MM: Must…keep…pumping out…random comments…

Bakura: Well, we do have you bond in a sack from Crazy Wedding Vows.

MM: We/I can speak through a sack! We/I can lecture through a sack! We/I can—ewwwww! Yami left his half-eaten cheesecake in here!

Yami, from desserts shop: HEYYYY! Give that back!

Marik, blinking blankly: Wow. Okay, you know what, this is MY story, so you other people, GET OUT! Except for MM. For once, I actually need that entity for the purpose of self-glorification.

MM: Wow. You sound like Yami.

Yami, flying across the room and out the window: MMdon't/doesn'townYugiohbutdo/doeshaveasayintheploteventsofthisstory!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chapter 8

Academ's Adventure

Derek's wide eyes peered out the yacht's window at the leaping waves threatening to kidnap him and carry his carcass away to some far-fetched fairyland. A foaming claw slashed here, a whimpering trough passed by there, and a gray-feathered seagull dipped below, scooping up a ransom-captive fish and bringing it up to kiss the early morning breeze.

"We're almost there, right, Strings?" he asked quietly. Some of the men working for Marik had the strange habit of either dying, spiking, or shaving their hair, wearing masks, or piercing their faces at the most inopportune places.

As was his custom, Strings stared at Derek, then turned around and walked out the cabin.

"Ooookay." Shrugging his shoulders, Derek pushed a straying bang away from his ear and stood, wobbling his way out on deck. The wind, as usual, howled its mournful augury and dug its tail barbs into his skin, leaving him wishing for the gold-flaked sands of Egypt. "I wonder if that guy had his vocal cords cut or something of the like," he added, distracting himself from the inevitable chill.

Despite the fact that Strings had refused to give him an answer, Derek emerged out on the windswept deck and quickly answered his own question. The gray, weary horizon shattered into pieces as the tips of skyscrapers brushed its edge, hacking into the morning sky like the teeth of an open-mouthed Leviathan.

"I'll take that as the coastline of Domino intruding upon the beauty of the ocean," he declared brightly, hand flying out to grasp the rail as a particularly pugnacious wave battered the side of the boat. He opened his lungs up to the last vestiges of the briny sea wind just before the yacht sputtered, choked on its own saliva, and ground to a convulsive halt at the edge of the pier. As everyone else fumbled with their belongings and wound their way upstairs, Derek leapt over the railing and landed, deer-footed, upon the wooden boards below. The other Rare Hunters followed suit, and, after a quick greeting by their co-workers who had stayed in Domino since the beginning of the tournament, they gathered their newly acquired materials and dispersed. Waving a see-you-at-the-finals to his grinning associates, the Academ boy sped off toward the towering warehouses that barged into his view of the main road.

"Here we are!"

Twenty minutes later, a teenager took a deep breath and halted his horrendously speedy running. Hands on his hips, Derek smiled, scanning the rows of combatants and the hordes of atrocious monsters plaguing the roads of Battle City. The stunted trees shimmied their vibrant leaves at him, leaning over to cover his head like loving grandparents.

Long time nooooooo seeeee! The trees whispered as one branch bent and scraped up Derek's already messy hair. Weeee missed yoouuu!

"Awww, I missed all of you and this whole place, too," Derek answered blithely, knowing that everyone around him had busied themselves with acquiring Locator Cards way too much to notice a deranged teen conversing with an oak. "Now, to get myself a share of those Locator Cards!"

Grinning, he fingered the polished Duel disk and the transparent card with the puzzle piece that Seto Kaiba had termed a Locator Card. A man with a monocle had collected them from Domino and distributed it to everyone at the pier.

"Ugh. I need so many of these things. If Yugi, Kaiba, and Joey are playing, then I surely won't have enough to get on to the finals. Mia Valentine's good, too, and she would never give up a chance at a win. And if that creepy alter-ego of Ryou's is playing, too…" he shuddered instinctively, remembering the tail-nipping tales that Yugi had told him about the evil spirit who locked souls in cards at Duelist Kingdom.

"And to think that I used to believe that magic didn't exist," he mused silently, tucking his hands in his pockets and walking off to see if he could catch some skilled player who could give him an adequate challenge.

From the top of the convenient store, a shadow gazed after Derek Academ, tracing his steps as the teen wandered more toward downtown.

"Lumis, that Academ kid is heading downtown. Where's that midget and his gang?"

