Chapter Two:

Two's Company, Three's a Crowd

"DEAR RA!" Yami stumbled backwards, into the tablet behind him. His mind reeled in shock and had he been living, his heart would have been pounding out of his chest. His impossibly wide eyes darted over the sleeping forms before him, clawing for some viable explanation.

"Gimmie dat...puff..."

"...Heh." Yami's lips quirked up in sort of half smile. He sat down in the cold stone, running trembling fingers through his wiry bangs. What in the hell is going on here?! The former Pharaoh leaned forward and tapped the sneaker-clad foot, yelping when it proved to be solid.

Slowly, the one intruder that had been mumbling about cream puffs stirred awake, deeply hued eyes instantly snapping over to Yami. "HOLY HELL!" His voice, an octave lower than Yami's and slightly raspy, seemed to snap the Pharaoh back to reality.

"What in the hell are you doing here?!"

"I would ask you the same thing!"

The intruder carefully set his still soundly sleeping counterpart on the stone and got up. "Let's take this elsewhere." Without giving Yami a chance to respond, he grabbed the Spirit by the collar and drug him back toward the main area of the twisted soul room, somehow missing every trap along the way.

"Gah! Would you let me go?" Yami growled, finally having the sense to undo the buckle. Once freed, he glared harshly at his extremely unexpected company.

The intruder, possessing slanted, deep chocolate eyes and a shock of hair whiter than the purest winter snow, crossed his arms. "How did you find us?"

Yami sighed. "Between the snoring, sleep talking, and messily replaced traps, it was easy." A half smile drew a corner of the Pharaoh's mouth up. "You're getting sloppy in your old age, tomb robber."

Bakura scowled at his age-old nemesis. "That was all Ryou, not me." The ancient thief narrowed his eyes at Yami, noticing that he was trying not to laugh. "What is so funny?"

"Nothing whatsoever," the Puzzle guardian replied. "It's just not every day that I find to dead people hiding in my soul room."

"And you find our situation funny?" Bakura all but growled. The last few weeks had done wonders on the Egyptian's already nonexistent temper and to have the Pharaoh snickering at him was grating on the last shred of his patience.

Yami shook his head. "It's the farthest thing from funny, I know." He resisted the urge to pounce on the highly unstable Ring Spirit, knowing that would end him up in the fight of his afterlife. That in mind, he contented himself to know that Bakura was safe... Wait. How did he get in here? "Tomb robber, how did you and your hikari get into my soul room?"

Bakura smirked, his temper settling down some. Nothing, besides thieving maybe, pleased the Egyptian quite like having the upper hand over the spike haired Pharaoh. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Actually, I would like very much to know," Yami replied firmly, trying to keep up the typical, cold facade he always wore. "Otherwise, I'm going to have to send you to the Shadow Realm."

Bakura feigned a yawn. "I've heard that threat before."

"And I've followed through on it every single time."

"And every time I've escaped."

"And-" Yami closed his mouth, seeing the other Spirit's point. "Still, you're in my soul room in my Millennium item. I would like to know how you got here."

"Yami?"

"Yes?" both Spirits replied, sheerly out of habit. They glared at each other.

The soft shuffle of footsteps was preceded by Ryou's sleepy form. His chocolate eyes, much lighter and softer than his counterpart's, studied the scene before him with a sigh. "Konnichiwa, Yami no Yugi," he greeted absently before yawning.

Bakura's hard eyes softened some. "Brick head wake you up?"

"No. I really wasn't sleeping that soundly to begin with," Ryou replied, venturing farther into the slightly disorienting soul room.

Yami glared at Bakura. "I'm not a brick head."

"Then how do you explain the rows and rows of bricks that make up your mind?" the former tomb robber quipped innocently.

Ryou sighed. "Stop it, yami." The supposedly dead Brit stepped over Yami's forgotten jacket. "You wanted to know how we got here, right?"

"Yes. An explanation is very much in order," Yami replied, now fighting to tamp down his patience. Knowing that Bakura was alive lifted his spirits, but, their constant rivalry was almost enough to counter that happiness.

Ryou nodded, shooting Bakura a look. "You remember the duel you had with Bandit Keith after Duelist Kingdom, correct?"

