Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Rewind 1 ❯ BATTLE CITY ( Chapter 15 )

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

By: Nehti

Thanks so much for sticking with this story!! Turning out to be a novel, isn't it?

Anime-Fan, special thanks for your long reviews (I'm really sorry I can't answer right now, but I appreciate it SO much! It makes my day! )

Guys, I thank you from the bottom of my heart! Please read this chapter and tell me what you think!

Until he saw Tristan Taylor, Marik firmly believed that Yugi had the strangest hairdo he had ever seen in a man. When Mai's two friends, Tristan and Duke rang the doorbell and came in the house, however, the one who held Marik's `weirdest hair' title changed.

Tristan Taylor was a friendly guy. He was certainly very tall- a little taller than Marik and Ryou, but not as tall as Bakura- and he was also very strong-looking. One would say he looked almost intimidating with his imposing height, wide shoulders and rippling muscles. What made him even more intimidating were the brutal iron spikes that protruded from his elbows, forearms and each of his fingers. The notoriously strange corona of Tristan's head was shaped in one, single brown spike, making his head resemble a pyramid. Tristan's hazel eyes were warm, and reminded Marik faintly of Rishid- it was the same protective, warm aura.

Tristan's companion, Duke Devlin, was, for lack of ay better term, mysterious. Although in Tristan's case the hyper-arms had helped enhance his sturdy appearance, on Duke the hyper-arms had a freaky effect. Duke's frame was much slimmer and leaner than Tristan's, though he didn't seem less strong. His skin was dirty and reddened from the fires of the factories, and his relatively long ebony black hair was gathered in a lanky ponytail. Duke's ears were adorned by curious dice-like earrings, and his arms had iron rings tied around them. The steel spikes that pierced viciously through the skin of his forearms looked mutated in comparison to the rest of his delicate body. Overall, one would expect Duke to make sibilant snake sounds when he talked, given his shockingly green snake eyes, which reminded Marik of grass and flowers- which he had only seen in photographs.

Bakura was silent from Marik's side as they watched Mai rush to welcome her friends. Lui and Zora, Mai's son and daughter, looked exultant at the appearance of their father's friends. Their previously bashful demeanor changed immediately when they saw Tristan come through the door.

“ Uncle Twishtan!! Uncle Duke!!” Zora called eagerly as she adhered herself onto a laughing Duke's leg.

“Heya squirt!” Duke wholeheartedly laughed, patting Zora's head cautiously, almost reverently, so as not to hurt her with his arms. He smiled briefly, and it brightened his chilly green eyes for a moment, but a lingering melancholy quickly came back to them. From Duke's left, Tristan chuckled as well, taking Joey's son in his arms and flinging him around in the air.

“WHOOOHOO!!!” Duke laughed with the kid, as they spun around wildly, narrowly missing hitting Mai on the head “Oops! Watch it! God knows we wouldn't wanna hit your Mom!”

Mai immediately glared playfully “Now what's that supposed to mean you big-headed monkey?!”

Tristan faked a mock-shudder and Lui mimicked him faithfully. Mai crossed her arms over her chest.

“Tristan, you are so childish…Just be careful not to affect my son…As if one buffoon wasn't enough in our house…trust me, we don't need another!” she said, glaring.

“Ohhh…wouldn't wanna piss Mai off, would you uncle Twishtan?” Duke teased from the side, cracking up “ After all, you do remember the time when Joey broke that vase…”

Tristan shuddered for real this time, and it was a bit strange to see his strong shoulders dropping “Oh no…don't remind me…” he stated.

“HEY!” Mai started, annoyed “That was an antique vase, passed down by my mother's grandmother's second cousin twice removed!!” Mai huffed for a moment “And if it hadn't been for your monkey-manners which rubbed off on Joey, he would have never broken it!!”

“Oh, right! As if you really believe that!” Duke couldn't help but comment, earning a square glare from Mai.

“Are you a monkey, uncle Twishtan?” Zora asked innocently, not understanding where this conversation was going, with all those monkey innuendos.

Bakura smirked, leaning towards Marik's ear “Maybe the kid is more perceptive than I gave her credit for…” he whispered in the tanned boy's ear, sending a shiver down Marik's spine. Though Marik knew it was a comment meant for good humor, he couldn't find it in himself to laugh. He was too preoccupied by the knots that had twisted in his stomach upon feeling Bakura's scorching breath, rather than what Bakura had actually said.

“Don't listen to your mom, Zora.” Tristan steadily reassured, turning a wicked grin towards Mai, all of a sudden “She just doesn't want to admit that she's a cow, and tries to blame everybody else!”

