Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Redemption ❯ Confrontations ( Chapter 15 )

 

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Yami grinned as he made the trip between the dimensions, making his entry into Domino. He revelled in stretching out his wings and tail on last time, before casting the uncomfortable spell to become an immortal human. It always took a few deep breaths to steady himself after the spell dissipated and he got used to the different feel of his body. He shrugged, stretching; it didn't matter how many times that he did this, it felt so odd to be wingless, but it was the absence of his tail that really phased him. Strange considering that he had lived for countless years without one before Seto had meted out punishment. On that thought…

 

Dressed in black leather trousers, and a buckled and studded sleeveless shirt he strode out of the alleyway and onto the street. With a winning smile he entered the estate agents, mentioned Dartz's name and was handed a set of keys. He already knew the address. Smirking he headed to the apartment that was to be his resting place for the next however long, it was all too easy. He entered the apartment quickly, eying it critically as he went, but with a growing satisfaction. As he entered the kitchen he saw a bundle of documentation waiting for him. He sorted through it finding bank details, cash card and pin, and other such items. Well Dartz certainly knew what he was doing. The fridge and cupboards were even stocked. Well, since everything was in order here, there was only one thing for him to do…

 

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Bakura was currently sat in the kitchen trying to ignore Seto. The Avenger had been in a foul mood when he had returned from Ryou's, and his microwave would never mutilate food again. Despite his warnings, Seto had taken it upon himself to attempt to heat food up. He unfortunately had made the fatal mistake of putting a fork in the appliance, and after seeing the resultant sparks, Seto had decided the `infernal machine' was possessed and had promptly blown it up. The resultant explosion had fortunately done little other damage to his apartment, though he could definitely wave goodbye to his deposit. So after that had darkened his good mood there had been the inevitable issue of sleep, and it seemed that his luck had run out. After the rather heated debate that had followed he found himself grumpily sleeping on the sofa, swearing that he was going to find somewhere for Seto and fast.

 

To make a start he had attempted to take Seto shopping this morning. He was going to need clothes and other things that didn't appear magically if he was going to successfully blend in, well at least have a chance of blending in. So the day had started with an argument about the necessity of such things, and battle that surprisingly Bakura had finally won, though it had been a close run thing. Though the experience at the mall was one he never ever wanted to repeat. Firstly it was difficult to find clothing to fit someone so freakishly tall and thin as Seto at best, but the bitching and moaning that were almost constant throughout had worn his patience down to the bone. How they had gotten out of there without tearing each other limb from limb was going to remain one of those unsolved mysteries of the universe.

 

So now they were back in the safety of the apartment, he was deliberately avoiding Seto and desperately clock watching, willing the time to go by until his next shift at work. He had resigned himself to this as actually spending time round Seto was impossible and the Avenger had taken an extreme dislike to being left on his own for any non essential reason as something always seemed to go wrong when he did. That and Bakura could not trust to find his apartment in one piece if he did go out. So here he was, trapped and doing his utmost not to throttle his guest.

 

So you can imagine his surprise when there was knock at his door. He shot out of his seat in the kitchen lightning fast, not waiting to see if Seto had heard from the other room. He was glad for the distraction but was equally as worried about who it might be that was about to meet his unpredictable parasite. When he flung the door open he was so shocked that he laughed.

 

“Long time no see Yami.” He grinned as his laughter came under control.

 

“Likewise.” The daemon smirked.

 

He looked Yami over, well it had been a few millennia. “You look well.” He said with amusement. “I like the new wardrobe. Could you go any more goth?” He raised an eyebrow with a smirk.

 

Yami chuckled. “You look worn out.” He countered.

 

“You try living with Seto - let alone teach him the ways of the world.” He griped. “Though something tells me that is precisely why I find myself seeing you for the first time since God's judgement was handed down.” He grinned. He had been itching to take Seto apart and had been holding on to his anger and irritation. Now on the other hand he could sit back and enjoy the show as the two antagonists faced off. This promised to be interesting.

 

“Who is it?” Came the curt demand from within the apartment. Seto had evidently picked up on conversation at the door.

 

Yami and Bakura smirked at each other conspiratorially. Bakura stepped back opening the door fully, and with a sweep of his arm he silently invited his guest in. With a nod Yami made his way inside to where they had heard Seto's unmistakable voice. Hearing the door shut and footsteps approach Seto rose from his seat.

