Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Rewind 1 ❯ Possibilities ( Chapter 13 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: Nehti

“If Yugi goes, then I'm going with him.”

Marik tried to restrain the sigh of resignation that threatened to escape his pursed lips. He nodded compassionately and smiled a little, as he turned to look at the brilliant, cobalt-eyed girl. He had seen this coming, yet it felt so bad to be proven right. If Yugi was to come to Earth, Tea was bound to come with him. More lives at stake…more responsibilities…more problems…

The tanned boy distantly acknowledged Bakura's invisible huff from the side.

“I know Tea. I understand. However, you do realize it will be dangerous…very dangerous.” Marik carefully answered, eyeing the skeptical Yugi and his determined friend.

Tea nodded immediately, her oak-colored hair fanning around her head as she did. “I know!” she countered “But I want to be by his side!!”

“Oh, please!! Mercy!!” Bakura commented, earning a square glare from Marik and Yugi, who could also see him. Needless to say Marik was somewhat less than enthusiastic to see Yugi's dark spirit, the Game King, float out of his golden pyramid and materialize right next to Bakura. Uh-oh. They had enough problems already…it would be imprudent to turn this conversation into a full-fledged, personal dispute between the two immortal spirits.

“Don't talk about Tea like that!!” The Game King spat venomously at Bakura's direction “You'd be lucky if you had half her courage and kindness!!!”

Bakura's eyes narrowed ominously, alerting Yugi and Marik and having absolutely no effect on the ignorant Tea, who also happened to be the object of the unheard discussion.

“Oh, I'm sorry, your highness…” Bakura barked back maliciously, earning a warning glare from Marik, who couldn't speak to Bakura due to Tea's presence. Bakura promptly ignored the blonde and continued his sneers “Did I insult your girlfriend? Is it my fault your future queen can't take the hint and stay out of people's business, for once?”

The Game King looked positively ready to implode. Tea, who was left completely in the dark between a glaring Marik and a murderous-looking Yugi, decided to speak up.

“Is something wrong…?” she dared to ask.

Bakura barked out a laugh “I'm sure she'll be a great asset to our group, with her quick reflexes and abilities to interpret any situation…Then again…she may be a great asset to you, your Majesty…After all, we don't know what transpires behind closed doors…”

At this crude implication, kind young Yugi's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets and Marik was terrified to see him stand up quickly and point an accusing finger at Bakura, confusing poor Tea further.

“Take that back, you…you slimy, see-through blob!!!” he shouted, making Bakura guffaw and Marik hide his face in both palms.

“Yeah, take that back you disgusting slime! I'm sure you were some sort of slimy thief in your real life!!! That would explain a lot!!!” Dark Yugi echoed after his Brightside.

“Yugi…what do you mean? Don't you want me to come? “Tea asked in a hurt tone, making Bakura laugh harder and Yugi look at her in desperation.

“No! Tea you misunderstood…I was talking to someone else…I want you to come!! You know I can't live without you!!”

Tea smiled at that, still a bit puzzled about Yugi's earlier outburst.

“Aww…how romantic! It sickens me!!!” Bakura stated, but was surprised to earn a blow from the now irate Game King. In their unknown dimension, the two spirits started fighting, positively ready to pluck each other's hair out. Only when they stared screaming and shouting did Marik decide upon acting.

`Doesn't Bakura listen to my commands?' he thought in exasperation `Well, time to test the theory…'

“Stop!! Stop it now…Bakura!!!” Marik shouted, while standing up and running towards the two spirits, who were now rolling on the ground. Bakura's eyes narrowed and flashed a hurt red for a moment, as he seemingly struggled to fight something deep inside his brain. But it was no use. He had no control over his hands and legs any more, as they voluntarily stopped trying to hurt Dark Yugi and focused on pushing the other spirit away.

“Damn you, Mariku! You and your stupid mind-games!” Bakura shouted at the other's direction, while Marik watched Dark Yugi retreat in the dark recesses of Yugi's golden necklace with a last glare towards Bakura.

Marik didn't know whether he should feel hurt or angry or just plain miserable. His theory about being able to control Bakura had been proven right once again, yet Bakura's hateful expression made him want to crawl in a little hole somewhere and die.

“What's going on here?” Tea asked, now fully alert and standing up “Yugi?” she questioned somewhat strictly, her eyes clearly demanding answers.

Yugi sighed and exchanged looks with Marik, who did everything humanly possible to avoid Bakura's aggravated eyes.

“Well, Tea…” Yugi started saying, while looking at Marik who had his stare fixed on the floor for some reason. Only when Bakura's invisible body started to dissolve, indicating his return to Ryou's golden ring, did Marik turn to look at Bakura, instantly understanding what was going on.

Some kind of alarm went off in Marik's head, sending the blood pumping erratically in his veins. “No! Bakura, don't go!!!” he shouted, running frantically towards the fading body and falling on his knees.

“Don't…” Marik started saying, focused solely on the last part of Bakura that remained, his wine-red eyes, which were still staring at Marik in accusation. Then, Bakura faded completely.

Yugi and Tea were left somewhat speechless, staring at a Marik very unlike the one they had grown to recognize. Why was Marik's back humped in such resignation and why had the blonde covered his face with his palm?

“Marik…?” Tea questioned gingerly, having completely lost Bakura's actions that Yugi had so breathlessly witnessed.

Choosing to ignore Marik's obviously shaken state; the young ruby-eyed boy chose to update Tea on recent information. “You see, Tea…Ryou Bakura also has a…a Darkside.”

At this, Tea's eyes widened. Having long since known about Yugi's secret spirit, she knew what the kind boy meant. Another…spirit?

“Are you serious?” Tea questioned simply, unable to believe her ears. “There's another?”

“Yes.” Was heard Marik's deep, tropical voice. Both others turned to the exotic god's direction, recognizing immediately the composed and sly boy they had grown to respect. Looks like Marik had come back to normal.

“There is another…spirit. He's called Bakura, after Ryou's surname. He doesn't have memories, much like Dark Yugi…He's part of the real reason we want to go to Earth without the others. There might be answers there for us- him…I mean him.”

The little slip up went unnoticed by Tea but caught Yugi's attention. Us? Answers for us? Now what was that supposed to mean?

“Oh…” Tea's sweet tone echoed “ Well…you and this spirit seem to be really good friends.” She idly commented towards Marik's direction, noticing Marik's lavender eyes had once again slipped in a dazed trance to the floor.

“Yes, well…” Marik started saying, suddenly receiving a stab in the heart. He had acted his part perfectly until now, pretending, as always, to be calm and composed and unperturbed. But inside, he was actually boiling. What had just happened? He did the right thing, didn't he? Would Bakura hate him now? Would the spirit spread his deepest secrets as an act of vengeance? Worst of all…would Bakura…hate him?

“You should have told me earlier, Yugi!” Tea suddenly complained to a goofy Yugi, pulling Marik out of his trance and making him smile.

“Well, you know how it is, Tea… “ Yugi started “I didn't want to worry you further…”

More protests came from Tea, making Yugi rush to try and calm her and Marik shake his head dismissively. Couples these days. Oh yes, Tea and Yugi were most definitely a couple, even if they did everything humanly possible to conceal it. As with most other human relationships around him, except of course for his own, Marik could plainly understand it.

“Tea, I'm not so sure I want you to come…I'd much rather you went with Rishid and the others…I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you Tea…”

“No, Yugi! Don't ever say that! This is my choice…I want to go with you…to protect you…” at this, Tea fell in Yugi's arms, embracing him tightly, making the whole situation seem like a scene from a romance novel.

Marik smirked as Tea and Yugi hugged each other in quite the non-platonic way. He idly thought that if Bakura were there, he would have said something like `Oh, please, give us a break!' or `I hate mushy stuff!'…Laughing somewhat starkly at that thought, Marik then sobered up and turned to look thoughtfully back at the ground.

Would he ever hear Bakura make such comments again? Would he ever…see him again? Would they ever be together alone again, like they had been last night, in that dimly lit underground cavern? And Bakura…would his blood-eyes ever look as soft and intoxicating and sultry as they had looked that night, when he had so unceremoniously ripped Marik's tunic off his body and made the boy feel more naked than he had ever felt before?

Marik suddenly wanted to cry. Why did he have to be so stubid?