Zora's eyes widened in gullible surprise “Mommy's a cow?” the three-year-old asked in wonder.

“Forget it. I take it back.” Bakura told Marik in a long-suffering tone. Marik snorted and shook his head.

“Don't tell my children these things! You'll affect them!” Mai screeched in frustration.

Tristan raised his hands in a gesture of surrender “It's not my fault! Seriously Mai, you should stop lying to your own kids. It's a lost cause. We all know, deep down, you're a cow!”

“I am not a cow! Stop saying it or Zora will believe it!” Mai demanded with her fists tightened.

“Don't try to hide it Mai! Let Zora know the truth!!!” Duke called, continuing the pharse.

“Mai is a cow! Mai is a cow! Mai is a cow! A toothy toothy cow!!!” Tristan chanted in a singsong voice, grabbing Zora and Lui's hand and running around Mai in a circle. Mai was positively fuming as they sang around her, and Duke held his tummy from the side, laughing hysterically.

“Scratch it. They're all idiots!! To think that they're the ones who are supposed to help us find the Jo bozo!” Bakura almost wailed. Yugi, Tea and Serenity watched the laughing friends with smiles on their faces, promptly ignoring Marik and Bakura- who were standing on the side.

Mai suddenly took a deep breath and puffed up her chest. Seeing this from the side, Duke made a strange sound that suspiciously sounded like “Oh shit!” and rushed to cover his ears.

“ OK, SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUPP!!!!!!!!!” Mai screamed at the top of her lungs, making Marik, Bakura and all the others cover their ears and scrunch up their faces. Once Mai's little outburst was over, the living room turned absolutely quiet. The only thing that made a noise was the coffee machine from inside the kitchen,

Mai's face turned from frustrated to satisfied within seconds “There. Now, since we are all calm,” she glared at Tristan when she said this “I suggest we get to business.”

Serenity and her friends daintily uncovered their ears, only to smile and nod when they heard Mai's words.

“So, Mai. Will you tell us who the newbies are?” Duke asked eagerly, his eyes having fallen immediately on Serenity's elegant figure.

“Yeah, Mai! Just proves how much of a cow you are! We've been standing here all this time and you have yet to introduce us to your friends!” Tristan complained, but one could see that he meant well. Unfortunately for Serenity, his eyes had already captured her auburn long hair too.

“I would if you'd let me speak!” Mai protested loudly, walking towards Serenity and Marik. Tristan, Duke and the kids followed her, but when Tristan and Duke reached the shaggy sofa, they lost no time in crashing on it. Suddenly, as though all the previous excitement had left them, they seemed tired. Very tired. In fact, it looked like they barely managed to keep their eyes open. Perhaps that little dance around Mai had been their last energy- work in the doom of the Catacombs had worn them out.

“This is Marik, Ryou, Serenity, Yugi and Tea.” Mai introduced them in the order they were standing. “ Guys, meet Tristan and Duke- my husband's best friends. Serenity and the others come from Mercury.”

Duke raised an eyebrow at the last statement and Tristan narrowed his eyes “Great. And what are all these people doing here?” Tristan asked. Serenity was shocked that one of her childhood friends didn't recognize her. Not only that, but he didn't seem at all friendly towards her either. She was glad that Tristan had taken it upon himself to protect Mai and her family…but he was in for the shock of his life this time.

Mai's eyes widened “Tristan are you nuts?” she asked, realizing all of a sudden that her kids were watching “I mean…Tristan are you crazy? Didn't you hear what I just said? This is Serenity!!! As in, Joey's sister!!!”

The climate changed immediately, though Marik couldn't tell if it had become warmer or colder. Tristan turned his eyes on Mai in utter disbelief.

“Joey's what?” he asked. Somewhere on the back, Bakura rolled his eyes.

“Joey's sister, you idiot! We used to take her to the arcade!? Remember?!” Mai asked, not believing Tristan could actually forget the sweet little girl.

It seemed to dawn on Tristan and Duke simultaneously, since they turned incredulous eyes on the smiling Serenity.

“This is Wheeler's sister?” Tristan asked, clearly showing that the fact could not register in his mind.

“The mutt has such a pretty sister?!!?” Duke demanded, making Serenity blush crimson and look at `Ryou' for support, only to realize `Ryou' wasn't looking at her, or helping her, for some reason.

“Of course I remember! Serenity, do you remember that time we went to the factory together and I let you play with my hover? You were a little kid, then…” Tristan had now positively darted towards Serenity, former tiredness forgotten, and was smiling at her in his most charming way. Serenity looked at him in confusion, not knowing what to say.

