I've been gone … an entire year. Over a year. My goodness, I actually suck, I am so so sorry. There are many long and involved reasons for my absence, but I shan't bore them with you here. Have some story instead (and gosh I hope it's good enough to make up in some small way for the massive cliffhangery wait I put you all through) - Jem

Bakura stared in slight shock. His brows furrowed, a confused frown covering his features as he held Marik in his lap, his lips pursing. "What are you talking about? It's me."

"I don't know you," Marik responded, and his voice was honestly laced with confusion.

Bakura went totally, utterly still. He stared down in horror at Marik, running his eyes quickly over him to make sure that this really was his Marik. It was the same blond hair, though more messy than Marik would ever normally allow, and those same bright violet eyes now dimmed with exhaustion and pain. He sat up a bit in Bakura's arms, and it was the same nasally voice that spoke. "What … what happened?"

"…You're just confused." Bakura's voice sounded gruff. He nodded once. "You're confused, because you don't understand what happened. You got your body back, Marik."

"…What the hell are you talking about?" Marik's voice sounded tired as he leaned forwards, turning his head with a low, pained sigh. "I got my body back? Back from where?"

"From…" Bakura cut off, confused and surprised now. "…You mean you don't remember?"

"Remember what?" Marik's voice grew a little more impatient. He pulled out of Bakura's arms with a wince, turning to face him with an irritated violet stare.

Bakura merely stared back in stunned silence. This was … unlike anything he had ever seen before. He had never seen Marik forget anything that happened to him, not even in the previous times his dark half had taken over – Marik remembered with painful clarity the time his back was scarred, and also the events of Battle City. This forgetfulness was new. It was … unnatural.

Dropping his arms from around Marik, Bakura turned to send a livid glare at the other blond-haired form in the room. "What the fuck did you do?!"

"Kekeke." An evil cackle abounded from those new, dark lips, as the tall figure turned to face Bakura. His face was decorated with a maniacal grin. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Bakura rose to his feet, movements as slow as an uncaged tiger. His body rippled. Without thinking, he took three steps towards Kek and leaped at him, shoving his heavy body against the wall. Kek, still groggy from the spell and not expecting such an attack, could not react quickly enough, and so his back met the wall with Bakura's hands wrapped firmly around his neck.

"Tell me what you've done!" Bakura's voice cracked through the air like a karate chop through wood. His brown eyes were burning as he glared into Kek's gaze, but he was met with only amusement.

Kek actually had the audacity to smirk.

Bakura howled. He tightened his grip around Kek's throat and pushed him harder against the wall, grabbing his head in preparation to smash it into the harsh, already-stained concrete –

"No!"

Suddenly, hands were on Bakura's shoulders in an attempt to drag him back. Bakura turned, an animalistic snarl at his lips, but he stopped in astonishment at who he saw behind him. White hair just like his met his gaze as Ryou glared at him. "Get off him!"

"What the fuck are you doing?" Bakura growled. His voice was low and strained, vibrant with rare emotion.

Ryou hissed. "Get off." He tugged with all his might at the back of Bakura's shirt, almost falling over himself in an effort to drag Bakura away from Kek. He succeeded a little – Bakura's grip slipped and he took half-a-step back. It was just enough for Kek to move. He grabbed hold of Bakura's shirt front and picked him easily up off the ground, holding him high in the air.

A deeply feral snarl escaped Bakura's lips. He twisted his body, aiming a kick at Kek, but Ryou grabbed his foot before he could land it. Kek spun so that it was Bakura now pressed against the wall, and somehow the Rod was back in Kek's grip. Its golden, blood-soaked blade darted straight for Bakura's throat.

Bakura, panting heavily, turned his head to stare at Ryou. "Going to let him kill me?"

"There's nothing I want more," Ryou spat with vehemence.

"I'm disappointed." Bakura's voice was laced with insincerity. "And just after I got you your own body."

Ryou let out a rush of furious air, advancing towards Bakura. "It's your fault I lost my body in the first place!"

"My heart bleeds." Bakura narrowed his eyes into a heavy glare. With Kek in front of him and Ryou's glare, Marik was currently hidden from his view, and Bakura needed to see him. He needed to understand. That was all that mattered.

Kek shifted a little, the cold metal of the Rod just grazing Bakura's pale throat. He turned to Ryou, hesitating momentarily. "…Do you want to do it?"

Ryou blinked and turned to glance at Kek. "What?"

Kek glanced down at the Rod in his hand. A small ripple went through him, a slight crease appearing in his forehead, before he removed the blade from Bakura's throat and instead offered it to Ryou. "Do you want to do it?"

