Original Yu-Gi-Oh Series
Parallel
Chapter 041
Originally Written: Sunday, April 17, 2022 608PM to 906PM
. . . . .
Mai did not win the duel. It was a truly unexpected loss. She molded her deck entirely around keeping Marik's God Card in her hand. It took a while and cost a significant amount of Marik's life points for him to get it back, but once he did, all hell broke loose in the most unpleasant of ways.
Odion stood next to Joey, watching the medical staff treat Mai. There was nothing they could do to wake her up, but they could make sure she was comfortable. Marik trapped her soul in the Shadow Realm, and left her to the darkness there. That darkness would devour the rest of her memories. As long as she was there, she would believe she never ever had a single friend in her entire life.
"You will have to goad Marik into a shadow duel, with Mai's freedom as the stakes." Odion told Joey.
Medical staff also bandaged up Joey's hands, arms, and upper back all of which got singed by Ra. Tea had rushed off to find Yugi, who had run off after the duel. He had blocked most of Ra's flames from Joey and Mai with his own body.
Joey snarled, and shrugged the medical staff off of him. "I'll get it done." He swore he'd never hear Mai or Yugi scream like that ever again.
Serenity hugged Joey tightly, torn between telling him to drop out of the tournament and telling him to tear Marik a new one. Odion almost believed that Joey would win. Almost.
Meanwhile, Duke and Tristan had walked off, dragged by a heavily distraught Mokuba. Mokuba missed Mai's duel, because Roland wanted to speak to him. Roland told him about Amane's attempt to take over Kaiba Corporation and Duel Academics. Both men led him to their guest suite, so he could rest. Marik would certainly try to take advantage if he saw Mokuba so distraught.
"I knew she would try! I knew it!" Mokuba curled up on Duke's bed, crying crocodile tears. "She's a witch! A monster!"
Tristan lied on the floor, staring at the ceiling. "This is fucking ridiculous."
Duke sighed, running his hands through his hair. "It explains why we haven't seen Seto."
"Noah was kind before he met her. He really was." Mokuba looked at him, torn and broken. "He didn't deserve any of this."
"I know." Duke rested a hand on Mokuba's shoulder. "I know."
Lastly, Bakura traveled with a bag of medical supplies. He had a destination in mind. He just had to get there. Unfortunately, an unwanted guest kept following him.
"Listen, pawn. I'm only going to say this once. Do you want to get thrown off this blimp, because this is how you get me to do it for you. Bugger. Off." He scowled.
Marik laughed and circled around him. "You? Throw us? Not a chance. You're like him, but nowhere near as strong."
Bakura rolled his eyes, "Truthfully, I don't really have a problem with you, but if you make me have a problem with you, you will regret it, I guarantee it." He jabbed a finger into Marik's chest. Usually Marik wore a purple shirt, but after his duel with Mai , he switched to black. Bakura didn't care; he just wanted the shirt and the man attached to leave him be. "I'll throw you off, and watch with glee. You don't have nearly as much control over that item as you think you do. Certainly not enough to save yourself before the wind makes you pass out during the fall. And Amane isn't going to catch you. She'll take the millennium rod you'll inevitably lose your grip on as you fall, and we'll both watch you go splat."
After dealing with Amane for so many years, Marik seemed to move in slow motion to Bakura. Marik unsheathed the knife of the Millennium Rod. Bakura rolled his eyes, held up his hands and threw Marik back in the wall with a burst of shadow magic. He could have used a kick just as easily, but Marik seemed to only speak in shadow magic.
Marik grunted as he hit the wall. He broke out into deranged laughs. He licked the millennium rod's blade. "He was right. The ring is in the wrong hands."
"Beat it." Bakura frowned even deeper.
Marik looked at him, as though examining him. Then he walked past him, going back the way he came. He burst into another bout of deranged laughter.
Bakura sighed, and shook out his hands. He continued to his destination. He knocked on the door. "C'mon champion. I know you're in there. Open up." He waited, as he heard Tea's muffled voice behind the closed door.
Eventually Tea opened the door. "Bakura? What are you doing here?"
Bakura's gaze immediately went to Pharaoh, who remained in control of Yugi's body. He was curled up on his bed in the tiniest shaking ball. "You said you were fine, but I know better. I can see the blood soaking through your black shirt." He held up his bag of medical supplies. "So I asked the doctors to give me some spare supplies."
Tea clasped her hands together. "Oh, you're a lifesaver! He's in so much pain, but won't say it. He didn't want Marik to see him like this either, so he didn't want to go to the medical bay." She pulled him into the room. "It's like the flames were real."
"They were. This is the danger of shadow magic. The magic of a hell-like place: The Shadow Realm. Dealing with it is not easy, and never will be. You can let it knock you down and kill you, Pharaoh, or you can keep moving forward."
"I won't...fall...B-Better me, than someone else." Pharaoh murmured, as Bakura slowly coaxed him to roll onto his stomach.
Tea frowned in concern.
"That's the spirit." Still, Bakura couldn't help but cringe and wince in sympathy at the burns and reddened flesh of Yugi's back. He wasn't sure he had enough bandages.