Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Rewind 1 ❯ Codename: Omega ( Chapter 18 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: Nehti

Betrayal, fear, pain, jealousy, deception, love. In the dark corridors of Kuru Eruna, where one only has the darkness as a companion, one is left to unravel buried mysteries alone.

Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 12.06.2005 | Pages: 29 | Words: 37.5K | Visits: 235 | Status: Completed

Well, people, I gotta say…This chappy is full of explanations and solving of mysteries, but also packed with sentimental romance stuff. So be prepared, fearless leaders, to face the ultimate trial.

Notice how Serenity's character is developing through the chapters (her change will be more pronounced in later chapters). Note how her character is when she is with Ryou, and how she develops when she stands alone. I think her character is much more interesting than it was in the beginning of the story!!

I think all characters have developed, actually, even the scorned Tea, Ryou and Hikari Yugi. If you really think about it, they're all better people than when they started off.

I hope you enjoy this chappy! More authors notes in the end of the page!!

At first, Bakura thought Marik had just been startled when he saw Ishrat hovering above them. But when minutes passed and Marik cowered behind him even more, Bakura started to worry. Marik had been acting strange, in all possible points of view, there was no denying it. Bakura had assumed it was natural to be shaken after just being extensively tortured by the Rod, but Marik was acting strangely in general.

First of all, there where those weird things he'd said before Bakura kissed him. Clones. Replicas. Memories. What the hell was this all about? Bakura didn't' understand a thing out of what Marik had been saying, but honestly hadn't cared either, at the time Now, however, when he saw Marik hiding from Ishrat - the blond bearded man above them- Bakura realized there was more to this situation than he could possibly know of.

Something had transpired when the Rod had fallen on Marik. Something that had to do with enveloping the blond in a wave of electricity…Seeing Marik's sudden, unexplainable fear of Ishrat the elder, Bakura witnessed the full extent that this…change had had on Marik. Oh he was still Marik, all right. Only he was a vastly more inhibited, terrified Marik.

But Marik was by no means a coward, and Bakura knew that. He wasn't inhibited either, as the sultry seduction techniques proved. Therefore…what the hell had happened to scare Marik out of his wits and disorientate him enough, so as to make him so…afraid of Ishrat? Well, all right, Ishrat was pretty creepy. As was the rest of Kuru Eruna. But, come on…spookiness had never scared Marik before! It must have been something else.

Something Bakura would have to find out.

Right now wasn't the time for careful deliberation, however, seeing as Ishrat was still standing in front of them, a crazed look on his face, which was illuminated by the light-chip. Inwardly, Bakura smiled at one of his thoughts. Ishrat couldn't possibly harm them. If he tried to fight them in physical combat, Bakura and Marik -assuming he'd be not too afraid to help- could take him down fairly easily. He was an older man, after all, and Bakura, whose strength was recovered from before- was much more powerful than he.

The best part of this was that Ishrat couldn't use the notorious Rod against them either, since the specific instrument was safely tucked through the belt of Bakura's black trousers. Bakura had been inconspicuous enough as he'd picked it up from the floor when Serenity had shoved Marik away from it. Bakura had carried Marik away, of course, but not before he stealthily hid the Rod in his clothes, with the agility of a long-trained thief, or a feline.

Therefore, nobody knew where the mysterious Rod was, and Bakura would not reveal he had it unless it proved absolutely necessary. If Ishrat tried to attack him mentally, for example. Of course, Bakura had realized soon enough that he could not use the Rod himself. When he'd taken it in his hands, he'd felt none of the electricity that had hit Marik. Bakura couldn't use it himself…but Marik -and everyone who looked like him, in this weird place- could.

Thus, Bakura just stayed put, watching the other carefully as though expecting an offensive move at any moment. At the feeling of Marik's arms tightening around him, his frown towards Ishrat deepened, daring the man to even so much as think of attacking them. If he tried to get to Marik, Bakura would slit his throat in an instant. With his bare hands.

Ishrat seemed to be enjoying Marik's torture thoroughly, smiling down at the tanned boy with a satisfied sneer of unconcealed derisiveness. Bakura's glare sharpened even more.

“So, then. The reaction really did take place. I was worried something like this could happen if you came in direct contact with the Rod…” Ishrat told Marik in what could have been considered a regretful tone “I should have bee more careful.”

Marik glared from behind his silver haven “You should have.”

Ishrat's right eye twitched a bit in aggravation. Bakura realized they were talking about things he didn't know, and that irritated him thoroughly.

“So, now you know.” Ishrat concluded, giving Marik a weighing look, as though judging from appearance how dangerous the blond was. “Pity. I would have preferred you ignorant, but the fact that you remember doesn't make you less helpless, you realize.” The man warned.

Bakura's trail of murderous thoughts suddenly paused, getting a very ominous feeling “You…remember?” he turned to Marik, asking him in disbelief. “You got you memory back?”

Marik nodded slowly, leveling his eyes with Bakura's “Yes,” he answered, in a ragged voice “All of it.”

Bakura made an expression of half-surprise, half-disbelief “How?”

Marik opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by Ishrat, who'd come a significant amount of space closer when they weren't looking, Bakura unpleasantly noted. “How do you think?” he asked rhetorically, his wild lilac eyes flashing.

Bakura lowered his eyes to the floor, thinking. The suspicion that had been lying in his mind all along resurfaced “The Rod.” He said in a voice that betrayed his sudden enlightening.

“Of course it's the Rod, you ignoramus! How could it not be?” Ishrat now said, obviously annoyed at Bakura's apparent slowness “I was stupid enough to Initiate him while he still had his memory intact!! His mind and the Rod synchronized, like it's supposed to happen, only he had a memory anomaly all along, and his faulty memory was recorded into the Rod! It would be natural that his brainpower would instigate the exchange of memory, once being touched by the Rod!!” Ishrat explained everything in one breath, obviously tired of this silly game of twenty questions. He wanted to be done with this as soon as possible.

“Initiate him?” Bakura asked, his red eyes now narrowed to slits. He didn't like the concept of this `initiation' thing one bit. “What the hell does that mean?”

Ishrat rolled his eyes, not even bothering with Bakura's question and ignoring the albino completely. Instead he turned to Marik “Give me the Rod.” He simply ordered. Marik noticed some sort of force trying to break its way through his mind, and smirked, temporarily forgetting his fear, in the face of Ishrat's weakness.

“Are you kidding me?” he asked a flabbergasted Ishrat. Marik didn't even bother hiding is snort “You'll have to try a little harder than that.” He said, referring to Ishrat's fruitless efforts to manipulate his mind. “You're nothing without the Rod. Are you?” he reveled at this new discovery. Maybe the man he feared was not all-powerful, after all…

Ishrat seemed sufficiently irate for Marik's taste, and the boy was particularly glad to see he had struck below the belt. Apparently this was what could set Ishrat off. Besides, Marik didn't even have the Rod on the first place, but he wasn't going to tell Ishrat that. He'd just keep on playing this game, not relinquishing control until there was no other choice.

Marik felt the slight nuisance in his brain intensifying slightly, trying to break through, but he completely ignored it. He turned to Ishrat, noticing a vein throbbing on the man's brow. He must have been trying with all his might to break Marik's defenses. Too bad Marik couldn't feel a thing, except maybe a slight sting.

Bakura, who'd been watching the strange faces and listening to the words, had long ago realized that what was being said in this place was much less important that what was not being said. Therefore, he observed the commotion- offensive faces included- and caught on pretty soon. It was a mental battle.

Ha! But…could Ishrat focus both on his brainpower, and his body? Bakura was resolved to find out. Besides, Marik didn't seem to be in vast trouble, and Bakura thought he'd better get rid of Ishrat before the man noticed him and manipulated him into handing over the Rod- which Marik still didn't know he held.

Therefore, Bakura wasted absolutely no time. Seeing as Ishrat was absolutely engrossed in whatever he was doing with his brain, he wasn't at all focused on defending himself from physical blows. Therefore, it came as extremely easy for Bakura to jump out of Marik's embrace -startling Marik in the process- and proceed to literally pummel Ishrat to the ground. Ishrat, who hadn't even realized what was going on during the first blows, but was now completely aware of Bakura's fists throttling his ribs. Repeatedly.

Marik wasn't extremely distracted by the mental battle, so when Bakura suddenly jumped away from him, he instantly realized what was going on. Ishrat, now groaning painfully and cursing, was trying with all his might to escape Bakura's claws, while Marik kept watch from the side, unwilling to come closer to Ishrat than necessary- even when Bakura had practically knocked him out.

“Marik, you okay?” Bakura shouted over Ishrat's cursing, trying to get through to Marik, who reassured him with an affirmative. Bakura had not been very careful, though, and Ishrat finally succeeded in shoving him away, forcing the albino to fall backwards on the floor with his rear. Marik immediately shot up, standing over the commotion and preparing to help Bakura, despite his trembling knees.

Bakura, not one to give up so easily, made for Ishrat yet again, but the older man had already rolled to the side. Thus, Bakura's knee cap- which had been intended to pulverize Ishrat's head- hit the floor. Cursing, Bakura turned to the side, only to see Ishrat crouching on the floor, watching him with a heated glare in his eyes. Nursing his bloody jaw, Ishrat turned to Marik and narrowed his lilac orbs even more, their glow turning from malicious to homicidal.

“Mark my words, boy. This isn't over yet!” and with those words, the light-chip was extinguished and Bakura and Marik's eyes were suddenly blinded by a thick smoke. They both covered their noses and tried to grope for each other in the resumed darkness. Finally, Bakura caught a solid hold of what he could only assume was Marik's shoulder and held on tight. After a lot of coughing and cursing, the smoke finally dissipated, leaving behind it a black void where Ishrat had been.

“Is he gone?” Marik simply asked, not knowing whether to be glad his nemesis had left, or sad that the archenemy hadn't been killed. At least not yet. Because Marik's resumed courage had optimistic plans for the future…

“Yeah…one of those smoke devices, I guess” Bakura said in an annoyed voice, referring to smoke-chips, which can unleash great amounts of misty smoke when handled properly, as he'd discovered in Mercury, during their escape from KaibaCorp.

The shouts of their friends from far away broke through the disappointed silence that had fallen between them. Disappointed because, once again, they'd lost their chance to spend a few private moments and because they hadn't managed to get anything else out of Ishrat.

“Um…we better go…” Marik advised, not really knowing how to act, now that all these things had happened to him one after the other. First the torture with the Rod, then his returned memories, then the temporary insanity which nearly caused him to kill all his friends- and especially Bakura…- and know the feverish feelings about the albino…

He wanted to kiss Bakura again, and be with him alone, for once…But, for some reason, he got the feeling that before this ordeal was over, they wouldn't have their craved private moments. Besides, even after this was over, Ryou would probably want to go live somewhere far away with Serenity and Marik would have to be separated from Bakura…unless he asked Ryou to give him the Ring, but still…it wouldn't be the same.

Unless…there was that slim possibility…from what he had been told…maybe there was a body somewhere…the body from his memories…but, no. That was too risky…he couldn't place his hopes on that.

“Yeah.,..” Bakura's seemingly distracted voice answered. Maybe this had been a one-time kind of thing? Maybe Marik had thought of it only as a couple of gropes in the dark, some kissing, and that was it? Maybe…this was all Bakura would ever get. He didn't really know, but under these circumstances, shouldn't Marik be…closer to him…after what they'd just done? But this was all so confusing, and Bakura was never good with words, so…

Dragging their feet on the ground, both of them walked heavily, thinking of all the things weighing them down, and all the reasons why their relationship…attraction…thing couldn't possibly work. They walked down the narrow corridor until they saw the soft blue light of the main hall breaking through the darkness in the far front. They both knew that once they stepped back in the light, they'd have to start hiding again. The things they thought and did with each other were dangerous in the eyes of others…They were wrong in front of Serena, who loved Ryou with all her heart; wrong in front of Tea and Yugi, who'd never be able to understand this sentimental intensity. Once in the light, they would be washed and cleansed of their sinful realities, and forced to go back to the adventure. Back to the goose chase.

Marik felt Bakura's body heat, and realized that Bakura must have come closer. The tanned youth wanted to force himself to believe it was because the corridor was too narrow, but…he couldn't stop himself from reaching out suddenly and grabbing Bakura's hand. The albino's comforting presence had been too tantalizing beside him, and Marik had been so alone for so long. The mere thought of losing Bakura drove him insane. He squeezed the hand in his palm and felt Bakura squeeze back. Marik smiled in the darkness. True, the light would force them apart, eventually…but the dark could still shade them, when no one was looking.

Bakura's heart was overloading with blood, his head suddenly airy and high. It was stupid, he knew. Too stupid. Too mushy for a man-demon of his prestige. He always sneered at the mushiness of simple holding hands. But…it was proof. Proof that it hadn't all been a fling. Unthinking, he pulled up Marik's hand and kissed the back of it, hoping Marik hadn't noticed that his stupid lips were shaped in a -completely stupid- smile as he kissed it. Marik let out a sigh, which reverberated strangely in Bakura's own lungs.

The albino looked forward, in the approaching light, and felt his heart become heavy. He made sure to decrease their walking pace, trying to enjoy as much of this as possible. When they were out of the dark, they'd have to stop holding hands…they'd have to stop sighing dreamily and smiling completely stupidly. Bakura noticed that Marik had willingly slowed his pace too, but didn't once think to mention it, being too absorbed in his -stupid- thoughts of somehow locking Marik in his dark, dark ring, where light never shone.

Serenity was this close to plucking her, admittedly wonderfully shiny, hair out. Marik's clone twin brother- or whatever the heck he was, apart from the leader of the Rare Hunters- had recovered from the shock he'd received from Marik before. In fact, everyone had recovered. Yugi was fine, tended to by Tea, who was hugging him frantically, telling him how worried she'd been and asking him if he was okay. The Rare Hunters had come to their senses as well, including a strangely expressionless Kaiba. Man, didn't this guy ever show anything on his arrogant face? Serenity saw the GOULS, or infamous Rare Hunters stand up, and like zombies walk around blindly, as though waiting for orders. All except Kaiba, who just stood in the corner of the room, seemingly observing the situation. But if one looked closely, like Serenity did, one would notice his eyes were not moving at all, as though he was frozen.

Unbidden, Serenity's eyes slipped to Joey -the brother she'd been longing to reunite with all these years- only to see his hardened face stare blankly at the distance, his strange eyes devoid of all emotion. This wasn't the person she remembered…he wasn't the man she'd missed and dreamed of. He looked different, apart from the zombie conduct. He was taller than she remembered- although he'd always seemed extremely tall to her younger self- and more calloused. His face, always joyful and bright, was weighed down by the troubles of adult life. Dark circles around his eyes betrayed his problems, and his awkwardly twisted arm- courtesy of Bakura- had been broken.

Strange, that Joey didn't even seem to care about it, save for the occasional flinch of pain. When the Leader finally recovered from his lying stance on the floor, Serenity motioned for Tea and Yugi to keep their eyes open. The man, who resembled Marik extremely to the last blond hair, took his head in his hands, applied a little pressure, shook his shoulders, as though recovering from goose-bumps, and stood up. Serenity noticed there was a huge red blotch staining the back of his black shirt. How she could see the blood through the black shirt, you ask? Perhaps because it was also staining the better part of his beige trousers.

He started to consciously take in the surroundings- including his GOULS, who were aimlessly walking around-, and when his slightly demented glare reached Serenity and her friends, she sincerely hoped Marik and Bakura would be here soon, wherever those two idiots had left to.

The Leader took a step forwards, making Serenity and Tea draw back, while Yugi stayed put. Interested at Yugi's conduct, the Leader eyed him carefully and once again, Serenity was amazed at how much this guy resembled Marik, especially when he wasn't acting all paranoid and cruel.

