Summary: The Spirit is one with the darkness and he has a mission to complete. But he didn't plan for the obstacles that might get in the way.

Cover Art: by the talented sosokrazy, who provided much love for this and who i will appreciate forever!

Notes: Takes place in episode 84, when Yami and Bakura are duelling on the blimp. From there it's going to go off into AU.

The Darkness Experiment

Chapter 1

The Cold Within

Ryou had never been in someone else's Soul Room before, and it was confusing and strange, but no more so than what had been happening in the real world.

He'd found himself in the middle of a duel with Yugi, or some other version of Yugi, perhaps. He didn't know how he'd gotten there, only that his arm had hurt and he felt dizzy. It was almost a relief to be here, wherever here was.

It was cold, far too cold, but it was a nice, quiet contrast to his frightened friends' cries back in the real world.

He looked around, and that was when he met the Spirit for the first time.

They had spoken before, of course they had. But it had been brief and just a voice. There hadn't ever been any proper conversation either. If Ryou remembered rightly, the Spirit had only told him things, and had never waited for a reply.

Now he could see the Spirit and talk to him. It. Whatever it was.

"You're safe now," it said in the voice that Ryou recognised in his mind. The Spirit was a short distance from him and didn't seem inclined to move. It was looking at him as though he wasn't really there anyway.

Ryou cleared his throat; "Oh," he said. Was he supposed to be thanking it? The Spirit didn't look like it expected anything like that. "Is this your Soul Room?" he decided to ask instead.

He knew his own Soul Room, and he knew there was another door leading to the invading Spirit's opposite it. He'd never ventured to look at it, though that didn't mean he wasn't curious.

This room was cold and dark and nothing like his own, so it made sense it should be the Spirit's.

"Yes," it confirmed rather stiffly. It was glancing sideways at Ryou now, and seemed mostly distracted.

It was a strange thing, how the Spirit looked like himself, but didn't really. The eyes gave the most away, the prickle of his hair, and the gleam of sharpness in his teeth. All these things adding up to create a decidedly warped version of the reflection Ryou saw every morning.

The warped version of Ryou began to glow then, a painful white aura surrounding it. Ryou watched, not sure whether to be concerned or not.

The Spirit's mouth was a thin line of expectation, like it was bracing itself for something. Then the light grew bigger, brighter, and rippled up and down it's body like a fiery river.

It pulled a cry from the Spirit, which Ryou recognised as pain. He took a step toward the other, although he wasn't sure what he'd do.

Then, as suddenly as the light had surrounded it, it dissolved away from the Spirit.

It sank to it's knees, but it's shoulders were shaking. Ryou felt more than heard the shaking laugh. Perhaps it had something to do with being in the Soul Room.

"Are you..." Ryou didn't know what had happened, nor if he was supposed to be worried for himself.

"You shouldn't be worried," The Spirit half gasped, faint amusement in it's voice. It fell the rest of the way to the ground.

Ryou bit his lip. That was right, it could read his open thoughts.

He moved uneasily toward it, not exactly frightened, but wary all the same. The Spirit was still and quiet on the ground, and Ryou knelt next to it.

"Is everything alright now?" Ryou asked, not sure what everything was supposed to be. He was confused, cold and wasn't sure why he felt so concerned.

The Spirit's voice was an echo in his head, talking through the rarely used mind link.

"Your weak body is safe now, host," it said simply, and nothing else.

Ryou stared at the Spirit's body, which didn't seem like it would awake any time soon. It was far too pale and reminded Ryou of death. He shivered, hugging himself. The Soul Room's coldness was creeping all around him, getting stronger, almost biting into his skin.

He wasn't sure why, maybe curiosity was still stronger than caution, and Ryou wasn't really afraid anyway. So he placed his hand on the Spirit's own, very lightly. It was enough; the coldness rushed through Ryou's fingertips, making him wince and jerk away at once.

He shouldn't have been surprised, the Spirit was just that, it was already dead.

Ryou turned away all the same, like he might be looking at something indecent. He stood up, rubbing his arms. He felt a little stronger, his body was returning to himself, he could feel it.

He walked ahead, through the black rectangle which he supposed was the door of the Soul Room. Before him was nothing but blackness, though it didn't linger long enough for Ryou to feel afraid.

He was being pulled away, the cold was melting from his bones, turning it into warmth and real sensations of dizziness and pain, reminding him he was alive and his body was returning to him.

Ryou opened his eyes.

The blurred, concerned faces of friends were all surrounding him.

"What...what happened?" he murmured.

888

Ryou awoke properly a day later, but Marik wasn't especially interested in him.

"What was that all about, Bakura?" he asked the dormant ring. It had been easy to get it from Ryou, using a mind controlled Tea to deliver it to him.

At that moment Yugi and his friends were searching for it, and that suited Marik just fine.

"Maybe I'll pay you a visit," he tapped the Ring, trying to get a sense of the Spirit within it.