“Well, if that's all, I have to go talk to Rishid and make the final arrangements…” Marik said lightly, eyeing Yugi and Tea with his customary knowing gaze. Tea smiled and buried herself deeper in Yugi's arms, while the boy idly nodded.

The tanned blonde approached the door, which opened automatically at his approach. Before he could exit, however, he heard Yugi's voice speak a few last words.

“I hope it will all be alright, in the end…then we can travel together as I promised you, Tea…”

Marik grinned bitterly as he stepped outside the room. He hoped too, but for a different reason.

As Marik walked silently down the long corridor, his incredibly lithe body slipping around the atmosphere like a tanned serpent, he raised a slender eyebrow.

There on the side of the corridor were Serenity and Ryou, the boy having completely pinned the girl to the wall and trying to test exactly how far down her throat his tongue could go. Although Marik was glad the two had finally found each other's love and affection, he honestly wasn't looking forward to indulging himself to voyeurism anytime soon. Since he pretty much assumed Taichi, Kenji and the others would have similar opinions on the specific matter…well, alright, everyone EXCEPT Taichi and Kenji, at least…he decided to interrupt the intimate encounter.

With a sly smile plastered permanently on his face, the exotic boy spoke up “Uh…Serena…? If you're down there, please answer me…” he said lightly.

The change was rapid. Ryou promptly jumped off his girlfriend and strived to help her hide her beet-red face anywhere she could find.

“Wow, Ryou. I didn't know you had it in you…” Marik commented.

“Yeah, well…” Ryou started with a very unbecoming nervous grin, all the while rubbing his hand against the back of his head.

Marik grinned, seeing as Ryou seemed to be turning into a real youngster with each passing moment. Maybe Ryou had never really had a carefree youth in his former dutiful life. Maybe he was just starting to live with the one he loved.

“What were you doing here anyway, Marik?” Serenity questioned in a slightly gruff tone. Marik grinned. Seems like Serenity was getting more and more open with her emotions ever since she hooked up with Ryou. Marik was glad he had helped her start living a guilt-free life for her own pleasure, not for an obligation.

Just as Marik had predicted, they were perfect for each other.

“Well, apart from reminding you that indecent public exposure is considered a crime -at least in civilized planets- I wanted to ask you whether you talked to Lena, Rika, Taichi and Kenji about our earlier decisions.” Marik eyed Serenity's half-open tank top and smirked cheekily “But I guess it would be futile even asking.”

At that, Ryou seemed genuinely insulted and Serenity looked absolutely embarrassed. Marik was truly surprised when he heard Ryou's next words.

“Well, as improbable as it seems, Marik, we actually did talk to them.” He said.

“That's right!” Serenity continued his thoughts “They were actually happy to hear they didn't have to go to Earth. Rena, specifically, said she generally didn't enjoy being induced to such `slimy, rotten places'…They would all actually be glad to go somewhere else with Rishid. We excused our not going with them by saying we needed to split up and go to different planets to confuse Kaiba…and that's about it.”

Marik nodded slowly, his lips pursed in an approving expression. “Very good, guys…I'm proud of you.”

Ryou and Serenity both grinned, their fingers interlaced as they held hands.

“Well, I guess it's only Rishid who has to informed, then…I'll go talk to him right now.” Marik said, as he gave a little wave at Ryou's direction. He didn't even get to turn around before Ryou and Serenity were kissing again.

“Oh!” Marik shouted, not even bothering to turn around, since he already knew what he would see “And before I forget…get a room!”

And with those words, Marik turned around the corridor corner, his black, finely crafted shirt flowing slightly after him. He failed to see Ryou and Serenity's slightly reddened faces, as they scurried towards Serenity's room.

Rishid was wiping his favorite glass ornament when he heard the door of his and Marik's bedroom open. He didn't even have to turn around in order to know who it was that had just stepped in the room. The flowing oriental smell and the fact that the atmosphere seemed to get immediately hotter was proof enough.

Immediately, Rishid bent down humbly and put the ornament down as he turned towards his Master.

“My Lord, do you require anything? Another chess game, perhaps?” he asked quietly, as he turned his eyes upward, to stare straight at the back of a blonde head he had grown to know so well.

Marik had walked wordlessly at the side of a purple-covered bed. He took a golden little butterfly in his hands and traced the delicate lines of its fine sculpture somewhat wistfully.

“Rishido…” he started, immediately catching the other's attention, showing the older servant something was definitely wrong. The servant dared to stand up and approach Marik's tense form from behind.

“We've been through a lot together, haven't we?” Marik asked silently, lowering his head slightly and letting his pale hair glimmer romantically.

Rishid didn't even have to see his master's face in order to know the expression it wore at the moment. Too many a time had he stayed up, watching that young face as it slept next to his.

To feel twelve-year-old Marik's each and every breath, as the boy clutched onto his shirt after one of his horrid nightmares… To smooth down the youngster's silky hair as it stuck insistently on his sweat-covered brow after an intense soccer game with his friends in Yango…

Those tanned hands which now had bony fingers and wide, clean nails…Rishid had seen them small and chubby, as they grasped desperately on his shoulders. And those eyes…those crystallized velvet eyes, which had turned in such a short period of time from wide, careful and innocent to long-lashed, sensual and lustrous.

He knew Marik's divinely outlined lips. He knew them enough to realize they were now pursed skeptically against each other, letting his breaths slip in a short, erratic rhythm. There was something going on that Marik didn't like. In fact, Marik wasn't very happy at all, right now. And Rishid instantly knew that if someone had dared hurt him…they would never live to regret it.

For they had never had a child- a brother and a child of their own. They had never been blessed with the warm body of a son, sleeping next to theirs during cold nights. They had never smelled his breath or watched him sleep, and they had never seen him weep, or scream, or smile. Really, truly smile. They didn't know.

“Is something wrong… Master?” Rishid daintily asked, not approaching the other any more for fear of disrupting his trail of thought.

Marik shook his head quickly, making golden hair fan around his head exquisitely.

“No, no…Nothing's wrong…it's just…” Marik started while gripping the golden butterfly slightly tighter than necessary in his hand.

Rishid kept silent, knowing this commotion definitely had something to do with him, somehow.

“Back then, when I asked you to come with me to Mercury…” he started, but Rishid interrupted immediately.

“I thought I've already told you, Master…I made that choice because I thought you had to learn how to live by yourself…”

`No matter how much it hurt…' the servant thought.

“At least you had a choice, back then!” Marik suddenly exclaimed, turning around abruptly around and sending his golden hair to whip violently around his head. He pierced Rishid with his customary eerie gaze and swiftly turned his eyes back to the ground when he met Rishid's questioning green orbs.

“Now, we'll have to split again…” Marik murmured begrudgingly, earning an involuntary sharp intake of breath from Rishid' s part. Rishid was embarrassed for letting his self-control slip like that, but the prospect of being left alone once again, after having reunited with his master once more, was not very optimistic.

“Do you think I like it?” Marik suddenly questioned, his lavender eyes shooting up to meet his servant's once more, then sliding back down again “It must be done, though…It turns out Serenity has secret links to Earth and so does Ryou and Yugi…” Marik said, choosing not to worry his friend with the spirits' existence yet. “Well, you know about me and my links to Earth…we have to go there.”

He turned to Rishid' s downcast eyes meaningfully, almost crumbling at the sight of his forlorn servant “However, we can't take everyone else along with us…it's too dangerous. We can't just leave them either, of course, so we thought…” Marik paused and turned to look away “We thought you should take them somewhere safe…in another planet…while we go to Earth. We'll all escape here together. Some of us will go to Earth and you will lead the others somewhere safe…it's the only way to get things done. When we're finally rid of Kaiba…we'll meet again.” At this, Marik's voice broke a little.

Rishid nodded rigidly, seemingly having made up his mind. “Whatever you wish, Master…I will do as you wish.” He concluded bowing his head respectfully.

Marik swiftly raised his head, his eyes stormy and clouded with anger. “Oh stop it! Stop it!” he suddenly shouted, shaking Rishid out of his thoughts “Stop it with the Master ordeal! I don't know why you do it, anyway!! I hate it!!” the blonde beauty shouted and shook Rishid' s massive shoulders, forcing the other to raise his eyes enough to make eye contact with him.

Marik and Rishid were both thoroughly shaken to spot tears in each other's eyes.

