A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out. School's been kinda tough, but I'm starting to settle into a routine somewhat, so hopefully I'll update more often!

In the first chapter, I transcribed Kaiba's speech and Joey's comment straight from the episode, but from now on I'm mostly going to make it up. Some will be similar, but not the same, as it was in the episode.

"This is normal speech"

This is someone's thoughts.

'This is two people communicating through a mind link.'


Bakura would have quite liked to beat that blond, dimwitted friend of Yugi's several times for clumsily knocking into him, or at least give him a scowl and a fierce glare. But thanks to his hikari's meek reputation, he was forced to smile and happily accept the idiot's apology.

"That's quite alright," he said in that pathetically soft and polite voice.

"So Bakura," the blond continued, "how'd you manage to qualify for the finals so fast?"

Bakura was prepared to lie and say he fought five very easy duels, but suddenly realized how much more fun it would be to see the blond's reaction to the truth. So, putting on Ryou's most innocent face, he said, "I, uh, won all of my locator cards at once."

The blond's jaw dropped, and Bakura hid his smirk behind a kind smile. "Buh… But why would anyone agree to bet all their locator cards on one duel?"

"Well…" said Bakura, still with a smile on his face. "I didn't really give them any choice."

Now it wasn't just shock that emanated from the blond. There was fear in his dark eyes, too. Bakura came very close to laughing out loud. "Um…" said the blond, obviously wanting to be anywhere but there. "Well, good luck in the finals, Bakura."

"Good luck to you, too," he replied. "If we end up dueling each other, do go easy on me, won't you?"

"Yeah… sure," said the blond as he turned away, immediately leaving to join his other friends and looking quite nervous. Bakura, though still amused, took this opportunity to drop the smile and instead maintained a neutral look. His gaze followed the blond until he reached Yugi, at which point Bakura gasped: the Millennium Puzzle was missing. His eyes instantly narrowed in suspicion as he looked to Marik's lackey, Odion, and then to Marik himself. Marik, still pretending to be "Namu", returned the glare with an impartial face, but made his impatience known by connecting his mind to Bakura's, using the power of the Millennium Rod.

'What is it, Bakura?' he said coldly through the link.

'Where is the Millennium Puzzle?' Bakura demanded, not bothering to hide the accusation in his tone.

'How should I know? I'm not so stupid as to take an Item without winning it first,' Marik replied, anger flaring. 'I find out what happened to it as soon as that blond dumbass Joey is finished talking to Yugi.' He cut off the mind link.

Bakura looked back at Joey and Yugi just in time to see them both turn and give him suspicious looks. He immediately softened his features and gave them a small wave and a polite smile. They turned away from him, and that was when "Namu" began to address Yugi. Bakura was too far away to hear the exact words, but he knew exactly what was being asked, and watched the group's reactions carefully. They all went silent at first. Some cast nervous glances at Yugi. Some began to mumble broken phrases to "Namu". Finally, Yugi spoke, and Marik pretended to look contrite and sheepish. Everyone there went silent, and Marik reopened a mental link between himself and Bakura.

'Apparently,' he began without preamble, his voice torn between amusement and irritation, 'the Pharaoh tried to use shadow magic on Kaiba, and little Yugi got upset, because Ra forbid he ever causes someone pain.' Bakura rolled his eyes, and Marik continued, 'So he smashed the Puzzle to pieces and left it in his room.'

'What an idiot,' Bakura said with a scoff.

'My thoughts exactly. Without the Pharaoh to hold his hand, he will be much more vulnerable in a duel. Winning his God card is a simple task,' said Marik. Bakura thought he heard a fraction of doubt in his words, but it was so fleeting that he ignored it. Marik continued, 'Now we must only assure that he is unable to make amends with the Pharaoh.'

'Indeed…' Bakura agreed. 'You have a plan, then?' Just then, the lights in the room dimmed and a strange machine that looked like a Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon rose from the floor.

'Yes,' replied Marik as one of Kaiba's employees began to speak. 'But I shall explain later.' With that, he broke off the mind link, and Bakura turned half his attention to the speaker, who was explaining the rules of the finals. At the same time, he wondered about Marik's plan. Would he have any involvement? How soon would it go into effect? And how would it help distance Yugi from the Pharaoh?

He became too caught up in his thoughts, however, and was caught off guard when his name was announced, and everyone in the room turned to look at him. Giving a little jump of surprise, he laughed nervously, still pretending to be his lighter half.

"Are you sure you're alright, Bakura?" that blond nuisance Joey asked, suspicion in his eyes. Bakura scowled internally: his cover could be blown soon, as well as any chance of seizing the Millennium Puzzle virtually unopposed, but he might as well continue the charade as long as these idiots would buy it. And seeing how far Bakura had fooled them already, whether they would ever actually accuse him of lying was up for debate.

"Yes, I'm quite well," he said with a smile. Damn his soft-spoken hikari. "I'm just surprised I'm in the very first duel." He received a few more looks, but attention was quickly drawn from him as Yugi was announced as his opponent. Bakura smiled in pleasure (of course, he had to make it look considerably less neurotic on the outside). In the very first duel of the finals, he would fulfill his end of the bargain, and would be closer – much closer – to collecting all seven Millennium Items. For a few moments, while he and Yugi were led into the elevator they were taking to the dueling deck, he allowed himself to muse about the day he would finally rein victorious over the world…

Suddenly, having ascended completely, the elevator door slid open, and a blast of icy air sliced at Bakura's face, neck, and arms like a thousand needles. He barely flinched, and walked calmly out into the open. In the corner of his eye, he saw Yugi shiver and cross his arms and hunched slightly against the cold. They both took their positions on the dueling arena, and as the platform began to rise beneath their feet, the cheerleading squad and Marik arrived on the observation deck. The Kaiba brothers also came to watch, though they stood on the other side of the dueling platform.

