Yuugiou!
Episode Nine and Three Quarters

Some things worthy of note in this new chapter two: most of them revolving around names. Since the general consensus supports this, I'm calling Marik "Malik". I'm bending over for you people, kindly don't kick me in the ass (I still say it's Marik though). Also, I've found out recently (by watching the Egypt arc), that when they say "Ishizu", they mean Ishizu, and not Isis with a strong Japanese accent. Scary that the dub got that right.

A lot of you have had many questions, and most of them are answerable by just hanging in there and reading onward. This chapter addresses most of the questions asked. Also, I'm very glad that the majority of people seem to be supporting of the rewrite. I'll admit, I was afraid I was going to get hunted down with pitchforks.

I'm trying to get out at least a chapter a day. It's farely easy, as the story's already written... I just need to fix it. XP

And I'm finding that the editor on here doesn't like an exclamation point and a question mark together... what the heck... -.-

CHAPTER TWO – REUNIONS

To say that Yuugi and Ryou felt overwhelmed when they stepped into the Leaky Cauldron pub was a rather gross understatement. Their trip so far had been rather uneventful, though Ryou had been fidgety and distracted ever since he bumped into Yuugi at the airport, which made the shorter boy more than a little suspicious. Ryou was used to living alone… why would a simple little trip bother him?

Right now, though, he could understand why he was feeling unnerved. It had taken awhile to find the dark pub that they were currently standing in, mostly because anyone they asked on the streets of London had no clue as to what they were talking about. Even when they finally found the place, people seemed to pass by it, like the shabby building did not even exist. Now, though, Yuugi was kind of hoping they passed by it too. There were people of every size and shape imaginable – he could only assume they were all wizards and witches – all dressed in brilliant cloaks, talking softly amongst themselves. Some eyed the two boys as they passed them on their way to the counter, and Yuugi caught a few of them wondering what magic he used to keep his hair like it was.

The two of them went up to the bartender, an old man that Sugoroku had apparently been friends with when they were younger. He more than happily led them up to the rooms they would be staying in until they needed to leave for King's Cross Station on the first of September to get to school. After they had dropped off their belongings, he took them to the back of the pub, where there was nothing more than a garbage can and a solid brick wall.

Ryou and Yuugi exchanged perplexed expressions as the bartender took out his wand and tapped it against a specific brick in the wall three times. The brick shuddered and quivered… before sliding away, other bricks starting to follow it until a massive archway was revealed, with the words "Diagon Alley" in faded English above them.

"There you are, lads," the bartender announced as the two of them stepped into the area that had appeared numbly. "Everything you'll need for school is in here."

After being assured that they would not need help, Yuugi and Ryou went off into the Alley alone, heading down the winding cobbled street as best they could, passing by witches and wizards of all sorts. There were so many shops; shops selling wands, brooms, cauldrons, assorted animals… The boys wandered down the street, trying to look in all directions at once and only succeeding in bumping into a group of witches.

"Sorry, sorry!" Yuugi apologized quickly, bowing sheepishly, before turning to Ryou. "'Jii-chan said we had to get 'wizard money' first before we could get our supplies. We'll know the bank when we see it, supposedly; it's the most noticeable building…"

"You mean that?" Ryou asked, pointing to a large, crooked building standing stark white against the clear blue sky. Yuugi's eyes widened.

"Yeah… I think that's noticeable enough."

They made their way to the large white double doors of the building, and were bowed inside by two goblin sentries. Within there was another set of silver doors, with a warning inscribed on them:

Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.

Yuugi grinned at Ryou as they pushed the doors open. "Why do I get the feeling the other Bakura would be excited about this place?" he asked, giggling slightly.

Ryou just shifted, laughing nervously. "Uh… y-yeah…"

Yuugi frowned. "Bakura-kun, are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," he answered quickly, starting into the room. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Yuugi gave his back a distrustful look, but followed him into the bank anyway. There were two long lines of high tables that extended far into the back of the room, with goblins on the other side, counting out gold, silver, and bronze coins or measuring and examining precious stones. They went up to an area of the counter marked Foreign Exchange, and even Ryou had to stand up on his toes to reach the top of the table.

"Um… excuse us, but we need to have our yen exchanged for wizard money," he said nervously, gulping when the goblin looked up at him with a piercing stare.

"Bring it here," the goblin ordered, snatching the money when Ryou set it down. He counted it out, before handing him a bag full of the gold, silver, and bronze coins. "Next."

