Anaya's Creator: Happy Thanksgiving! Hey, I was finally able to update!
Kaiba, Mokuba, and Malik: What's up?
Mokuba: Hi again people, did everyone eat lots of food?
Malik: I'm stuffed.
Anaya's Creator: Of course you are dimwit you ate two helpings of everything, not counting the four pieces of strudel you ate!
Kaiba: Joey was worse.
Malik: Yeah, he ate five helpings of everything.
Anaya's Creator: Now for the three reviews we got:
Stormtracer:
Happy belated Birthday! The girls accomplish (yes, you spelled that word right in your review) some stuff in this addition. I hope you like this one.
KrysofSorrow:
Uhh... sure, I'll just pretend I understood that. Here's your update.
Kagomewannabe2008:
I'm flattered. My assumption as to what happened to Kesi and Bakura is that they ran off together, got married, lived happy lives, and died. That's all my sources have told me.
Anaya's Creator: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh;
Meanwhile up on the dueling field, Marik had just been attacked directly by Obelisk the Tormentor. "Ha, ha, ha, attack my life points all you want Pharaoh, for have you forgotten who really pays the price for your attacks?" he gabbed a finger at Malik who now had lost almost all of his body.
Yami, we've got to protect Malik's good side.
I know, Yugi, but how?
Up on the other side of the dueling field, Malik was slowly regaining consciousness. Almost inaudibly, he moaned, "Rogue, Akina, help me please."
Back in Rogue's room, what had disappeared of Malik's body reappeared beside her. Malik opened his one eye and lost his breath at the sight of her. She looked so lovely and peaceful just lying there, fast asleep. Aden was with her, also asleep, perched on a bed post. But there was no time to dwell on that, he needed to tell her; time was ticking away without mercy.
"Rogue, I hope you can hear me," he began. "Because these may be the last words I say to you. The bitterness inside me grows stronger as I slip into the shadows. And before I completely slip away, I want to say that I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you and the others. You are the only one who tried to understand me, but I repaid you by becoming jealous of the Pharaoh having feelings for you. I felt threatened by him trying to take you away form me. I wish I could undo everything, but now it's too late. Destiny is taking its chosen course and there's no going back. The bitterness from my past and present lives now seeks to destroy me and if he succeeds everyone will pay the price. I tried to spare you all by challenging him earlier, but I failed..."
#Flashback#
Malik was within Bakura's body and the spirit of the Millennium Ring was dueling with his yami. "Quit being so reckless with our life points," he chastised.
"I have a plan you useless parasite. Just stand back and watch," the spirit retorted.
We have to win this duel, Malik thought. I need to end this battle before Rogue gets dragged too far into this.
"So you have feelings for that blind guest of Kaiba's," Bakura taunted coldly.
"Mind your own business!" Malik snapped.
A while later Marik had won the duel. "Now it's time for Malik to go into the darkness."
Forgive me Rogue, was Malik's last thought as felt himself rip into the darkness. I failed you.
--In the Shadow Realm—
Malik was trapped in a glass sand timer. He looked below him and saw Rogue on a date with Yami. "Rogue!" he shouted, even though he knew she couldn't hear him.
"Yell all you want, hikari, she can't hear you." said his Yami, who had appeared beside him, outside the timer.
"I'm familiar with the way Shadow Realm works, fool."
But Marik continued as though he hadn't heard him.
"But my, my, does she seem to be having fun, and she doesn't look as if she misses you at all."
As much as Malik knew this was all an illusion, he saw that his dark side had a point. He felt his heart sink with sorrow at the sight of those two together.
"Enjoy the rest of your pathetic existence in the Shadow Realm, hikari. " Marik jeered. "Oh, and just so you know, I think I'll spare your pretty little girlfriend from the shadows and make her my queen. After all, she is the incarnation of my wife."
"She isn't the incarnation of your wife!" Malik felt his blood boil in rage. "You're merely the mixture of negative emotions, created by years of anger and hate."
"True as that may be, your body and lover are now mine," and with that Marik disappeared.
Malik sank back against the glass of his pyramid prison. "Rogue," he mumbled. "What have I unleashed?"
#End Flashback#
"You stood by me and loved me even thought you knew what I was doing was wrong." Malik continued. "But seeing you with Yami made me lose control of my emotions and my dark side took over. Good bye, my love; I'll never be able to repay you for the love you gave me in this time and in the past. I'm so sorry. I love you, never forget that." As his body disappeared, he leaned forward and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips.