“Stop calling me `Master'…brother” Marik said silently, as he crashed into Rishid' s wide embrace, only to find it hadn't changed one bit, neither in warmth nor in comfort, from the last time he had experienced it as a child. He felt his older friend's hands wrap securely around his back, and found waves of bittersweet memories rolling around his heart.

“I'll miss you…I promise, this time, I'll come back sooner…” Marik drawled, allowing his head to rest intimately in that familiar warm crook of the other's neck. He traced lazy circles on the slim cloth of Rishid' s long robe and found it fascinating that he felt as though nothing had changed…except himself. He had grown a little from the last time…

Rishid chose to say nothing, simply too moved to speak, or even breathe. That feeling, the one he'd thought he'd never experience again…it was still there, in Marik's soft even breaths and in the boy's strangely innocent behavior. The core. Marik's core- the soft and warm and pliant one. The one Marik never let anyone see, endeavoring eternally to cover it with layers of seduction and beauty and glamour.

“I love you, brother.” Marik's deepened voice came silently, not really expecting an answer, but not rejecting it either. To Rishid' s ears, it was still the childish tone he had heard so many times before, so many wonderful times before.

He decided he should give an answer anyway, just as he had all those other times.

“I love you too, Marik.”

And as Marik let himself slip in the comfort of knowing he was loved by someone for what he truly was, a slim, pale, unseen hand grazed the nearby wall.

Eyes that dripped blood opened defiantly in the darkness.

Bakura mutely stared.

“Thank God you changed your mind about going to Earth! I mean, c'mon…Earth? Let's get real…that place sucks.”

Although Ryou thought whether or not the place `sucks' was not to be considered a critical factor when searching for a hideout, he doubted Rika would understand. He thus decided on nodding quietly, while toying idly with Serenity's long auburn hair.

“Why?” Serenity suddenly asked, making all the others stare at her confusedly.

“Pardon?” Rika asked curiously, trying to understand where Serenity was getting at, exactly.

“Why is Earth such a forbidden place, anyway? I mean, have you even been there to begin with?” Serenity pressed on, not noticing the appraising glance Ryou was giving her.

“Well…no.” Rika said incredulously “But Serena, you can't be serious!! That place sucks- everybody says so!!”

Serenity looked ready to grant Rika a full-fledged answer about just how well she knew about Earth, when the sound of the door opening was heard.

Everyone turned to the entrance's direction, only to see Marik and his trusty follower, Rishid, walk inside, looking as regal and as superior as ever.

No one seemed to notice the small, somewhat blissful smile that was etched upon Rishid' s face, or the strange placated look in Marik's usually hyperkinetic eyes. Ryou, however, did notice something else.

His Darkside was not there. Bakura wasn't with Marik.

Having dismissed Bakura's presence the entire morning, Ryou was pretty much sure the spirit had followed what seemed to be his only recently acquired friend, Marik. Ryou was reluctant to admit he was still a bit shaken- if not jealous- about that. Why had he been left completely in the dark about Marik and Bakura's periodical little meetings?

Now, however, that Ryou couldn't see Bakura anywhere near Marik, he was getting slightly worried. Bakura was not in his golden ring- Ryou would know it if he was…No…Ryou had thought Bakura was with Marik…but he actually wasn't. If he wasn't in his ring or with Marik…then where was he?

“Hey guys!” Marik spoke suddenly “Ready to kick some KC guard behinds, or what?”

“Sure man! The beer supplies are running low…” Kenji idly commented.

Rishid sighed “I've been wondering where those beers had disappeared to…”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Serenity questioned in a puzzled way.

Marik smiled briefly and tried not to crumble with dread when his eyes involuntarily fell on Ryou's albino form…why did he have to remind the blonde of Bakura so much? Ryou's hair…his pale skin- the mirror image of the one Marik longed so much to see…But who was he kidding? Bakura would likely never want to see him again, locked forever in his golden ring…the ring secured around Ryou's neck. The only thing Ryou would never part from…

Suddenly, Marik felt strangely envious. Ryou was so lucky- so lucky. He had the power to be with Bakura always- never to part from the ancient spirit…there was nothing Marik wouldn't give in order to have that. He idly wondered what it would be like to share a body with Bakura- to become more part of him than humanly possible…To be a part of his being, his soul…Ryou didn't even know how lucky he was…

How could Ryou scorn that fortune, and wish Bakura had never come to him…how could he?

“Well, any ideas on how we can get out of this place, Marik?” Rika asked conversationally, pushing Marik out of his thoughts.

“Well, curious as it may seem…I believe I might have come up with a plan…Rishido, we do have the necessary…equipment…for what I told you earlier, don't we?” Marik demanded, all the time sporting his trademark tricky grin.

Rishid slowly nodded “Of course we do Master”

The small reprimanding glare that Marik sent towards Rishid due to the use of the honorable suffix went unnoticed. Marik turned back to the others, his features forming an attractive grin, which no one knew was fake…just as all the others.

“Then let's get to work.”

Josh Grey was a very bored Kaiba guard at the moment. In fact, he was too bored. He was so bored, that he would gladly play one of those uninteresting virtual games he kept seeing people on this planet play with a passion.

That Kaiba moron had forced them to come to this boring planet in order to kill that sorry scientist posse and their white haired guinea pig. It didn't come as a real surprise when they realized they had to wait for someone to exit that small hut before they could kill them and get it over with.

Naturally, no one had come out for two days already. There was no question they would eventually come out, it's just that Josh would kill himself of boredom before they actually did. He, and another sixteen KC guards.

Unfortunately for our dear Josh, every time he dared make a move as if to move away from that boring house, from which no one was bound to come out of for at least another week, his superior commander forced him to stay on his post.

Now, during midnight, Josh was restless. He had nothing to do and wasn't sleepy for having done absolutely nothing that whole day, except for simply sitting there and waiting for someone to come out of that house.

Seeing, however, as Josh's superior had left them alone out there and had actually gone to `explore the planet', which really meant he was somewhere drinking his head off, Josh saw absolutely no reason for having to stay out there at his post. He chose instead to start walking towards that sorry hut they were supposed to be guarding. Luckily for him, his fellow guards had given up on anyone coming out of that hut for that night and had all gone to sleep around the house.

Being bored out of his mind and not really wanting to get too far away from his post in case his superior came back, Josh decided the best thing he could do was explore the place a little bit. He was observing the strange fungus-like plants outside the hut's doorstep, when he suddenly heard a strange sound from his left.

Intrigued, Josh set out to discover the origins of the strange sound. He walked a bit to the left, but saw nothing, and decided he had better forgotten about it. When he turned back around, however, he noticed something he hadn't seen there before. Two people.

It took a moment for Josh to remember exactly where he had seen those beautiful, shining eyes and that incredible, glittery hair. Just as he was caught trying to understand whether he had to lower his weapon or not, however, something hit the back of Josh's head form the back. Furious as to what was making all those annoying sounds and throwing things at him, Josh turned around.

And then the world went black.

Oriental Virnian music could be heard in the distance as Marik shook his beautiful head, making his hair flow around his face. He turned towards the hut's roof and saw the outline of a dark-haired spiky head. He smiled, winked at Yugi's direction and rushed to haul the fallen guard's body inside the house, before his bloodthirsty guard friends woke up and realized he was missing.

When the guard was safely put in the house, Marik turned to Taichi.

“Wear his clothes and tie him up. Oh, and give me his communicator!!” He demanded. Taichi swiftly did as he was told and gave Marik Josh's communicator. Just then, Yugi came running in from the back yard. He had just climbed down from the roof.

“I threw him a couple o' rocks from the yard…” he said while trying to catch his breath.

“I see…” said Marik, while fiddling with the guard's communicator.

“Poor rocks…” commented Serenity, making the other girls laugh. The auburn- haired girl noticed, however, that Ryou had not been exactly acting like himself that morning. It was as though something was bothering him, and he wasn't telling. Marik was also acting somewhat strangely and had thrown Ryou a few bitter, pained looks when he thought the albino wasn't looking. Had Ryou and Marik gotten into a fight or something?” That was the only thing Serenity could imagine, based on the boys' demeanor. Nevertheless, it was unlikely, since Marik and Ryou spoke quite casually to each other.

If not a fight, then what? Why were Ryou so preoccupied and Marik so bitter?

Suddenly, Marik pushed the communicator in Kenji's hands. “It's the second frequency. You know what to do.” He simply told the other boy, making Kenji nod. Meanwhile, Taichi had come back wearing guard Josh's clothes and reassuring the others that Josh was safely bound and gagged.

