'The Pharaoh is here, all rise.' Came a loud voice, men, women, children stood from their seats, clapping, cheering, full of joy.
Festivities were in the air, he could feel the gold jewellery heavy on his body. His crown resting neatly in his hair. The picture of elegance, a God. The sun was shining, warm. A perfect day for this address.
'My people, thank you for your kind welcome. Please, enjoy the celebration of Ra, eat, drink and be merry! The time of worship is upon us, remember our glorious God, and be thankful for all that we have' He heard the words come out of his mouth, a smile caressing his tanned features, this was how life should be like. Respected, and loved by all.
Suddenly, the sky turned grey, shadows touched the sandstone, the crowd did not stop celebrating, but he could feel...sense something different. The vision, his kingdom vanished before him, piece by piece disappearing from his sight, before he was left alone, in the darkness.
'What Sorcery is this? What is happening?!' He could hear his voice, anger, terror, he could feel the emotions, but the body...was not his own.
'You enjoy this power~' A soft hiss came from the darkness, echoing around him.
'You wish for more, do you not? The Puzzle, find the Puzzle, it belongs to the true King of Egypt. That is you, it is so obvious you are the rightful leader? Someone who deserves to sit on the throne, not only Egypt, the world. Imagine what you could do, people would cheer your way, celebrate your existence. You, deserve it all'
'Who goes there?!' Yami stepped towards the voice, he would not show fear, he would not, he was the great Pharaoh of Egypt, a God, no one could hurt him.
'Why, I am you. You were born from the Puzzle, from the shadows that lurk inside. The Great Pharaoh, Atemu takes that title, but you know it rightly belongs to you. A being of pure shadow-magic, of pure wonder and myth. You deserve the world, my Pharaoh' The echo returned, haunting his thoughts, his vision clouded.
'Just think of the joy you could bring those you love. The protection and the wealth you could offer. Everyone would bow before you, do you not think so?' An image of him, striding through a palace of marble, people bowing before him, the Thief, Atemu, Kaiba collapsing to the ground when he walked past. Such power he would hold, and Yuugi. The vision turned to Yuugi, at the end of the hall, smiling, happy. All for himself. Covering him with kisses, he could protect him.
'All you need to do, is get the Puzzle, give in to the magic inside, and you could be a King, a God. Let the shadows in, let them take control.'
Suddenly, he was whisked back to that moment, with Ishizu and Atemu, the Puzzle drawing him towards it. He had a sudden craving for it, he wanted it back. They couldn't protect it like he could, they couldn't get the power from it, like he could. He would be King again, King of shadows, and mortals. The perfect person to rule, no one deserved the power like he did, not Atemu, not anyone.
With a gasp he shot up from the bed, no, no what was he thinking? The lure of the Puzzle, why did he crave it's power? He did not want to be a Pharaoh, he didn't want to rule over all, that wasn't him. Not any more, Atemu was the one who ruled long ago, and he had enjoyed his time as the King of Games in this world, but...he was happy now, and settled.
He scanned the dark room, noticing Yuugi, and Atemu both fast asleep in their respected beds. He sighed and pushed himself up carefully, slipping out of the room. Yuugi had been stressed over losing Ryou, they had finally managed to get him to fall asleep regularly, he had been refusing to eat and sleep, spending every waking moment trying to find him. Tea was a mess as well, constantly fretting and cleaning, making tea and worrying. The kidnapping had taken its toll on all of them, but he just didn't feel it. Even Atemu was different, cursing regularly, getting irritated easily. Ryou calmed them all down, but he just, didn't seem to care.
...why did he want the Puzzle? Seeing it had caused him to think about it again. True he hadn't thought about it since he arrived, the gold object hanging around his neck...why hadn't it entered his mind. But now, it was all he could think about. He touched the place it used to sit, on his chest, frowning softly. The longing was there, the urge to regain the power, that was once his to control.
With a sigh he ran his fingers through spiked hair, before rubbing the back of his neck.
"Can't sleep?" The soft voice startled him, and he turned to see Atemu standing in the door. His doppelgänger. Identical in so many ways, apart from the difference in skin colour. And in voice. Yami had Yuugi's accent, and a slightly deeper, coarser voice. Atemu's was heavily accented, different than expected.
