Bakura gave the giant, whirling sphere a suspicious look, much like how a cat considers anything new brought into their territory. "Have you ever used one?"

"Of course. I sent Steves in at first, and when most of them came back alive, I went in myself."

Bakura raised a white eyebrow. "Most of them?"

Marik shrugged. "Not every Steve is a winner, Bakura."

Bakura gave Marik a dry snort before turning his attention back to the plot hole. "If these things are everywhere, why have I never seen one before?"

"Suspended disbelief. It's easier to accept our reality for what it is, but now that you've seen it…"

Marik let the sentence drop, but Bakura nodded, understanding. "I've pretty much taken the red pill, haven't I?"

Marik nodded, a touch of sympathy in his expression. Bakura despised it. He didn't want sympathy, not even from Marik. In a fit of defiance-induced bravery, Bakura shoved his fist into the blue Star Trek looking portal, wisps of yellow and pink shimmering amongst the blue. If felt like plunging his hand into a cold lake that wasn't quite real. Bakura pulled his hand back and stared at it..

"Well?"

Bakura's eyes darted up to Marik. "Well? What? Do we jump in? Is there some sort of trick to it?"

Marik gave Bakura a victorious grin, offering his hand. "Well …"

Bakura scowled "If this is a trick to get me to hold your hand-"

"If we just jump in willy nilly, who knows where we'll end up. Everything gets confusing in a plot hole. God forbid we end up in a fanfic by mistake." Marik paused, visibly shuddering at some of the potential options. He shook his head and reached out to Bakura for a second time. "I have to think of the precise universe and the precise moment for us to appear in. It's better if you just take my hand and come along for the ride since you've never done this before."

Bakura stared at Marik's hand as if he still didn't trust it.

"Worst case scenario if I'm lying is that I scream gotcha and cackle at how gullible you are. Worst case scenario if I'm telling the truth is that we end up only 4kids knows where doing 4kids knows what. In which case do you suffer more if you're wrong?"

Bakura exhaled in defeat, locking his fingers around Marik's fingers, turning his head away from Marik. "Let's just get this over with."

"Okay." Marik gave Bakura a quick peck on the cheek and then threw them into the plot hole.

Bakura's breath caught in his throat because of Marik's unexpected gesture, but before Bakura could do more than drop his jaw, they were already drowning in a swirl of blue. Then Bakura felt like he was floating, and then landing.

Bakura looked around as soon as everything stopped spinning. It was night and raining, but everything looked rather the same. "This is disappointing."

"What did you expect? It's our world, more or less, just a few dimensions over."

"I thought it'd be more … real somehow."

"Funny," Marik said. "I thought it'd be less real."

A tentative laugh slipped out of Bakura as he continued to look around. "The correlation between reality and perception ... sounds like an interesting concept to discuss while drinking chardonnay."

"Heh, are you asking me on a date, Bakura?"

"What? No!" Bakura huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "But if you're dropping your idiot's facade I might as well get a decent conversation out of you from time to time."

Marik snorted. "We have in-depth conversations all the time!"

Bakura opened his mouth to explain why arguing wasn't quite the same as adult conversation, but then the hint of a shadow caught his eye. Bakura turned in time to see the tail of a black coat slip into an alley. He moved to follow.

Marik grabbed him with both hands and jerked him back. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I saw the other version of me." Bakura pointed towards the alley.

"Yeah, so don't follow him. We're trying to avoid anyone significant to the story seeing us. We're going this way." Marik dragged Bakura down a different alley.

"How exactly are we supposed to get the Ring if we can't ask for it?"

"There'll be a better time to get the Ring. For now we're getting the Rod and Necklace."

Bakura snorted. "You would insist on knicking the Rod first."

Marik smirked, stopping and leaning against the wall. "Don't worry, Bakura. Did I not already tell you that this is all part of my Evil Genius™ plan? We'll get each Item in its own time."

Bakura glared at Marik, tapping his foot on the wet pavement. "Is standing here like fools part of your bloody plan, too?"

Marik shrugged. "The Steve is late. We'll have to wait for him."