"They're battling Espa Roba on Main Street. I'll send a disguised Rare Hunter to distract Derek with a duel," came the response.

"Perfect."

Derek carried on his way up the street, tracing elephants and seals in the clouds sighing across the luxurious sea-sky. Lounging in the warmth of the humid air, he wondered if he should stop by Duke's place and apologize for all the anger that he had caused. After all, he held a good position at another card company now, so there remained no reasons for regrets.

"Hey! Do you want to duel?"

Jerked out of his commiserations like a fish on a hook, Derek looked up at the blue-haired boy grinning from ear to ear whose harp voice still vibrated in his ears. The stranger's teenage appearance was softened by childishly tousled hair and the rose that often steals people's cheeks after they had sprinted too fast for too long. Waving his arms, he leapt upwards to catch the taller boy's attention and prepared his Duel disk.

"Here! Shuffle my cards! I wanna duel! I have three Locator Cards already! I'm almost there! I really, really want to get on to the Finals. I mean, that'll be awesome and Mommy will be so proud of me!" Grabbing the deck protruding from Derek's disk, he shuffled the cards like a dealer from Las Vegas and stuck it back in the appropriate slot.

Smiling benignly, Derek hesitated. His fingers twitched, surrendered, and started its nervous habit of fiddling with the button flaps on the sleeves of his leather jacket.

If I say "no", then I'd upset him. If I say "no, I'll beat you and you'll feel bad," he'd think I'm an arrogant brat and cry. If I say, "Sure!" and intentionally lose, I'll have no Locator Cards left, and I'd lose my best card. I guess if I say "Sure!" and win, at least he has two Locator Cards left to fall back on…and I don't have to take his best card…

Weakly, he accepted the child's deck and shuffled it, then handed it back to him and ruffled his hair. The kid's grin made him look as if he had just smashed his face into a banana split and came to the duel with the banana still pasted across his jaw.

Watching his Duel disk flip into action and the holograms shimmying with its spectrum, he took a deep breath. "Here we go. Let's duel."

Closing her eyes, Andromeda sank into the couch, the lyrics of the song flowing by her ear like the hushed murmur of a trickling stream.

"Feel the wind on your skin. No one else can feel it for you. Only you can let it in. No one else, no one else, can speak the words on your lips…"

Each word stretched out, the silken strands of the verses weaving together a blanket that held her warm and close, their edgeless forms a mass of soft comfort. Sleepily, her eyelids drooped, invading her perfect view of the soft lavender curtains and the glass doors to the balcony. Tendrils of velvet wrapped around her fingers and toes, raining down droplets of tropical rain upon her colder extremities. Cotton stuffed itself into her brain, fogging up her thoughts like a mist upon the English moors. A lone streak of sunlight sliced the room in two, striking her full upon her russet head. Each strand of hair darted out like a furious branch, struggling to survive a day longer than the rest.

"Let the sunlight illuminate the words that you cannot find..."

She twisted onto her side in the plush of the couch, the golden light of the morning blazing down from a cloudless cerulean sky. A breath from the heavens stirred the whimsical tips of the pines, the rustling of needles enhancing the hush somehow, lightening the distant grind of the waves against the snow white bluffs. A seagull's triumphant cry pierced the distant quiet, a tinkle against the forces of the sea. The sea that drowned all misery and tears.

"Today is where your book begins. The rest is still unwritten…"

The soft lavender and myrrh smell pervaded the lethargic and heavy atmosphere, droning an exotic tune with its fragrance. The song faded off into the distance, the last trembling notes still echoing in her ears. A coziness embraced her mind like it did long ago in her old kitchen, upon one memorable stormy night…

Something snaked around her waist, bringing with it a gentle weight that settled gratefully upon her side. Moaning, she sank deeper into the cushions, which relented like a pad of thick moss. The two vipers tightened around her, lovingly slow in its torturous quest to rid her lungs of air. Lonesome, the weight snuggled up and a silky pom-pom like sphere slid up her bare arm. Releasing their grips around her, the serpentine arms retreated and two strong hands clasped her sides, running gently up with a tickle and an urgent press upon her back.

