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Giving In	By : DracOnyx Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > General Views: 2476 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh!, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
Disclaimer - I don't own them. Happy?
Author's Notes - Well, I wasn't planning on bringing Marik into this fic, but it did seem perfect and right some how, so here he is. I've noticed that the
story hasn't been nearly as dark as it started off . . . Ie noe no one is unhappy with that fact, especially you, Acid. I tried to keep it dark, I really did . . t
ft
for some reason my muses wouldn't let me. But then again . . . maybe it is dark, and I'm just not seeing it. Now . . . as far as I can recall at the moment,
there are only two or three more chapters left of this story . . . and then there's a sequel, because I'm pretty sure a lot of people are going to hate me for
how this is going to end, and my own mind wouldn't let me leave it alone. So, be warned. With that, enjoy.

Chapter 8 - Action and Reaction

Kaiba fell to his knees, wretching horribly, clasping the Millennium Rod to his chest as he hunched over the sidewalk. He'd run as far and as fast as he
could before the shock had finally taken over. Now, as he shivered in a huddled ball in a doorway, his mind ran over everything that had just happened,
coldly analyzing it as was his nature when something had scared him.
< SIZ SIZE="+1">That had NOT been Yugi . . . but neither had it been the dueling spirit that inhabited the smaller boy, either. There had been something decidedly 'off'
about the man . . . almost as if it wasn't a whole person. Standing on shaky legs that threatened to give out at any moment, he made a quick decision. He
needed to see Yugi's little pack of cheerleaders . . . if anyone would know what was going on, it waem. em. As much as he disliked admitting it . . . he
would need their assistance. In his current condition, he was too confused and scared to do much of anything.
Staggering, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed his limo, waiting anxiously for it to arrive and carry him back to safety . . . if there even was such a thing
anymore.

*-------*-------*-------*-------*

Marik stepped off the plane warily, a shiver running through his slight frame as he set foot onto the soil of Domino City for the first time since Battle City
had ended. So much had happened in this place . . . and so much more was about to happen. He started suddenly as his sister's hand came to rest on his
shoulder.
"You have nothing to worry about, Marik," she murmured, sensing her brother's sudden turmoil of spirit. Marik snarled, shrugging the hand off quickly
before drawing his hood up over his platinum blonde hair to shade his lavender eyes.
"So you say, sister," he replied, shouldering his back pack absently as they waited in line for customs. "You're not the one that nearly lost their soul the
last time you were here." He sighed, eyes closing wearily as he tried to force his memories back into the recesses of his mind. "And now we're here to risk
everything again for the dead Pharaoh."
"It is our duty . . ." Ishizu said, one hand playing lightly with the gold-wrapped hair dangling to the right of her face. "It is our family's duty."
"Yes . . . and I would love to get a hold of whoever made it ours," Marik whispered. "Then I could just strangle them and be done with it."
"Marik!" Ishizu gasped, her blue eyes wide as she stared at her brother's back.
"It's the truth, Ishizu," he replied. "It is not fair that we have to give up living to protect something that it is already too late to stop. The Pharaoh has
returned and the Shadow Games have begun again . . . what is there left to protect? And yet we're still there, living underground, never allowed to see
daylight . . . it's bull-shit, and you know it as well as I."
"It is still our duty, Marik," she murmured. "We must remain until we are released from our sacred charge." Marik sighed.
"So you say," he replied, and shrugged. "Personally . . . I still don't give a shit." Showing his passport, he got through customs quickly . . . and froze
when he came face to face with his former partner in crime. He quickly averted his face, gazing down at the ground, unwilling to see the censure and scorn
he knew would be in the former Tomb Robber's eyes. After all, he was merely a mortal . . . one who had tried to accomplish the impossible, and the
stupid. He still wondered, in the dead of night, what he had been thinking. His memories of the entire blimp were unclear, like he was seeing them through
smoky glass . . . but the one thing he did clearly remember was sharing Ryou's body with the white haired demon before him for a short while. It was one
of his clearest memories . . . and the most uncomfortable.
Ishizu greeted the three teenagers calmly, talking with Duke and Tristan softly about the reason why they had come. Bakura was amazingly and
disconcertingly silent . . . and Marik could feel that those cold chocolate eyes had not left him. He didn't want to be here - couldn't Bakura understand
that? He'd had no wish to come back to this place and relive his misdeeds or those of his dark other.
The car ride back to Duke's apartment was spent in silent contemplation, lavender eyes turned out the window, watching the skyline as it neared. He
remembered the first time he had seen that skyline . . . from his personal yacht, and from his motorcycle. He'd been in too deep to really appreciate it
before . . . but Domino was really a beautiful city.
He was uncomfortably aware of Bakura sitting next to him, the seat barely big enough for the three of them as Ishizu chatted quietly with Duke in the front
seat. He could feel the waves of unease from Tristan . . . not that he could blame the teenager, although Tristan had never fallen under his influence. That
had been reserved for Tea and Joey . . . who had fallen to Yami, from all he had heard so far.
That dark turn of thought prompted others. Yami . . . Pharaoh Yami, who's tomb he was sworn to protect, who's power he'd tried to usurp . . . who's life
he had tried to take. Now Yami was in danger . . .not from an outside source, but from himself. Marik wondered how they were going to handle this . . .
none of the scrolls had ever prepared him to face a fully demented and dark figure such as this new Yami represented. He wasn't even he he could do this
. . . he was stilcovecovering from his own folly. He sighed as they arrived at their destination, getting out of the car slowly, keeping his eyes on the pavement.
The sense of wrongness in this city was astounding . . . it was as if the darkness that had taken over the Pharaoh had encompassed the entire town. He
shivered underneath his cloak, unwelcome feelings of familiarity surfacing in his mind. This felt too much like what his own darkness had been for his liking.
He followed the other's slowly, trying to shake off the feeling of being watched on all sides as they entered the building.

