Chapter 30

He had no idea what had gotten into Jay, but there was something about the strangely child-like nature he had which felt familiar somehow. The longer he sat there in his statue like position watching the insanity play out, the more certain he became of Jay's unquestioning loyalty towards him. He didn't quite know how to feel about that loyalty, but he wasn't going to question it. Why would he if it meant someone freeing him from his binds?

A slight smirk tugged at his lips as he watched the others beg and plead for Jay to reconsider what he was doing or at least explain to them what the hell had gotten into him. On the edge of his empathic sense he could tell at least one of them had managed to figure something out, but what that something was and who might be feeling it eluded him. As the nature which drove him changed, the strength of his empathic abilities altered. They didn't go away, just became almost negligible in the face of everything else.

After a while the cries of the others dwindled down into defeated murmurs. The sound was almost like music to his ears. The sheer amounts of pleasure and joy he got from knowing they were suffering was almost too much for him to stand. In his head he was already coming up with scenarios to make their lives even more miserable than they already were. Every instinct in his body wanted to torment and torture them until they could take no more. That thought alone rekindled his need to break free of the binds holding his body in place.

Still something told him Jay had a plan of some kind to get him out of this situation without expending too much of his energy. He didn't know why, but something told him to trust the guy at least until he'd served his purpose or became completely useless to him, which ever happened first. After what felt like a lifetime of waiting, the sound of approaching footsteps finally met his ears. Everyone's attention turned towards it as Body, closely followed by Kaiba, emerged out onto the Sacred Huntay.

Within seconds Body had assessed the situation and made towards his friends. This caused Jay to laugh and fire a beam of light out of the Axe into Body's direct path. This caused Body to come to an abrupt stop and focus his confused attention on Jay.

'Hello little puppet,' Jay grinned, 'it's time for us to play.'

The look on Body's face was hard and serious. For a few long moments he just stood there, staring down at Jay in some kind of silent battle of wills. Then he turned and made his way towards the tree the others were bound to again.

'Nu-uh-uh, bad puppet,' Jay fired another beam, this time hitting the youth directly, knocking him off his feet. 'This is my game and my rules and you will play the way I want you to.'

Body pulled himself back to his feet, his single visible eye glaring at Jay as he did. He flexed his hands a few times, moving them like some cowboy in a Wild West movie waiting for the right moment to draw his gun. Everything about Body's stance made him look strong and intimidating, but from the look on Jay's face it was clear Body's display was having no effect.

'You wanna know the rules of my game puppet?' Jay stretched the last word in a weird, almost rhythmic kind of way. 'They're very simple,' he twirled the Axe he was holding, 'all you have to do is make me freeze, like you did with him,' he nodded in his direction.

Body shook his head.

'What's the matter puppet, can't you do it? Can't you make me freeze? Come on; have a little go, won't you? It'll be so much fun.'

'Jay have you lost your mind?' Kaiba's voice was somewhere between anger and annoyance. 'Stop this right now.'

'Aw, is the Pure trying to defend her little boyfriend?' Jay turned his attention towards Kaiba. 'That's so sweet.'

'Shut the hell up,' Kaiba went to move towards him, but Body held a hand up to block his path. 'But...'

Body glanced towards Kaiba and shook his head. He then took several steps towards Jay and focused his full attention on the guy.

'Body don't,' Duke warned.

For a moment Body hesitated and glanced towards Mind. She shook her head several times and each time she did he just nodded back at her. After a couple of minutes of this, Body waved a dismissive hand at her and refocused his attention on Jay. Body then raised a hand towards him and closed his eyes. For a few long moments nothing happened. In his bound position he found himself holding his breath and waiting to see what happened next. To his great surprise, Body's face filled with a look of pain and his body trembled as if under great strain as he slowly fell to his knees. As he continued to witness this spectacle, he could feel the control over his own body begin to lift. Eventually Body's face distorted into a silent cry of anguish and, exhaustedly, he crumpled to the ground.