Yuugi put his money up on the counter as the goblin quickly explained the currency. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Gold Galleon, and twenty-nine bronze Knuts to a Sickle. Not that hard to figure out," the goblin said stiffly. "Now, away with yeh," he added, waving them off and giving Ryou's back a particularly nasty glare.

"He wasn't very nice…" Yuugi murmured once they were out of the bank.

"No, not very nice at all…" Ryou replied nonchalantly, as if it did not bother him that much.

Yuugi shifted on his feet nervously. "Well… hey! Why don't we go g—"

He cut himself off; normally he probably would not have even noticed the voices if everyone around him were not speaking English. The Arabic words stood out in the crowd of murmurings like a sore thumb, and Yuugi searched around, whipping his head about. He knew those voices…

Finally he saw them, or at least one of them, but he knew the other was close by. The tall, mostly shaved man stood out in the crowd, even though he was slightly bent over, looking at some supplies at the Apothecary…

"Rishid!" Yuugi called out, heading over to them. "Malik!"

The boy next to the tall man straightened as Yuugi came out of the crowd, turning around so he could see lavender eyes widen in surprise. Malik Ishtar had not changed much since Yuugi had last seen the Egyptian boy. He grinned broadly, dusting his hands off on his light gray vest before going over and giving the excited Japanese boy a hug.

"What are you doing here?" Yuugi asked as Ryou joined them a moment later. "I thought you went back to Egypt with your sister."

"I did," Malik replied, "but I got an invitation to a school here not all that long ago. Ishizu suggested I accept it; she said it might be a good idea. What are you doing here? I thought you would have… well, you know…"

He nodded toward the Puzzle hanging innocently around Yuugi's neck. The smaller boy rested a hand on it, explaining everything his grandfather had told him and his other self. Malik raised an eyebrow as he finished, concern evident on his face.

"But, if the pharaoh has his memories, he should rest," he protested. "Some foreigner has no right to tell him otherwise and not say why."

"I know, I understand that," Yuugi replied, shifting his feet. "But… well, 'Jii-chan trusts him, and I trust 'Jii-chan. If he says it's a good idea for the other me to still be around… then it must be for a good reason."

"I hope you're right…" Malik murmured, running a hand through his hair. "Hey, have you guys gotten your wands yet? Want to go?"

Yuugi and Ryou nodded enthusiastically, and the four of them started off, Rishid acting as the stoic bodyguard behind them. They talked idly as they went along, catching up on what they had been doing in the few months they had been apart.

"It's a relief that you guys got out of that 'Memory RPG' safely," Malik said as they arrived at the wand shop (Ollivanders, Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC). "I've never even heard of that Zork… thing. I guess knowledge of it was hidden along with everything else."

"Well, you didn't even know that Kuru Eruna existed, did you?" Ryou asked as they entered, sounding a bit terse. Malik and Yuugi looked to him, confused by his tone, but they did not have the opportunity to ask him, as the proprietor of the shop appeared behind a dusty old shelf.

The three boys crammed into the shop, Rishid standing in a sentinel position outside. The store was crammed with as many long, thin boxes as possible, and Yuugi could only surmise that they all contained wands. The owner of the shop hobbled over to them, wide pale eyes observing each of them, before his mouth cracked into a thin smile.

"Ah yes, ah yes," the old man said. "The other three foreign students. Ah yes, ah yes…"

"Excuse me…" Malik began, "other three?"

"Ah yes," the owner said, shuffling over to a desk and pulling out a tape measurer. "There was another young man. Tall. Bit of a prat."

The three of them exchanged looks; sounded like Kaiba. The old man held up the measurer, approaching them again.

"The youngest may go first," he said. Yuugi sweatdropped as Ryou and Malik stifled laughs.

"We're all the same age," Yuugi corrected, nudging the two of them as he stepped forward. "What do I have to do?"

"Hold up your wand arm, young sir."

Yuugi could only assume he meant the arm attached to his dominant hand, and held up his right arm for the man. He measured his arm, explaining about the wands and the various magical substances that were used to make them: unicorn hair, dragon heartstring, and phoenix tail feathers. The man was going on about how no two wands were the same, when Yuugi realized that he was not using the measurer anymore… it was measuring all on it's own. Blinking, he reached over and poked the measurer… and sweatdropped as it measured across the tip of his finger.

