Chapter Seven-Enter Marik…and Malik

It was two whole weeks later, before Martina remembered why she was in Domino in the first place. Everyone had decided it would be best that she get adjusted before she had to live there permanently. Martina didn't seem to mind taking a break from danger. She enjoyed hearing the true stories of the Yu gi Oh adventures she'd grown to love, and in return, she told the stories she'd seen. Yami was the most fascinated about her recount of his duel with Marik Ishtar. He wanted to hear it over and over again.

Marik, she had been avoiding meeting, until today. Today, Mokuba had decided, it was time to rid her of the ridiculous notion that he was still evil. So, they had headed over to the Ishtar house.

They were greeting by Rishid courteously. "Good afternoon,Young Master Kaiba….Little Miss."

"Hey there, Rishid." Mokuba smiled. "This is my sister, Martina." It felt a little strange to Mokuba to have said it out loud, although, he'd been thinking it for a few days now.

"Oh. Well,then. Good afternoon to you too,Martina." Rishid smiled at Martina.

"Hi…" Martina spoke shyly to the man, as Mokuba dragged her into the dining room.

"Hey, Marik. What are you doing?" Mokuba smiled at his best friend, leading Martina, almost by force into the room. He whispered softly. "Don't worry. He won't hurt you."

"Just replenishing my deck." Marik looked up at the two. "Who's that?" His violet eyes watched Martina, who seemed to be trying to avoid coming near him.

"She's Martina. You'll have to excuse her. She's not from around here…" Mokuba got knocked into a chair, as the girl backed up against the wall. "Marty.." He sighed in exasperation.

Marik helped Mokuba up, then came around to Martina, keeping his distance, so that he wasn't overwhelming her. "Hi…..I'm Marik." He smiled kindly.

"I know." Martina's voice was low, to keep the trembling out.

Marik nodded. "I see…." He looked over at Mokuba, as if to ask what her deal was.

"I'll explain later. Is Malik home?" Mokuba figured Martina would do better with Marik's hikari.

"Um….yeah. He's upstairs with Ishizu."

Mokuba brightened. "Good! I'll be right back." He grabbed Marty's elbow, and led her upstairs to Malik's room. "Malik isn't trapped within Marik anymore. They were separated by Pharaoh Yami." He explained to Martina, as he knocked on the door.

"That's now how it happens…" Martina began,but She was quieted by the tall dark haired Ishizu, who'd answered the door.

"Hey, Mokuba. It's been a long time." The Egyptian woman smiled at Martina. "And this is…?"

"My sister, Martina." Mokuba answered. "Listen, Ishizu…. Do you think you and Malik can um…. Keep her company for a while? I have to straighten some things out with Marik."

"It would be our pleasure, Mokuba." Ishizu gently led Martina into the room. "Just come back for her when you're ready."

"I will. Thanks, Ishizu." Mokuba smiled as the woman closed the door behind herself, and went back downstairs to his friend.

"What was that all about?" Marik looked up at Mokuba when he returned. "She was staring at me as if I were going to enslave her or something."

"She thought you were." Mokuba said quietly. "She's…she's not from our world, Marik. She comes from a world where we're all cartoons."

"You're kidding!" Marik's eyes widened. "How can that be? How did she get here?"

Mokuba spent the rest of the afternoon explaining the events of the last three weeks. "So, you see, she's going to be wary of you. It's up to you to prove to her you're not as you're made out to be on the cartoon." He concluded, as he finished his third soda.

"So, you want me to prove I'm not evil…yet, you want me to use my Rod to kill these creeps? Mokuba, that doesn't make any sense."

"I know. You'll have to work on gaining her trust first. She's the only one who can bring them here." He looked towards the stairs. "I wonder how Malik's doing with her…"

Malik was gawking at the girl. "Are you serious? He tried to kill Yugi Moutou?" They'd started discussing Yu gi Oh, and the Egyptian boy was learning about Marik, as seen through Martina's eyes.

"Yes." Marty nodded. "But he lost, because Kaiba got involved."

"That's interesting." Ishizu said to herself more than to her brother and their guest.

"So, that's why you feared him at first." Malik said, patting her shoulder. "I think I would've reacted the same, really."

"Mokuba wants me to be best friends with him, but I can't, Malik. Not after what he tried to do."

"I don't think Mokuba wants you to be best friends with him, Mar." Ishizu broke in. "He's asked Marik to help you get rid of those men who want to hurt you. It could be he wants you to be able to trust him. That's not asking a whole lot."

"It's not that simple, Ishizu." Martina objected. "You don't know anything I've been taught."

"You've been taught by a cartoon that stretches the truth." Ishizu returned a note of irritation in her voice. "Marik never really hurt anyone as bad as that cartoon of yours claims. Furthermore, this nonsense about him kidnapping Mokuba and Yugi's friends…ridiculous."

Malik stood up,and put a hand on Ishizu's shoulder to calm her. "Easy, Sister. Martina cannot help the things she was told to believe. I'm sure in time, Marik will show her that he is not the evil menace she thought."

At that point, Mokuba came upstairs again to retrieve Martina. "We're going out for Pizza with Marik. Come on."

"With Marik?" She asked him, her voice trembling a little.

"Yes. Stop acting so paranoid." Mokuba snapped, as they entered they dining room. Martina's attitude towards Marik was starting to grate his nerves.

"Martina. Why don't you sit with me in the taxi?" Marik smiled pleasantly at the young girl. "Mokuba told me you have fabulous storytelling ability."

