DISCLAIMER: If you recognise it from somewhere else, it isn't mine.

Mime Control Part I

'Who's the man?' Joey crowed. 'Thanks to Weevil, I'm only two locator cards away from the Finals!'

Sharee grinned to herself and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Every time Joey won a big duel, he felt the need to brag. Sharee supposed it showed how green he really still was. With any luck, it'd taper off as he got older.

'That was some seriously impressive duelling back there, Joey,' Tristan said. 'You sent that cheater running out of Battle City like a roach from a spray can.'

'Thanks, Tristan.' Joey turned to him as they walked. 'I guess I was the star of the show today, wasn't I? The crowd dug me, I crushed Weevil. What a duel, huh?' He looked down at the card in his hand. 'Plus, I got that termite's rarest card: the Insect Queen!'

'And you totally deserve it, Joey,' Téa told him. 'Think about it. So far, you've outsmarted two top duellists and both of them turned out to be major cheaters.'

They all stopped. Joey's eyes widened. 'Yeah, why do I attract these freaks?'

Grandpa Moto laughed. 'It's good practice, Joey. Duelling Espa Roba and Weevil prepared you for anything. You're on your way to becoming an experienced duellists.'

Joey smiled and rubbed the back of his head. 'Yeah, you're right. Eat your heart out, Yugi!' He started laughing.

Sharee rolled her eyes. 'Well, speaking of Yugi, I think I better go find him and tell him about this.' She turned and ran off before anyone could decide to follow. It wasn't that she didn't want to be around them. It was more that her pace had to be adjusted when she ran with them. Usually, she didn't mind that but now she felt that she needed to move as fast as she could.

YGO

'Marik keeps talking about wanting the power of the Pharaoh.' Yugi was standing under the bridge, looking down at the water as he thought this through. 'But you are the Pharaoh.' The spirit next to him was not casting a reflection like Yugi was. 'If you really had all this power inside you, don't you think that we would know about it?' He looked up at him. 'I guess you must if you saved the world. But what happened?'

The Pharaoh was looking down at the water. He lifted his eyes to look at Yugi. It's all still unclear.

'Well, we know that Marik's family's been protecting your tomb for years.' Yugi tried to hash out what they already did know. 'And for some reason he got this crazy idea that he deserved to be the Pharaoh instead of you.' Yugi looked forward, his determination surging. 'And I'm gonna do everything I can to help make sure that Marik doesn't get away with it.' He took the Puzzle in his hands and looked at it. 'As long as he doesn't defeat us in a duel, he can't take the Millennium Puzzle, or your hidden powers. Destiny brought this Puzzle to me. And, even though I didn't know it when I first put it together, I was meant to have it and now you and I are bonded forever and, no matter what, I'm going to help you save the world just like you did in the past.' He turned and looked the Pharaoh in the eye. 'You may have done it alone five thousand years ago, but now you've got me by your side. And, not only that, but we've also got our friends behind us. And with this kind of support you'll never lose.'

The Pharaoh smiled. Thank you, Yugi. Your friendship means a great deal to me.

Yugi clenched his fists. 'Together, we're gonna find out about your past and put a stop to Marik's plan.' He hesitated. 'I just hope that I'm strong enough to hold my own, like Sharee does.'

You've already proven your strength, Yugi, the Pharaoh said. And you shouldn't try to compare yourself to Sharee. She's merely had more of an opportunity to experience life. Your courage and determination are as great as I've ever seen. He smiled. I've said it before. You have the heart of a true hero.

Yugi nodded. Suddenly, though, the Pharaoh turned. He looked around. Yugi noticed there was a tenseness about him now.

I sense a darkness approaching. The Pharaoh vanished from Yugi's sight.

Yugi looked around, searching for this adversary. 'I don't see anyone. Show yourself!' A call of his name behind him made Yugi turn. A figure was jumping over the edge of the bridge and slid down so he was standing opposite him. It was a mime-artist with many facial piercings. He skidded to a stop just opposite Yugi.

A dark chuckle in a familiar voice came from the mime, mixing with the man's own voice. 'Prepare to duel…and lose your Puzzle!'

'Marik!'

'Yes,' Marik said. 'And, soon, you and the entire world will be calling me "Pharaoh"!' He laughed maniacally. 'Meet my mind-slave: Strings, the Quiet One. And, thanks to the power of my Millennium Rod, he shall defeat you.'

Another brainwash victim. 'Coward!'

'We'll meet soon enough, Yugi,' Marik assured him. 'Until then, why should I waste my time when I can duel you through my mind-puppets? Battling with the power of my Millennium Rod is no different than you using your Puzzle to duel.'

Yugi knew the difference, and he knew that was a goad. He didn't give into it. After all, the Pharaoh still gave him his free will. That was what Marik never did with any of his victims. Marik just wanted to put him at odds with the Pharaoh. That wasn't going to happen. Yugi relinquished control.

