Disclaimer: WookieeBeta has yet to win the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh!… ^challenges Kazuki Takahashi to another game of Go Fish, Go Fish being one of the very few games she has cards for and remembers how to play^
Unknown Identity
Chapter Eighteen
Can't lose…Yami Bakura thought darkly. If Kaiba wins, it's all over for me! He pulled another card and glanced at it – Kuriboh. Puny fuzzball.
"Keep your mind on the game, Yugi," Kaiba snapped as Yami Bakura absentmindedly played Kuriboh in the place of Gaia the Fierce Knight. "You said you'd give me a challenge, not a bore."
Yami Bakura growled. I promised you nothing, he thought. That damned Yugi Mouto did. He's almost as much of an annoyance as the Pharaoh…
"I'm just getting started," he said out loud. "Don't worry, you'll get your challenge."
"Hah," Kaiba snorted. "Not if you keep playing like this. But for now…. Blue Eyes White Dragon, in attack mode!"
No! That's two dragons on the field!
"Blue Eyes, attack his Kuriboh! White Lightning Strike!" A brilliant flash of light, and the irritating beeping of life points falling.
"I can't believe this!" Yami Bakura heard someone whisper in the crowd. "Yugi's down to four hundred life points, while Kaiba's still at two thousand and five hundred!" Yami Bakura growled under his breath again. Time to call in some reinforcements…
Yaaah! Yugi yelled as he felt his soul yanked from the Shadow Realm and deposited roughly on the floor of his soul room. What the!?
Now, listen up, Yugi, Yami Bakura's slightly accented voice came. If you don't win this match, you won't get accepted as yourself ever again. So get in there and win it!
Wha…? Yugi shook his head violently. Nuh-uh! If I win this match, you'll just take over my body again! Either way, I lose.
It's not as if you have a choice…. Yami Bakura relinquished control of Yugi's body, forcing the boy to take over before anyone noticed anything.
Curse you, Yami Bakura! Yugi raged silently. He looked at the cards in his hand. Hm…not good… A glance at the life points on the board in front of him told him that he was worse off than he thought. What?! Kaiba's got a two thousand, one hundred life-point advantage over me! Even Bakura's not that bad a player!
"Yugi! Pay attention to the game!" Kaiba snapped.
"Oh, I'm paying attention," Yugi replied darkly. Thinking rapidly, he pulled a card from his hand and played it face down. "I'll play this one card face-down, and end my turn."
What? Kaiba thought. He hasn't played a card face-down during the entire game! Why switch tactics?
"Blue Eyes, attack his Feral Imp – White Lightning Attack!" the young CEO ordered. One more attack and this duel will be over, he thought with a smug grin.
"Not so fast," Yugi said, also grinning. "Activate trap card!"
"A trap?" Kaiba parroted, dumbfounded. He's gone right back to his old tricks! What's going on here?
"And not just any trap, either," the younger duelist said. "Mirror Force throws your attack right back at you!"
"Argh!" Kaiba growled. "No matter…activate Negate Attack!"
"No!" Yugi exclaimed, startled. "I should have known you'd have a trap card set up…"
"The way you've been dueling, it surprises me that you even know what a trap card is, Yugi," Kaiba sneered.
What? Yami Bakura, what have you been doing? Yugi seethed.
Dueling, the spirit said simply. Why? His tone was irritatingly innocent.
Never mind. Yugi had to restrain himself from spouting a continuous string of curses at the dark spirit.
"Your move, Kaiba," the young duelist said flatly, returning his attention to the game at hand.
"Yugi!" Yami called again, but the darkness of the Shadow Realm provided no answer. Yugi had disappeared, completely and inexplicably. The ancient Pharaoh peered blindly through the murky black, shouting his hikari's name over and over again, but the deadly energy that kept him trapped also prevented him from seeing more than a few feet in any direction.