“Um…Tristan…”

“But of course you remember me too, don't you Serenity? I'm the one who took you to the mall and bought you that great set of clothes, right? Wasn't that great?” Duke asked eagerly, launching himself immediately to Serenity's other side, making the girl blink at him confusedly and nod.

“Duke…”

“Oh, stop it! Serenity needs a REAL man, not some sissy to buy her clothes!!” Tristan barked at Duke, turning a contradictory angelic smile at Serenity “Say, Serenity, would you like to come with me at the movies tomorrow? They say there's a great film!”

“Don't listen to him, Serenity!” Duke rebuked fervently “ You need a man who's in touch with his emotions! How can a brute like Tristan know what you really need?! Hey, why don't we go on a ride with my new hovercraft tomorrow, after I finish work?! It'll be great!”

“Um…actually…I…” Serenity looked desperately towards Ryou, only to find merciless, scornful red eyes looking at her. Serenity bit back her involuntary whimper at seeing Bakura and gulped. Apart from the fact that Bakura was leaning back and smirking at her, Marik had his elbow steadied on Bakura's shoulder and was also smirking at her. Yugi, Tea and Mai had engaged in what looked like interesting conversation. So, Serenity was left alone, to deal with the compulsive suitors. Oh…where was Ryou when you really needed him? But that wasn't really fair, since it wasn't Ryou's fault that he was missing anyway…

“Don't try to steal Serenity's attention when she is so obviously attracted to me, dice-boy!1” Tristan roared.

“YOU?! How can a girl as wonderful as Serenity ever turn to look at you? Just take a look in the mirror, Taylor, and you'll finally understand why Mai calls you a monkey all the time!” Duke spat back.

“I'm Joey's best friend, so I should be the one to date her!”

“Oh my God, that is the most PATHETIC argument I have heard in my entire LIFE!” Duke smirked “Wait till Joey comes back and we'll see who's da man!!”

“Oh yeah? You wanna brawl with me, dice-dork?” Tristan grabbed Duke's collar, bringing his face close to the other's.

“I don't have to brawl! I can take you on any time, fungus-haired punk!” Duke barked and pushed Tristan back, rubbing the spot where Tristan's hyper-arms had cut him.

“Now, Tristan…Duke…I…” but Serenity's gentle voice was lost in the intensity of the fight, as the two men started to insult each other thoroughly,

“That's the most pathetic display of wannabe bad-ass machos I have ever seen.” Bakura concluded matter-of-factly, as if his observation hadn't been obvious from the start. Marik nodded knowingly from the side, assessing the fight.

“Al' right! I didn't call you here to make a scene! Don't curse in front of the kids. SHUT UUUP!!” Mai shouted, her audacious voice covering the others by far. At the sound of her banshee screech, the quarrelling men finally took the message and promptly shut up. A smug looking Mai grinned.

“Good.” She said, and turned towards Marik “ Now that the zoo is quiet, why don't you explain the reason why you're here, Marik?” she urged and gave an extra glare towards Tristan. Then she focused on keeping an eye on her son, who was busy discussing virtual games with Yugi.

Marik nodded and was glad to finally have a chance to have a civilized chat with Tristan. The tall man eyed Marik and Bakura suspiciously, waiting for an explanation. Bakura, who was, by now, basking in the subtle touch of Marik's hand on his shoulder blade, focused his familiar vicious glare at Tristan and Duke, showing he did not trust them at all, at least not until they gave him good reason to.

“I take it you already know of Joey's disappearance.” Marik stated rigidly, observing Tristan and Duke's reaction. Duke seemed to be growing more suspicious by the moment, and Tristan looked saddened by the sudden reminder.

“Believe me, we knew much earlier than you.” Tristan said, in a tone that suggested he didn't like where this discussion was going. Bakura had been focused on sharing a glaring contest with Duke, as though trying to will the dice-boy's suspicion away.

“We came here because of different reasons” Marik started, trying to broach the subject appropriately “but they are not good ones. Serenity and I used to work as scientists in KaibaCorp Mercury, until an operation went wrong and Kaiba decided to kill us. Yugi and Tea are friends we met on the way to Earth…”

Duke narrowed his eyes, not once taking his eyes away from Bakura's “What do you think we are, stupid? Why would you want to come to Earth- even with Kaiba after you? No one in his right mind would want to come here!” He said. Marik opened his mouth to answer, but Bakura was speaking already.

“That's were your idiot friend comes in. “ the spirit said, causing Duke to grit his teeth “Because the girl comes from Earth and has family here, we thought the best haven would be Earth.”