"…I…" Ryou stared at the Rod in slight shock.

Bakura snarled. "Don't you fucking offer that to him! The Items are mine!" The sight of his pathetic little host being offered one of the Items that Bakura had hunted for so long ripped a deep sense of wrongness straight through Bakura's soul.

Kek didn't react. Instead, his gaze remained solely fixed on Ryou, though his grip was still tight on Bakura.

Ryou swallowed before reaching forwards and gently taking the Rod. He held it in his fingers, staring down at the stained gold.

"Well?" Kek gave Bakura a shake, still staring at Ryou. "Are you going to do it?"

"…I…" Ryou turned then to look Bakura dead in the eyes. His brown gaze seemed uncertain.

Bakura sneered. "Pathetic."

"No." Ryou took a step back and narrowed his eyes, keeping the Rod held against his chest. "I'm not the pathetic one, and I won't stoop to your level."

Bakura growled, grunting, but Kek suddenly dropped him and he crumpled to the floor. Kek turned towards Ryou, his expression puzzled and dark eyes confused. "Why didn't you kill him?"

"Because I am not a murderer," Ryou murmured quietly.

"But you said he was like Marik!" Kek's tone turned angrier and he glowered at Ryou, something close to hurt in his tone. "You said he was stealing your body from you!"

"He was." Ryou nodded, stepped closer, and gently took Kek's hand with his free one. "But I am better than him."

Kek's face screwed up in confusion.

"He wouldn't hesitate to kill me the moment he doesn't need me anymore," Ryou explained with a glare at Bakura.

"Too right," Bakura griped, rubbing at his neck as he stepped away from the wall.

"I'm better than that," Ryou responded simply.

Kek still looked confused, but Bakura stopped paying attention to their conversation. As soon as his legs felt strong enough again – it was so odd to have legs that were actually his – he turned his gaze straight back to Marik.

Marik still sat where Bakura had left him, but now he was a lot more upright. His violet eyes were narrowed, his hair messy and falling into his eyes as he glanced between the other occupants of the room. One hand was pressed to the side of his head.

"Do you have a headache?" Bakura moved to Marik's side and crouched in front of him.

"My head feels like it's been split in two," Marik responded cuttingly. He barely spared Bakura a glance before his eyes zeroed back in on Kek, confusion creasing his brow. "What the hell is going on?"

"I did it. I set us free, Marik." Bakura sent Ryou and Kek a distasteful glare. "Though it means I had to give those two their own bodies."

"…That makes no sense whatsoever." Marik shook his head. "How do you know my name? And why does that guy look exactly like me?" He lifted a finger and pointed to Kek.

Bakura paused. He peered closely into Marik's eyes, worry marring his expression. "…Did you hit your head?"

"Feels like it, but I don't remember." Marik's fingers gingerly touched his forehead and he winced. "Who are you?"

"…It's me." Bakura leaned closer and cupped Marik's cheek. "Bakura."

Marik instantly flinched away, crawling backwards quickly until he was out of Bakura's reach. Bakura tried to ignore how much that hurt. Marik tilted his head, his expression becoming suspicious as he reached up to push some blond hair out of his eyes. "I don't know a Bakura."

"You don't know me?" Bakura growled and glared at him. "Fuck, Marik, what the hell are you saying? We live together!"

"We … what?" Marik shook his head, confusion etched into his eyes. "…I live with my siblings. Where are they?"

The air left Bakura at that.

"Kekeke." A slow, dark, evil chuckle spread ominously through the air. Kek advanced towards them, his eyes glinting again, but this time his attention was focused on Marik.

Marik stood up slowly, his expression growing more and more suspicious. "…Who are you?"

"Your worst nightmare." Kek licked his lips, his mouth turning up into a grin. He lifted his arms, but Bakura quickly crossed to stand between him and Marik, glaring. He was relieved to see the Rod was still in Ryou's possession, though.

Kek stopped and glared at Bakura. "Out of the way."

"Like hell." Bakura glared back, stubbornly keeping himself in front of Marik.

Kek growled. "You can't get in the way of myself, Bakura."

"What are you saying?" Marik's voice sounded annoyed from behind Bakura and he stepped aside, eyeing Kek closely.

Kek turned to him with wide, cruel grin. "I'm saying, dearest Marik, that I am part of you."

"…What the hell is wrong with you people?!" Marik backed up a couple of steps, glaring between Kek and Bakura and even flicking a glance to Ryou. He briefly wondered if he was seeing double. His head was pounding, aching with unrelenting force, even worse than anything he had felt before.

