DISCLAIMER: I own absolutely none of the properties you will see here. All rights go to their respective owners.
Mystic Wars
Chapter 11
"So, you didn't see anything, Mrs. Kaiba?" Kim inquired.
It had been no less than an hour after Marik, Odion, and Janna had bested Bakura that the seven leaders of the Infinity League arrived on the scene to assess the damage, as well get some answers as to what exactly had happened. Currently, the leaders were speaking to Seto, Ishizu, and John in Kaiba's hangar bay for his private jet to accommodate for Prime's height to better understand what exactly had happened. However, the trio had been proving to be increasing defiant of their questions.
"Much had happened during the attack. I was unable to see much," Ishizu answered.
"Oh, really?" the Ninja answered in a sarcastic voice. "So, that wasn't you on the security footage with Janna?"
"Hey pal, the lady said she wasn't there," John cut in. "And how the hell do you guys know that girl?"
"She's an acquaintance of the League," Optimus answered. "We just want to make sure that she is safe."
"You mean safe from my brother?" Ishizu surmised. "That is what this is all about, am I right?"
None of the leaders said anything right away to neither confirm nor deny the woman's assessment. Marik Ishtar, though trying to turn over a new leaf in his life, was still wanted for the international crimes that he had committed while he was the leader of the Rare Hunters. Of course, when news footage of the ex-terrorist was shown alongside images of a friend of the superheroes, the League, of course, wanted to know where exactly Marik had run off to with Janna. In fact, the team leaders were not totally convinced that it wasn't some grand scheme by Marik for him to rob his brother-in-law during the chaos.
"No offense, ma'am, but your brother is still a wanted criminal," Danny answered. "If you know where he is and are withholding any information about where he's hiding-"
"If my wife says that she didn't see anything, then she didn't see anything," Kaiba defended in a sharp voice. "And unless you have any hard evidence to prove otherwise, then I suggest you stop while you're ahead."
Danny grimaced at that remark, knowing that he was right. There was security footage that proved Marik and Janna were not only here, but had also spoken to both his sister and her bodyguard on top of that. However, since the footage belonged to KaibaCorp, that meant that it belonged to Kaiba, and therefore could only be handed over to the League via a court order. And the courtroom was where Kaiba was practically a god. As Danny tensed up at the idea of letting Marik get away, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Jenny looking at him, silently telling him to let it go.
"Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you," she muttered to him.
"I will say though that if I did see my brother, I would say that he is not a threat to you," Ishizu added casually. "In fact, there may come a time when you need his help."
The leaders gave the woman a collective glare from that remark, but the billionaire's wife stood proud before the metahumans.
"I think we're all done here," the half-ghost said. "We'll be in touch."
"If you 'remember' anything, please be sure to give us a call," SheZow advised.
"Oh yeah, I light up the Infinity signal if something comes to mind," John replied. "But then again, my memory's not so good these days."
"Can't imagine why," the Dragon growled under his breath.
As the rest of the heroes began to make their way out of the room, Danny, Optimus, the Ninja, and Jenny stopped to have a few more words with the trio.
"You know we're not the bad guys, right?" Danny informed. "We're not trying to bully you or anything."
"We just want to make sure Janna is alright," Optimus added. "She is a friend of ours, and we simply don't want her to be harmed."
"And from what we saw in that footage, your brother is wielding some serious power," Jenny furthered.
"As I told you before, I saw nothing," Ishizu replied. "But Marik is no danger to you."
"I'll believe it when I see it," Jenny said, still unconvinced.
"By the way, that's a nice armor you got there, Mr. Kaiba," the Ninja commented. "Makes me wonder why someone so financially powerful would go out of his way to throw so much money into such an armor. It can't be because you wanted to feel big in a world filled with metahumans. No, sir, that can't be the reason at all."
"I think it's time you left," Seto sneered. "Now"
"So it is, Mr. Kaiba," Optimus noted.
"You will call us if you remember anything?" Danny asked.