YGO

The Pharaoh glared at Marik through his mind-slave. 'That's not true.' He pointed accusingly. 'You force your servants to do your dirty work by taking control of their minds against their will.' He clenched his fist. 'I duel with respect and honour.'

'And I will do what is necessary to claim that Puzzle.'

'To do that, you'll have to defeat me, Marik, and break the Heart of the Cards.' The Pharaoh narrowed his eyes. 'And I can assure you that won't happen.'

Marik attempted to goad him again. 'You call yourself a Pharaoh? You don't even know how to use your power. So destiny has chosen me to take the power of the Pharaoh away from you – and then destroy you.'

'That ancient power is not yours to take, Marik,' the Pharaoh said.

You tell him! Yugi spoke up from his mind. No way is he getting his hands on your power!

I just did.

Okay.

Kids. The Pharaoh turned back to his opponent. 'Marik! Make your move.'

YGO

'Aha!' Sharee slowed and came to a stop as she spotted the structure that led down to the riverbank. Down there, she saw the Pharaoh was in control of the body. He was facing off against one of Marik's mind-slaves. The eye on the guy's forehead was a dead giveaway.

Across the city, Sharee could feel through Shamee, "Bakura" was heading into the Domino Museum. It looked like his Millennium Ring was honing in on Ishizu's Millennium Necklace. But Sharee wasn't worried about that. Ishizu had far more control over her item than that Evil Spirit would be expecting…if he even saw her. No, what had Sharee's interest was the duel beginning below her.

Sharee relinquished control to Shamee.

YGO

'Your plan will never work, Marik,' the Pharaoh said.

'I'm afraid it already has. I've drawn you into a duel you can't possibly win. It's all over for you, Pharaoh.'

The Pharaoh's eyes narrowed. 'All right, Marik.' He pulled out his duelling deck and put it into place. 'No more talk!' He was aware, of course, of Shamee standing at the top of the structure leading down here. He also knew, unlike Sharee, she would remain silent through this unless directly asked a question. The two of them duelling activated their duel disks and the projectors flew into place.

'Prepare to be destroyed by the force of my Egyptian God card!' Marik crowed.

'I've heard enough!' the Pharaoh snapped.

The next thing was said by both of them. 'Let's duel!' Their life points sat at 4000.

'You and your mind-slave will never win my Puzzle, Marik,' the Pharaoh stated.

Strings drew. 'I disagree,' Marik said. 'And now…' He played his card. '…I set one card face-down.' The card appeared on the field. 'And play this monster in attack mode. Meet Humanoid Slime!' He set the card and it appeared on the field. The monster emerged from it. 'This is the beginning of the end for you, Pharaoh, so make your move and prepare to lose everything.'

'You will fail!' The Pharaoh drew.

Huh, since he played a really weak monster, I bet he wants me to attack it.

The Pharaoh looked up at the Humanoid Slime.

Then he'll use his face-down card to destroy my monster.

The Pharaoh narrowed his eyes at Yugi's thought.

Well, there's no way I'm gonna let him get away with it.

No, there wasn't. 'I also set one card face down.' The card appeared on the field as the Pharaoh played it and took his next card. 'And then I'll summon a monster known as Gizelle, the King of Mythical Beasts in attack mode!' The card and monster appeared on the field when he set the card down. Gizelle roared. 'A stronger beast than yours.'

'Yes, your monster is almost twice as strong as mine, but don't be so sure your Gizelle will prevail. It takes more than strength to win a duel.'

'I'm well aware of that.'

'Then you won't be surprised when my Humanoid Slime annihilates your monster.'

'Hmph. I'd like to see you try that, Marik.'

The mind-slave drew. 'Very well. I summon Worm Drake.' The monster appeared on the field. The mind-slave pulled another card from his hand. 'Now watch what happens when I activate my magic card.' He set it on the field. 'Time for Polymerisation.' The card appeared and immediately set to work. 'I'll use it to fuse Humanoid Slime and Worm Drake together into a diabolical new monster.' The creature took shape. 'Behold my new weapon: Humanoid Worm Drake. It's twenty-two hundred attack points are more than enough to destroy your Gizelle, as well as a portion of your life points.'

The Pharaoh studied the new monster for a moment. 'When you fuse two monsters together, you must wait one turn before you can attack. So you've left yourself wide open, Marik.'

'That's of no concern to me,' Marik said. 'Rules are meant to be manipulated. And my face-down card will take care of that task for me. I've simply outsmarted you, Pharaoh.'

'Let's see.'

'Just as you wish. Reveal face-down card.' Marik's card flipped up. 'The Quick Attack magic card.'

Oh, rat rot!'You can attack now!'