Martina smiled faintly at him. "Oh? Well….it's not really fabulous…"

"Really? Why don't you let me be the judge of that?" Marik let her get in ahead of him when the taxi pulled up.

"Okay." She looked at Mokuba, wondering what Marik was up to.

Her friend just smiled encouragingly. "Tell him what you've told me and Malik." He insisted.

"Alright." She proceeded in detail, to describe episode by episode accounts of Marik's evil doings. "It was horrible!" She exclaimed at one point, after telling Marik about the way that he'd almost defeated Yami Yugi.

"Wow….I suppose I got a little carried away..but it's not like you think. I never would've intentionally hurt Yami's hikari." Marik smiled at her. "Let me tell you what really happened that night."

This conversation took them all the way to the pizza shop. By the time they got there, Martina was feeling a little more secure in Marik's company. "I'm sorry for the way I acted…"

"Don't be. I understand why now. So, Mokuba tells me you've also got a couple of nasty Mortals trying to hurt you. What do you say you and I work together to stop them?" Marik looked over at Mokuba, smiling in triumph.

"I think we should discuss that tomorrow…" Mokuba pointed out. "One thing at a time. Besides, I have to go home and get ready for school after this."

Martina nodded in agreement. "It can wait, Marik. Besides, I'll need something to do while Mokuba's in school."

Before they said their goodbyes for the night, a plan was made. Marik would pick Martina up in the morning, and Mokuba would meet them at Marik's house after school.

"See you tomorrow, Marty." Marik called as they parted ways for the night.

"Good night, Marik." Martina replied, feeling happier than she had in a while. Very soon now, she would be free of General, and his cruel minions.

The next morning, the girl was awakened by the echo of the large mansion's front door being closed. "Mm…" She sat up on the couch, and looked around. Seto must've left for work, she thought to herself as she slipped into some slippers that Mokuba's big brother had bought her. She padded into the large kitchen, where Mokuba was having breakfast.

"Good morning." Mokuba smiled up at her. "Are you hungry?"

She shook her head. "Nah…aren't you supposed to be at school?"

"I'll be leaving in a few minutes. Marik called already. He's sending Malik to get you, while he works out a plan. He's going to get you to approve it, of course."

She nodded, and went back into the living room.

"Your new clothes are in the closet by the main stairs." Mokuba called out to her.

"Thanks, Mo." She went to the closet, and pulled out her blue overalls with a white floral shirt.. She took them into Seto's office, and changed. She was just finishing her hair, when the doorbell rang. That's Malik, she thought to herself, as she replaced her locket around her neck.

"Marty! Malik's here. I'm leaving!" Mokuba called from the entrance hall. "See you!"

"Bye, Mo!" She walked out into the entrance hall, and was greeted by a surprise. Ishizu was with Malik. "Hey."

"Good morning." Ishizu said pleasantly. "So, are you ready to spend the whole day listening to Marik?"

"No, not really, but I guess I'll be okay." Martina answered truthfully.

"He's been up since dawn, writing different strategies. I think he's going to have you pick one." Malik told her, as they left the comfort of the Kaiba mansion.

"Oh." Martina wondered what sort of strategies Marik could've come up with, not knowing a lot about General and his cronies.

"Did you have breakfast?" Malik asked now, cutting into her thoughts.

"No…."

"Well, that won't do, now will it?" Ishizu led them into a fast food place. "What would you like?"

"Egg and cheese biscut." Marty hadn't really been in a fast food place before, but her other friends in school were always telling her what to order, just in case.

Ishizu nodded, and ordered that, a coffee for herself and orange juice for Malik. When they got their orders, the three set off to the Ishtar house. "Damn it!" The Egyptian woman cursed under her breath.

"What is it?" Malik looked up at her concerned.

"I forgot to get something for Marik! He'll have a fit!"

Malik smiled at his sister. "Go on back. I'll take Marty to him."

"Okay…" Ishizu ran back towards the restaurant.

"She does it all the time." Malik informed the gawking Martina. "Come on."

"I don't know if that'll work. I think being in this world alone would unnerve them." Martina said to Marik later that afternoon. "We want them gone."

Marik looked at her. "I've just had a thought. What if I stole you?"

"What do you mean? I brought myself here."

The yami smiled at her. "I know that, you know that, but chances are, these fools do not."

She waited a while before she responded. "I don't know….."

"You will not be hurt. You have my word." Marik told her softly, sensing her unease at the possibility of being "captured" by the person she feared the most. "We could do it in several ways." He added, as another thought came to him. "Malik and I look so much a like….."

"He could pretend to be you, while you creep up behind them and use the Rod!" Martina gasped. "It's perfect!"

Marik smiled, and hugged her quickly. "That's the idea!" He looked around at Malik, who was talking to Mokuba in the kitchen across from them. "What do you think, Malik? Will you do it?"

"Er…okay." Malik agreed reluctantly.

Mokuba gasped, noting the time. "Ack! Martina! Seto's going to kill us!"

She looked at the clock now too. They'd been so intent on their planning, they'd forgotten to keep track of time. "Uh oh…"

"Why don't you two just stay here?" Marik asked his friend. "You've still got clothes from over the summer here, and Marty can borrow a night shirt from Ishizu."

Well, Mokuba never could say no to an overnight invitation, so he called Seto, and it was settled. "We'll stay here." Mokuba confirmed a few seconds later.

"Neat!" Martina and Marik then continued their elaborate planning. The end for General and his henchmen was drawing near, and Marty could hardly wait.

(This chapter is dedicated to Daisy, who gave me the idea to add Marik. Daisy,I hope I've done Marik proud!)