Spirits, Boats and Crackers (Part 2)

DIMENSION: MANGA (The One That Saves the Day)

"I didn't come to wait, I came for Mai to talk to Anzu," Jounouchi answered Atem's question. "I need to talk to you too, Yuugi."

"Mai talk to Anzu for what?" The heat in Honda's voice. "She's never been good for anything. She's damaged goods, Jounouchi. For goodness sake, she's older than you by like ten years. Drop her like a bad habit."

"She was damaged, after Marik's game, and I'm not surprised! You won't know 'cause you never played him," Jounouchi rebelled. "It's not ten years difference either, but it wouldn't matter if it was. Don't. Judge. My. Mai."

"I am telling you this because I care," Honda said. "If I win against cards then I get the honor of asking your sister about marriage, and you have to dump Mai out of your life."

"That bet will not happen." Atem already knew that. ///Atem: Jounouchi cannot hide it much longer.///

///Yuugi: She is a touchy subject between them. Apparently, Honda knew about Mai's . . . endeavors from Jounouchi for years. She wasn't being a, um. Anyhow. She is just as touchy a subject as Shizuka.///

"Jounouchi," Atem called to him. "You need to tell him."

"Tell me what?" Honda asked.

Jounouchi's face moved to the side, almost framing his whole face away. "I know, Yuugi." He then looked straight at Honda. "Mai's having my daughter."

"What?!" Honda was shocked. "How long have you known?"

"Not real long."

"So she hid it."

"It's more complicated than that, Honda. I had to win some cards to find out, but it's not how it sounds."

"Win cards to know ?" Honda looked at him with disgust. "What's wrong with her?"

"Look, she was just scared so she used a card game to feel better," Jounouchi admitted. "She dreams it's going to have brunette hair instead of blonde like us. It just scared her that I wouldn't believe it was mine if it turns out like that."

"Two blondes don't equal brunette, she told you that so that you'll play the daddy role no matter what. She's conning you, Jounouchi, don't you see it?" Honda said.

"No, it will be mine. Shut up."

Honda crossed his arms. "Well then. If you really believe in her lies, I guess you can't get her out of your life."

"I never wanted her out of my life," Jounouchi corrected him. He looked toward Atem. "Your expression is different, Yuugi. Not feeling well? You okay?"

"I'm not Yuugi." Atem didn't want to pretend. Both of them were confused so he'd keep it simple for now. "My afterlife was cursed. It is now uncursed, but I am back with Yuugi."

"Hey, hey, Atem?!" Jounouchi called to him, a bright smile on his face with a thumbs up. "Good to see you!"

Atem also gave him a thumbs up. "Good to see you, Jounouchi."

"Hey, Atem. This is a little unexpected," Honda said. "How long are you with Yuugi?"

"An untold amount of time," Atem admitted.

"Is it the same as last time?" Honda asked.

"I don't know." ///Atem: There are certainly some big differences, Yuugi. Can you take control back?/// Atem waited. ///Atem: Yuugi?///

///Yuugi: I tried Atem. I can't change either. What is this? Is there anything else you know that might explain this?///

"So Yuugi already told you about everything between me and Mai?" Jounouchi asked. "It's tricky. But, um, I'm supposed to be talking to Yuugi while Mai has a friendly chat with Anzu."

"Mai couldn't give one decent tip to Anzu. You have to be decent in the first place to do that, not the Night Duelist," Honda ripped on Jounouchi.

"I'm afraid that for some reason right now, we can't change," Atem admitted.

"Huh." Jounouchi looked at his watch. "Just in like the last three minutes? It's exactly noon." He looked away from his watch. "That's different. You can talk to Yuugi just fine?"

"Yes," Atem said.

"Well, then I better stick around to see how long this adjustment to each other takes." Jounouchi gestured upstairs. "I'm gonna go see Mai. And, Honda? You can, um? Go to hell if you don't back off!" He glared at him. "Don't call her that again or I'll kick your ass, friend or not!"

"Her actions made the name for herself," Honda reminded him. "So are you going to be popping the question to her?" Honda shook his head. "I don't see how this could happen. How do you go from helping someone not 'rent' themselves-."