"Nothing gets past you, hmm? Yes, I have been having problems sleeping. Nightmares"
Atemu placed a hand on his shoulder, giving a soft smile.
"Do you wish to talk about it? We both witnessed what happened with the Puzzle...though you have no recollection? Something is wrong, it does not react to me any more, though I still have my shadow-magic. It seemed to react far too well to you. Something is wrong with the items." Yami nodded, frowning heavily. It was true, he could sense a disturbance in all of them, none so much as the Puzzle however.
"You said the magic had vanished from them...a couple of months ago? That does not seem to be the case. It seems to have...shifted. I am not sure I understand it myself, before we could tell the alignment. It was obvious they were powerful, but they could be controlled. Now, it is like they have a mind of their own. I am not sure what has happened, or if it was always like that. But...there is definitely something wrong. I wish to go back and study them."
"But you saw how the Puzzle reacted around you. You could be lost to us. Yuugi has already lost Ryou, I am not sure he could handle losing you as well."
Yami rolled his eyes, giving a soft smirk.
"We both know he is closer to you Yami, do not try to kid yourself. You have seen the way he looks at you just as much as I have. It is obvious, Yuugi may have matured, but he is still not very good at hiding his feelings." Yami snorted at that, and nodded.
"He never has been, ah. He is so innocent sometimes it surprises me all that we have been through together. Yes, yes you are right Atemu. I ask you then, would you check on the items again? I can sense something is wrong. But, well not only can I not get close, but...to be honest with you I have been wanting the Puzzle back. Not that I planned to take it obviously, I would never do that. But this...urge, the desire to feel it's power once more. It feels like it is trying to change my alignment. I would never betray you all, you understand that. Just...I want to feel it against my chest once more, hold it's power. Keep it safe."
Atemu frowned, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Well, something has definitely shifted then. We will have to research it more. I mean there is no way this can just be a coincidence. Come on, you should rest. We will have to look at this more in the morning." The other nodded, moving to climb back up the stairs.
"Thank you for listening Atemu, it does help having someone to discuss with these things, that is not Yuugi. I mean I care for him and all, but he is already so worried about his friend, I could not bring extra stress onto him. He would probably collapse."
The hand was placed on his shoulder once more, and Atemu gave a kind smile.
"Of course, we were once the same person many years ago. Helping each other should come naturally to us. Besides, I consider you a brother. The situation kind of helps with that obviously" Yami chuckled softly, and nodded.
"Yes, thank you though Atemu, I really mean it. It helps"
-x-
The house was woken up early on a Sunday morning to the phone ringing, well multiple phones ringing. Tea managed to grab hers first, groaning quietly to herself.
"Tea? I am so sorry to bother you this early. It is the items, they have gone missing" Ishizu's voice sounded panicked, and close to tears.
"Wow what? Wait Ishizu, the items? Are you alright?" She shot up, moving to knock on Yuugi's door, not surprised to see him already standing there.
"Y...yes I...I am fine. Marik's dark half, he...he just scares me so much."
"You saw him? Ishizu are you all right? What did he do to you?!" Atemu's eyes furrowed into a glare, and Yami was already grabbing his coat.
"N...nothing too bad, just...a few bruises. He had Marik with him. Oh Tea...he...he looks terrible, I...I couldn't even protect my brother." She was so close to crying, Tea frowned.
"We're on our way, you are at the Museum, yes?" Soft sobs on the other end caused her to frown further. Poor Ishizu.
"S...Sorry, yes...yes I am here. Thank you Tea"
By the time she got off the phone, everyone was awake, and surrounding Yuugi's door. Tea gave a soft sigh, putting the phone down.
"Marik's dark-half stole the items, Ishizu is hurt, she says not too badly, but I don't believe that. Apparently Marik was with him, and looking awful. We need to go to the Museum, now."
Yami nodded, running down the stairs.
"Come on then, we cannot leave her alone to suffer anyway. Poor Ishizu. We need to show our support. I cannot believe he would do that to her. He must be planning something with the items. Now he has them, he will not wish to give them up."
They arrived at the museum rather quickly, the place was closed, but Tea used her key card to get in, dashing to Ishizu's office. The woman was covered in bruises, her wrists looked the worst, her clothes were in ruins.
"Ishizu?!" Tea ran up to her, kneeling beside her.