Kenji then opened the communicator in the frequency indicated by Marik and spoke in a voice much heavier and cockier than his own.

“Unit 1 here. Unit 1 here.” He said to the machine. There was some static heard and then an immediate response.

“KC Kleria Base here. Commander Tomson speaking. What is it Unit 1?”

Kenji, Marik and Serenity exchanged alerted glances, before Kenji spoke his next words.

“Mission complete. I repeat. Mission complete. Request vessel for return to Kleria immediately.”

Serenity winked at Kenji's flawless imitation of a guard's voice. Kenji smiled and sobered up immediately, when he heard the base's response.

“Are you sure, Unit 1? Are they all dead?” the base commander asked.

“Affirmative, commander. They're dead all right.”

A small pause, enough to alert everyone.

“I don't trust you. Why didn't Commander Hok call us?”

Serenity was panicked to say the least, she grabbed on to the composed Ryou for support. Marik was miraculously keeping his cool, and luckily, so was Kenji.

“He is busy taking care of the bodies, sir!” Kenji quickly made up what he thought was a passable excuse.

Another one of those mind-blowing pauses.

“Password?” Came the one word that could break everything apart in one split second. Marik decided this was the appropriate time to start worrying, if not downright panicking, which was exactly what Serenity was doing. Ryou tried to keep her and the others quiet, while Kenji tried to think of what to say.

“Password?” repeated the hardened voice, even louder this time, obviously suspicious about the lack of response.

Kenji exchanged glances with Marik, completely at a loss for words. Salvation came from the most unlikely source possible.

“Say `Balcrow'” Taichi whispered in Kenji's ear, receiving a strange glance from his friend.

“Just say it!!!” Taichi hissed insistently, forcing Kenji to look at the communicator instead of him.

“…Balcrow…” Kenji said a little numbly, expecting nothing short of a full blow in the face, although the person at the other end of the communicator surely couldn't reach him.

Another one of those pauses, more impending and ominous than any other time. The party held their breath in tangible trepidation.

“…Correct. Good job, Unit 1. Standby for KC ship. It'll reach Yango in approximately seven hours. Base out.”

And just like that, with a little beep, it was over. Serenity and the rest let out a huge breath they had been holding, before they realized they had actually made it. They started squealing and performing the victory dance in front of now-struggling Josh's eyes.

“I can't believe it!!” Kenji shouted, as he trapped Taichi' s head and ruffled the boy's hair mercilessly. “How did you know??”

Taichi laughed carelessly as he pushed Kenji off him, finally. He pointed at furious-looking Josh's direction “That dork was worried he'd forget it and had it written on his forearm! I saw it when I took his clothes off- tragic experience, by the way!!”

Marik laughed along with the others, knowing the first part of their plan had been successful. Something didn't allow him to laugh so happily, however. It was something akin to a hole- a hole in his heart. A hole by his side, where Bakura usually stood. Marik honestly regretted shouting and trying to control Bakura before, but it was now too late…now Bakura was stubbornly locked in his ring, and was probably not coming out any time soon.

Marik was so distracted with putting up a cool demeanor while pondering, in fact, that he didn't see Ryou's slightly anxious expression, or the worried looks the boy kept throwing towards his well-concealed, empty, golden ring.

Commander Hok was pissed. He had just spent an entire night betting on stupid games in a Virnian bar, and lost each and every time. Now that he had come back to the tranquil hut to find fourteen sleeping guards and one guard missing, he was even more pissed.

He kicked his inferiors in the ribs in order to wake them up, and swore to have Josh Grey executed the moment he laid eyes on that despicable slimy creature.

A sudden shout from his right, however, didn't allow the good commander to ponder about where his brain-dead fellow had gone. Hok certainly wasn't expecting some action to transpire at five o'clock in the morning, although he cursed himself for not expecting it.

He saw what the other guards were shouting about and gasped. The small hut's door was wide open, letting purple smoke float out of it. Hok recognized it immediately. Poisonous mist!!

“Masks on!!!” he screamed at the top of his lungs and was glad to see all his subordinates follow his commands. Hok knew that if poisonous mist was coming from within that house, then everyone in that house had to be dead. Poisonous mist was an instant killer- it infiltrated the circulatory system first and destroyed the nerves soon after. Not even notorious Marik Ishtar could seduce that murderer…

`Some of our guys must have thrown a poison-bomb in there. Well, can't say I'm sorry…Kaiba might have told us not to hurt them while they were still in there, but I was beginning to get a little bored, anyway…' the commander thought, as he led his party in the house, in order to make sure Marik Ishtar and his friends really were dead. Unfortunately for many KC guards, Ishtar Marik had the bad habit of reappearing suddenly after being presumed dead.

Hok, being the smartest, coolest, most impressive guard KaibaCorp had ever seen, would never let that happen to him. Oh no…he would bring Kaiba Ishtar and Bakura's head in a platter so as to assure his universal recognition as the Greatest Security Guard The Galaxies Had Ever Seen…and maybe get a promotion while at it.

Lost in his arrogant little musings, Hok wasn't really focusing on the present when he entered the poisoned hut. He would soon find out that was a lethal mistake.

More and more KC guards warily entered the motionless, seemingly dead house after the commander. Soon, all fifteen of them were inside. The door closed behind the last one, making the spineless fool turn around in alert and reflexively shoot.

He received a few hushed reprimands from his colleagues and was soon convinced he was indeed overreacting. Thus, when that very same guard heard a very curious murmuring sound come from his back, he didn't care to turn around, thinking it was just two of his fellow guards talking. He didn't have time to react when he felt the hard surface of a metallic ornament hit his nape.

The sound of his falling body attracted two of his friends, who were horrified to turn around and see him fallen. They made a move so as to shout and warn the others, but found something of a little more importance to tend to.

Like the bald man who was currently hitting them with a metallic rod.

And that was the last thing those two guards thought, as the rod hit a very soft spot on both their heads and immobilized them permanently. They would not be getting back up.

The small alcoves of the hut's corridor seemed to be the ideal location for surprise attacks. Most guards were wiped out very much in the same manner. Some managed to scream, some didn't. Nevertheless, all doors were locked and there were no windows in Yango's deserted home. One by one, the guards fell.

The house was transmuted from a quiet, peaceful hut into a cave of screams and massacre. The girls hid in an alcove and waited for the others to `finish' what they had to do. They didn't kill when they could avoid it, naturally, but most KC guards did not seem very willing to go down without a fight…and those fights were usually to the death.

Marik dealt with the last survivor. The now not-so-optimistic Commander Hok. The lithe boy didn't even bother with hurrying, seeing as the soldier had nowhere to run. The man's eyes widened from behind his oxygen mask, as he instantly recognized the glowing eyes and the tall form.

“M-Marik!”

A small smile. A wink of the eye.

“Very good, commodore. Ten points for the fearless leader.” The sensual voice was heard. Previously, Hok had been looking forward to hearing that voice scream in pain and desperation. Now he was slowly starting to realize someone else was probably going to be doing the screaming today…

“W-Why aren't you wearing a mask? P-Poison mist…” Hok started saying, but was interrupted by Marik, who simply smiled.

“Correct, commander. Poison mist is very dangerous…Purple-colored smoke, however, is not…”

Hok's eyes widened ominously at his own stupidity for not even taking time to analyze situations before rushing to conclusions. He was so taken with his own idiocy that he didn't notice the glimmer of the golden-hilted dagger in Marik's hand.

“You'll pay for what you did, you son of a bitch!” Hok cried, as he thoughtlessly pounced on Marik, producing a knife of his own and coming very close to ripping Marik's throat open with it.

“Not so fast, Hocky!!” Marik shouted, as he defended himself from Hok's next vicious attack. The purple mist and the darkness, however, were blinding, and the two fighters could not see each other's moves.

In a move of pure reflex Marik threw his armed hand lopsidedly, causing a blood-curling scream to escape his opponent. Marik saw the dark outline of Hok's figure crash to the ground. Had Marik been able to see more clearly, he would have noticed thick, red liquid slipping from the commodore's face, as the man covered his left eye with his hand.

“Damn you…damn you to hell…” the man whispered, as he prepared for another attack.

Only when Marik's dagger's golden hilt hit the back of his head was he rendered unconscious, letting out a final shout as he fell.

