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Summary: Ryou decides it is time for his yami to learn household appliances and other modern day technology. But when an accident happens, Yami Bakura, Marik, and Malik start to de-age. What could happen now?
(.........) Yami thinking
/........./ Hikari thinking
'.........' Normal thought
"........." Normal speech
(A/N:.........) Author's Note
Chapter Five
"We can't leave them with Isis again! That's just plain cruel! Plus, she has work too!" Ryou protested as he, Yugi, Yami, Joey, and Tristan tried to puzzle out what to do with the nine year old Malik, Marik, and Yami Bakura in the Kame Shop.
"Then what can we do with them?" Yugi asked, watch as the three in question sat quietly in the living room, intent on their own thoughts.
"I'll watch them." Joey volunteered. At their questioning looks, he explained. "I haven't missed a day of school yet, so I can call in sick without any questions being asked."
"Can you handle them all day, buddy?" Tristan asked, shooting a glance as Marik and Malik began arguing with each other in low whispers while Yami Bakura stared out the window without seeming to see anything.
"Yeah, sure. I help Serenity when she baby-sits. It shouldn't be too much more difficult than that." Joey said with a shrug.
"I'm not so sure........" Yugi began, but Joey waved it off.
"I'll be fine. You guys better go to school, or you'll be late. I'll call in once you leave." Joey said. The others sighed and allowed him to do what he wanted. Yami vanished into his soul room before anyone could get him to stay along with Joey.
"Alright, lets get over to my house." Joey said. Marik and Malik paused in their argument, eyeing Joey, but Yami Bakura stood up without complaint and followed.
Shrugging, the two Egyptians followed along. Yugi's grandfather, Solomon, waved them off without comment on the sight of the three youngsters.
Just walking to his house was difficult, as the three wanted to go everywhere else.
Finally, they reached Joey's house. Joey was glad his father was not home at the moment, and that Serenity was back with his mother.
Unlocking the door, he let the three go in first before he closed and locked the door again.
"Alright. We have the TV, we have anything else. Dad already broke everything breakable in here when he was drunk, so you don't have to be careful. Too careful, that is." Joey said, and went to go call the school to let them know he was 'sick' today.
Marik, Malik, and Yami Bakura began exploring the house.
They found one of the TV's, and began found the movies as well.
"Hmmmm........what do you think of this one?" Marik held up a cassette.
"'Hannibal'?" Yami Bakura said, staring at the front cover.
"No, I like this one." Malik reached out and pulled loose another movie.
"'ManHunter.'" Marik read, and smiled. The title sounded good. Yami Bakura shrugged.
They put the movie in and sat down to watch it.
Joey, meanwhile, was trying to discover where they went.
"Bakura? Malik? Where are you?" He called. Then he heard the TV in his room turn on. He peeked in and saw the three staring intensely at the movie that was on.
Shrugging, he went back to the living room, turned on his PlayStation 2, and began to play.
After a while, Yami Bakura got bored with the movie and went to see what the idiot was up too.
Joey decided he should check on the three, so paused the game and went to go make sure they weren't doing anything troublesome.
Yami Bakura walked past Joey, who glanced down at him then continued to see on Marik and Malik.
Bakura saw the game that Joey had left, and got curious. One of those weird contraptions called cars was in the process of spinning around a corner in a dark street. Two more cars with flashing lights were frozen as they chased it.
Frowning, Bakura picked up the controller. Ryou had used these before, so he searched their shared mind to access that information.
He pressed the "Start" button, and immediately the things on the screen began to move. The car that he obviously controlled spun around the corner with the other ones chasing it.
He didn't know how to steer, so he pressed random buttons. He realized that pressing the bottom button on the right side of the controller made his car move. He held it down and used the arrows on the other side to move his car across the street.
He rode up on the sidewalk, not being very good at steering, and ran over some of the people there. They splatted on the cement, and some released little objects that glowed.
He pressed other random buttons, trying to figure out how to get to the glowing things.
Then, to his surprise, the car stopped and a man got out. Now when he moved the arrows, he moved the person.
He smiled as made the man run towards the glowing things. He hit one, and a gun appeared in the man's arms.
Yami Bakura grinned quite evilly then.
- - - - - - - -
Marik and Malik were still watching the movie when Joey poked his head in.
"Hey, are you guys hungry?" Joey asked, and the two looked away for a moment. Marik shook his head and watched the movie again, while Malik nodded slightly.
"Come on, we'll get something to eat. I'm hungry too." Joey said. Malik shrugged and followed the blonde.
"Where's 'Kura?" Malik asked.