"Oh...forgive me for being like this, and in this state. I apologize my Pharaoh" She nodded her head to Atemu, who shook his own head.
"Oh no, do not apologize to me. Are you alright? Please, never worry about my opinion Ishizu. Not when you are in this state." He gripped one of her hands.
"Me and Joey can run to your place and get you some things if you want Ishizu" Duke offered. Ishizu smiled softly, before sighing.
"I do not wish to trouble you any more, but that would be wonderful. Thank you so much for your generosity, and thank you all for coming here so quickly. He is...he is far more powerful than I gave him credit for...and far more monstrous. Forgive me if I do not speak of the...the cruel acts he did. I would rather not wish to remember them"
"Oh no, Ishizu I'm so sorry. I wish we could do more to help" Tea frowned. Tristan gave a soft snarl.
"He shouldn't be going around hurting people! Oh I just want to cave his face in. How dare he." Ishizu shook her head, smiling.
"Again, thank you for your emotion, I know it means well. But Marik's dark-side has always been malicious. Luckily enough in Marik he had some restraint. Now he has his own body, and powers beyond which I expected...who knows what he is planning. But it will involve you my Pharaoh, maybe all of you. You must keep safe"
Yuugi then came in through the door, bottles of water and some food from the nearby vending machines.
"I'm sorry it is not the most substantial food, but this will help Ishizu, how long have you been like this for?"
Ishizu looked at the clock, before sighing.
"I am not sure. I came in to the office because I had some work to do, and I tend to work better during the early mornings. Well of course beforehand, I had the strangest urge to check on the items. Just...a feeling you know? Anyway, so I heard a noise, looked in and there he was. Well both of them. Marik must have said something to anger him, as well...I witnessed him being thrown quite harshly against a wall. Then the demon noticed me...and...and" She stifled a sob, and Tea couldn't help but rub her shoulder comforting.
"It is okay Ishizu, you do not have to tell us any more if you don't want to. Just, relax. We're here now. Though you should really see a doctor, these bruises are...awful"
Ishizu shook her head quickly, giving another soft smile.
"Thank you again for your concern, but I would rather not be asked a lot of questions about my condition. No bones are broken, I am okay, they are wounds that will heal. I just...I wish I could have done more. I feel so weak, and helpless. He just, caused me to freeze. I have not seen him since...since well the Battle City Finals. But then I had the necklace protecting me. So I was not too worried. He...he is so unpredictable now, without my ability. I just...I am terrified of him"
"Mind if we go check the room where the items were, Tristan, would you mind checking the security footage? We could get a good idea of what he looks like, and how Marik is. Maybe he says something?" Tristan nodded, and Ishizu told him where it would be. Atemu, Yami and Yuugi went to the Item room, Yuugi following behind them quickly.
"Marik's dark half is going to be causing a lot more problems for us, is he not?" Yuugi sighed, rubbing an arm.
"Poor Ishizu, I wish we were here to help her. I feel...I feel so useless. We are no closer to finding out where they are, and here he is, hurting our friends, and stealing...something bad is going to happen, I just know it." Atemu groaned, walking into the room with the items. It was barren, all the items had been taken. He examined the cases, Yuugi scanned the walls and Yami sighed.
"There is no way to know what to look for. I can sense they are not here any more, but that is nothing we already know. If only we had been here sooner!"
Atemu frowned, glancing over to Yami.
"But we were not, and we cannot change the past my friend. You know that as well as I do. We need to find any evidence we can to trace Marik's dark half back to the hole he is hiding."
"Well I am not sure about that evidence, but this blood could be an indication of something" Yuugi frowned, pointing to the glass case that had been smashed.
"Of course, Marik's dark half is not a spirit any more, he is just as mortal as me and Yami. Well that helps, it shows he can be hurt just like the rest of us, though I doubt that would stop him."
They heard footsteps, and Tristan came dashing in.
"You...You guys gotta see this" He panted, obviously out of breathe, Atemu looked to Yuugi and Yami, before they followed him to the security room. The video was paused on a picture of Marik and his dark half.
Tristan played the video, they watched as the two entered the room, Marik being dragged rather forcefully in.
"See, this was far easier than expected. I was thinking Bakura was exaggerating when he said it would be rather difficult to break in, those guards were nothing" Tristan paused it, pointing to another screen, where three security guards lay, blood surrounding them.