Ishizu nodded in response before the last four heroes also took their leave. As they stepped out of the room, Danny had a few questions for the Ninja.
"Why do you feel the need to antagonize every cooperate businessman we meet?" he asked.
"Hey, any day I get to make fun of a capitalist is a good day for me," his friend replied with a snicker.
Meanwhile, back inside the hangar, the Kaibas and their bodyguard spoke amongst themselves.
"The nerve of those freaks," Seto growled. "They think they can tell ME what to do?"
"It's alright now, my love. They're gone," his wife assured.
"Can't say I blame them for the tough guy act, though," John added. "I used to do the same thing while I was back on the force. They're just doing their jobs. Wish I got a selfie with one 'em though."
"I don't pay you for your opinions, McClane," Kaiba said in a firm voice. "If you're not too busy, then perhaps you can go out and recruit a new staff to replace the guards that died on your watch."
Rather than further anger his already irate boss, John gave a nod in compliance to Seto before leaving the hangar in order to begin his search for new recruits, but not before sending letters to the families of those who had died. With John gone, Ishizu turned to her husband.
"If you wish to leave to work on your armor, I won't stop you," she informed him.
Ishizu had been married to Seto long enough to enough when his ego was wounded, and after what the Ninja had said, Kaiba was no doubt feeling defensive. Seto gave her a look that was almost one of gratitude before he silently departed from the hangar as well, leaving his wife alone.
"I honestly don't know what you see in that man," a familiar voice commented.
The sudden voice made Ishizu nearly jump in shock. She spun around to see a haunting sight that nearly took her breath away. Hovering over her was a ghostly image of Marik, which of course startled her. Ishizu let out a yelp in fright.
"Whoa, it's okay! I'm not a ghost!" the spirit assured. "I'm astral projecting my spirit to talk to you."
"You can do that?" his sister asked before following that up. "Then how did Danny Phantom not detect you in this form?"
"I had put several protection and cloaking spells around me in order to be unseen by his ghost sense," Marik explained. "But the drawback to projecting myself this far away from my physical body is that I can't stay here very long."
"I was worried that I would not see you again after you left so quickly," Ishizu said in a slightly sadder tone. "I feared that would be the last time I saw you."
"Truth be told, I didn't know if you wanted to see me again at all," her brother replied in a dejected voice. "After everything that I had done…"
"Marik…" Ishizu began slowly. "Regardless of what you have done, you are my brother, and the only thing I can ever feel for you is love."
Those words surprised Marik. During his time waging war on the Pharaoh, Marik had done many heinous things, some of which he inflicted on his own sister to get what he wanted. After the Pharaoh freed Marik of his darker side, Marik had quickly distanced himself from the rest of his family out of shame for all the pain he had caused them over the years. But now things had changed. Now the once feared Marik Ishtar had become a new man, and he would see to it that every day for the rest of his life that he would never fall back into the darkness.
"So, you've taken on the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme," Ishizu noted before letting out a small giggle.
"What's so funny, sister?" her younger sibling questioned.
"Just the irony of all this," she explained. "You spent years trying to take the Pharaoh's power, and all you had to do was become a good man to have it after a lifetime of evil."
"Heh, that is kind of funny," Marik agreed with a chuckle before getting serious. "But you understand what this means now, right?"
"I know, Marik. It means I may not see you again for a long time," Ishizu said in a somber voice. "But at least now I know that you will be the man I always knew you to truly be."
"I spent so much of my life running away from the horrors I had done, but now I finally know the path before me," her younger sibling stated. "I swear I won't fail you, Ishizu."
"You should not fail yourself most of all," Ishizu corrected him. "And I am certain that Odion and the girl will help guide you should you ever feel lost again."
"And I know where to go whenever I need some good advice," Marik added.
"Or a swift smack on the head," Ishizu teased.
"Hey, that's no way to speak to the Master of the Mystic Arts!" Marik retorted before laughing.