“Tell me where he is, and I won't hurt you” the man said with a flawless replica of Marik's voice. The Game King didn't seem to respond directly, but his eyes kept roaming around, as though weighing his predicament. This `Leader' had just threatened him and the girls…he obviously wanted to know where Marik was. But what Dark Yugi paid special attention to was that the Marik-look-alike wasn't holding the Rod in his hands. In fact, the Rare Hunters were still walking around guilelessly.

If this man could really hurt them, or at least take them hostage, or something…wouldn't he have already done it? For some reason, Yugi really thought this assumption was correct. Moreover, the all-powerful Rod was nowhere to be found…didn't that mean that this leader was crippled now, without his instrument of manipulation.

“How can you be so sure I know where he is?” Dark Yugi supposed it would be wise to stall for time, at least until Marik and Bakura returned. Since the Rod was nowhere to be seen, one could only assume they had taken it.

But the Leader did not speak, only unexpectedly lunged forward and grabbed Tea by her waist before Yugi or Serenity could react. Before Yugi could rationalize with the situation, he realized Tea was held hostage, the leader's -Marik's clone's- face leering at the girl held painfully in his arms.

“Don't play games with me, Atem! Tell me where the Rod is, or your pretty girlfriend gets it!” and with this, the leader brought out a pointy chip of some sort, which was hidden in his robes. He pointed the sharp edge at Tea's throat, exactly over the jugular. Yugi, who'd never seen such a device before, stared at it in confusion, making the leader smirk. Alarmed by this unexpected twist in the situation, Yugi's worried eyes turned to an absolutely terrified Tea, who was staring at him with tears in her wide eyes.

“Yugi…help…” she whimpered, and was immediately silenced by the leader's hurtful pressing the sharp chip against her throat.

“Tea!” Yugi desperately cried, then turned his enraged eyes to the leader “Let her go, you fiend!” he demanded.

“Not until you tell me where the Rod is” the Leader snapped back, watching Dark Yugi's pupils dilate in fear about his beloved's well-being.

“I…I don't know!” Yugi honestly said, trying to keep his calm while hearing Tea's -and Serenity's- anguished cries.

The Leader snorted loudly, then pressed the chip even harder against the girl “Nice going, Emperor, but you'll have to do better than that. “ he concluded, then leaned in to lecherously whisper in horrified Tea's ears, making sure Yugi was watching the entire display.

“LET. HER. GO” Yugi know shouted, his eyes seeing absolute red at the harsh treatment of the cobalt-eyed girl.

“Tell me where to find it, and I'll let her go.” The leader egged again.

“Let her go and I'll tell you” Yugi bluffed this time, hoping for the best. But it wasn't enough to fool the other, apparently, since the leader started cracking up wildly.

“Honestly, Atem! Only you could be as thick as that!” he remarked amusedly.

“Why do you keep calling me that? What's with this place?” Yugi suddenly couldn't take the stupid name-calling anymore, and felt obliged to ask. Naturally, he did not receive an answer.

“I. WANT. THE. ROD.” The Leader said now, apparently having lost his patience. “Tell me where it is!” to punctuate his will, he pressed the pointy chip harder against Tea's throat, drawing an imperceptible amount of blood. Tea squealed helplessly and started wiggling like a dying fish in the leader's arms, trying to escape. But the man held her down, his eyes sparking daggers at a now terrified Yugi.

“WHERE IS IT, ATEM?” he demanded again, and Yugi thought that pointing the man to a random direction would be better than remaining silent and watching Tea faint.

“He went that way!!” Yugi pointed to a random dark arch, making the Leader turn and watch where the other was pointing. Then, he smirked at Yugi and turned his eyes meaningfully towards Tea. Yugi's eyes widened in horror, catching on immediately.

“You said you'd let her go!!!” he accused, not believing he actually fell victim to that ploy. Even if he hadn't revealed the real pathway, he still had believed the Leader would keep his word.

“Well,,,” the blond man started, laughing cruelly, his demented eyes flashing murderously “I lied.” He finished, and with a swift move assembled the sharp chip in his hand and buried it deep in the back of Tea's neck, not her throat.

“Ahhh!!!!” the girl screamed desperately for a few seconds, accompanied by the desperate “NOOOO!!!!” by Yugi. Serenity watched, absolutely horror-struck, as Tea stopped screaming suddenly and what seemed like electric sparks flew around her head. And then, the girl's blue eyes turned blank, and she stopped screaming all together.

Snorting, the leader finally let her go from the embrace of death, the sharp small chip still impaled at the back of her throat. Serenity's terrified realization was finally complete, when she saw Tea join the ranks of walking Rare Hunters.

“NO! TEA!!” Yugi wailed desperately, approaching the woman and trying to shake her shoulders to wake her up. But before he could touch her, Tea had already whirled around, blank eyes fathomless, and hit him savagely in the face. She was now untouchable. Just like the rest of them. Serenity couldn't believe she'd been so stupid that she had missed it. All of them had chips on their necks. All of them: her brother, Duke, Tristan, Mai…

It would be okay. Her brother wasn't gone forever. Serenity now knew: if she could remove those chips everyone would be back again.

“Tea…” Yugi desperately called, his voice heartbroken “Tea…” then, he turned viciously to where the leader had been standing “What have you done to her you fr-“ but the leader wasn't there any more. Serenity and Yugi both belatedly realized, they'd been paying too much attention to the Rare Hunters…that they hadn't seen the man run away- probably towards the direction Yugi had indicated as the way Marik and Bakura had gone with the Rod.

“Serenity!” Yugi's voice suddenly addressed her, and she quickly nodded “We have to take them out! We have to take the chips out, but how?” he asked her.

“I don't know…” she thoughtfully said “It seems easy, but when we try to approach them..,” she thoughtfully let it trail on.

“They'll automatically fend us off.” Yugi concluded for her. As Serena watched the walking mind slaves rotate around the room, her eyes fell unbidden upon Kaiba, who was still standing motionlessly on the side. `I wonder if he has a chip on his neck too…' Serenity thought suspiciously, reassuring once more that Kaiba- though a mind slave too, apparently- didn't behave like the rest of them. There was something about him…something very, very strange going on with him…

“Hey, guys! So what did we miss?” was heard a familiar, strangely joyful voice suddenly. Both a startled Serena and an outraged Yugi turned just in time to see Marik and -who else?- Bakura walk out of a dark alcove. Serenity narrowed her eyes in confusion. Well, that was weird. She'd…never remembered seeing Marik quite so…elated before. Strange, considering the circumstances and their surroundings. It wasn't long until she realized Bakura was also acting weird, a sort of faraway look in his eyes. He wasn't smiling widely, like the other, but he seemed distracted enough to be considered daydreaming.

Okay…something was going on here. Something…strange. What could have possibly happened to those two, while they were gone? Could they have discovered a great secret? What happened?

Yugi, however, was having much different thoughts. Marik's ear-to-ear grin annoyed him even more. “You idiot!! If you hadn't been so late, Tea might have still had a chance!!”

The aforementioned grin was instantly wiped off of Marik's features, bringing a troubled scowl in its place. Bakura also seemed shaken, since he turned and stared at Yugi with mild curiosity. Overall, Serenity was strangely sad to watch the change, remembering that her friends didn't seem to smile at all any more. Only scream and cry.

“What?” Marik asked, puzzled.

“Tea!!” Yugi repeated again this time pointing at Tea, who was roving around the room like a robot, not once reacting to the call of her name “She's one of them now!”

Seeing this, Marik's eyes widened in honest surprise “Wha—HOW? What the hell happened?” he only asked, sputtering with words as he stared at Tea in absolute disbelief. From right beside him, Bakura aimed him a mildly disturbed look, as though worried for the tanned boy. It didn't go unnoticed by Serena, who had been keeping close watch of those two since the incident in the hovercraft, where Bakura had cried and Marik had been left screaming. Something about those two…something weird was going on, and she wouldn't let it rest until she found out what.

“Your stupid TWIN, that's what happened!” Yugi shouted, irate and heartbroken “He wanted to know where you were, and when we couldn't tell him, he put a chip on her throat, and made her one of them!”

“Are…you serious?” Marik didn't know what to say in this situation, his previous happiness now vaporizing completely at being faced with all this weight of responsibility “I mean, I…I'm sorry, I…”

“So? Why can't you take the chip off?” Bakura simply asked, shrugging. He wouldn't allow another historical Marik break-down, no matter what he did. `Just keep the cool' he thought `make it seem less dramatic than the Drama Game Queen is going on about'

But Bakura's relaxed conduct intensified Yugi's ire even more seeing as nobody seemed to care about Tea enough in order to help him “I ALREADY TRIED THAT, YOU VILE INSECT!! If you'd paid more attention, you'd know that every time we approach one of them, they'll hit us automatically!!”

But, unfortunately, Bakura was very close to losing his own temper, let alone rescue Marik's. From the side, Serenity was observing the situation intensely, suddenly extremely conscious that she was the only woman in a room full of emotionally tense men. Even if she did try to say anything, she knew it would fall on deaf ears. A woman could either have men do whatever she wanted, or be pushed around by them like a doll. Unfortunately, since the men in this case were too loaded, it would be the second.

And there was no Ryou to support her.

“If you hadn't been so long!” Yugi finished “You might have caught him before he hurt her!”

“Hey, Game-Fucking-Genius!” Bakura roared, now losing it completely, while Marik just stared at the floor guiltily, all signs of a radiant smile long gone from his face “Who says we had a peachy time? Did you know Ishrat just attacked us? He wanted the Rod too!!”

“Oh yeah? Is that so?” Yugi shouted, now unable to contain his fury “Is that why you came back smiling as though the five suns had just dawned, because Ishrat attacked you? How stupid do you think I am, you idiot bastard?”

When Bakura started to move forward, as though advancing against Yugi, Serenity jumped up and started protesting. Marik grabbed Bakura's arm, pulling him back, while Bakura kept trying to shake Marik off, still glaring death at the Game King.

“Bakura…” Marik was saying “C'mon…let it go…Bakura…”

“Let it go?” Yugi ostentatiously barked “L ET IT GO??” he cried again, as though in total disbelief of what he was hearing “I'M the one you should be asked to `let it go', not he!!! Whose friend is now a robot!? HUH?!”

“Hey!!!” Serenity's voice was suddenly heard, high amongst the male baritones “You can't say that! You can't say Tea isn't our friend too, just because we couldn't-“ but Bakura interrupted her, as men always do with women's optimistic speeches.

“See here, your royal fuckness! Just because YOU couldn't fight and defend your own woman doesn't mean it's our fault!! You should be able to do things by yourself by now, big boy! You don't need us to wipe your ass!” Bakura shouted, finally managing to fling Marik away from him and freely advance on the King.

“It's not my fault he was looking for the Rod!!!” Yugi roared, pointing an accusing finger at the albino, which Bakura pushed away once it poked his chest.

“Well it's not Marik's fault he can't always be there to fight your battles!!” Bakura screamed back, intending to crush the other's thick skull by his voice alone.

“Bakura, don't do this. It is our fault!!” Marik shouted from somewhere in the background, but his words only served to anger Bakura further.

“Shut up!!” he shouted, this time at Marik, his eyes never losing the King's “ I'm taking care of this once and for all!!! Don't you get it? They actually tell you this shit and you believe them- that's why you always lose it in the end! It's not your fault, and if this stupid fuck can't accept his own cowardness, I'm gonna make him accept it!”

“Don't you see this is exactly what they want?” Serenity suddenly inquired “To break us up from the inside?! Don't do this!!!” Serenity egged, but Yugi was already shouting, ignoring her.

“Oh?!” he cried “And don't you think it's time YOU took over YOUR responsibilities? What's with the Rod, Marik? Why are you able to control them? Why did you try to kill us before??” at Marik's guilty expression, he turned back to Bakura “And you!! Once Marik is unconscious, you just take him and leave! Just like that!! Do you understand the reality of the situation? We are in this completely weird place, ALONE, and you just LEAVE, without saying why or how or when? WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?!”

“Exactly!” Serenity tried to interrupt again “We have to stick together, we have to-“

“OH yeah?” Bakura roared back “And why are you fussing over ONE woman, when other people have their brothers and best friends out there!! She'll be fucking fine! They all will!!”

“And who's gonna do it?! HUH?” Yugi answered ironically “Who's gonna do it, since Marik is the only one who can control them, and all Marik can think about is leaving with you and hiding when we most need him?”

Bakura took a few deep breaths, clenched and unclenched his fists in irritation and inquired “Is it Marik's fault you always need him, your highness?” he inquired, unnaturally calmly, while Marik could be seen from the back, shaking his head in near desperation.

“Well, he's the one who can control the Rod.” Yugi now answered, his voice slightly more placated also “He's the one who was electrocuted and didn't even get a scratch.”

“What the fuck?! “ Bakura now shouted, enraged once again “'WITHOUT A SCRATCH'?? HAVE YOU EVEN SEEN HIS BACK, YOU IGNORANT SLIME?”

“The only thing I can see” Yugi pointed rigidly at the telltale sign, the feral bitemark, carved on Marik's throat like the relieves that were scratched on his back. “Is that thing on his throat! What's the matter Bakura? Suck his blood too?”

“HOW MANY TIMES MUST I TELL YOU ISHRAT ATTACKED US???” Bakura now yelled, losing all semblance of control.

“Oh?” Yugi mockingly answered “As if Ishrat would bite him on the neck! Who are you kidding, huh? I saw what you did to Saif on the hover! You're the only one who could've done it! But this is beside the point. The point is that because of your escapades Tea's-“

“NO! Tea's a zombie because you couldn't fight!! Accept the goddamn truth!”

“No, YOU accept the truth! Just because you wanted to-“

“If you were more of a man she wouldn't-“

“-have a private chat with our fearless leader-“

“-have been turned into a-“

“-Tea has to be a-“

“ZOMBIE!!!!!” they cried together in finality, pointing at each other and glaring, both of them utterly red in the face. Marik was just staring, biting his lower lip now and then, his hand now covering his throat to hide the mark. Serenity, on the other hand, was aiming a full fledged glare at the two quarrelling men, as though ready to explode. And explode she did.

“Are you done? Happy now? Good.” She asked in an ironic voice, and finally, the others gave her their undivided attention, albeit still glaring at each other. “Because, if you're finished with your stupid fighting, maybe it would be nice if you remembered we're STILL STUCK HERE, ALONE, IGNORANT, AND ALL YOU CAN THINK ABOUT IS SATISFIYING YOUR GOD-DAMN EGOS!” she yelled, making all three of them revert their eyes and huff indignantly, avoiding her eyes.

“Do you understand we don't know where we are, or what we're doing? For once, forget about your stupid arrogance and get us out of here!” she continued, this time aiming the statement at Yugi and Bakura.

“Serena's right.” Marik interrupted, his calm voice strangely quiet, compared to the heated tones of before “You should stop fighting over what I should or should not do.” If one knew where to look, they would have seen Marik looking at Bakura as he said that “What's happened has happened. It's too late to change that.”

“Exactly.” Serenity lost no time in agreeing, her lips pursed as she stared at Yugi and Bakura, who both had on their faces the expression of a boy scolded by his mother “Tea's one of them now. We can't change that, at least not yet. So I suggest we focus on what we know, and try to make it out of here alive.”

“I agree.” Marik rigidly said, making it clear that if there was a repetition of the aforementioned quarrel, he would not stay in the sidelines again, but rather stop them immediately. Besides, that little comment of Yugi's about the bite on Marik's throat had hit a little too close to home…better if they stayed as far away from the topic as possible.

