There was a knock on the door. He bounded over to answer it; he was kinda bored anyway.
"Yugi," Yami greeted politely, standing in the corridor between their minds. "May I come in?"
"Of course!" Yugi smiled up at the one who was had become something of an alter ego to him. "What's going on? I know something is happening, even though, I promise, I haven't peeked!"
"I know, Yugi," Yami smiled down on him. "You are right though, there is something happening, something important. Your cards are concerned about you, Yugi. They are trying to help you somehow, but I fear, it is dangerous."
"Dangerous?! Wha...what's going on?"
"Mahaad asked me to grant him the use of the Millennium Puzzle to help you. Normally, I would have discussed such an important request with you..."
"Oh, no! The Puzzle?! But...he might be hurt!" Yugi was dismayed.
"Mahaad used the Millennium Ring thousands of years ago in Egypt. I am pretty certain he knows what he is doing," Yami reassured.
"'Pretty certain' isn't good enough, Yami!" Yugi squared his shoulders as he faced his 'stronger' alter ego. "Not by a long shot! Tell me what is going on!"
********
Yugi surged forward, out of his room, down through the corridor and out, taking control from Yami with a strength of will that left Yami astonished.
"Yugi?!"
"The Millennium Puzzle is strong, Yami. You and I are the ones who have used it the most...so we would know. I don't want him to...I'll never get to meet 'my' Dark Magician, so I'll never get to meet Mahaad, but my connection with him is even deeper than the one with Akai. It doesn't make too much sense I know, but whenever I am in a duel and things are going wrong, I know that if I just get his card...somehow it will all work out all right. Even if he isn't the best card, just knowing that he's in my deck gives me strength. Does that make any sense?" Yugi paused. "I rely on him."
"But I think he knows that. And maybe he's trying too hard because he doesn't want to let me down. Well, I don't want to let him down either. And we know the Puzzle the best...so..."
Yugi brought his hand down and touched the loop of the Puzzle where it rose out of the box. A terrific surge of Millennium energy discharged through him and he knew no more.
********
"Where...? Where are we?" Yugi stammered, accepting the hand Yami extended so he could stand. "We're...outside...?" Yugi guessed, seeing that they were in a forest.
"No, not outside. Not in our own mind space either," Yami noted. "I'm not sure where we are."
"How did we get here?"
Yami tossed Yugi a very sour look. "A certain reckless, deceptively stubborn, big-hearted boy, I am sure! Come on, Yugi. Let's figure out where we are."
Yami turned and walked toward an area in the forest where the light seemed brighter, hoping it led toward a clearing. Yugi followed meekly.
"You...you aren't mad at me, are you, Yami?" he asked hesitantly.
"Mad?" Yami stopped and turned. "No. Concerned for our safety? Yes. That was a foolhardy thing to do. We have no idea what happened!"
"It just seemed...right..." Yugi hung his head. Yami took two steps toward him and put his hand on Yugi's shoulder.
"Then it probably was. You have a way of making things work out, I've noticed."
********
Shelleene turned and watched as two monsters walked up out of the forest. She was slightly surprised; she thought that all monsters would already be here having answered Mahaad's summons, but no matter. Whoever they were, they were here now and they certainly would help!
Wait! Those weren't monsters! They were...!
"Yugi!" she called out happily! "Yugi! Yugi!"
"Yes, we are doing this to help Yugi. Now, hush!" Everon the Summoned Skull ordered.
"Yugi, Yugi, Yugi!"
"My little Kuriboh!" Yugi exclaimed, walking toward her. "How did it get here, Yami?!" He reached out to pet the overjoyed creature. His hand passed right through her.
"I see," Yami realized. "We are in the Magic Box, the dimension Mahaad created for the cards of your deck!"
"Yugi?" the Kuriboh wondered before Yugi could respond to Yami's revelation.
"Shelleene," the Summoned Skull sighed as he uncrossed his arms, bent at the waist and reached down toward her, "Yes, we are trying to help Yugi, by focusing our will, the Heart of his Cards, for Mahaad to use. But that is much easier for most of us if you try more quietly!"
