I finished this fucker at 4 in the morning and just now finished editing it.
Took longer to finish than I planned because I had a HUGE debate with myself about whether or not I wanted to include the Tag-Team duel which i really didn't want to do but there were some very important parts I needed to include based on Kaiba's character: its is absolutely fantastic exploring his psyche and his views on teamwork, power, and asking for help as a result of his trauma.
It was also while writing this chapter I realized what incredible foils Marik and Jonouchi/Joey are of each other and wanted to capitalize on that because I love foils (even more than Bakura and Seto) we'll see Jonouchi's perspective on their similarities later in the story.
Now with all that out of the way I'm gonna chuck this little grenade of a chapter up and get some well deserved work done...
I cant WAIT to see the reactions for this one.
False Unity
The plan worked better than Marik could've ever Ring spirit certainly held up his end of the bargain: one look at his battered and bleeding host in Marik's arms, and Yugi's friends immediately rushed to his aid and considered his "gallant rescuer" an ally. Granted, the men who the spirit stole his duel disk from showing up was unexpected and Marik's jaw still smarted but it nonetheless played to his advantage.
And his father had dealt him much worse.
Yugi's friends trusted him. They saw him as a friend named Namu, an average duelist eager to learn from those with more experience. It was a good alias. While he'd built their trust with caring and conversation, his Rare Hunters struck. Jounouchi landed a few good punches to the Ghouls before he was captured. Anzu had been accused swiftly and with little fuss. Marik, himself, had warned them of the fiends' approach after all, and just after he had two more had grabbed him, exactly as Marik had planned⎼an innocent bystander caught in the cross hairs⎼and the last they saw of their new friend him was being tossed aside in an ally while they were dragged away.
A perfect alias and a perfect alibi, made all the more convincing when they had woken up and it was Rishad's face they saw in the darkness of the warehouse and not his. Marik only appeared behind Jounouchi still tied to a chair when Rishad had entered the room and gave an impressive performance of an intimidating mastermind behind the Ghouls, all the while the real Master stayed in the shadows outside and blameless of any guilt. All they saw was the puppet, not the strings and not the Puppeteer who wielded it. A shadow and a reflection.
Jounouchi put up quite the fight. Several of his Hunters bore bruised and even restrained; he put up quite the resistance as Rishad drew near. Even his mind rebelled.
Marik could see exactly why Yugi liked this one.
Even more so when he looked back through this one's memories.
At first, he only needed to confirm the truth of what the Ring's host showed him of the Pharaoh, but as he looked, as he searched through thoughts and memories, and certain feelings it became quite clear there was more…
He saw memories of darker days when Jounouchi was young: the child of unhappy parents who took their unhappiness out upon their children. An absentee mother and a drunken father, his only purpose was to protect his sister and then she had been taken from him. Marik could sympathize with that trauma: that pain and abandonment, that feeling of helplessness and utter betrayal, that descent into madness and all the darkness that followed. He'd almost banished the man's mind right then and there when he saw the incriminating evidence as one of Yugi's bullies⎼even if Yugi considered it teaching and saw it more as teasing than anything else. And again when he saw he was the one who retrieved the final piece of the puzzle, indirectly making him the cause of Yugi's fate as a host for a parasitic monster who took out all his anger on the word at the expense of this brave, angelic boy.
And yet within the corridors of those actions Marik saw, there was no malice in them, or even pity, but worry: worry for the naive and kind-hearted classmate whose sweet eyes and bright smile reminded Jonouchi so much of the beloved sister he had failed to protect. Worry and the desire to harden that kindness before someone else took advantage of it, hurt that naivety before someone else did. And yet, it was that very shining light that had reformed him: shown him that what he'd mistaken for naivety was kindness, and what he'd mistaken for weakness was courage and strength. Yugi, himself, was a pacifist who refused to fight or defend himself but if it were someone else in danger, he would make any sacrifice, take any risk and stand up against any foe. Everything Marik had already known about his beloved angel.
It made Marik love him even more.
Then he saw how the young man known as Jonouchi worked to atone for that less than noble behavior. How his bond with Yugi grew, how he'd risked everything to assist him in the recovery of his Grandfather and how Yugi's generosity afforded him the gift of healing his sister. All of which was only further evidence of the magnificent creature his darling Yugi was, of the true power his kindness and bravery had upon the world and all who were in it⎼and how the Pharaoh clearly took advantage of that.