“Fine” Dark Yugi spit out, in a resigned yet angry manner “But you're going to tell us everything you know. For once, I demand to know the whole truth. Everything. I'm not letting Tea rot here!

“Don't worry, Yugi...We'll get Tea back. And Mai, and Joey, and…Rishido…” Marik said with a sigh, and brought both hands to his face, rubbing his eyes. He felt Bakura come to rest in his usual place beside him, and inwardly smiled. Although he knew the feeling was wrong, it was good to know Bakura had just defended him in a fight…

Serenity and Yugi also approached, forming a tight circle around Marik, who now paced around thoughtfully, carding his hands through his hair and thinking “All right.” He said, in his most practiced `leader' tone “the first thing we have to do is gather our knowledge, or else we'll just be sitting ducks in here.”

“Exactly what I was saying.” Yugi filled in, with an indignant scowl and his arms crossed over his chest. Bakura uninhibitedly displayed Marik's feelings, by openly rolling his eyes.

“Yes.” Marik repeated, not bothering to take serious notice of Yugi's words “Okay. We know that Ishrat -the older guy who looks like me-“

“That's Ishrat?” Serenity asked in disbelief “Then who's the other guy, who looks exactly like you?”

Marik felt this would be a looong explanation. Instead he settled for “The older guy is Ishrat for sure. I don't know the other's name. Anyway, we know that both of them are somewhere out there, in the dark corridors. We also know this place is like a maze.”

“We know that if they hit you with a microchip” Serenity filled in “You become some kind of a mind-slave who obeys to that God-damn Rod.”

“Do you think Ishrat is watching us right now?” Yugi suddenly asked, eyeing the ceiling of the room they were in, trying to distinguish cameras or camouflaged devices.

Marik thought about it for a few moments “It's highly possible they can see us, but not hear us. You see, Noa can-“

“Who's Noa?” Bakura inquired suddenly, and Marik belatedly realized he had forgotten one crucial detail in this conversation. The others didn't know what he knew. He hadn't told them about…his memories…yet.

“Uh…” Marik tried to think of the best way to approach the subject, when Serenity spoke.

“Marik, how come you know so much about this place?” she asked “Have you been here before?”

At this, Bakura turned towards Marik, suddenly remembering what Marik had told him, about the restoration of his memories “Mariku.” The albino started “when the Rod touched you…what did you see?”

Marik turned to Bakura and sighed “It's a long story.” He simply said.

“Well it's not like we have somewhere else to go…” Yugi dryly commented, still eyeing the staggering Tea in mild anxiety.

“That's right.” Serenity added “Marik, you have to tell us. We need all the information we can get.”

Marik nodded quietly, then ran both hands through his hair and sighed “Well.” He started “all right. But don't say I didn't warn you.”

And with those words, the recitation of the tale begun, from which Marik omitted only a few details, like the appearance of a red-eyed man with black hair. He'd tell Bakura in private about that, he thought, remembering why he'd let himself be lured to Kuru Eruna in the first place. The hope of restoring Bakura to his body…the hope of discovering the mystery…

For the time being though, as always, it was better if Marik didn't provoke much hope in Bakura's heart, only to prove it was false later on. He wasn't planning to mention Bakura's body, unless he was sure they could still find it, somewhere.

“Hmmm…Interesting.” The purple-cloaked figure on the right commented, as he watched the happenings in the main hall, through Noa's screen. “Very interesting…”

“What can be more interesting than fixing my back?” the vexed youngster with the bloody black shirt and beige pants wined, lying prone on a nearby table “Hurry up.” He asked.

“Shut up, you selfish idiot.” Ishrat administered, turning to his successor -a youngster he considered his son- with absolute annoyance “If you'd killed them immediately when you had to, we wouldn't even be having this problem.”

The young man sighed in bliss as the man he had known as a father started lathering up cream to soothe his back.

“Now all we've got is another mind slave. Not only that, but you actually bought what they told you about the Rod, and spent more than ten minutes looking for it in the wrong place.” the father complained, rubbing a little harder than necessary.

“OUCH! Well, you don't have to be so adamant about it! Fine, I made a mistake. It won't happen again.” The young man begrudgingly admitted.

“You bet it won't.” Ishrat said, clearly annoyed “In fact, you're going to make amends for it right now.”

His `son' blew a loose blonde strand from his forehead “What are you on about? You know that he's more powerful as long as he has the Rod. I can't hit him while he's got it.”

“This is ready…” Ishrat said, referring to the other's back, and left the table to sit in front of the computer screen again “What you said is true…while the clone holds the Rod, we're powerless…but…” at this, he pointed at the screen “They're confused. They're still lying in open view, at the main hall. We know the Tomb much better than they- this can prove to be an advantage.”

The younger snorted. “So? That doesn't mean anything. We still can't get the Rod from him.”

Ishrat rolled his eyes “Did you not hear even the slightest fragment out of what I just said, 290?” he inquired in aggravation.

“Well, excuse me if I was a bit preoccupied with the blinding pain on my back!” clone number 290, the younger one, said. “What did you mean anyway?”

Ishrat smiled “That we can use their sluggishness to confuse them. It's true that we can't steal the Rod from the clone…but we can blackmail him by using someone else.” He let that statement impose its full weight of the other, who was waiting for the solution to this puzzle impatiently.

“What do you mean? Who did you have in mind?” 290 asked, now clearly interested.

“Who else…apart from the one closest to him?” Ishrat said darkly.

“You're not making any sense, you know.” The other absently commented “In case you didn't notice, he has the Rod, so we can't just attack his friends… Oh shit! I just remembered, I had to meet Saif tonight to give him the-“

“You IDIOT!” Ishrat roared “Have you learned nothing out of what I have taught you, apart from ignoring everything you hear and making deals with scum!? Since we can't get to the clone, we'll get to the one who's close enough to him to have access to the Rod!”

“Which iiiis?” 290 probed “Oh come of it! Just tell me and get it over with! I hope I'm not like you when I grow up…” he added as an afterthought.

After a brief glare, Ishrat resumed his explanation, knowing that if not for the previous words, surely the next would catch 290's attention “Less than half an hour ago, while hiding in the halls, I caught Nehti and our dear friend in a very…compromising position. “

290 seemed vastly interested, all of a sudden “You don't say…” he commented while grinning darkly.

“Oh yes I do” Ishrat said, mirroring his grin “ It seems our clone is in love with someone, and a hologram, no less. So, since we can't hit him directly, we'll hit the closest source possible.” After the meaningful glance they shared, they simultaneously said, with the same evil smile “Nehti.”

“But how?” 290 asked, his brow furrowing in thought “Nehti can also be manipulated by the Rod…but we don't have it! How do we blackmail number 289 into giving it to us? We can't possibly blackmail Nehti without the Rod…and no matter what you say, I'm NOT going to fight him again. Apparently, Bakura Ryou's body still retains the speed-boosts.”

At this, Ishrat grinned in pleasure, turning slowly to look at the dark screen, which now featured four people gathered in the far end of the main hall, sitting down and talking. Ishrat's eyes fell on the back of a silver head with pretty spikes. The albino's eyes were focused on the clone solely, not once looking away, as though mesmerized. Ishrat grinned wider.

“Who said anything about fighting him?” Ishrat's smile got broader and broader with each passing moment. His eyes narrowed impossibly now “Now that we know who his sweetheart is…I've got a better idea.”

Had one been standing near the room, they would have surely heard the echoes of evil laughter rippling in the waves of darkness.

“I…I can't believe it.” Serenity just said, looking at the floor wordlessly, her eyes glassy and unseeing. Yugi just nodded mutely, and Bakura was left staring at Marik, an unreadable look in his eyes.

“It's true.” Marik continued, his voice low and smooth “Apparently, for some reason I don't know about, these people decided to clone me, millions of times. I remember them saying they'd erase my memory. I also remember that at some point, they'd even altered my memory, making me think differently, as though I was a…random clone. And then, I already told you…I remember…dying.”

A long silence, one with was only disturbed by the steady footfalls of the Rare Hunters. This situation was quite freaky, actually, with the GOULS hovering around like Grim Reapers waiting for the call of destiny.

“How could you die and then wake up again, 600 years later? You said that the capsule you woke up in -the clone capsule- was nothing like a cryo-sleep booth- more like an artificial uterus !” Serenity remarked, noting the gap in the story.

“I know it doesn't make sense.” Marik reassured her, not wanting her to think he was fantasizing “I remember having this life: a family which was destroyed, living in the streets…And then, I came to Kuru Eruna. And it goes from there.” He explained “I know I died. They killed me through gas in the ventilation shaft. It goes like this, from what I understand: for some reason, they wanted to clone me millions of times and alter my memory. In order to do that, they had to run tests on me first. Therefore, they completely erased my memory, then changed it into what they wanted me to remember…and when they were satisfied with the result, they killed me, because I was the prototype. They polluted the room I was in with gas, and I suffocated.”

`Okay, this is getting weird now” Yugi commented at the morose concept of recalling one's death.

“And then next thing I know is waking up in a completely different world, a different time…changed Kuru Eruna…” Marik continued, shaking his hand in order to accentuate his statement “Bakura?” the tanned man suddenly asked, facing his silver-haired friend “What do you think about this?”

Bakura had his hand over his mouth and was tapping his finger against his lips absently. He stayed like that for a few moments, thinking, and then turned to Marik “I'm not sure…” he started, gaining Marik's complete attention “I mean, you say you died. And you're absolutely sure you know you died.” Bakura looked at Marik for verification. At the tanned man's fervent nod, Bakura continued “So, it's highly impossible that they put you to cryo-sleep and you just woke up 600 years later, like Ryou did. Therefore….there is only one possible explanation about this...” Bakura turned to Marik, their eyes meeting in intimate communication, and Marik understood what the other was trying to say.

“…I'm a clone.” Marik said, nodding his head as though to accept the very concept “I must be a clone. Normally, I shouldn't have woken up with the memories of the real Marik, but, somehow, I did. I'm a clone with the wrong memories.” He turned his eyes to Bakura “Didn't I tell you? The things I remember from my life in the 21st century aren't really my memories. They're the memories of…the real…'Marik'.”

“What do you mean `the real Marik'?” Serenity asked, clearly irritated “You're `the real Marik'! True, you're the clone of a person who existed 600 years ago and died. You may look like him and have his memories, but…you have your own memories too. Rishid, the Initiation, your life in Yango…These memories are not fake. They're yours. You are as real as the person whose clone you are, Marik, and don't you dare think such nonsense about yourself.”

“Exactly” Yugi filled in, watching Marik's mildly dejected eyes “You're real, because you were born with memories, and a conscience. You know who isn't real? You know who's `just a clone'? All the other clones. The ones who haven't got a real person's memories. The ones who think like robots, like the ones who are after us right now. They're the fake ones, not you. You're a practical miracle…the rebirth of a dead person.”

Marik smiled a little, then snorted “Oh sure. You're a dead person, just not really. Is that comforting or what?” he sarcastically said, making Serenity and Yugi both glare at him disapprovingly.

“But there's something here I don't understand.” Bakura interrupted “Why the hell would anyone do all this in the first place? Was this whole clone gig simply an experiment gone awry that eventually destroyed Kuru Eruna, or was it something more? Something they had planned?” the albino questioned, his eyes never leaving the familiar crystal amethyst ones. Now he knew that the lilac colour was provoked of mutilation. How ironic. He'd always thought Marik's eyes spelled electrical storm in lightning bold letters. He never thought it would be literally.

“And again” Marik sighed “We come to the primal question. Why? Who?” he shook his head in resignation and raised his hands towards the sky, in complete exasperation “I don't know.”

“And what about the so-called `Sleepers'?” Serenity suddenly inquired, making them all look at her and becoming shy all of a sudden. Is this how Tea felt all the time? Ouch. “I mean...uh…do you think they're still here? Who do you think they are? And the clones…?”

“I don't know, Serena.” Marik just shook his head “But I think I know who can give us the answers.”

Everyone turned simultaneously to see where Marik's eyes had focused, only to meet the placid, unperturbed form of Seto Kaiba, standing and staring in the distance.

“Kaiba?” Bakura asked, suddenly remembering the strange steely touch that Kaiba's skin had had when they'd fought before. He noted that even though in the beginning of their adventure Kaiba had been the focal point of evil, now it was somehow…changed. Kaiba was just a pawn, after all.

“How would he know?” Yugi asked “He's just another mind-slave, although he doesn't move exactly like them….”

“Is he?” Marik narrowed his eyes, his voice dropping a little in concentration “Or is he something more…?”

“In any case” a familiar deep baritone wrung from Marik's left, and the tanned boy turned just in time to see Bakura rise to his feet “We have to get out of here. Ishrat is probably watching…besides, who knows how many of your clones are on the loose? What if we just had a little taste of the things that walk around in here? What if there are hundreds of them roaming the corridors as we speak?”

“Okay…” Serenity said, grabbing Marik's arm for support and grinning shakily “That was a veeeery bad joke, so please take it back…”

“No seriously” Bakura continued, refusing to himself that he was actually falling under the habit of conversing with mortals except Ryou and Marik “We need answers, I know, but first we need to gain the upper hand. This place is like a labyrinth, Marik, you said it yourself…We'll get lost within seconds. And we can't just sit here and wait for the enemy to come, either. We have to find them before they find us.”

“Well,” Marik started, while rising to his feet with the others “This place is just too big, and I doubt Noa will be on our side, this time. It won't help us find our way, like it did when I was a kid. Kaiba doesn't seem awake enough to solve our questions- not that he would if he were normal, but anyway…”

“…then what do you suggest we do?” Serenity asked, in a small voice.

“I guess there are three things we could do. One: explore. Two: wait here to die. Three: fight the GOULS, and take their chips off…”

“Well that's obvious, isn't it?” Yugi immediately answered “Fight the GOULS.” He eagerly said, his eyes flying to Tea once again.

“Actually, I don't think that this is the best solution.” Marik evasively answered, turning to Yugi “Just think about it. We're having problems already, and we're only four. Imagine what would happen if everyone else was here too, and we had more than ten people to look after, besides ourselves. We'd need to explain everything all over again…Nah…I say that we wait until we clear this mess up and then wake them all up.”

“But…but they're our friends! Besides, if the Rod fell in the wrong hands, we'll have hordes of enemies after us again.” Yugi fervently protested.

“Oh, shove it. You just want the girl back. That's all you care about!” Bakura challenged, irritated, but a sharp look from Marik and a glare from Serenity was enough to calm the spirits.

“No” Marik continued, as though processing his thoughts “I don't think we should worry about them for now. At least we know where they are, and they're safe here…All we have to do is make sure the Rod is kept in the right hands. Then we don't have to worry about them…Oh, and by the way, where is that Rod?”

“What?” Yugi asked, bewildered “You mean you don't have it?”

Marik stood on one foot, hip jutting out and hands crossed over his chest “Well, of course I don't. I almost got paranoid last time I touched it. I wouldn't go near it again. Didn't you here everything I told you about the Initiation?” He just asked, as if it made his despising the rod completely excusable. At the alarmed looks Serenity and Yugi were sharing, Marik's eyes widened “Wait.” He started “You guys have the Rod, right?” he questioned, his eyes becoming frantic. Where was the Rod? Did their enemies have it? If so, then why were the Rare Hunters in this state? No….Ishrat couldn't have it…had the Rod fallen on the floor and become lost in the dark corridors? But…but…

“I think it would be prudent not to talk about this in such an open area. Don't you?” Bakura suddenly asked, and Marik turned to him, his eyes wide. Once he met the glint in Bakura's eyes, he knew he didn't need to worry anymore. Hmph. He knew where the Rod was, now.

