a/n: I'm really sorry about the long wait! Life got in the way and then I decided to write a novel, plus this chapter needed a major rewrite from my first draft (everyone originally got really ooc in the second half). But at least I've got a double-length chapter this time around, and we're reaching the exciting bit here. And don't worry about me abandoning it—we've gotten so close to the end it really wouldn't be worthwhile.
The spirit of the Millennium Puzzle knew that Yuugi was planning to meet up with Jounouchi, so when Yuugi stepped out the game shop's door, the spirit didn't pay much attention to where he went. Even when Yuugi ended up at the bus stop, the spirit wasn't terribly perturbed; sure, the nearest park was withing walking distance, but perhaps Yuugi needed to do something before meeting up with Jounouchi, and needed to take a bus to get there. Or perhaps the spirit had been mistaken about which park, Yuugi had agreed to meet Jounouchi at one further away. There was more than one park in Domino City, after all.
When the spirit noticed where Yuugi got off the bus he began to feel a little concern; while there were places that Yuugi could be going in the area, it wasn't very close to much; it was even beyond downtown. If there was anything that urgent that Yuugi needed to do around here the spirit should have known about it. Unless—there was a possibility that Yuugi had just forgotten to tell him about it, though it was unlikely. The spirit fervently hoped that was all that was going on here, and not... other things.
Aibou, he said, not bothering to hide the concern in his voice, what are we doing down here? Yuugi ignored him.
The spirit tried again. Why are we here, aibou? I need you to tell me! He knew he was beginning to sound frantic now, but Yuugi continued to ignore him.
This was bad. The spirit had sort of assumed that Yuugi didn't have to worry about being controlled again after he had gotten over it the first time, but this seemed like exactly the same thing. If Marik could control Yuugi at any time, though... The spirit didn't even want to think about what would happen if Yuugi couldn't snap out of this.
There had to be something he do to save Yuugi. The spirit's thoughts went back to the previous time Yuugi had been under Marik's control; back then he had thought about how to help Yuugi. He had dismissed them at the time, but just maybe—.
Do you remember Duelist Kingdom? he asked, deciding to implement the only real idea he'd had. When I was dueling Pegasus it seemed hopeless; he was reading every strategy I had. But then you called me to our soul room and suggested the mind shuffle that allowed us to beat him. That was the first time we talked. You didn't give up either, even when you were about to collapse. There—the spirit sensed a flash of recognition from Yuugi, but it was too short. He needed more. But we won, thanks to you. We saved your grandfather and Jounouchi's sister. But it still wasn't enough. The spirit cursed his story-telling ability: he'd gone through it too fast, and now he needed another one. What about the time Otogi stole the Puzzle? You battled him—and won—and then you solved it again in that burning building. Yuugi didn't react this time, and the spirit fell silent for a moment. The only other thing he could think to remind Yuugi of was the end of their last duel with Kaiba, though he knew that was a rather painful memory for both of them. Still, he did his best, but again, nothing happened.
After a few more moments of thought, the spirit came to the only conclusion he could: he would have to take control of their body until someone found a way to save Yuugi; possibly he would have to take control for good. Probably for good, if he continued being as useful as he had so far. Yuugi would lose the life he'd had, and probably those friends he couldn't tell, but if there was no other way...
It was with a heavy heart that the spirit projected himself outward. He knew that it would not help the situation—in fact, Yuugi probably wouldn't even remember it at all—but he couldn't just take over Yuugi's life without saying something first.
I'm sorry, aibou, he said, putting his hand on Yuugi's shoulder. Yuugi stopped walking. This surprised the spirit, who had expected Yuugi to continue ignoring him, but it wasn't enough to say that Yuugi was no longer under Marik's control. I wish I could have found some other way to save you. I probably should have, but I know you'll understand. And he knew Yuugi would understand, probably too well for his tastes. The spirit almost wanted Yuugi to yell at him and get angry the way he knew he deserved for failing at this. But he knew Yuugi far too well to expect that. So he put his arms around Yuugi's shoulders and pulled him into an awkward sort of hug, unsure who he was even supposed to be comforting. I'm sorry, he said again as he pulled away, and, on impulse, he turned to kiss Yuugi on the cheek.