 

“Well who was it?” he asked turning, only to stop dead when he saw who was standing there. “You!” He hissed.

 

“Well good day to you too.” Yami drawled.

 

“What is God's name do you think you are doing here Yami?” Seto hissed, his cerulean eyes flashing with angry fire.

 

Yami chuckled at Seto's reaction. “Did you really think Marik was going to sit back and let you mess up his hard work?” he snorted derisively. “There was no way in Hell we were going to allow you to roam freely through this group of humans, destroying everything we have worked for. So we decided to do something about it. For as long as you remain on earth, so shall I?”

 

“Why you vile daemon!” Seto spat.

 

“Well… yes.” Yami sniggered. “And you made me one.” He taunted.

 

“You are nothing but vermin, Marik's pet rat.”

 

“And I suppose that would make him King Rat. Not a bad analogy, he has eyes everywhere after all, almost as if he had many heads.” Yami commented.

 

“If he continues to meddle where he does not belong I will destroy him, and that goes for you too.” Seto threatened.

 

“Oh I don't think you will.” Yami grinned darkly. “While certain things that we do may displease the Lord, we are damn good at our jobs.” He retorted acidly. “And we both know his intervention with Bakura has been above board.”

 

Bakura rolled his eyes at being talked about like he was invisible. Still he wasn't going to correct them while something so entertaining was going on.

 

Seto snorted derisively. “Why the Lord is pleased by that I have no idea.” He narrowed his eyes at Bakura, who was leaning against the wall watching the two face off, enjoying himself immensely. “It's not like he is missed anymore.” He sneered, intending to goad the two.

 

The blatant lie was not missed, Bakura merely narrowing his eyes, but staying out of things, while Yami burst into laughter.

 

“Oh you really have sunk low Seto, ordered to earth, and now you are actually lying. I never thought I would see the day. Bakura is teaching you the ways of humanity all too well I think.”

 

“Don't look at me.” Bakura snickered. “I haven't even managed to get him to smile yet, we are weeks away from lying.”

 

Seto seethed at Bakura's off hand attitude. “I wouldn't be here at all if it weren't for the vermin and his master getting involved where you shouldn't. The sooner this idiocy stops, the sooner I can leave you to rot!”

 

Yami's smirk reached right to his eyes, the reddish violet eyes glowing with a dark fire. “Then I would prepare yourself for the long haul. It's too late to pull out now, not now that Marik has gotten so… personally involved.”

 

“What?” Came the acidic question.

 

Bakura looked at Yami curiously. What could Marik have possibly done now? Yami was enjoying himself far too much at this point. Having Seto poised on apoplectic rage was utterly delicious, and he had yet to reveal his trump card.

 

“He was so peeved by your decision to come to Bakura that he headed up to earth to let off steam.”

 

Bakura groaned. This could not be good, and looking at Seto he was starting to worry for his apartment.

 

“I came here out of practicality reasons!” Seto retorted.

 

“But you didn't have to. We all knew you were stating your authority by doing it, threatening to disrupt this situation if things got out of hand. Well bad news Seto, the Lord will never let you interfere with Bakura, and because of your little stunt things have already gone past the point of no return.”

 

“What in all of heaven are you rambling on about?” Seto asked with evident frustration, with Bakura backing him up.

 

Yami chuckled darkly, okay, enough drawing it out. “Marik is in over his head with his human counterpart. Now the boy is emotionally attached to him, and even worse, I think he might actually be emotionally attached to the boy.”

 

“WHAT!!” Seto roared. “How in the darkest pits of Hell did that happen?”

 

Yami sneered. “You know what he is like when he gets angry, he gets reckless. We have had the poor luck of him running into Malik, and the two are very alike in many ways. He ended up bedding the boy.” He grinned as he knew that this last nugget of information was going to be the straw that broke the camel's back.

 

“FUCKING BASTARD!!!” Seto roared.

 

To their credit, Bakura and Yami barely flinched as the Avenger swore, for what was probably the first time in his long life. Bakura eyed Yami curiously. So now Marik was completely mired in the situation. Well that explained Yami and Seto's appearances on earth. And by the colour that Seto now was, things were about to get very messy. He narrowed his eyes to warn them not to deal with this here but…

 

“MARIK!!” Seto bellowed his summons.