Saw the confirmation that he needed that that duel upon the castle against Kaiba was a true event and not just an invitation of the Ring's spirit for leverage⎼and was all the more determined to put Kaiba in his place and rid the world of that selfish, arrogant, ruthless, blood-thirsty parasite once and for all!
And then he saw it...the one memory that Marik almost wished he hadn't for it was a further reminder of just how close he had come to losing everything before everything had even begun,
It was he whom Marik owed Yugi's life when the Black Clown Game shop went up in flames. He who stayed behind and pulled the puzzle free when Yugi refused to leave it. He who carried Yugi through the smoke and the fire and was the very reason his beloved was alive today. The scorching swelter of the heat and the suffocating smoke was all too powerful in Marik's reality as it had been in Jonouchi's memory. The fear, the doubt, the terror, the panic of the thought of losing this one and the sheer determination, the absolute refusal to let him die...It was too much. Marik has to pull himself back from the memory to breathe, but it was not the heat or the smoke that clenched his heart⎼it was the emotion and the fierce rawness of it.
And with it came the realization that shook Marik to his very core: they were the same, he and this Jonouchi. This loyal, scrappy, golden-hearted survivor from the wrong side of the tracks who would do anything for Yugi. Risk anything for Yugi. Was in this tournament because of a promise he made to Yugi. He was no different than Marik, himself, someone who fought, would fight and fight until the bitter end for his family, for those he considered friends, to protect everyone he loved⎼no matter the cost.
And with that bloomed to life another fact: one Marik didn't know what to make of or how to feel about. Marik wasn't a fool. He recognized those emotions that saturated each and every memory of his beloved Yugi's smile and bright eyes and every time the young man did something, anything no matter how simple.
Love .
This boy, whether he realized it or not...This boy was in love with Yugi.
His Yugi.
Did Yugi love Jonoiuchi? His scrappy best friend who'd come so far and grown so much all for him? Because of him ? Was it a pure love like the kind Marik himself felt? Or was it something more platonic? Perhaps stronger than a bond of siblings but not necessarily romantic?
His mind was a jumbled mess and he didn't know how to make sense of any of it. Not even Anzu's mind had awakened such confusion in him when he'd scanned her mind and found only sweet, platonic memories of Yugi and learned it was she whom he had confined Kazaama's letters and gifts to and she who encouraged him to pursue his feelings. Marik already vowed whatever happened, after this she would be unharmed for that reason.
But what did that mean...what did it mean for what he planned to do, now?
Relax! Snapped the Rod, Marik only just now realized he'd been clutching so tightly his fingers ached. You're not going to harm his friends, merely show Yugi that the Pharaoh will if it means victory. It is a good plan. Do not jeopardize it now just because you learned your precious has loyal friends. You knew that already.
Marik glared at the item, the scolding eye glowing with judgemental disdain, but he welcomed the advice for it was right. It was the false Pharaoh who was the target. Yugi's friends were merely the bait and nothing more. Perhaps, doing such left a bad taste in Marik's mouth but it was a necessity. This act of tough love was the only way to sever the bond between the parasite and Yugi. And perhaps that of the parasite and his friends as well⎼it was clear from their memories they trusted Yugi and in so doing, trusted this false monster who called himself King: they did not know any better. What better tools did he need to master his manipulation of being an ally?
It would hurt, Marik knew. It would hurt his beloved more than he wanted to admit, but it had to be done and once it was, he would tell Yugi the truth. Tell him everything. About himself, about his past, about who the false king was and what he did... why Marik had no choice but to do what he did. He would assure Yugi none of this was his fault, that he had been manipulated by a monster and it would be alright. He had no doubt Yugi would be angry with him and Marik was prepared for that too, but he would wait, he would bide his time and he would earn his beloved's trust. And perhaps together, they would take down the monstrous parasite and send him back to the darkness where he belonged and finally free Marik's family from their terrible curse. He would inherit the power of the Pharaohs, and rightfully so, and he would share it with his beloved and perhaps in time...he could convince Yugi to rule beside him: never beneath him, never sidelined, but next to him as a true Queen for a good King was only as strong as the love and loyalty of his Queen.
The image was powerful in his mind.
Yes, and all you have to do is trust me. The Rod purred once again and Marik expelled a sigh and with it all his doubts and hesitations vanished.