The spirit could remember Yuugi joking about them kissing before, the day they had met Marik the first time, but this wasn't the sort of kiss that either of them had been thinking of then. This was a sad kiss, a goodbye kiss. It wasn't a permanent goodbye, exactly, not from the spirit, but feared he would be taking the entire world from Yuugi...
He pulled away completely, then, and stared at Yuugi's feet, unable to bring himself to even look Yuugi in the eye, let alone take control of their body. He saw Yuugi take a step towards him, probably to continue on to wherever he was going. He knew he should probably stop Yuugi now, but before the spirit could even begin to dematerialize, he felt Yuugi's arms wrap around him in a much tighter hug. Shocked, he snapped his head up to look at Yuugi's face, trying to see what was going on. He only got the barest glimpse, though—just enough to have the impression that his eyes were much too clear and too bright for someone whose mind was being controlled—before Yuugi's mouth covered his in their second kiss in as many minutes.
The spirit was too shocked to do anything but stand there as Yuugi kissed him—probably making it the worst kiss in the history of kisses, the one part of his mind that was still working told him. Well, maybe not the worst kiss: it was Yuugi, and the spirit was quickly discovering that he didn't mind getting any sort of kiss from Yuugi.
It was impossible to tell exactly how long the kiss lasted, but the spirit hadn't had quite enough time to get his thoughts completely in order before Yuugi pulled away. "I'm sorry," Yuugi said, blushing. "I couldn't think of any other way to get rid of him."
The spirit simply smiled hugely. Aibou! You're back!
It was strange, commented a small part of Yuugi's mind that seemed detached from the rest, that Yuugi had such an urge to visit the port right now. Even the reason he gave himself—to meet someone—didn't make any sense, since he didn't know anyone who would be there. Still, Yuugi's desire to go outweighed the objections of any voice in the back of his mind, so he walked to the bus stop and got onto the next bus headed in the right direction. It was not a bus that take him directly to the port (that bus didn't stop near Yuugi's home), but Yuugi didn't mind much. He had time.
When Yuugi eventually got off, he was just at the far edge of downtown. It was about twenty minutes' walk from his destination, but that was as close as this particular bus came. The streets were practically deserted, a situation that wasn't terribly surprising given that it was mid-afternoon on a weekday, but a small bit of Yuugi (the same bit that had noticed the strangeness of the situation earlier) felt uncomfortable all the same. The rest would probably not have cared even if a herd of elephants was stampeding around him.
After a few moments of walking, Yuugi hard the voice of his other self calling out to him, asking what he was doing. He ignored it; he didn't need the other Yuugi. The same small part of his mind found this very strange, but he pushed it aside. He didn't need those thoughts, either. The other Yuugi spoke again, this time about their time at Duelist Kingdom. Yuugi remembered that—he remembered coming up with the idea for the mind shuffle, and he remembered forcing himself to play until he collapsed from the strain of keeping up the Shadow Game—but then the story was over, and he also remembered that he had to get to the docks. The other Yuugi was talking again, this time about Otogi, but he clearly didn't know enough to hold Yuugi's attention.
There was a pause during which Yuugi hoped he might be allowed to continue undisturbed, but then the other Yuugi spoke again, about their last duel with Seto Kaiba. That memory, however, was painful enough that even the small voice in the back of Yuugi's head had no problem ignoring it, so Yuugi continued on his way. That same part of his mind, which seemed to have gotten bigger than before, wished that the other Yuugi had kept talking about something less painful, though, even if the rest was glad that the distraction was gone. He blinked. He had never considered his other self a distraction before.