There was no reciprocation, and Marik wondered if it was possible the Spirit was weakened so much after Slifer's attack. That whole incident...it confused and irritated Marik more than anything else.

But what did he expect from a reckless tomb robber, anyway? He knew this partnership was always going to be a rocky, unpredictable one.

He frowned at the Ring, dangling it in front of his face. It shone rather dully, caught by the artificial lights of the bedroom.

"You better be decent in there," Marik muttered. He put the item round his neck and focussed on a familiar, spiky connection between he and the Spirit.

8

He fell into the Soul Room with a rude thump on his rear, and then he peered round a little dazed.

Black, cold, stony, it wasn't up to much, as far as Soul Room's went. Not that Marik knew very much about them.

"Hello Marik," Bakura was grinning wolfishly, only a few feet away.

"Quite the decor," Marik said, standing up and brushing himself off. He didn't want to grin, but found himself doing it anyway when he noticed Bakura. "I wasn't sure that would work, you know,"

"It makes sense," Bakura said, taking a couple of steps forward. "Whoever wears the ring can be controlled by me, so it's only fair you get access to my Soul Room," he considered, and looked around with a bit of mock regret, "Although a little notice wouldn't have hurt. I'm not up to entertaining unexpected guests, I'm afraid."

"I can see that," Marik gestured all around them, but his gaze rested properly on Bakura, taking him all in at last.

Marik was not very used to observing others, not in the way that you would come to familiarise yourself with close friends, anyway. He'd had little reason or opportunity to. He supposed he could make an exception with Bakura though; they'd been working together long enough anyway.

"You look like you've been to hell and back."

"Not far off, actually," Bakura's grin grew a bit.

Marik frowned. "Why did you do that? It wasn't part of our plan,"

Bakura folded his arms. "Our plan? You took me from my host's body without my consent. I don't believe that was part of our plan, either,"

"It would have ensured our victory over Yami,"

"No, it would have ensured my host's death, and that cannot happen,"

Marik considered Bakura's words, which didn't give away any emotion at all. "Is Ryou still connected through your mind link?" he asked. "It might hurt our plans, otherwise-"

"You needn't worry about that. My host is easy to control,"

Marik felt cold with those words, but he swallowed and remembered who he was dealing with, putting a grim smile in the Spirit's direction. "Then the plan is still on? You help me to obtain the God Cards in return for the Rod?"

Bakura nodded and didn't seem like he wanted to say anything else.

Marik blew out a sigh, partial relief but mostly frustration. He ran a hand through his hair and wanted to feel more confident than he was.

"So we lost the duel,"

Marik started, Bakura's voice suddenly much closer. He looked up, and saw the Spirit was at his side, his expression vague and detached. Marik noticed Bakura looked much paler than he remembered, and tired.

"It doesn't matter. Odion is still a part of the contest," Marik told him.

"Do you think that part of your plan will work?" Bakura looked rather sceptical. "A fake Rod, and a fake name. So many lies, Marik," the Spirit shook his head.

Marik grit his teeth; it seemed ridiculous that a demon immoral Spirit had the nerve to be judging him. And yet somehow he was, and succeeding too.

He wasn't going to give Bakura the satisfaction, though. He laughed lightly. "You don't think I can pull it off, Bakura? I'm hurt by your lack of faith,"

"Maybe you'll succeed," Bakura said, and he stepped back, looking Marik up and down like a piece of meat. "In some form,"

Marik thought he should feel uncomfortable, but he was just insulted.

"You make no sense," he scowled.

He could have left at that moment, and he almost wanted to. But he halted when Bakura sank to the ground. He was grimacing a bit.

"What's wrong?" Marik knelt down at once. His hand wavered, but he didn't bother to touch the Spirit. He knew Bakura better than that. "Are you alright?"

"Unfortunately my energy is still rather limited, courtesy of the Pharaoh," Bakura explained, a nasty scowl on his face. "I can't very well help you until I'm returned to my host,"

"Ryou?" Marik remembered the boy lying in the hospital wing of the blimp. He was awake now, but Bakura probably already knew that, with the handy mind link. He blinked at Bakura, who was watching him through narrowed eyes. "Even if you are back in control of Ryou, you can't help me obtain the God Cards anymore. You're out of the contest,"

"I'm not thinking so much about the contest, Marik," Bakura said. He was speaking quietly, like there might be someone else nearby, trying to listen in.

"Then what?" Marik felt impatient. "Are you going to try and get the cards by force? Maybe use some of that infamous thievery of yours?"

Bakura looked amused by the idea, but he shook his head. He stretched thin arms and then lay back on the ground.

"I'm glad you remember that," he said conversationally.

Marik stared at him; "remember what? That you're a thief?"

Bakura nodded.

"You told me, I don't think I'd forget so easily," Marik said.