"'Kura'? That's cute. He went past me in the hall........" They turned into the living room and saw Bakura playing the PlayStation and apparently having a lot of fun. He was in a nice car in the game, and drove it up and around the sidewalks, ramming other cars and people while running from the police that chased him.
"Grand Theft Auto III?" Malik asked, more up to date on modern games than Yami Bakura was.
"Yep. Hey, Kura, you seem pretty good at that." Joey said, grinning as he used Malik's nickname.
"It's fun. And don't call me Kura." Yami Bakura answered, intense into the game.
"Okay. Are you hungry? I'm getting Malik something." Joey asked. Bakura shook his head as he abandoned the car he had on the screen.
"Alright then. We'll get a snack, so that we can eat lunch when the others are hungry, okay?" Joey said, turning to Malik, who shrugged.
"Okay. Chocolate, here we come." He said, reaching up into a cupboard and removing several packets of chocolate. Malik's eyes lit up at the sight. Isis didn't allow him a lot of chocolate.
He never understood why.
"Here ya go." Joey said, tossing the Egyptian a bar. Malik caught it and stared at it for a moment.
"Do me a favor and don't look at it like that, alright? You freak me out." Joey said, and went to the living room. He sat down on the couch and watched Bakura plays, at times helping him understand what was going on or what he needed to do.
Malik grinned and opened the chocolate with deliberate slowness. Awwwww........candy. Sugar. Sweet, sweet sugar.
He took a big bite and savored the taste. Delicious. Maybe Marik would like some. His yami wasn't allowed to eat a lot of chocolate, even less than Malik was allowed too.
He went back to Joey's room and poked his head in.
"Marik?" He called. Marik was not in there, and the TV was off.
He walked into the room.
"Marik? Where are you?" He shouted again.
"Malik?" Joey walked into the room, having heard the noise.
- - - - - - - - - -
Shadi contemplated the problem at hand.
He had to figure out how to reverse the process that was de-aging Marik, Malik, and Yami Bakura.
The Shadow Realm had triggered it, so the Shadow Realm must have the answer.
With a sigh, he went to go see about getting into the de-aged kids' heads.
- - - - - - - - -
Marik wandered the streets. He had gotten bored by the movie, and had decided to go for a walk. He probably should have told someone where he was going, or at least Malik. His light was probably worried.
Oh well.
Marik held the Millennium Rod in one hand as he walked. He had taken it before they went to Joey's and still had it when he left.
He shrugged off his small feelings of guilt and continued with his walk.
What should he do today?
- - - - - - - - -
"Malik, use your bond, you baka idiot." Yami Bakura snapped, still playing the game.
Malik had been worrying about Marik, and at Bakura's comment he stopped.
"Don't call me baka! Or an idiot." He yelled back. "But the bond is a good idea." He accessed the link, and to his relief was able to get contact with Marik.
Joey could see the blonde's eyes unfocus a bit, and could tell Malik was getting through.
He had been around Yugi and Yami and Ryou with Yami Bakura enough to know the difference.
"Aww...that's okay. He's just wandering around Domino. He got bored he. Oh, and he has the Rod." Malik said, happy again. He took a big bite of his second candy bar.
"WHAT??" Joey cried, paling. That psycho was loose in the streets with the mind controlling Millennium Rod??
He slapped a hand against his forehead.
"Oh Ra, why me?" He questioned, borrowing a phrase he had heard from Yami and Yami Bakura a time or too.
- - - - - - - - -
Shadi's eyes widened.
That was it! That was the answer!
In order to reverse the process, the three who were afflicted with the cursed magic must realize their real childhoods and the Shadow Magic, which blocked the memories, would break, allowing them to go back to normal. It was because of their poor childhood memories that they were being de-aged now.
He hurried off to find Isis, for she could get them together and they could figure out what do then.
- - - - - - - -
Seto Kaiba was in the middle of class when his cell phone rang. The class all turned to look at him, and he sent his best glare their way as he answered the call and walked out of the class room without bothering to ask the teacher.
"Kaiba. What is it?" He snapped into the phone.
The voice on the other end was afraid and nervous.
"What? You fool. I'll be there in a moment." He growled and hung up. He went back into the classroom and grabbed his stuff, closed his laptop, and left.
The teacher sighed and started her lesson again.
- - - - - - - - -
Mokuba had teacher conferences that day, so was out of school with one of Kaiba's security guards following him as he wandered about Domino.
His cell phone rang, and he normally only got calls from Seto, so he answered it without bothering to see who it was.
"'Ello?" He chirped.
"Mokuba? I'm at Kaiba Corp. There was a computer crash and we lost some stock. When you're done doing whatever you're doing, come over here." Kaiba said, and he sounded a bit mad.