Tristan smirked “Well you were wrong. This place is controlled by MultiCorp centrals. There is no government- there is no law. MultiCorp runs the show here. I believe you already know that Kaiba's company is nothing more than an extension of MultiCorp. Now that you're here, Kaiba'll find you in a heartbeat.”

“What do you mean there is no government?” Marik demanded in confusion “How can the Catacombs run without a government?”

Duke snorted “How do you think? The Catacombs are a huge factory complex- they are huge factory buildings where spacecrafts are manufactured. They exist under the surface of every single planet. Only in this planet, it's the only thing that exists, since human life can't survive on the Earth's surface any more. MultiCorp -the company which controls the mass production of quality spaceships, has its Headquarters here.”

Tristan took his queue to continue “As you can see, all the citizens here are workers in the factories. Nobody cares whether we live or die; there is no government. There is just MultiCorp and its army of machines…”

Bakura narrowed his eyes in concentration “Army of machines?”

Duke rolled his eyes “Honestly, don't you know anything?”

“Watch how you speak to me…” the spirit's red eyes flashed dangerously. Duke looked mildly unsettled, but not as terrified as one would expect.

“MultiCorp acts as government here. It controls the hospitals, the shops, the clubs…everything. To ensure security and civilian safety, there had to be some kind of police. Also, MultiCorp needed someone to defend the company in case of external attack. Thus, they created the army of machines, or CyberCops.” Tristan explained.

Duke nodded in agreement, and continued Tristan's thoughts “Exactly. The machine army is a unit to ensure security and defend the catacomb at all costs. It is constituted by robots- the “Cops”. They are the classic android model, of course- you know, they look almost human…only they are much faster, stronger and smarter than the average human- the perfect tracking machine.”

Marik and Bakura listened carefully, as Tristan explained the rest. “Of course, the machine army ranks are arranged by hierarchic system. The lowest rank is a simple Cop, who can do nothing apart from roam the city and arrest culprits if necessary. Then there are the Lieutenants, who are usually settled in the police camps through the Catacomb city and are responsible for taking care of the Cops. There are special units, of course, like the `Ninja', who have the license to go undercover around the city and kill, if necessary. You see, if MultiCorp is threatened by anything- including riots and working strikes- then it's the Ninja unit's responsibility to exterminate the threat. Illegally, of course…but then again, there are no laws.”

Bakura asked the question that had been eating at him throughout this explanation “When you say `MultiCorp', what do you mean? The company's owner? A super computer? There must be someone running MultiCorp, right? Some one we can hurt?”

Duke nodded slowly and started his clarification “There is a council in MultiCorp- an all powerful council. These people have even more power than your Kaiba, who is nothing compared to them. The people in this council are five, that's why they call them “The Big 5”…They don't live on this pathetic planet, of course. Each of them has an estate in some tropical planet, somewhere, and every three months all five of them come to Earth and have a council meeting to decide about the company's course of action. Ordinary workers like us never see them in person, of course- always on billboards and the huge screens that are placed here and there. When the Big 5 aren't on Earth, they leave their cronies behind to run the show…”

Tristan took over from there “These cronies- the top Executives, as they are called- are even more tyrannical than the Big 5 themselves. They practically torture us. They are humans, like us, and they were once workers in the factory. But with many years of experience…and a lot of sucking up to the Big 5, they have managed to get a higher rank. Most of them run illegal dealings with all kinds of scoundrels in order to gain more money. The executives' children immediately take their place as top Executives, without even working in the factories. That's why most of the top Executives now don't have hyper-arms. They never needed them, since they never needed to work…”

Marik nodded, finally understanding the complicated concept “So these top Executives run the commotion every day in the factories. But where do these guys live? Are they around here, in the city?”

Duke smirked “Are you kidding!? No way! Here in the Catacombs, the general idea is that the higher you live, the better off you are. People like Joey and us, who are workers, live in the lowest habitable part of the city. Only the factories are lower than here. The factories are huge complexes, like hives, under and around us. In the city, workers live in the lower levels, while Executives and high society live on the upper parts- where it is closest to the surface. When the Big 5 come, they stay in these special suites which are at the very top of the city- nearly at the surface of the planet!” Duke said the last part with wonder, as if he couldn't fully grasp the concept of actually living on the surface of a planet, where the air is clear and there is space for everyone, and there are different colors around you apart from charcoal and red.

“Why do you say it like that, Duke? Haven't you been to the surface before?” Marik curiously asked.

Both Tristan and Duke looked at him as though he had grown another head. “Have you totally lost your mind?! Of course I've never been to the surface before!? Who do you think I am? Honestly, apart from selling your soul to the devil, do you know what it takes to get there?!”