Yugi then straightened, his arms still crossed, and looked directly at Bakura. "I don't think you are who you say you are," he announced. The conviction of his accusation was plain in all but his eyes. Bakura was not as stupid as Yugi and his friends – he could immediately see that Yugi was putting up a façade of strength, and that he was unstable on the inside.

When Bakura didn't answer to his assertion, he continued, "You have the Ring back, don't you?" Bakura just laughed and allowed his darker appearance to surface. Ryou's kind, round eyes became more angled and narrow, and his hair became even less tame. Then, the Millennium Ring materialized around his neck, and outcries of "No way!" and "That's impossible!" came from the observation deck. While Yugi's friends began trying to make sense of this turn of events, Bakura spoke to Yugi in a voice low enough so that only he could hear.

"You're surrounded by lies, little Yugi. I know I'm not the first one who managed to betray your trust today – " he smirked as he saw Yugi's fists clench. " – and nor will I be the last. It's too bad my lighter half isn't present at the moment, because I'm sure he could have given you some excellent advice on how to deal with an evil yami." The short boy's eyes widened, and Bakura laughed again.

"How… how – " Yugi began, but abruptly cut himself off, shaking his head. He didn't meet Bakura's mocking gaze, only said, "Just start the duel."

The dark spirit sneered at how defeated Yugi sounded. Hikaris are so very fragile, he thought. And so fun to break! He drew his first five cards and prepared for an easy victory.


Marik stood on the observation deck with his hands clasped behind his back, one tightly clenching the Millennium Rod. He carefully separated his attention, so he was aware of what was happening around him, and so he could concentrate on initiating his plan.

Making sure that everyone around him was thoroughly distracted by the duel, he tapped into the powers of the Rod and probed the mind of one of Yugi's friends, just to confirm his earlier suspicions. Of course, mind reading wasn't as potent in the Millennium Rod as it was in the Eye, but the ability was still there, like a small bonus to the controlling power. From this young man's mind, he was able to gather that his name was Tristan, and that he was still in the same state of confusion, guilt, and bitterness that Marik had noticed about him minutes ago in the main room. He smirked; this weak emotional state would make him vulnerable to the Rod's powers, especially since both the bitterness and the task Marik had in mind were against the Millennium Puzzle and its inhabitant. Tristan's eyes went blank with almost no effort on Marik's behalf.

His first command for the new mind slave was to leave the duel and head for the central elevator.

"Where're you going, Tristan?" one of the others asked. Marik scowled internally, he had forgotten about them. He returned a normal look to Tristan's face and made him reply.

"Bathroom," he said in a dull monotone, turning only partly towards his friends. "Be back soon." None of them pursued the subject, only turned their attention back to Yugi and Bakura. Marik smirked at their naïve trust: it was no wonder why Bakura's bad acting had disguised him for so long!

As Tristan entered the elevator and disappeared from view, Marik allowed a small part of himself to drift across the invisible chain of dark magic that bound the slave to his master. He could then see what Tristan saw, and could direct him accordingly. An image of the inside of the elevator appeared to his eyes only, superimposed over reality. He also heard the slight whir of the machine operating, layered over the sounds of the duel as though he were listening to it through a single earphone.

The elevator door opened with a whoosh, and Marik, through Tristan, walked out into the hallway. His footsteps almost seemed to echo in the desolate blimp. In a short minute, he arrived at a room with the door slightly ajar, as if the occupant had been too distracted to bother with closing it all the way when he left. Tristan pushed the door open, stepped in, and flicked the switch in the wall nearby. Light flooded the room, reflecting off the golden Puzzle pieces on the floor, making them gleam like precious gems.

Marik carefully suppressed a malicious smile as he returned his full attention to his own mind and body. While he waited for Tristan to complete the task, he turned his thoughts to the girl, Téa. In a last-minute decision, he chose to include her in his plan. The Millennium Rod glowed softly as he incited its power once again, and he delved into her mind.

Having broken into many minds, Marik had long ago begun to notice the more intricate parts of the short procedure. Strengthening emotions were walls, while weakening ones were weapons easily used against them. He had come across nothing but weapons in Tristan's mind, but Téa had a few walls. There was one for faith and one for hope, both of which Marik barreled over easily; they were as weak as chain link fences. The third wall was friendship and love. He probed it, expecting another easy break, but instead found an obstacle as strong as steel-enforced concrete. So, he quickly searched around in her mind, and finally located a weapon, buried deep down: her worry and fear. The wall crumbled beneath his feet like a stale cookie, and he was in control.

This entire process took place at the speed of thought, and was thus over within the time frame of a single second. So, he let his power fade and only lingered at the back of Téa's mind, returning her free will for now. It would do no good to waste his energy while he waited. Five minutes later, the elevator door slid open again, and Tristan stepped out. He walked to a spot directly in front of Marik, and surreptitiously held his hand open behind his back, revealing four pieces of the Millennium Puzzle, glinting softly in the dappled moonlight. Marik took two, then Tristan put oe in his jacket pocket and slipped on into Téa's bag.

As he tucked the golden pieces into his own pocket, Marik released some of his hold on Tristan, to give his concentration a break. His lip twitched as he suppressed a smirk. And so, he thought, supremely confident despite earlier doubts, the battle is won before it has even started.


A/N:I'm not quite sure if Tea actually had a purse/bag/pocketbook with her in the series, but whatever. XD

Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed so far, thank you all for reading this chapter, and please PLEASE review! Even a single review just makes my day.