Bakura blinked. "Steve?"

Marik nodded and a moment later the echo of running footsteps greeted them. They turned and saw one of Marik's purple cloaked lackies running to them with a Macy's shopping bag in his hand. As soon as he noticed Marik, he dropped to one knee and bowed his hand. "Master Marik."

"You're late," Marik said with a hard, deadpanned tone.

"There weren't any purple ones in the men's department. I-I had to get one from the ladies side of the store."

Bakura tensed, wondering how Marik would handle the obvious incompetence of his henchman.

But Marik only grinned and waved off the Steve with his hand. "Oh, I could have told you that! I shop in the ladies' department all the time! How else do you think I always look so fabulous?" Marik took the bag, peeked inside, and then pointed behind them. "Good job Steve. Portal's behind us. Go and find the others. You all did a very good job, enjoy your pizza party."

The Steve's face lit up at the mention of a pizza party. He ran off, leaving Bakura with his jaw hung slack in disbelief. "That's it? You're late, but good job go have lunch?"

"They're only Steves, Bakura. You can't expect much from them. Besides …" Marik pulled out dark purple coat with lavender dyed fur trim. "What's important is that he picked out something that looks amazing on me." Marik pulled out a large pair of sunglasses. "How do you like my disguise, Fluffy?"

A headache stabbed into Bakura's skull. He massaged the bridge of his nose. "You know … for a moment there … I honestly thought this was going to be different. That we were actually going to do something evil. That you were more than a half-naked half-wit. You really tricked me. Haha, Marik. Guess I deserve this for being a fool and actually thinking that there was more to you."

Marik held out the bag for Bakura. "I got a costume for you, too."

"Yippee. I can't wait to see it." Bakura grabbed the bag and looked inside. At first it looked like a plain white hoodie, which didn't seem so bad, but then he pulled it out from under the bag. "Marik," he growled. "I'm not bloody wearing this."

"Best if no one see's our faces."

"This hoodie has a puss's tail."

Marik laughed. "You said puss; that's funny. The hood has ears, too."

"I'm not bloody wearing it."

Marik heaved a dramatic sigh. "Bakura, we're in another dimension. It's one of those wibbly wobbly timey wimey things, only worse because it's also … uh … googly moogly spacey wacy stuff added into the mix? Technical terms aside, it's really dangerous for people to see us when we're really not us. It could create a paradox, or alter the plot in a way that destroys canon, and if canon's destroyed what happens to our universe? Should we all die here and now because you can't take a joke and wear a neko hoodie for shits and giggles? Jeez, Bakura, lighten up!"

Bakura glared at Marik, teeth grinding together, knuckles as white as the hood clenched in his hands. "Would you do all this just to see some cat ears on me?"

Marik's smile never seemed to tire, and he looked far too handsome surrounded by lavender faux fur. "Maybe, but probably not."

Bakura threw the bag on the ground. "Then get one of your stupid Steves to fetch the Items for you! I'm going home and taking a bloody nap!"

"Steves can barely handle fetch quests. I need a duffel bag stolen- I need a thief." Marik lowered his glasses so Bakura could stare into his lavender eyes. "I need you, Bakura."

Bakura felt his hands curl into fists again. His lips were knotted into the best angry frown he could manage, but his cheeks burned like hot sauce. He didn't like the way Marik's words made him feel, a little less like a dark spirit and a little more like the legendary thief he once was. Bakura growled, and threw the hoodie over his head and tucked his white mane inside the hood so he wouldn't be recognizable. "I hate you. I hate you so sodding much. If this bloody plan of yours doesn't work I'm going back to Dartz's council and I'm not letting the fangirls talk me out of it this time. I don't care how much they cry."

"This way." Marik turned around and continued to walk down the alley in the direction from which the Steve had appeared.

Bakura grit his teeth and muttered to himself, wondering why he was going along with yet another disastrous plan of Marik's.

They stopped, and Marik pointed at two figures walking down the street- a duffle bag slung over one of their shoulders. "There's your mark. The Rod and Necklace are in that bag." Marik sighed. "Not going to lie. I can't wait to hold the Rod in my hands again."