The two Ishtar siblings then did something they had not done since they were children: They shared a laugh together. After a few joyful moments, Ishizu brought up an important question.
"So, what will you do about the girl?" she inquired. "The Millennium Necklace has chosen her as its new master, and I doubt it would wish to part ways with her anytime soon."
"I have an idea," Marik answered. "Though it may not be the best one."
Before Ishizu could ask what he had meant by that, Marik spoke up again.
"I have to leave now, Ishizu," he informed her. "There's still one more person that I have to meet with before I have to return to my body."
"I understand, Marik," Ishizu said. "Take care of yourself, little brother."
"Goodbye, Ishizu," he answered. "I love you."
With that, Marik vanished, no doubt already on his way to speak with whoever he was seeking out next. However, Ishizu thought to herself about how she should have told her brother about the news she and Kaiba had recently learned. News that would make Marik's heart soar with joy for her.
'Oh well. I suppose I'll tell him the good news the next time I see him.' she thought to herself as she placed a hand on her belly. 'Unless it's nine months from now, then he'll be able to see it for himself.'
Yugi breathed out an exhausted sigh. Dueling for the fate of the world was one thing, but these final exams he had been taking were an entirely different kind of evil. The young man considered just handing off the test to Yami, but that may not be the best idea since his other self was not quite the master of modern math and science as he was at Duel Monsters. Still, even though Yugi was struggling, he was still doing much better than Joey was, who, despite living in Japan for almost three years now, was still struggling with reading out the Japanese language. But then again, Joey never had the best grades, to begin with. In fact, Joey was trying to get his young friend out of the house for a night on the town with him and Honda, but the multi-colored haired boy declined, saying that he needed some rest after how exhausting the exams were.
It was almost funny to Yugi now to think that these final exams were the hardest thing for him to overcome, considering all that he had done. From dueling the likes of Kaiba and Pegasus to traveling through a virtual world created by the long lost step-brother of Seto, Noah, and finally battling and defeating Marik's dark side for the fate of the world.
Marik. Now that was someone whom he thought he had seen the last of, but just today, the former villain was spotted at KaibaCorp adorned in a strange outfit and doing battle with a giant monster alongside Kaiba and some strange girl at the former leader of the Rare Hunters' side. But the biggest thing that stuck out to Yugi and his other self was that Marik not only had possession of the Millennium Rod again but now had possession of the Millennium Key as well. From what it looked like from the news footage, Marik's sidekick also had Ishizu's Millennium Necklace around her neck, meaning now Marik had three of the ancient items in his possession.
Before the seemingly reformed villain dropped off the face of the earth, Marik swore to Yugi and his friends that he would try to change his life for the better. Seeing him with two Millennium items, one of which played a part in his madness overtaking him, both Yugi and Yami were apprehensive at the thought of Maik having a relapse. What was also worrisome was the monster that Marik and Kaiba fought off, or rather, who the monster turned out to be. The footage on the news only caught a brief glimpse of the beast's true form, but it was enough to show that it was Bakura. It disturbed Yugi that the Thief King, like Marik, was now exhibiting new powers that were beyond that of anything neither of them witnessed in the Shadow Realm.
It was then that the young duelist heard his cellphone ring. After seeing that it was Anzu that was the one who was calling him, he promptly answered it.
"Hey Anzu, what's up?" he asked.
"Did you see the news today?" his friend asked right off the bat. "That was Marik at KaibaCorp!"
"I saw," Yugi confirmed. "And he has some serious power now."
"I didn't even know he could do those things," Anzu replied. "Do you think that's where he's been all this time? To learn all these new abilities? And what was up with that girl he was with?"
"I don't know, but I don't like any of this," the duelist answered. "I'll try to call Kaiba tomorrow. Maybe he'll be able to fill us in about what happened."
"Yeah, I'm sure he'll totally cooperate with us," Anzu mentioned sarcastically. "For all we know, Kaiba could be in on this."
