Oddpart2: Y&H and the Broken Chains: Redo

The first thing Yugi was aware of as he drowsily floated back to consciousness, was that whatever he was led on wasn’t very comfortable. This thought was followed by the confused thought that it didn’t feel like his bed, either of his beds. They were much more comfortable than this, as were the various sofas he had slept on over the years.

The next thought confused his potion addled brain even further as he came to the realisation that the pillow he was resting his head on was bony.

His mind drifted hazily along as voices filtered in, only making the befuddlement worse as he slowly realised that he could hear all of his friends were close by, except for Ron. Yami was the closest. In fact it sounded like Yami was his pillow.

Just that fact alone had Yugi believing that he hadn’t actually woken up and this was all just heading towards some dream. He and Yami hadn’t spoken properly in months. He’d wanted to, so desperately, but Yami had been avoiding him like he carried the plague and the one time he had gotten to speak with his darker self, the wizards had reset their memories, so Yami hadn’t remembered it, going back to avoiding him the next day.

Still that didn’t stop him from listening to the conversation, which seemed to involve a weird combination of the notes he had been making over the last couple of months, duel monsters tactics and what they were going to do when they landed.

Yugi could hear the steady hum of jet turbines in the background, low and almost silent under the noise of his friends’ chatter, just increasing the belief that this was a dream, as he could think of no reason why he would be on an airplane unless he was either dreaming or somehow, miraculously, his friends had finally managed to shake free of their mental bonds.

And he didn’t dare hope for that anymore.

He could feel the chain of the Puzzle was around his neck for the first time since long before his fight with Yami back in January, its precious cargo resting on his chest. When he dared to reach mentally down a link that felt strained from months of lack of use, he felt Yami jump a mile, both mentally and physically, the pillow beneath him tensing for a moment, before Yami’s voice called “Shush, he’s waking up” To the rest of the passengers.

Yugi didn’t dare open his eyes. Even in his drugged up state, he didn’t think he could take it if he awoke from this dream to find his friends were at each other’s throats again. He needed the camaraderie he could hear to be real, needed his friends to be friends again, needed the support that they could offer and the ideas they might have to get them out of the mess they had been brainwashed into.

“It’s alright, Yugi.” Yami promised softly, running a hand through his hair, sounding almost sad and making Yugi realise that Yami had heard his train of thought, “It’s real and we’re nearly home. It’s safe to wake up now.”

“Y...Yami?” Yugi’s mouth felt dry, his tongue heavy and he slurred his darker self’s name as he tried to open eyelids that felt like they were glued down.

“I’m here, Yugi. And so are the others.” Yami replied, his tone gentle, “You’re safe now. We’ve got you.”

Yami had never lied to him. Even trapped beneath layers of memory charms and compulsions, the Pharaoh had been nothing but honest with him. If he said it was safe, that it was real, Yugi knew he could trust him.

He felt Yami mentally support him as he tried to pull himself out of the haze and join the world of the living once again, leaning on his darker self’s strong presence in his mind to give him the extra boost he needed to fight his way out of weight holding his mind down and finally open his eyes to find himself on an airplane, surrounded by his friends.

Movement was slow to follow, but Yami helped him sit up, giving him something to lean on in the real world too as his friends watched with various degrees of relief and anxiety on their features.

“You okay, Yuge?” Joey worried at him as Yami helped him get more comfortable.

Yugi nodded, words difficult when still couldn’t quite bring himself to believe that after months of trying to free his friends from the control of the wizards, they were finally heading home, together.

He looked around as best he could, his body refusing to respond to his commands properly, something he attributed to the potion still in his system. Everyone from Japan was there, even Ryou and Bakura. Harry and Hermione seemed to have joined them, but there was no Ron and there was a huge black dog settled at Harry’s feet.

“You gave us a heart attack.” Joey informed Yugi with a rueful smile, “You should have called us.”

“I...” Yugi trailed off, looking away, discovering the airplane’s carpet was a bright white in the process. In all honesty he hadn’t expected them to come, even if he had called for help. His last words to Boh before he had taken the potion hadn’t been a cry for help, but an apology purely because he had fully expected not to wake up again.

“Yuge?”

Oddpart: Y&H and the Broken Chains: Redo

“Giving up Mutou?” The men asked as Yugi struggled in his companion’s grip, trying to break free and escape only for the grip to tighten, pinning Yugi securely.

Boh watched in horror as Yugi dropped his wand, his head falling forward and his gaze staring blankly at the floor. “You’re going to wipe my mind again, aren’t you?” Yugi asked, defeated.

