AN: I was going through some reviews for Hikari no Yami no Game and found this:

Pinkrose1122: please oh please write in "hooray for one shots" what Bakura does so both of them can get out. details please like how both of them felt. the card was monster fusion

So I thought "You know, why not give it a shot."

I think it's a bit sappy and boring, but I tried. Most of this is capy-pasted from the chapter in question because

A: otherwise it would be too short and

B: it doesn't make too much sense out of context.

Hope it isn't too sap-tastic. Oh, and go vote on my poll if you haven't already. (or don't. I won't force you)

Bakura had rolled onto his back, a forearm draped over his eyes while Tozokuo paced the floor, unbothered by the soft, uneven surface the pillows made.

"There has to be something we can do," the tan thief muttered, violet eyes narrowed in frustration.

"Well...we have two things we can hope for," Bakura said, a hint of sarcastic optimism in his voice. "Zorc could have an inexplicable...change of heart-" he chuckled at the words as they reminded him of Ryou "-and suddenly decide to right all his wrongs."

"Oh oh! That one! I like that option!" Tozokuo cheered childishly, clapping his hands together.

"But wait! You haven't heard the other option!" Bakura moved his forearm and looked at his past self. "Our other hope is that the Pharaoh will defeat Zorc and we die with him."

"Only if it can be a painfully slow death," Tozokuo wagged his finger at the other. "...But I still like the first option. How do we make that one happen?"

Bakura hummed. "We would need dates. Lots of them."

Tozokuo sighed. "But we don't have any dates."

"You know...I think I'm going to stop right there," the pale thief sighed.

"Yeah, this line of thinking isn't getting us anywhere..." Tozokuo grumbled.

"That and now I'm hungry." Both men chuckled. Tozokuo moved to speak when the room shuddered. "That's a good sign, I suppose..."

"It means the others are still fighting, right?"

Bakura nodded, closing his eyes. A moment later, they flew open again. "Did you hear that?"

"Hmn?" Tozokuo tiled his head, listening. "What am I-"

"Shh." Bakura closed his eyes again. "I think I hear Ryou..."

"I hear something...That does sound like m- our Ryou!" Tozokuo ran to the door, pressing his ear to it's surface and then pushing away, startled. "More than that, I feel the presence of the Millennium Ring."

Bakura nodded after a moment, holding his hands over his chest and closing his eyes. A warm, golden light filled the room, fading to reveal the Millennium Ring resting against the pale thief's chest. Exhausted from the effort, Bakura panted, laying still.

"I think that's all I can do..." he whispered, eyes fluttering open to see Tozokuo crouched beside him.

"Go to him, other me. You're the one he's calling."

"I can't move, much less do I have the energy to escape. Even if I did, I don't have a body. You do. And you could-"

"He's calling you, not me," Tozokuo argued, grabbing Bakura's shoulders roughly. "You have to be the one who gets out of here."

"We're the same-"

"Person, yeah. But you're the one he wants. You. Bakura. Not Akefia. So let's see about getting you out of here." He paused seeing the thoughtful look on the other's face. "What?"

"We...could...technically..."

"Speak in full sentences or-" Tozokuo started to threaten but Bakura cut him off.

"I might have a way we could both leave, but I've never tried this trick before. Nor can I guarantee the outcome." He closed his eyes, pain crossing his features as he made his duel disk appear. "Look...See those things in my "dia diank"?" he nodded weakly to the device on his arm. "Pull out the whole stack and look through them for one that has a blue and red picture on it.(3)"

Tozokuo complied, flipping through the deck and occasionally showing a card to the other until he held the card Bakura had wanted.

"Now for the tricky part," the paler thief sighed, wincing at the effort it took him to move his hand. He grasped one end of the card, instructing Tozokuo to keep hold of the other as he began to focus on it.