The silence only lasted a few moments, though, before the other Yuugi put his hand on Yuugi's shoulder. Yuugi stopped, and the other Yuugi spoke again. I'm sorry, aibou, he said, although Yuugi didn't know what his other self had to apologise for. If anything, Yuugi thought he should be the one apologising, though he didn't know why. The other Yuugi was explaining himself now, but Yuugi felt like someone was yelling at him to keep moving. He knew he should probably do that, but he wanted to hear what his other self was saying, and walking could wait. But he had been too distracted with his internal debate to listen much, so all he managed to catch was ...I know you'll understand. Yuugi didn't know what he was supposed to understand, but suddenly it didn't matter because the other Yuugi had wrapped his arms around Yuugi's shoulders and he was being hugged by his other self and he felt happy, so happy that the other Yuugi was hugging him like this that it didn't even matter that that voice in his head (because it was a voice in his head and how had Yuugi not realised that earlier?) was screaming What are you doing? Just push him off and keep going! because Yuugi didn't want to push the other Yuugi off. He liked being hugged by his other self.
All too soon, though, the other Yuugi let go and began to pull out of the hug, apologising again. Yuugi wanted to follow him and wrap his arms around him again, but before he could do anything the other Yuugi had turned his head to brush his lips against Yuugi's cheek, and Yuugi suddenly understood what he had really wanted when he had wished to hug the other Yuugi. The kiss was brief and, if he could still read his other self's feelings, sad, but for just that moment Yuugi had complete clarity of thought: he knew that the feelings he had toward his other self, feelings he had always dismissed as nothing more than exceptionally close friendship, where truly love, even more than his feelings toward Anzu had ever been; he knew that he wanted to kiss his other self more than anything right now; and he knew, almost instinctively, that if he waited to do so the haze he had been in before would come back, and he would never be able to. So, as soon as he had gotten his thoughts in order, he stepped towards the other Yuugi, who must have moved back at some point, and, feeling fortunate that the other Yuugi had looked up as he did so, kissed his other self straight on the lips.
For a few moments, Yuugi was in heaven: though he hadn't realised until now, he had wanted to kiss his other self for he didn't even know how long. It was hard to tell when he had spent so long convinced that those feelings didn't really exist. But after those few moments, he noticed that the other Yuugi was standing stiff as a board, his lips pressed tightly together. He wasn't enjoying this. Yuugi pulled away, wishing that he hadn't been quite so impulsive. "I'm sorry," he said, feeling his cheeks burn. "I couldn't think of any other way to get rid of him." Because, after all, he hadn't heard anything from that voice in his head since his lips touched those of the other Yuugi.
The other Yuugi didn't seem to be as bothered as Yuugi had feared, though, because when Yuugi finished speaking, he gave what might be the happiest smile Yuugi had ever seen on him and said, Aibou! You're back!
"Yeah. I'm back." Yuugi said, smiling again. He half wanted to collapse against his other self and rest, even though the exhaustion he was feeling was more mental than physical, but that wasn't really an option right now, so he put his hand on the other Yuugi's shoulder instead. "I'm really happy that's over with."
The other Yuugi nodded. I thought I really had lost you there. I was afraid I would have had to take over our body permanently if you hadn't done that, he said, removing Yuugi's hand from his shoulder to clasp it between his own hands. Yuugi tried not to think too hard about what that meant.
"That wouldn't have been so bad," Yuugi said. "I mean, you live like that all the time," he added after the other Yuugi reacted with shock. "I'm sure I could have done it, too."
But it is your body, not mine, and we are different people.
It was true: although Yuugi called him "the other me", the other Yuugi was not really at all like him, but Yuugi didn't think that it mattered that much in this argument. "I would still have you, though, and my friends. I don't need much more than that."
If you say so, the other Yuugi said, though he sounded unconvinced.
"I do. And, while we're on the topic, what should we do about my friends? They must be worried that I haven't shown up yet."
We should find Marik first. Our friends might worry, but if we wait too long he might figure out that something is wrong.
"But what could we do? We haven't been able to think of any way to stop him."
We cannot simply let him get away, the other Yuugi said, barely controlled anger in his voice. What he nearly did to you was unforgivable.
"But he didn't actually hurt me!" Yuugi said, putting his other hand on the other Yuugi's. "We can't just punish him based on what he wanted to do."
