*~*DISCLAIMER!!!!*~* Ok everyone, this is it: all bets are off with this chappie. You'll see how crazy it gets in the Yugioh! Realm with this ficcie, and some people may surprise you...
*~*~*~*~*2003 AD, The Streets of Battle City*~*~*~*~*
*She's coming to me...* Thoughts of the young, ebony haired woman filled Merrick's head, a smile playing across his lips as he stood directly in the path he had hoped she would take. *I must thank Bakura for lending me the powers of his Millennium Ring in my mind duel with Yami. Without that extra surge of power, I would have never been able to over power the Pharaoh.*
"Speak of the devil..." He murmured, as a silver-haired young man approached him slowly, his darkened brown eyes outlined in back and the evilness of his spirit emanating from his body.
"Ah, Merrick. I hope our plan was a success?"
"It worked perfectly Bakura... The Queen shall be mine..." The blonde haired man curled his lips back, exposing his canines in a feral smile. "Marita is overrun with sorrow and despair. The better to take advantage of her with."
Bakura stood behind him, closed his eyes and contemplated on this part of Merrick's scheme. "Careful Merrick. You hold the Millennium Rod, but she has a power all her own. If she is the same woman I had known in the past..."
"Hmmm? You knew her before?" Curious, the other looked backward.
"Yes. In fact, if she had not met Yami that night..."
Merrick nodded, convinced. "But she was not Marita, was she?"
"Not at that time. Her spirit is known as Yamara, and the item she possesses is a rare and valuable commodity." Bakura said smoothly, smiling a slight grin of his own as he smoothed out the wrinkles on his striped shirt underneath his denim buttoned up one. "It's called the Millennium Armlet, one of the 2 'Queen's Majestic" items."
"Queen's Majestic?"
"Correct. Those two are two of powers that match the Pharaoh."
Merrick clasped his face in his hand, in deep thought. "So if Marita has one, what of the other?"
"AH, the Millennium Heart..." Grinned the silver haired man, an evil gleam in his eye. "That belongs to the fiancée of Seto Kaiba..."
"Miss Grayson?!?" Yelped the violet-eyed manipulator, wide eyed. "The same person who caused the destruction of Pegasus Castle?"
"The one and the same. I saw the entire thing, although, in a... lesser state and form..." He snarled at the thought of his weaker protégé'.
Muffled wails a block away interrupted their conversation, to which the keeper of the Millennium Rod glared at his partner in crime. "Bakura, HIDE! Leave us!"
The other smirked, amused. "For once, I'll obey, but don't come to expect it. As soon as you are Pharaoh and Marita your Queen, your Millennium Item is mine." That said, he slunk back into the shadows that bred his soul, keeping well hidden until Merrick could make his move.
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
There was nothing that could have stopped her from running. *Yugi's dead, Yugi's dead, Yugi'sdeadYugi'sdead...* The mantra in her head continued on and on, her footfalls accompanied with salty tears. She could feel that she was alone in her head; alone and without care, her heart wrenched from her chest and stomped on. The love of her life was gone, and she was nothing but an empty shell without him.
Quite suddenly, she ran into something... soft. Warm. Protective. "There, there, what makes such a pretty woman so unhappy?"
He was hugging closer than she would have liked, if she had been of clear, sound mind. However, her grief carried no concern, and relished in comforts that these muscular arms held and provided her. Looking up, her blue eyes caught ones of light purple, smiling at her with their own light beneath mass of light blonde hair. He was wearing a bluish white, no sleeve shirt, and black leather pants, smooth to the touch as he drew her close, his eyes never failing to lift from her.
Gentle hands wiped her tears, like they knew exactly what she had been going through. "What's wrong, milady?"
"... Everything..."
His face looked concerned. "Like what? Care to explain?"
"Two... people... I cared for... died..."
"What?"
"Ian... Yugi..."
"Wait, are you talking about Yugi Motou?" He asked, frowning.
Marita stayed silent, confirming the boy's thoughts.
"Heh... he's trapped another one..."