"Sure thing, Seto." Mokuba said, and hung up. He looked up at his 'baby-sitter' and grinned cheerfully.
"We're going to Kaiba Corp." He said, and the guard nodded.
- - - - - - -
Marik wandered the streets, looking for something to do.
He turned to look at something and ran into someone.
"Hey, watch were you're going!" He snarled.
"Well, you ran into me." A cheerful voice said. Marik turned to see the annoying Kaiba brat standing before him.
"I know you!" Mokuba stated suddenly. "You're Malik's yami, aren't you?" He grinned.
Marik stared. The brat knew about the yamis? Well, that actually was understandable. He had been exposed to Yugi and his baka yami, as well as nearly having his body stolen by Yami Bakura. So why shouldn't he know about yamis? Though Marik didn't know that Mokuba knew Malik had a yami.
"Yep, I know you. Are you lost? Why are you little?" Mokuba asked. The two were right now about the same age and size.
"A mishap with the Shadow Magic. Myself, my light, and Ryou's yami were changed." Marik said. He kind of liked the kid.
"Malik and Ryou's yami are like this too? Wow!" Mokuba exclaimed, grinning. "Would you like to come with me to Kaiba Corp? We could hang out. You can get Malik and Bakura to come too! I normally don't get to spend time with people my age like you guys are right now!" Mokuba said. At this his guard shifted a bit.
"I'm not sure if Mr. Kaiba would appreciate that." He said.
"Nonsense. I'll talk to Seto." Mokuba sniffed, giving the guard a sample of the 'puppy eyes' that he would pull on his brother in order to bring Marik into Kaiba Corp. Nobody could resist those innocent eyes.
Marik thought it over. That would be fun, just to say he was in Kaiba Corp.
"Okay." He grinned.
- - - - - - - - -
Kaiba was beside himself with anger.
"NO! You are not bringing that PSYCHO into my building!" Kaiba said firmly to his little brother. Beside the young kid, the so said psycho was eyeing Kaiba.
Maybe he needed a little 'persuasion'. Marik fiddled slightly with the Rod in his hands.
"And don't you even THINK about it, Marik." Kaiba snarled, catching sight of the Rod.
"Aww, Seto! Please?" Mokuba resorted to the cuteness factor, and tears rimmed his eyes as he stared up at Kaiba. "I don't get to play with other kids my age very much, and Marik has been turned into a kid my age. Please? He won't do anything!" Mokuba sobbed, a tear leaking out and slowly working its way down his cheek.
"I........uh, that is........oh fine." Kaiba sighed, giving in. Mokuba looked up, no sign of a tear, and hugged his brother. "But he better not break anything and I had better call whoever was watching him."
"Joey." Marik said, replaying the whole scene in his mind with amazement. Imagine what a little tear and whining could do!
"Wheeler? The mutt was watching you?" Kaiba repeated in shock. When Marik nodded he sighed. "Then it figures that you would want to get out of that house." Kaiba muttered.
Marik shrugged, more intent on watching the people around him and anything interesting than paying attention to Kaiba.
"Go and play, Mokuba. And don't let him break or steal anything." Kaiba said, and Mokuba nodded and skipped off dragging Marik behind him.
"I don't steal, that's the Tomb Robber's job." Marik reminded Kaiba as he was dragged away.
Kaiba blanched.
"If he comes over, I'm bolting everything down that is able to be taken." Kaiba muttered to himself.
- - - - - - - - - -
Joey was frantic even though Malik and Yami Bakura weren't. Where was Marik? He could be doing anything!
The phone rang, and Yami Bakura, being nearest, didn't hesitate before grabbing the phone and answering.
"What do you want?" He spat. There was a brief silence and then Bakura held the phone out to Joey.
"It's for you." He said, and went back to his game. Malik came and took the control, wanting to give it a try.
"Hello?" Joey asked, and froze when he heard Kaiba's voice.
"Skipping school today, Mutt?" the cold CEO asked.
"NO! I'm home sick today, Kaiba!" Joey shot back.
"Funny, you don't sound very sick." Kaiba said with amusement.
"Whatever. Why are you not at school?" Joey growled, tired of the verbal battle.
"The Corporation had a computer crash and I'm stuck fixing it." Kaiba answered, almost conversationally.
"Then why are you talking to me?" Joey snapped at him.
"Because my little brother picked up something you lost."
Joey stared at the phone.
"Marik!"
- - - - - - - - - - -
Kaiba typed furiously, trying to repair the computers. He had a fun break where he had called Wheeler, but now he needed to work.