The Summoned Skull placed Shelleene on his massive shoulder again, stroking along her greenish fur with a gentle touch to keep her quiet.
"Yugi...I try!" Shelleene looked right into Yugi's eyes with determination. "I try hard!" She turned to stare at the atelier and quivered with how hard she was trying to help.
"I see," Yami said again.
Yugi looked from the odd tableau of his Kuriboh resting on his Summoned Skull's shoulder, then around the area at the other groups of quiet duel monsters whose attention was focused on the small workshop in front of them. He shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't get it. What's going on?" he asked. "We're in the Magic Box?! You told me about it...but how did we get here?!"
"I don't understand all of it, but Mahaad is using the Millennium Puzzle and the Heart of your Cards for something. That's a considerable amount of power! When you touched the Puzzle, you brought us here, undoubtedly because all your cards are thinking about helping you." Yami cupped his chin in thought. "Now why would Mahaad try to combine two such powerful forces together?"
It was veiled, but Yugi could sense Yami's worry.
"Maybe my rash action brought us here for a reason. Maybe we can help?" Yugi asked.
"Maybe," Yami allowed with a smirk. "Do you feel the energy concentrated in that structure?" Yugi nodded. "Let's see what's inside, shall we?"
"Yeah..." Yugi agreed absently. "Yami...why can't the Summoned Skull see us? What's going on with that?"
"Oh...you and I aren't duel monsters, so we really have no right to be here. I guess we are invisible, since your hand passed right through your Kuriboh."
"But it...she saw us?"
Yami placed a hand on Yugi's shoulder. "You've always had a soft spot for the weak little Kuriboh." Yugi bristled. "See? It could be she is just low power enough that seeing us doesn't upset her like it would a 'greater' monster. Basically, she's simple enough to see things as they really are. So she can see us."
"Come on. I'm curious what's going on in there!"
********
"Mahaad!" Mana gasped. "I'm...not...strong...enough!"
"What...what are they doing?!" Yugi demanded.
Yami didn't answer him. He walked around the giant table that the Millennium Puzzle appeared to be instead. He turned and looked at the high Dark Magic users, then into Mahaad's face. He sighed.
"They are trying to help you as only they can," Yami finally answered. "Hmmm."
"I think this might work if you try to help Mana...the Dark Magician Girl and I assist Mahaad," Yami suggested.
"Help her? How?" Yugi asked, walking toward his Dark Magician Girl. Her face was scrunched up in concentration. It seemed best to reach out and touch her shoulder, or try to, to offer comfort.
"Yugi?!" she gasped as she turned at his touch.
"What?" Mahaad asked.
"Yugi! It's Yugi, I can see him!"
"Really? You can see me?" Yugi exclaimed. "And I can touch...you are solid!"
"What are you talking about Mana? Maybe this is beyond your skills, if you are hallucinating..." Mahaad cupped his chin. Yami looked across the Puzzle and grinned into Yugi's eyes, before bringing his hand up deliberately to touch Mahaad's elbow.
"My pharaoh!" Mahaad was stunned, then narrowed his eyes.
"Ah...so somehow you are here. Yugi is going to help Mana and you are going to help me."
Yami nodded. "Since I seem to be surrounded by headstrong overconfidence, yes."
Mahaad laughed. "Just like old times, yes? Well then, have you figured out what we are trying to do?"
"Using the power of the Heart of the Cards and the Millennium Puzzle to manipulate the force of Dark Magic? Yes. And the purpose too. But it is dangerous for you to channel the Millennium energy, Mahaad."
"Necessary though, if this is to work. But if Yugi helps Mana and you help me..."
"I think...that's why we are here."
"The Heart of the Cards is strong, but it's hard for them to maintain their concentration for long..."
"Yes. Let us try."
Yugi reached out and took Mana's hand. "Yami is going to help Mahaad and I'm going to do my best to help you...Mana."