“Goodbye, commander.” Marik simply stated, his long limbs untangling from the limp man and walking away slowly.

He came face to face with nine dark figures, all of them looking at him with remorse and understanding written over their faces.

Marik smiled bitterly. “It's okay. Just take their clothes, weapons and communicators and lets get the hell out of here…the cops will be here any minute.” He said, as he himself got to work with removing an unconscious guard's outfit.

Approximately ten minutes later, ten very peculiar KC guards exited a purple smoke-filled hut in Virna, Yango. The crowd that had assembled around the house eyed the strangers they had been accustomed to seeing the last few days suspiciously. Somehow, the guards were a little different than they had been the last time they were seen in public. For one, there was an unusual amount of female guards amongst them.

“Hey, you!!!” a Yango civilian shouted in the direction of a male brunette guard, who turned towards the crowd in aggravation. “What went on in there? We heard screams!”

The guard's unusual mahogany eyes flashed briefly under his blue cap. “KaibaCorp business! Get back to your jobs, people!” the man said loudly and raised his very impressive laser gun so as to make his point clear.

Luckily for the group, the people took the hint and started to disperse from around them while still throwing them suspicious glances.

“I hate people in this place! Why do they have to be so nosy all the time?” Serenity questioned in aggravation, aching to take Ryou's hand in her own but knowing it was impossible for the time being.

“That's Yango…deal with it.” Yugi begrudgingly commented, while making sure to walk as cockily and as rigidly as a guard.

“So, Marik…” the brunette man who had spoken to the crowd before turned to the pale skinned, blonde boy on his right. “Where to?”

“We have to find the spaceship KC will send for us, Ryou…our seven hours are almost up, so it'll be arriving any moment now. The only ship platform I know of is the one in Pegasus's tower…”

“You're kidding, right? Please say yes!” Rika implored the blonde, earning an amused gaze from Taichi.

“Sorry, but no.” Marik simply said, earning a string of complaints and curses from positively everyone in the group. Thus, the small company walked to the tall tower, earning a whole lot of inquisitive looks from everyone that happened to pass by. Too bad no one had the guts to ask a bunch of KaibaCorp guards where they were going and why. Their disguises helped a lot there, since it wouldn't serve if Marik presented himself as one of the locals, or if Ryou showed his snow-white waist-long hair.

Unbeknownst to the small company of worried friends, one single eye opened back in the deserted hut. Blood dripped down Commander Hok's face, as the gaping hole that was once his left eye oozed the liquid of life in long strings. The man reached for his communicator, only to find it was missing. He didn't even bother with searching the bodies of his fallen friends, since he knew their devices were also gone. After taking hold of his blue shirt and ripping a long ring of cloth from it, he tied it around his wounded skull.

“You'll pay one day, Ishtar….I swear I'll make you pay.”

“Lena, that makeup kit of yours does wonders! I can't believe Peg didn't recognize Yugi! My God, he even ushered us in!!” Tea chatted in an excited tone, only to earn a reprimanding glare from Marik and Ryou.

“Okay, okay, already! I get the picture…I was just trying to lighten the mood!”

“Shhhh!!!!!” Ryou, Serenity, Marik and Yugi simultaneously rushed to say. Tea briefly thought about what that mass reflex meant, but was too distracted with what she saw next.

“Oh no! Not that elevator again! There goes dinner!!” she said, pointing at the elevator and earning a questioning glance from the man Pegasus had ordered to escort them to the KC ship.

“Uhhh…She hates elevators! You know how it is at the Base…hehe…lots of elevators there too…hehe…” Yugi swiftly tried to amend, also earning a death glare form Marik. The tall blonde was slowly beginning to realize why Bakura was constantly aggravated with all these people.

Bakura…

Would Marik ever see him again? Where was he now, when Marik felt more alone and deserted than any other time? Why wouldn't he come out? Had it all been a lie? All the words and the promises and…and the feelings…

Did Bakura have feelings?

Oh, what a stupid question to ask…Of course he did. He'd gotten angry hadn't he? Then again, he was always angry…but last night he had been soft and understanding and…well, sweet. Would that ever happen again?

With all those distracting thoughts about the ancient spirit, Marik didn't even have time to fully register they had already gone down and were facing the KC ship that had come for them.

The ship had a ramp lowered and was obviously expecting the guards to go in before taking off.

“Well, if that's all, I'll be going now. Thank you for everything.” The guide Peg had given them simply said with a fake smile and pressed the `up' button in the elevator. She was gone soon enough.

Marik was left alone with his friends, who looked at each other in obvious relief.

“We're not done yet.” Marik gave the needless reminder earning an annoyed glare form Lena.

“Sheesh, forgive us for being happy!” she said, and walked away in irritation. Many shot Marik sympathetic looks as they went by, Rishid and Ryou included.

Only then did Marik start to realize how tense he'd been that whole day. Bakura's seemingly permanent disappearance along with a fight with fourteen guards could do that to a man.

As they reached the ramp and started climbing it, Marik's warning stopped them.

“Remember what we said. First we immobilize them, then we take off.”

Ryou nodded determinedly as he walked up next to Serenity. It took a minute for everyone to reach the top of the ramp and step on the platform of the spaceship floor. The first obstacle came into view. Two KC guards. Real KC guards.

“Thank God you iced that Ishtar scumbag,” one of the guards told Ryou, without really looking at the boy “Kaiba would have never gotten off our case if we hadn't finished him off.”

After that, the guard and his consort turned around to open the nearby door, which, as Ryou assumed, led to the bridge of the small pod. Rishid signaled Ryou and, together, they hit the two guards in the back so as to render them unconscious.

“Take the bodies off the ship!” Ryou whispered to the others. Marik nodded quickly and took hold of a guard's foot. Kenji mimicked the action for another guard and they had soon pulled both bodies down the ramp and off the ship.

When Ryou saw they were ready he approached the door, which now had a cardkey on its reception. He pushed the card further in and heard the satisfying click of a lock opening.

Just as Ryou had assumed, this vessel was identical to the one that had carried them from the KC base to Yango before. He found himself in the bridge and came face to face with the three drivers of the ship.

“Hey!” one of them said in alert “Hey, you're not-“

But his words were soon interrupted as Rishid, Ryou, Kenji and later Marik, Taichi and even Serenity fought with them. As Marik punched someone's face, he fought to keep Bakura's distracting image from entering his head and focused solely on the task at hand. At least he tried to.

When they had finally gotten rid of the last three foes, the boys had to carry the bodies back down. When the others were heading back to the ship, however, and thoughtful Marik was left behind to pull the last guard's body a last few inches away, something happened.

Marik, seemingly lost too deep in thought, didn't realize the movement behind his back. Serenity, Ryou and everyone else, however, who were now on the ship, saw the elevator of the tower come back down. Someone stepped outside quietly. It was definitely a large laser gun he was holding and he had a disgusting cloth wrapped around his head, covering his left eye.

Serenity considered shouting, but knew that the moment she made a sound, the psycho with the gun would shoot her and she would certainly fail to save Marik!!

“Ryou, do something!!!” she urged in a hushed whisper, getting a closer look at Ryou's somewhat frantic look. If Ryou moved, he would be shot! If they even dared make a sound of warning, they would also be shot, since that maniac was eyeing them all in that self-satisfied sort of disgusting way.

Ryou turned is eyes back at Marik in frantic worry and Rishid mirrored his action, only tenfold.

Why hadn't Marik seen anyway?

The tanned boys eye's seemed a little dull, focused idly at what he was currently doing, which was absolutely nothing. He was just standing there, unmoving and numb, lost in unknown thoughts.

The half-blind murderer stopped dead in his tracks. He raised his gun and aimed straight at Marik's head, making everyone realize that they would witness the boy's execution if they didn't act quickly. It all played in slow motion in Ryou's mind, as a small click was heard from the weapon's holster. It was ready. The maniac grinned murderously.

Only then, when that small clicking sound was heard, did Marik realize the environment was unusually quiet all of a sudden. He turned slightly to see his friends' terrorized faces and instantly knew something bad was behind him.

“Ryou…” Serenity whispered in exasperation, as if there was something the boy could do.

Marik turned around slowly, his brilliant eyes widening, as he came face to face with his grinning executioner.