Yami nodded, getting the distinct feeling that Yugi left out something important in his recollection of that particular duel.

"As it turns out, my dear yami tracked you and Yugi down with the intention to steal the Puzzle-"

"I wanted to borrow it," Bakura insisted.

"You keep thinking that." Ryou rolled his eyes. "Anyway, when Keith smashed the Puzzle, Bakura sealed part of his soul into one of the pieces."

"He what?!" Yami demanded.

"He decided it would be useful to try and get the Puzzle, though it never worked. When Malik tried to destroy us, Bakura conveniently remembered his connection to your item and got both of us out of harm's way."

Yami sighed, reigning in his anger. "So you two have been here for close to a week? How did you get around my mind's traps?"

"I spent the first few days memorizing all of your mind's little defenses," Bakura replied. "Frankly, I've seen marketplaces more complex then your mind."

Yami growled. "You're testing my patience, tomb robber."

"He thrives on frustrating people to the edges of their sanity," Ryou replied, sounding slightly exasperated.

"What are they doing here?!"

Yami, Bakura, and Ryou turned toward the entrance of their now shared soul room to see a pale looking Yugi standing in the doorway seconds before the small teenager fainted.

* * * *

The ominous claws of impending night started to overtake the unsuspecting day in the daily switch between light and darkness. The rain, once a gentle mist, was now pounding to the ground with ferocity akin to a waterfall. Most people in their right mind were now safely at home, tucked away with family and friends from the elements. Unfortunately for Malik, he didn't have that luxury.

Being a thief of rarities worldwide, the Egyptian never stayed in one spot for very long. He had intended to leave this very backwards country for his motherland directly after Battle City. Then again, he reasoned with himself. You also intended to leave Kaiba's tournament with the Pharaoh's power. Look how that endeavor ended.

Malik sighed and pushed limp bangs from his eyes, some part of his mind registering he probably looked like he got caught in a bar fight with his eyeliner bleeding away in the rain. The teenager sighed and sat down, figuring he couldn't get any more wet than he already was as he propped an arm up on the small bag of possessions he had with him.

[[Malik, why in the seven hells are you sitting in the middle of a rainstorm?]]

The Egyptian rolled his eyes, laying down on the bag now. [I have no where else to go. Why do you care? You're not the one that'll get sick.]

Marik snorted derisively. [[I don't want to have to control a disease-ridden body because my idiot hikari wants to sleep in the rain.]]

[What do you expect me to do? Swim across the ocean to catch up to the Rare Hunters?] Malik replied, keeping his tone light as possible. He was still shaken from his earlier encounter with his dark side but was determined not to let that be known.

[[Don't take that tone with me,]] Marik snarled.

Malik yelped when the ancient Egyptian appeared next to him. His lilac eyes narrowed, but held fear in their depths. "You're going to catch cold," he mocked, bracing himself for another beating.

To the Egyptian's utter shock, Marik simply chuckled and sat down by his head. His slanted eyes regarded Malik's shivering form with some degree of exasperation. "We need to talk."

At that moment, Malik would have preferred to be dodging his dark side's fists then be a victim to his eye's shameless wandering and his dangerous smile. "About what?"

Marik leaned easily against the cold wall behind him, crossing his arms. "After our little chat this afternoon, I started thinking."

Malik laughed harshly. "This can't be good coming from you."

"Do you know why we lost so miserably at Battle City, hikari? Our efforts were uncoordinated, making each move completely sloppy." Marik looked down at Malik. "If we ever hope to take the power of the Pharaoh, then we have to work together."

Malik slowly sat up, looking rather pathetic in his current, drenched state. He was seconds away from asking if Marik was smoking something illegal but he decided against it. So now it's 'we'? When did this start? Just a few hours ago I was being told that I'm lower than dirt.

"I take it by the way that you're looking at me that you disagree," Marik stated lightly, though his tone held a darker lining.

"I'm just wondering what in the hell is going on through your head," Malik retorted. "I don't disagree with you. Our plans would go a lot better without all the friction of me wanting to do one thing and you another."

"I thought you would agree." Marik's smirk shifted into a cold smile as he ran his fingers through his light's hair. "You always do."