 

…too late.

 

“You called?” Marik's deep rumble came from behind Seto, smirking happily as he appeared lounging in one of Bakura's chairs.

 

Seto stormed to grab hold of Marik's shirt and yank him upright but Marik caught Seto's wrist before he could reach the Adversary.

 

“Easy you pious ass wipe.” Marik growled dangerously, getting to his feet shoving Seto's arm away. “Or I might start to take it personally.”

 

“You Hell scum!” Seto spat. I should bind you both to Hell so you would be forced to stay where you belong, along with the scum of the earth.”

 

Marik sniggered, smirking at Yami. “You know, when you get him started the insults fairly flow don't they. You would never guess that he was an angel now would you?”

 

“More of an angel than either of you have ever been. The rebellious upstart and his pet. Why the Lord puts up with you I will never know.”

 

“Rebellious upstart!” Marik snorted. “That coming from the likes of you. At least I am not afraid to stand up for what I believe in. I know your secret Seto, I know what you hide away in your heart, so be careful what you call me.”

 

Seto visibly paled, Yami and Bakura exchanging a questioning look, but both were as clueless as to Marik's supposed knowledge and Seto's reaction. Though it was certainly interesting to see Seto's eyes show the slightest glimmer of… could that really be fear? Marik laughed darkly, pleased to have Seto in such a position.

 

“You and both know that the Lord is not infallible, he can make mistakes, just like any angel and man, after all were we not made in his image?” Marik continued. “I merely pointed out his travesty and was willing to face the consequences. The price was high but I was willing to pay it.”

 

“We all were.” Yami echoed, coming to stand beside Marik. “You on the other hand merely follow orders. Tell me oh mighty Avenger, are you capable of independent thought, or do you need instructions to function?”

 

Bakura backed away slowly as he saw Seto's aura flare in his anger. Oh this had better not be happening here. He groaned inwardly knowing that he could hardly get them to take this outside and deal with their feud in front of humanity. He winced as he felt the magic rip through the room, the all too familiar sword now in Seto's hand, and already blazing with blue fire. Oh shit, this was not good.

 

Marik grinned wickedly. “If this is how you want it.”

 

“I have waited far too long for this.” Seto growled.

 

In answer Marik's eyes started to glow, flame flickering round his fingers, the smell of brimstone starting to seep into the air. Bakura closed his eyes. Please, he begged. Please, if you are listening get them to stop before they destroy half of Domino and the humans there, he prayed desperately. He gagged as the stench of brimstone intensified, Marik's aura a blazing mass of black flame, a ball of Hellfire in each hand.

 

There was a sudden, almost painful jolt. Seto, Marik and Yami all yelled in sudden pain. As he opened his eyes he was surprised to see that they were standing, well in his companion's case crouching, in an expanse of white, nothingness stretching out into infinity. He looked sharply to the three hunched figures, all now in their natural forms he suddenly recognised where they were. It was only natural that since he had not seen the place for millennia that it would take a moment for the memory to come to him. They had been shunted out of the earthly plane and into the plane between realms, the place where it was possible to travel between realms, earth, Heaven and Hell. The shift in plan had forced them all into their natural states, though such a sudden change was painful to say the least. Bakura was in his natural state, a wingless angel and therefore had no issues with this shift. Well actually he had two.

 

Firstly, he was surprised that he had been listened to at all, that was a shock to him. Secondly was that he was here at all, the others he could understand but him… Shouldn't he be technically earthbound, or was it the stripping of his powers and wings that enforced that? And on that note, how in Heaven and Hell was he getting back? He had no way of navigating between realms without them. Too many questions and looking at the way the other three were getting to their feet and angrily eying each other, he was not going to be getting answers any time soon. In fact it was only a matter of time until…

 

“Seto you underhanded shit, what did you do?” Yami accused as the pain began to ease, his tail switching from side to side angrily.

 

“Me! How dare you accuse me to hide your master's treachery!” He retorted.

 

“Why you fucking asshole, I had nothing to do with this.” Marik joined the argument.