'You're free now, right?' Jay turned towards him.

'Yeah,' he nodding as he rose to his feet, 'how did you know that would happen?'

'The dead don't have bodies, not proper ones,' Jay grinned. 'He was trying to make me dance to his tune, but I dance to another's. Hurray for being a spirit,' he lifted the Axe up into the air triumphantly. 'I guess now it's your turn to play, right?'

'Play?' He frowned.

'Yes,' he indicated towards the others, 'I've got them all neatly packaged up for you, see? I know your games are not like my games, but you can still have your fun if you want.'

'My fun...?' His eyes turned towards them as he remembered his previous torturous thoughts.

'You don't know who you are, do you?' Jay pouted. 'Well that's no fun. I'm no good at playing teacher, that's a dumb game. But, but, but I know something fun we can do. We can play find the missing piece.'

'Find the missing piece?' He shook his head.

'Right now we're only two,' Jay grinned at him, 'when we should be three.'

With his mind as tired and out of it as it was Kaiba had been too stunned to think, never mind react to the situation. He couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. After all, he knew first hand just how powerful Body actually was, so to see him reduced to this state... Shaking his head he glanced towards the others. The disappearance of Jay and Yugi had freed them from the circle of light binding them to the tree. As soon as they were free, Heart and Mind rushed towards the youth. Mind then cradled his head on her lap, as the Heart lay on his chest, with her arms wrapped around him. His single eye gazed sadly from one to the other as his right hand reassuringly stroked Heart's hair. He was weak, but he was far from done.

'Can anyone explain to me what the hell just happened?' Duke let out an exasperated sigh. 'I mean, I know what just happened, but…' he shook his head, 'it just didn't seem real, but then nothing has since she,' he indicated towards Mind, 'took control.'

'And just why isn't she in control now?' Joey studied him for a few moments.

'I don't know exactly, she didn't give me a reason before she left my head, but I... I got this sense that being with him,' he indicated towards Body, 'was more important somehow.'

'Being with him,' Joey's voice was dull and his eyes glinted with a hint of jealousy as he watched the trio. 'But why does she want to be with him?'

'Because it's their natural state,' even Kaiba found himself surprised by his own sense of clarity.

'Huh?' Joey stared at him.

'They're the Voices of Win,' Kaiba's voice was dry as he watched the trio exchanging kisses, 'it's their natural state to be together. What they mistake for attraction, is actually a need for completion. You're the last person I thought I'd need to explain something like that to Wheeler.'

'Right now all I know is that I didn't mind behaviour like that,' he indicated towards the trio, 'so much last night. Then again I didn't know Heart was Mai last night.'

'So you really had no idea it was Mai?' SK licked his lips.

'Why would it even occur to me? Heart is about as different from Mai, as she is strangely similar. You must feel the same thing about Body, right?' Joey glanced towards Kaiba.

'And just what's that supposed to mean?' Kaiba turned his head away.

'What it means Kaiba, is that you must be able to see a lot of Tristan in Body, even if he doesn't really act like him.'

'Yeah, right,' Kaiba folded his arms, 'Body doesn't even remotely remind me of Tristan.'

'Really?' Joey cocked an eyebrow at him. 'Because I can kind of see it.'

'Are you saying Tristan is...?' Kaiba cut himself off.

'Am I saying Tristan is what?' Now it was Joey's turn to fold his arms. 'Look, I'm not saying everything Body does reminds me of Tristan. Hell I don't think Tristan would be seen dead in that outfit for a start; I'm just saying certain things remind me of him. Like his loyalty for a start. Not that you would really notice something like that, since you just expect it whether or not you deserve it.'

'Whatever Wheeler,' Kaiba gritted his teeth. 'Right now we have bigger things to worry about, like dealing with those two maniacs for a start.'

'I assume you're talking about Jay and Yugi,' SK licked his lips again.

'Who else?'