Disclaimer:

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Author's Note: I've been writing for other anime recently, but I've decided to try another series. This will be my first story listed under Yu-Gi-Oh! There is some profanity and will have mature themes in the beginning. In the middle is a lot lighter with some humor and the mature themes will reappear near the end. I know I have not stuck very well with the actual story line, but oh well.

APART

Chapter One: Spliced

By: UNKNOWN

            Yugi narrowed his eyes as smoke blew through the air. Through the hazy gloom, Bakura's malevolent silhouette was a mere sketch of black. The faint glow of his Millennium Ring shone through the haze like how a bullet would go through a man. Yami Malik was kneeling on one knee to Yugi's right. He held his rod to support his weight in his weakened state. The rod beamed faintly as it struggled to regain energy from the darkness.

            Every second I stand here… I feel like I'm being torn apart from the inside out! Yami Yugi looked on from the depths of the Millennium Puzzle.

/Perhaps you should let me take over now./

Yugi nodded, and he was instantly replaced by Yami Yugi's form.

            Yami Bakura's eyes narrowed as his ring jerked and pointed towards Yugi's puzzle.

            "Yugi…" Yami Bakura whispered.

            Yami Yugi lowered his head. He shuddered them screamed in anguish. The millennium symbol flashed on his forehead and his eyes went dark.

            "Damn Malik!" Yami Bakura whispered.

            Yami Malik approached from behind Yugi, his rod held defensively. He grinned and pointed to Yami Bakura. "Kill him…kill that bastard!"

            Yami Yugi's face contorted with fury and anger. The millennium symbol on his forehead grew brighter. The shadows of the Shadow Realm grew darker. The haze swirled back and forth and an eerie silence filled the air. Yami Yugi yelled out in pain and anger, and threw his hand forth.

            "Mind Cr-" he began.

            Yami Bakura laughed. "That won't work on me this time Pharaoh. You see…"

            Yami Bakura held his ground as to not be inverted. His ring flashed and the magic was dispelled into the air.

            "You see, I am no longer affected by your powers. But let's see you take this!" Yami Bakura said deviously.

            All five pointers raised and glowed brightly. "I probably cannot kill you, but I can kill your host by ripping you out temporarily!"

            /Yugi! He's going to expel me from your mind temporarily so he can kill you! We've got to switch so he sends you out instead!/

            "Shit!" Yami Yugi cried, his mind breaking free of Yami Malik's control. His puzzle glittered dimly, then Yugi reappeared.

            Yami Bakura noticed this only too slowly. "Damn! His host appears! I- I can't fire now! Grr…!"

            Slowly, Yami Bakura began to restrain the ring's energy. Yami Malik's left arm was slashed deeply- he was weakened due to a massive loss of blood. He was still sane though- he was laughing madly.

            /Yugi! Switch again! Bakura is distracted!/

            "Damn you piece of shit!" Yami Bakura yelled. The constraints on his ring broke and the energy he had erupted. As Yugi and Yami Yugi switched, the energy slammed into them, sending a tingling electrical sensation through them.

            "Ugh!" Yugi yelled.    

            "Ugh!" Yami Yugi yelled.

            Yami Malik shielded himself with both his hands in front, his Millennium Rod thrust out threateningly. The energy enveloped him easily. His scream of pain and amusement filled the air.

            Yami Bakura was flung twenty feet away from his starting point. His body slammed against a nearby wall and he went unconscious.

            "Bakura!" Téa yelled.

            The gang was standing around a giant dark cloud of shadows in the center of Domino City. A duel between Yugi and Bakura had been interrupted by Yami Malik. By then, the trio had been engaged in a Darkness duel. As with Pegasus at Duelist Kingdom, any one without a Millennium item was unable to penetrate the bending folds of the shadows.

            Tristan, Joey, and Duke came running over.

            "What happened to him?" Joey asked.

            "I dunno," Téa replied, "but I think we need to get him to a hospital…again."

            "Guys! The smoke is clearing…!" Tristan warned.

            "What?"

            Tristan, Joey, Duke, Shizuka, Téa, Mai, Kaiba, and Mokuba gathered around the clearing arena.