"Mmm…get away…"

Preferring to cozy up with the couch, Andromeda laid down flatter, hugging her pillow as the intruder's hand slid across her stomach and grasped her shirt, leaving a strip of her abs shrinking from the sudden coolness. Firm, warm skin covered a patch of her neck, laying gentle kisses that felt softer than the caresses of a cloud. Ignoring the flutter triumphantly claiming a spot in her stomach, she shifted her position, forcing his affectionate lips to slide down along her neck. Dulcetly, his whimper breathed in her ear, like the cry of a puppy as it slips off the bedcovers and lands "thump" on the rug. Undeterred, his lips discovered a new spot between two horizontal shoulder bones. With a light press of his head against her jaw, the visitor's hand fought its way between her pillow and her chest. Something moist tickled the groove at the bottom of her neck where his lips had lingered, exploring the area playfully.

"Oh, are you going insane on your little deserted island?" she asked, suppressing a giggle as his thumb slid over and clawed madly at the cloth that stood between it and the steady beating of her heart. "Go date coconuts and kiss mangoes…when you're all pathetic and needy…"

Yawning, she turned her shoulders, trapping his desperate hand under her. "Fruits are sweeter than I…"

Suddenly, his tongue withdrew from her neck and his hot breath kindled her ear, its heat shooting up the channel to burn away the common sense in her brain. With a nip at her earlobe and a playful tug, he crawled up along her stretched form. His joking words resounded louder in her soul than her ear, its physical noise drowned out by the lub-dub of their hearts. "Shut up, Andromeda…"

His hands attacked clandestinely, sliding under her shirt and halfway up her back, barely daring to respect her privacy. Slowly, they traced swirls across her skin, each press sending lightning up her spine, thought the sun shone so bright through her closed eyelids.

"Why now? I need a nappy," her sleepy voice murmured, mind ardently refusing to moan for his hand to return to that cold spot on her back as he dragged it upwards, fingertips trailing her naked arm.

Smirking, Marik ran one lean finger down the smooth curve of her cool jawbone, admiring the wild ruffle of hair tossed onto her closed eyelids and the opulent sunshine softening the tan of her skin.

"Why, darling? Because I'm bored."

A smile touched her lips, lifting one pink corner of her mouth. Fingers absentmindedly rubbing the back of her neck, Marik gave in to delicious curve of her lips. Catching them in his, he let the soft ambrosia fumes of her hair waft over him, soothing his desire to bite her rosy soft skin. Brushing his hand against her cheek, she caressed her, lulling, the stroke of his lips hypnotic.

Surrendering to her screaming body, Andromeda wrapped her arms around his torso and neck, pulling him tighter toward her. The once-loved pillow slid with a plop to the ground, rocking back and forth in its newfound solitude.

Drinking in the honey like taste of his mouth, she pressed her lips into a tight smile, feeling his tongue run along, moistening them and seeking, pleading, for entrance. Grunting in joyful frustration, one of his hands tightened around her hip, sending a jot up to her palpitating heart. Opening the barrier of her teeth in surprised pleasure, she quickly lamented as his tongue invaded, exploring the corners of her mouth and taking an angry wrestle with her tongue for dominion. Collapsing after one last desperate lick, she sank down into the puff of the couch, leaving him to claim this new cave beyond her pearly teeth as his own. Shaking at the rhapsodies of feelings that slashed across her relinquished form, she allowed his hands to roam her figure, stopping at her belly button just to give it a playful poke.

Finally feeling his lips lift from hers, Andromeda opened her wide indigo eyes, one, then the other. The sunlight glinted off the gold of Marik's armbands as his hand slid surreptitiously behind his back.

"That wasn't a very good reason to come to me," she murmured, mind lingering over his "bored" comment while allowing his stunning violet eyes to imprison hers.

Pulling on a wistful smile, Marik shook his head, electrum hair glowing with a nebulous aura in the promiscuous light spying upon them from the mottled blue skies. "Alright," he lied smoothly, his finger tracing a provocative line around her breast. "It was because the sun shined so warmly down upon me, and reminded me how cold my heart felt without you…"

Smiling up at him as he straddled her waist, studying her laid back form, Andromeda flashed a wicked star into her eyes.

"Now that you put it that way, I guess you can kiss me one more time…"

Content, Andromeda leaned against Marik's chest, secure in the strength of the arm that held possessively onto her. Her fingers slid across the strange mixture of firmness that formed his flesh, loitering on the soft skin that served as a thin façade for the hard muscle napping underneath. Pressing an ear to him, she closed her eyes, head rising and falling with his breath. The calm and complacent thumping of his heart seemed to exist as a luxury, solely for her comfort. Gazing up, she found his brilliant violet eyes hidden behind their captive lids of earthy skin. Quietly, she realized how much she missed seeing that spark of vibrant color upon his face: adorable as he seemed half asleep like this.