“You're right.” Marik answered, in the same tone as the other “Best not talk about it here.” His eyes darted downwards, where Bakura's hand was resting on his hip. Marik openly grinned when he saw the golden glint of a pole somewhere in the ripples of Bakura's clothes.

“I think we'd better get out there and find the Sleepers” Serenity suddenly said, realizing that the Rod issue was cleared. All her friends turned to her “I mean, what we really want is to find Ishrat, and find out how to get out of here…and find out what's going on. So…the logical thing to do is to start exploring this place. The Sleepers seem pretty important.. Maybe the answers lie with them.” She concluded.

“That's true…” Marik said “Perhaps if we approach the Sleepers…Ishrat will show up.”

“I say we split up.” Bakura said, and Yugi immediately turned to him.

“What?” the Game King demanded “Are you crazy? We can hardly make it when we're together, much less alone!” he said, looking at Bakura as though he were a complete lunatic.

Bakura glared, then proceeded to explain his point of view “Just think about it. They don't know who has the Rod- they just assume it's Marik. We split up in two- we disorientate them. They also split up, trying to stop us. Besides, we don't really know where the Sleepers are. All we know is that they're in a corridor that Marik can't remember. Splitting up gives us more chances of finding them.”

“But we have no means of communication! How will we know what's happening to each other, or if we find something.?” Serenity questioned urgently.

“What if we arranged a time to meet back here? Say…in thirty minutes?” Bakura asked, looking at his watch and tinkering with it.

“Bakura, you don't understand” Marik started in a patronizing tone “You haven't been in these corridors before.” He said, walking away absently and continuing after a brief pause “Once you get in deep enough, there's no way out. We'll get lost in the darkness before we know where we're going.”

“We won't if we go straight all the way.” Bakura defended, his eyes narrowing in thought.

“What if we get confused and go through a door? We won't be able to see in the darkness, Bakura…” Marik consulted, shaking his head.

“What if we use some of the remaining light-chips?” Serenity asked “I may have two or three left.” She hopefully said.

“No, it's no use.” Marik shattered her hopes “The corridors all look the same.”

“Well, we have to do something.” Yugi said, clearly annoyed at everyone and everything, especially at the fact that Tea was still out there, walking around like a zombie.

“For the record, I still think we should split up. The exploration will go faster. We'll meet back here in thirty minutes. If someone's missing we'll go after them.” Bakura said, aiming his speech at Marik, who was the one who influenced the others on a general principle.

Marik seemed to consider this for a while, pacing around. Finally, when the others thought they couldn't stand the tension any more, he turned back to them. “Okay. I think we should split up, too. We have to learn more about this place as quickly as possible. Two of us go in one corridor, two of us go in another. We meet back here at thirty minutes. Everyone have a watch?”

Serenity was the only one who didn't, but provided that her partner would have one, it would be no problem. They synchronized their watches and stood there, thinking for a few seconds how they would see their watches in the darkness. Then, they finally remembered that the watches were fluorescent, so that would be no problem.

“All right, genius” Dark Yugi sneered at Bakura, who sneered back “Since this brilliant idea was yours, why don't you tell us who you had in mind as a partner?”

“Fine.” Bakura ostentatiously said “I go with Marik. You and the girl go together.” He said, as he grabbed a grinning Marik's elbow and pulled the tanned boy next to him.

“Are you crazy? I'm not letting you leave alone together ever again? Who knows where you'll disappear to this time? Is that why you wanted to split up?” Yugi asked angrily and suspiciously at the same time. Serenity also didn't seem too excited with the idea of having Yugi as her protector.

Bakura huffed in annoyance and was about to answer, when Marik interrupted “Very well, you're right.” At this, Bakura snorted in carefully concealed rejection “I won't go with Bakura. And since I'm betting my head that you don't want to go with Bakura either, Yugi, I guess I'll go with you, and we'll have Serenity go with her boyfriend.”

“I'm not-“ Bakura started protesting, but was cut off by Serenity.

“Um…Marik…I was actually thinking something along the lines of going with you…” she started saying, but Marik grinned at her.

“Don't worry, Serena. Bakura won't hurt you. Will you, Bakura?” Marik turned a teasing look at the albino, which was lost on the others. Bakura huffed indignantly, hating being victim to Marik's teasing of all things. Damned prat! He knew he was Bakura's weakness and took merciless advantage of it now! That's why he said that shit!

“Whatever.” Bakura simply muttered, and glared at the girl as she walked next to him.

“Besides” Marik said “I think it's good to have a dark spirit in each group. Both Dark Yugi and Bakura can see in the dark while in their spirit forms, can't they?” the tanned boy asked.

“Are you kidding?” Serena protested “Why didn't you say that earlier?”

“Because I knew you'd want Ryou to take over his body again, while Bakura stayed in spirit form, and I don't think having Ryou wake up in the middle of Kuru Eruna all of a sudden would be a good idea.” Marik's bluntness about the subject was extraordinary, if one really thought about it. To tell the girl he'd prefer it if Bakura was around…he could always use the excuse that Bakura was a fighter, while Ryou was not. That would certainly be more plausible.

But Serena didn't seem to need further convincing, since she just nodded submissively and let the subject drop.

“Okay. Ready?” Marik asked Yugi, moving towards a dark arch. When Yugi nodded, Marik turned to the albino and the auburn-haired girl. “We take this one. You go on the far left.” He instructed, and nodded for Yugi to go forward “We meet in thirty minutes.” Bakura curtly nodded and made to walk for the corridor Marik had showed him. When he'd almost walked through the arch, he stopped suddenly, and turned back.

He saw Marik and Yugi walking steadily towards their own corridor. Oh how he hated this…He had hoped that perhaps he could have a private talk with the other, but…and took thing that Yugi would be alone with Marik!! It was plain infuriating!

“MARIKU!!” he called, and watched the blonde head whip around at once, golden-platinum strands flying in all directions. Marik stared at him questioningly, just as Bakura stood there, contemplating what to say.

“Can I have a word with you for a minute?” he just asked, not really knowing what the heck he was doing.

“Now?” Marik incredulously asked, confused as much as Yugi and Serenity.

Bakura frantically searched for an excuse, trying to steady the uneven beating of his heart. “It's…it's about the Rod.” He hissed quietly, hoping no camera heard him say that.

“Can't it wait, Bakura? “Serenity asked from the side, mildly annoyed “The chronometers are already set.”

Bakura turned to her, fighting with all his might the unexplainable urge to pluck her tongue out of her mouth, in order to stop her from using it.

“Fine, but make it quick.” Marik said curtly as he set out towards Bakura. Serenity and Yugi also approached each other, staring to talk about the GOULS and how the chips that were controlling them could be removed.

Meanwhile, Bakura pulled Marik on the side, and when he made sure the others weren't looking, he turned to the expectant boy. “Why didn't you tell me…” he simply asked, not willing to think about how disgustingly soft his voice had just sounded.

“'Bout what?” Marik said, and Bakura was surprised by the fact that Marik's voice sounded equally husky.

“About…the memories?” the albino said, his fingers barely reaching to touch the hem of Marik's shirt in secret. “About what they did to you…about your father?” he asked, his voice hardening dangerously.

“Well, you know now, don't you...” Marik asked, his eyes lowering to look at Bakura's hand. Soon, he started playing with Bakura's fingers, avoiding the other's eyes. He tried to hide from common view as much as possible. “I didn't really want you to…know about it…” he muttered, still avoiding Bakura's obviously hurt eyes.

“How could they do this to you?” Bakura took both of Marik's shoulders in his hands, but still tried to hide the ongoings from Yugi and Serenity “That's why you're afraid of him, aren't you? Ishrat reminds you of your father.” Bakura concluded, solving his questions from earlier that day. Marik was so afraid of Ishrat, because of all the traumas from his father. And, of course, the Initiation ritual.

“Bakura…I'm afraid of every man, not just him…” Marik was saying, quietly wiggling out of Bakura's grip, which Bakura resumed tenfold.

“Are you afraid of me?” Bakura asked, his eyes boring into the lustrous crystal ones in front of him.

“Are you kidding?” Marik simply asked, a small grin on his face. Bakura mirrored the expression, and took a blonde strand in his fingers, twirling it around his digits “I'd never fear you…”

“You know…” Bakura started, smiling fully now “If they weren't watching, I'd kiss you now…”

Unconsciously, Bakura took a step forward, bringing his face closer, but Marik's eyes immediately flew at the deeply preoccupied Serenity and Yugi, and Bakura swallowed, stepping back again, and letting go of Marik's hair.

“Too much light around, huh?” Bakura said, trying not to sound bitterly emotional.

“Yeah…” Marik answered, not even bothering to hide his regret. “Too much light..”

“Listen,” Bakura started, lowering his eyes to the sliver of gold, which was barely peeking out from the folds of his trousers “I know you probably hate this thing, but…do you want to keep it? It's much safer with you.” Bakura commented, making Marik look at the barely visible Rod and take a step back, his eyes wide with a mixture of despise and fear.

“Just take that thing away from me.” Marik said, closing his eyes and trying to steady his breathing “They'll be expecting me to be carrying it, anyway. Let's make it less predictable. Besides…who knows what will happen if I touch it again?” he asked shallowly, and Bakura quickly hid the Rod completely.

“True” he said “But maybe we should just destroy it.” He urged “It would be the easy way to make sure the mind-slaves got free…”

“Oh, trust me. We will destroy it.” Marik reassured, his voice gaining a malicious undertone Bakura had yet to hear “I will personally destroy it. The Rod and Kuru Eruna both. There's just something I want to find in this place first…” he didn't want Bakura to know exactly what that `something' was, since it would worry him unnecessarily “We're going to unravel this plot, Bakura.” Marik rigidly stated. “You hear? We're going to unravel it, and once we do, we're going to find a bomb- I don't know where, but we will- and we are going to blast this place to oblivion, that and those god-damn clones!”

Bakura put a hand on Marik's shoulder, steadying the man's ragged breathing. The albino nodded slowly, understanding the full consequences of intense hate, since he felt it claw at him so often. He didn't blame Marik for hating this place. He was starting to hate it as well.

“Hey, you two! Are we going or what?!” Serenity complained suddenly, jerking Bakura and Marik away from each other, and forcing them to stop daydreaming.

“Of course, we're coming.” Marik said and took a few steps towards her, only for Bakura's hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“What?” he asked, his eyes darting towards the ever-present Yugi and Serenity as a warning.

Bakura tightened his hold on the other's shoulder “Be careful. We don't know what could be in there.” The albino said, his red eyes narrowing as he looked at the dark alcoves. Bakura thought he heard the faint echoes of lost screams coming from the corridors, but he knew it had to be just his imagination.

“Hmph.” Marik smirked and locked his gaze with Bakura's faintly alerted one. Watching the red eyes become round with emotion was always so strangely endearing. “If they weren't watching…I'd kiss you now.” The tanned boy repeated Bakura's words from before, making Bakura's blood-ruby orbs widen, and then narrow with a teasing grin.

“Well, aren't you in the mood?” he asked, just as Marik shot him a last grin and sauntered forwards, towards their waiting friends. Bakura made a motion with his head to Serenity, and she followed him to the entrance of their tunnel.

“Synchronize you watches. It will be 23:45 in five, four, three, two …NOW” Marik shouted, and three little clicking noises were heard as he, Bakura and Yugi pressed the right button on their watches. “We meet here in 00:15. If we're ten minutes late, it's okay, but after fifteen minutes, we'll come looking for you.” Marik explained.

“Can we GO now? I can't stay in this room another second!” Serenity complained, pointing to the walking GOULS, with their freaky, marble faces.

“Don't worry. You haven't seen anything yet…” Marik started saying, but was cut of by Yugi. “Let's go!” the Game King shouted, and dove in the darkness of the corridor. Marik watched Bakura and Serenity do the same, and before he saw the silver head disappear completely, he shouted “And Bakura!” he saw Bakura stop, but not turn his head towards him “Don't get lost, will ya?” Marik asked in his teasing tone, and heard the echo of a dark laugh.

“Right back at ya, pretty boy.” The gruff voice shouted and then died down, as Marik and Bakura both sunk into the abyss of the darkness. The black maze of Kuru Eruna.

“Did you see that? They split up!” Ishrat pointed at the screen. They may not have been able to hear the conversation, but they had eyes and they could see. Noa's cameras were everywhere in Kuru Eruna, a small remnant of this ancient laboratory's grace. “Oh, this is just getting better and better.” Ishrat exclaimed, as he turned to 290.

“Nehti and the girl are going towards the Sleepers, while the clone and Atem are walking towards the Clones. This will be too easy.” Ishrat continued, grinning at his younger counterpart.

“The girl will be a minor distraction. You know what to do.” Ishrat said, and grinned at his apprentice, who stood, now with shredded black clothes and a ruffled appearance, in front of him.

“You know the plan. Now get that Rod back.” Ishrat instructed the motionless, robotic 290 “Whatever it takes.”

How long were these halls? This place looked like a huge, unending labyrinth, only with absolutely no dead-ends. In the darkness, the passageways couldn't be distinguished. Bakura went forward so as not to get lost, holing his hand on the left wall always. He could only suppose Marik had gone straight as well. Bakura hoped to all deities known that Marik hadn't gotten lost. He'd kill himself- metaphorically speaking, since it was impossible- if something had happened to Marik in this disgusting place.

“Um…Bakura?” the girl beside him inquired hesitantly and he fought not to grit his teeth by the mere distraction of her existence on his side. “Bakura?” she called again, louder this time.

“What?” he snapped, nearly losing his temper. God, he hated having to go on a quest with amateurs.

“Um….Could I please hold your hand? I can hardly hear where you're going, and…” Bakura rolled his red eyes in the dark and made no effort to suppress his gritting teeth. That was the POINT! He was being stealthy and silent on purpose! They weren't going on safari, for god's sakes! They could ambushed any second now!

But she wouldn't leave him alone, annoying wrench that she was- how could Ryou stand her- so he thrust his hand out without warning or further explanation and grabbed her wrist, dragging her along.

“…Th-thanks…” she bashfully stuttered.

`STOP TALKING!!!!!' Bakura wanted to practically scream, but held his tongue for the sake of not going against his own advice. He just stayed unresponsive, towing the woman behind him as he cut through the waves of darkness like a boat.

As he walked deeper, he suddenly saw a light on his right. It was very far, and it was very vague, but it was there. A faint green light.

“Look! Light!” the girl exclaimed “Do you think it's the green light Marik told us about-“ but she never got the chance to finish, since t a palm was clamped over her mouth. “Listen here, woman.” Bakura hissed, through gritted teeth “I may look like Ryou, but I'm not him. And I do not need a tour guide, I can see for myself. Understand?” He felt Serenity nod and mutter muffled words behind his hand “Good.” He said “Now. You WILL NOT speak.” He ordered, leaving no room for negotiation. Finally, he removed his hand from her now silent face, and tugged on her elbow again

They were walking down the endless corridor, the speck of light in the darkness becoming impeccably brighter as they progressed. When they reached the alcove of light, finally, their legs stilled, despite their will. Bakura felt the girl beside him gasp and cower behind his shoulders. They were both standing still, like statues, watching with unblinking eyes the unexplainably freaky horror.

Suddenly, he understood why Marik hated this place so much. This sight was hard to stomach for an adult. He couldn't even imagine what it must have been for a ten-year-old. Apart from the occasional whimper from Serenity, nothing was heard in the room, except form the vague sound of murky pipes dripping water on the floor. Bakura tried to get his limbs to move, but he couldn't. He just couldn't move. Not when faced with…that.