"And stroke it suggestively, no doubt." Bakura smirked.

Marik gave Bakura an amused side glace. "Maybe a little for old time's sake, but I like my new toy much better when it comes to- hehe- stroking."

Bakura froze, not sure how to handle the statement. His eyes wandered back to his marks. "Uh … where do we rendezvous after I get the bag?"

"Just run. I'll find you."

Bakura shrugged. He wasn't too concerned. All he had to do was find another plot hole and think himself home if they got separated. Bakura took to the streets, blending into the shadows as best he could with the gawdawful white hoodie. If Marik wanted to dress him up he could have at least picked black so Bakura could do his job. He was still fuming when it was time to pounce on top of the duffle bag like a- SOD!- what Bakura meant was that he was still fuming when it was time to dash between the lower-tiered canon villains, and snatch their duffel bag away from them like the THIEF he was. The amazing, dark, vicious thief who would one day destroy the Pharaoh and everything the Pharaoh ever loved.

Rex and Weevil tried to chase after Bakura, but he cut down a side road and put a good deal of distance between them. Bakura heard a whistle, and he noticed Marik around yet another corner. Bakura dashed right and they ran side-by-side.

"Can they see us?" Marik asked.

Bakura glanced over his shoulder. The other two were nowhere in sight. "Those morons are probably lost by now."

"Good! Follow me!" Marik veered left and Bakura followed him. They jumped over puddles and raced down gleaming, wet concrete until a huge shimmer of blue swirled in front of them.

"See it?" Marik asked, winded from racing beside Bakura.

"Yeah, see you at our flat!"

"Don't you dare jump without me, Florence!" Marik grabbed the sleeve of his hoodie to slow him down. "You're holding my hand!"

Bakura wanted to argue, but when Marik's warm fingers interlocked with his, Bakura's complaints somehow fell behind him, washing down the storm drains with leaves and food wrappers.

"On three!" Marik shouted. "One- Two- Three!"

The jumped together, and everything turned cool and misty, and then there was a sudden burst and they both rolled down the hallways of their flat, crashing against the doorway to Marik's room. Bakura was gasping with laughter.

"We did it!" He screamed. "We did it! We actually managed a real mission without it turning into a circus!" Bakura rolled his eyes, remembering the wet neko hoodie his was wearing. "Well, not a complete circus at least."

"Oh quit complaining, Fluffy, you look adorable."

"I don't want to look adorable."

Marik laughed, slipping out of the wet fur and dropping the glasses onto the floor. "Then you shouldn't smile because it makes your dimples show."

"I have no such thing!" Bakura screamed, holding his cheeks.

Marik grabbed Bakura's hands and lowered them. He took his pointer fingers and poked Bakura near the corners of his mouth. "Here and here. I have pictures."

"Sod off!" Bakura jerked his head away.

"Anyway." Marik reached over and pulled the duffel bag into his lap, pulling the zipper and dumping the contents onto the floor. "Ha! Come to daddy." He grabbed the Rod and held it above his head as he sang. "Together again! Gee, it's good to be together again! I just can't imagine that you've ever been gone! It's not starting over, it's just going on!"

Bakura couldn't handle a complete music piece at that moment. He was in a good mood. The two Items gleamed in the light of their flat andwhatever lost je ne sais quoi that the Manga universe seemed to have lacked for Bakura, the Items possessed. Just being near them, Bakura felt stronger, as if power shimmered through him.

He also felt bold. In order to shut Marik up, Bakura leaned over and cupped Marik's cheeks in both hands. Marik's eyes grew huge and round; his song died the moment Bakura traced his thumbs up Marik's cheeks. Bakura's eyes fluttered shut. He wasn't sure what he was doing, only that he very much wanted to do it. Marik gasped as Bakura caught Marik's bottom lip in a quick kiss.

"Ba-bakur-"

"Shhh," Bakura whispered against Marik's lips.

He closed his eyes, opened his mouth, and reveled in the texture of Marik's lips against his own, and when Marik pressed his tongue into Bakura's mouth, he sighed and moaned.