*-------*-------*-------*-------*

"So . . . they have called in my errant guardians," the dark murmured, hovering in the shadows of a nearby alley entrance as he watched the cloaked figure
of Marik disappear from his line of sight. "How utteroolioolish of them . . . but how fun, none the less." He fingered the hole in his Puzzle absently, blood
red eyes regarding the building through half-closed lids as he tried to reach out to his other self. He could vaguely sense the true Pharaoh's presence . . . but
it was muted, blunted by the protection of his little light. That was fine, however . . . he could still use sensation against the weaker half of himself, and there
were new play toys on the field now.
Turning away from the building, he returned to the abandoned house he had taken shelter in a short distance away, sng ong onto the pallet he had pulled
together slowly as he pondered his next move. He wanted blood . . . not just any blood, but Yugi's blood. He licked his lips, the taste of that sweet nectre
recalled to his senses from the first night of his true birth into this world. He groaned as he remembered the feel of that delicious body beneath his, the pain
and suffering that had poured through his connection to the small boy and his light other like a glistening memory of joy and pleasure.
But the pleasures of his small hikari were denied him . . . thanks in no part to the meddling of his other self. He growled to himself under his breath, dark
power crackling around him as his anger got the better of him. That stubborn, idiotic, weak half of himself . . . how he longed to just overpower him and be
done with it. He felt . . . incomplete, not whole, and it was making him angrier by the day. And it was weakening him, something that needed to be stopped
before it got too far and his other could take control again. Even now, he could feel his other's power stirring, growing stronger again now that it was no
longer centered on keeping itself from being absorbed.
Yami hissed as the knife bit into his arm, drawing a line of fire down the tanned flesh . . . but his other's power retreated before the pain, and that was good.
He licked at the blood absently, probing the wound with his tongue for more, relishing the pain that confirmed that he was alive and in control.
Marik . . . he owed Marik. Sworn to protect his tomb and guard his secrets, the blonde had instead created his own darkness to challenge Yami's, and that
was unallowable. Now Marik was in his reach again . . . as was that meddling sister of his. A predatory smiled flickered briefly across Yami's face.
"Let the Game begin . . ." he murmured . . . and the smile grew hungry as he felt his other respond.