            Huh. Yugi…you'd better still be standing. If you think you're that good of a duelist... Kaiba smirked. He seemed to have problems with focusing on the troubles of things. His mind would always wander off to duel- related topics.

            "Yugi!" Joey yelled.

            The smoke had shifted away and Yugi was lying on the floor, moaning. His shirt was partly ripped and he had cut marks all over his arms. His wavy bangs limped weakly to the side. Nearby, Yami Malik lied in quiet. He was cut in dozens of places, but he didn't really seem to care. A piece of glass stuck in his neck plate. He sat up and picked up his Millennium Rod, which was lying behind a pile of rocks.

            "Yugi!" Joey repeated.

            "Ha, ha , ha!" Kaiba muttered. Everyone turned.

            "What's up with you?" Mai asked.

            "Look at you Malik! So weak and puny now! The only times you were strong were the times you hid behind a fake name and brainwashed people to be you slaves! For taking my brother Mokuba, I'll take some personal revenge now and kick your ass."

            Kaiba stalked over to Yami Malik, who hadn't seemed to have heard a single word from Kaiba. Joey dragged Yugi back towards the gang. Kaiba walked over and dealt Yami Malik a chop to the back.

            Yami Malik grunted and he collapsed. Then he began to laugh. Softly at first, but it steadily grew louder.

            "No one teaches me my place," he laughed, returning to his feet. He let his robes fall to the floor. He turned to the group, revealing his scarred back.

            "See these marks? They were carved into Malik's back when he was ten. That's when I was born- through not only the mental weakness of his mind but the hatred and anger living within him. A simple punch won't do much."

            "Yugi!" Joey yelled.

            The group turned again, and this time so did Yami Malik. The evilness still lingered within his eyes but it was apparent that he would not take action.

            "Yugi!" Joey yelled again.

            Yugi's head lifted slightly to stare at his blonde friend. "Yeah?"

            Joey pointed his finger at the Millennium Puzzle. Everyone's eyes followed the pointing digit. "Where's the other half?"

            Yugi's eyes went wide and he finally mustered the strength to erect himself up. Tristan and Joey held on to both of his arms. "The other half?"

            Yugi's eyes searched across the dusty floor, expecting pieces of the puzzle to be revealed.

            "The other half… where has it gone?"

            "Fear not, Yugi," a voice called. "I have it."

            Everyone turned. An eerie silence filled the air. Even Yami Malik had nothing to comment on. The only thing he could do was tighten his grip on the Millennium Rod.

            Joey looked back from Yugi to the newcomer. He repeated this a few times before his head started to spin.

            "How did this happen?"

            Yami Yugi stood smugly before the group and concentrated his eyes on Yugi.

            "Yugi… I have become my own being. My own real body. No longer am I merely a sorrowful spirit in search of a host body."

            "You were never that," Yugi whispered pitifully.

            Yami Yugi smiled. "I have to admit though… I don't think I've ever seen anyone as courageous as you. Well, except for the times that Joey could've gotten himself killed in vain."

            He winked at Joey and Joey went red.

            "Hey! We don't have time for stupid chit- chat! Not only do we have to figure out how Yugi and the Pharaoh got split, but we also have to figure out how the hell this could've happened!"

            Téa turned and her eyes went wide. Yami Malik was pulling another familiar figure out of the rubble.

            "Malik?" Téa asked.

            Once again, a shuffle of feet and everyone turned to Yami Malik. Yami Malik blasted the rocks to bits, then dragged Malik to the group.

            "It seems that I have been separated from my host as well… but that's a good thing. Now I can do everything that this idiot tried to stop me from doing before."

            Yami Malik made a move to leave, but Yugi grasped him firmly on the shoulder.

            "Who the-?"

            "Malik… you've got to stay. I know… that somewhere in that… d-dark heart of yours, you've have to have… some sympathy in there for… the normal Malik. After all…without him, you wouldn't even e-exist."

            "Shut up you asshole! No one tells me-"

            Yugi looked up at Yami Malik again, his eyes filled with determination.

            Yami Malik stared into his eyes for a while, then turned away. He jammed his Millennium Rod into the soft earth and sighed.