Bakura raised an unimpressed eyebrow “No. How would we know?”

Tristan sighed in irritation “The CyberCops won't let us leave the Catacomb unless we have special authorization from an Executive. You need this special high-rank ID card and passport that you have to produce in order to move to the higher sections of the city. It's the same thing with the train, which takes people from one Catacomb to the other! Do you know what it takes for people to get that card? Imagine this: against all odds, somehow, you actually manage to get the card and go to the surface. You'll die of the cold before any kind of spaceship can come for you. Where will you get the money in order to travel by spaceship?! It's ludicrous!”

“Of course” Duke started “one can forge an ID card. There are people around here who have illegal secret dealings with top Executives who have access to ID cards…These secret dealers pay unbelievable sums of money to some Executives in exchange to painkiller drugs -for Hyper-arms- or any other kind of drug. Usually this kind of dealer can also get you a fake ID, if you can provide the astronomical amount of money they demand- or if you can kill someone they don't like. Most workers of the Catacombs try to gather money for a fake ID, but never actually make it. Lately, Joey had some connections with these dealer scum, but he never got far with the negotiations…”

At this, Duke and Tristan started talking a bit more privately, probably about Joey's efforts to make deals with drug dealers. Meanwhile, Marik and Bakura shared an alerted glance.

“We have no special ID Card. Serenity has one, but it's not nearly enough for all of us…” Marik thought aloud, allowing his palm to continue resting on Bakura's shoulder when the albino turned to face him.

“Actually, I never realized getting a card was such a big deal.” Bakura admitted, his red eyes slipping around and checking whether anyone could hear them talking “I just saw that the Serenity girl had the card we needed and didn't think to question further…”

Marik nodded, his crystal eyes clouding in thought “Imagine what her mother did in order to acquire that card and get them out of here. I don't think Serenity told us exactly how her mother managed…I don't think I want to know, actually…Maybe, someday, but not now.”

Marik let his hand drop down to his side as he looked at the floor quietly. This drew Bakura's attention and the albino focused on his friend, his red eyes softening imperceptibly, though he tried to hide it.

“…You okay?” Bakura asked in a shockingly gentle tone, causing Marik to raise his head and look at him in surprise. When had Bakura's hand climbed on his shoulder he didn't know, but he was glad for it.

“..Yeah” Marik said, his majestic eyes glinting alluringly “It's just that we need these ID cards to get to the Executive's house, and we don't have enough money to have a dealer forge one for us. I never expected this place to be…”

“ So bad.” Bakura finished for him, nodding in comprehension as his fingers caressed Marik's shoulder in spite of his better judgment “Look, it's not like we have to have money in order to make a deal for fake cards…We'll think of some other way…” Bakura pensively said, his brow furrowing in thought.

Marik nodded solemnly and turned his eyes towards Tristan and Duke, who were still talking, about Joey probably, since they both had dark melancholy in their eyes. Bakura took this as a sign that it was time to probe for more information.

“So it was one of these top Executives that called Joey in his house.” Marik said, looking at Tristan for reassurance. Marik pointedly tried to ignore the fact that Bakura's hand had not quite left his body yet. Now it had made its way to his back, caressing him through the soft fabric of his ragged cloak. Marik very nearly froze when he felt the soft touch of Bakura's fingertips trail the outlines of his tattooed scars. Desperately trying to focus on the conversation rather than Bakura's touch, Marik looked at Tristan a little too intensely. From the side, Bakura didn't even hear the others talking, since he was so focused on what his damned hand was doing- on its own volition- that he couldn't pay proper attention to anything else.

“Yeah. That bastard on the first complex. Remember when I told you that these Executives are the sickest bastards in this place- sick enough to sell illegal drugs in order to get more money?? Well the one who runs the first factory complex of this Catacomb is the worst of all. Nobody's ever seen him, since he always sends weird dealers to do his bidding, but we all know he's the most sadistic, sick fuck there is.”

Bakura raised an eyebrow “Sadistic? Interesting…What makes you say that?” Marik rolled his eyes at Bakura's questions. Trust Bakura to talk about sadism.

Duke looked at the albino in a weird way “Sadistic. As in, likes to see people hurt. We don't work in the section of his jurisdiction but we have friends who do. Sometimes, he forces people to work without hyper-arms. You know what it means to touch acid and electric circuits without hyper-arms, right?”

Marik flinched “Yikes. That doesn't sound so good…”

“Even worse” Duke continued, now enthralled by his terrorizing stories “When somebody doesn't do his job well enough, he…uh…he tortures them.”