*-------*-------*-------*-------*

"He's going after Marik," Yami whispered, almost too low for Yugi to hear. Yugi's head came up from where he had lain down on the floor to stare up at
the ceiling, his eyes turning to his other where he still sat, hunched and shivering, in the corner.
"What?"
"He's going after Marik," Yami repeated, his voice stronger this time. "Marik has returned to Domino . . . I assume it to be at the behest of our friends,
which means Ishizu is with him. And my darkness wants his blood . . . nearly as badly as he wants yours, young one." Yugi stood slowly, approaching to
kneel in front of his friend and guardian. Yami noted with a hint of dark humor that he got no closer than that . . . it was only when his concern
overwhelmed him that he would dare to approach now. He shifted, pain lancing through his heart as he watched Yugi start and shy away before his mind
reasserted itself from his instincts.
Yugi saw his other's eyes darken at the reaction to his movement, and winced internally. 'Damn it,' he swore to himself, amethyst eyes closing wearily.
Even though he had managed to tell himself over and over again that this Yami was not the one who had attacked him, his sub-conscious still refused to let
him accept that fact . . . and it was slowly tearing them apart. Yugi could sense the rift between them, widening further with each unconscious cringe, each
flash of remembered pain. It didn't help that Yami was holding himself responsible for it all. It would be a long time before Yami forgave himself for any of
this . . . if he ever did. Yugi wished desperately that things could go back to the way they had been . . . he wanted his best friend back, not this broken spirit
who seemed to have become everything his other was not.
"Why would he go after Marik?" Yugi asked finally, carefully keeping his voice neutral to hide the pain he was feeling, which would only add to Yami's
ever growing mental list of things he held himself accountable for.
"Because Marik tried to take the very thing that he is . . . my power. That . . . and Marik could possibly provide him the information he needs." Yugi looked
confused.
"Information? What information could your darkness need from Marik?" Yami chuckled, a hollow sound devoid of any real humor.
"How to get rid of me," he said dryly, standing slowly and moving away from Yugi, careful not to come too near. "He needs to get rid of me . . . I'm
holding him back, with what little strength I can." He sighed, a hand running through his spiky hair in agitation. "He can't become . . ." he paused, and
started again. "He can't achieve full control until he gets rid of me . . . by absorbing me, by taking me into himself and making us one whole again."
Reaching into a pocket, he withdrew the piece of the Puzzle engraved with the Eye of Horus, staring at it absently before smiling, a soft, sad smile. "You
have hampered him too, young one," he said softly. "By removing this piece . . . this specific piece that is so closely linked to me . . . you have removed
me from his direct hold. You have kept him from completing things his way . . . and if he should get a hold of you again, he will make you pay even more
dearly for it." Yugi shivered at the utter conviction is his other's voice. Yami glanced over, hesitating momentarily before coming to kneel nearby, not quite
within reach but close enough to give comfort . . . if he ever could again.
"I will not let him have you again, little one," he whispered. "I swear to you . . . I will die before I will allow that to happen again." Yugi looked up at him at
that, his amethyst eyes swimming in tears.
"But . . . what if I don't want you to die?" he mred,red, his voice choked. "Yami . . ." Yami shook his head, wishing he could reach out to the small boy,
but not daring to do so.
"No, aibou," Yami said softly. "After everything that has happened . . . do not love me. If I die protecting you . . . at least I can find some small measure of
comfort from my sins." He was startled into immobility when Yugi suddenly launched himself across the small space between them, wrapping his arms
around his other as he buried his face in the taller spirit's chest, sobbing.. Finally, he wrapped his arms carefully around the boy . . . and wished that things
could be different then they were.