Dozens of hundreds of…green…ice tombs. All of them with a person sleeping inside them. All of them surrounded by a strange green mist. Their stony faces, wrinkled and slimy-looking. They all had plastic breathing machines over their noses and mouths, concealing their features, but it was still a disgusting, frightful sight. Hundreds of them, no, thousands of them, were now adorning the endless corridor walls. The spread out everywhere. Right and left, east and west, everywhere. At this rate, he preferred the dark corridors with the echoes of screams, thank you very much

Wherever Bakura and Serenity turned, there was another half-dead face, another green tube, its glass half-frozen, not letting show more that the throat and face of each sleeping person. But it was enough.

Who the hell would be sick enough to do this to so many people? Seeing Ryou in one of those capsules was one thing, Serenity thought, but seeing MILLIONS of people in a beehive formation around them, was another.

Finally able to process what he was seeing in his brain, Bakura started to move towards the closest cryo-capsule. Serenity clung tightly to his back, but he was too engrossed by the surroundings to care. He was right about Marik. The boy was worth every little ounce of affection he ever got. Imagine having to see all this when you were but an innocent child. These disturbing faces, with the imposing features -some hidden, some revealed. On closer inspection, these Sleepers had plugs attached to their arms and throats- probably the rest of their bodies too. Bodies that Bakura -thankfully- couldn't fully see.

To think Marik had warned them about this. What had Marik felt when he first walked in this place, as a child? He hadn't been warned by anyone, had he? The things he must have gone through… Bakura and Serenity's hearts both bled.

“Well, wench” Bakura simply said, trying to sound steady enough to joke around “It seems we hit bullseye.” Serenity didn't answer, as she seemed too preoccupied with cowering behind the albino's body. He didn't even care.

Trying to fight the sudden violent urge to run the heck out of there and back to the darkness, Bakura walked up to the first capsule, noticing the touch-pad that was located in front of it. There was a touch-screen, a representation of a body -the body of the sleeping person, obviously- and there were also some wavy lines, probably representations of brainwaves or something.

“Rank: Omega two hundred six. Age:83 years, 124 days, 15 hours, 32 minutes and 12 seconds, Blood type: AB+, Physical status: Cryo-Sleep, Gender:Male…” it was all there. All the physical statistics. What struck Bakura was that there was no name. He checked out the other capsules and noticed there was no name anywhere, only strange alphabetical codenames. And something else: all these people were aged over seventy years old. On all the screens, the `physical status' bar was painted blue, and on the side it wrote “Cryo preservation sequence engaged.” At the `chronological status' bar, Bakura often read `605th year'…Whoa!! Did that actually mean that these gradpas had been sleeping for over 600 years? Hey, wait a sec! Isn't that when Ryou had also been put to `cryo sleep'?

What the hell was going on here? Who were these nameless people? Were they guinea pigs that Kaiba kept for his experiments? What was this sick, sick place? Could it be some sort of perverted secret lab division for KaibaCorp, where Kaiba periodically came to unleash his secret sadistic fantasies?

And what was the whole `clone' rant about? Two people in this place looked like Marik. One of them, the leader of the GOULS, looked exactly like Marik. And the other, the `father' of the leader. looked exactly like Marik would probably be in a good few decades. Of course, Marik had told them about the clones, but….it was still such a difficult, twisted, reasonless concept to grasp.

Let's not forget, of course, the increasingly annoying `Nehti' deal. Who the fuck was Nehti, and what had Bakura to do with him? Most importantly, since they arrived in Kuru Eruna, why had everyone considered it widely acceptable that he be called `Nehti'? What the hell? He had no name, everybody knew that! If people wanted to call him something, logically, they'd call him `other Ryou' or `Bakura' from Ryou's surname. He had no personal name. And even if he did, it certainly wouldn't be Nehti. Pfft. Nehti. What kind of Zulu decadent name was that?

Nah. If Bakura had a name, it would be something gothic and cool, like `Damien' of `Raphael' or `Lucifrari'…he certainly wouldn't be called `Nehti'! Marik hadn't mentioned anything about that, although he had called Bakura `Nehti' once before…when they were kissing. Well, whatever the reason, the pronunciation of that name somehow made the hair on Bakura's neck stand on end. He didn't like hearing it. Not by a long shot.

Serenity said nothing, only observed the statistics in each touch-pad in front of the capsules. She briefly thought about suggesting to Bakura that they should try `waking' one of these people up, but then thought better of it. When she finally managed to disentangle herself from behind Bakura and gather her wits, she started walking near every single capsule, observing the panels. It wasn't long before she noted something strange, and assumed Bakura would like to know about it.

“Did you notice that each one of them has a codename that starts with `Omega'?” she asked Bakura, who was studying a panel on the other side of the corridor, with his hand thoughtfully covering his chin.

“Hmmm….” He thoughtfully said “That's the last letter of the Greek alphabet, right?” he thought, summoning this scrap of information from Ryou's memory banks.

“Exactly” Serenity pointedly said, back to her `scientist' self, which Bakura hadn't seen since KaibaCorp. Now a little more confident, she turned towards him “What if this is the last rank of whatever these people are? In fact, remember that Marik told us that scientists in Kuru Eruna used to call each other weird names, like `alpha one' or `beta three', and so on?”

“Yeah…” Bakura nodded in accordance, scowling at her “And your point is?”

“My point is…” Serenity continued, absently tapping the side of a control panel, checking out more statistics “…what if these people aren't victims at all?” she turned to Bakura. What if they are, in fact…scientists?”

Bakura snorted “Why would scientists put themselves in cryo-sleep?” he asked, gazing absently at a sleeping figure.

“It all fits…” Serenity continued “Just think about it. These people have been sleeping for more than six centuries. The scientists Marik remembers all lived in the 21st century!”

“So?” Bakura debated “That doesn't prove anything. Maybe they were different scientists. I don't trust Kaiba. I think this is just his secret victim stack. Whenever he wants to pull one of his sick experiments off, he wakes up one of these guys, just like with Ryou.”

Serenity shivered slightly, but held her chin up “NO.” she disputed “Don't forget. Ryou's cryo-capsule was held in a federal institute, not a secret lab on Earth. This is different…besides, you're forgetting something: all these people are old…Why would Kaiba want to use old, dying people for his experiments?”

“Well, he used Ryou, didn't he?” Bakura asked, crossing his arms and now fully focusing on the girl.

“Exactly.” She argued “But remember: why did he use Ryou? What was the experiment he wanted to test on an old person?”

“As a guinea pig.” Bakura simply answered her, looking at her as though she was retarded “to see if the youth formula worked. I don't understand. Where are you getting at?” he asked her, now fully intending to understand what she was saying.

“Don't you see?” she questioned, nearly desperate “He used Ryou, a notoriously psychotic guy who he considered useless, in order to see if the youth formula works. Kaiba has been searching for the youth formula all along, in his secret labs. Why do you think that is?” she inquired, getting more excited at her revelations with each passing minute.

“Are you stupid, woman?” Bakura asked her, annoyed “Kaiba is a slimy fuck! He wants to live forever, that's why he's been trying to find the way to be immortal! He's the villain of the story!”

Serenity tapped her finger against her lips, and turned absently to watch the sleeping, lethargic faces of the people around them “I wonder if that is so…” she thoughtfully said, and turned back to Bakura after a few moments “Omega one hundred two, omega one-hundred three…” she distractedly said, making Bakura watch her closely “And then there is Marik, who told us that the clones are needed to control the `robot'…Where is this robot? Why can't we see it?” she questioned no one in particular, obviously deep in thought.

“I'm telling you” Bakura interrupted her “This is a whole nincompoop. These are just stupid methods Kaiba is using in order to distract us, so we won't be able to see the real impostor. Him!” the albino fervently said.

“Really?” she asked, as though honestly searching for the answer “Do you really think Kaiba would create an entire army of Sleepers, clones and everything else, just to throw us off course?” she asked.

“No” Bakura denied “But he did try to kill us, just because we saw his little operation! Why else would he bring us here, except to trap and murder us…”

“Maybe you're right.” Serenity said, walking slowly between the capsules and observing each and every one of them “Maybe Kaiba is the Master Mind. But you're forgetting something.”

“What?” Bakura impatiently asked, following her and also observing the cry-capsules.

“The Rod.” Serenity said, and swirled around to look at him “The Rod, which can control Kaiba. The Rod, which Marik and the other clones can control. And remember, Bakura!” at this, she raised a finger, and pointed it at him, as though trying to force her mentality inside his head “The clones will have to control the android.” She smiled at him, as she saw sudden i dawn course through Bakura's eyes “Who is the droid, Bakura?” she asked, her voice starting to implant itself into his mind and grow roots “Who can Marik control? Who is the one who owns the biggest pharmaceutical company in the universe and who can conduct experiments in secret labs? Who doesn't behave like the other Rare Hunters, even though the Rod controls him?”

“Kaiba…” Bakura said, not really understanding it, but trying to follow “But why would-“

“Why would Kaiba be launching experiments to discover eternal youth? If he's a robot, he hasn't got that problem, right? Who would want eternal life; the clones? The clones; who think much like robots with their altered memories? They wouldn't know the meaning of immortality if it hit them over the head. All they care about is what they're programmed to care about: guarding the tombs. Remember what Marik said? The `Secret'. The `Secret' of Immortality. Whose looking for immortality, do you think?” Serenity questioned, her auburn eyes sparking with triumph.

Bakura could only stare, aghast, as every bit of the puzzle started to fit in. “The Masters…” he said “When we were in KC Base, Kaiba said something about `his Masters'…and we…we never thought…it would go this deep…” he added as an amazed after thought.

“Who's been looking for immortal life all these centuries?” Serenity continued, now unable to stop the flood of brilliance in her brain “Who left behind the perfect servant -a robot- to do their dirty work? Who's left behind them an entire series of regenerating clones in order to control that robot, guard this `tomb' and make sure everything went smoothly?”

“…” Bakura already knew the answer, before she said it.

“Who are the `Masters', Bakura? Who do you think set this whole thing up?” Serenity finally asked, practically gasping for breath. Her exhilaration was evident in the flush of her cheeks, and Bakura looked at her, bedazzled. For once, he truly looked at her, and saw her for what she was. Not all puny mortal, but a very smart, very capable, very courageous person as well.

“You…You really think these scientists” he motioned at the sleeping people around them “Are Kaiba's masters? You think they're sleeping here on their own accord, waiting for Kaiba to come wake them up when he's discovered the eternal youth formula, or something as fucked up as that?”

Serenity turned to him, determination drawn all over her face “I don't think it's only these scientists. Don't you remember what Marik said? Kuru Eruna is MultiCorp's-Meidcorp's secret lab. MediCorp is KaibaCorp's old name, as you know…Therefore, we can only assume that this…place” she looked around her, openly disgusted “is the invention of the sick, perverted, absolutely paranoid minds of the owners of both MultiCorp and MediCorp, who decided they wanted to become immortal, and when they realized they couldn't make it, they just put themselves to sleep, thinking that one day, the formula would finally be found, and that day, their droid would bring it to them and seal their immortality forever!!”

Bakura shook his head, closing his eyes “This so hilariously obvious…why the FUCK didn't we think about it before?” he kicked the wall, on the side, while Serenity herself shook her head and looked around, a knowing grin now on her features.

“See?” she pointed at a touch-panel “This woman's codename is `Psi four-hundred. Psi is one of the last letters of the Greek alphabet. Don't you get it? As we walk, we pass the ranks of the scientists, until we reach Alpha one: the first of the first. Then, we'll probably get to the ones responsible for this. All we have to do is walk on, and we'll get them!”

“Wait.” Bakura said, turning his watch around his wrist and staring at it “what time is it? Okay, we have fifteen minutes left.”

“Let's go, then? What are we waiting for?” the girl offered and started walking. Bakura walked after her, staring now and then at the sleeping faces, which seemed to be sneering and mocking him now, their wicked eyes open and glassy in his mind. He refused to think he was acting like a two year old. It was just that the capsules were raised higher than him, that's all.

Bakura doesn't DO afraid. It's just not him.

They finally reached the end of the corridor and turned left, only to come face to face with the impossible. There, in front of them, the maze that had been dark before, was now lit with green cubicles.

“Oh no.” Serenity said, as she saw that the corridor in front of them had dozens of doors right and left, each of them leading to a visibly similar corridor than the one they were into, with even more twists and turns.

“Fuck.” Bakura gave his very own version of what he was seeing, pretty sure by now that finding Alpha One was a bit more complicated than they had initially assumed.

“Look” he told the girl absently, trying to stay as far away from the slimy, bug-littered walls as possible “Let's just go straight. Later we'll go get the others, and we'll come here together…what do you think?” he asked. A quiet `hmm' reassured him that she had heard, and was now staring at the walls again.

“Imagine what would happen if we woke them up.” She suddenly told him the idea that had previously struck her. The one she'd been too afraid to tell him before.

He snorted derisively “Pfft. They'd die on the spot, old and weak as they are.”

“Exactly my point.” Serenity said and turned to him, watching his bloody eyes glint fiery red “I think it's high time they followed the good ol' circle of life, don't you?” she finally asked, and saw the flash of red in his eyes.

Oh, now you're talking. Undo the fuckers! Bakura was inwardly starting to appreciate more of this girl's qualities with every passing moment.

“Not a bad idea, if I may say so…” he commented, letting his eyes roam the walls as he walked further in the corridor “Not bad at all…Of course, that would make us villains but…”

Bakura turned right, intending to see where the girl was, but his eyes unintentionally fell to one of the doors leading out of the corridor. A door which revealed another corridor, completely similar to this one. Only,,,there was something…someone in the end of it. Standing motionlessly under the arches.

“Hey.” Bakura suddenly said in alert, making the girl turn to him.

“What's wrong?” she asked, but he didn't answer, his eyes never leaving the figure he thought might be one of their clone enemies. He just grabbed his loose watch and unbuckled it, turning only momentarily to give it to her.

“Take this. I just saw something; I have to go check it out. You stay here, and if I'm not back don't come for me. Go back to the rendezvous point, tell Marik what happened, and he'll decide what to do.”

“But Bakura, what are - I can't just let you go!” she said a little too loud, and he clamped a hand over her mouth, afraid she'd scare the figure away. “Just wait here. Don't move a muscle. Understand?”

She looked at him with a glare, then rolled her eyes in exasperation, then nodded. Finally, he released her. “Stay here. I'll be back.” He simply told her, and ran off in his best sprint towards the person he could see standing in the alcove. Even though he knew he couldn't pressure Ryou's body with too much energy for too long, he ignored the strain of muscles and forced himself to the ultimate speed, his feet not making even the smallest impression of a sound on the floor. He was afraid that the mystery person would disappear, and that he'd lose his chance forever.

He turned around for a millisecond to check what the girl was doing, and he saw her at the alcove he'd left her, staring behind him as he ran in the fashion of a hurricane. He turned back forwards just in time to make out the shape of black clothing, before the person on the archway walked away calmly, disappearing in another corridor. Bakura ran after him as fast as possible, through corridors and around corners, Somehow, the figure was always one corridor away.

At the first turns, Bakura tried to mark the territory in his brain, tried to remember the path. But after a while, he knew that if he stopped seeing the figure, he wouldn't know how to go back to Serenity. Congratulations, idiot. He berated himself furiously `what if this guy wanted to get you lost all along? He just succeeded!'