He intended to, though. Just because he didn't succeed doesn't mean he wouldn't have done it if he could have, the other Yuugi replied, but Yuugi was only half listening. He had just noticed a couple of people staring at him from some distance away, and realised what a sight he must look to them, having an argument with the empty air in front of him. He was probably lucky that the street was relatively deserted.
I think we should maybe move. People are starting to stare, he said, feeling a little embarrassed.
I guess we were a little distracted, the other Yuugi said as Yuugi began to walk away, dragging the other Yuugi behind him. They shifted the their hands a little to be more comfortable when walking next to each other, but neither one let go. Yuugi told himself that it probably meant nothing, but a part of him couldn't help but feel hopeful in spite of himself.
Yuugi decided that the other Yuugi was right about needing to fight Marik, but he still did not like the idea of going in without any sort of preparation. We should at least get more information on Marik before we fight him. I think, um, Ishizu—that was her name, right? I think she might know something. We should ask her.
She might be able to help, but I'm worried that Marik will leave if we do that. The other Yuugi said, squeezing Yuugi's hand as he spoke. Yuugi tried to ignore the funny things it was doing to his stomach.
Rushing in blindly won't do much good, either. We're not too far from Domino Museum; Marik might not notice if we take a little extra time. Or he might already know, in which case he'll already be gone by the time we get there, if he's going to leave at all, Yuugi said. He wasn't going to give this one up without a fight.
Alright, the other Yuugi replied, sounding resigned. But if she's not there, we're not going to wait for her.
Right. Let's go! Yuugi broke into a jog toward the museum, dragging the other Yuugi, who for some reason hadn't gone back to his soul room yet, with him.
When Yuugi reached the museum, he walked right up to the ticket desk (fortunately the museum wasn't busy today, so there was no line) and said, "I need to speak to Ishizu Ishtar. Urgently."
"I'm sorry, but can you tell me the reason you want to see her? I'm afraid she has been rather busy lately."
Yuugi sighed. He didn't want to have to deal with this right now. You want me to...? the other Yuugi offered.
Yes, thank you, Yuugi said, before he could finish, and they switched places.
"Just say this has to do with her personal reasons for coming to Domino City," the other Yuugi said, in a tone which made it evident he was not planning on arguing.
"Alright," said the woman, looking surprised at the apparent change in the personality of the boy standing in front of her, "but she's not here right now."
"Well, how long until she's back?" the other Yuugi demanded.
"About a half-hour, I think. I'm not exactly sure where she is."
"When she gets back, tell her I've gone to look for Marik."
The woman nodded, but as the other Yuugi turned to leave she said, "Wait, who should I say you were?"
The other Yuugi paused for a moment, before turning to her with a smirk. "Just tell her it was the Pharaoh."
How is it that you can always get people to listen to you? Yuugi asked as they left the museum.
The other Yuugi shrugged. You just have to know how to talk to them.
So, what are we going to do about Marik, anyways? Yuugi asked. We never decided how we were going to stop him.
Let's wait to see what he does first, the other Yuugi said, quickening his pace a little. The rest of their walk was spent in silence. Yuugi wasn't sure exactly what his other self was thinking, but his own mind was occupied with ideas of how to defeat Marik. He had hoped that Ishizu would know something that would help them, but since she wasn't there it seemed they would have to come up with a plan on their own. Yuugi intended to do as much as he could to work on that before they reached him.
Ordinarily, Yuugi would have called the walk from the museum to the port a fairly long one, but it still seemed far too short for him to think up anything resembling a plan. The other Yuugi looked around for signs of Marik, but neither he nor Yuugi noticed anything. He hadn't been sure that he wanted to fight Marik, but now that they were there, he didn't want them to be wasting their time.
The other Yuugi seemed equally frustrated by their lack of success at finding Marik, because as he passed Marik's ship the second time he cursed and kicked the ground. "Well, that was useless," he muttered angrily.
"So you came after all, Pharaoh," a voice said from behind Yuugi. "It certainly took you long enough."
