>>23159316>>23153294>>23153418>>23153406"Things are stalling again.""So let's move it along, then. I want to get to the part where we get to stab a god. Multiple times.""I have just the tonic, my friend."A smoky red figure slowly forms in the left of Bakura's peripheral vision, while the knight-puppet backs off from the flame and shadow. A second, purple smoke figure forms to his right. The figure of Marik on the floor slowly melts away, and the scene changes. Now Marik sits shirtless and crosslegged on the floor, intently staring at a laptop. Bakura is sitting a little ways away in his office chair, a suspiciously coverless book in his hand.
"When was the last time you were happy?""The last time you felt whole?""Would you like to go to that place again, Florence?""With Marik separate from Melvin, you finally had him all to yourself. You were the hero. You saved the day."The scene changes, Marik lying on a hospital bed with machines hooked up to him.
"But someone else... got in the way."There is a burst of light and a crash of gunfire, as a bullet rips through Marik's leg. Looking towards the source of the shot, where the cultist had been moments before, Bakura finds a man standing in the dark, his glasses glinting in some unseen light. A smoking gun sits in his hand and he looks coldly at Marik, who is squirming in pain.
"He stole your victory.""Marik may never walk again unaided...""He STOLE your MOMENT.""He sent you away, left Marik all alone.""Are you going to let him steal from you, Thief King?""Kill him. Rip his guts open!""Are you going to let him get away with that?!"