“Good” Commander Hok said “I wanted to see your face as I slaughtered you…but shooting you is fine too, I guess, although less satisfactory…”

Marik's eyes narrowed ominously as he made a gesture to the others from behind his back. `Go!' he motioned with his hand `Get out of here!'

“You idiot! “ Hok sadistically continued “You really thought we wouldn't see you? You thought this tower didn't have surveillance cams or what? Idiot! “

Marik closed his rainbow eyes. Too caught up in his feelings, he had been. He had thought not so long before that he had no time for such feelings. Focusing on his own stupid emotions would get him no where- it would destroy him in the end.

He had been thinking about Bakura- too preoccupied trying to imagine what Bakura really looked like and what his real name was. The possibilities…they had kept Marik going…now there were no possibilities.

No red eyes to show him the image of what he thought he could never touch. No silver hair to sweep across his vision and blind his eyes with brilliance. No clinging laughter, no feathery touches- no passion. He was thinking about what he had lost when he could have been focusing on the present- on the murderer that would undoubtedly kill him.

Hok smiled as his finger tightened slightly around the lethal trigger.

“Idiot…” he murmured in blind glee, as the girls covered their eyes from above.

Marik lowered his gaze. Yes…he was an idiot, wasn't he? Although he knew he should call himself an idiot for failing to notice Hok being there all along, he strangely felt he was an idiot for another reason…for snapping at Bakura and pushing him away.

“MARIK!!” Serenity shrieked at the top of her lungs, when she heard the deafening siren of a laser gun being released.

Flashes of white light went off everywhere and amber eyes meld into red. Skinny legs kicked the floor and wind hit a pale face. Threads of sparkling silver flew everywhere as the wig was pushed back- discarded much like a disgusting abomination.

Pale fingers curled into fists as the boy literally flew over the ramp in one, unearthly jump. Marik, still dazed from the numbness of a near-death experience, literally didn't know what hit him when he felt something hard push him down from the side.

And then, all he could hear was the siren of a laser, and all he could see was a cloud of white streaks, which had fallen softly over his face, covering his eyes.

“Ryou…?” the tanned boy meant to question, but soon heard an unearthly scream coming from the man who nearly murdered him. Marik was pulled up by the man he recognized as Ryou and realized finally that Taichi had shot Hok with the laser weapon he had acquired from a fallen guard before.

Marik watched in fascination, his body pressed close to Ryou's pliant one and his mouth idly stuck on the soft, exposed skin of Ryou's shoulder, as the man who'd almost killed him vaporized in rings of crumbling dust.

“Oh my God, Marik, are you okay?!” Was heard Lena's despondent shriek from somewhere. Marik didn't really want to reassure her right now. She could see he was fine, couldn't she? He'd much rather savor the touch of Ryou's curiously burning skin and the albino's thread-like hair that was pressed between their chests and hands, which clutched frantically at one another.

“Ryou! Bring him up here! C'mon! We have to get away!” Serenity cried, and Marik saw her instructing Taichi and Kenji to take he ship's conn.

Marik found it somewhat strange that Ryou didn't even budge. In fact, he didn't answer his girlfriend's call either. Having completely come back to his senses, Marik meant to escape the other boy's rigid grasp and hot skin.

“I'm okay, Ryou…” he said lightly, pushing against the other's shoulders so as to convince the albino to let go, at long last.

Just then, the white haired one raised his palm and took a strong hold of Marik's chin, forcing the other to turn his face so as to meet his eyes.

Suddenly, Marik's hands stopped their restraining motion, and his thigh, which had insistently been trying to escape from between the other boy's legs, froze.

Why, oh why, did fate have to play such fickle games with him?

Why couldn't he have realized the reason `Ryou's' skin had been burning was not because the boy was really warm, but because it had been touching Marik.

And to Marik, each and every one of Bakura's touches burned.

So did the eyes that bore into his own, filling the recesses of his crystal, amethyst soul with their scorching fires. Ryou's eyes were red.

“I'm not Ryou.” was the simple statement, paralyzing Marik's brain and weakening his knees enough to make it impossible to stand.

Neither of them said anything as Bakura grabbed the back part of Marik's knees and the boy's back. When the albino wordlessly stood and walked towards the spaceship entrance, none of the others dared speak to him, having somehow realized that their albino friend was not the same, somehow. It was as if Bakura's frigid aura brought with it a warning signal: `speak to me and die.'

“Bakuraaa…” Marik drawled on quite uncharacteristically, provoking raised eyebrows from Rika and Lena, who were standing nearby. There was absolutely no reaction from Bakura, however.

“Don't carry me like a woman!” Marik protested, not daring to look straight at the spirit's emotionless eyes, of course.

“I'll carry you like I want to carry you.” Bakura said, defiantly tightening his hold on Marik's body and deliberately stumbling on a bump on the floor in order to make Marik yelp. The blonde reflexively wrapped his arms around Bakura's neck, biting back an embarrassed groan when he realized what he'd just done.

“Now shut up.” Bakura simply added as an afterthought, his red eyes fixed rigidly forward.

The happiness of unknown origin that was spilling over Marik's heart threatened to make his thundering heartbeat even quicker.

Marik nodded lightly and, not used to being pampered like this, found himself at a loss as of what to do except from keeping his eyes at the floor when faced with his other friends' inquisitive glances. Even Serenity raised an eyebrow when she saw them enter the spaceship. She shouted for Taichi to pull up the ramp and depart.

Seeing as Bakura wasn't about to put him down any time soon, Marik thought he might as well make himself comfortable. While tightening his hold around Bakura's neck slightly, he allowed his head to fall pleasantly over Bakura's shoulder.

“So, are you still pissed about yesterday? I didn't mean it, you know…” Marik eagerly chatted, a thing his friends hadn't seen him do for what seemed like a long time. Bakura entered the elevator that was located in the bridge and pressed the button, which read `Dorms'.

“Shut the hell up, Mariku!” came the curt reply, followed by the slightly strained motion of Bakura's exiting the elevator. Now they were located in a desolate corridor, with doors at either side of it.

“Oh, I see…” Marik said with a lazy smile, not at all insulted but rather happy instead. Bakura was rather reluctant to detect a certain amount of husky seductiveness in that low voice. Marik's hand that was closest to Bakura's chest started to trace small circles over the blue fabric of the albino's blouse, smoothing it.

And as Bakura very nearly froze by the sensation of Marik's actions, he clenched his jaw, sending a muscle pumping at his cheek and making Marik fully aware of the reactions his antiques had produced.

Marik smiled, and allowed his head to sink further over the albino's shoulder. He caught a strange spicy smell and realized it must be Bakura's special smell. But then again…in this case…was it Ryou or Bakura's smell? It was Ryou's body after all…it must be Ryou's.

But why did Marik feel like it was Bakura' s? Maybe it was Ryou and Bakura's combined, or something.

Marik felt remorseful about never being able to feel Bakura's real skin, or smell Bakura's real smell, or see Bakura's true eyes, although he had a feeling he knew what they looked like already…

There was a definite difference between talking to Bakura while he was an intangible spirit and talking to Bakura while he had a body. A real, human body…

The warmth of Ryou Bakura's body…the touch of the pale skin and the hot breaths…they gave life to Bakura's dead red eyes. They made all the forbidden, sensual fantasies come true. They gave…possibilities. But Ryou was his own person, and it wasn't Bakura's body in question, it was Ryou's.

Ryou's…not Bakura's. It was Ryou who was alive, not Bakura. Bakura was dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.

Bakura's real body was buried and defiled, while his soul remained fiery and passionate in Ryou's robust skin. Marik suddenly felt angry and wronged. Why should Ryou be given a second chance in youth and not Bakura as well? Why…why…

Bakura would never be alive again. He'd be stuck in that Ring forever, cursed to watch Marik rot and die as an old man while he himself stayed in the same dead-alive state forever in his golden cage…

Not liking the direction his thoughts were taking, Marik tried to lighten the mood. He dangled his feet playfully, receiving a reprimanding glare from his carrier.

“You do know you're making it harder for me to carry you, right? And it's not exactly as though you're as light as a feather, Mariku…” Bakura precariously said. Marik smiled serenely and simply nodded.

“I know! That's why I'm doing it! In hopes of having you release me!!”

Bakura's eyes narrowed maliciously “Oh so you want to be released, do you?” he questioned.

Now that Marik was faced with the serious possibility, he wasn't sure he wanted to. Then again, he didn't really have enough time to reconsider, since he felt the hard metallic floor hit his now bruised rare.