'Very perceptive,' Marik said. 'Quick Attack allows my monster to attack on the same turn it was formed. Hm, you've underestimated me as a duellist. And, for that, you must pay a price so watch as I destroy your monster and move one step closer to relieving you of your Millennium Puzzle forever! I'm afraid you're no match for me, Pharaoh.'

The Pharaoh shifted.

'Now, watch, as my Humanoid Worm attacks! Destroy his Gizelle, my beast.' With a roar, the Humanoid Worm attacked.

'Ha.' The Pharaoh smirked. 'Hold on, Marik!' He activated his face-down card and it flipped up, glowing brightly. 'Activate de-fusion, turning your one monster into two again!' The monsters came apart and returned to their original forms.

The mind-slave drew back and Marik made a sound of surprise. 'So you knew my plan at the start?'

'Yes,' the Pharaoh said. 'As soon as you played a monster as weak as Humanoid Slime in attack mode, I knew then and there that you were luring me into attacking, Marik.'

'And I thought you fell for it.'

'That's exactly what I wanted you to think, but it was really I who was luring you to use your hidden magic card so that I could reverse it.'

The mind-slave ground his teeth, as Marik was no doubt doing wherever he was.

The Pharaoh folded his arms. 'I was hoping for a far more challenging duel from you, but you've only disappointed me.'

'This duel's far from over.'

'You'll never win my Millennium Puzzle if you continue duelling like that.' The Pharaoh lowered his arms again.

Marik huffed. 'It seems you're as smart as they say you are. But that last turn was only a test. I will not be denied my victory or your Puzzle!'

'You will if you keep making amateur moves.'

'You shall witness my true skills in due time. And once I defeat you, I'll become Pharaoh and banish you to the Shadow Realm! The relentless power of my Egyptian God Card will deliver me your Puzzle and assure your destruction! Prepare to face a force, the likes of which you have never seen! Your Puzzle and your power will soon be mine.'

'Only if you win.' The Pharaoh drew and looked at his card.

Buster Blader's too powerful to waste on his weak monsters, but I'm sure it'll come in handy when Marik plays something more powerful. So I'll hold it until the time is right.

'Now I'll dispose of your weak monsters.' The Pharaoh set a card and it appeared on the field. 'I play Beta the Magnet Warrior, in attack mode. Destroy his Worm Drake now!' Beta attacked, his electricity sailing across the field to the Worm Drake. It hit and the monster was shattered. 'And, next, my Gizelle will attack! Destroy his Humanoid Slime with your Claw of Destruction!' Gizelle attacked and the Humanoid Slime was destroyed as well. 'The difference in their attack strengths means you lose one thousand life points.

Marik's life points dropped to 3000.

'Now, Marik, you have no monsters left to protect you.'

'Very impressive duelling, but I'm just testing out your strengths and weaknesses so that I can ultimately destroy you and take away all that you possess.'

The Pharaoh ground his teeth.

'It's time for round two, and this duel is about to get interesting.' The mind-slave drew. 'Are you ready?' He looked at what he had. 'The card I now hold is like nothing you've ever seen before. It's a creature that simply cannot be destroyed. It's a shapeless being made completely of plasma, with no solid mass, making it utterly indestructible – and the perfect defence against enemy attack. So prepare to experience Revival Jam…' He played the card and it appeared on the field, emerging from its card. '…in defence mode.' Marik was right, it was a shapeless blue blob. However, it did draw itself up into a ghost-like shape. 'Just try to attack. You will fail, I tell you.'

'It looks weak to me, Marik,' the Pharaoh said.

'It looks weak, does it?' Marik retorted. 'Well, take a look at this.'

The Pharaoh gasped and drew back as Marik played another card. A large dome-shaped device appeared from the new card now on the field.

'It's my Jam Breeding Machine. And it begins the countdown to your destruction!' Sure enough, the Machine started doing something. The circular panel on top began to glow and the Machine itself began to hum. 'What's it do? Think of it as a monster-creating machine, breathing life into a new plasma creature every turn. And this machine will continue to provide me with more and more plasma beasts called Slime Tokens.'

'Your plan's obvious,' the Pharaoh said. 'You're going to produce plasma monsters until you have enough to sacrifice and summon your Egyptian God Card.'

'Very impressive, Pharaoh. Too bad you can't stop me. Once my Breeding Machine creates three Slime Tokens, I'll be able to summon the monster that will bring about your ultimate destruction: my Egyptian God Card.'

The Pharaoh ground his teeth. He couldn't let that happen! The only problem was how he'd go about stopping it. Creating three Slime Tokens would, theoretically, take three turns. That meant that was how long he had to destroy that machine. Although something told him it wouldn't be that simple.

'And then your Millennium Puzzle will belong to me forever!'

'Sorry, Marik, but as long as I believe in the Heart of the Cards your plan will never work.' The Pharaoh drew. 'So prepare to lose.' He looked at the card he just drew and then down at the ones already in his hand.