He smiled at his two new dolls: Jonouchi and Anzu stood still and silent as marionettes, their eyes vacant and empty, awaiting his orders.
"Come, my dolls," he commanded. "We have much to prepare for."
X X X
They won the duel together, Seto was bitter to admit.
Even though it was his God Obelisk who delivered the killing blow. His combo that allowed him to summon said card, his power alone that had crushed these two worthless Ghouls who dared had the audacity to consider themselves a challenge to "Yugi'', let alone, himself, his pride, the very same pride that had refused the other's help and made him arrogant enough to believe he could take them both down with none of "Yugi's" assistance: refused to let him. His pride, once bright and beaming and all-powerful, now softened and humbled, knew and remembered only too well how many times these two Ghoul's flawless strategies, perfect combos and absolute faith in the other's cards: the perfect combination like two pieces of a well oiled machine, had nearly bulldozed through all his power and plays and nearly destroyed him. Every strategy he'd imagined on his own, they had a counter. Every time he'd thought to use Yugi as a shield or a weapon, it had been turned against him and he was the one who paid the price. and each and every time, one of those strategies would've resulted in his end, and he saw no way out of it: there was the Other Yugi. Prepped and prepared with a shield of Kuribohs, a discarded monster effect, or a well-placed spell card he could've used to save himself and instead used to save Kaiba.
The Other Yugi, who seemed to be able to read his mind and boasted the Power of Unity with the same shameless faith and passionate certainty as he spoke of the Heart of the Cards...even after Kaiba had told him flat out the "key" to winning a tag-team duel was how well you use your partner. He had never hidden the fact he was using the Other Yugi during the duel. Never hid the fact that he did not want the other's help and never once thanked him those times the Other Yugi had stepped in, though the words had been ready at his own lips whenever Kaiba decided he was more useful still in the game than out of it⎼and he'd be damned if one of these fools sent the Other Yugi plummeting to his death.
The Power of Unity...the Other Yugi had called it. Power. His one true faith. The only thing he could truly rely on. All his life he had been powerless. Powerless against the death that robbed him and Mokuba of their parents and their childhood. Powerless against the relatives who passed them around like hand me down shirts and carted them off to an orphanage when their inheritance ran dry. Powerless to stop them from stealing all he and Mokuba still had. Powerless against the monster who had adopted them. That decision to duel Gozoboro was the first independent thing Seto had ever done and that single leap of faith had landed him in Hell and into the torturous hands of the Devil, himself.
But Seto has been strong. He'd had his mind and his will...and he'd had Mokuba (and the shame of having almost let the Devil take him away too, by Seto's own hand still made him cringe in utter disgust). But he had stolen the Devil's power and in so doing had reclaimed his own and he had taken steps to make sure he and Mokuba would never be powerless again. And he'd done it alone.
After all, what was power but the one thing you can truly rely on? Whether it was a duel, business or life, everyone else was an enemy and your own power, your own strength was the weapon you used to crush your foes and protect yourself. Because in this world, in the real world you could only count on yourself.
That had been Seto's mantra since he was twelve years old. It was his creed. His covenant. And it made him strong. Kept he and Mokuba safe and protected them from everyone and anyone who thought to hurt them for never again would Seto Kaiba ever allow himself to be powerless. To feel powerless.
And yet…
And yet...
He hadn't won…He had one with Yugi's help.
And it had left him bitter. True, he'd spoken of using the Other Yugi during the duel but there had been more to it than simply that. He was the other's rival. He was the only one worthy of him. He had wanted nothing more than to show that, prove that to him by winning this duel. Alone .
He'd failed.
Asking for help was not something Kaiba did often. It was not something he did at all. Experience and life had taught him long ago that asking for help was a sign of weakness. that needing help meant you were not strong enough to survive on your own. That anyone who helped you now had access to your weaknesses and could use them against you. And they would use them against you.
He had not wanted the Other Yugi's help. He had wanted to prove to him that He , Seto Kaiba, was above such things.
He had failed that, too.
He had even sacrificed his beloved Blue Eyes to protect Yugi and demanded Valkyrion avenge them both for only blood would make up for the sacrifice. To appease his beloved Dragon's wrath. But it had been his own wrath.