“OUCH! You idiot! Now why'd you have to do that!? I-Bakura?” Marik looked around while standing up and rubbing his backside gingerly, noticing the shadow of sparkling silver hair swooshing around the corridor corner.

“Now wait a minute!!! Bakura!!” Marik shouted, as he went off after the guffawing dark voice, having completely forgotten about the sharp pain of his fall.

“Attention, everybody! We've plotted a course for Earth. If we're lucky and if nobody spotted us leaving Yango, we'll drop Serenity, Ryou , Yugi, Tea and Marik on Earth in about fifteen hours! Just relax kiddos! Hit the red button on each door panel if you have a problem! It's your contact to the bridge!” Kenji's voice was heard from the speakers, and then, much to Bakura's aggravation and Marik's delight, they put some music on.

“Aargh! What are those disgusting incoherent sounds!?” Bakura roared while covering his ears. He was sitting with his back propped up against the wall and Marik was right next to him. They had chosen to visit the ship's recreational room and meet the others. Serenity had wisely stayed away from Bakura while in Ryou's body, earning curious glances from Rika and Lena as to why she was staying away from her boyfriend.

“Are you serious? You don't like G4? That's, like, the hottest group around right now!!” Lena commented excitedly, giving Bakura a playful glare and receiving a real one in return.

“Well I don't like it. Sounds more like things breaking than music to me.” Bakura said while crossing his arms.

“Yes, that's why you're considered ancient…” Marik couldn't help but point out amusedly.

“Oh do us a favor and piss off, will ya?” Bakura promptly answered.

Silence after that. Neither Marik nor Bakura spoke, each one lost in his own thoughts. Finally, it was the exotic blonde who broke the silence.

“So…where were you?” he simply asked.

“Huh?” Bakura confusedly asked, not bothering to meet Marik's eyes, which were now somewhat shyly turned towards his.

“Where did you go all day yesterday? Why did you leave?” Marik questioned quietly, so as not to allow the others to hear the conversation and how important it was to him.

Bakura pretended not to take notice of Marik's slightly broken voice and turned his eyes away instead, as he allowed his fingers to play with his trousers' cloth.

“I thought it was quite obvious at this point that you pissed me off.” He neutrally said.

Marik lowered his eyes “Yes, and I'm sorry about that…I was about to apologize when you disappeared…”

Bakura allowed his eyes to turn towards Marik's bent form for a mere second. Then he pursed his lips and turned away again.

“I went in my ring for a while…Then I came out again…I was around, just…hiding, I guess.” He finished, pointedly ignoring Marik's questioning stares.

`Hiding?' He'd been hiding? So he hadn't been planning to leave Marik all alone?! That was…that was…a little more than fortunate!!

“What about you?” Bakura suddenly questioned, forcing Marik out of his trance and attracting the blonde's attention.

“Hm?” Marik confusedly murmured.

“Why didn't you see that bastard trying to kill you?” Bakura inquired, looking carefully at each one of Marik's expressions and savoring being able to observe them so vibrantly through Ryou's living eyes. When looked at through living eyes, Marik was always different. By having a body and being able to feel, Bakura could finally experience for himself the reason why Marik was considered so intoxicating and attractive. Only through the senses can a man understand the concept of sensation. And Marik had much sensation to offer.

He had so much sensuality, in fact, that his naturally glossy lips lured the albino impossibly, coupled only by the shimmer of his entrancing eyes. Bakura didn't even notice, as he stretched his own hand and took Marik's chin in his grasp. Only when he felt that yet unfamiliar softness did he register he really was touching the boy.

He tilted Marik's face enough to meet his eyes, making Marik widen his eyes in definite alert.

Meanwhile, Marik's mind was drowning in a whirlpool of thoughts. How could he tell Bakura that the reason he hadn't noticed the murderer was because he'd been fantasizing about him?

“Well, I…wasn't focused.” Marik logically concluded, panicking when he realized Bakura wasn't about to let go of his chin any time soon. Instead, he saw Bakura's face coming a bit closer, a small smile plastered on the spirit's smudgy, reddened lips. Marik's eyes widened and he gasped softly, when he felt Bakura's hot breath hit his cheeks intimately.

“Wha-“

“Hey Marik!” was suddenly heard a familiar melodic tone. Bakura immediately let go of Marik's tilted chin as though burned and rushed to stand up. “I'll go talk to…uh, the stupid game kid.” He said, and walked away casually. Wondering idly what Bakura had been about to do before they were interrupted by Serenity, Marik watched the albino's retreating back somewhat wistfully.

Why hadn't Bakura gone back to his ring yet, anyway?

“Marik!” Serenity called again, as she took a seat next to her friend. Marik was brought back to reality and grinned. “What's up Serena? Haven't been able to talk a lot lately, have we?”

“Yeah…” Serenity said slowly, and Marik thought it was definitely selfish of him to wish Bakura could stay in Ryou's living body while Serena was waiting for her loved one's return.

“Listen, Marik…I'm sorry.”

To say Marik was puzzled would be an understatement.

“For what?” he asked incredulously.

“Well…for not telling you my story with Earth before…I'm really sorry. I really do trust you, it's just…well, you know how it is with Earth…I was afraid you'd think lowly of me. But now, with Ryou, I come to see that…it doesn't really matter as much as I thought…”

Marik nodded, glad to hear his friend had finally seen the light about her predicament. He also felt guilty for not telling her about his own secrets, though. Here she was, apologizing to him about not telling him about her past when he hadn't told her anything about himself.

She didn't know about his forgotten past, or about his strange telepathic abilities to control Kaiba and Dark Bakura. Then again, the only person who knew about these things was Bakura. Some of these not even Rishid knew, a thing for which Marik wasn't altogether sorry. If Rishid knew about Marik's problems, he'd never come to rest until reassuring Marik's safety. And though Marik cherished Rishid more than anything he ever knew, he knew he'd have to learn to survive by himself, eventually, without the protection of the mother hen.

`Bakura knows everything about me…' Marik thought fleetingly, as he allowed his eyes to slip towards the albino's direction. The action didn't go unnoticed by Serenity, however, who turned to Marik and saw his thoughtful expression.

“You know, at first I was worried about you and…him.” She started, having captured Marik's undivided attention, for once “ But I think he's okay, after all. Sometimes, when I see you with him, I think…well…oh, never mind.” She finished and stood up quickly, before Marik could question her upon what she'd just insinuated.

“Anyways, gotta go! I've got loads of things to do! Like take a shower, for one!! All this grease is killing me!” she chuckled lightly and rushed to leave him with his thoughts.

Marik also stood up after a while, curious as to what Bakura was so animatedly talking about with the blue-eyed girl, Tea, whom he had only recently been mocking. Resisting the tempting thought of sneaking up to fearless Bakura and scaring him to death, Marik smoothed down his black shirt and idly remembered he could put his jewelry back on, since they weren't on Yango any more.

Suddenly self-conscious, Marik threaded his long fingers in his hair in a hopeless attempt to comb their tousled state, all the time unaware of the curious glances Rishid was sending him. How could Rishid possibly know of Marik's most secret whims to impress Bakura and -even though Marik couldn't really understand this yet- woe him? Desperately trying to make himself more presentable, the blonde boy approached his friends.

“Hey.” Marik said in his usual cool baritone when he finally reached Bakura's side. The blonde unconsciously savored the fact that he managed to immediately pull Bakura's attention from everything and everyone else.

“Hey Marik!” Tea cheered “ We were just talking about Ryou's music interests!”

Marik raised an eyebrow at that, turning to look at Bakura with what surely could qualify as an amused gaze, it made Bakura furious just thinking about it.

“Well, what about your music interests, Ryou?” Marik asked slyly, earning a glare from Bakura's part.

“None of your business, pretty dork.”

“Ahh. Thought so.”

Marik turned to Yugi so as to ask the young boy what his thoughts were, only to unexpectedly come face to face with two narrowed ruby orbs. Now this was certainly not Yugi.

“Uhh…hi.” Marik simply said, for lack of any other intelligent remark.

“Hi.” The Game King simply replied, keeping his narrowed eyes at Bakura's face at all times.

Taking advantage of the rare occasion that Bakura had a body of his own, Marik lithely slid a discrete arm on Bakura's shoulder, getting a seemingly disinterested stare from the albino's part. But Bakura's sudden change in exhalation was proof enough for Marik that he had truly noticed.