The floor was as cold as everything else in Bakura's dank Soul Room, but it didn't stop Marik from lying back too. He wouldn't be afraid of the Spirit that was so near to him, and he wasn't. Intrigue was just eating at Marik, like it always did when he was around the Spirit.

"It might come in handy, you know," Marik said, more to himself. "You being a thief, seems appropriate," he considered what he was thinking, then he turned on his side, leaning his head in his hand, so that he was looking at Bakura. "Why do you need all the Millennium items, anyway?"

Bakura rolled his eyes. "How many times have you asked me that, Marik?"

Marik grinned; "I thought the three hundred and twenty second time would be the charm,"

"Well you're horrendously wrong," Bakura kept his gaze ahead, but a smirk twitched on his mouth.

Marik sat up, rubbing his cold back. He'd more or less given up asking Bakura about his intentions for the Millennium items, when all Bakura was prepared to give him was a look which invited slow death. But it couldn't hurt to poke and pester every now and then.

"Well it doesn't matter anyway," Marik looked down at the Spirit, "once I have the God cards I'll be powerful enough without the items,"

Bakura grinned up at him, eyes all devious; "you're so eager to get those cards, aren't you,"

"What's wrong with that? Maybe you should take my lead and be a bit more eager yourself,"

Bakura laughed, one of his sudden, unexpected barks. It reminded Marik of what he was, but it didn't matter because Marik was used to it now.

"Why rush? I'm a spirit, I'm immortal. Times on my side,"

"Oh, well I'm sorry, but we can't all be immortal three thousand year old Spirits, you know," Marik intended to sound annoyed, but it came off amused, and he found himself smiling anyway.

To his surprise, Bakura turned onto his side, so he was facing Marik, and he looked amused too.

"It's handy you have the Rod," he said, smirking. "Otherwise I could be taking control of your body right now,"

"You wouldn't," Marik said, but didn't feel all that confident. It suddenly occurred to him that Bakura could probably take control of his body anyway. It wasn't like he had any access to the Rod whilst he was in the Spirit's Soul Room...

He looked at Bakura, a bit horrified at the idea. Bakura seemed to know what he was thinking, and he shook his head, smirking.

"Don't flatter yourself, Marik. I'm not wasting my energy on you,"

Marik rolled his eyes; "charming. Am I supposed to feel flattered, then?"

"Perhaps," Bakura said rather ominously. He sat up after a moment, and Marik thought he looked better for it. "Perhaps it's best you keep the Millennium Ring, after all. I can't imagine I'd be much help to you in Ryou's body, especially considering what might be to come,"

Marik sat up too, the foreboding in Bakura's words getting to him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I might be wrong, so you shouldn't worry," the Spirit turned away, annoyingly mysterious.

Marik couldn't even decipher anything from the Spirit's face, not that it would have helped much. Bakura's facial expressions mostly ranged from Death Glare to Sadistic Smirk.

Marik sighed. "I'm leaving now," he said as he stood up.

"Very well," Bakura followed him up, and when he faced Marik there was a hint of apprehension there for a tiny second. "Might you come visit again? I promise to have the place better decorated," he flashed a smirk.

"I'll be back," Marik nodded. "To keep you updated on my progress with the God cards, and of course the time when I've won them all,"

"Confident, aren't we?"

"They will be mine," Marik believed it, despite the Spirit's amused face. "You'll see. Next time I'm here I'll have another God card to tell you about,"

"Looking forward to it,"

Marik closed his eyes, teetering upon the edge of the Soul Room. The warmth of the real world was calling and coaxing him back, and he could feel his dark surroundings dissolving away as his concentration fell properly to the real world.

He kept his eyes on Bakura, who faded away into the darkness along with everything else.

When he opened his eyes he was back in his room on the blimp, the Millennium Ring loose but warm in his hands. Odion was eyeing him with some concern.

"Master-"

"What are you doing here?" Marik asked sharply.

The tall man by the door looked like he always did these days, and Marik hated it. All torn and conflicted, fighting a moral battle within his own mind, not that Marik had ever pried there.

"It's nothing, please forgive me, master Marik," Odion bowed apologetically. But his eyes were trained on the item Marik held; "the Ring-"

"-is not your concern," Marik finished. "Yugi and his friends are not to know about this,"

Odion nodded. "Very well,"

Marik watched Odion out the door, and waited a minute or two before looking at the Ring. It was still warm in his hands.

Marik quickly pulled it from his neck. Partners or not, Marik knew better than to trust the Spirit. The cold of the Soul Room lingered in his mind though, along with the Spirit's mostly haughty face.

He'd keep the Spirit close by. It was better like that, and he'd miss the interesting chats and startling smirks otherwise.

888

more stuff: I took some liberties with the powers of the items! I don't know if Marik would be able to enter Bakura's mind like that, but it's sort of essential to my story. I hope it doesn't bother anybody. I may continue this, but I have other stories I need to get back to as well, so updates might be rather slow. Thank you for reading!