"Oh no, those poor men" Yuugi whispered.
The video started playing once more, and they could see Tristan visibly wince at what was coming.
"Malik, please, just stop this. Come on" Marik whispered, and Malik grabbed him by the back of the neck, slamming him roughly against one of the cases, causing it to break.
"Look at that Marik, you are of some use after all. I knew it would be a good idea to bring you" He sneered cruelly. Marik groaned in pain, collapsing to the ground.
"Oh stop overreacting, it is not that bad." Malik started grabbing the items, storing them away, before he noticed the Millennium Rod start glowing. Malik frowned, grabbing it from his coat, before wincing in pain, dropping it to the ground.
"What the hell?! It must have a reaction to all the other items being in the room. Ugh this makes things complicated, they're already rather unstable." He lifted a piece of paper from another part of his coat pocket, muttering quietly to himself, an incantation. Marik pushed himself up shakily, using the wall as support.
The items seemed to glow blue for a split second, Tristan paused it, and Yami and Atemu looked curiously.
"So, he must have a reaction to his item as well. See he was fine when it was away from the other items. They must be unstable together, and he has found a way to deal with that" Yami frowned.
Atemu nodded.
"After all, it would not make sense you the only one getting a reaction from it. Maybe the Spirit of the Ring is suffering the same problem? Because Marik did not seem affected, like me. While Marik's dark half was immediately drawn to them. Though that could be possibly because he has a goal in mind."
Tristan continued the video, and they watched as Marik said something else, to taunt Malik. Malik got angry, and slammed him against the wall, just as Ishizu stepped in. Yami took the chance to grab Yuugi, leading him out of the room.
"We do not wish to see what happens to her. You know that as well as I do. We shall let Atemu watch it" Tristan stepped out moments later.
"I'm sorry guys, I can't. I feel awful for Ishizu." Yuugi gave a soft smile, patting Tristan's arm.
"It's okay, no one wants to see their friend in such an awful state. Poor Ishizu"
Atemu called them back in when it was over, and Tristan stopped the video. Atemu turned to Yuugi and Yami.
"So, we know the items can be controlled, and Marik's dark half knows how to do it. We need to find out how he is managing to control them, and where he has taken them. He could not have gone that far, with so many items, as well as Marik being difficult. There's still some fight in him, which is wonderful. It means his spirit is not broken yet, and it means Ryou could be doing alright as well. However, we do not know if the Spirit of the Ring and Marik's dark half are truly working together, or just helping one another for this...whatever they are planning."
Tristan rubbed his neck.
"If I were a crazy evil person, I'd hide somewhere in the city, unnoticed. I mean in a down town area, but close enough to get to places without causing much fuss" Yami nodded, smiling at Tristan.
"We should be able to find him. They're not that smart" Tristan chuckled and gave a thumbs up and a wink.
"No doubt about it, I'm sure it wont take long."
When they came back through into Ishizu's office, they noticed Ishizu in new clothes, and talking with the others.
"Right, so we have figured out, Marik's dark-half has a way to control the items-!" Atemu stopped as Yami stepped forward.
"Sorry Atemu, I have just had an idea." Atemu shrugged and nodded his head, and Yami continued.
"I am drawn to the Puzzle, a lot more now than previously. Let's get that out of the way first. I am not sure why, me and Atemu are still trying to figure that out. They have the Puzzle. If...I am drawn to it, I should be able to track it down, correct?"
Atemu gave a smirk, and Yuugi's eyes lit up.
"We can find Marik and Ryou?" He smiled, they all turned to each other, smiles on their faces. Yami nodded.
"But, we need a plan, no doubt Marik's dark half has this...'base of operations' well guarded, remember he has the Rod, so that means he could have his mind slaves back as well. We do not wish to bring harm to innocent people." Yuugi frowned, and the others nodded. Tea gave a shudder.
"I would hate to be like that again, wouldn't you Joey? It was...weird"
Joey shrugged.
"Yeah, it certainly wasn't good. I still have nightmares where I'm not in control of my own body. Well, we can think of a plan now. Let's make sure we're all working together. That way they wont get the best of us!"
"Of course Joey, we work best as a team, remember?" Yami smirked.
"There is no way they can beat us now."