*-------*-------*-------*-------*

Marik sighed in relief, glad to be away from the constant questions and talking that was going on in the apartment behind him. Bakura had not taken those
cold eyes of his off him since his arrival at the airport . . . something that was making Marik distinctly uncomfortable. He could deal with Tristan's
discomfort and wary apprehension . . . he could even deal with Duke's attempts at normal conversation that died off in mid-sentence. Bakura's silent
regard, however, was something else entirely.
"I agree, it's much quieter without their constant annoying chatter out here," a voice said behind him. He spun, lavender eyes widening as he came face to
face with Bakura just a few paces away.
"I should have known you would follow me," he murmured, deliberately turning his back on the Tomb Robber to continue his regard of Domino. "What's
the matter? Afraid I'll go psycho again?"
"Actually, the thought hadn't crossed my mind," the white-haired thief said, moving up beside him to stare out at the city in turn. "You feel it too, don't
you? The darkness . . . nearby, just waiting for the opportune moment to strike." Marik glanced out of the corner of his eye to his unwelcome companion,
and was startled to see shivers running up and down the thief's frame.
"You've already had a confrontation with this Yami . . ." he whispered. Bakura started, cold eyes snapping to lavender as he grimaced.
"Yes," he admitted finally, gripping his elbows in his hands to still the tremors that were still with him. "It was a decidedly unpleasant experience."
"I don't know what Ishizpectpects us to be able to do . . . or Shadi, for that matter. He should have come himself. Bad enough I have to babysit a deserted
tomb . . . now I have to save the Pharaoh from himself?" Marik muttered. Bakura chuckled dryly.
"I expect we shall find out soon enough," eplieplied. "Yami will be coming for you . . . of that I have no doubt."
"I'm sure he will . . ." Marik murmured. "We have a lot of scores to settle . . . and while I'm sure the real Yami could care less, this one sounds different."
Bakura snorted, drawing lavender orbs back to him at the sound.
"That's one way of putting it," he whispered, and shivered. "This Yami . . . scares even me, more so than Malik ever did. This one isn't just insane . . . he
revels in that insanity. It gives him power."
"He raped Yugi," the blonde murmured. "I would have thought that alone was enough to prove that point . . . but with what Shadi told us of what he's
done to Joey as well, I'd say this dark Yami far surpasses anything Malik could have done. And now Tea has fallen. One question though . . . if he has a
score to settle with me, don't you wonder if he's gone after Kaiba yet?" Bakura's eyes widened considerably before the thief swore.
"Shit!" He turned to go back inside, slamming open the glass door almost to the point of breaking it and storming back into the kitchen. "We need to call
Kaiba," he said without preamble as the gathered mortals looked up at him in surprise. "We need to warn him about Yami." Tristan swore and stood up
quickly, striding to the phone. He was dialinen ten there was an urgent knock on the door. Duke glanced toward it, then toward Bakura before opening it .
. . and gasping when the very object of their sudden worry fell into his arms.
"Kaiba!"
Marik watched from the doorway as the barely aware millionaire was lain on the couch, a cold cloth pressed to his forehead by Duke. His eyes lingered
longest on the Millennium Rod, but he forced himself to look away when urges to grab it began to cross his mind.
"Yugi . . ." the brunette murmured finally. "Yugi isn't himself."
"No kidding," Tristan muttered from the kitchen doorway. "I take it you've run in to him." Kaiba nodded, sitting up gingerly, as if his back was in pain.
"Running into him would be a minor understatement," Kaiba said . . . and hesitantly, told them the whole story. He left out nothing, even the whipping,
although it hurt his ego terribly to do so. When he was done, it was Ishizu who first spoke. /P>

"I am glad you finally decided to use the Rod . . . and that you at last believe in the magic and your fate."
"No one said anything about fate, Ms. Ishtar. As for this magic you speak of, I barely comprehend it, but being faced with it as I was, I had no choice but
to accept that explanation," Seto growled, cradling his head in his hands. "What I want to know is what the hell is going on? Whoever that was, it was
neither Yugi nor this 'Yami' he's spoken of so often."
"We already know," Duke said. "Bakura had a run in with him as well. But you're right . . . it's not Yugi, nor is it Yami, to a point. It's Yami's darker self .
. . some sort of evil side of him. It's already gotten Joey and Tea . . . and it's responsible for Yugi's rape as well." Kaiba stared at him for a moment, his
gaze startled, before he glanced at the two Ishtars.<
<
"What are you and Marik doing back in Domino?" he asked.
"We were sen Sha Shadi to help stop this before it gets worse . . . or irreversible," Ishizu murmured. "But I don't know how we are supposed to go about
it." Marik sighed by the door.
"We have to defeat this Yami," he said suddenly, startling everyone. "I don't know how, or even why . . . but I'm sure that's what we have to do." He
moved into the room, cloak swishing around his ankles as he crossed to another window.
"So what's the plan?" Tristan asked. Marik shrugged.
"We'll know that . . . when we draw him out. I suspect we will have to beat him at his own Game of Darkness."
Author's Note - Yes, I'm evil for leaving it there like that . . . but cliff hangers are fun when I'm not the one dangling off of them *grin* So, review, tell me
what you think . . . and I'll see you in a few days.
- 7
- 8
- 9
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