Marik dozed lightly, Andromeda a mere teddy bear in its grasp. Silently, his mind soaked in the soulful bliss, locking away thoughts of scheming and worry and hatred. Some part of him still screamed, reminding him to hold on tight to the spell he had cast over Andromeda's mind and to remember his own innate restless evil. The majority loosened the reins in the revitalizing quietus, preferring to drift in beds of down feather mattresses and snow white sheets. Settling with a poof down amongst the clouds, he drew a deep breath, mind wiped thoroughly clean. To his astonishment, a little lump in the sheets poked its russet head out from behind its covers, two bare, round little shoulders pulled upwards as if in the middle of a shrug. Tanned hands clutched at the sheets, leaving two dark indigo eyes staring curiously at him, matched with a seductively innocent smile. A trail of her hair clung to her neck, sliding below her shoulders to a hidden part of her beneath the sheets. She sat there, the only speck of color in his white world. Putting a hand down and sliding in next to her, he wrapped his arms around her tiny waist, watching in amusement as her eyes widened in surprise. Drawn to her magnetic lips, he leaned in—

"Marik, I hate making out with you."

Groaning, the called-upon man snapped out of his wonderful half-day, half-night fantasy. Muttering, "Might as well," under his breath, he turned a very fake smile toward the real Andromeda, who definitely did not sit waiting for him in a white universe.

"Why?" he asked sleepily, wondering at the strange rumble in his stomach.

"Because look! It's high noon!" Pointing one disappointed finger out into the brilliant sunshine, she let her other hand rub her empty belly. "And I'm hungry!"

Gazing upon the Roba brothers embracing in the middle of Domino City, Yugi Moto, manipulated by the ancient spirit lodging in his body, headed off.

The hikari crossed his legs within the chasms of his own mind, nodding his head rhythmically to the beat of some inner song thrumming his heartstrings. Adorable wide eyes squeezed shut as he laughed, Yugi wiped a tear of joy attempting to escape down his cheek.

"Isn't that cute? The family back together and all trying to help each other out! I mean, sure, they were not helping out in the way most beneficial to society, but it still is nice to see a family all loving each other like that and keeping together," he chirped, suddenly wanting a little brother of his own to watch over. "You're like my older brother, you know, Yami. It's really sweet. When I need something, you come along and take care of me. You help me duel and you teach me so much on a daily basis. And I'm always going to be here for you, for as long as you'll ever need me."

"Yeah. You're always about to help me out," Yami replied abstemiously.

For a moment, quietus ruled supreme, stilling even the air passing through their ears. The myopic darkness drifting through their brain dimmed their eternal glow, and the usually forgotten pounding of their heart made an unbearable racket. Yami carried their body forward, meandering aimlessly through the streets toward somewhere. The buildings still glared condescendingly at them with their usual cold abhorrence, housing the money and prestige that the Motos never bothered to think about.

"She'll turn up eventually," Yugi suggested meekly. "You'll see."

Sighing aloud, Yami tore his gaze away from the teens laughing at the rumble of their Duel Monster holograms.

"I don't know if I even want to think about that anymore. I was sure that she'll come back to me and now everything's just…gone." His thoughts drifted compulsively back to his visit to the abandoned Academ household, the paint-stripped mailbox lying on the lawn with its mouth full of unopened, waterlogged letters, the window-eyes of the house itself dark and forlorn, giving a perfect view of the dusty interiors that had held the beloved orphans. Leaves that had surrendered to the storm lay strewn across the lawn, their courageous corpses fading back into the earth that had given them life to feed another generation of trees, grasses, weeds, and insects. He had walked up to the porch, sitting down on the cold doormat like an expectant dog waiting for the return of his owner from years at war. The only visitors that day, though, were the ignorant squirrels chewing their nuts on the stubbly driveway, the birdies hopping from tree to ground to cloud, and the sly cats ambling through the neighborhood to patrol it against mice and dogs alike. The sun, ashamed of his Pharaoh's pain, hid behind a cloud, casting darkness over Domino.

