By Definition It Would Count (Part 2)

DIMENSION: MANGA (The One That Saves the Day)

Yuugi tossed and turned most of the night. He dreamt of seeing Anzu and Masika reforming and being taken away again. He dreamed of the screaming as bystanders got smacked down in the crossfire.

He was glad when morning came again. He grabbed something to eat quick, but Hikaru was another matter. He didn't want to eat. Yuugi tried though. "Come on, Hikaru. Mana is doing well. You can too."

He tried to get his son to eat small bites of baby food here and there. ///Yuugi: If he had been a normal newborn, I would only have to worry about formula.///

They each took turns fighting each other with fifteen minute breaks between. With the rules of no magic or trap card defense, it created a whole new feeling. They also tried to add cards that would represent the victims, but without any real data about their defense points, it still felt under prepared.

Time drew near though, game after game. The sun had moved across the sky and sunk down to call it the end of it's day.

Kaiba wanted to play more, but he gave in when Shizuka said she was tired. Jounouchi turned in.

Yuugi turned in, knowing Hikaru needed sleep. It left only Atem and Bandit King fighting now.

They fought with cards instead of words. Unlike themselves. To anyone watching them, it might even look like they were getting along.

"She sacrificed herself for me and not you," Bakura broke the silence. "I don't care about your past, Ryder is mine."

"I didn't do anything," Atem answered. "I don't hold her actions of the past for or against her."

"I taught her how to survive. When she got away, I was the one to play with her." Bandit King looked at his cards. "I am the one who has apparently always taken care of her, throughout eternity."

"Yes, good for you. What is the good of this discussion?" Atem questioned him.

"She was in your afterlife kingdom when she died. I wasn't." He glared.

Ah. "I am not in control of that say so. I just rule." He pulled another card.

"If I win this round, swear you will give up her afterlife location," Bandit King stated. "She should go wherever I go."

Right. "What is the point she simply reincarnates quickly anyway."

"She should go wherever I go," Bandit King insisted. "I watch over her."

"Are you honestly fighting me over nothing more than a friend's destination?" Atem pointed out.

"Ryou Bakura always harps how good she is for me. I am taking his advice." He watched Atem's hand. "You sound like you are jingling."

"I am aware." He was aware of it. It was his subconscious again. ///Atem: Even though I remember not this ancient past with her, my whole body changes with just her name. It isn't . . . fair.///

Life wasn't fair. Afterlife wasn't fair. He could feel a connection, but he barely had time to explore it.

When she was taken, he could feel himself boiling. Now, just Bandit King's words had him doing another involuntary action.

Atem was jingling from the tremors in his hand.

"Just agree." Bandit King said it like it didn't even need discussed.

"No! I do not take chances with deals that are not necessary. I have grown too." He would end it another way. "I invite you into my afterlife kingdom when it is your time to leave again."

Bandit King seemed stunned. "You want my evil self in your perfect eternity?"

"Not your evil. Just yourself. No one has been perfect," Atem reminded him. "We all deserve another chance."

Bandit King didn't answer right away. "It took years to sculpt her just right. Ever since I saw her at a young age, I knew I had a hell of a challenge. She was naturally sweet. I tried to douse all of her innocence out in any way I could." He laid down a card. "Some things never can be wiped out. She'll never end up where I do. Fine. Then, this game will be for our riches."

"I grant you and her whatever Kaiba had in profit in the afterlife." Atem would not play a simple money game.

Bandit King nodded and then-

"Your village is welcome. I care not about the crimes committed." Bandit King didn't ask, but it wasn't right either. "They may each have decent profit too."

"That is your father's reign," Bandit King warned him. "Things will never completely settle into a paradise with us."

"I know, but I accept that responsibility."

"Fine, if you don't end up enslaved with Zorc." Bandit King nodded. "Pharaoh." He said nothing else as he made his next move. Yet, the way he said 'pharoah' this time.

It was said with a sense of peace.

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Bastet watched the sky on Earth as the cat of Anzu and Satiah again. The whole of Masika. She was never far from the humans that were practicing to win the game. "I am glad they smartened up and started to play." That practice, even if they didn't know the defense points, would be helpful.

They needed to get in synch with their cards if they ever stood a chance.

"What are you doing up here, Bastet?" Sekhmet asked her as she came galloping from behind. "There is nothing here."

"Even if the winners receive a split Masika again, it will not be the same. They have joined forces. They are Masika. We both know once an official joining happens." It cannot be undone. "The game Zorc has played destroyed the winnings. Someone must suffer."

"When they split again, they'll each have a name and a purpose to their life," Sekhmet said softly. "We have everything going the best we can. Bastet, this isn't our fault. We did what we needed to do. It is our right, don't let mortals make you feel guilty. You have spent too much time on this rock again. You get this way when you do that."

"We both know that the winnings are destroyed. There is a reason we've done so much to stay apart!" Bastet felt so angry. "This should have been a fair game, to prove the humans could do this. They would have ended up with the god and goddess instead, Earth saved, and we wouldn't have to ever disappear by being forced to become one again. Once severed."

Anzu and Satiah were once brought together, but it was merely a few seconds. They were not irrevocably together again. Unless Zorc was keeping their souls separate and only mixing their bodies (which would be complicated just for appearance), they were now . . . sealed to each other.

To unlock them meant to sever them, and the cut would never be at the same place, unless they could cut it out of a different version of them. Everything Thoth had seen about this had come true. "They would each be a new entity, learning all over again. They could save the world, but the winnings are corrupted. I stand by what I say. We should talk to Isis."

"We can't. Gods cannot interfere in the game, those are the rules."

"The game is corrupted, the winnings are impossible to receive without dangerous consequences. We have always known that. There should be some loophole."

"Then afterwards, when we can interfere, they can make their own choices. If they even win," Sekhmet warned her. "As for the bet? Masika splits and one will be named Anzu and the other Satiah. By definition, it would count. If that's how you want to play it so we can save the other two."

"It will be two others, not them. No one splits perfectly again without help, and that help will kill." Bastet groaned and stretched. "We must talk to Isis about the deal, so that we will be prepared after the game. Seeing how delicate the mortals are about each other?" She stared at her tail. "I love both sides. I want everyone to win. I love the mothers of our little god and goddess, trying so hard to get through it. Their human compassion is so bright. Yet these two, they have gone through so much, and this is supposed to be the winners. We have to start the chain reaction!"

"Hm." Sehkmet groaned. "It's high time. Let's do it. After this, it'll be over, one way or another."