Kek pursed his lips, peering around Bakura to stare straight at Marik. "…Huh. Maybe I used a little too much force."

"Too much force for what?" Bakura growled, his voice a low, deep monotone.

Kek's grin widened. "When I took away his memories of you."

A heavy silence weighed down the room, the air turning to lead. Bakura struggled to draw in a breath, his hands clenching and unclenching by his sides. His brown eyes – still like Ryou's, then, even in his own body now – darkened until they were almost crimson. He refused to accept Kek's statement, even when one look at Marik's eyes revealed nothing more than confusion.

His Marik hadn't come back.

"Of course, that was my original intention," Kek continued, his dark voice far too casual for Bakura's liking. "I was aiming just for memories of you, but it looks like I hit a little more – he doesn't remember me either."

"Of course I don't," Marik himself finally spat. He stepped around Bakura, not even looking at him, and approached Kek with narrowed eyes. "I've never seen any of you before in my life."

Bakura visibly wilted. There was a new pain in his chest – more than just the sensation of dealing with a beating heart again. It … hurt … to see Marik acting so apathetically towards him.

"Why do you all look the same?" Marik continued, his tone demanding. "And where am I?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Kek licked his lips, slowly. His eyes half-lidded and his voice became a low, twisted purr, echoing with the recesses of shadows in a tomb.

Marik swallowed. Instinctively, he moved back a step. Looking at Kek was incredibly disturbing – like looking in a mirror that had somehow warped to show you the worst you could possibly become. "…I was at home, with my siblings…"

"And just where is home, Marik?" Kek kept up his purring tone.

Marik's eyes hardened. "Egypt."

"And tell me." Kek took a silky step closer to Marik, sending the latter skittering back a few steps. "Does the name 'Battle City' mean anything to you?"

The entire room tensed as all three other occupants stared straight at Marik. Kek's eyes were glinting with manic enjoyment; Bakura's body was coiled in tension; and Ryou watched with wide eyes.

"…It's a tournament." Marik blinked. "A tournament I'm going to enter, to get the God cards and the Pharaoh's power."

There was another pause, laden with expectancy, before Kek tipped his head back and laughed.

He laughed and laughed and laughed until the echoes bounced back from the walls of the home Marik and Bakura had shared together.

"Stop it, you bastard." Bakura finally regained enough sense to move. He spun to face Marik, striding over to grab Marik's shoulders. He gave him a sharp shake. "You have to remember more than that."

"Get the hell off me!" Marik slapped Bakura's hands away and glared at him.

Bakura moved closer again, but another voice piped up from the background. Ryou approached, stepping around Kek's giant, cackling form, to send Bakura a sharp stare. "Leave him. He clearly doesn't know who you are."

Bakura rounded on Ryou. "I don't need your pathetic opinion."

"You're getting it, whether you want it or not." Ryou glanced back at Kek, then down at the Rod in his hands, then to Marik's increasingly angered expression. He span back around to face Kek. "Can you tell me exactly what you did?"

Kek stopped cackling for just long enough to send Ryou a manic grin. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Not completely." Ryou took a step towards him and placed a hand on Kek's arm. He glanced down at himself. "…I mean, I get the separate bodies bit, but … Marik?"

Kek's grin, if it was possible, stretched even wider. "He's gone back to the way he was before Battle City."

"What are you saying?" Marik frowned suspiciously.

Kek burst out laughing. "I mean, little mind-whore, that you've just lost two years' worth of memories!"

Marik's eyes widened. He turned to look at Ryou, and then at Bakura, confusion etching into the usual commanding tone of his voice. "Is that true?"

Ryou looked to Bakura, who was still standing as tense as a coiled spring. Bakura clenched his fists and glared at Kek, who merely smirked back at him.

Marik shook his head and took three steps forward, grasping Kek's shirt and shaking. "I don't know what you did to me, but you'd better undo it right now."

"No chance." Kek slipped back out of Marik's grip as easily as a giant shaking off a flea. "I've finally got my own body – now I'm going to use it."

"Get the fuck back here," Bakura finally growled.

"Nope." Kek strode on towards the door, turning to give a mock-salute in Kek's direction. "Have fun with that pathetic little soul whose body I used to own."

"Excuse me?" Marik's tone was vaguely horrified.

Kek burst into manic laughter again as he turned towards the door. Before he left, though, he reached over and grabbed Ryou's much-smaller body, scooping him up and into his arms.

Ryou gave a muffled squeak.