“No.” The leader shook his head, causing Yugi to look up, startled and slightly hopeful. “Oh it’s not a good thing, Mutou.” The leader continued, causing panic to flare up in Yugi’s eyes, “It’s been decided that you’re too much trouble to keep around anymore. You’ve broken through the programming one too many times. We’ve been ordered to ‘remove’ you.”

Yugi started struggling again, crying out for help only to earn a backhand across the face that had him reeling. Boh went to help only for a swift mental command to keep him in place as Yugi hung limply in his captor’s grasp and the leader continued talking, “Silencio.” The leader commented with a lazy flick of his wand. Yugi’s voice vanished the moment the magic settled, leaving the young man unable to protest, just listen, “You have yourself to blame. If it had just been your own head you’d fixed, it might not have come to this, but you insisted on restoring the memories of the others too and well...”

He pulled a vial of some liquid out of his pocket and showed it to Yugi. “We were ordered to get rid of you, they didn’t say how. Just that you had to be unable to reawaken everyone again. So you have a choice.”

Confusion warred with fear in Yugi’s eyes as he took in the vial then glanced at the man.

“It’s really quite simple.” The man explained, “Either you drink this, go to sleep and you’ll die painlessly in an ‘accident.’ Or we’ll obliviate you until there’s nothing left in that head of yours and we’ll make everyone believe your brother did it. It seems like something his ‘Shadow Games’ could do after all.”

It was, Yugi was fully aware of that fact and he didn’t want to choose between either option. Either he was going to die, or they were going to destroy him and make Yami take the fall. Before this had all started, he would have taken the second option, trusting that his friends would be able to return his memories to him and that they would never think that Yami would do such a thing.

Now, however, he couldn’t trust that. He couldn’t even trust that they would be there for him when he was a vegetable. All because of the men who had captured him and the people they were working for.

At least if he was dead, his friends wouldn’t blame Yami. Nor would they wreck vengeance on the Pharaoh for something they hadn’t done. And if he got Boh to take his notes to Mahado or Kisara, there was still hope of the others getting away, even if he was gone.

“Well Mutou?” The leader of the group asked, “The potion or the wand?” He flicked his wand again and Yugi let out a soft sigh before speaking.

“The potion.”

“Smart boy.” The leader chuckled. Yugi could still feel a wand pressed into the back of his head when the guy let go of him and didn’t try and escape as the leader offered him the vial.

“Hey Boh?” Yugi thought at the Kuriboh, knowing the little fuzzball was watching, “Tell everyone ‘I’m sorry.’ Please? And make sure my notes get to Mahado or Kisara.”With that he downed the potion in two gulps.

Boh panicked as Yugi’s mind swiftly faded out and his partner slumped, unconscious, into the waiting arms of one of the Obliviators. His partner had made him promise not to tell anyone about the memory wipes and the fact they were being manipulated, but if he didn’t they were going to kill Yugi and make it look like an accident.

He had to break his promise to Yugi. He just had to. He didn’t like it but he couldn’t just let them end his partner’s life.

“Mahado!”  His mental call went unanswered to start with, causing his panic to increase, “Mahado, please! Yugi’s in danger!”

That got the Dark Magician’s attention. He felt the Dark Magician snap into focus as he tried to follow the men who were levitating his Deck Master’s unconscious form down the corridor. “Boh? What’s going on? Where are you?”

“Heading for the exit.” Boh replied, desperate, “Yugi made me promise not to tell you but they’re going to kill him.”

“We won’t let them.” Mahado promised, helping Boh calm down slightly, “Who is it?”

“Yugi...” Boh hesitated, he had promised after all but this was important, “Someone’s been messing with the memories of the Pharaoh and his friends.” He felt Mahado’s mind stall for a moment, then anger flared up, encouraging Boh to continue, “Yugi’s been trying to work out a way to get everyone out and regain the lost memories for months, but they kept rewiping their minds every time Yugi managed it. Now they’ve decided it’s easier to get rid of the problem then keep brainwashing everyone over and over again.”

“We’re on our way.” Mahado promised, “As are Yugi’s friends.”

“But...”

“They’ll come together for this, or they’ll lose their friend.” Mahado pointed out, “We’ve seen lesser miracles happen because of Yugi.”

That was true at least and as Boh continued to follow the men, heading out of the school and down towards the Forbidden Forest, he just hoped they could put aside their arguments quickly enough.