She blushed. "You...you know my name?!"
"I never realized that all of you had names until recently," Yugi explained.
"You know my name!" Mana's eyes were bright and happy.
"Mana! Focus your attention on the matter at hand!" Mahaad commanded sternly.
"I'll help!" Yugi declared as he turned toward the Millennium Puzzle again. His eyes widened as he noticed the giant Dark Retribution card on top of it.
Mana closed her eyes. After a moment, Yugi did too. He could almost see the tremendous power that Mahaad and Yami were shaping, he could almost feel the will, the Heart of his Cards flowing toward Mana. He tried to filter that power, and whatever feeble personal power he might hold too, and send it to Mana through their clasped hands.
She reached, softly, delicately into the Dark Magic all around them with her own Dark Magic skills, sifting, searching, seeking one particular touch...
"Where...?"
Yugi opened his eyes at the sound of a new voice.
"Akai! I found you!" Mana's voice was elated.
"Why?" Akai seemed faint, ghostly as he hovered above the Dark Retribution card. "It took me a while, but I found the best way for me to help Yugi's deck. And not distress anyone. Let me go."
Mana stamped her foot impatiently. "How often do you think such a situation is likely to happen?! Dark Retribution is powerful, maybe too powerful. Yugi would never be able to use it!"
"That's okay. I still know that I help him, just because he has the card. Even if he never plays it again," Akai admitted as he crossed his arms and placed his Dark Magic staff in a defensive position unconsciously against his own words.
Yugi could tell now why it was so important that he be here. He knew why his heart, not the heart of his cards, but his own heart, had led him here.
"Tell me what it is like, Akai. I see how it is for the duel monsters of my deck here in the Magic Box. How is it for a ritual?" Yugi demanded.
"I...exist."
"And...?"
"That is all. Until Mana called me...I just was."
"Simply a state of being, with no will, no name, no motivation, no curiosity, nothing?" Mahaad asked. Akai nodded uncomfortably once.
"How terrible!" Mana exclaimed. "Surely there is a way for you to return to us!"
Akai looked down at the Puzzle, then into Mana's eyes. "But you are so distressed by me."
"Don't be stupid!" Mana snapped. "Mahaad is the Dark Magician of Yugi's deck...but..."
"There's room for more than one!" Yugi exclaimed. "Mahaad's card is still my favorite, the one I identify with the most, but I can have more than one Dark Magician!"
"See?!" Mana looked up at Akai again. "Our duelist wants you as a monster card! Certainly you must follow his will...as must I," she realized softly. "And I must accept you, too."
"I'm still gonna tease you, ya know," she warned. "But I'd rather have you as a duel monster I can tease, than as a static ritual too," she admitted softly. "And Mahaad has missed you terribly. Actually, all of the cards have. So please, Akai...return to us."
Mana held out her free hand. Still clasping hands with his Dark Magician Girl, Yugi offered his free hand too.
Akai looked down into the two earnest faces turned up toward him. He turned to look into Mahaad's eyes and smiled at Mahaad's nod.
"Well, then...if you are sure..."
Akai dropped his ghostly Dark Magic staff and reached toward Mana's and Yugi's outstretched hands. Though his substance was thin, he was able to take them.
"NOW!" Mahaad called. Yami and Mahaad strained to send the utmost of the powers they held in check, the Heart of Yugi's Cards, the power of the Millennium Puzzle, the totality of Dark Magic in Yugi's deck and the undefined power that Mahaad held personally to Mana and Yugi.
The atelier shuddered and shook from the violent, barely-controlled force.
Mana and Yugi accepted that power and used it...
Used the power to finally pull Akai free of the weave of Dark Magic to fully incarnate as a duel monster again. Akai tumbled from the air and fell, taking Mana and Yugi to the ground with him.
The Dark Retribution card flashed, becoming Akai's Dark Magician card once more.
Mahaad's smile that they had succeeded disappeared.