Bakura perked up, sensing that the topic had come to his element “Tortures? As in, handcuffs and whips? Oh com' on guys! He's not so bad, he's just kinky!”

Tristan's eyes widened and Marik rolled his eyes yet again “What the heck are you talking about? There are rumors that he's forced people to chop their ears off with their own bare hands and then eat the ears they chopped!! If they hurled afterwards, he would make them eat their vomit up! Or that other story, where he…”

“No! Thank you, that's quite enough!” Marik said with his hands stretched up. He looked slightly green at the face “I believe we got the concept.”

Bakura just shook his head and pinched Marik's side to make the other boy laugh again, then turned to Tristan “That's just a pile of shit, as far as I'm concerned. That's not a creative way to torture, and it's not voyeuristic either. You're right when you say they're just rumors.”

“Bakura!!! Don't be a freak!” Marik protested, pushing Bakura's side and making the albino snort.

“Anyway” Duke started saying, looking strangely at Bakura “Joey doesn't work in this guy's factory complex, so we were confused when he asked Joey to go meet him in person. I mean, he shouldn't have even known Joey existed, right? Yet there he was, calling Joey for dinner at his house -he would give Joey an ID, of course… But still…I mean…What was that??”

Tristan nodded in agreement “We all told Joey it was fishy. We all told him he shouldn't go, no matter how much he needed the ID cards. But Joey, desperate as he was to get a pass for the Earth's surface, didn't listen to us. Instead, he went to this guy's place, and didn't come back since then.”

“And you know what we started thinking, of course, with all the rumors about that guy…”Duke said, with a small shiver. Marik nodded pensively.

“You're right.” The blond said “He shouldn't have gone to the meeting. But, since you're telling us that there are Ninja units and dealers and Cops and all that, it wouldn't be possible for Joey not to go. Eventually, they would force him to go, so maybe he did the best thing he could to protect his family and went on his own free will, without trouble for Mai and the kids.”

“Never thought of it that way…” Tristan admitted.

“Of course you didn't. I only had to talk to you for ten minutes to realize you don't think on a general principle!” Bakura caustically commented, looking like he didn't expect an answer.

“Excuse me? Did you say something, snow bunny?” Tristan demanded. Bakura's red eyes widened and he seemed surprised at Tristan's response. Very out of character for Bakura to seem surprised at an insult.

“Oh shit! I forgot I'm not invisible!!” Bakura said, making Marik laugh hysterically from his side. The humor of the situation was lost on the others.

“I see…another crazy one…” Tristan whispered to a nodding Duke, all the time moving discretely away from an embarrassed Bakura, who cleverly disguised his embarrassment with fury.

“Well, what are you waiting for, airheads?” Bakura positively barked “Joey's been missing for what, thirty days? And all you've been doing is pining over him! Do you even know what the Executive's name is or are you so useless so as to forget even that?!”

Duke narrowed his eyes “Of course we know his name, you candy-haired transvestite!” he shouted, making Marik smirk “It's Ishrat!”

The smirk was instantly wiped out from Marik's face, just as Bakura's glare was immediately replaced by a frown. The albino turned to the tanned boy beside him, only to meet Marik's scowl with his eyes.

“Ishrat?” Bakura echoed suspiciously “Isn't your last name `Ishtar', Mariku?”

Marik blinked at him, nodding slowly, then putting his hand on his chin pensively “The resemblance is uncanny, isn't it?”

Suddenly, he felt Bakura grab his sleeve and drag him away from Tristan and Duke's prying eyes. Marik looked at Bakura, dumbfounded. Why did the albino seem so excited all of a sudden?

“Marik, don't you see? This is the chance you've been waiting for! Maybe this Ishrat guy is the lost family you have on Earth!” Bakura said, and Marik thought he'd never seen the albino so enthusiastic before. Bakura was grinning, his red eyes positively sparkling with…an alien emotion.

“But…” Marik started, and suddenly realized it would indeed make perfect sense, if his name had been subtly altered by the course of the years. “But…But still, Bakura…” Marik said, his heart beating wildly now, at the prospect of regaining his lost memory, or meeting his lost family.

“What?” Bakura eagerly asked, as he took each of Marik's elbows in his hands and held them close “What's the matter?”

Marik lowered his eyes thoughtfully, as he absently stared at Bakura's chest, which was now very near him. “Still…am I related to a sadist who tortures poor people for fun?” Marik looked reluctant.