The storeowner turned, holding one of the many thin boxes. He grabbed the tape measurer, tossing it onto the desk, where it stayed completely still as a normal measurer would.

"Here you are," he said, opening up the box to reveal a wand. It just seemed like a plain stick of wood; nothing like Yuugi imagined. "Beech wood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Go on and give it a wave."

Apparently, the wand did not like him, because as soon as Yuugi waved the wand, a shelf full of wands went flying. All three boys jumped back in shock, though the owner did not seem largely surprised. He gave Yuugi another wand… and another… and another… A few minutes later, the wands had piled up, and he was yet to try a wand that worked for him. Malik and Ryou had decided to sit down on a few chairs that were tucked away in a corner, both of whom looked rather bored. The storeowner, however, was rather excited.

"Ohhh… tricky customer, eh? Tricky customer…" he murmured, hobbling over to the far back of the store. He came out a moment later with a dusty old case, opening it up to reveal a wand different from the others. It was not wooden, but made of gold, with a handle wrapped with black leather.

"Gold and dragon heartstring, nine inches," he explained. "It's an old wand, one of the last of those made by Ancient Egyptian wand makers. Since you're so picky, we may as well try the exotic wands…"

Yuugi blinked in surprise, reaching for the wand. As soon as he touched it, however… deep warmth filled his very soul. He waved the wand, and red and gold sparks shot out, flying around the busted up shop. His eyes were wide as the sparks died down, and there was a satisfied look on the owner's face.

"Does that mean he finally found one?" Malik deadpanned. Yuugi turned, just as Ryou snorted awake, rubbing his eyes and sitting up, having slumped back against the Egyptian boy.

"S'it my turn yet…?"

-.oOOo.-

After finally being able to get their wands (Malik ended up with a "Ebony and phoenix feather, eleven inches, quite springy", and Ryou was chosen by a "Mahogany and unicorn hair, seven inches, pliable"), they finished up the rest of their shopping around Diagon Alley, before going back for a meal at the Leaky Cauldron. As they went to go back up to their rooms, Ryou stopped, fidgeting slightly.

"Um… there's something back in the Alley I wanna see real fast, okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure, Bakura-kun," Yuugi replied, blinking as he went to the back of the pub. Both Rishid and Malik eyed him, the former frowning slightly.

"There doesn't seem something right about him…" Rishid murmured.

"Yeah…" Malik agreed as they headed up the stairs. "Bakura-kun was a little loopy with the tomb robber around, but now it seems like it got worse instead of better."

Yuugi shook his head. "I guess he's just nervous about being here. From how I understand it, it's his first time out of Japan."

"Yeah, probably," Malik said as they arrived at the door to the short boy's room. He peeked his head inside, sweatdropping at all the luggage. "Did you bring your whole room with you?"

Yuugi laughed. "Just the really important stuff. Like… 'ya know, my clothes… the Millennium Items…"

Both Malik and Rishid looked at him like he grew another head. "You what?"

"Take it easy…!" Yuugi hissed, wincing as he waved them into the room. "Don't worry, I've had them in a very unnoticeable bag," he continued, kneeling a bit and pulling the carry-on bag he had on the plane from under the bed. "I kept them in something small enough so I could carry them on the plane. See?"

He plopped the bag down on the bed with a clack of metal and unzipped it. There they were inside: the Millennium Rod, Eye, Scales, Tauk, Ankh…

"Where's the Ring…?" Malik asked, eyes widening.

Yuugi's eyes widened too. The two of them looked up from the bag, exchanging looks…

"Bakura!" they both exclaimed at the same time, bolting past Rishid and out of the room. They bounded down the stairs, Malik taking them two at a time, and running for Diagon Alley entrance.

"Oohhh…!" Yuugi moaned. "I should have known something was up, with the way he's been acting. What was he thinking?"

"I'm guessing he wasn't," Malik replied as they entered the Alley, looking around, trying to spot a familiar head of white hair.

They split up, looking around the Alley frantically. After a half hour of searching, however, they met back up at the plaza where the bank stood, empty-handed. Yuugi shifted from foot to foot, worried and anxious all at the same time.

"Oh, man…" he muttered, starting back toward the pub with Malik. "What are we going to do? What if Zork is still in there? What if…? What if…?"

"Yuugi-kun, don't panic," Malik said as they started up the steps back into the establishment. "What's the worse that could hap—"

"BARKEEP! KEEP THEM RARE STEAKS COMIN'!"