If Yami Bakura has hurt him in any way…
It all comes down to this card, Yugi thought. He looked at the card in his hand, hesitated. If I play it, I win. But…Yami Bakura will take over as soon as I do, and he'll send me back to the Shadow Realm.
"Your move, Yugi," Kaiba said. His tone was icy, like the winter wind. I should have known that he'd do this! He glanced at the life-points display: 100 to 150, Yugi in the lead. They had one monster each, both in attack mode. Their attack and defense points were equal. And with my Blue-Eyes as weakened as it is, it almost doesn't matter what card he draws – any magic card to strengthen his Soldier of Stone or any monster in his deck could destroy it.
The Dark Magician, Yugi thought. Of all the times to draw him, it would be now. He sighed audibly. No matter what I do, I lose…and Yami Bakura wins. The card fell from his hand, landed face-up on the board.
"The Dark Magician!" Kaiba exclaimed. He didn't notice Yugi's hand enfolding his deck. "But – no, this can't be!"
"It is," Yugi said quietly. "I concede the match."
Kaiba blinked. "You what?"
"I surrender, Kaiba. Don't make me say it again."
"But the Dark Magician – "
"Was never played."
What? Yami Bakura's outraged voice echoed through Yugi's mind. The young duelist grinned slightly.
Sorry, Bakura. You lose.
You fool of a mortal! I will still control your body! Yugi felt Yami Bakura wrest control from him forcibly. And I will own your Millennium Puzzle! Yugi could hear his sneer.
You're welcome to it, he responded quietly. Concentrating, he allowed his soul to slip quietly from his body and return to the Shadow Realm – and Yami.
"Yugi!" the ancient Pharaoh exclaimed. "What happened?"
"Yami Bakura forced me to finish the duel with Kaiba," Yugi said, eyes downcast and voice dispirited.
"And?" Yami prompted. His heart sank, but Yugi seemed to cheer up slightly.
"I surrendered the match to Kaiba. It was the only way out."
"What do you mean?"
"If I won, Yami Bakura would have just taken over and sent me back to the Shadow Realm, this time for good. If I lost, that would mean I would officially not be me. But by surrendering when I could have won, it's completely up to Kaiba – a wild card, where no one knows the outcome."
Yami nodded. "A risky move – almost like playing Time Roulette. But…" He hesitated.
"What is it, Yami?"
"Like you said, there's no way of knowing what will happen. What if Yami Bakura decides to keep your body regardless of what Kaiba decides?"
Yugi shrugged. "That's a risk I'll just have to take."
Yugi panted, not bothering to control his breathing as long as Yami slept. He could feel the Shadow Realm eating away at his strength, and he knew he wouldn't last very long. Even if Yami Bakura decides he doesn't like being an outcast in my body, he thought darkly, I may not get the opportunity to return to it anyway. He grimaced.
"No!" Yami shouted suddenly. He began struggling, as if against some unseen foe.
"Yami? Yami, what's wrong?" Yugi shook his yami by the shoulders, hoping to wake him from whatever nightmare he was trapped in. "Yami, wake up!" Yami, however, didn't seem to hear him.
"Uhn!" Yugi landed hard on his back a few feet away, gasping for breath. Yami's unforeseen punch had landed directly in his stomach, leaving him stunned and breathless. Looking up, he shuddered as he saw that his head was only inches away from the wall of deadly energy that held both he and Yami trapped.
"Yami, wake up!" the young duelist grunted, struggling to his feet and stepping to Yami's side. He pinned the ancient Pharaoh's arms to the ground and sat on his chest, hoping to subdue him long enough to snap him out of whatever dream he was having.
"Aaah!" Yami yelled, snapping awake. "Yu-Yugi? What are you doing?"
"Wishing I'd gotten out of the way of your punch faster," Yugi panted, holding his still-sore stomach. Yami's blank look made it clear that he still didn't understand. "You were having a nightmare or something," Yugi explained. "I tried to wake you up, but you punched me – on accident, of course," he added hastily, seeing the look on Yami's face.