My Buster Blader! Now's the perfect time to summon it. I need to wipe out Marik's life points before his Breeding Machine creates three more monsters.

Yugi was right. 'And now I'll sacrifice my two monsters on the field…' He played the Blader. '…to summon this creature! My all-powerful Buster Blader!' The card appeared on the field and sucked up Gizelle and Beta so that the Blader could be released. 'My expert swordsman has the power to wipe out your Revival Jam and more than half of your life points.' The Blader appeared on the field and slung his sword over his shoulder.

'Your monster's attack strength is quite impressive, Pharaoh,' Marik said. 'But still, useless against my Revival Jam.'

The Pharaoh pointed. 'We'll see. Now, my sword-wielding monster, destroy his Revival Jam!' The Blader shot forward, bringing the blade down on the Revival Jam. It was sliced in half and came apart. 'Your monster's been splattered.'

'Has it?' As Marik asked that, the Revival Jam came back together and began to reform.

'What's happening?' the Pharaoh demanded. 'It's reforming!'

As soon as it finished coming back together, Marik chuckled. 'You're surprised? I told you my Revival Jam employed the perfect defence. Even the most powerful sword cannot destroy my plasma monster. It will always reform itself.'

'So I can't attack?'

'You can. It just won't work.' Marik laughed. 'So Revival Jam will protect my life points, while my Breeding Machine continues to create monsters for my ultimate sacrifice.'

The Pharaoh ground his teeth in frustration.

Then I need to find another way to wipe out his life points – and fast.

'Your duelling days are almost over.' Marik started mocking him. 'Soon my Breeding Machine will have created enough monsters to sacrifice. Then comes your worst nightmare: my Egyptian God Card. Here's the first.' The mind-slave drew. 'Activate my Jam Breeding Machine.' The top of the Machine glowed bright. The first of the Tokens emerged from it. It looked much like the Jam Revival except that it was in the shape of a droplet. 'Slime Token number one! I'll also set one card face-down.' The card appeared on the field in front of him. 'Only two turns left. Then, you'll meet your doom!'

'I may not be able to stop your Breeding Machine but your plan has one tragic flaw, Marik,' the Pharaoh said. 'The rules state that you need to sacrifice three Slime Tokens to summon your one Egyptian God Card. But what happens if I destroy them first? You see, your Slime Tokens are defenceless against the superior attack power of my Buster Blader.' The actual difference was, in fact, 500 to 2600. 'I can take them out with no resistance and, more importantly, each time Buster Blader destroys one of your Slime Tokens, you'll lose over two thousand life points because they're so feeble. So, according to my calculations…' He held up two fingers. '…in two turns, you'll be defeated.' He called out the attack. 'Now, Buster Blader, attack his Slime Token!' The Blader prepared to attack.

'Or don't,' Marik said. 'Reveal face-down card.' One of his cards flipped up. 'The continuous trap card, Jam Defender.' The card glowed as it activated.

The Pharaoh gasped as the Blader attacked. That was exactly what it sounded like. The Revival Jam got in the way of the attack, defending the Slime Token. It was destroyed but it would soon reform again.

Yugi's thoughts got mixed up with the Pharaoh's. 'That can't be! Revival Jam shielded your monster.'

'Exactly,' Marik said. 'And as long as Revival Jam stays in defence mode, the Jam Defender card forces it to absorb all of your attacks, which means every one of your attacks will be blocked.' The Revival Jam came back together. 'You see, I knew you'd attack my Slime Tokens and in a desperate attempt to stop me from summoning my Egyptian God Card, so I protected them with the indestructible force.'

The Pharaoh growled and drew back. Not good.

'The end is near!' Marik crowed. 'Now, another beast to sacrifice.' The mind-slave drew again. The Machine activated again. 'Meet Slime Token number two.' The second one appeared next to the first.

Two out of three.

The Pharaoh ground his teeth again. Marik was another step closer to getting that Egyptian God out. If that happened, he didn't know what he could do. After all, how did one fight something as mighty and powerful as a God? It seemed impossible. 'I've got to stop this.'

'I'm afraid there's only one turn left, Pharaoh.' Marik's sneer was clear in his voice. 'Then I'll summon my Egyptian God Card to destroy you.' He waved the card in the mind-slave's hand. 'But just to be safe…' He played the card and it appeared on the field. 'I think I'll play this magic card, Nightmare Steel Cage.' The card activated, fire shot out of the ground and an orange bubble formed around the Pharaoh. 'To make sure you can't attack me for the next two turns, not that you'll be around that long.' The fire bubble soon transformed into a dome-shaped steel cage with sharp spikes lining the outside of the bars. 'Now all you can do is watch while I summon the most powerful force you've ever seen to annihilate you!'

This was not good.