She looked up, her teary blues on his light purple ones. "Wh-what? What... do you mean...?"
The boy shrugged, at last releasing the black-haired girl from his embrace. "It figures such a woman of your caliber would be tricked and schemed into believing that ignoramus..."
"He's... he's not an idiot!" Growing defiant, she narrowed her eyes, protecting Yugi even in death. "He's... he's great! He's not like that at all!"
"Oh really?" He cocked an eyebrow at her. "So says the one who most likely knows the least bit about him!"
To that, Marita had no counter. *Maybe he's right. I... don't really know Yugi that well now that I think about it...*
The mask on her face egged the blonde haired man on. "I mean, it's not like you met him last night... or did you?"
"..."
He smirked. "That's how the punk gets his ladies..." Taking a quick gaze at his female companion, he continued, "I know Yugi Motou pretty well, and you're better off without the likes of him..." Discretely, his long slender arms crossed backwards across his spine, feeling for the slender, metallic object wedged between his skin and the back of his pants.
"Is... is he really... like that?" Her voice faded, lowered almost to a blank, unfeeling tone. "I... I don't know what to believe anymore..."
"Then let me help!" He cried, bringing the object around in a full circle swing and tapped her arm. Immediately, her eyes went blank, a human shell of a woman as her mind swirled and shifted to fast for her to keep up. Memories flooded her mind, real and yet... tainted. Wrenching her dreams and realities from their stored points in her mind, they terraformed inside her head, going from sweet memories to horrid nightmares. Yugi slapping her for interfering with the match between him and the Rare Hunter at the hospital... Refusing to help her carry poor Ian, and left him rotting in the streets... Yugi refusing her invitation to dance... Complete truths turned to whole lies as the influence of the Millennium Rod picked apart her brain, piece-by-piece, bit-by-bit until the strain was too overwhelming for the young woman to bear.
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
Merrick took the staff away, as the form of Marita Shindou collapsed in his arms, unconscious. Reading her beautiful face, he noticed subtle changes welling up within her. Her clothes had changed from the hues of a sapphire blue tank top to a darkened, ebony black halter, a red and black flamed, short skirt replaced her once black athletic pants. Her hair grew longer, silkier and darker black, as strands of scarlet and gold laced themselves within it. Her tennis shoes had split open to reveal long, knee high black boots, and an intriquite, weaving tattoo grew across her right shoulder, a black thorn bush with the mark of Merrick's family of Ishtar incrested in the middle. If her eyes had been open, a person would have noticed the blue of her eyes draining away, and filling up with something liquid red. Blood red, as red as the ruby rouge on her lips.
Her appearance took his breath away. *So... beautiful... and entirely mine...* He grinned widely, pointed canines and all. *After all these years, you are mine... Together, the Pharaoh won't stand a chance...*
"I hope you got what you've been looking for." Came a voice behind him.
Merrick never needed to turn to recognize that voice. "She's mine Bakura. After so long, she's finally mine..." He lifted the woman off the alleyway streets and carried her to his motorcycle a short ways away.
Walking with him, Bakura gave a low whistle. "She's so innocent when she's asleep..."
His companion snickered. "Oh don't worry Bakura, something tells me she won't be innocent anymore..."
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
An emptiness filled a portion of her mind, like a light switch had just turned off. It took a moment for the woman to register what had caused it. "Oh god... Marita's... gone... gone from my mind! I can't... can't feel her presence in our shared mind connection anymore..." Her indigo eyes met Yami's deep violet ones, fear shining through hers like a bolt of lightning. "She's gone... but I can still feel the fact that she's alive just..."
"Don't speak anymore... I..." Yami hesitated, his breath caught in his throat. "Yugi... felt it too, somehow... The two have made a connection, and it felt like the feelings on her end just snapped apart."
Confusion masked the young woman's mind, her heart and soul racing as one. "We need to find her. And FAST."
A gentle hand grasped her chin, tenderly stroking the side of her face. "We will love. But there is still one mystery we have yet to solve... the absence of your name?"