"I don't think so, Anzu," her friend refuted. "Despite everything we've seen, Kaiba refuses to believe in magic or anything else he can't explain. Besides, he wouldn't do anything that would endanger his company or his family."
"Well, regardless, none of this makes any sense," Anzu reaffirmed before asking. "What are you and Yami going to do about all this?"
Yugi didn't respond to that right away, mostly because even he didn't know what they were going to do. While the new footage showed that Marik was battling Bakura to protect the building's occupants from the dark wizard, the fact that he now had three Millennium Items made the two versions of Yugi nervous. Both sides of the duelist had been contemplating how best to approach this matter, and understandably, they wanted to handle this delicately until they had all the facts.
"We're still thinking about what to do," Yugi answered. "First, we have to find Marik before we do anything else."
Then, as if saying his name had summoned him, Marik was sitting in a chair in his bedroom. Yugi, obviously surprised by this sudden arrival, let out a yelp in shock as he dropped the phone.
"Yugi? What's going on?" Anzu questioned with concern in her voice.
"I-I'll call you back," was all Yugi could say before abruptly hanging up.
The championship duelist stared down the former villain, who looked back at him with a soft, yet still determined look in his eyes. Yugi, despite his surprise from the intrusion, had quickly recomposed himself as he stood before his unwelcome guest.
"I apologize for the sudden intrusion, Yugi," Marik suddenly offered. "I'm astrally projecting myself from a long distance, so I didn't have time to announce myself properly."
"What do you want, Marik?" Yugi questioned suspiciously.
"I need to speak to the Pharaoh," his sudden guest answered. "There are things we need to discuss."
Yugi said nothing in response to that right away. How was Marik able to have an astral form? Why did he want to speak to the Pharaoh in private? Yugi was almost about to demand answers when he heard a voice in his head.
"Yugi," Yami's voice began in the boy's mind. "Let me talk to him."
"But what if he tries something?" Yugi mentally argued.
"I don't get the sense that Marik is a threat," the Pharaoh reasoned. "Besides, if he does try anything, then he will quickly come to regret it."
Although Yugi was still worried about what might happen next, the young duelist complied with his other self's request. With that, the Millennium Puzzle began to glow brightly as Yami soon took over. The Pharaoh stood before Marik with a stern look in his eyes, still unsure about what Marik wanted from him or what he was here in the first place. Marik then stood up in order to properly face his former foe, but rather than speaking to him, Marik instead unhooked his cloak and allowed it to float off of his shoulders. Once it was free, the cloak flew directly toward the Pharaoh before flying around him in a seemingly excited manner, like a dog who had found its long lost master. As the cloak flew around Yugi's other self, he began to realize that he knew that this item was before it joined with Marik.
"I…I remember you," he said slowly. "…Carpet?"
Many of Yami's memories were blanketed in a shroud of amnesia, but seeing his magic carpet again broke through some of the dark clouds in his mind. Though they were not many, the few glimpses of the Pharaoh's past life he did manage to unlock were those of him riding his magic carpet in the skies above the kingdom that he once ruled and loved.
"Oh, my old friend…" Yami began softly. "It is good to see you again."
The cloak then flew back to Marik's side, where it reattached itself around his shoulders.
"I thought Carpet would help to show you that I'm not a threat," the new Master of the Mystic Arts began. "I know you have questions, but so do I."
"How did you find him?" the Pharaoh asked.
"Within the Cave of Wonders," the spellcaster answered. "Do you remember that place?"
"It was…my sanctum," Yami recalled slowly. "What has happened to it?"
"Bakura destroyed it," Marik sadly confirmed. "Janna managed to pull him out of the sand, but it's gone."
"Janna?" Yami repeated. "Is that the girl who was helping you?"
"Yes…and not without being a pain in my ass while doing it," the former villain answered. "But without her help, I'd have never have gotten as far as I have."
"She has the Millennium Necklace now," Yami noted. "And you have both the Rod and the Key. Care to explain that to me?"