Inside her soul room, that kiss awoke Rogue from her brother's sleep spell. She tried to move her body, but only with a great amount of effort could she manage to lift her arm. After cursing that she couldn't do anything herself, she sent a bolt of magic from her body.
It ricocheted off the walls of the hallway until it found its intended target: Odeon.
Odeon groaned as the magic hit and woke him up. Ignoring the bad shape his body was in, he got up from his bed and made his way out to the dueling field. Unbeknownst to him, Rogue's spirit had separated itself from her body, again, and was following him.
I must help Master Malik free himself from the control of his dark side, he thought as he entered the duel tower and got into the elevator. In order for everyone here, and the world, to be saved Master Malik's good side must prevail. He just needs to be reminded that he can overcome the vice within him.
When the elevator stopped, Odeon stumbled out of it and climbed the stairs to the dueling field. "Master Malik, you must free yourself!" he shouted as he reached the top.
On Marik's side of the dueling field, all that was left of the former Malik was his right eye. Struggling a little, he managed to open it. That voice... it's Odeon... and behind him... that's Rogue's essence...
"Master Malik, you mustn't give up hope yet! You can free yourself from your evil half's control," Odeon said. "Lady Rogue fought Karasu not only to avenge herself and her family, but to save all of our lives, particularly yours. She and I both know that you can conquer the evil that manipulates you. Don't let our hope and her sacrifice be in vain. You had the power to create your yami, but you also have the power to destroy him."
Behind Odeon, Rogue's astroprojection nodded.
They're right, Malik realized. I can overcome him. The eye that was left of him vanished and rematerialized in the gap that had been on the right side of Marik's face.
"You fool; what the hell do you think you're doing?" his dark side cursed.
"I'm taking my life back! Pharaoh, heed my words, attack me!"
"No, I won't," Yami argued.
"This is no time to bicker with me, Pharaoh. I don't have much time left. You must attack me in order to lock away my dark half forever. Forgive me for all I've done to you all and if I don't make it take care of Rogue for me. From my childhood I was raised to serve you, but I always resented that. Resentment led to hatred and you see the results in front of you now. It's past time for me to take responsibility for my actions... now attack me with everything you've got."
"We can't; it's too risky," Yugi quarreled.
"We must," Yami said firmly. "Now I remove every card from my hand, deck and graveyard in order to activate my magic card. You, your dragon, and your reign of terror are through."
Yami's monsters surrounded the Winged Dragon of Ra and Marik into a seal of magic in the sky. When it ebbed away all that was left was a pillar of smoke; when it faded all that was left on Marik's side of the field was Malik and all that remained of his evil side, a single floating eyeball.
"Malik, you and I can still win this if we work together," the eye pleaded. "We'll rule the Earth together with Akina and Rogue beside us."
"Oh, shut-up!" Malik demanded. "You've influenced me for too long. I SURRENDER!" With that Malik's life points went to zero and Marik's eye faded away, but not without a final threat:
"You can't do this; you need me to be able to survive. Your body will be chemically imbalanced without me. You'll pay for this!"
"Just go!" Malik ordered. "We've had enough of you."
The darkness left and the sky and sun could now be seen. With a small shimmer, Rogue's spirit returned to her body.
Malik went to Yami and handed him the Winged Dragon of Ra. He also gave him the Millennium Ring, but kept his Rod. "Pharaoh, I'm going to hold on to my Millennium Item for now. I need to restore everyone's mind and souls from the Shadow Realm. I also need to fix the memories of my Rare Hunters so that they don't remember any of this chaos."
"Fine by me," Yami said.
"Alright geeks," Kaiba shouted. "Time for you all to head back to the blimp, 'cause in one hour this island explodes."
A few minutes later everyone, except the Kaiba's, were getting back to the blimp. As they approached, they saw someone limping out of it. "Rogue," Malik shouted as he recognized the figure.
Rogue nearly dropped her cane as she turned towards his voice. Aden was on her shoulder and there was now a red t-shirt on. She wrapped her arms around someone as she ran into them. "Malik, so you're back to normal now?" she asked.
"I-I-I'm n-not..." a voice stuttered.
"Hey Pharaoh, that'd be my girlfriend." (Everyone but Malik and Yami sweat dropped and anime fall.)
Rogue felt an arm encircle her waist as she was pulled to someone else. "Malik? Is it the real you?" she asked.
"It is," he answered.