"Please, Yami. Just call me Mara."
He nodded. "Then let's go find her Mara, and hope we can find her in time."
"It won't be too hard," Called a voice behind the two, steady and strong, "if we know where exactly to look." The voice belonged to a light-brown haired woman, her deep ocean blue eyes reflecting determination and strength. "The only thing we have to worry about is how long we'll take."
"Dawn?" Surprised, the Pharaoh of Egypt's eyes went wide. "I... had no idea you were here..."
To Yami, he was looking at an old friend, but to Mara, the woman in front of her was someone completely different. "M-Midnight? Is... is that you?"
Somewhere deep inside the body of Dawn Grayson, a voice had heard the raven-haired woman's pleas, stirring inside the Millennium Heart as it began to awaken. Instantly, power began to flow through Dawn's body, shimmering and shifting until it glowed supernaturally outside her body. The woman's brown hair gave way to ebony, with reddish streaks all along the bottoms. Her magic powers increased, building layer upon layer of mystical energies surrounding her. As suddenly as it had ended, the lightshow receded, and an entirely different Dawn Grayson graced the presence of the young lovers. Shaking out her longer hair, the woman blinked, and a flash of long since forgotten recognition gleamed in her darker blue eyes. "Who... what... wait a minute you're..." She gasped. "Y-Y-Y-YAMARA?"
The other woman smiled. "So it is you Midnight... my friend..." Tears flooded her vision as she rushed to hug her longtime friend; reunited with someone she thought was long sense dead. As the friendly embrace drew to a close, the haze in Mara's mind began to lift slightly, as older memories triggered in her brain. *I... I remember this... me, and Midnight, when I... I saved her from the sand trap...* Other images flashed through her mind, ones she had forgotten, or had hidden themselves from her view. *Midnight's... the Captain... of the Guard at the palace... Palace... The palace?* It took her quite awhile to think on this, digging deeper and deeper into her mind until finally, at last, she discovered something.
"Mara? MARA!!!"
"YAMI!" She cried, her purple-blue eyes lighting up, "I REMEMBER!"
*~*~*~*~*2003 AD, The Streets of Battle City*~*~*~*~*
*She's coming to me...* Thoughts of the young, ebony haired woman filled Merrick's head, a smile playing across his lips as he stood directly in the path he had hoped she would take. *I must thank Bakura for lending me the powers of his Millennium Ring in my mind duel with Yami. Without that extra surge of power, I would have never been able to over power the Pharaoh.*
"Speak of the devil..." He murmured, as a silver-haired young man approached him slowly, his darkened brown eyes outlined in back and the evilness of his spirit emanating from his body.
"Ah, Merrick. I hope our plan was a success?"
"It worked perfectly Bakura... The Queen shall be mine..." The blonde haired man curled his lips back, exposing his canines in a feral smile. "Marita is overrun with sorrow and despair. The better to take advantage of her with."
Bakura stood behind him, closed his eyes and contemplated on this part of Merrick's scheme. "Careful Merrick. You hold the Millennium Rod, but she has a power all her own. If she is the same woman I had known in the past..."
"Hmmm? You knew her before?" Curious, the other looked backward.
"Yes. In fact, if she had not met Yami that night..."
Merrick nodded, convinced. "But she was not Marita, was she?"
"Not at that time. Her spirit is known as Yamara, and the item she possesses is a rare and valuable commodity." Bakura said smoothly, smiling a slight grin of his own as he smoothed out the wrinkles on his striped shirt underneath his denim buttoned up one. "It's called the Millennium Armlet, one of the 2 'Queen's Majestic" items."
"Queen's Majestic?"
"Correct. Those two are two of powers that match the Pharaoh."
Merrick clasped his face in his hand, in deep thought. "So if Marita has one, what of the other?"
"AH, the Millennium Heart..." Grinned the silver haired man, an evil gleam in his eye. "That belongs to the fiancée of Seto Kaiba..."