The Other Yugi has seen through that, too. Refused to attack unless he let go of that burning vengeance—a cloud upon his judgment that exposed his weaknesses. In the heat of that moment, Seto had not believed him: Anger was battle. That had been his mantra too. The source of his power. But that very anger had almost blinded him to "Yugi's" real trump card. His real strategy. The strategy that had allowed him to summon Obelisk.
And now here he was, standing on top of a skyscraper overlooking the entire dominance of Domino City and the Tokyo beyond like a celestial King surveying his kingdom from a palace in the sky with a literal God at his beck and call and staring down the worthless, sniveling fool of a Ghoul like an all-powerful deity about to declare judgment upon a sinner with the Other Yugi, his only worthy rival and partner at his side, a step beneath him.
And he felt neither glory nor victory. Only failure. As the duel ended, smoky curls of disintegrating blue mocked and surrounded him as Obelisk faded into nothing: a God destroyed and obliterated in a perfect reflection of a once proud and mighty King whose kingdom was now reduced to ash and nothing, for everyone knew a king with no crown, no kingdom and no power was nothing.
And yet there was the Other Yugi, storming up to the fallen Ghoul with all the regal swagger and noble pride of a King, unvanquished. The sunlight shimmered off the fiery blackness and golden forelock of his hair like a medieval crown, the jacket he wore off his shoulders like a cape, blew in the wind with all the power of a royal mantle. A King who needed no crown, no kingdom and no army to prove he was worthy of such a title.
It was a power Seto, himself, could only dream of wielding.
But when he whirled around to face him, all that glorious power was gone from his face. Instead the Other Yugi's features were pulled tight with a ferocious panic and when he spoke his determination was laced with worry "Kaiba! Tell me where Jounouchi is!"
It was a demand. Like a King commanding his subjects but one who was choosing emotion over his rationality. The very thing he'd scolded Seto himself for not moments ago. Even after all that...it was still Jonouchi's name on his lips. Jonouchi, who was his priority. Jonouchi , the "friend" who distracted him from his true purpose, his true destiny…
Did he even notice the fallen Ghoul's puzzle cards? Had he even bothered to take them from these last two victories, so blinded by worthless worry and useless loyalty that he'd forgotten the very purpose of his being in this tournament: of that promised destiny? Of that long awaited battle, that rematch against him .
"Both those Ghouls had puzzle cards," he reminded the other, the casual tone laced with bitterness as he went to retrieve what the Other Yugi had so carelessly forgotten. "Both of us now have six," he explained ignoring the Other Yugi's question completely and made to place all six of his on the Duel Disks Kaiba had specifically designed for this purpose. "Therefore we've both earned the right to play in the final round. As tournament host, I wish you luck. Only those with six can find the location of the finals. Now let's see that place right now…"
"Kaiba! I don't care where the finals are not now! I have to save my friends from the Ghouls" the Other Yugi snapped the tone and expression and mixture of indignant anger laced with annoyance and fear, unusual for one Kaiba was so used to seeing all blazing confidence and passionate calm. No, this time his fire was of something else entirely, something that was useless to the situation and would do nothing to aid him in the tide of battle.
It made Kaiba furious.
"Your friends…" Kaiba scoffed under his breath. "You're too dependent on your friends." He muttered low and if the other heard him, he said nothing but the low growl of frustration made Kaiba smile. "Yugi, I admit it, it was because of teamwork that we won that tag-team battle." And there it was, his swallowed pride, his earnest acknowledgment and the closest the other would ever get to an apology. " But in a real battle, you can only trust people just get in the way." Like your friends. Like Jonouchi . Kaiba was wise enough to keep that part of his opinion to himself. He needed the Other Yugi to listen after all, not blind himself with protective feelings spurred by insults, however true. "That is my philosophy as a duelist. I walk alone ...that is my way of life."
And if you can embrace that ...he allowed a smile to tug at his lips. Then you will truly be worthy of me .
"But Kaiba." The name was a protest, the defence ready on the other's lips. "You should know that you have to fight to protect what's important to you."
Kaiba said nothing. The Other was right after all.
Instead, he focused on the hologram exploding to life from his duel disk, watched as a miniature replica of Domino City rose from nothing in a kaleidoscope of sparks and shapes: a perfect replica, as if the city itself has been reduced to a miniscale fraction of its size and in some far off random corner, a beam of light shot skyward like an ascension to heaven. "Look!" he commanded, an amused laugh after the glory of his own work. "That is the stage of the finals! Now I know where it is."