"Believe me, it was not my first choice to have either of them," the magic-user replied. "But after Bakura murdered Shadi-"
"He did what?!" the spirit of the Puzzle exclaimed in both shock and rage.
"I tried to save him…but I failed," the Master of the Mystic Arts solemnly informed him. "In his final moments, he left the Key to me to keep it out of Bakura's hands."
"How has he become so powerful so quickly?" the Pharaoh demanded.
"In truth, he's relying on powers he always had, but he diverted them into the use of Shadow Games until he increased them with the staff of a dark wizard," Marik explained. "He is using powers that were taught to him by someone from your past, spirit…Mirage."
Like being struck by a lightning bolt, hearing that accursed name made flashes of painful images race through the Pharaoh's mind like a wildfire. He remembered the horrors he faced whenever he did battle with the immortal evil. All the agony, all the death that almost seemed to play out before him nearly made him fall to the ground from the weight of these memories had he not managed to catch himself and regain his composure.
"She's had Bakura seek out and find the Millennium Items so she can be finally freed from her dimension," Marik continued. "We've managed to keep these Items out of their reach, but they still have the Ring, Eye, and now the Scale. And she knows that Yugi has the Puzzle, and it's only a matter of time before she'll attempt to take it from him."
"So…that's why you've come here," Yami surmised as he placed a protective hand over his relic. "You came to take the Millennium Puzzle to hide from Mirage."
"…No," the wizard denied. "I came for something else."
Marik then kneeled before his former adversary.
"I've come to ask for your permission," he furthered. "I've recently taken on the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme, a title that you once held."
"Yes...It's all a still haze, but I vaguely remember having that title." Yami replied.
"I have completed the trails to be granted this title, but despite accepting this honor, I still have some lingering doubts," Marik informed him. "So, great Pharaoh, I am asking for your permission to fully take on the mantle that you had created."
There was only one answer that Yami could give to the young man.
"Rise, Marik Ishtar…" he ordered a gentle yet firm voice. "…Sorcerer Supreme."
And there it was. The acceptance that he had long sought for so many years had just been granted to him. With just those five words, Marik had finally felt that every horrendous act he had done in his life had fully left his soul. As the young villain stood back on his feet, he felt a sort of weightlessness wash over him, like the last traces of his sins had finally been purged from him for good.
"Thank you, Pharaoh," he said, shaking his hand as he did. "I swear that I will not fail you."
"I know you will be a great bearer of the mantle," Yami replied. "And I'll know who you call upon should Mirage attempt to make a play for the Puzzle."
It was then that Marik's astral body began to slowly fade away.
"I must return to my body now," the Sorcerer Supreme said. "Goodbye, Pharaoh."
"Goodbye, Marik," the spirit of the Puzzle answered. "I hope that our paths cross again someday."
With one final smile, Marik's astral self faded away into nothing as it returned to his physical body. While Yami was happy that he had helped Marik find a new lease on life, he still feared what was to come next. As his new ally had said, Mirage was still out there, and now that she knew that Yugi still had the Puzzle, she would stop at nothing to claim it. The Pharaoh didn't know when it would happen, but he knew that one day he would cross paths with his old enemy yet again. And should that day ever come, then he would fight to his last breath to protect this world from her wrath as he had done centuries ago.
Marik let out a deep gasp as his astral projection reentered his body. As he stood back up in the séance room, he found Odion and Leota there waiting for him.
"That was reckless," Leota scolded him. "You can't astral project yourself from that far away from your body, or your physical body may be possessed by a dark entity while your astral self is away for too long. Your lucky the mansion's protection spells keep out the dark spirits and demons. Otherwise, you may have found yourself without a body to return to at all."