"Miss Grayson?!?" Yelped the violet-eyed manipulator, wide eyed. "The same person who caused the destruction of Pegasus Castle?"
"The one and the same. I saw the entire thing, although, in a... lesser state and form..." He snarled at the thought of his weaker protégé'.
Muffled wails a block away interrupted their conversation, to which the keeper of the Millennium Rod glared at his partner in crime. "Bakura, HIDE! Leave us!"
The other smirked, amused. "For once, I'll obey, but don't come to expect it. As soon as you are Pharaoh and Marita your Queen, your Millennium Item is mine." That said, he slunk back into the shadows that bred his soul, keeping well hidden until Merrick could make his move.
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
There was nothing that could have stopped her from running. *Yugi's dead, Yugi's dead, Yugi'sdeadYugi'sdead...* The mantra in her head continued on and on, her footfalls accompanied with salty tears. She could feel that she was alone in her head; alone and without care, her heart wrenched from her chest and stomped on. The love of her life was gone, and she was nothing but an empty shell without him.
Quite suddenly, she ran into something... soft. Warm. Protective. "There, there, what makes such a pretty woman so unhappy?"
He was hugging closer than she would have liked, if she had been of clear, sound mind. However, her grief carried no concern, and relished in comforts that these muscular arms held and provided her. Looking up, her blue eyes caught ones of light purple, smiling at her with their own light beneath mass of light blonde hair. He was wearing a bluish white, no sleeve shirt, and black leather pants, smooth to the touch as he drew her close, his eyes never failing to lift from her.
Gentle hands wiped her tears, like they knew exactly what she had been going through. "What's wrong, milady?"
"... Everything..."
His face looked concerned. "Like what? Care to explain?"
"Two... people... I cared for... died..."
"What?"
"Ian... Yugi..."
"Wait, are you talking about Yugi Motou?" He asked, frowning.
Marita stayed silent, confirming the boy's thoughts.
"Heh... he's trapped another one..."
She looked up, her teary blues on his light purple ones. "Wh-what? What... do you mean...?"
The boy shrugged, at last releasing the black-haired girl from his embrace. "It figures such a woman of your caliber would be tricked and schemed into believing that ignoramus..."
"He's... he's not an idiot!" Growing defiant, she narrowed her eyes, protecting Yugi even in death. "He's... he's great! He's not like that at all!"
"Oh really?" He cocked an eyebrow at her. "So says the one who most likely knows the least bit about him!"
To that, Marita had no counter. *Maybe he's right. I... don't really know Yugi that well now that I think about it...*
The mask on her face egged the blonde haired man on. "I mean, it's not like you met him last night... or did you?"
"..."
He smirked. "That's how the punk gets his ladies..." Taking a quick gaze at his female companion, he continued, "I know Yugi Motou pretty well, and you're better off without the likes of him..." Discretely, his long slender arms crossed backwards across his spine, feeling for the slender, metallic object wedged between his skin and the back of his pants.
"Is... is he really... like that?" Her voice faded, lowered almost to a blank, unfeeling tone. "I... I don't know what to believe anymore..."
"Then let me help!" He cried, bringing the object around in a full circle swing and tapped her arm. Immediately, her eyes went blank, a human shell of a woman as her mind swirled and shifted to fast for her to keep up. Memories flooded her mind, real and yet... tainted. Wrenching her dreams and realities from their stored points in her mind, they terraformed inside her head, going from sweet memories to horrid nightmares. Yugi slapping her for interfering with the match between him and the Rare Hunter at the hospital... Refusing to help her carry poor Ian, and left him rotting in the streets... Yugi refusing her invitation to dance... Complete truths turned to whole lies as the influence of the Millennium Rod picked apart her brain, piece-by-piece, bit-by-bit until the strain was too overwhelming for the young woman to bear.