The other Yuugi spun around to see the man Yuugi had knocked over the other day, holding the same golden rod he had given to Yuugi. "Marik! Why did you try to kill aibou?" he demanded.
"Aibou? Do you mean your vessel? Killing him is the only way to kill you, you know."
Yuugi could feel the anger radiating from his other self at those words. "Why do you want to kill me? What have I ever done to you?"
"What have you done to me?" Marik asked, letting out a mirthless laugh. "Don't tell me you don't know. You have been the cause of everything wrong that has happened to me."
"What? I don't even know who you are. How could I be the cause of your problems?"
"You don't know? But you— My family—" Marik paused for a bit, but then seemed to collect himself. "I am here to fight you, not talk to you."
"You're right," the other Yuugi said. "Let's do this."
"Wait," Marik said, "before I forget, let's up the stakes a bit. I have your friend under my sway; if you lose I will... Yes, I think I will have him tie himself to the anchor, and jump into the ocean." He seemed to take great pleasure in this idea.
"My friend?" the other Yuugi asked. "Who...?"
But Yuugi was looking up. Jounouchi! he cried, his eyes wide.
"Jounouchi?" the other Yuugi said, feeling just as shocked as Yuugi was.
"The blond one, yes," Marik said.
"But how did you do it?" the other Yuugi asked, sounding as confused as he did angry. "Aibou saved him from that!"
"Your vessel is clever, I must admit, but I'm afraid I was still too clever for him. When I felt him begin to break through my defenses, I relinquished my hold on your friend's mind. Of course, I could still control him again whenever I wished, but you didn't know that. And then, by some sort of miracle, I managed to get your vessel to hold my Millennium Rod and fall under my sway as well. Perhaps he isn't as clever as I thought, after all."
"Aibou is not my 'vessel'," the Other Yuugi snarled, "and Jounouchi is not your plaything! I will defeat you! And then, you will have to let Jounouchi free."
"Of course," Marik said, ignoring his previous comment. "I see that you don't have a Duel Disk." The other Yuugi glared back, but inclined his head slightly in acknowledgment. "Follow me," he said, turning and walking onto his boat.
The other Yuugi followed him on, snarling like a caged tiger all the while. Yuugi felt more nervous than enraged, though. You have to win this, he said, for Jounouchi's sake.
There was a table with two chairs already on the deck, something Yuugi felt was very convenient. With all this preparation, Marik must have been expecting a duel.
Yuugi would have laughed to see someone shuffling his cards with such anger as his other self put into it, except that he was feeling exactly the same as his other self. Still, he hoped that the other Yuugi would calm down a bit once the duel began; it wouldn't do for him to get too angry and play badly.
Marik took the first turn; luckily Yuugi's fears didn't seem to come true, because the other Yuugi began to set up his strategy in that time. Yuugi merely observed, watching Marik's strategy for some sort of hole. It seemed more defensive than anything else, as though he was merely waiting until he drew some trump card. The other Yuugi was destroying his monsters left and right, but so far he had hardly done any damage. Yuugi thought that right now his other self might do best with a deck destroying strategy, even if such a strategy was a poor fit with their current deck.
Marik had played several cards to increase the number in his hand, now, making Yuugi very confused—and concerned—about what he was trying to do. He supposed that it was possible that Marik was just trying to get that trump card Yuugi was sure he must have bee waiting for faster, but that didn't explain why he had just played Infinite Cards.
Be careful, other me, Yuugi said. I don't like how much he's increasing his hand; there must be something up.
I noticed too, the other Yuugi said, glancing down at his cards and then at Marik's. I don't like it much either, but I don't think there is anything I can do right now.
It was true; Marik's trap had prevented the other Yuugi from attacking this turn, and, although the cards on his side of the field were not particularly strong, there were three of them, the same number as Yuugi had and more than enough for a tribute summon. And on this draw he began to smirk. He had definitely drawn the card he was had been looking for.