Mokuba was somewhere with Marik in the building, with security guards shadowing them. Kaiba was not about to trust Marik alone with Mokuba in his building.
Mokuba was in a room at Kaiba Corp that he had to himself whenever he was here with his brother. There were games, movies, snacks, anything he wished.
Marik was wandering around the room as Mokuba went at one of the games. He wanted to be able to say he had been at Kaiba Corp, but there was nothing interesting to do here.
Sighing, he went and lounged on a sofa that had been in set up near the TV, and flipped the TV on to see what was on.
Two more days and he would be six.
He didn't want to be six. That was too young, even for him.
"Marik?"
He looked up and saw Mokuba approaching with a bucket of something.
"Candy?" Mokuba held the bucket out.
"Sugar?" Marik asked, eyes lighting up.
"Yep!" Mokuba agreed cheerfully. Marik plunged his hand into the bucket, grabbing a handful of chocolate.
"Heheh.......my brother doesn't allow me a lot of sugar and caffeine, but I bribed the security guards." Mokuba giggled.
"Caffeine?" Marik said, sucking on a pixie stick.
"Yeah!" Seeing Marik's blank look, his eyes widened in shock. "Don't tell me you never had caffeine before!"
Marik shook his head. "Malik isn't allowed a lot of sugar and the times when he had caffeine we weren't sharing a body." He shrugged.
"Well, you're missing a lot of fun! I love bubbly drinks!" Mokuba crowed, running to the door and opening it, whispering something to the guards outside. They grinned and nodded, winking at the younger Kaiba.
It seemed that not all of the guards were completely following Kaiba's "no sugar and no caffeine" rule.
They came back with two bottles of coke, handing them to Mokuba with a grin. If they got caught, Mokuba would pull the 'puppy eyes' again, and they would get off with a warning.
It was amusing to all the security guards. Or at least most of them.
"Thank you!" Mokuba cheered, grabbing the sodas and running to give one to Marik, who had been munching on chocolate and sugary goodies.
He took an experimental drink of the bubbly drink, and suddenly grinned that maniac grin and began taking bigger drinks.
Mokuba made inroads on the candy bucket and swigs of his coke, giggling.
- - - - - - -
"What are we going to do? I don't want to go to Kaiba Corp just to get Marik back." Joey complained, and the two kids, who he had finally gotten off the PlayStation, stared at him.
"Wait until Yugi gets out of school and let HIM go get Marik." Malik said easily.
Yami Bakura shrugged and flipped a shiny quarter into the air, catching it as it fell back down. Joey didn't know where he found the money, as there was none in his house thanks to his dad, but he thought he'd rather not know.
"Yeah, that's a good idea." Joey said. "I'll wait for Yami to get here, then I'll go get Marik with him! Kaiba picks on him more than me, and with more people he won't be able to do anything other than argue." With that, Joey sat down and began playing the game he had kicked the two kids off from.
Malik grinned at the distracted blonde and went to get more chocolate.
- - - - - - - -
Yami sighed. They had gotten off school, went to see how Joey was doing, and found a VERY hyper Malik and a depressed Yami Bakura with a frantic Joey.
And they found out that Marik was with Kaiba.
It had not been a good day. They were now on their way to retrieve Marik, with Ryou trying to find out what was wrong with Bakura while Joey and Tristan and Yugi tried to control one very sugar-high Egyptian.
They reached Kaiba Corp and were passed through to the secretary, who wordlessly pointed them towards the elevators.
"Seventeenth Floor." She said absently, flipping through a clothing magazine.
The hyper Malik found a new game.
Called pushing all the buttons in the elevator.
After finally reaching the floor they needed, they exited and went to find Kaiba.
Then they heard a voice. It was Kaiba's, but it held barely controlled rage.
They turned a corner, and had to stifle giggles.
A very angry Kaiba was lecturing a shamefaced Mokuba and Marik, both of whom were positively vibrating with energy.
Beside them was a shattered computer on a battered desk, with a very frightened secretary hiding behind Kaiba.
Candy wrappers littered the floor.
"Ra." Yami whispered.
"Why me?" Ryou sighed.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Thanks to all reviewers!
Pinkpanther: Thanks a lot!
X-mas Gurl: Sorry, never have been fond of yaoi. I'll read it sometimes, but I won't write it. Glad you enjoy the story anyways!
EvilDustBunny: Aww......that is the beauty of the spell, though. Their clothes shrink with them. Lol, actually, I just didn't think about that.
Winter blaze: Heyla again! Nice to see you! Can't wait to see you at school and thanks for your review!
Lilmatchgirl007: No, I don't think after Kuru Eruna (sp?) he would ever have any childhood innocence.