"I'm sorry, Yugi! I…well, there's no excuse." He looked away, refusing to meet his other's eyes.
"No apology necessary, Yami," Yugi said cheerfully. He tried to disguise the weariness he was beginning to feel, not wanting his yami to see how the Shadow Realm was affecting him. He had enough on his mind already.
Yami sighed. "I wish I could agree. If I hadn't interfered, hadn't taken over, hadn't made my presence known, none of this would have happened…"
"Yeah, and we would have never become friends, would have never met Ashkari…Yami, believe me when I say you have nothing to apologize for!" But Yami just shook his head and fell silent.
"Yugi!" Anzu cried, running up and throwing her arms around him. "I can't believe it's really you!"
"Yeah, where were ya?" Jounouchi asked. "I mean, we were in those woods for over two weeks and never heard so much as a peep out of ya!"
Yami Bakura gave an embarrassed smile and shrugged. "I don't really know, to tell the truth," he said. "I don't remember anything about it." Damn that Yugi Mouto! he raged mentally. That little runt scampered out of here and left me to deal with this mess…
"Well, it's great having you back, Yugi," Honda said, slinging an arm around the shorter boy's shoulders. "Hey, what do you say we go have a hamburger?"
"Sounds good to me!" Anzu said.
"Yeah, let's go!" Jounouchi agreed readily.
"Uh, sure," Yami Bakura said slightly more hesitantly. "Yeah, a hamburger sounds good…"
"I dunno, buddy," Jounouchi muttered under his breath to Honda a few hours later. They were at the back of the small arcade room, conversing in low tones that couldn't be heard over the obnoxiously loud games. Yugi and Anzu were still eating, slightly less enthusiastic about the arcade than their taller friends. "I mean, he looks like Yugi and all, but…" He shrugged. "He just doesn't seem the same."
"Well, he was missing for three years," Honda pointed out. "That would change anybody."
"Yeah, but… You see it too, don't you? There's just something not quite right about him. And do you remember the way he dueled? That wasn't his style at all, not until the very end!"
Honda nodded. "Yeah. I don't like saying it, but I feel the same way. But even so, what can we do about it?"
A thoughtful look passed over Jounouchi's face as he blasted a few enemy fighters into digital nothingness on the game screen. "Hm…"
"Hey, guys!" Yugi chirped as he walked into the arcade. "What's going on?"
"Same stuff, different game," Jounouchi replied off-handedly, shrugging. "The games here haven't changed at all – I can still beat every single one of them!" Yugi laughed.
"I bet I can beat them faster than you can!" he said.
"Hah, right!" Jounouchi responded, punching the shorter boy lightly on the arm. "Show me and I might believe you."
Yugi glanced around, and his eyes settled on two identical games off to the side. "What about those?" he suggested, pointing. "We can start them at the same time, and whoever finished first wins."
"That'll be me," Jounouchi said confidently.
"I'm sure," Honda laughed. "If, that is, Yugi's console breaks in the middle of the game and he has to stop to fix it."
"Hey!" But Jounouchi's protests went unnoticed, hidden by his companion's laughter.
"Let's go," Yugi said. Honda noted a strange gleam in his shortest friend's eyes as they dropped their coins in and started their machines simultaneously.
"And let the best player win," Anzu quoted a variation on one of Yugi's favorite sayings.
"What's with Yugi?" Anzu whispered to Honda a few moments later. "I mean, Jounouchi's a good player and all, but he shouldn't be that far ahead of Yugi! I've seen him beat this game hundreds of times!" Honda nodded in agreement.
"And…Jounouchi wins!" the tall blonde shouted only seconds later as his console began playing the "Winner" video.
"What?" Yugi exclaimed, startled. "But – how?"
Jounouchi's eyes narrowed. "That's a good question, Yugi. So why don't you help answer it by telling us exactly what happened while you were gone?"
"I told you, I don't remember," Yami Bakura answered truthfully.
"Like we're going to believe that," Honda scoffed. "Seriously, Yugi, we were in that forest for a while too. We know what it was like. You can tell us."