Malik shuttered in revulsion. "Don't think this is an invitation to seduce me." The seventeen-year-old glared long and hard at his other half. "I'll work with you, but your passes are for nothing."

Faster then the human eye could catch, Marik was behind the much younger Egyptian, strong arms wrapped around the lithe body possessively. "What did I say about you being mine, little hikari?" he whispered.

Malik growled, trying to writhe his way to freedom. Unfortunately, his attempts only served to get him even more ensnared in Marik's embrace. "Let. Me. Go."

Marik nipped at the blond's ear before disappearing all together.

Malik steeled himself for whatever attacks were to come afterwards, but wasn't prepared when gentle hands closed around his arms and led him away from his consciousness, into the labyrinth he had come to associate with his soul room.

"Don't fight me so much, little one." Marik tightened his grip enough to leave bruises. "It won't hurt so much," he added in a dark hiss.

Malik wrenched his arms away and bolted for the hallway leading back to his body. Once there, he knew he would be safe from Marik.

But, the ancient Egyptian wasn't content to let that happen. He held a hand out and the shadows that lingered everywhere flew in Malik's direction, ensnaring the youth tightly, before brining him back to Marik. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. You don't listen very well."

"I always had a problem with-" Malik was cut off when Marik captured his lips.

The Spirit didn't dare to explore the mortal youth's mouth, knowing full well that he bit hard. "That's why you're so intriguing." he whispered as he pulled back.

Malik growled, trying again to struggle in vain. "Let me go!"

Marik drug a finger down the front of his light's shirt. "Why should I?" He brushed his cheek with Malik's. "I have to make sure that you know who the master is."

That statement sent shutters of repulsion up and down Malik's spine. "Stop this foolishness!" The seventeen-year-old knew he was taking a gamble with his next words, but it was better then letting himself be used. "I was here first. This is my body and I don't want you using it for your sick pleasures."

Marik grabbed a fist full of hair, the pure rage emanating off him choking the air like an invisible smog. "Don't tell me what to do! I have been alive since the dawn of civilization!" A sharp tug. "I was here first."

Malik would have loved to kill Marik at that moment, his mind trying to sort through the viable ways to follow through on that plan and still keep his head about his shoulders. Unfortunately, he saw only one of two ways at that moment. One: Sit there and take the abuse. Two: Play along.

And frankly, neither option appealed to the Egyptian.

Okay, just as a general note, I'll be updating every three days if my timetable allows me to. Hopefully, I didn't let anyone down with this chapter. ^)^U Now, kudos!

Evaru: Ever the entertaining one. I have a feeling I'm going to be faced with MSTs rather then reviews. [grin] Mind if I use 'em for outtakes at the end? Oh, [hands Evaru a crate of plushies] this is for being first person to review!

CharcoalCat: In reference to the reset trap: It's a simple defense mechanism in Yami's mind that Ryou so haplessly walked into. [points] See! Ryou's alive… well, almost alive. [grin] I can't kill the little bishie… yet. ^)^

Animegirl: [blush] You're too kind. I'm anal about characterization, so I try to keep everyone as true to their personalities as I can. Sowwie 'bout the cliffhanger. Can't say they'll get any better. ~)~U

(For people who reviewed before I accidentally took the story down. …Heh…)

Reen:[whines] Update "Sweet Tomorrow" already! [hands Reen Ryou and Malik plushies] Pwease? …Ahem… Wait well worth it?

False Chaos:[hands over a crate of plushies] This is for being second person to review! Thank you! [hands False Chaos Skittles] And that's for being nice! Seriously, arigatou!

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Chapter Three Trailer:

"You like to seal people into things, don't you, yami?" Ryou suddenly asked, looking amused.

Yami's amethyst eyes grew cold. "Which is all the more reason for me to kick the both of you out."

"WHAT?!" Bakura screamed. "You do that and the only place we have to go is the Shadow Realm!" The thief advanced on Yami. "You can send me there, but you are not sending my hikari."

"If I leave him be, you can find your way back. I'm not ignorant, tomb robber." The Pharaoh matched Bakura's glare evenly. Part of him was as enraged as the thief that he was suggesting to destroy his former lover, but he reasoned his first duty was to Yugi, not his heart.

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Rock long, rock hard, rock out!

-Kiirar