Bakura scowled “Don't believe everything you hear, Mariku…I thought you already knew as much.” then, Bakura's tone turned from reassuring to teasing “But I thought it was obvious from the day I met you that you were a sadist…From the way you like to torture me and all…”

Marik glared up at him “Idiot! You're the one you likes to torture me!” he said, pushing against Bakura's chest.

Chuckling, Bakura tightened his hold on the other boy's arms and pulled Marik closer, earning curious looks from their other friends and a gasp from Marik.

“I thought you liked it…” Bakura murmured in that husky tone, which was slowly becoming disturbingly familiar in Marik's senses. The heat of Bakura's breath hit Marik's ear, and he felt gooseflesh develop on his nape.

“Hey guys! No secrets, okay! If you wanna say something, com' ere and say it in front of everybody!!” Serenity ordered suddenly. Apparently, she'd had enough of Tristan and Duke's resumed attempts at trying to court her. She wanted a savior now, and if Ryou wasn't available…well Marik would have to do.

But Marik didn't seem at all focused right then, what with the dazed, goofy grin and the darkened amethyst eyes. Bakura -also unexplainably dazed- took Marik's hand and towed the other boy towards Tristan, Serenity and Duke.

“I told Tristan and Duke that we want to help find Joey.” Serenity reported, and meaningfully eyed Marik.

“Oh…right…” Marik finally caught on, shaking the grin from his face. This situation with Bakura was getting frustratingly disconcerting “Well, guys… We think that we may find some leads about where Joey is in this…Ishrat guy's house.” Marik told Joey's friends.

Duke's eyes widened “Are you nuts? You want to break into Ishrat's house?”

Bakura beamed with his red eyes “We're not `nuts'. But we're not wimps like you either. So, yes, we'll go to Ishrat's house and get your precious friend back. Now, will you help us or not?”

Tristan was taken aback “Do you even know the security systems and CyberCops you'll have to bypass in order to go to this guy's place!? How do you think they'll let you pass without an ID? Hell, do you even know where Ishrat lives?”

Bakura looked at him as though he was a retard, which, to Bakura's opinion, he was. “Evidently, you impudent, insignificant worm, we do not know. Thus, we shall need your help. But don't let it get to you, you puny mortal, for we can just as easily find someone else.” Bakura finished, with his nose high in the air.

“Like, whatever, you sick perv! As if I'd ever go looking for trouble in Ishrat's house. Ishrat, of all people!” Duke said the name as though it was a disgusting abomination, which had to be dealt with.

“Please tell me you're not planning to go to Ishrat's house. You're kidding right? Please say yes!!” Tristan said, in a desperate tone.

“I don't kid.” Bakura darkly and rigidly stated, piercing Joey's friends with his glare. (1)

“Whatever” Duke started, seemingly having made up his mind “Do whatever you want. Just don't get us mixed into this.”

Marik scowled, then thought about how he could convince them into doing what he wanted. Seemed like Bakura was rubbing off on him, and now he couldn't be as confident as he used to- not when Bakura was watching and assessing every single of his movements. But, of course, if there was one thing Marik knew how to do, it was convincing people.

Charm engines blasting, Marik started his tirade “Look, I know Joey was your friend, and I know you want him back, but you have to understand that you'll never see him again if you don't do this. We're not asking you to come to Ishrat's house with us. All we want is somebody who can introduce us to one of those fake ID dealers and show us around the city. That's all we're asking for. Just think about it…don't you want to see Joey come back…?”

Tristan and Duke sobered up and avoided Marik's eyes. Now everyone was silent- even Mai, Yugi and Tea. They were all looking at Joey's pals, waiting for the critical decision.

“Please, Tristan…Duke…we can't do this without you…” Serenity pleaded, taking both Tristan and Duke's hands in her own. “Please…”

At the sound of the girl's begging and at the realization of their own belated epiphany, Joey's friends seemed to really think it over. Finally, Tristan nodded at Marik in understanding.

“Fine. We'll take you to the dealer. For Joey…and for Serenity.”

At this, Duke nodded eagerly, smiling at Serenity in his most charming way.

“After all” the dice -boy said “Mai needs her stray dog back, isn't that right, Mai?”

Mai huffed in mock-annoyance and waved her hand “Jeez. You can have him if you want to. Just let me see he's okay, first.” At this, she certainly softened her voice.

Marik smiled confidently once more at seeing the group's morale renewed. “Okay, then. When can you take us to see this dealer?” He asked Tristan and Duke decisively.

“The most popular dealer around right now is Bandit Kith. His usual hangout is the BATTLE CITY club downtown. We can take you to see him, but getting him to give you an ID is an entirely different story…” Duke said, looking at Marik and his posse as though they were complete lunatics.