He agonized about that possibility for a few moments, while the strain of his running was starting to weigh on his speed. Until finally, as he saw the black figure appear at the end of the green-lit corridor once again…

“Bakura…” was suddenly heard a faraway voice, and the albino was immediately distracted from his thoughts. “Marik?” he questioned, half-surprised, half-dumbfounded. How the hell…what the hell…was that Marik? Come to think about it, those shredded clothes…

“Bakura…” the voice was heard again, guiding him with its call, and Bakura followed it. The sudden thought crossed his mind, that it was strange Marik had not been surprised by these cryo-sleeping…half-dead guys surrounding them, but Bakura just thought it was another sign that Marik had regained his memory, which gave no excuse, of course, to the fact that Marik was choosing certain corridors to turn to, avoiding others. Didn't Marik say he didn't know this place? What the heck was going on? Most importantly, why had Marik decided he wanted to play this hide-and-seek game?

Corridor after corridor, Bakura followed the fleeting voice, which slipped like water from between his fingers. One moment he thought he'd caught it, one moment he was lost. Until finally, he lost all semblance of patience, decided he couldn't take it anymore and called “Marik! Stop this! Just come here! What's going on…” started saying, only this time he received an answer.

“Just a little more...c'mon…Bakura…I have something to show you…” the voice called once more, and Bakura cursed the hour he'd fallen for that voice so hard so as to be walking around cryo-sleeping grandparents in order to approach it.

Each hall now had the capsules adorning its walls, and Bakura had even stopped looking at them, after a while. Okay. There were 80-year-olds sleeping around him- had been sleeping there for 600 years- who could wake up any minute and go after him -all he had to do was press a button, and BAM, wakie wakie- and he was following his beautiful, although strangely unaffected by all this, friend.

At the turn of yet another green corridor, finally, the scenery changed. This time, there was someone standing in the far end of the corridor, torn clothes accentuating the tanned figure, bite-mark growing purple on the soft mocha neck, blonde locks falling angelically over a hurtfully, painfully handsome face. For some reason, it broke Bakura's heart just seeing it: the absolute, flawless beauty of it.

Automatically, Bakura started walking faster and faster, until his walk turned to a full-fledged sprint. He was afraid Marik would flee at any moment, so Bakura fought to run faster in order to catch Marik before he could escape.

“Marik.” Bakura gasped, panting, as he ran. He noticed, with a happy soar of his heart, that Marik wasn't leaving. He was still there. Still standing and waiting, now wearing that playful sly smile. The sparkle in the lilac eyes was undeniable. What was Marik doing there? Wasn't he and Yugi supposed to be together? What the heck was happening? Maybe the corridors they had gone through met at some point…maybe…In any case, Bakura had so much to tell Marik, he couldn't wait.

“”I have to tell you something” Bakura panted urgently, as he finally reached Marik, standing less than four feet away from him.

Marik smiled at him, with his gorgeous lips, his eyes fluttering and staring up from beneath the curvy lashes. “Don't worry…” he said, almost lazily “We have all the time in world…” he drawled, and raised his hand, to slide his thumb over Bakura's lower lip.

Bakura smiled as he grabbed his lover's hand, getting immediately addicted to its touch, but knowing he couldn't indulge himself in this situation. He had to get back to the girl, and he had to tell Marik what they had discovered, no matter what. ”No, no…you don't understand…I really have to tell you…Hey, where's his royal thick-headedness?” he suddenly asked, puzzled at the Game King's absence. Marik seemed confused for a moment, but a light of understanding soon dawned in his beautiful eyes, making them glow “Oh, you mean Atem…Oh right…He, uh…said he'd go back to the main hall. Decided he couldn't tale the sight of all these people sleeping in cryo-capsules here…”

Bakura watched the other suspiciously, lowering Marik's hand from his lips. Atem? Since when did Marik call that spiky-haired fool Atem? Bakura narrowed his eyes, not trusting anything he saw in these corridors. Especially someone who had just popped up out of nowhere, even if that someone was Marik.

“Well, what are you doing here? Why aren't you with Yugi? I have to go back to the woman, we said we'd meet-“

But Marik didn't seem to understand him, since he took Bakura's hand and walked forward, into yet another hall full of sleeping old people. He walked slowly, tugging softly on Bakura's hand, who was staring at him as though he was crazy. He didn't want to anger Marik, but…what the heck was going on?

“Yugi this, Yugi that…all we ever think about is them… I just want you…”Marik suddenly said, bringing his arms to wrap around an absolutely startled Bakura's shoulders. At least Marik had said `Yugi' hadn't he? That was a small sign of normalness in a crazy situation. Wasn't it?

“Marik” the albino started, confused “What are you talking about? What's gotten into you all of a sudden? We have to go-“

“Shhh…I just wanted to be with you…is that so bad?” he questioned angelically, and caressed Bakura's cheek again, long enough to make Bakura unable to think clearly, then pulled back. Bakura was in a haze. He couldn't understand what the hell was happening…how had Marik gotten there? He wanted to ask, really he did…but when he saw the dazed look in the lilac eyes and the half-open, gasping mouth…he couldn't think of anything except that.

“Marik, I thought you didn't-“ Bakura started, but two fingers over his mouth silenced him again. Marik brought his body closer to the albino's, pressing flush against the silver haired man. Bakura swallowed dryly, not yet having come to terms with this situation. In any case, he knew how seductive Marik had always been, but he never thought the other boy would be so…straightforward. At least, he had never been before….Bakura felt warm arms bring his face down, but just as he thought -with a flutter of his heart- that Marik was going to kiss him, the tanned boy brought his lips to the albino's ear.

“I want you…” it simply said, and the butterflies- no, eagles- in Bakura's heart made a maddening flight around his lungs. He almost forgot what he wanted to say.

“Marik, what-“

“I want you..” the other repeated throatily, accentuating his will with a long mocha leg, which came to wrap around Bakura's hips and rub at his waist

Bakura gulped, not really familiar with the concept of being wanted in any way, let alone this one, by this particular person, in this particular situation. “…but, Marik…” he started saying “…Serenity and Yugi…we can't just leave-“

“Shh” the fingers came to stop him once again “ Don't you want me?” the rhetorical question came, asked in such an endearing pout- an expression Bakura had never seen on that face before. The albino's heart stilled.

“I-I…”

“…I can't wait…” Marik simply said, pushing his body to drill against Bakura's, hips descending on hips, chests rubbing together, mouth breathing into mouth, hair tickling each other's throats. And that leg, oh god, that leg, tightening around Bakura's body, constricting his free will completely.

“…but Marik…here?” Bakura asked, breathlessly, begging to kiss the supple lips but being denied over and over again, as Marik smartly avoided his kiss, teasing him.

“…there's no other place.” Marik said, as if this could justify the sudden tornado of lust. But Bakura couldn't shake the feeling off. Something…something was wrong. First of all, why would Marik want to do this here, amongst the faces of the sleeping…frozen? Here, where even the notoriously freaky Bakura felt a bit iffy.

“Marik…no.” Bakura restrained the other's groping hands with all the willpower he could muster. But it still wasn't enough. Not enough to restrain his craving for life.

“We...we...can't.” Bakura said again, seizing Marik's waist and pulling him away as much as possible “This isn't the time or the place…We have to go get the others…Serenity just discovered what's going on in this place…this was a stupid idea all along, I-“

“Is Serenity all you can think about” the voice came in the form of an irritated growl “I thought you wanted me…” he said in an uncomfortably deep, throaty voice, hitting Bakura's entire neural system and setting it on fire instantly. The pale albino felt warm palms slide under his black shirt and over his chest, coming to scratch softly at his nipples. He let out a long, deep growl and automatically tightened his hold on Marik's waist. Okay, that was cheating. He -a life fetished man- was fighting to reign over his feelings, while he was being teased mercilessly.

He couldn't stop it. The sounds Marik was making -strangely wanton, compared to the last time, but definitely arousing- coupled with the bare skin-on-skin contact, were unbearable.

“We…have to stop..” Bakura drawled through gritted teeth, but made no move to let Marik go, and instead pulled him closer, his palm sliding over the thigh, which was wrapped around him- exposed through the ripped clothing. The world became hazy, when he felt his love's lips touch his throat, littering the impeccable pale skin with kisses and warm breaths.

“Bakura…” the voice was there again, warmer and closer than before, driving him crazy. So crazy, that he actually started thinking about the possibility of doing this. What the heck was he doing? Didn't he realize where he was?

Thoughts attacked him, all kinds of thoughts. Thoughts that suggested Yugi and Serenity could be dying right now in the hands of the Leader, or the Rare Hunters, or Ishrat, but suddenly, he couldn't find it in himself to care, and bitterly realized Yugi had been right. In everything. When he and Marik were together like this…he couldn't even think properly.

But…but…it wasn't….right, somehow. He still wanted to say the words he'd been holding. He knew it was important that Marik knew. He couldn't do this. Not now He just…couldn't. He felt Marik's fingers touching his golden ring, and was suddenly jarred into reality. Where they were. What they were doing. Where the others might be…

“It's so warm…”Marik's breath came with suffocating heat in his ear “Won't you let me hold it…” he begged in an unnaturally wanton voice, referring always to the ring, but somehow making it sound so…dirty, that Bakura was ethically shaken once more, only this time he held true to his decisions.

“No. No, Marik, this is crazy. Let go.” Bakura said, this time his tone suggesting no alternative- only decisiveness. This wasn't the way he'd imagined it. It might be childish, but he didn't want the memory of it to be that of a green-glowing room with cold damp walls. No, it wasn't right.

Letting out a small wine of protest, Marik had no choice but to allow himself to be pulled back. Bakura looked away, not really knowing what had gotten into him, and why he wasn't as thrilled as he'd always thought he'd be about this. Somehow…something…was off. Why was Marik so eager, all of a sudden? Marik never was one to put personal satisfaction before the wellbeing of his friends. How was it possible that Marik had just popped out of nowhere, luring Bakura a thousand corridors away from Serenity in order to ask him to do…this? It…it just didn't make sense, with the conventional meaning. This wasn't something Marik would do. It wasn't something Bakura liked to see him do. Not Marik, whose spirit he had admired since the very first day they met…

“Oh! Right.” Marik suddenly chimed, distracting Bakura from his thoughts with the sound of his wonderfully deep voice “I almost forgot why I brought you here…” Marik continued coolly, as if nothing had happened. Bakura was transfixed. Had…what they'd almost done been so…random, to the other?

“What…is it?” Bakura asked, honestly curious as to what it could be that had made Marik act so differently.

“Come with me…” Marik urged, and took one of Bakura's hands in both his own. His smile was so radiant, Bakura didn't believe he'd ever actually seen Marik smile so brightly before. Bakura let himself be dragged further in the corridor, reaching nearly the middle of it. Then Marik stopped.

“Well?” Bakura asked, still in awe of that incredible smile, and still thinking how this was very, very out of character for Marik, somehow. But this was Marik. He had to be. He had Bakura's bite on his neck. He had burn-out clothes. It really was Marik. Of course, Bakura never thought it was better to see Marik as an emotional wreck than see him smile radiantly…but this…this was just…unnatural.

“Well.” Marik eagerly filled in “Look around.”

Bakura did as he was told, but the only thing he could see was the ordinary alignment of cryo-sleeping people. “What?” he asked, annoyed by the fact that there was something he couldn't see, apparently.

Marik mock-huffed and shook his head, again in mock-irritation. Bakura idly thought he'd never seen the other act so…childish? Happy? Carefree? What?

“I'm disappointed in you, Bakura. Here. Look over there.” Marik took hold of Bakura's head and turned it towards the direction of two particular capsules “Look between them” he urged, and Bakura narrowed his eyes.

There! He saw it! He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed before!! There was a crack on the wall! An imperceptible splinter!

“Wanna see what's in there?” Marik questioned eagerly, tugging on Bakura's hand “Let's go.” And he dragged the albino towards the secret passage's direction.

“Wait,” Bakura suddenly stopped, taking his hand away from Marik abruptly. The other looked confused, then strangely alarmed.

“What is it?” he asked, only for Bakura to narrow his eyes in suspicion “How do you know all this?”

Marik smirked, taking Bakura's hand and tugging at it again. “Is that it? Thought you wanted to break up with me for a moment there…” Bakura stared at the other. Marik considered them to be a couple? But…but…Bakura certainly wouldn't protest, but he'd always Marik was more of the guy who needed to sit down and talk things over first…

“Well,” Marik explained “Don't you remember when the Rod touched me? I got all my memories there.”

Bakura eyed him in disbelief “You told me. Don't you remember?” This was growing more suspicious by the second.

“Of course!” the other casually responded- too casually, for Bakura's tastes- “Well, anyway, how else would I know of the passageways?” Marik rhetorically asked, and Bakura had nothing to say…hadn't Marik previously told them that he didn't know the passageways? Or maybe that was a lie, and now he was telling Bakura the truth.? Bakura honestly couldn't figure it out. All he kept reminding himself was that this really was Marik. He had the bite on his throat.

“Well, come on, then…don't you wanna see what I have to show you?” Marik asked eagerly, pulling Bakura towards the wall again “I swear you're going to like it…”

Bakura, thinking it was highly unlikely there would be anything appealing in this place, simply nodded his agreement, for lack of anything better to do. He still wanted to tell Marik what Serenity had figured out, but realized that until he did what Marik obviously wanted him to do, Marik wouldn't let him speak about anything else. Yet another weird thing, especially when Bakura had to tell Marik the most important discovery yet.

Nevertheless, Bakura complied to his friend's requests and followed the other man to the strange pathway in the wall. After all, if Marik thought he would like it…then he probably would. And with that thought, Bakura succumbed to his curiosity, and followed Marik through the splinter of the wall.

It had taken a long time of walking in a straight line through the black corridors before they managed to see any kind of light in the horizon. Unfortunately for Marik, he knew that blue light well. He'd had a cave which sparkled with the same purple-blue light under his home.

Now that he'd regained his memories, it seemed so familiar that it made him nauseous. Yugi didn't even suspect what was hidden past the blue alcove, even though he'd heard Marik recite his memories. Not once did the King imagine he'd be seeing what he did.

“What time is it?” Marik asked, preoccupied with holding up a light-chip and staring around.

“We've got twenty minutes left. Don't worry, they'll be okay.” Yugi reassured as he walked steadily towards the light. “Well?” he asked “should we take a turn? It looks like the logical thing to do, in either case”

Marik nodded and turned towards the light. This time, the blue light in the end of the corridor illuminated their trek. Once they'd reached the door to the light, Marik turned to Yugi.

“I hope you have a strong stomach.” Marik absently said, as he threw the light-chip in the floor to extinguish it “Cause I sure don't.”

“Why?” Yugi asked, not really looking forward to the answer. But Marik didn't respond; only stepped in the alcove silently. Not hearing any desperate screams or cries, Yugi felt optimistic, and walked in after him.

“That's why.” Marik said, as Yugi stared, gasping at the repulsive sight. He didn't mind that Marik heard him yelp in terror. Any man would've, except maybe Marik himself. A chamber with a dome-like ceiling, as tall as the eye could see. On the walls, on the ceiling, hanging from the construction's pillars. Milliards of them, hundreds of thousands of billions of them, entire legions of blue cocoons, all of them jutting out from the walls like the leper pops from skin.

“Excuse me.” Marik said in a fading voice, and rushed out of the room. Yugi could hear his violent retching from where he stood. To tell the truth, he didn't feel he could stomach it either, all those cold faces, all of them the same individual.

Cold bronzed skin turned pale from sterilization, closed blue eyes, ice covering the blonde lashes. An entire army of ten-year-old `Mariks', all of them asleep, all of them sunken in a slimy fluid- probably that of a mother's uterus. Only their mother was a tube. A very big, imposing tube, standing as a tall pillar in the middle of the circular dome.

There was a touch panel on the pillar, and Yugi approached it, trying to see what it read: Sequence Number: 291, Date of Release: 24 July, 2669, Status: Cryo-Preservation procedure engaged.

