this be! I was so close! Did I wait too long to kill the old man? Did my evil laugh wake you up Odion?! Tell me! Argh!
And just like that, I was back into the bottomless pit of darkness of Marik's mind that served as my prison.
Why? Why would you create me if you didn't want me to live! I didn't ask for this, it's not my fault, but I do exist dammit! And someday, when I'm free again, I'm going to give everyone what they deserve!
I could tell Odion wasn't going to leave Marik alone any time soon, which meant I was going to have to be patient, very patient…
Five years to be exact. Marik had made it his life goal to dominate the world by acquiring the three Egyptian God Cards and destroying the pharaoh that had ruined his life. He was forced to enter the Battle City tournament in order to win back said God Cards, and managed a spot in the final eight. Unfortunately for him, Odion was to duel Joey Wheeler first and Marik stupidly convinced him to use a replica of the Winged Dragon of Ra.
Fool.
The Gods were angered, I could tell by the dark mist forming in the sky as jolts of flashing lights crashed onto the blimp while mixed with the thunder's symphony. Both Odion and Joey were struck by the lightning, but only the blond recovered. This was my chance!
I'm going to live again!
Without Odion to guard him, Marik was weak, and I could easily fight against my bar cells and free myself at last!
I wanted to scream and cheer at once, but my body felt numb from years of imprisonment and all I could manage was a grin. The Pharaoh was the first to question me and all I wanted to do at that moment was strangle him, but I lacked the proper strength to fight, even standing up was proving to be an effort, not that I would let it show of course.
"I am the true Marik! I'm finally free again after so many years. I'm going to finish the task my weaker self never could, and strip you of your power and take it all for myself! When I'm done with you, you'll all be trapped in the Shadow Realm while I transform the world as I wish it. The Gods will protect me, as I rule the world as the new king! Ah! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!"
The gang of friends had taken Odion to the small infirmary, allowing me to recuperate in the meantime. Thank Gods, I needed it! I collapse on the floor and spread my arms out to feel the cold air on my skin, something I have never once done in my life. Later, I came close to stabbing Odion while the other's had left him to rest, but I was summoned to the main room and decided I'd return once I had sent my next victim to the Shadow Realm. Besides, why not drag it out a bit? Odion wasn't going anywhere any time soon anyway. After defeating a woman with oversized breast, I grew stronger and the feeling of it got me excited to murder Marik's bald servant like a child receiving candy on Halloween! However, when I snuck back into his room, I was once again interrupted, this time by my other half who found aid in a skinny looking white haired puff ball.
Well, well, if it isn't the Spirit of the Millennium Ring!
The idiot had the guts to challenge me to a duel, but not just any duel, a shadow game! He thought he had me cornered by sending the Winged Dragon of Ra with zero attack points to the graveyard, little did he know, Ra had a secret ability: I could converge my life points into attack points and in the process merge with the beast! It gave me a slight taste of a God's power, leaving me wanting more!
I blasted Bakura with my fiery breath and watched as his body slowly decayed to nothingness, taking down my other half with him! Unfortunately, I knew something was wrong. I should have felt stronger with the two new souls added to my collection of game pieces in the Shadow Realm, but I didn't, which meant they were both still lingering somewhere, and somehow I knew they were going to come back to bite me.
Then it hit me, Odion was hidden somewhere on the blimp; he could be in any room and on any level, and I had no way of finding him! Damn, I'd have to settle with winning the tournament first so that I'd have enough power to resist his mind blocking ability.
Tsk, what a pain!
Waiting for the morning to come felt like waiting for snow to fall in summer. I basically jumped out of the blimp when it finally landed on a remote island with nothing but a tall lean building surrounded by old rusted debris of metallic machine ware. I climbed on top of what looked like an airplane wing and let the breeze caress my skin as I breathed in the fresh air. I smirked at my opponents and imposing fear within their feeble minds with my intimidating stance. Only the Pharaoh didn't seem affected by my presence, but I would soon break his proud spirit and leave him in a shambles as I take back the God Cards and take over the world!
The four-way duel had proven to be a nuisance. I was to face-off against the blond with dumb luck while the others got to fight for their Egyptian God Cards.
This means, when I'll fight the Pharaoh in the finals he'll have two Egyptian God cards, but no matter. I'll just take both when I win.
My battle against Joey Wheeler had proven to be more difficult than I had anticipated. He should have been crushed under Ra's might and yet he resisted against his flame. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't afraid for a moment. It had crossed my mind that all my efforts had been in vain and that I would soon be reduced to nothing, but in the end, the blond fell unconscious before he could make his attack and I was declared the winner of the duel… as I should be!