'Fusion (aka Polymerization)...does this even make sense?' Bakura wondered, closing his eyes. The man kneeling beside him was him, wasn't he? Or he had been him three thousand years before. Russet eyes opened, finding curious violet peering down at him.

"Before I do this, I should tell you that I don't know what will happen. Technically, we are the same person, but we're not, are we?" he paused, looking at the card they held between them. "This card is called "Fusion". Using the Millennium Ring, I can make it's effect real."

"So we would become one being," Tozokuo guessed, looking at the card thoughtfully. "Or will we combine and one of use disappear..."

"I don't know. But if we don't try something, we'll both disappear," Bakura pointed out, his arm trembling the longer he held it still, his fingers threatening to lose their tenuous grip on the edge of the card. Tozokuo's other hand reached out, grasping the paler thief's wrist firmly.

"Do it," he said.

Bakura nodded, closing his eyes and focusing on the card. The Millennium Ring began to glow brightly, Tozokuo closing his eyes when it became too much.

There was none of the pain that Bakura had anticipated. At first he felt only a strange warmth followed by his strength returning, his soul no longer in danger of falling apart or "dying" as it were.

Neither was there a struggle for control nor a fear of no longer existing. Instead it was a blending of two minds, each filling in the gaps of memory that the other lacked. Bakura remembered moments of his past that had been buried over the millennia; Tozokuo learned what happened through Bakura's eyes three-thousand years ago as well as what resulted from being sealed within the Millennium Ring.

Finally, they opened their eyes, staring into the cold darkness that surrounded them for a moment before realization dawned on them.

"I'm inside Zorc." Violet eyes glanced around futility before a smirk crossed the thief's lips, his left hand coming before his face. The dia diank on his wrist activated, the plates shifting and clicking into place, their sound muted by the darkness. "Come, Diabound," he chuckled, summoning his Ka. "Let's see if we can find a way out of here."

The creature growled, one hand grasping the thief before charging forward.

'It's strange to feel complete. Whole. It's as if I was missing a piece of myself my whole life...and in a way, I suppose I was.' Diabound's other hand struck something solid, rearing back before shooting forward and bursting through the resistance. 'This body is mine. These memories are mine. I don't feel as though anything was lost in the fusion. We simply became what we were: Tozokuo Akefia. The King of Thieves. The holder of the Millennium Ring. Well, one thing was lost,' he chuckled to himself as the hole Diabound made became larger and he was suddenly outside, high above the ground and soaring away from his prison.

'I'm not his puppet anymore. Zorc has no control over me now. Never again.' Diabound's grip shifted and the thief maneuvered so he sat on his Ka's shoulder, leaving the creature's hands free to attack.. He grinned as he felt the air tugging at his red robe, watching as Zorc began to heal the gaping hole Diabound had caused.

The thief tilted his head slightly as he heard Ryou through their mind link, curious, relieved, and concerned all at once.

:Akefia?:

The thief hesitated just a moment. ::He's here too, yadounushi,:: he replied, using the name he had oft used to refer to his host. No, he wouldn't call him that again. Ryou was more than a host to him now. He was his light. His hikari. Perhaps even his life. ::I'll tell you the whole story later.::

:Be careful, 'Kura,: Ryou told him, his smile and relief evident in his "voice".

::Aren't I always?:: the thief mused. He suddenly recalled the more recent events as well as some of his more reckless gambles since meeting Ryou and added: ::Don't you dare answer that!::

Zorc's crimson eyes glare hatefully at him. "Tozokuo Akefia," he addressed the thief, actually sounding somewhat enraged.

'Tozokuo Akefia?' the name rolled turned over in the thief's mind. 'I was Tozokuo Akefia. But I am also Bakura.' His eyes narrowed slightly, his grin widening marginally, making his decision in that instant.

"I'm thinking of going by Tozokuo Bakura now. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think Zorc?"

AN: Hope that wasn't too lame...Felt so mushy...

Anyway, back to SideQuest! Away! *flies off*