Marik grinned devilishly; glad to realize that at least some of his charms affected the only person in whose opinion he was actually interested. Maybe Bakura wasn't as untouchable as he had originally thought…

“Coming, Serenity!” Tea chirped suddenly, as she waved to the others and skipped towards Serenity in order to talk to the girl. Dark Yugi, Dark Bakura and Marik were left staring at each other in silence.

“Apologize for what you said about Tea.” Yugi suddenly demanded from Bakura in a regal tone. Marik sensed another fight coming up, only this time they weren't invisible…

“NO.” Bakura spelled out the word sadistically, crossing his arms across his chest and leaning back comfortably to revel in Marik's touch on his shoulder, which had soon become a soothing massage.

“Apologize NOW!” Yugi demanded in the manner of a child stomping his or her foot on the ground.

“NO!” Bakura barked back while balling his hands into fists.

“Why you little…” Yugi started saying, and looked ready to pounce on Bakura, who was pulled to the side by a slightly protective Marik. And then…they heard something…Tea's voice, in the distance.

“Are you serious? So THAT”S what `Rewind 1' is! Finally! I was getting tired of hearing the name and not knowing what it was!!”

It was as if the Armageddon had fallen. At the mentioning of that damned name, both dark spirits felt their knees weaken and they dropped to the ground.

“Bakura!” Marik yelled in alert, as he caught hold of the albino's arms, preventing him from falling to the floor. Yugi, who was less fortunate at the time, did fall. He fainted on top of Bakura, who was too unconscious to care.

Red eyes opened and looked around in alert. Sweating fingers clenched tightly around the holster of the gun. And in the distance, a scream.

“They're here…”

“I don't care what you have to do. Wreck the house if you have to. I want him in Kuru Eruna by midnight. You have two hours.”

“I…I don't,..”

“I want a piece of cake too, mommy!”

“They're here…now!”

“FATHER!!”

“Don't cry, beautiful…soon, you will have no eyes to cry with.”

“Would it be so hard? Would it really be so hard to focus a little bit more on your homework and a little less on your guitars?”

“They're here…now! They're here…for me…”

“Don't…don't let them take me…”

“Go! There's a key under the mat in front of the attic door. It unlocks the basement door! Go! Don't just stare at me, GO!!”

“They're here for me…now…”

“Be a good boy, Nehti. This is your cousin, Ryou. Ryou Bakura.”

“It's a match! A perfect match! “

“Get him his favorite pyramid. I want this to be symbolic.”

“They're here for me now, so…don't…”

“Your daddy has unfinished business with us, little boy…he won't be coming back anytime soon.”

“What the heck do you want with me?”

“Careful, you ignoramus! Don't pierce his lobe! We need him intact, you idiot!!”

“What…what the heck is that thing…?”

“They're here for me now, so don't…don't…”

“Don't you recognize it, Nehti? It's you.”

“Let go of me! FATHER!!!!”

“ All I want to do is play…is that so bad?”

“But…but Father...I don't know how to handle a gun…”

“They're here for me now, so don't…don't let…”

“Get that thing off of me!! That's not me! It's not- AAAHHH!!!!! AHHH!!!!!”

“Atemu? You bastard… What the heck are you doing here?”

“Don't…don't let them…I”

“To Kuru Eruna you will go…back into the tube you hate…to sleep and wake and eat and breathe in it, until you learn to love it...and… die in it.”

“Your dad's been making deals kid…dangerous deals.”

“Kill `im. Trash the car. Do whatever you want with his bitch.”

“NO! MOM, NO!!!”

“Don't let them take…”

“The god-damn kid knows too much. Doesn't matter. He might actually prove useful to our experiment. Kill the relatives if you have to but take the brat no matter what. He can't be allowed to wander around alive.”

“The stupid brat shot me! I can't friggin' believe it! He actually shot me!”

“Help! Help! Somebody, please! Help!!!”

“To Kuru Eruna, brat…you'll be taught real manners in that place…”

“ OH MY GOD! What is it? What happened to you?”

“Ryou…Ryou…please…help…they're here…they're here for me now…they've come back for me...”

“So, please…please…don't let them take me! Don't! Don't leave me! Don't!!!! RYOU!”

“Yugi!! Bakura!! Snap out of it!! Please!!” Marik shouted as he shook the ancient spirits' shoulders. Tea mimicked his actions. The two spirits came back to consciousness as suddenly and as simultaneously as they had lost it.

When Bakura opened his eyes, the first thing he saw were weird green lines. It took him a while to realize this was the spaceship's ceiling. Then, there was that brilliant lavender- Marik's eyes.

“What the heck just happened? Bakura!?” he questioned a little more urgently than necessary, Serenity noted.

“I…I have no idea.” Bakura answered, as he sat up and held his throbbing head with both hands, failing to notice Dark Yugi doing exactly the same thing.

“It must have been that cursed name. The name of the you-know-what operation.” Marik concluded, as he watched Bakura rub his brow. He rested a hand on the albino's chest.

“Yeah…there were many things this time…there were names…” Bakura murmured as he squeezed his eyes in an effort to remember.

Marik's eyes widened as he took hold of both Bakura's shoulders. “Names? What names?”

Wine red eyes opened despondently, clearly apologetic.

“I…I can't remember…”

Marik's angst calmed immensely and was replaced by disappointment. He nodded his head in understanding and patted Bakura's shoulder. He made a move as if to remove his hand, but Bakura swiftly covered it with his own and kept it in place.

“I'm…I…” Bakura did his best attempt it an apology, making Marik positively stare at him with wide eyes and pat his shoulder again.

“I understand.” He simply said, relieving Bakura and making the albino sigh in gratitude for not having to say sorry, the hardest word in his vocabulary.

“Okay, what the heck was that simultaneous fainting about?” clueless Tea inquired suddenly, making Dark Yugi shake his head in order to get rid of the dizziness and turn to her.

“I don't know, but it only proves this slimy creature and I regrettably have something to do with each other. Maybe some link in our unknown past…I don't know…”

“What are you talking about, Yugi?” Serenity, who didn't know about kind Yugi's spirit, asked.

“Oh nothing, Serenity…he was just talking about an old friend of ours…isn't that right, Yugi?” Tea sweetly asked. As the Game King mumbled an affirmative, Marik turned back to Bakura, who was currently trying to stand up.

“He's right, you know…” Marik quietly said “This only proves he and you are the same kind of creature…you might have known each other in your past life.”

Bakura huffed in irritation “I'm sure I hated him just as much back then, as I do now.”

“Well don't get too exited, stupid git, because I hate you too!” was heard the Game King's accusing bark. Marik just grinned and shook his head dismissively.

He offered his hand at Bakura's direction and the other boy took it. While Marik helped Bakura stand up, Bakura cursed the Game King to oblivion and Tea to an even deeper oblivion.

“I hate being so…so…” Bakura struggled with words in order to make his point.

“Ignorant?” Marik offered lightly as he motioned for Bakura to follow him out of the recreational room.

“Yes, thank you. I hate being ignorant. I hate everything about this state. And most of all, I HATE that arrogant King of dorks!!”

Marik nodded knowingly as he exited the room after Bakura. They came face to face with a wide window, which had an immaculate view of the stars.

“Attention everyone, we're gonna reach Earth in four hours, so I propose those that are getting off in this stop had better gotten ready!” Taichi's voice echoed from the megaphone.

Marik shrugged idly. “Well, you heard the man. Earth is near. So are answers for your dilemma.” He turned to the window and silently watched the stars flow by. They didn't seem to be moving at all, but Marik knew their ship was running at top warp speed.

“There are answers for you too.” Bakura's quiet remark was suddenly heard, making Marik turn to him and smile slowly.

Bakura's eyes looked quite beautiful in the starlight. They took on a magenta quality, one that Marik had never seen as an eye-color before. It was magical.

“Hmm…Maybe. Who knows?” Marik wondered quizzically, turning back to watch the stars and trying to ignore the red knives that he knew were piercing holes in the back of his head.

“Yeah…” Bakura echoed, coming to stand dangerously close behind Marik, while also looking at the glowing stars. “Maybe…”

And as they watched the stars rush by, their expensive hair shining with unearthly qualities, the two of them wondered what else fate had in store for them…and whether it would keep them together or not.