"Too late, Pharaoh," Marik said, looking over at the other Yuugi. "Because this turn, I sacrifice my three monsters to summon the Sky Dragon of Osiris. It gains 1000 attack points for every card in my hand, so it's at 5000 right now, and soon it will increase even further!" He glanced in Jounouchi's direction. "You'd better start tying yourself up now; it won't be long now."
And, to Yuugi's horror, Jounouchi did. We have to stop him! he said, but the other Yuugi didn't answer. He could see why, though; the cards in their hand and on their field wouldn't be enough to defeat a monster with 5000 attack points, and if Marik's hand grew, he wasn't sure there would be anything he could do against it.
"Osiris attacks your Dark Magician." The other Yuugi flinched: his LP was now disturbingly low. This would even be worrying if Jounouchi's life wasn't in danger. "That thing was getting on my nerves, destroying all my monsters like that. Turn end."
The other Yuugi drew a card. It was Beaver Warrior; not the best card in this situation, but another monster to use as a barrier against this beast might be useful. "I summon the Beaver Warrior in defense position."
Marik was smiling again. "I should probably tell you what Osiris's second mouth does, now. When you summon a monster it attacks, decreasing that monster's attack and defense points by 2000—and since your monster has less that 2000 defense, it is destroyed."
The other Yuugi flinched, and Yuugi cursed. He probably shouldn't have, but nobody could hear him but the other Yuugi, and his other self had heard him curse enough times before anyways. The other Yuugi glanced over the cards in his hand again. "I play magic card Swords of Revealing Light."
"Hoping to buy yourself some time, Pharaoh?" Marik asked, his smile telling Yuugi that he had something to counter the other Yuugi's cards. "Unfortunately, my Osiris is a God Card, meaning your spells and traps won't work on it."
"None of them?" the other Yuugi asked, sounding suspicious. Yuugi didn't blame him; that was an awfully strong power for a card to have.
"None except for those that change its attack and defense points." Yuugi sighed in relief. At least things weren't as hopeless as he had feared.
The other Yuugi glanced down at his hand again, clearly thinking. Why don't you put Magic Cylinder face down? Yuugi suggested. It might come in handy some time.
I can, but it probably won't do much good with Dark Magician off the field, the other Yuugi said. I doubt I'm going to draw the Dark Magician Girl in time.
Don't say that, other me! Just because things look bad now doesn't mean you should give up hope! Yuugi knew that his other self's words were probably true, but he couldn't give up hope on Jounouchi. He just couldn't.
"I place one card face-down. Turn end."
"My turn. Draw," Marik said, smirking triumphantly. "6000 attack. I destroy your Celtic Guardian, so you only have Kuriboh left. Good luck beating me with that. Turn end."
The other Yuugi reached out to draw a card. This will be Dark Magician Girl, Yuugi could hear him telling himself, and Yuugi found himself joining in. He even thought that the other Yuugi seemed surprisingly confident for the situation as he drew—
Yes! Yuugi cried. Dark Magician Girl! You did it! He probably would have hugged the other Yuugi in joy if he were in spirit form right now—although after a moment of reflection, it was probably just as well that he didn't. The other Yuugi, for his part, only smirked at his hand.
"I sacrifice Kuriboh to summon Dark Magician Girl, in attack mode!"
"Dark Magician Girl? What's she going to do for you? She only has 2000 attack points; that won't do anything against me. I can destroy her as soon as she is summoned."
But the other Yuugi's smirk didn't even falter a little bit, and Yuugi completely understood why. "But since you already sent my Dark Magician to the graveyard, she gets 300 more attack points, so she can survive."
"Alright, you put your destruction off until my next turn. But what do you think you're going to do against this?" Marik asked, gesturing to his Osiris card.
Although Yuugi knew that they had a plan, he could feel the other Yuugi's expression turn from a smirk into a defiant glare. He might have been worried about his other self's prospects had he knot known it was a bluff. "Turn end," the other Yuugi said, sounding defiant.
"My turn, draw," Marik said, the smile of a man who knew he was about to win on his face. "Now, I know you have some sort of plan for those facedown cards of yours, so I'll—"
But what Marik was going to do about it, Yuugi never knew, because he was interrupted by footsteps on the deck of the ship, and Ishizu's voice calling out, "Wait! You must not finish this duel."