 

Bakura rolled his eyes as the three traded accusations and insults like children in the playground. In fact the three were so busy that Bakura was the only one who noticed another aura suddenly enter the realm. He turned quickly as a flash of golden light lit us the blankness behind him, and he was hit with a wave of recognition.

 

“Gabriel.” He breathed in question, annoyed that he could hear the other's bickering behind him. Just how could they be oblivious to this?

 

As the glow died away Bakura found himself face to face with the benevolent angel who had been there, holding him, as he received his punishment. The very same angel that he had wished to see not so long ago. Gabriel smiled softly.

 

“It is good to see you again Bakura.”

 

“You did this?” Bakura asked in wonder.

 

Gabriel nodded with a soft chuckle. “At the Lord's request of course.”

 

Bakura chuckled at that. Gabriel stretched out his wings before motioning Bakura to his side, drawing a wing gently round his companion as they gazed upon the bickering trio. The flaming sword was back, Marik was in full Devil form with balls of Hellfire already in his hands, and Yami looked the full daemon with glowing eyes and scythe wreathed in red flame to match Seto's sword.

 

“Shouldn't we be doing something about this?” Bakura asked, though he was quite enjoying seeing the three face off like this. It was interesting to see how daemonic the Fallen had become over time.

 

Gabriel shook his head. “We both know they won't go too far for fear of incurring the Lord's wrath. So let them get it out of their systems, it has been festering long enough. I would rather not let it pass for another few millennia. By then all semblance of self control they have might be lost. While they might hurt each other, they won't do any real damage. They are immortal after all.”

 

Bakura sniggered before falling silent. For the moment he was enjoying the forgotten feel of soft feathers around his shoulders, bringing the memory of Akeifa and his past into sharp focus. The three finally joined in battle, with the ringing of sword against scythe, and the crackle of three types of fire in the air. The two were forced to duck as a fireball reeking of brimstone flew overhead.

 

“Got any popcorn?” Bakura sniggered. “Or marshmallows?” He ventured, looking at stray patches of flame at their feet.

 

Gabriel laughed, a melodic sound to say the least. “I have missed your humour.” His eyes shone with mirth. “As have others, the Lord included.”

 

Bakura sighed. “So he's done this so that I know he is still listening, still waiting?” He asked scornfully, not believing it for a moment.

 

Gabriel rolled his eyes as with a roar the two Fallen floored and pounced on Seto. “No, he asked me to because you were right. And he allowed me to bring you here because these three are a… volatile influence. He knows that Seto's appearance has been particularly difficult for you. That wasn't part of the plan by the way, the Avenger took that upon himself.”

 

“I'd guessed.” He snorted in reply.

 

“But mainly, God allowed me to bring you here because he is amused.”

 

“Amused?” Bakura sniggered. “Looks like he is on his own.” He ignored a cry from Yami as his tail got singed. “Though I am grateful. My apartment is still intact as we don't have a huge incident on earth. That could have been difficult to deal with.” That and he didn't want to leave Ryou just yet. He realised his feelings in that regard were becoming more and more tangled as time wore on.

 

“Stick close to him Bakura.” Gabriel said softly, guessing at his companion's thoughts. “If you can bear to give up you heart to him, then you are closer than you have ever been to coming home.”

 

Bakura actually found he was annoyed by that comment. “What if I don't want to?” He asked curtly. “It wouldn't be right to pursue him to that end.”

 

Gabriel chuckled. “I never said that you should. You will make your own choices for your own reasons, and that is the whole point, and what the Lord wants. I merely thought that it wouldn't hurt to remind you of the facts though. You have been gone for so very long.”

 

Bakura nodded sadly, absently sidestepping a stream of blue flame. He had almost forgotten what it had been like in Heaven. But stood here with God's Right Hand beside him the memories came flooding back with stunning clarity. With them came a homesickness that he had not felt in a very long while. But it was not the desperate longing that he had felt in the past. It was now more of a soft tug at his heart, which was answered by a second pull, one that drew him to soft brown eyes and snow white hair.

 

He looked up to see that the three were still fighting, though it looked as if things were beginning to peter out a little. Rage was starting to give way to rationale and they were starting to realise that what they were doing was pointless.

 

“So does this mean I get Seto out of my hair?” He asked, not daring to hope.

 

“I'm afraid not.” Gabriel sighed sympathetically. “The issues have not gone away, and particularly now that Marik is involved with Malik, the Lord wants someone to keep an eye on things.”