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
Merrick took the staff away, as the form of Marita Shindou collapsed in his arms, unconscious. Reading her beautiful face, he noticed subtle changes welling up within her. Her clothes had changed from the hues of a sapphire blue tank top to a darkened, ebony black halter, a red and black flamed, short skirt replaced her once black athletic pants. Her hair grew longer, silkier and darker black, as strands of scarlet and gold laced themselves within it. Her tennis shoes had split open to reveal long, knee high black boots, and an intriquite, weaving tattoo grew across her right shoulder, a black thorn bush with the mark of Merrick's family of Ishtar incrested in the middle. If her eyes had been open, a person would have noticed the blue of her eyes draining away, and filling up with something liquid red. Blood red, as red as the ruby rouge on her lips.
Her appearance took his breath away. *So... beautiful... and entirely mine...* He grinned widely, pointed canines and all. *After all these years, you are mine... Together, the Pharaoh won't stand a chance...*
"I hope you got what you've been looking for." Came a voice behind him.
Merrick never needed to turn to recognize that voice. "She's mine Bakura. After so long, she's finally mine..." He lifted the woman off the alleyway streets and carried her to his motorcycle a short ways away.
Walking with him, Bakura gave a low whistle. "She's so innocent when she's asleep..."
His companion snickered. "Oh don't worry Bakura, something tells me she won't be innocent anymore..."
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
An emptiness filled a portion of her mind, like a light switch had just turned off. It took a moment for the woman to register what had caused it. "Oh god... Marita's... gone... gone from my mind! I can't... can't feel her presence in our shared mind connection anymore..." Her indigo eyes met Yami's deep violet ones, fear shining through hers like a bolt of lightning. "She's gone... but I can still feel the fact that she's alive just..."
"Don't speak anymore... I..." Yami hesitated, his breath caught in his throat. "Yugi... felt it too, somehow... The two have made a connection, and it felt like the feelings on her end just snapped apart."
Confusion masked the young woman's mind, her heart and soul racing as one. "We need to find her. And FAST."
A gentle hand grasped her chin, tenderly stroking the side of her face. "We will love. But there is still one mystery we have yet to solve... the absence of your name?"
"Please, Yami. Just call me Mara."
He nodded. "Then let's go find her Mara, and hope we can find her in time."
"It won't be too hard," Called a voice behind the two, steady and strong, "if we know where exactly to look." The voice belonged to a light-brown haired woman, her deep ocean blue eyes reflecting determination and strength. "The only thing we have to worry about is how long we'll take."
"Dawn?" Surprised, the Pharaoh of Egypt's eyes went wide. "I... had no idea you were here..."
To Yami, he was looking at an old friend, but to Mara, the woman in front of her was someone completely different. "M-Midnight? Is... is that you?"
Somewhere deep inside the body of Dawn Grayson, a voice had heard the raven-haired woman's pleas, stirring inside the Millennium Heart as it began to awaken. Instantly, power began to flow through Dawn's body, shimmering and shifting until it glowed supernaturally outside her body. The woman's brown hair gave way to ebony, with reddish streaks all along the bottoms. Her magic powers increased, building layer upon layer of mystical energies surrounding her. As suddenly as it had ended, the lightshow receded, and an entirely different Dawn Grayson graced the presence of the young lovers. Shaking out her longer hair, the woman blinked, and a flash of long since forgotten recognition gleamed in her darker blue eyes. "Who... what... wait a minute you're..." She gasped. "Y-Y-Y-YAMARA?"
The other woman smiled. "So it is you Midnight... my friend..." Tears flooded her vision as she rushed to hug her longtime friend; reunited with someone she thought was long sense dead. As the friendly embrace drew to a close, the haze in Mara's mind began to lift slightly, as older memories triggered in her brain. *I... I remember this... me, and Midnight, when I... I saved her from the sand trap...* Other images flashed through her mind, ones she had forgotten, or had hidden themselves from her view. *Midnight's... the Captain... of the Guard at the palace... Palace... The palace?* It took her quite awhile to think on this, digging deeper and deeper into her mind until finally, at last, she discovered something.
"Mara? MARA!!!"
"YAMI!" She cried, her purple-blue eyes lighting up, "I REMEMBER!"