"Kaiba!" A frustrated growl of his name that brokered no room for distractions or amusement. "I don't have time for this!"
Kaiba rolled his eyes. Too damn dependent. "You fight to protect what's important to you…" he parroted the other's own passionate declaration back at him with all the mocking gestures of the bird. "Then let me ask you this." He spun around, his cold blue eyes meeting those deep, dark garnets, like molten pools of fire and fury. "If the friends you protect turn against you...if the only way you can move forward is by beating them...with life and death stakes …" he paused, letting the infiniteness of those words weigh as heavy as their promise. "Could you trample your friends...on the way to your destiny?"
Shock transformed the other's face: those dark eyes bulged bright with bewilderment and a terrible realization formed an o of his mouth. Gone was all the fierce loyalty and protective determination of mere moments ago. Now his face looked lost, his eyes shadowed, not vacant but pondering, and the labyrinthe of his thoughts reflected in the curve of those sharp cheeks, the crack of his neutral lips, the worry etching at his brow.
When he spoke next there was a sadness to his words that deflated his entire body. "I don't know...but!" Even in defeat there was an indominance to his stance, a fierceness in those blazing eyes that refused to surrender. "I know where I'll find the answer!
In spite of everything, Seto Kaiba smiled. Now this , I'd like to see.
He couldn't even be angry when the Other Yugi's face lit up at Mokuba's arrival in KaibaCorp's private helicopter with news of Jonouchi's exact location.
X X X
Rishad returned just as Master Marik's remaining Ghouls were upgrading Jonouchi's deck and Marik was busy interrogating his Dolls.
"His favorite food is hamburgers. He loves visiting aquariums and amusement parks, especially water parks. His favorite flowers are dandelions and sunflowers. He loves all kinds of games but his favorite are RPG games and video games. His favorite holiday is Christmas. He has a stuffed Kuriboh, Dark Magician and Feral Imp plushie on his bed. His blood type is AB+. His birthday is June 4th. His western sign is Gemini."
Marik wrote down everything they said with furious determination, as if each was a precious sacred text and the way his eyes were glittering and his squiggly smile was curling it might as well have been. Rishad could practically see the pink hearts exploding from his younger brother.
This was good, he thought. He didn't fully understand Marik's obsession with the Pharaoh's host, but it was clear these...romantic feelings were genuine. And a good deflector for that other personality, whose Rishad's very existence was to keep buried.
He bowed as he handed Marik the locator cards: six for Marik and six for himself. Marik's eyes glittered, and the Rod's eye glowed at his hips in a way that disturbed the man. He spied past his Master, spied the stage set for the sole purpose of destroying the Pharaoh.
It made him shudder.
"Master Marik...if it is your command, I will challenge Yugi as soon as he appears…" Perhaps he could stall this.
Marik only laughed. "You want to take away all my fun? Rishad, I haven't forgotten my instincts as a duelist." He barked orders to his men. Ordering the Dolls into position, Yugi's friends took their places obediently: their vacant eyes bothered Rishad in a way none of Marik's other puppets had. He followed Marik to the location of the finals and waited until they were alone to speak.
"Master Marik," Rishad dared. He had never feared the boy before and he did not now. He only feared failing him. "Do you truly believe this is the best way...to win the boy's heart?" he knew better than to speak of the King. "Will you truly force the Pharaoh to Kill your beloved's best friend? Or worse risk, Jonouchi harming Yugi to get your Slifer card back?"
Then Rishad saw it, the break in Marik's facade of confidence. "I have to Rishad. I saw it in both their memories: that parasite of a spirit is nothing but a selfish, arrogant fool who will do anything to win at the price of my beloved's own will. This is the only way I can show Yugi that."
But how far would he go to prove that? That was the question that weighed heaviest on Rishad's mind.
X X X
The Spirit of the Millenium Rod laughed maniacally, as it watched its twisted evil plans fall into place through the Rod's eyes. "This could not have gone more perfectly if I'd planned it!" It boasted, arrogant as a mad King bathing in the blood of its enemies.
The creature spun around and smirked a cruel, cheshire cat smirk, "Oh wait," it sang the words, the syllables sick and musical with derision. "I did!"