 

“But why does it have to be Seto.” He bitched. “You can see how… volatile he is.” He chose his words carefully. How much of a royal pain in the ass he is, was what he had wanted to say.

 

Gabriel chuckled. “Because believe it or not, the Lord feels that it is time Seto got out of Heaven for a while. He feels that it would do him some good. After all, in all his millennia this is his first trip to earth, well where he has spent any time there at any rate. He is learning with you, even if he is being obstinate.”

 

“Is that a roundabout way of saying that God thinks that Seto can be as big a pain in the ass as the rest of us?” he grinned slyly.

 

“Well I wouldn't put it that way.” Gabriel said evasively.

 

“More of a cold fish then?” Now he really was smirking.

 

Gabriel sighed with exasperation. “I did not say anything.”

 

Bakura sniggered. “Oh just wait until I tell Seto that even God thinks that he has a stick up his ass.”

 

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “You are insufferable.”

 

“Yeah, and that's why you miss me.” He chuckled. “Hey, you three finished with the masochistic male bonding yet?” Bakura called.

 

Gabriel laughed heartily as three pairs of eyes suddenly riveted their heated glare on Bakura.

 

“And what are you doing here?” Seto growled.

 

“Me.” Bakura smirked. “I was the one with the sense to ask the Lord to stop you before you caused a major incident. Thankfully he and Gabriel agreed.”

 

“Gabriel?” The three asked as one.

 

Bakura groaned putting his hand to his head. How could they have missed the angel on his right, especially with a wing draped around his shoulders? Almost cartoon like the three suddenly looked to his right and noticed the chuckling angel. He wasn't sure who looked the most sheepish, though after some consideration Seto probably held that honour, by a very narrow margin. All three looked thoroughly scorched and dishevelled, somewhat the worse for wear.

 

“Now since you have gotten that out of your systems.” Gabriel began. “Perhaps we can get back to some kind of order.” His tone establishing his authority in this situation.

 

Seto visibly sagged. “I will go and beg the Lord's forgiveness.” He sighed dejectedly.

 

“You will do no such thing.” Gabriel said firmly. “You will go back with Bakura and stop fighting him, you have a task to complete after all.” He admonished, his normally soft eyes uncharacteristically stern right now. He and the Lord alone held authority over the Avenger. His stern gaze quickly snapped to Marik and Yami who had started to snigger.

 

“And as for you two, Marik, you have to do right by that young man.” He stepped closer to the Adversary, who by now had traded in his got legs for his human ones. “Do what you must, let him down gently.” If you can, he thought. If Yami was right Marik would be doing no such thing, and things would become even more complicated. “The Lord will not tolerate you messing with his fate because of this stupid feud you three have going. Yami, you can stay on earth. For some reason the Lord feels it is only fair that both representatives of Heaven and Hell keep an eye on things.”

 

He forced back a smile, swearing that Yami was currently fighting back the urge to stick his tongue out childishly at the Avenger, while said angel was fighting to keep a death glare down. He steeled himself against his amusement having to finish the job in hand, drawing himself to his full height.

 

“I suggest the three of you find a way of being civil to one another. If things get out of hand like this again, you will all be summoned before God and face his wrath. You nearly caused a major incident!” He snapped.

 

Bakura could not help himself and sniggered. The three looked like scolded children, and Gabriel was doing an impressive job of being the lecturing parent.

 

“We were all made by God alike. “He reminded them all, though it was Bakura he turned to now. “As for you.” He said softly. “Your path is your own as was decreed. You'll find your way home someday.” He threw a quick look to the sheepish three before him before deciding it was time to take his leave. There was someone he needed to see after all this excitement. With that he spread his wings and was gone in a dazzling flash of light.

 

Bakura huffed and made his way over to where Seto was stood scowling at the two Fallen. “Come on, you're my ride out of here.” He looked over to Yami. “I'll see you around, maybe we can go out for a drink or two and catch up sometime.” The two grinned as he earned himself a growl from Seto.

 

The Avenger grabbed Bakura roughly by the arm, spreading his wings before taking them back to earth. Yami took this moment to speak to Marik.