            "Let's just get one point straight. I'm only doing this for my own good and when I get back into Malik's body…" He trailed off.

            "I have one guess," Yami Yugi started. "When we were in the Shadow Realm, I was pretty much battling Yami Bakura on my own. Yami Malik had been cut by his own rod. When Yami Bakura threatened to rip me out of Yugi and kill Yugi instead, I told Yugi to switch with me so he would be sent out temporarily. Apparently, this move caused Bakura to freeze. But he couldn't hold his energy in so I suppose when I wanted to switch again, it hit us right between our switching phase."

            "That doesn't explain anything about what happened to me! What happened to me, damn it! I wasn't about to transform or anything!"

            "Shut up Malik," Kaiba muttered.

            Yami Malik turned to Kaiba, his dark cloak sweeping behind him. He approached Kaiba, his eyes lowered threateningly. The Millennium Rod flashed and was at Kaiba's throat in the blink of an eye.

            "See this rod? This is how I killed Malik's fucking father. If you're not careful, I might do the same to you."

            The rod was lowered and Yami Malik stepped back.

            Kaiba stayed quiet.

            "What's going on?" Shizuka asked, clearly still confused.

            "Don't worry," Duke said, wrapping one arm around her shoulder. "This problem will fix-"

            Tristan grabbed Duke by the arms and pulled him back.

            "I told you not to touch her!"

            "I was trying to encourage her!"

            "You were flirting with her!"
            "No I… shut up!"

            "Both of you, quiet!" Yami Yugi snapped. "We need to focus here. How are we going to reform?"

            "Why don't you ask Bakura?" Yami Malik asked.

            "Uh… that's a little difficult to do since he's unconscious," Mokuba stated.

            Yami Malik ran over to the knocked out figure. "Damn that idiot! He faints at everything! Even fainted when he cut his own arm!"

            "Come on guys, we'll need some more time to figure this out. Let's head back to Yugi's grandfather's game store."

            Meanwhile, Malik gave out a grunting noise. Have I been freed? Is my other character finally gone? Malik stood up, his white hair splashing over his shoulders. He shook his arms and jumped up and down, testing his movements. I don't believe it! I defeated him without Rishido! I guess I'm not so dependent on him after all. I- Malik's thoughts paused as he watched Yami Malik approach him.

            Malik went up to Yami Malik. "…You look awfully alike. You got the same chains… same scars… same earrings…" Malik jumped. "How'd you get out?"

            "Psh. How the hell should I know."

            With a casual shrug, Yami Malik shook off Malik's pitiful comments.

            "Hey! Don't just shrug me off like that!"

            Yami Malik turned in anger. "What should I do? I have no idea how the hell this happened!"

            "Come on guys!" Joey called. "We're headed to the game shop!"

            "Grandpa! I'm home!"

            Grandpa, who was busily amusing himself by placing cards into plastic wrappers, looked up. "Oh. Hello Yugi- I see that you've brought some friends."

            "Uh… yeah. Grandpa, meet the "other" Yugi… or Yami as we call him."

            Yami came forth and looked down at the gaping Solomon. Solomon's eyes darted quickly from Yugi to Yami, then again.

            "You and Yugi… does Yugi have a long lost twin brother?"

            "Unfortunately, no. I am the spirit of the puzzle…"

            "Hey! Pharaoh! Shut your trap and let's try to figure out a way to reassemble ourselves."

            Yami turned and almost menacingly narrowed his eyes. "All right Malik… then we will go."

            Grandpa gaped again. "Now there are two of those guys too! And what happened to Bakura? He looks a bit dead…"

            "Well, this guy here is Malik. And this is his alter ego… who doesn't really have a name. For the time being, let's just call him… Marik." 

            "Marik!? What the hell kind of name is that?"

            "It's simply a 'l' replaced by a 'r'."

            Solomon rubbed his fingers on his temples then sighed. "Well, I guess I'll have to live with two kids now. What a nightmare."

            "So where are you guys going to stay?" Téa asked.

            Malik grunted. "I think I'll just stay at my sister's place… in a hotel, I think."

            Marik laughed. "So naïve…well, I'll be off sending people to the shadow realm to increase my already immense power."