She put her hands on his shoulders, moved her head so that if she could see she'd be looking him in the eye. "YOU ARE SO STUPID!!!" she bellowed. A rather large rock behind her glowed bright grey for a moment and then exploded with the force of her anger. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S WORSE; KAIBA AND HIS EGO THAT'S AS BIG AS RUSSIA OR THAT STUNT YOU JUST..." But Rogue never got to finish what she was going to say because at that moment Malik seized the sides of her face and pressed his lips against hers.
Rogue broke the kiss a few moments later. Unbeknownst to them, everyone else had got on board the blimp.
"Hey, if you two are done making up for lost time, get on board the stupid blimp. Moneybags said this place is gonna blow!" said Joey's voice from the aircraft.
Malik and Rogue got inside the blimp and heard a great ruckus going on inside the cockpit.
"The engines they won't start. They're not just down, they're completely dead!"
"That's not possible, they were cooling down while the tournament was taking place," Kaiba yelled.
"I can probably fix them," Rogue offered.
"And how does a blind girl like you know how to fix an aircraft's engines?" Kaiba demanded as he banged his fist on the control panel.
"Please calm down, Kaiba," Serenity begged, running over to him.
"How you ask, have you forgotten my magic?"
"Heh, I don't believe in your hocus pocus, Rogue."
"Suit yourself then. Mokuba, could you lead me to the engines?"
Mokuba took Rogue by the hand and led her to the engines.
"There should be enough fuel to get us back to Domino; the only problem is that the engines won't start."
"This should be a piece of cake. Open the hatch."
Mokuba and Joey opened it.
Adan gave a loud screech in Rogue's ear.
"I know, I know," she muttered in reply. Her hands slowly began to glow a bright grey color, until they were engulfed in dim flames. She thrust her hands into the hatch and grabbed hold of the pipes and wires. Slowly, the flames diminished from her hands and the parts of the engines became that color. The engines sprang to life with a loud VARRRUUUMMMM! .
"Just like hot-wiring a car, only without the wires" she said to no one in particular. "Now let's go home."
Mokuba closed the hatch and they all headed back inside the blimp fore takeoff.
So sweet, was all that was rushing through Malik's mind. At long last, he and Rogue were finally able to be alone.
As soon as they saw that Rogue was conscious and on her feet, the doctors had insisted on running some final medical tests on her. They couldn't seem to comprehend how she could have healed so fast. Malik fought the urge to sneer at the memory of seeing their stunned faces. What fools these surface-dwellers were; didn't anyone think that magic truly existed any longer... obviously not.
After the doctors were finished with Rogue, they had checked him, on Ishizu's request. Malik knew why; she and Odeon were worried about what his yami had said about the possibility of a chemical imbalance in his body. It so happened that his dark side had been absolutely correct, but the inequity was minor, therefore nothing to worry about.
But none of that mattered to him now; all that mattered was Rogue and that this moment with her didn't end. They were in her room, lying on her bed with him on top, kissing the hell out of her.
Rogue moaned softly at the feeling of his light, but passionate kisses against her lips as she ran her fingers through his sand-colored hair. She felt his tongue trail across her bottom lip and let him in. "My love," she heard him groan as he wandered inside her mouth. Her hands went to the back of his neck, fingers still tangled in his hair, as he traveled down to hers. She gasped a little as he bit, licked, and kissed her neck.
On a sudden whim, Malik slid his hand under her shirt and caressed her stomach gently; savoring the sensation of the scars that he felt against his palm. Suddenly, he felt her hand grab his wrist. "No," he heard her plead as she broke their kiss. Realizing her discomfort, he took his hand off her stomach. "Forgive me," he muttered then got off her, and lay down at her side. He put an arm around her shoulders and buried his face in her neck lovingly.
She felt him nuzzle her collarbone then become motionless. "Malik," she said questioningly, slightly confused by his sudden stillness. Her hands unwound from his hair and went to his face. She lightly felt around his eyes and smiled a little to herself.
Adan, who had been in the room the whole time, flew over to his mistress' shoulder and crooned quietly in her ear.
"Yes, I know he's asleep," Rogue whispered. "Now hush; it's been a long day. Wake me up when we're fifteen minutes from Domino, 'kay?" She laid back and fell asleep.
Anaya's Creator: Hey Stormtracer, happy now? Rogue actually did something this chapter: she lost her temper, made a rock explode, hot-wired the engines of KaibaCraft 3, and made out with Malik. How 'bout that?
Mokuba: Eww! Don't girls have cooties?
Anaya's Creator: No, boys do!
Mokuba: Do not!
Kaiba: Will you two stop bickering? It's rather annoying.
Malik: Let them be kids, Kaiba. It's rather amusing. Review people!
Anaya's Creator: I'm no kid!