"We'll be leaving you now." Kek's grin could have split his face in half. "Thanks for your services, Ring Spirit. Your host is mine now. Don't come after us." Without another word, he shifted Ryou in his arms and moved towards the door.

Ryou didn't look too upset about the situation.

"Get the fuck back here!" Bakura repeated, running to the door with a low, dangerous growl, but it was already shut. He turned around slowly to find himself face-to-face with Marik. Bakura's stomach flipped. He wanted to be ecstatic – he had done it, Kek was gone from Marik's body and Marik had full control back again. He wanted Marik to be grateful, to be leaping at him and smothering him with kisses, surrounding him with the warmth and affection he had grown so accustomed to. He didn't want … this. This angry glare surrounded by suspicious violet eyes, this stubborn, jutting jawline and tense, unhappy frame.

Bakura did not want this.

"…Alright," Marik finally said, casting a quick glance around the room before his angry violet gaze settled on Bakura. "I want you to tell me just what the actual fuck is going on."

As soon as they were out of Bakura and Marik's small apartment, Ryou wriggled a little in Kek's grip. His body was still sore and aching from all the wounds Kek had inflicted on him earlier. It was typical that Bakura was the one to get a perfect, unharmed body, and leave Ryou with all the pain he had caused. Not that Ryou was complaining too much. For the first time since he had put that blasted Ring around his neck, his mind was solely his one more.

Ryou felt freer than he had in a long, long time.

With his eyes wide as he adjusted to having a body that was solely his once more, it took a while for Ryou to realise that they had left the apartment building and were now striding down the streets. Needless to say, they were attracting some very odd stares from the people around them.

Ryou shifted in Kek's arms and gave a tentative cough. "Um…"

"What is it?" Kek paused in his long, purposeful stride to glance down at Ryou, one brow quirked.

Ryou smiled slightly. "You might want to put me down."

"Why would I want to do that?" Kek blinked, looking honestly confused. His grip was tight around Ryou's small, damaged body. "I can't have you running off."

"I'm not going to run off," Ryou explained patiently.

Kek's eyes narrowed.

"Honestly." Ryou shifted again, turning his head to look at the various people beginning to pause in the street to watch them. They mustn't be used to seeing a tall, terrifying man in a long purple cloak carrying a small, limp, bloodied body through the streets.

Ryou could probably pass it off as a magic trick if he had to.

Kek was still frowning suspiciously at Ryou, so Ryou sat up a bit and lightly touched Kek's cheek. "Do you trust me?"

"I don't trust anyone." Kek's dark voice rumbled, as if it contained all the shadows within it.

"Really?" Ryou frowned, his brown eyes trained straight on Kek's face. "After I got you your own body?"

Kek's dark purple eyes narrowed.

"I promised I would get Marik out," Ryou reminded Kek gently, "And I have."

Kek scowled. "That doesn't mean you aren't going to run off."

"I promise I won't." Ryou shot another glance at the crowds surrounding them, chewing his inner cheek. He knew he had to be careful – Kek was essentially the darkness unleashed, and with a newfound body. The potential to wreak havoc was obvious.

Kek hesitated.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Ryou turned to look at Kek again, keeping his gaze cool.

Kek remained silent, but his lips pursed.

"I know this city," Ryou continued in his soft, persuasive voice. "I know where to go."

Kek hesitated only a moment longer before he bent and placed Ryou back on his feet. However, one large palm landed firmly on Ryou's shoulder, and Kek murmured in his ear, "I'm still not letting you go."

"That's fine." Ryou smiled, wobbling a little as he got used to having solid ground under his feet again. His back still smarted, his throat bleeding from the wounds of the Rod. He swallowed thickly. "We can go to my old apartment. The one that was mine before Bakura moved me in with Marik."

Kek's low voice rumbled as Ryou began to lead him through the streets. "He didn't ask you first?"

"He never asked me anything," Ryou snorted. "He just stole my life."

Kek tightened his grip on Ryou's shoulder, a low growl leaving his lips. "Just like Marik stole mine."

"Yes. Just like Marik stole yours." Ryou glanced sidelong at Kek, his mouth quirking upwards just a bit. "Not any more, though."

Kek blinked. He stared down at Ryou, and for a second, those dark violet eyes looked lost. "But what do we do now?"

"Anything." Ryou grinned. "We can do anything we want."

It didn't take long for Kek's mouth to stretch into a wide grin, too.

I'm sorry this took so long. Truly. There is more to this story too, and I'll try to suck less at updating. I don't deserve those lovely reviews you gave me, or your patience with my slow sucky writing. Thanks so much to anyone still reading . - Jem