            "I think you're arrogant," Joey stated.

            "Shut up."

            Kaiba snickered. "Well, if you guys are done chit- chatting, I think Mokuba and I will be leaving now."

            "No one asked you to stay so sure, go ahead and leave."

            Kaiba looked hurt. "All right… let's go Mokuba."

            "Good night guys!" Téa yelled.

            "See you tomorrow!" Joey, Tristan, Duke, and Shizuka yelled back.

            "…" went Mai.

            The entire gang parted and left Yami and Yugi standing in front of the pizza shop. An eerie silence passed between the two.

            "Well aibou… I'm finally out of your body."

            "Yeah."

            "Your grandfather might be worried. Perhaps we should return home now."

            "Yeah."           

            Yami and Yugi cut their way through a park to return to the game shop. On the way, their ears perked up a lot of screaming and laughing.

            "That must be Marik," Yami said.

            "He's so insane I think I'd mistake him for Bakura."

            Yami smiled. "Yeah."

            "Ishizu! Ishizu!" Malik called.

            Ishizu's slim figure popped out of the open window. "Yes Malik?"

            "Do you think I could stay here a while? I don't have anywhere to go."

            "Sure… hold on while I open the door."

            "'K."

            The door made a couple of scratching noises until it finally opened. Ishizu looked at Malik and asked," Why are you here? Shouldn't you be with your Rare Hunters?"

            Malik waved his hand. "Nah. I'd rather disband those idiots than keep them. Last time I told them to get me a deck of cards they returned with a banana split. Apparently the leader of the group had extreme mental disabilities."

            An explosion rocked the street and Malik fell into Ishizu's arms.

            "What the hell?" Ishizu asked.

            "Oh no…"

            Ishizu and Malik appeared around a corner to see a cloud of smoke along with a laughing Marik above. Two kids groaned at his feet.

            "Marik!"

            Marik turned to the call of his name. "Ah, Ishizu and my annoying counterpart. What brings you here?"

            "I don't think you should be out here all night killing people. Besides, you might get arrested."

            "Psh. That's why I have the shadow space to prevent anyone from seeing me. But if you're so worried, I think I'll stay at your place," Marik replied, pointing his chin at Ishizu. "Besides, I am a bit hungry."

            Malik snorted. "Yeah, you wish. No way in hell I'm going to live in the same house with you. It's bad enough sharing a body with you."

            Marik glared back, his spiky hair waving in the wind. "Well it's too bad you stupid jackass. If you don't like it I'll send you to the shadow realm too."

            Malik was about to protest, but then he fell quiet.

            "…that's good. Now what do you have in the refrigerator, Ishizu?"

            Ishizu made no sound or movement.

            "Uh… sis? Marik is talking to you."

            Ishizu grabbed Malik by the collar and dragged him around the corner.

            "Is that your alter ego?"

            Malik nodded dumbly.

            "How- when did he get to separate from your body?"

            Malik shrugged. "Bakura did something."

            "Where's Rishido?"

            Another shrug.

            Ishizu sighed in disgust. "All right Malik. You and… Marik stay in my hotel room while I go find Rishido. I don't want you guys messing up anything! There's plenty of food in the fridge for Marik."

            "Sure."

            Marik placed a hand on his hip. "Such an organized woman, isn't she?"

            "Whatever."

            /Aibou. You can't sleep can you?/

            //No. I'm worried.//

            /This thing will work itself out. Besides, it might even be fun having two of us./

            //I'm more worried about Malik and Marik. They can't really stand to be with one another.//

            /Well, tomorrow is a school day… have you studied for the test tomorrow?/

            //…I'll just ask you for the answers.//

            /Yugi…/

Yugi's snores permeated the room. In the next room, Solomon slept with a pillow over his head, trying to block out Yugi's snores and Yami's strange talking in his sleep. Finally, Solomon woke up and angrily began pounding on the wall.

"Hey! Yugi or Yami! Would you stop making so much noise! I'm trying to sleep here!"
            His command was answered by a jumble of Egyptian phrases and snores mingled together in a sound that no human would ever make.