“So what did I miss, except the hordes of me lying around…” Marik made a vague attempt at humour, which failed miserably, given the situation.

“Um…”Yugi started, not really knowing, or wanting to say anything “Uh…you were a very cute kid. How come I never saw you in Yango?” Yugi tried, making Marik smile briefly.

“Never went to school.” He said. Yugi nodded in understanding, not believing he was making small talk in a room full of clones. “Ahh…” he said, trying to sound even the least bit interested in what he was saying and not what he was seeing “That explains it.” He concluded.

Marik nodded, walking towards the central pillar, where Clone capsules were stacked one above the other, with the clone nearest to the floor floating just above Yugi's head.

“So what does it say?” Marik asked Yugi, trying not to sound afraid to approach the pillar with the clones, which he undoubtedly was.

“Well, from what I gather, the guy who will become the new GOUL leader will be born in exactly ten years, 268 days and four hours, counting.” Yugi commented, as he touched something in the panel near the capsule, but was denied access to the system.

“You know” Marik started “We could break this place down.” He said “Shut down the systems. Kill the Sleepers, kill the Clones…”

Yugi stared at him in disbelief “What are you talking about Marik? We're not murderers!”

“No, we're not.” Marik agreed, “but if you saw yourself cloned a billion times over, wouldn't you like to kill somebody too?”

Yugi didn't answer anything to that, not really knowing how to respond in such a case. Personally, he wouldn't even dream of seeing clones of himself everywhere he looked. He could only imagine what it must have been for Marik. Normal guy the one day, one of a billion other similar guys the other. Talk about a screwed up situation. Tea's problem was nothing compared to the psychological pressure of this.

“Maybe you should, then.” Was heard a voice from somewhere, and both Yugi and Marik whirled around simultaneously to stare at the dark door. An evil guffaw was heard echoing around them and they both looked around anxiously, their heads whipping around from left to right.

“Who's there?” Yugi shouted, grabbing from his belt the metallic staff he had used in the fight before. He held it in front of his chest in the position of defense. “Show yourself!”

But the laughter continued, and from the front, Yugi saw Marik shake his head, his blonde locks falling around his head in pretty sparkles. “It's no use…” he said, still shaking his head in submission “Give it up, Ishrat. We know it's you.” He called and fought the fear that was gnawing at his insides. He had to face this fear, for the sake of his entire existence. He had to get over his father's image, Isis's screams, his mother's bloody face…

Ishrat was not his father. Ishrat was NOT his Father. He was only another clone, only much older than Marik himself. Marik had to understand that. He had to make his subconscious understand that.

“Maybe you should murder the clones.” Ishrat's voice prodded, as Marik saw him materialize in a swirl of dark robes through the dark entrance,

`You're stronger than him.' Marik forced himself to think, when he met the distressingly familiar face. `You're not five years old any more. You're stronger than him. He can't force you. H can't, he can't he can't you won't let him kill you.' He kept repeating the mantra in his head.

“You should kill them, see what you achieve.” Ishrat said while shrugging, and then started advancing forward, towards the tense friends. “You think that if you wipe us all out, you'll stop being one of us? Go ahead then, try. But remember…you'll never be what you want to think you are, You'll never be the prototype.” Ishrat reminded him, smirking derisively through the hood of his cloak. “Admit it, Marik. Always and forever, you can be nothing save for second best.” The man was now circling Marik, walking around him and taunting him like a demon, while Marik stared at the floor, fists clenched and shoulders shaking violently.

“You're not what you want to be. None of us is, and you're no better than the rest.” Ishrat finally finished and turned to watch Marik face to face, finally pulling his hood down, revealing his face, still Marik-handsome, but with many more creases and wrinkles than Marik's was.

“You're no better than the rest of us; you're even worse off, actually. I wanted to relieve you of the torture of your memories. Erasing your memory when it was still time was the smartest thing to do. But the rest was your fault. I'd left you in Yango. Free. Away from here. Do you even understand the magnitude of this gift? You have the ability to be able to leave the Tomb. None of us can do that!” he was now holding Marik by the collar of his torn shirt. “But you ignored my magnanimity and went looking for Kaiba yourself. The rest is your fault. Only yours.”

“Magnanimity?” Marik barked out, laughing in a strangled tone “Do you think I forgot how you wanted to kill me? Put me down!” he ordered with all his might, and the other complied immediately, gripping his head in pain at the mental attack.

“Damn you, boy!” the elder roared “Give me the Rod, and I'll let you go. I'll erase all your memories and release you! Is that what you want? You'll have it!”

Marik snorted and moved a hand to restrain Yugi, who was starting to brandish his metallic stick at Ishrat “You think I don't know you?! You idiot!” Marik roared, surprised at the courage he could muster against the man who he had feared ever since he came to existence “I am you! You think I don't know how you think? You'll kill us a;; in a heartbeat as long as you get it!?”

“Oh really?” Ishrat sneered “Then what are you planning to do with it? Become a cheerleader and use it as a baton? You don't even know how to use it, boy!”

“Oh, trust me” Marik retorted fervently “I know exactly what to do with it. There are many friends of mine on this planet who'd love to use it as a hyper-arm sharpener! Your precious Rod will turn into goo in a matter of minutes when I cast it into the fire!”

“I'd like to see how you're planning to destroy it, since it's waterproof, iceproof and fireproof!” Ishtar barked triumphantly.

“Oh really?” Yugi laughed from the side “Is it idiot-proof, because maybe we could crash it on your head!”

Marik sniggered at that and Ishrat `s furious eyes narrowed dangerously. “That's it! I've had it with your games! It's time I bring down the real guns!”

“I'm anxious to see them, old man!” Marik yelled, trying to hide his true angst by mockery. Truth was, he didn't have very good experiences with Ishrat's `serious guns'…Maybe there was another Rod? Maybe he'd stab Marik with it again…maybe…

“NOA!” Ishrat suddenly yelled, confusing both Marik and Yugi, who were standing there, staring. Maybe a giant cannon would come out? Maybe Ishrat would wake up all the clones? That would be far worse than any cannon…

“Yes Master 288?” Noa's boyishly sweet voice asked from the megaphone, the electronic voice echoing in the dome.

“Project the central camera view of the Hydro-PS Room” Ishrat said, grinning. Marik didn't at all like the sound of that Hydro Room. “Now, I'll show you true desperation.” Ishrat eagerly said, a paranoid glint lighting his eyes.

“Oh yeah? I thought you already showed him that when you carved his back!” Yugi shouted from the side, but Marik kept having a very ominous feeling about this. He checked his watch. 00:10…In five minutes they were supposed to meet the others…the others…Bakura…

A huge projection hit the wide wall over the door where Ishrat was standing. Marik stared at it, and it took him a few moments to fully realize what he was seeing. It was the frontal view of a room. Marik couldn't make out the background, but… the current occupants of the room…There was the albino, Bakura's spiky head easily distinguishable, with it's silver shine. And then there was…

“What's the meaning of this?” Marik practically roared as he watched his own face, same clothes, same hair…smiling at Bakura- leering at him. Bakura seemed shocked, thoroughly, for some reason. He was watching the sugarcoated Marik on the screen with disbelieving hesitation. Marik felt like plucking his eyes out in order not to watch when he saw his screen-self putting arms around his Bakura.

“What the hell?” Yugi asked from the side, startled about two things: first, why was Marik on the screen and second, why was Marik on the screen hugging Bakura like that?

“Oh, don't tell me you haven't figured it out already, loverboy…” Ishrat drawled on, sneering at Marik, and Yugi's eyes almost burst out of their sockets at the insinuation. Well, he had thought…but never…not like that…

“290's specialty has always been deception.” Ishrat said, with what could only be delusional happiness. Marik thought this was all a nightmare, form beginning to end. He wanted to die right there on the spot. That…that disgusting GOUL leader was rubbing up to the one Marik loved. He wanted to take Yugi's metallic stick and crush the screen, and then crush Ishrat's head simply for inventing this sick idea. It was a mistake to let Ishrat see them kissing, Marik realized, the deadliest mistake he'd ever done and possible the worst he would ever do, since Marik knew he would die if anything happened to Bakura.

“Give me the Rod and your boyfriend walks out of there unscarred. Hesitate and 290 will destroy him.” Ishrat black mailed what Marik had feared.

“Boyfriend?” Yugi asked from the side, still unable to believe what he was hearing. But Marik had absolutely no time for that kind of explanation right now.

“What the hell are you talking about! You know Bakura can't be destroyed!” Marik roared, pointing an accusing finger at his older counterpart.

“You're wrong, you're the one who thinks Bakura can't be destroyed!” Ishrat shouted back “What you call `Bakura' is nothing but a mental projection of Nehti' s brainwaves, only with removed memory! His ring is nothing but the CPU processor in control of the hologram projection and the adjustment of waves! If the ring is destroyed, so is your sweetheart!” Ishrat guffawed sadistically, enjoying the look of dread on Marik's face.

“YOU LIE!!” Marik roared “I've seen Bakura adjust to other bodies. He's not a hologram!! I've…I've seen him in Kith's body…and he's been in mine too!”

Ishrat snorted derisively “Of course you idiot! Kith is a mind-slave, and you already have the brainwaves of the Rod. Of course the hologram would adjust to your body with no trouble, since the holograms' waves are also adjusted to ours! Atem could also easily take control of your body! He's got the same hologram procession!” Ishrat roared derisively, absolutely reveling in his newfound power.

“Still…” Marik said, after a shocked few seconds “Still…that creep that looks like me doesn't have the ring! He can't hurt Bakura, because he'll never give his ring away to anyone, not even me!” Marik bluffed, watching the expression on Ishrat's face remain unperturbed. Okay, now Marik was worried. Very worried….

“Are you sure? Are you sure 290 isn't good enough? I'd advise you to keep watching, Marik.” Ishrat urged him, with an eager sadistic look on his eyes “Keep watching, as the one you cherish so much betrays your trust, and gives his ring to his doom! A doom with your face!”

“NO! Bakura will never do it!!” Marik yelled, turning towards the screen. Noa finally added sound to the picture, and Marik was provided with a fully terrorizing view of the terrible thriller. Ishrat was right about one thing: this was true anguish. From the side, Yugi stayed silent, watching the figures in the screen talk, negotiating the ring. Bakura was asking why `Marik' wanted it.

And then, 290 answered: “I need the chip, Bakura. I have to place it in the slot and transfer your memories. It won't hurt at all…I promise…” this was accompanied by a hug and more caressing.

“NO!! Let him go, I don't have the Rod” Marik desperately cried, but Ishrat only guffawed at him, telling him that lying about it would get him nowhere. Marik thought to mentally order Ishrat to do something, but that still wouldn't stop what was happening! It still wouldn't!!

Yugi and Marik watched petrified, waiting for what would happen, while Ishrat kept away watching with a pleased smile, and praising 290 I his mind.

In a matter of moments, when Nehti finally fell, the Rod would be theirs again.

“What is this place?” Bakura questioned, while squeezing his body to fit through the trashed wall. This chamber, whatever it was, must have been sealed apart from the rest of Kuru Eruna, if the wall they had to go through was so clumsily wrecked. “Watch your step, Mariku…” he said, as he heard the other man lose his footing and almost tumble to the floor.

“C'mon. This way!” Marik pointed forwards, at the direction a soft fluorescent light was coming from. Bakura staggered a little further, then finally fit through the slit of the wall. He squeezed himself outside and into the mysterious room right after Marik, who was know smiling at him more brightly than ever.

Bakura stepped in the room and looked around, but immediately he started feeling dizzy. He grabbed his head in both hands and groaned, as he stared at the walls, the floor, the dusty machines on the side…

“Get it off me!! Get it off!!!!”

“Ryou, I need help!! They're after us!”

“It's under the rug, quick!!”

“Nehti…I'm…I'm scared”

“They're coming for me now…so,..don't…don't be here when I return.”

“Bakura! Bakura!!!” Marik's voice was calling from above, and Bakura felt soft hands cradling his head. “Are you all right?”

“Y-Yeah…” the albino answered “Just a little dizzy….I'm…”

“It's okay. Shhh…I understand.” Marik said in his comforting tone, and Bakura could feel cool fingers calming his nerves. Strange, how Marik had seemed so unnatural before, but now seemed to be his old self again. Sweet, calm, reserved…beautiful.

And then, finally, Bakura got a chance to look at the room clearly again. It wasn't that big, really. It was of medium width and height, but it was rectangular. Bakura noticed the main thing about this room. Two pillar-like constructions, built in the middle of the room, piercing through floor and ceiling alike.

But they weren't like the cryo-capsules. They didn't have slimy liquid, or ice inside them. There was only water filling them. Bakura easily understood by the way the bodies floated in there. Yes, there were two bodies, one in each of the two pillars. Bodies that seemed to be sleeping, only not in the fashion of the cryo-Sleepers. The bodies were curved naturally in the water, elegant stances of hovering eternity.

They were both men, both of them suspended in the water. There were tubes on the back of their thighs, on their arms, their chest, their heads… but strangely, these black plugs didn't look forced and painful, like the ones with the Sleepers. They looked like they were cradling these people, as though they were a soft embrace- a bed made of wires.

Bakura let go of Marik's hand and walked forward, utterly distracted. Marik let him go, staying behind while Bakura slowly walked around the first pillar of water, examining every angle of the body.

It was a man with short, light brown hair, his skin not without a healthy tan, His eyes were closed, so Bakura couldn't examine them, but he studied the facial characteristics intensely, noticing the angled nose, the sharp jaw, the hands that used to be calloused but where now probably as soft as a baby's, because of all these years in the water.

“He was put to Hydro PreServation in 2102. The Emperor of all United Federations, Atem. MultiCorp really outdid herself with this addition, didn't she?” Marik simply commented, distracting Bakura.

“Emperor?” he asked in confusion, unable to believe his ears “Atem? Isn't that what people here keep calling Yugi?”

“True.” Marik reassured him. “The hologram in Yugi's golden necklace is the mental simulation of Atem. You know him today as, `Yugi', but he really is the consciousness of this man.” Marik informed him while pointing at the floating body, and they both resulted to staring at the floating body.

“Hologram? Mental simulation? I don't understand, Mariku. If you knew all this, why didn't you tell me earlier?” Bakura questioned, narrowing his eyes once more “Why didn't you tell me if you knew what I was?” he inquired, a bit bitterly.

“Oh, come on…” Marik started, approaching him slowly and wrapping his arms around him, making Bakura's mind hazy with heat, all of a sudden “You didn't really think I was going to hide this from you, did you? I just wanted to tell you privately…when we would be alone…” Marik said, and Bakura thought it made sense. After all…if this was about him and Marik wanted to trust him…he should be happy, right? And yet, still…something was off. Bakura couldn't pinpoint it, but somehow, something was wrong with Marik…

But then, something else suddenly hit Bakura.

“I can't believe he really is a king…I'm never going to live it down…” Bakura groaned, thinking that even though he didn't know what `Emperor of the United Federations' meant, it sure sounded god-damn important. Damnit. Yugi would go on about that for days.

But then, if this was really Dark Yugi's body…and what Marik had said…what if `spirits' like dark Yugi and dark Bakura could be restored to their bodies? And Yugi already had his body cut out for him…A violent hammering started shredding Bakura's heart to pieces, at the mere thought of what he would see in the other pillar. Could this really be it? Had he -the devil- been granted such pardon from the deities? Could it be that since Dark Yugi's body was here…Bakura's would also be…

Unable to stand the tension, and feeling his insides constrict with the usurpation of pulverizing hope, he turned around, to see for himself, to believe.