The Master of the Mystic Arts knew it was a risky move, but he did not feel comfortable speaking to his sister directly out of fear of someone seeing her and arresting her for speaking with him. The same could be said for Yugi and the Pharaoh, whom Marik wanted to speak with in his astral form so he could better avoid a confrontation with either of them. Thankfully, at least within the walls of the mansion, he could carry out his work without the fear of losing his body. After the destruction of the Cave of Wonders, the Ghost Host had allowed Marik to stay within the mansion and make it his new sanctum, who, in turn, swore to protect the 999 ghosts that lived within the manor.
"I'll remember that," Marik noted before asking "Where's Janna?"
"She's in the graveyard," Odion answered.
"Of course she is..." his brother muttered.
"What are you going to do about her?" his brother inquired. "She now bears the Millennium Necklace, and I doubt that she will want to part with it."
"I know what I have to do, brother," Marik replied as he began to leave the room. "You're just going to have to trust my judgment."
A dial tone, a deadly ring So far away from everything No silver screens or movie scenes When your number's up, it's time to scream
When Marik found Janna among the sea of graves in the back of the mansion, the punk girl was with the singing busts, and by the look of things, she had taught them a new song.
"I wish you wouldn't do that," he said, getting Janna's attention.
"I figured that they needed some new material," the teen shrugged. "They've been singing the same song for years. I thought that they could change things up a bit."
She then turned to fully face the former villain.
"So, is this the part where you erase my memories and send me back home?" Janna gathered. "I'm not an idiot, you know. I've seen some crazy shit, well, crazy compared to what I've seen with Star and Marco. But you probably don't want me around you since your kinda on Interpol's most-wanted list, right?"
Marik was silent as he let Janna speak. He only crossed his arms as the teen continued.
"I mean, I know you said that you'd train me and all, but I figured that you were lying so you could get back to fighting Bakura," she furthered. "I don't blame you. You don't have time to protect the world from some Eldritch nightmare and teach some kid magic at the same time. Plus, you probably want to keep the Necklace safe and out of the hands of some seemingly irresponsible but totally awesome teen. So, if you're going to mindwipe me, you might as well do it now and get it over with."
Marik remained silent for several more seconds before finally speaking.
"I could do that, and I should do that," Marik finally answered. "But I made you a promise, and I intend to keep it."
"Wait, does this mean..." Janna was at a loss for words.
"Yes," the wizard confirmed. "You, Janna Ordania, will be my apprentice."
Janna let out a squeal of joy as she ran up and hugged her new master, who returned it with an embrace of his own.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she cried happily. "I swear I won't let you down, but I am probably going to make you regret doing this."
"Oh, I have no doubt about that," her teacher agreed. "Now then, I'll have to speak to your parents on letting you stay with me...and I have no idea how to do that."
"Eh, I wouldn't worry about it," Janna mentioned. "I told them that I got accepted by some private school in New Orleans, and that was enough for them."
"Why would you do that?" Marik questioned.
"Because the Necklace showed me that you were going to let me stay here, so I decided to cut out the middle man while you were away," his new student explained. "Plus, I had Odion teleport all my stuff from my room into the mansion, so now I'm kinda your problem now."
"You what?!" the Sorcerer Supreme exclaimed.
"I told you that you'd regret this," Janna teased.
Marik facepalmed as he let out a frustrated sigh, the first of many regarding Janna he surmised. There they were. An unwanted student for an unready teacher. Together, they would face monsters, demons, dark wizards, and above all else, Mirage. But no matter what, they would do it together as Sorcerer Supreme and his loyal, but frustrating, apprentice.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, so the bit with Yugi might throw some people off since we have Anzu and Honda instead of Téa and Tristan, but we're using Joey instead of Jonouchi. Basically, this is another retcon Yu-Gi-Oh wise that we agreed on in that Joey, Serenity and their family are American and had moved to Japan three years ago. We did this because having to remember how to correctly spell his Japanese name would have been a bit of a hassle. Also, we don't have anything in mind for her at the moment, but should Mai ever show up, we're having her be American as well, so her last name will be Valentine.
Just thought I'd clear up any potential confusion anyone might have over us mixing Japanese and American names.