"-It wasn't rent, she didn't do that-!"

"-to making them do exactly what you were setting out not for her to do." Honda smacked his head. "You were supposed to help her, Jounouchi. You said you were helping her. This whole time, you swore you were helping her. Not gaining from it."

"Oh, you Son of a-!"

"Enough!" Atem's voice rang clear through. They didn't even touch the subject of Shizuka and they were this bad? "You two are friends. Everything that has happened cannot be changed. Do not make enemies out of each other because of these disagreements."

"Yeah. I know. It's tough." He eyed Honda. "Look, he's right. Just understand, okay? It's baby steps with Mai."

"It's baby steps regardless," Honda said. "Fine. I hope you know what you're doing, Jounouchi."

That was a little better. "We will let you in now." Atem left the counter display and headed up the stairs. Yuugi gave him the code and they went in. Atem saw a cat in the kitchen area, but no Mai or Anzu.

"Mai?" The house was never that big. "Hey, Mai?" Jounouchi's voice started to sound nervous. "Mai!"

Oh no. "Anzu?" Atem called out. "This is not good."

"Those Kaibas and their lousy technology!" Jounouchi ran to a window and busted it open. The alarms went off.

-------

Honda, Jounouchi, and Atem all drove together searching desperately for them.

"Are we sure that it was only Egyptian people?" Honda asked. "Is that the only key we got? Not a group, nothing, just people from Egypt? Skeezy was a setup, right? He's not involved too?"

"Dwelling on other negative thoughts will not help," Atem said as he scanned out the windows himself. Yuugi had gone quiet after a time, his concern for Anzu causing him to cry deep within. Now, he was utterly silent. "What was Mai coming to talk about?" Maybe that would help.

"Yuugi come back?" Jounouchi asked. "Can you try to call to him again? You sure he's fine?"

"I know he's fine." Atem touched his chest. "I can feel him, he's just completely quiet. Sealed away."

"Then I'm gonna save that," Jounouchi said to Atem. "It was all about Yuugi and Anzu."

"Oh." Then it wouldn't help him.

"Kaiba's company has got pictures of everyone from that house, and it's practically starting to own Domino City. So why haven't they detected these kidnappers yet?" Honda covered his head. "I've got a bad feeling. Someone had access to the security codes to do that."

"They were trying to stop my birth," Atem revealed to them.

"Hi, me Honda, what?" Honda screeched. "Your birth?"

"I'm with Honda, what the hell are you talking about?" Jounouchi asked.

"Anzu and Yuugi. Yuugi was still attached to the luck of lower percentage of the puzzle," Atem began to explain. "This setup was to get Yuugi and Anzu together. It could have been to try and pull me out of the afterlife into a new beginning."

"Luck of lower percentage? So, wait, the fact Yuugi used protection is the cause of this whole thing?" Jounouchi was starting to figure it out. "Well, crap, he was safer the other way around then. Condoms are like 98% effective or whatever."

Yes. The higher the percentage, the harder it would work.

"Wow. You were almost Yuugi, Junior. That's kind of creepy."

"When you become the child of your best friend, it would be unusual." Atem still hadn't told Jounouchi about Mana or Shizuka yet. He wanted to analyze everything himself but it was tricky with Mai and Anzu now gone.

Jounouchi's phone started to go off. "Yeah- yeah? Great, meet you there!" Jounouchi hung up the phone. "I swear, someone is trying to play games. They are where we went to Duelist Kingdom at."

Oh. "The battle of us and Marik."

"Mai's there, that-!" Jounouchi chose some hardened words more than he used to. "If they laid one hand on her, I'm killing them. I don't care, I'm killing them." He glanced toward Atem. "Mai had dreams."

"They may have some truth to them." Atem didn't need to make him go into any more detail. They were almost there. ///Atem: If they take away Jounouchi's own child he has yet to meet. If they hurt Anzu, the only one Yuugi has ever loved.///

Jounouchi didn't need to worry about killing them.

He would vanquish them himself.

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