 

“Well that went… well it went.” He shrugged. “At least we know we have the Lord's blessing to carry on as we are. But he has a point, you need to do something about Malik. Leave him hanging and you could tear him apart.”

 

Marik sighed heavily. “I know. I should just learn to suck it up when I get pissed off shouldn't I?”

 

Yami sniggered. “I didn't say anything.”

 

“You didn't have to.” Marik mock growled. “Now go, keep an eye on Seto, and don't forget, lets see how much we can make that exterior of his crack.” He smirked.

 

Yami grinned darkly before exiting to the earthly plane. Marik on the other hand took a few moments to steel himself for what he had to do. It was time to see Malik again.

 

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Ishizu was busy finishing off the laundry while Malik was upstairs in the shower. She always insisted that he showered after work at the bike shop. Quite apart from the smell of engine oil and grease, it got everywhere. Holy Isis knew that she had become an expert at getting the cloying substances out of his clothes. Talking about her brother, he had been in rather and upbeat mood for the past few days. Odd, because it seemed to start when he had fallen out with Ryou. Malik assured her that the friends had all made up, but that would not explain the extent to which Malik was… well he was downright chipper to tell the truth.

 

She had questioned him, to which he had laughed, flashed her one of his rare, genuine smiles, that in itself startling her. `I've met someone,' was all the explanation that she had been given at the time, and all the explanation she was going to get for a while too by the look of things. She was roused from her thoughts by a knock at the door. When she opened it she was surprised to find a rather broad, tanned man, with wildly spiked platinum blonde hair, who looked not unlike her brother in a strange way. It was… odd to say the least.

 

“Can I help you?” She asked politely.

 

“You must be Malik's sister.” The stranger greeted smoothly. “A pleasure to meet you, though it was Malik that I came to see.”

 

“And you would be?” She asked, smiling softly.

 

“Marik.” He replied gently.

 

She found herself smiling at Marik; there was just something so… charming about him. “Alright, please do come in. He's just freshening up after work. I'll call him for you.”

 

Marik followed her inside, suppressing a chuckle as he recognised various sights around the home. How he recognised anything was a minor miracle, considering that he had been otherwise distracted at the time. He heard the young woman calling for Malik as he wandered into the living room to wait, and mused on the two for a moment. While definitely family and they shared the same skin tone, she was dark where he was fair, though her blue eyes were an oddity considering their eqyptian heritage. Now he understood why Malik had commented on the fact.

 

“So you are a man of your word.”

 

Marik turned to see Malik stood leaning against the door frame. He was not, however, prepared for the visceral reaction to seeing him again. Okay so it didn't help that his young lover was stood there in nothing but a pair of jeans and a smirk - he had established for a fact that Malik did not wear underwear the other night. Nor did it help that his skin and hair will still damp from the shower which only served to bring back memories of their wild night together. While he was a stranger to love in its many forms it became suddenly apparent to him, that despite their liaison being brief, somewhere along the line he had fallen and fallen hard for the bronzed youth before him. Fuck, this was going to be an issue. It was clear that Malik was awaiting an answer so he slipped back into being his usual self, answering his lover's smirk with one of his own.

 

“Well you did make it clear that I had little choice in the matter.” He chuckled.

 

“True, true. But I am still glad that you came. On that thought, exactly why are you here?” Malik asked.

 

What he was clearly hinting at, but not saying with his sister within earshot, was that this was not a good time for a romp. Considering how loud they had been on their previous meeting, and that his sister was in the house, Malik would not relish the fallout if she were to be party to such an activity.

 

Marik chuckled, approaching him, and taking his face softly in one hand. “Don't worry kid, I get it. Another time perhaps.”

 

“So this was just a quick social call?” Malik chuckled, secretly wondering what the future nature of their relationship was going to be. He wanted more than a bed partner, but at the same time would not say no if that was how things turned out.

 

“You said that you wanted to see me again, not how and when. Okay, I was in the neighbourhood, thought I'd say hi, touch base, that kind of thing,”

 

Malik chuckled. “I get it, so are you going to cut and run on me, or are you going to hang around for a while?”

 

Marik weighed up his options. He had come here to let the youth down gently, before realising that it was an impossibility. Being stood so close to him was intoxicating and his body craved more. All he could think about was getting another taste of that mouth, feeling the soft, yielding skin under his fingers again. Damn it, this was not supposed to happen.