No one should get so far by relying on luck to win! A true duelist fights with skills and stratagems, just like I have all my life! I deserve this, not him!
I felt sick to my stomach and I wanted to puke, but I waved it off and walked past the crying group of friends and headed towards the nearest bathroom. I quickly turned on the sink water and let the cool liquid flow through my hair in an attempt to calm my nerves.
So this is what water feels like…
I had become so enthralled with the water's composition and how it was odorless and tasteless, but yet still refreshing, that I forgot about my near defeat with the now comatose blond. By now, the second semi-final match had probably begun and judging from the loud cheering I heard coming from the rooftop, I was probably right.
What I found once I got there astounded me: a hologram of a real-looking life-size coliseum filled with people from Ancient Rome! Sometimes when Odion was away on a mission, I could temporarily take over Marik's mind and read about this other fascinating culture who had their own sets of Gods and Goddesses, and for obvious reasons, I preferred them over the Egyptian's. Getting a slight glimpse of it now set my hormones on edge, and I couldn't help but chuckle at the silliness of it all.
I wasn't surprised when the Pharaoh was victorious. It was expected that in order to steal the Pharaoh's power, I should have to steal it from the man himself, one might even say it was destiny. I felt ecstatic walking up to the platform for my final duel. I had waited so long for this, and now I was minutes away from dueling my rival, but this was the Pharaoh we were talking about. The man who ruined my life by needing to return to the living one day, and forcing the Ishtar family clan to carve his memories onto their backs! It was all because of this man! He was the reason I existed and had suffered in the darkness of my mind. He deserved not only to be defeated, but humiliated as well! And I knew just how to do it!
As soon as the short man with tri-colored hair joined me on the platform, I immediately set my plan into motion, taking us to the Shadow Realm and summoning our hikaris to our side. Oh how his face melted when I told him what was at stake!
"Poor old Pharaoh! Can you really live with yourself if you killed my other half while trying to destroy me?"
"I'll find a way Marik! I always do!"
"We'll see…"
We proceeded to summoning monsters and activating spell and trap cards to counter each other's attacks. Finally, I had Ra on my side of the field and I had converged all of my remaining attack points, all but one, into attack points and fused with my monster. It was supposed to be over, right there, but then an all too familiar face I never managed to get rid of appeared before me. It was Odion, but my attack had already been declared, I should be fine. I just needed to finish this, and I will be fine!
"Not so fast Marik!" the Pharaoh shouted and revealed his spell card Ragnarok, which allowed all the monsters in his deck to combine forces and destroyed my God Card!
NOOOOOO! It can't be over! I fought too hard to get here, I can't be over now!
There was only a small part of me remaining on the field, and that small piece of me had to fight against Marik's will, not to mention he had an advantage with Odion's presence. But I had made it this far, and nothing could measure up to the isolation I felt in the Shadows, I wasn't going back! NO WAY IN HELL!
There was a flash of light and I could hear the Pharaoh and his friends gasp once the tornado of dust surrounding my figure disappeared and I remained standing on the platform, the other me being reduced to nothing more than an eyeball in the purple mist around us. I couldn't believe I had finally overpowered Marik and Odion, which meant I now had full control over this body!
"Ha! I did it! I'm still alive! Too bad Pharaoh, you came so close to defeating me, but it seems the Gods have turned against you and think the coronation of a new king is in order!"
I drew the card that would end it all, Drillago, a four star monster! My body felt heavy and breathing was difficult, but nothing could stop me from accomplishing my goal! I dropped the card onto my duel disk and the hologram of a monster with giant drills for hands and a nose appeared on the field.
"Say goodbye Pharaoh because this is it! Drillago can attack you directly if your monsters have 1600 attack points or more! And we all know how many attack points the Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl have… Now attack my monster!"
"No it can't be!" he cried, looking at Yugi with remorse before being knock over by the monster.
As his life points hit zero, the Pharaoh's deck scattered out of his duel disk and Mother Nature blew the two God Cards over to me, which I easily caught with one swipe of a hand. From the side, the defeated King's friends gathered around him, as did Ishizu and Odion. Both looked up to see me holding the three cards towards the already dark sky. The Shadow Realm swirled in on itself, sending strong gusts of wind and sparks of lightning here and there as I claimed all of the Millennium Items' power!
How convenient that they should all be on the blimp!
"Now watch you stupid beings as I re-shape the world as I see fit! A world where I am King, and everyone gets what they deserve! Ah! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! The world is mine! Ah! Ha! Ah! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!"
Please leave a review, I planned on making the whole story this intense and I've never written anything like this so please let me know what you think :)