Yami Bakura shook his head. "I – I can't," he said haltingly, hoping that Yugi's natural weakling appearance would work in his favor, to make his friends back down. He didn't have an explanation for the missing three years. I should have stolen the rest of his memories while I had the chance, the dark spirit thought sourly. "It's…." He allowed his voice to break and fade away.
"It's all right, Yugi," Anzu said, drawing him close and embracing him. "Come on, guys, he went through more than we did. Give him a break."
But Jounouchi shook his head. "I'm not so sure, Anzu. I mean, come on. Yugi wouldn't lose a simple game like that one!" He gestured to the console Yugi had been using. "Even Bakura's yami could have beat that thing if he was still around!"
Yami Bakura forced himself to maintain a semblance of calmness. That insolent cur…if only he knew…
"Someone say my name?" Bakura said as he rounded the corner. "Hey, guys, what's up – Yugi!" He stood stock-still in shock for a moment, then bounded forward and embraced the shorter duelist. "When did you get here?" he demanded, holding Yugi at arm's length.
"What toilet has your head been stuck in for the last two days?" Jounouchi exclaimed in surprise.
"I just got in from the United States," Bakura said, shrugging. "My dad didn't want me to spend two weeks alone, not after…well." Jounouchi nodded understandingly. "But I hadn't heard anything about you turning up, Yugi," the light-haired boy said, bringing the conversation back to the young duelist.
"I haven't exactly been very noisy about it," Yami Bakura replied in what he hoped was a calm, innocent tone. If anyone can recognize me for who I am, it's Ryou, he thought darkly. I need to be careful…
"Haven't been noisy?" Jounouchi scoffed. "I think the only thing that could be noisier than challenging Kaiba to a duel on your first day back would be to run up and down the road screaming!"
That did it.
"Be quiet, you – " Yami Bakura bit off his words, hoping he hadn't already said too much.
"Yugi?" Bakura said, giving him a queer look.
"Calm down, Yugi, he was only joking," Anzu said, patting the air. "Right, Jounouchi?" Her voice had a steely edge to it now.
"Yeah. Yeah, I was just joking." But Jounouchi's voice said otherwise.
"Yeah, just joking," Honda said in the same tone of voice.
"What's up with Yugi?" Ryou Bakura asked Jounouchi a while later. Yugi had gone home, saying he wanted to spend some time with his grandfather. "He was never that short-tempered."
"Yeah," Jounouchi agreed. "And he can't play games, either."
"Reminds me of your yami," Honda commented.
Ryou blinked. "What?"
"I said he reminds me of your yami," Honda repeated.
Ryou's eyes narrowed. "Yes…"
"Yugi!" Yami called, concerned. The boy had collapsed in the middle of his sentence. "Yugi, are you all right?"
"I'm fine," he gasped.
"What happened there? You collapsed," Yami explained. A cloud passed over his face as understanding struck – mortals cannot survive long here in the Shadow Realm! They don't have enough magical energy! Yami Bakura knows, it, too – he sent Yugi here to die…
"Yami?" the young duelist interrupted his thoughts. "What's wrong? You look angry."
Yami looked at his hikari fondly, trying to quell the rage that was threatening to overwhelm his usually calm demeanor. "It's nothing," he lied. "How do you feel?"
"I'm just tired, that's all," Yugi replied. Yami nodded, then drew his other closer.
"You need to conserve your strength. Why don't you take a nap?" he suggested. Yugi nodded, and the ancient Pharaoh pulled him closer. Within minutes, the young duelist was immersed in a deep sleep on Yami's shoulder.
Damn you, Yami Bakura…
A/N: Lots of POV changes this chapter, neh? Oh well…what can you say, I was hyper when I wrote it, and besides, there wasn't that much for any one person to say anyway. ^turns music up to drown out the sound of the Vacuum Cleaner of Doom^ (Can you tell I don't like vacuum cleaners?)