 

“Look kid, I'll be straight with you, I have things to get back to, but since I was in the neighbourhood there was something I wanted to pick up, and I'm not going without - your number. Then at least perhaps we can arrange our quiet time.” He purred the last sentence, leaning close to Malik.

 

“I'd like that.” Malik purred in return.

 

Inwardly Malik's heart was doing somersaults. He could not believe that Marik had come back. Well he had hoped, allowed himself to dream, but now… Now he could not wait until they could arrange some time together. It was all he could do to not lick his lips at the prospect. He left Marik for a moment, quickly returning with a piece of paper with both the numbers to the house and his cell phone. He handed it over.

 

“So when do I get to spend some time with you?” He asked with a grin.

 

“When I get a chance.” Marik replied with a chuckle. “I did tell you I am a workaholic, no word of a lie. Though something tells me I am going to be rearranging my schedule quite a bit from now on.”

 

“I'm touched.” Malik chuckled.

 

Marik sniggered. “You're too cute kid.”

 

He looked Malik over one last time, damning himself for falling prey to someone like this and was about to go when Malik's hand on his chest stopped him. As he looked into those remarkable lavender eyes he realised that that Malik's feelings mirrored his own, he felt that same addictive pull toward the other. It had only been one night, a fucking wild one at that, but now they were in deep and all they could do was let it run its course. Yes, they were one hell of a match for each other. He gave up trying to hold back, grabbing a handful of Malik's hair and pulled him in for a deep, lingering kiss that was only broken by the need for air.

 

“Damn it kid.” He chuckled. “Why do you always taste so good?” Like sin, he thought.

 

“I'll be damned if I know, but if you like it so much, you'll just have to hurry back for more.”

 

Marik laughed. “I'll see you around.”

 

Malik stood at the front door grinning as he watched Marik walk away. As she heard the front door close Ishizu made her way out of the kitchen to see the very pleased look on her brother's face.

 

“That would be the `guy' you met then.” She stated amused. “Why do I get the feeling that I will be seeing him around quite a bit? Oh and perhaps my social life will be blossoming quite soon.”

 

“Why sister, what are you suggesting?” He teased.

 

“Nothing dear brother, nothing at all.”

 

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Akeifa was waiting for him when Marik made his way back into hell. One look at the Master of Hell's face told him all he needed to know.

 

“You couldn't do it could you?” He asked amused.

 

“No.” Marik chuckled. “I wonder, how is it that one mortal human can affect me so?” He mused,

 

“Ask Bakura.” Akeifa stated plainly. “After all, its because of you that he is now emotionally entangled with Ryou. Which in know was the object of the exercise.”

 

Marik laughed, Akeifa did always have an objective viewpoint. “True. Though I am not sure Bakura will take kindly to me visiting. Not while he has a peeved Avenger to handle at any rate.”

 

“Well it seems to me that you will have to let things run their course, and hope that the world is intact when the two of you are done.” Akeifa said with a cheeky smile.

 

Marik shot his friend a mock warning glare. “Hmm, and we had both better get back to what we should be doing.” He pointed out gently.

 

“But of course my Lord.” Akeifa bowed gently and with a sweep of his tail he was gone.

 

It was only then that Marik realised something. When he'd been summoned by Seto he had ordered the watching pool to be unable to view him, and he had not told Akeifa anything of what had gone on followed said summoning. Akeifa had known and had asked! He suddenly to look for the Hellbound Fallen but he was long gone. Just how had he known? This went beyond an uncanny knack to supernatural and his suspicions flared suddenly, his eyes narrowing. Well one thing was for certain, he was going to have to watch Akeifa closely, there was definitely something afoot.

 

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AN:

Okay, when I wrote this the original plan was to have more of the insults and blows in the showdown, but damnit Gabriel demanded lines. Well who am I to deny the Right Hand of God, after all the guy actually outranks Seto! Seto had a big ass flaming sword! What the hell could Gabriel do to me if he gets angry? I don't wanna know. But I am actually pleased with how this turned out, there are some revealing moments in there for later plot, oh and if anyone is confused by the King Rat reference go read the Nutcracker.

 

I will be freeing Bakura from Seto very soon I promise, and I am so looking forward to Seto's face when he realises how I am doing it. Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha!