Feignshipping (Pegasus J. Crawford/Otogi Ryuji/Yami no Marik)

. . .

Cold. It's too cold.

For a moment, Pegasus felt as though he were in the entirely wrong place. He felt, under the circumstances, that he should be down in a stuffy, too-warm catacomb, trying to breathe slowly so as not to choke on the heavy pillars of dust that filled the space. But the air around him was cold, he could see his own breath rising up against the air and staining the space between his eyes and him.

Heshouldn't be here. This didn't make any sense. It was the heavy ice and snow of Chicago, not the arid sands of Egypt. Under the circumstances, a thing like him didn't seem like it should be able to exist here.

But there he was, and there was the knife that he was pressing casually just above Otogi's kidney, his flat eyes staring at Pegasus with a grin.

Otogi stared straight ahead, as though trying to pretend that he wasn't nervous at this uncomfortable position, the man's hand locked tightly around his elbow and the knife digging into his skin, just ready to plunge into him. It was cold, and the blade was hidden from the people passing on the sidewalks by Otogi's heavy coat. Just another reason that this man looked out of place—he was clad in only a tank top and heavy cargo pants, his hair strangely slicked back, as though in an attempt to blend in a little more.

Pegasus swallowed.

"How did you get here?" he asked.

This was not how this day was supposed to go. Otogi had followed Pegasus out to Chicago for the unveiling of a new exhibition of ancient games that both Black Crown and Industrial Illusions were jointly funding. Pegasus had planned on showing Otogi one of his favorite cafes so they could talk shop about Otogi's new game and what kind of tie-ins they would be doing with the exhibition, what kind of licensing they'd work out between their companies, that sort of thing.

Pegasus hadn't expected to run into a ghost from years past, and he certainly hadn't expected him to take Otogi hostage.

The man's grin twisted upwards a little wider and he tightened his grip on Otogi, making the young man suck in a breath.

"Your little game exhibition," he hissed. "It had a few pieces from the Tombkeepers' catacombs...a remnant of me remained on some of them."

A more complicated set of magic than Pegasus would think the shadow of Marik was capable of—in the end, this creature could simply be a memory, an imprint, and thus not a danger at all...but Pegasus didn't want to risk Otogi's safety. He pressed his lips together, and tucked his hands into his pockets, trying to look casual. No one was looking at any of their strange group, thankfully. He didn't want to attract any attention. Perhaps this shadow of Marik was invisible to the others? He couldn't quite tell from the way that eyes flickered briefly over their group without registering any of them.

"What do you want?" Pegasus said.

The shadow's tongue flicked briefly over his lips, like a lizard.

"I can't stay physical for very long, and not for far from the museum," he said. "I want you to start putting together the spells that will keep me here. I know you know them. You've read parts of the Millennium Spellbook."

Pegasus winced as Otogi glanced curiously at him. It was...true. Pegasus had read those spells, and he thought he remembered them. He certainly didn't have the things he needed for it though.

"We'd have to return to the museum," he said slowly. "For the items there that I could use."

The shadow nodded.

"I had assumed. Your little protege can lead the way."

Pegasus tensed.

"Leave him, Marik, he has nothing to do with this."

The shadow laughed.

"As soon as I release him, you'll break the deal. He's coming along."

Pegasus tightened his jaw. There had to be something he could do...he had to get Otogi out of here, the young man didn't deserve to get caught up in Pegasus' meddlings with ancient magic—

And then suddenly Marik's shadow froze, his smile sloughing off his face. His hand released his knife with a clatter to the ground and his eyes bulged as he staggered back from Otogi. Otogi immediately moved away and to the side, putting distance between himself and the shadow.

Marik's shadow's eyes bulged and he clawed at his face, which was suddenly becoming—smoky? It was as though he were starting to blow away in the cold wind, like he was made out of air and dust. He opened his mouth one more time, as though to scream or swear, and then he was gone.

"What..." Pegasus started. "How—"

Otogi simply leaned down to the ground, and picked up...a small die?

He pinched it between two fingers, and Pegasus suddenly recognized it as one of the dice from the exhibition. Had Otogi...somehow used that?

"I guess I rolled higher than his hit points," Otogi said almost matter-of-factly. "We should probably find out which other pieces in the exhibit are possessed."

. . .

A/N: Well that was fucking weird. Next is Feathershipping (Yami no Yugi x Yugi x Jonouchi).