Flashbacks really did hit him this time, they hit him so fast that he never even got a chance to take a look at the body of the other pillar. Until, finally, when the fragments of a life long passed were cleared from his mind, he raised his eyes and looked at it, at what could only be it, since it had provoked such a violent reaction.

A body slim and tall, with limbs that looked frail, yet powerful enough to strike death. Fingers long and curved, like claws with their hooked nails. He couldn't see the face. It was covered by a shroud of ebony black -what he could only assume was the man's hair, which wrapped around his head enough times to conceal it. Yet it still waved elegantly in the water, now and then. He noticed the person's skin, unnaturally pale, completely unlike that of the other man -Atem. It was the kind of yellow-white alabaster pallor one can only meet in altered pictures. Not knowing what to say that could express all the things he was feeling, except `hope', Bakura walked around the pillar, observing the Adonis sculpture and taking in as much as he could.

He swept closer, practically adhering his head to the thick glass, but he managed to see what he wanted. The man's face, buried as it was between long strands of hair, which were twirling in the water, was as carefully manufactured and as aristocratic as the rest of his body. Sharp angles, but not too sharp to be considered heavily masculine, or daintily feminine. Thick, curvy black eyelashes, touching the man's cheekbones like petals would touch Marik's velvety skin. The man's eyelids, his lips, his ears …all with a sense of slim translucence, as though they would vaporize if touched too much.

“And of course” Marik's knowing, somehow strangely ironic voice broke through the heavy air “The first unfortunate to undergo this most brutal of procedures, Nehti Bakura: brought here in 2014, when he was fifteen years old. He was put in Hydro-Hibernation at his nineteen years of age, when the scientists found no other experimental use for him…No one knows why he was brought here on the first place: his file has always been one of the most classified nad well-guarded ones. ..Do you recognize him, Bakura? It's you. It's you, my love. “

Bakura was shaking, unable to stop his nails form digging in his palms. Unable to believe he was seeing this, hearing this- this was happening! Marik had known all along and hadn't told him!

“How…How could you…keep this from me…?” Bakura simply questioned, shaking violently by now, staring up at the soft sleeping face, which was as still as always, unmoving in its coldness. Bakura idly wondered what the eye-colour would be. Somehow, he felt he already knew.

“I told you…” Marik came back again, holding Bakura's hand, trying to calm the albino down “I only did it because I didn't want the others to see…Please, Bakura…I only want you to know the truth, Bakura… I want you to understand things the way they are…”

Bakura thought of this and realized Marik was right. It would have been truly eventful if Marik had caused him to break down like this in front of everyone.

“Bakura…” the tanned man's soft voice whispered in his ear, like the shadow of a dream “Would you like…” Marik continued, he arm coming around Bakura in an intimate hug “…to cheat death?”

Instantly, Bakura had jumped out of the embrace and whipped around hoarsely “What do you mean?” he asked, the wild fires of hope now burning in his lungs.

“I mean…” Marik continued “That since you are a hologram controlled by the Ring, all it would take would be the microchip located in your ring, and then…” he pointed to the control pad which was in front of Nehti's water prison. Truly, there was a small slot underneath the panel. A slot which would fit a chip if need be…

“But…why my Ring? Why do you need it?” Bakura asked, trying to stall the procedure of giving up the core of his soul to something as uncertain as this.

“I need the chip, Bakura. I have to place it in the slot and transfer your memories. It won't hurt at all…I promise…” Marik said, bringing his arms around an utterly confused, uncertain, and desperately hopeful Bakura “Don't you want to be with me…” Marik whispered in his ear “Just us…no one else, no Ryou…no one to stop us…Your own body…” Marik told him, caressing his face and setting small kisses in his neck “…we can make love…” Marik whispered inaudibly in his ear, only for him to hear, making Bakura gasp and his eyes widen. He grasped Marik's waist and crushed the blond man desperately against his body.

“Marik…what if it doesn't work? You said you don't how this place works…what if…what if I…die for real? For good? What if something happens…I- I can't lose you…I just found you, I…” Bakura started saying desperately, clutching at their embrace in absolute despondence.

“You won't lose me…” Marik reassured him, kissing his throat tenderly once again “Just give me the Ring. Before you know it, you'll be here with me. In your own body. You'll have your memories back…isn't this what you want?” Marik asked him, running his hands softly through Bakura's strands.

“I-I…”Bakura stared first at Marik, then at the ring, then back at the one he loved.

“Marik…I…once I give you the ring, I can't be in Ryou's body any more. It'll be unconscious until Ryou comes back to his senses. I won't be here…” Bakura told the other, trying to hide his anguish and excitement, but failing miserably.

“Don't worry about anything. Just give me the Ring, and I'll take care of it. Don't you trust me?” Marik asked in a false pout, grinning at Bakura with his eyes.

“Of course I trust you…I don't know what I'm thinking in saying so, but I do…” Bakura grinned back, hitting a smiling Marik's arm lightly.

“Then don't worry about a thing. “ Marik reassured him “Just give me the Ring, and we'll be together soon. We'll be alive together Bakura. Together!” Marik said, his eyes sparkling in hope and excitement. Bakura was shaking as he reached in his black shirt and took out his ring.

With trembling hands, he presented it to an eager looking Marik “Mariku…” the albino started, his voice shaky as well “In case we never make it out of here…I…I wanted to tell you something…” he started, and Marik shook his head in puzzlement.

“What is it?” he asked, looking owlishly at Bakura with his huge, piercing eyes.

“I..I….I wanted to tell you this when we were outside but I…” Bakura stared at Marik, hesitating, but when he thought he might never see Marik again, dead or alive, all inhibitions left him, and he took Marik's head in both hands, landing a swift kiss on the other's lips. Marik was probably too surprised to respond to him, since he was staring at him with wide, strangely unblinking eyes.

“I love you.” The albino simply said, feeling everything drain out of him, from pain and hurt to pleasure and excitement. Now all that was left was the silence, and the weight of the words as he said them.

“You…You do?” Marik asked a bit shakily, obviously unprepared for the confession. But Bakura didn't care if it was returned, for once. He didn't care about himself. Only about what he felt, and how intense it was. “Yes, I do. I just, wanted you to know, before we do this.”

“Well…” Marik started, still shakily, and Bakura suddenly thought that Marik now looked more like himself than he had all evening.

“Well, I love you too.” Marik finally finished, apparently making something up in his mind and deciding something “How could I not Bakura?” the tanned boy asked kindly, running a hand through the other's silver hair, his lilac eyes glinting.

“You're the only one who's ever really seen me in my life.” Marik said, and Bakura thought he saw a slim layer of moisture covering his eyes, then leaving again as Marik quickly blinked.

“Now give me your Ring. We'll be together soon.” The man finished steadily, his face gathering up to its usual matter-of-fact expression. Bakura nodded, smiling at the one he adored with all his heart. He presented the ring and held it there, in the air between them, while Marik mirrored his smile and reached out.

“NOO! BAKURA NOO! HE'S NOT ME! BAKURAA!!!!” the blond boy cried from his place in the clone room, while watching the screen with rivers of tears flooding his eyes. Yugi was also watching, his eyes wide and terrified, unable to believe his eyes. Ishrat, was holding his head, which was on the brink of imploding from the sheer force of Marik's will.

Marik screamed, his scream echoing in Eruna, but not loud enough to reach the one he loved, apparently. He watched with unblinking eyes as Bakura raised the core of his soul in front of the impostor, offering it freely. Marik closed his eyes, unable to see.

The last thing he thought was that, at least, even though with fake words, 290 had told Bakura the words Marik had always wanted to say, right from the beginning of time. At least Bakura would know Marik loved him with all his heart. But then, Marik wondered, would Bakura think, even for a moment before his destruction, that Marik had betrayed him- the one he had so openly exposed his feelings to had betrayed him?

What Bakura would think didn't matter, Marik thought with finality. Because if Bakura really did get destroyed, Marik thought, then Marik would surely clear things up. He'd explain everything to Bakura, very soon. When they both met in Heaven.

Because, regardless of the `greater good' , if Bakura was killed, then Marik- clone number 288, who had known nothing in his life except pain and rejection- would die with him.

A/n: Oh shit!!! Bakura's going to give his ring? Is he going to die? Can Marik live without him? What's happening?

Guys, I'm so tired right now that I could sleep into next week. I'm so trashed after writing this. Ooooooh gooooood, I need to sleep.

Anyway, how did ya like it? I changed many drafts for this one, not sure where I was going, exactly, until I finally came up with this. I especially tried to show how Bakura behaves in this chapter, first towards Serenity, then towards Marik, last of all towards himself. He finally understands the concept of `love' in this chapter, as in `not caring about reciprocation, just loving with all your heart'…

Too bad he confessed to a clone.

Oh well, we can always take care of that.

But I also wanted to show Bakura's attitude towards the clone: first -when the clone is coming onto him- he thinks it's really suspicious. But when faced with sentimentality and comfort, he believes it's really Marik. Also, notice how Bakura immediately lets down his defenses when he sees his own body. He becomes even more succeptible to the impostor's lies. How did Nehti end up in Kuru Eruna? Classified.

The plot must surely have become clearer by now. I don't know how I should feel about this chapter. Seriously, I think I've done something wrong…I don't know…Is it just me? Should I alter it or rewrite it? Please tell me if it was worth anything!

Lily of the shadow: well, don't worry about finding adjectives in your thesaurus, Lily! Everytime you write `awesome', it makes me happy enough to jump around frantically yelling `YAAAAAHOOOOO!!!!!' So I guess awesome is okay. I'm so happy you liked the last chappie!! I really hope I didn't let you down with this one, it's just that I'm so insecure about this particular one, for some reason, as though I've done something wrong….damn, I hate that feeling!! Oh! And I'm so glad you had fun after a crapstatic morning! I try! Jeez, I have nothing else to say, except ….THAKYOU. Honestly, I can't believe you've stuck to this story right from the beginning. I hope you know how optimistic that makes me. Okay…now that we've got that clear, I'll just stop the rant…Until next time! Adieu!

Rapturous Voice: THANKYOU SO MUCH!!! Hoped you liked this update too! I did my best with it!!! I know I'm really making Marik poor and destperate in this story…but, what can I say, except : angsting I a gals best friend!!

Mistress-oblivion: Heya! I hope you understand more stuff now, although things are still a bit jumbled up!! Yup, Marik really is a poor kid in need of somebody's love…I really hope you liked 18 as you did the previous chappie!! I like your reviews so much!!! Thankyou for everything!!!

Anubia: I'm so glad people understand stuff now, with the last chappie and hopefully this one! I love you for reviewing! Please don't forget me!! I'm desperate here!!!!

The Uncreative One: I don't think you're so `Uncreative', judging by the wonderful reviews! I'm so glad there are still people out there willing to read stories with a plot, apart form just a pairing. I really try to make this work, but I'm not that confident about my work, so your words really boost me up!!! God, writing really is the thing I do the most, so I'm so greatful there are people out there reading my stories and talking and reviewing on them! Believe me…this is just the best feeling ever!! Thankyou so much for giving me such a great review!!

Gelap Gelita: Cool penname! I'm telling you, I would've never figured out what it meant if you hadn't told me. Gives a shade of mystery, huh? I really hope I got things even remotely cleared up for you in this chapter. Chapter eighteen was kind of the obligatory `explanation' interval, in the next chappie we're back into action, and then there's another interval, then action all over again and….well, you know how it goes from there. I know it's time Yami Marik showed up! Gotta ut the viens and the lecherous grimaces if you wanna have Marik in the fic, right? And the kissing scene…argh! Man, I hate my kissing scenes! Honestly, every time I try to revise one, I feel like I want to drop dead and never stand to walk this earth again!! LOVED your review, had so much fun reading it!! I'm so glad you read chapter 17 and reviewed it. I was a bit hesitant about it. I really hope you'll get to read this one as well, but seeing as you'll be leaving, I don't see that happening (cries loudly, making tears fly around her face) …Anyway, I wish you a happy vacation, and lotsa holiday fun!! See you around, I hope!! THANKYOU again for your reviews!!! I absolutely love reading them!!

Anime-fan-Meepa: Must I really say anything? You know I adore the constructive criticism in your (absolutely ADORABLE) reviews!! I'm sorry you hated the spit part. To tell you the truth, thought it was a little too lemony when I was writing it, but then I thought `what the heck? Just add it and play dumb!' But if you really think it takes out from everything, I'll have it removed!! I'm so glad you liked the part with the murder in the house. I think it was an unexpected touch of thrillery goodness! I know what you mean about murder in the house, and how Marik was hiding…and how `daddy' turned out to be a psycho killer…Yeah well, I guess this is my writing spree. What can I say? To tell you the truth, I don't only do it because of the reviews. More like, when I'm feeling down, I get distracted by writing a chapter, the wonderful reviews come, and then I'm feeling up again!!! YUPPIE!! I'm glad you can actually understand the POV of the clones, which I think I insinuated at this chapter too, when I showed 290 getting all worked up about Bakura's love confession…I don't know…I'm trying here…Bakura Nehti sounds awfully weird/unearthly/ absurd to me also, that's why I chose it. First I thought: Nahh…they'll think you're just loving yourself in your own fic, but then I thought: what the heck, that's how I want it to be! And thus he became the infamous Nehti-Kura. As you can see, you're the reader to catch on with my plans first. Kaiba proves to be RoBoKai so far, and in the next chappies…who knows? To tell you the truth, from this story, I personally like something small and stupid: Noa. I don't know why, but for some reason, writing Noa makes me shake my head and grin as I type. “Yes Master 288.” “True, Master 288” “As you wish…” No idea why I like it though! Strange brain of mine, I tell you! Anywayz, gotta go! I enjoyed the review so much! If you really wanna make a drawing for this sorry, then be my guest, I won't put limitations in your artistic tendencies! Draw whatever you like!!!! I've also drawn about this story, I'll send them to you if you like!! Okay. I'm really insecure about chap.18. I especially hope you like it…what am I saying? I'm PRAYING you'll like it. Please tell what you think!! Until next time! THANKYOU!!!!!

Chini-B-channie: I'm so excited you like long chapters!! Many people don't appreciate long chapters, unless the story is one-shot!! I also worry constantly about typos, and how my exclamation marks may get altered when I move the document to ffnet!! Argh! It's so frustrating! I hope I cleared things up for you with this chappy and it's now less confusing!! I gave it my best shot, and now I'm waiting for the results!! I'm especially happy about you liking this story, since you're a reviewer from Paranoid, which was a much different story than this one…But still, I think I sometimes find slivers of `Paranoid' escaping in this story…I don't kknow why…maybe the way people act….anywayz!! I'm so glad you like this!! Thankyou so much for everything!! Please, Review 18- which I'm very anxious about- and tell me if it lived up to the rest of the story!!!!

Pihorist: Oh dear…someone's gonna kill me….another cliffy here too! I just know you probably want to strangle me by now!! But I'm not telling you what well happen! HA! You must stay in angst for an uncertain load of time, until the author of this highly perverted story becomes less bored and inspired enough to write in it!!!! See you in the next chapter! And oh!! Don't forget to write to me and tell me more perverted Marik/Bakura thoughts!! I always love those!!!Hehehe…

Silly little 13yearold: I hope things are clearing out for you in this funfilled plot, 13 yearold!! Personally, as I write, I find them more confusing then ever!!! Don't worry though! I'm sure you can write fics much better than this! I can tell by the way you write! (I'm especially happy you like the name Nehti with Bakrua! I swear I'm not trying to promote myself or anything, it was part of the plan all along!!! Maybe I should change my penname or something…but…oh well, whatever!) Thankyou for remembering me! Please tell me what you think of chapter 18! I'm agonizing for your review here! Don't leave a dying person unreviewed!! AHHHH!!!