"She's here. I mean, what's the point in capturing someone for ransom, and then not appearing to try and collect it? Just a waste of effort. Maybe she'll turn up at the finals. After all, if Seto kidnapped her, he doesn't have to bother with dueling you till the final round. There're plenty of other people for him to gather cards from," Yugi suggested, "or he can always just manufacture some extras for himself."

"And that Marik villain hadn't shown up yet, so if he has her, she's not going to appear until he does," Yami completed, patting himself on the back and cheering up almost instantaneously.

"I wonder who that is, that Marik?" Yugi murmured softly, "Does he work with Bakura? Is he another ancient spirit? I mean he does have the Millennium Rod, so what if he's from your past, too? What if he can reveal something about ancient Egypt to you? What does he know? How does he know that having the Puzzle and all will lead to so much power?"

"Woa! Slow down there, horsy," the Pharaoh said out loud, patting Yugi on his mental head and wandering forward even more. "Derek's gone, too, and he's a strong, intelligent teen. He can protect his sister from whoever their kidnappers are. He's…resourceful…firm," he concluded with a rather diffident nod. "Unrelenting."

"NOOOO!!! You can't take it! It's MY Locator Card! I didn't lose! I couldn't have lost! I-I-I—" Gasping for breath, the kid tugged harder on Derek's sleeve. Pearly droplets oozed from the corners of both eyes. "I need that card to get to the Finals!"

Sighing deeply, the Academ brother shook his head in melancholy. "I didn't even ask for the Locator Card. Just go on your way and have fun, all right? Make your parents proud when you go on to the Battle City Finals. Okay?"

Derek felt the air flee gleefully from his lungs as something like a boa constrictor tightened itself around his waist.

"THANK YOU BIG BROTHER! I LOVE YOU!"

Before the older boy could answer with a simple "Aww," his opponent had fled down the alleyway.

Eying his watch and fingering his still-lonely Locator Card, he pulled at his hair, hating himself for letting the kid go. He wouldn't have made it to the finals anyways. Strumming his fingers, the orphan headed for a great tumor of chatting duelists on the side of the street.

"Great! I'm loving this!"

"So, Lumis, where is Yugi Moto?"

From the candy shop, Umbra cast a wary eye upon his target, who had stopped across the street for a latte after crushing a scoundrel who appeared suspicious like Rex.

"Already in Arcadia's underground den, from which he shall never escape."

Umbra grinned toothily, eye narrowing like a wolverine's.

"So, it is almost our turn."

"Damn it. That self-righteous arse!"

Marik Ishtar's tanned fingers clutched at the panes of glass covering his ultimate card. A spot beside it lay empty; Slifer the Skydragon sat within String's deck. The golden edges of the glass case gleamed accursedly under the yawning flames. His golden jewelry shimmered dangerously, catching the light of the fires, the metal seemingly filled with suave, licking seas of lava. Their hammered edges melted into the perfect tan of his torso, which brought out the richness of his violet clothes. His cape and robe rested around his hips as he reflected on his past and Yami's recent escape from Arcadia's shackles. Sliding his fingers under the glass, he picked up the dragon card, watching its monstrous aura burst like a thousand tsunamis upon the cliffs of a lonely isle. It pulsated between his fingers, its irresistible power drawing him closer and closer like the gravity of the sun. Sly serpents awakened in the renegade Tomb Keeper's beautiful, lavender eyes, hissing as they stared at the most potent of the Egyptian God Cards.

The words escaped his firm lips like the flip of an angel's feather.

"The Winged Dragon of Ra…"

His muscles tensed like a stalking lion's. Not because of the card, though.

Thin strands of coolness slid down his bare back, tracing the knife-cloven images, frozen in flesh and time. Reaching the band of gold around his waist, it picked at his robe, then snaked around his body to rub at his rock-hard abs.

"Marik…"

Oval fingernails dug lightly into his skin, leaving little curving marks.

"What's that?"

Relaxing himself from his flinch position, the youngest Ishtar held Andromeda's wrists as she pressed herself against his back, soft, brown locks tickling every cut and his unhurt shoulders.

"What's what?" he asked, partially annoyed at her mildly intrusive timing, and partially pleased at her willingness to come near him. He decided that the latter sentiment should prevail. Turning around, he placed his hands on her hips, thumbs gently rubbing the protruding bones.

"What's that on your back," she elucidated, arms winding around his neck and pecking at his collar.