"Oh, dear!" he exclaimed as he stumbled.
"Mahaad!" Yami reached out to catch him, only to have Mahaad fade inexplicably away before he could touch him.
"MAHAAD!"
Both Yami and Yugi abruptly disappeared from the atelier.
********
The Magic Box discharged a concessive blast. Yugi's hand, lightly touching the loop of the Millennium Puzzle where it rested in the Box, was flung so violently away that Yugi rolled across the floor until the wall stopped him. He didn't know how much time passed before he woke up again.
"What...what happened?!"
Yugi shook his head as he got up and walked back to the Magic Box. He was hesitant about touching the Puzzle again, but nothing happened when he finally found the courage.
He took the Puzzle out of the Box and placed it around his neck again. The Red Dark Magician's card fluttered to the tabletop. Yugi picked it up.
"It worked!" He noted internally.
"Yes, your cards care for you very much, Yugi," Yami's reply came.
"What's this?!" Something felt odd about the card. Yugi realized that another card was clinging to it. A firm rub separated the cards.
"No way!"
"What is it, Yugi?!"
"It's...Dark Retribution! I thought...Akai..."
"May I?" Yami surged forward, pulling the rest of Yugi's deck from the Magic Box. He thumbed through the deck swiftly, then again more slowly, looking closely at some of the pictures.
"It is as I feared," Yami sighed heavily.
"What is?"
"Your purple Dark Magician...Mahaad, is gone."
"No!" Yugi ran his deck between his hands again and finally spotted what Yami had seen. The Dark Sage wore red robes and resembled an older Akai in the picture on the card now. All of his high Dark Magic users were 'Red' now. Mahaad's card, that of the Purple Dark Magician, was indeed missing.
"Yami?!"
"I will never forgive him!" Yami vowed with frightening intensity. "Never!"
"Yami...?"
********
"What...happened?!" Mana asked as Akai helped her to her feet. "Where did everyone go?"
"I don't know," Akai replied.
"You should go," a new voice commanded. "This place won't be able to sustain you much longer."
Akai looked up into his own eyes. The Dark Sage stood before him. "Mahaad's magic is gone. We won't be able to maintain the inner atelier as a physical place and you and Mana are too weak right now to help."
"Why do you now...look like me?!"
"You are the only Dark Magician in the deck. We will look like you, you will become one of us, when one of our cards is played in a duel."
"What?!"
"You must go, or risk being exiled with us. Once you and Mana recover enough strength, you'll be able to summon the inner atelier again. By then, we might have better answers for you."
"I see."
The Dark Sage nodded, understanding that Akai did comprehend.
"We will research Dark Magic and try to figure out what happened to Mahaad. You...you and Mana should make sure that the rest of Yugi's duel monsters are okay. Everyone relies on Mahaad, perhaps a bit too much. His disappearance will be distressing to them. Now, go!"
Akai caught Mana's hand and fled the inner atelier that even now was starting to disappear. He dashed with her through the basic room, Mahaad's false workshop, and out into the clearing where all of Yugi's duel monsters stood with open-mouthed wonder at his sudden appearance.
"Mana!"
"Akai!"
"You're back!"
"It worked!"
"That's what we were doing?!"
The atelier shimmered and disappeared.
All the duel monsters fell silent. Not one could recall a time when the modest workshop didn't stand in the center of the Magic Box.
"Where's Mahaad?"
"Mahaad!"
"He's gone!"
"What happened?!"
-------------
Author's notes -
I admit I have only the merest idea what's gonna happen next. I need to find less strong-willed characters to write about! Ones that know how to follow an author's outline! *Mad kitty face!*
Next Chapter teaser - Chapter Nine - Akai is back (Yay!) but now Mahaad is missing (Sob!) Perhaps Yugi's deck can sustain only one Dark Magician at a time?!
Reviews, comments and constructive criticisms are always welcome! Please feel free to email me also if you see something awkward that needs to be clarified or fixed. I need all the help I can get!
stargarde@stargarde.com