"It's too late for that, sister," Marik said, and Yuugi was shocked. She was Marik's sister? He supposed that it wasn't completely nonsensical, but to think that the person who had helped them—well, at least she had tried—to rescue Jounouchi from Marik was the man's sister! "This duel can not be stopped."
Ishizu shot a quizzical look over at the other Yuugi. "He has my friend," he said, inclining his head to Jounouchi, who was tied to the anchor. "We can not end this until the duel is decided."
She looked horrified at the other Yuugi's statement, but Yuugi's attention was drawn to a new set of footsteps behind him. They sounded heavier than Ishizu's had, but further wondering about the stranger's identity was preempted by Marik's cry of "Rishid!" He sounded surprised, as though he hadn't expected this Rishid to be there.
"He recovered today," Ishizu said. "If you hadn't been down here trying to get your revenge, you might have been there too."
Marik looked between Ishizu and Rishid, and then turned his eyes to the deck. "I should have been there," he said, quietly. "I'm sorry." Yuugi was a little surprised to see such a human side to this man who had been battling him, even if he had known it must be there.
"I can forgive you for not being there, but have I heard correctly? Are you holding this boy—who has done nothing but be a friend of your enemy—a hostage?" Rishid said. "You can't drag innocents into this."
"If I didn't have him there would be no way for me to be sure the Pharaoh would duel me," Marik said, but even he sounded unconvinced by his explanation. "However, I can release him." He gestured, and Jounouchi began untying himself. Yuugi sighed in relief.
"Then will you admit that I have nothing to do with whatever it is you are angry at me about?"
"No! You I will never—" but Marik seemed to stop himself. "Yes," he said, after a long pause. "It was that—that demon." He turned to Rishid. "The same one that hurt you. It—it is part of me. I knew that it was him, not the Pharaoh, but I didn't want to face it. Now I must." Yuugi thought that this must be it, that everything was over and they would all be able to go home soon, but it seemed he had been too soon, because Marik spoke again. "But I can not allow you to leave without finishing our duel."
The other Yuugi inclined his head. "Very well. It is your turn; make your move."
"I attack your Dark Magician Girl with the Sky Dragon of Osiris."
"Dark Magician Girl uses the trap card Magic Cylinder, reflecting your attack back at you and destroying your life points."
Marik looked resigned. "I suppose I expected that to happen. What are you planning to do to me?"
The other Yuugi stared at Marik a moment. "What do you mean?"
"I kidnapped your friend," Marik said, "and tried to kill you. You must have some sort of punishment you want to give me."
"No," the other Yuugi said. "There doesn't seem to be any need. As soon as you free Jounouchi you can go."
"Oh, of course," Marik said. He waved his hand. "I won't trouble your friend any more."
But Yuugi and his other self, were too busy looking at Jounouchi, who was blinking disorientedly. "What's goin' on? Where am I?" Then his eyes turned to Yuugi. "Yuugi? Hah, glad to see a friendly face. Why are we all here?"
"It might take a while to explain," the other Yuugi said. "I think we should wait until we're all out of here."
"Thank you, Pharaoh," Ishizu said when the other Yuugi was done talking. "I promise to make sure he won't cause any more trouble."
Rishid had moved to Marik's side. "We should go."
"Yes, let's," Marik said, reaching out to Rishid, a smile on his face.
Marik and Rishid began to walk off the ship, but Ishizu hung back. "Now that this whole incident is over, we need to talk," she said to the other Yuugi. "It would be best if we go to the Domino Museum."
"I think Jounouchi needs me more right now," the other Yuugi said. Ishizu looked unhappy about that, so Yuugi pushed himself into control of his body again, and said, "Don't worry. I'll come back when I'm done."
"So, now are you going to tell me what was going on?" Jounouchi asked as they began walking away from Marik's boat. "You promised you would."
"Of course," Yuugi said. "Well, it,s going to take a while, though..."