"It's…nothing," he answered coyly, with a villainous glimmer in one eye to draw her on.

"What? Tell me!!! Is that why you hated me for tackling you that first time on the boat? Does it still hurt?" Gasping, she clutched at his hair, then gave up that belligerent gesture for the gentler one of patting his neck. "Did it hurt when I tackled you under the willow? I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!"

Gray mists flew in swirls through her eyes and her eyelids shifted up, leaving a cherub face between her maelstrom locks.

"It's okay. I'm…over it," he answered, licking her lips and nibbling on the full, rosy bottom portion. Suddenly tightening her arms, she pulled him in and opened her mouth, deepening their kiss. A light sigh escaped from her as his hands fingered the back of her legs.

Pulling away, she fluttered her lashes. "Soooo…what is it?"

He frowned, realizing her intention in actually giving him that kiss. Instinctively, his hand stopped kneading her shoulder. "Evil succubus!" Slapping her lightly on the derriere, he pulled on his robe and cape and took her hand. "My father heated a knife over a candle flame and carved those ancient texts into my back because it's the family tradition."

The love butterflies in her stomach found themselves drowning in the acids of disgust. Forebodingly, she could sense the sharp tingle of the metal, her hairs curling away and withering under the heat, her skin melting into ashes…

"Umm…errr…oh." Blushing and suddenly sorry she brought up the topic, she asked, "So how's your father doing?"

Marik turned a funny eye upon her, then chuckled, the sound laced with the fingers of gloom.

"He died."

Flushing deeper than ever, she twirled a finger into her hair. "Well, at least your mother—"

"She died giving birth to me," he stated coldly, ice dawning in his soft eyes as he twisted away.

"Orphan," Andromeda exuded, adjusting his robe and cupping his warm face in her hands. Cursing her doomsday luck, she tried to brush away the infringing tendrils of hatred and pain.

"Yeah. But I prefer to not think of that. If I can make my future bright and worthwhile, they'll be happy for me from above," he answered quickly, mentally adding or below…

"Oh." Taking his hands in hers, she walked toward his throne, suddenly curious about this boy's past and his strange fashion of conducting the Duel Monster Card business. Thrones and gold and dimly lit rooms and robes…but his associates never wore robes, she realized, scratching at a fading memory. Now that she really thought about it, she couldn't remember anything at all about those men in the chamber when she barged in to get Marik to the willow this morning—not what they were saying, how they were standing, or what they wore. Neither could she recall any of them from earlier. Just Rishid, Odion, and a few men in suits and ties, and Derek's ecstasy. All else faded. Just shadows in the seas of images that her mind was comprised of.

Oh well. I have a horrid memory. It's a scientific fact. As to all of those phantasmagorias, it's just a vestige of his childhood, I bet. Maybe these were the games that his father used to play with him as a child. Pretending to be in a palace and all. It just carried on, she reasoned, besides, it makes his business go well, and he's favored by his boss, so…it's all good!

"Let's go, shall we?" Marik murmured, squeezing her hand and conveniently diverting her thoughts from a blocked and potentially dangerous direction of flow.

Snapping back into reality, she smiled up at him in a daze. "Sure! Go where?"

His fingers tightened on the magical card. He could almost feel the dragon stir, its eyes flickering from side to side to watch him and the ominous oil lamps.

"To join your brother and Battle City. To Domino."

MM: Ta-da! Wow. That was long for moi/nous, we/I believe! If the grammar sucks, it's because we/I are/am in a great big hurry. And the whole spacing thing isn't working right, so the switches between scenes didnt' turn up on this uploaded version...

Marik: Je sais! Ce n'est pas bien, je crois. Ce n'est pas bien du tout! Si c'est sa/leur nouvelle habitude—

MM: Ignore him! He's just blubbing in French, as is his habit.

Marik: Ib-es kesen! Je declare!

MM: Hmm. I/we think that he has problems with French grammar, but so do I, soooo…yeah! He also likes to mix Egyptian with French. It's really confusing most of the time. Jesus take the wheel!

Marik: Redi-I tjew sebayet! Ahem! Senebti! Peri wepwet, s'il vous plait! Aimez-moi!

MM: ……………errrr…………………….RIIIIIGHT! We/I do love you, Marik, if and only if you stop doing that. Goodbye, and see you next time in the House of Muse!