"Yeah… I'm worried about Yugi too. Who knows what will happen between Yami and Yugi. Well, I got to go. See you tomorrow Téa."

"Really? I'm worried about Yugi too!"

Joey fell off the couch he was lying on. "Tristan? How the hell did you get into my house? And why do you have all those cuts on your face?"

Tristan grinned. "Well… I was following Shizuka through the park until she went into the house. She opened the door and it closed behind her. I guess I wasn't paying attention because I walked right through the door."

"What? My door isn't that cheap."

"It felt like it was made of paper."

"…so you got paper cuts from it?"

"Sure, why not? … can I see Shizuka now?"

"What? Get back to your own house you horny bastard!"

Tristan frowned. "Did you study for that test tomorrow?"

Joey gasped. "Oh crap! … well, I'll just ask you for the answers."

"Joey…"

"Now shut your trap, get on your feet, and start moving out of my house!"

Tristan began whistling and took a seat by Joey on the couch sneakily.

Joey removed a carefully placed bat on his bookshelf.

"I hit my 100th home run with this bat. I wonder what it could do to your ass…"

"Gee, look at the time!" Tristan yelled. "Time sure flies by when you're having fun!" Tristan hopped up and ran out the broken door."

Shizuka came down from the stairs in her pajamas. She rubbed her eyes as she asked sleepily," Who was that, brother?"

"You don't need to know. Tell dad to buy some tools tomorrow, okay?"

"Um… what for?"

"To fix something that an idiot broke down. Anyway, good night Shizuka."

"Good night."

            "Ugh… shouldn't you be going to sleep Marik?"

            Marik sat at a large green sofa, watching a game of baseball.

            "I don't see what you people find so entertaining about this sport. All you do is see how far you can hit a ball."

            "And run the bases too!"

            "Shut up, you dipwad."

            The door clicked open and Malik jumped. Ishizu's head popped in, looking confused.

            "Did I scare you Malik?"

            Nearby, Marik laughed hysterically. "That moron is scared of everything! He couldn't even beat up this puny bully when he was little!"

            Ishizu grinned. "Laugh all you want, but take a look at this!"

            From behind her back, she whipped out a half- sleeping Rishido. His head bobbed up and down and his ponytail swished back and forth.

            "Oh please, he can't send me back to Malik's body."

            "Well Rishido… would you like to go back to the mental hospital now, or stay here?"

            "I don't belong in the mental hospital! I don't even know why they put me there in the first place!"

            "Probably because they saw those cuts on your face and guessed that you did it yourself!"

            "So different from Egypt… I'll stay here Ishizu, thanks."

            Rishido grabbed a bag of chips and walked off into a vacant room. Ishizu took another look at Malik and Marik, who were fighting over the remote.

            "Uh, guys?"

             Marik and Malik turned.

            "You guys might have to enroll in school… I think it's the law here."

            "What? I learned pretty much all I wanted when I was a Grave Watcher. No way I'm going back to school."

            "You might meet new friends."

            "Friends! Friendship is a weak force! You could count on your friends all you want but in the end, only you could do what you want best."

            "Uh-huh. Nice quote."

            "I didn't quote it. I made it off the top of my head. Enroll Malik in school. That asshole is stupider than a pile of shit on the road."

            "But Marik…"

            "Enroll Malik, damn it!"

            Ishizu sighed, then turned and walked off into an empty room. Malik crossed his arms and glared at Marik.

            "You have a serious problem with attitude. I'll be having fun at school, while you're off doing… whatever you'll-"

            "Killing people. Yeah, yeah, go and have your 'fun' little boy. See you tomorrow night."

            Malik reached for his Millennium Rod, then let it settle back into the strap of his pants. He stepped back into the shadows of the room and let Marik watch television for the rest of the night, his laughter constantly ringing throughout the silent room.

            Well, that's one chapter done with. Next chapter will show how Malik deals with going to school, while Yugi contends with living with Yami. Marik will be off killing people, but what happens when Malik is in danger? Malik and Marik will be building up their friendship slowly… that is if Marik can throw aside the hatred in his heart. Bakura is still unconscious so don't expect to hear from him for a while. Anyway, please review!