It wore the face of the boy he'd come to adore: the mocha skin of his Egyptian ancestry, the platinum blond hair of his bastard sire, and the bright lavender eyes of his beloved Layla. Veins bulge and twist under its skin like wiggling parasitic worms. Its hair did not fall down in a lion's mane the way Marik's did, but spiked outrageously like an explosion of lightning, and those eyes were frosty and cold: like two pieces of pale purple ice. Corded muscles bulged and writhed like snakes and those long fingers and hard, heavy hands promised pain.
"Now the question is will it be sweet little Yugi and the Pharaoh, or Jonouchi who will survive the Duel of Death and advance to the finals?" Victorious laughter exploded from the beast's all too wide mouth.
He knew all too well what this creature was capable of. What this monster had done in life and how it had clung so desperately to life it was willing to make a deal with the shadows and a monster that could only be compared to the Devil.
He watched it dance and spin and relish in its premature victory. The room of the Rod bounced and echoed with its triumphant, diabolical laughter even as shadows curled menacingly around them both.
"You haven't won yet." He said, removing the black wig from his head and placing it in his lap, allowing his own white-blond hair to fall, though he kept it cropped. His dark violet eyes narrowed fearlessly and the sharp curves of his cheekbones curled into a confident smile. "You need his anger and his hate to survive. You feed on it like the disgusting parasite you are. but you're wrong about him. His love for the King's Chosen is stronger than the hatred you've poisoned his heart with."
The monster roared with laughter: a vicious, sickening sound, grating in its confidence and mocking in its scorn., "His love?" It spat it like a joke. "Why do you think I insisted on this little game? Why have him use his beloved's best friends as a hostage and an opponent? Do you think even the Pharaoh's chosen could forgive him for that?"
Menacing cackles echoed and roared, but he did not flinch under the creature's cruelty. "I will make his precious brat hate him. I will break him!" Its smirk twisted and untwisted into a monstrous corruption of a smile. It licked its lips with reptilian delight, its teeth sharp and wolfish. "I will break him until all he thinks and feels is anger and hate and once his will is crushed, I will take this body and send your precious descendent's child into the depths of the darkness where he can rot in his own terror! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The high pitched shriek ir expelled was vicious and victorious and belonged to a moralless monster, a psychotic, empathyless embodiment of suffering and pain and care for nothing but how to cause both. "They will fail. They will all fail. My stupid vessel will die. Your precious Chosen will die. That stupid theif will be His ." The snicker that transformed his face was pleasure made him sick. "And the Pharaoh…"Its voice turned wistful with lust. "Oh, the Pharoah...will be mine !"
Victory and lust distorted the creature's face. "Face it, fool. I've already won!"
"No," he said calmly. "Have you forgotten? There's still the fifth player?"
This time when the creature laughed it was a bark of humorous scorn. "Has all this time in the darkness made you daft? That one?" The creature snorted and spat. "You put far too much faith in your former apprentice...or is it his reincarnation?" The creature swooped around him, its stance haughty and homicidal all at once. "It does not matter, he's already failed his test. Twice . And by sacrificing her no less in favor of the power he so lusts for. I wouldn't be surprised if the pretty thing's forsaken him. I certainly would have...Obelisk will devour his soul by the next dawn. Trust me " It paused, deliberate and harsh and sank all its derision into its snicker. "He has too much of his father in him."
"This test is not finished," he said unflinchingly, his smile neutral and confident. Fondly, he recalled his apprentice: sweet memories of the blue-eyed peasant boy with so much promise, whose skills and temperament, he, himself had misjudged, whose obsession with power and strength had led him to make mistakes. Terrible mistakes. But never once had he lost his loyalty. And he had watched that arrogant young man grow and learn compassion and devotion, loyalty and love thanks to the King he adored, and the woman who taught his heart to soften and rewarded him with the beautiful blue God whose heart would only ever be his. He knew she would never forsake him⎼no matter how many times he wounded her. Yes, he had failed twice. Yes, he was repeating the same mistakes, but there was still one last test to pass before the Millennium Battle reached its catalyst.
She would never forsake his apprentice. And neither would he.
Steeling himself, he met the creature straight in its monstrous face, stared into its disturbing eyes and with no doubt or hesitation, he condemned "You. Will. Fail."
The beast snorted. "And you are blinded by your faith. Oh, don't think I've forgotten about him . When this is over, I'll take the lovely flesh of his and make it my new vessel. Then I'll be free of you and this prison for good! How does that sound...Karim."
