Without Yugi A Sacrifice is Made

DIMENSION: ANIME (The One That Pays to Save the Day)

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MASIKA

A familiar situation as last time, yet a tighter predicament. Too much had changed since last she needed to take control and help. Téa was in a predicament and Masika needed to correct it before she ended up dead. The co-worker, as she suspected, was not being all that charitable. He had taken his car, went right up behind Téa on the road, and grabbed her before she went into her building. Holding on that whole time only to build trust so she would be relaxed and unaware.

Because that was Téa. A trusting sweet fool of a woman. Often enough, speaking with her in the same kind of view as her own thoughts kept her from making foolish actions. She seemed to attract trouble to herself sometimes.

This time though, it didn't matter the words.

He had bound her mouth with tape and handcuffed her hands as he got back in and started to ride. His intentions were unknown but the danger they presented were clear.

For all those years, she had kept herself isolated from Téa's life. She tried to leave the vessel alone. Lying dormant inside, she barely said a word. Her spirit lingered deep within, unable to leave far or explore anything.

The last time she had saved Téa, she had scared her. Masika never wanted to do that again. After Téa came to New York City though, she did tap the surface area more. There was no one else to watch out for her and she couldn't always take a back seat.

Had she not done so, she would have ended up in the hands of someone like this man sooner. One card. Masika struggled for the copy card Téa had bought. Red Eyes Black Dragon or The Dark Magician would work to be raised. If. ///Masika: Please don't let it be long enough.///

Her mouth was gagged but soon it would come off. If she could just reach in her pocket. There. She felt the top of it and clasped her fingers tightly around the edge.

The car quickly stopped. As he lifted her out, she remained as quiet as she had been in the car as her fingers slipped up one of the cards. She wasn't yelling, pleading, or screaming. She was chanting in her mind. It wasn't as easy to raise a spirit without speaking and holding her hands outward toward it, but it would eventually come if it was possible.

But, Masika could feel it. Even one monster was out of the question for her now. Masika felt herself being thrusted backwards, hard. ///Masika: Téa, I cannot free us this way./// Now she fought, trying to pull out with her own force. She was there and learned what Téa knew, but this position was not one they practiced. Her arms were handcuffed, her mouth bound shut, and her legs were pinned against the car in a dark alley she presumed was a far distance away from being heard. ///Masika: I don't know what you want with Téa, but you cannot have her easily./// As she struggled, he hit back. She felt the pain. ///Masika: All I can do is stay in control and not let Téa suffer./// But it wasn't right. Téa would wake up hurt, or not at all. What if he had every intention to kill her?

She yelled in pain as she felt him grabbing her arm. ///Masika: Pain. I hate being in control.///

"Don't do anything funny, Téa. Do you have any idea what the market will want for a sexy dancer like you?"

///Masika: Ah, so that was it. He's going to sell her./// If not murder, another easy out to disappear. Masika had seen him, watching Téa. He was waiting for a chance to get closer, knowing Téa was an easy target to sell. That's why she had been so insistent Téa move and get away. She had made bold moves against Téa's own thoughts, acting like her own to move. Still, Téa was a kind woman. Looking for the good in all people.

Yet, not all people are good.

Far from it. The way he was still holding her, pinning her but not doing anything that caused serious damage. ///Masika: He planned this. He probably sabotaged her car and phone. Someone must be coming to get her, more secure and ready while he made his payday./// She only had as much time as it took for them to get there.

Which would not be long. ///Masika: I will do it. It's better to take her for good and endure the pain until her final end, then leave it with her./// There was only one thing left to try.

The last thing. The very last thing before resigning to fate. The one thing every Egyptian child had been taught ever since they could speak. Before giving up hope, before giving into the enemies when hope is desperate.

One called to the gods for help. ///Masika: Gods of Egypt, I implore you! I am desperate in such a need, I promise anything if you just give me the power to bring the monsters again!///

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Afterlife

/////////Gods of Egypt, I implore you! I am desperate in such a need, I promise anything if you just give me the power to raise the monsters again!//////////

Atem didn't understand. "I am not a god, I should not be able to hear this." All of Atem's friends also looked around, trying to figure out where the voice had come from. Atem moved from his throne and went outside. If the gods were trying to speak, they would be more likely to show up outside.

He stared at the sky where the thundering plea continued to echo. It was far above, but nothing was seen. Only a voice. A voice of desperation. "Why can I hear this request?"

There would only be one reason. "The gods must want me to hear this. Why do they want me to hear this?" Atem shouted to the sky as loudly as he could. "What do you need a god for?!"

////////////"Please, grace this vessel Téa Gardener and I with your power!"/////////

"Téa, she said Téa. Téa is a vessel to another?"

A spirit within Téa was reaching out to the help of the gods, and there was only one time that would happen. "Téa's in trouble." Atem tried to remember something. "Back. Back to Yugi, I could do that temporarily." Visions passed through him. Memories. Knowledge. "She's not close enough to him."

Placing himself inside Yugi would do no good, the threat was too far. They would be gone before he reached the area. "Téa." Yugi. Joey. Tristan. "She is calling for help." Atem addressed no one, which was the best way he knew to get answers from the beings who had no physical presence. He closed his eyes. "Téa is my friend, please! I must save her, let the power she once possessed continue!"

Then he knew the reply. He understood it. Atem looked toward the sky above him, knowing what it would take. Visions flowed through his mind, of Earth, right then. Trapped, caught in the hands of an ordinary mortal man, but unable to get away. A spirit was in control of Téa's body, doing what she could but only getting more hurt in the process. He could feel this man's nefarious heart.

This man's intentions.

Atem held his hands into fists. The reply.

All were being made clear. A part of himself rebelled, growled within himself. He did not want to do this. He didn't deserve this. He'd done all he could, the threats were gone to the world that he could help with, and it was over.

Yet? Destiny had placed Téa with a spirit, and now, he could hear the cries of help, cries that only a god had the right to hear. There. At that moment. "Yugi."

Yugi would do it. For her. ///Atem: If the gods were so powerful, then why must I be the pawn in- ?!/// No, what was he thinking? Disobeying the gods would never bode well for any spirit. Afterlife Pharoah or not. ///Atem: They have reasons, reasons unseen and that I will never know.///

But what he did know? Fate was not done with him yet. Even now, the gods knew what he wanted before he spoke. The robe and his Egyptian clothes he had always worn were replaced with clothes he'd never seen before. Soft, modern and most likely what Yugi had currently been wearing.

With the puzzle around his neck. He spread out his fingers and hands to the sky, reaching and shouting as loud as he could. "I cast permission for the spirit to aid Téa while we pay the price this time." He could not pay it alone. "There will be no other sacrifices!"

It was the words he used. But in reality, it was not just him and the other spirit that would pay that price.

But the others would have no choice.

And if the others knew their fate, they would choose it. At least, Atem hoped so.

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New York City

The border of magic that she felt pushing back on her, had waned. She closed her eyes. ///Masika: The Great Pharaoh saved us./// There would be no sacrifices, nor would she have to let Téa suffer. ///Masika: I will pay the other half.///

She started the chanting, the familiar chanting in her mind. Stronger and bolder as she held The Dark Magician card. As she felt the monster's magic pull through, the binding burst off of her mouth while the enemy was blown backward, merely by the calling of the ancient monsters.

By the time the deed was done, half a block had been annihilated from the dark magic attack.

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