Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh but if I did Yami Marik would not be dead... I do however own the plot!

Chapter 4


Depressed, Joey and Yami made their way back to the car Rex was still hiding in. They met up and helped the boy out, the zombies immediately seeing the three of them and stalking forward. "Come on." Yami helped Rex up on top of the car and Joey followed along with Yami. "Joey… Help Rex to another car. I'm going to… distract them." He lied, eyes talking to Joey mentally and the blonde quickly got the hint.

With Rex distracted, Yami turned to the group of monsters and the yellow eye of Horus started to glow upon his head. "Mind crush!" he shouted and the group of zombies went down immediately. Smirking in amusement, he turned and walked along, seeing Joey walking less enthusiastically behind Rex. He looked really down. "Joey… don't worry. She wasn't there but she might be alive." He tried to console and patted the blonde's shoulder. "We'll find here, even if she is a zombie. We can put her in with Tristan and Tea."

The two weren't paying attention to Rex ahead and suddenly, Rex heard a weird choking moan. Shocked and looking to the side, seeing an alleyway he hadn't realised was there, Rex stumbled and fell back, his head hitting the hard concrete and blood pooling. Wincing, he looked up and screamed, the zombie biting down hard on his ankle. "HELP!" he screamed, kicking and knocking the creature hard in the jaw. He backed up quickly and groaned, suddenly not feeling so great and looking to Joey and Yami who ran over, the zombie now dead from Yami's hand and Joey cursing loudly, checking the bite mark out. "There's nothing we can do!" he looked as Rex's skin tone paled further and Joey jumped up and backed away. "Shit. We can't… You're turning."

Rex faintly reached out with a shaky hand and sweat dripped from his forehead. "Please…" he groaned and arm dropping, his head fell forward and he twitched and garbled noises came from his throat.

"We have to go!" Joey looked to Yami and the two agreed silently and ran for it. "Damn it! Another one is dead!" The blonde cursed and headed towards Duke's, relieved to see it in the distance and then spotting a familiar car. "Mai? She returned?" he asked and headed to the front door, carefully opening it and stepping inside with Yami trailing behind. "Mai?" He was happy to see the blonde but froze, heart swelling and eyes widening when.

"Big brother!" Serenity ran forward and jumped up into other big brothers arms.

Joey laughed and swung the young girl around, slowly and carefully setting her down and hugging Serenity tightly. "I'm so glad you're okay! I thought you were a zombie! We went to rescue you!" he explained and the girl nodded, clutching her big brothers shirt tightly. "I know big brother. Malik told me." She smiled and then gently started to cry. The two were beyond happy they were both safe and okay. "I love you big brother."

Malik walked into the room some minutes later and looked over to the group, slightly confused. "Um guys… Mokuba's on the phone." he held the device out, unsure who to give it to.

Yami walked over and took the phone, holding the device suspiciously to his ear. He hated modern technology, it confused him. "…Hello?"

"Yugi? It's me Mokuba! Um, I have some bad news. Big brother is amongst those as a Zombie a-and now I'm in charge of Kaiba Corp. I… I'm really sorry! This is all big brothers fault! He wanted to make duel monsters into living creatures rather than holograms and… well… one of them from the undead deck managed to escape and… it was a zombie card. I am trying to think of a way to cure this and I have an inkling of an idea but until then I need your help! I need you to come to Kaiba Corp and look at the CCTV footage I have of the original Zombie duel monster. I then need you to track down the monster. From there I think I can work with the scientists to bring about a cure." The boy paused in thought and leant against the wall, eyes moving to a photo of Mokuba and Seto in happier days, the two of them standing together in the photo and Seto looking proud with Mokuba's eyes staring in awe of his big brother. "I also have a few other duel monsters from the living deck big brother made. As a reward for helping, I am happy to give you one of these cards as a thanks from Kaiba Corp for helping us with the plan." He offered, hopeful Yugi would agree with the prospect of a new better way to duel." He paused and picked up the frame, a sad smile gracing young features. "I'm… really sorry. Big brother never imagined something like this would happen. I-I will find a cure! I don't know how long it will take but some of the lead scientists are still alive and we are working together to sort this out. Another important thing, make sure you don't let any of these infected people die! Once I sort out the cure they can all be bought back. Ah I have to go! Good luck!" he hung up.

Yami stared at the now dial tone phone and then handed it back to Ryou. "Mokuba said they are working on a cure but Seto is now amongst those of the undead. He said we need to find the first Zombie that caused the outbreak. The zombie was originally a duel monster card test subject. These monster cards were created to be living creatures that came out of the card when summoned. One of them managed to get lose and started infecting people creating the zombie infection to begin with." He explained and paused, unsure whether to mention Mokuba's bribe/reward. I'm not sure how we will control them if these become true duel cards but being the king of games I'm sure I can." He smirked cockily and walked through the house then sat down. "Could the rest of you leave? I need to have a serious talk to Ryou and Malik." He asked, hawk eyes watching until each and every member left elsewhere in the house before turning to look at the two remaining boys.

Ryou and Malik meanwhile nervously looked to each other and slowly padded across the room to Yami. Taking a seat opposite on the same sofa, Ryou took Malik's hand nervously and for support and two sets of nervous eyes met Yami's red serious ones. "What-"

"I have a plan and it involves you two directly. You won't like it but I think it will greatly help. Malik, its more to do with you."

Malik nodded and let out a heavy sigh of relief. "I thought you had news about my sister or Rishid. Um… what… what's the plan?" he asked and stared, heart loudly beating in his ears and trying to remain calm.