Both boys stopped dead in their tracks, staring a bit wide-eyed at the individual sitting in a seat before them. It looked like Ryou. It sounded a bit like Ryou, though the voice was a bit deeper and louder. It certainly was not Ryou, however, as the young man stuffed a very bloody piece of steak in his mouth, washing it down with what looked like some kind of ale.

"Oh… this is… cute…" Malik muttered… just as the Puzzle shone a bit and Yuugi suddenly grew a few inches. Atemu sighed, shaking his head as he approached the person from behind.

"Tomb robber… what are you doing…?"

The tomb robber, the thief king, the spirit of the Ring; the person otherwise known as Bakura turned slightly to look up at him, a bit of a red tinge in his cheeks from hitting the ale a little too hard.

"Wuzzit look like I'm doing, your highness-ness?" he replied, stuffing some more steak in his mouth.

Atemu glanced around, noting that none of the other patrons in the pub were sitting anywhere near Bakura.

"Driving the customers away would be my guess," he replied. The tomb robber just waved a dismissive hand.

"They'll get over it. I'm starved," he replied, finishing off the steak just as the bartender came running out with another slab. Atemu sweatdropped as it was plopped on his plate, a bit of blood splattering onto the table.

"You know, you're going to make Bakura-kun sick," he pointed out.

Bakura shook his head. "Pft, are you kidding? That runt'll just shit it all out, then stuff his face with creampuffs and bananas. Trust me, he did it all the time before." He took another swig of the ale, before turning around to face Atemu fully. "And… what exactly are you going to do about it, anyway? What, only the good little hero's that didn't have evil gods whispering in their heads get to play out in the sun?"

"So you were possessed?" the pharaoh asked, blinking.

Bakura rolled his eyes. "No, I just felt like carrying out the will of an evil god with a dragon dick. What the fuck do you think!"

"All right… take it easy…" Malik said, sidling over and slipping the ale out of Bakura's hands. The tomb robber rolled his eyes as the three of them sat down, shoving a good mouthful of steak into his mouth again, almost not bothering with the fork.

"Just what happened exactly?" the Egyptian boy continued, as the others in the pub seemed to go back to their business. At least no one was staring at the three of them any more.

"Like I said," Bakura said, before swallowing. "I was possessed. 'Prolly happened around when the village was destroyed, I dunno. I don't even remember much from around that time." He forked a thumb at Atemu. "His highness-ness isn't the only one with memory problems. Problem is, with everything that happened recently, I got the joy of remembering every single fucking thing that ass wipe of a god made me do, and no, I'm not proud of most of it."

"But, how can you even still be here?" Atemu asked. "In the Memory RPG… when you turned to dust, I assume that's when you died."

Bakura grimaced at the memory. "Oh, yeah, I remember that," he snarled, stabbing his steak with his fork. "Right at the moment of my success, right when I had you in my grasp, that stupid fucking priest of yours comes up and stabs me in the back." He sat back, glowering at Atemu. "Obviously the Memory Game wasn't a complete recollection of our past. Mr. Dragon Dick had to make it into a game; had to make it into that one last stab at your pride. When I died, it was as the last sacrifice of Kuru Eruna; stabbed in the back, my blood binding the Millennium Items together and awakening Zork."

Malik blinked slowly, trying to absorb all that information. "So… that was the whole point of the Millennium Items? To bring an evil god to this world?"

"Close enough," Bakura replied idly, taking his fork with a bit of meat clinging to it and twirling it. "They create a portal into the Shadows, where the monsters live, and where god is hidden. Obviously that wasn't a real god, just god's avatar, just like Osiris, Obelisk, and Ra are avatars of god. Ra sure as fucking hell isn't a big gold dragon."

Atemu's eyes widened in alarm. "So Zork is still alive?"

"Oh, of course, your worship," Bakura sneered, "but his power's gone, kaput, nadda, zero. Maybe if he's lucky they'll recharge in oh… fifteen thousand years or so. I don't know about you, but I plan to be dead by then."

Atemu and Malik exchanged looks, the latter finally shrugging after a moment before asking, "So what do you plan on doing now?"

"Now?" Bakura asked, grinning as he stuffed the meat in his mouth. "I plan on having a life, maybe wreak a little havoc here and there, and basically have a good time." He held up a hand as Atemu tried to protest. "And if you got a problem with that, bitch at my landlord. He was stupid enough to put the Ring on again."