"…" Gazing between the two, Yami shrugged and leant forward, voice flat. "I want to bring your Yami back." He raised a hand as Malik gasped and stared more at him than Ryou. "I know it's not a wise idea usually but I've noticed these things aren't attacking Ryou or myself and I think it's because we are protected by the Yami's inside us, well… inside you, Ryou. I am the Yami." He chuckled amusedly and sat back serious again. "If I bring him back from hell, he won't have the powers to destroy this time and I want you to give him complete control of your body. I'm aware this is a big risk but this way they won't attack you. I don't think he'll let you have control if we do bring him back like Ryou has control at the moment. Bakura is definitely around and I think if he wanted to take over right now he could." His eyes slid to Ryou and narrowed. "And I'm certain he's listening to us right now. I have a deal I want to make with them both."

Suddenly Ryou's body changed and the form of Bakura sat there, eyes narrowed and letting go of Malik's hand, disgusted. "You want to make a bargain hmm?" Bakura smirked and leant forward, silently amused the Pharaoh of all people was coming to him begging. "So what do you wish to bargain?" he asked and ignored Malik who moved and stepped away from him worriedly.

"I want you to take control of Ryou's body and work with me to," Yami paused, recalling Mokuba's added note. "We can't kill these Zombies but help me dispose of them in the meantime. In return I will not send you to the shadow realm now I know you really are here." He bargained and sat back, staring and eyebrow cocked. "What do you think?"

Bakura went quiet and thought about it. Bargain with the one person he hated the most? Well, he could promise to work with the Pharaoh and betray him later on. This would get him closer to stealing the puzzle and with their trust he could find out where the missing rod was too. He inwardly smirked and looked up. "Deal, but if you do anything to ruin the deal…" he narrowed dark eyes.

"I have more important matters to attend to." Yami's gaze moved towards Malik now pressed against the door and he stared impassively. "Come over here."

Malik warily looked at Bakura again and sighed, taking a deep breath and walking over with head held high, avoiding the other Yami at all cost. "Do… you know how to get the other me to… to come to life? I… don't like this idea but if it means I will be one less thing to worry about and he really can help you… I… I am willing to do it."

"Good. I don't know of a way no but I will think of one." A snort came from the left and Yami glared over at Bakura. "I am going to work on that now." He disappeared and Yugi blinked, looking around and seeing Malik to the side and "Bakura?" he remembered Yami's plan and sat up. "Oh, right. Um… hello."

Bakura rolled his eyes and stood up. "I'm going to have a proper look what's going on out there." He turned and left, ignoring Yugi's plea to stop and return. "So this is what's happened?" he walked through the street, amusedly watching a group of kids get attacked by a small hoarde of zombies. They screamed and he laughed, watching in amusement and stepping over to get a better view. His eyes settled on the children when the elder zombie walked away in search of new victims and he watched with sick curiosity as their little bodies twitched and film covered their eyes, looking strangely blind. "…Huh." He hopped the fence and jumped down, landing crouched and standing up, staring as the children got to their feet and slowly padded out of the alleyway.


Yugi sighed and sat on the living room sofa in thought. Yami had been gone for a while and the Pharaoh hadn't even spoken to him about how the quest was going. His gaze moved across the room to where Malik lay curled up sleeping. Just then he felt a prodding and eyes closed, he felt out. "Yami?" he spoke and brightly smiled, seeing the boy sitting there. "Hi!" he ran over and sat down.

Yami met Yugi's gaze and shifted. "I figured out how to bring Marik back. It's not the same way I originally planned but I realised, though Marik has gone, he's left a piece of himself in Malik. I was trying to sense out for the rod but instead found a piece of Yami Marik inside of Malik. I… need to take over and talk to Malik again. I'm sorry." He apologized and Yugi nodded. "Go on." He urged gently and smiled, flopping down in the soul room and sighing. "I still can't believe all this has happened. It's like a strange dream."

Yami's eyes opened and he looked around. Joey was in the room guarding the door and it seemed Bakura still hadn't returned. Yami had faith he would though. Spotting Malik curled up still sleeping, he walked over and knelt down, shaking the tan boys shoulder and staring into tired eyes. "Malik. I've figured out how to bring Marik back and I need permission to enter your mind. Is that okay?"

Malik yawned and slowly sat up, meeting the Pharaoh's questioning eyes. He reluctantly nodded and flinched ever so slightly when Yami sat beside him. "I… promise me when I next wake up everything will be fixed?" he asked, eyes begging.

"I'll do my best. Rest now." He reached out a hand, placing it gently on Malik's forehead and disappeared into his mind, Yugi pulled back in surprise and blushed. "You'll be okay." He assured.

"I know… Good luck Yugi." Malik replied and eyes closed to rest, knowing the next time he woke, the world would either be fixed or… completely doomed.


Yami walked through the dark mind, seeing the usual rooms he saw in Yugi's mind and nothing else. He felt out the dark power inside of the boy and eventually felt pulled towards a certain dark hidden area within the boys mind. Opening the dark door, he walked through and looked around. The room was that of an Egyptian underground home. It was cold and not very welcoming. In the room was a cold concrete slab and there was dry blood around. "What a strange room." He reached out and touched the stone pillars, eyes spotting something in the corner. "What's this?" he knelt down and spotted a small child trembling at the end of the concrete slab, back dripping with blood. "Malik?" he said in recognition and gently helped the small child up to shaky feet. "Are you okay?" he asked and knelt down, staring and seeing it wasn't Malik. It was… "Marik!" he said shocked and jumped back up, the child's twisted grin turning to look up and their eyes locking. "I've found you!" he shoved the child down and reached out, struggling as the boy squirmed and pinning him down by a knee to the back. "I need your help." The child stopped fighting and he stared down at it, realising he was listening. "I'm going to bring you back. I have a deal to make with you…"


Thanks for reading. =)