Tristan added a thought to Duke's words “Whatever happens, though, we can't move around by hovercraft. Since you're supposedly hiding from Kaiba, it would be foolhardy to hover around completely exposed to the Cops…”

Marik nodded fervently “Of course. Besides, since hovers aren't really needed for transportation around here, it wouldn't matter too much anyway. We want to go as unnoticed as possible.”

Duke raised an eyebrow “Well you sure ailn't acting like it, trying to sneak into Ishrat's house and all…”

Yugi shook his head “Whatever. We have to get ready. If there's one thing I know about games is that you must never be unprepared before you play one. Given this is all some sick billionaire's game and there are no rules, we must be prepared.”

“You're right, Yugi” Tea rushed to say “We must prepare our supplies and think of a plan about how to get the IDs.”

“First we need to meet that Bandit Kith guy, Tea” Yugi wisely advised, giving Bakura the impression of an insufferable know-it-all. If it weren't for Yugi's big innocent eyes, Bakura would swear it was the Game King talking “Then, Tristan and Duke can show us how to get to Ishrat's house…”

“He's right.” Marik said, turning to Joey's mates “We have to see where we have to go and how. Maybe if we could go to that BATTLE CITY club…”

Tristan shrugged “Look, man, if you wanna check out the place, maybe Mai can take you. Later tonight, Duke and I will drop by BATTLE CITY and introduce you to Bandit Kith. Right now, personally, I ailn't doing shit. I wanna go home, drop to my bed and sleep. Unless of course, Serenity wants to go on a date with me…“ at the last point, Tristan wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Serenity blushed.

“I'm tired too, man. Oh, Serenity…you can always go with me…” Duke added, and Marik was almost tempted to say that the situation was too important for sleep or dating. It's just that Marik ignored one basic fact: these people had been slaving away in the Catacombs since the morning, and when they said they couldn't keep their eyes open, they meant it. Serenity and Mai knew this, so they understood the need.

“I'll help them, Tristan ,don't worry! I'll show them around! You just go take a rest, okay?” Mai said “I'll just put Zora and Lui to sleep and I'll be right with ya, okay?” she urged, and took a protesting Zora from the hand.

“Mai, we'll be at the usual place, at the usual time.” Tristan told Mai cryptically, arranging a meeting for later that night. Mai nodded and went to tuck her daughter in.

A few `Bye uncle Twishtan' later, Tristan and Duke finally said their goodbyes and left the house. Marik, Bakura and company lounged around on the couches, waiting a few moments, before Mai came back rushing down. She grinned, told them to cover their faces up with their capes, and walked to the door. She would be the one to take them to BATTLE CITY and show them around the club. Fortunately, in the Catacombs, children were expected to stay home alone from a very young age.

Later that night, Tristan and Duke would hopefully introduce Marik and his friends to Bandit Kith, and they could figure out a way to acquire the notorious ID Cards, at long last.

Finally, they seemed to be getting somewhere.

Bodies slamming against each other, rubbing frantically on one another. Smoke from toxins rose above the masses of dancing people, accompanied by the overwhelming smell of drink and sweat. The music came from blasters all around, willing to rip the ground open with its intensity.

People were shouting, screaming as they flailed their limbs in the beat of the music. The spikes of the hyper-arms looked like shadows against the blinding lights of the disco light canons. In dark corners one could spot people making out wildly, hyper-arms scraping viciously at one another's bodies as they kissed, but they didn't seem to care.

Overall, no one would have expected that there could be a place in the depressing Catacombs that was so full of life. From sprays on the ceiling of the club, phosphoric paint rained down on the clubbers, bathing them in its colorful glow.

And the clothes they were wearing…Leather, spikes and chains adorned almost every inch of their bodies. People's hair was dyed in all kinds of unnatural colors, from pink and green to white and silver.

Who would have thought that the straight-laced, poor youth of the catacombs indulged in this kind of club fantasy? Moreover, who would have thought motherly Mai could know all about it. Apparently, Marik didn't know Mai as well as he thought he did. He knew Mai was a very lively person, of course, but he had perhaps forgotten that before she became a mother, she was a young girl as well, and she enjoying clubbing just like everyone else.

After paying at the entrance of the club, Mai walked first towards the doorway. Marik followed, accompanied closely by Bakura and Yugi. Tea and Serenity walked in the back of the group, looking uncomfortably around them the whole time.

From the moment Marik, Yugi and the girls set foot in the BATTLE CITY club, he thought he'd choke from the sheer stench of smoke that attacked him. Bakura didn't seem at all perturbed by the smell of smoke, he only looked annoyed by the deafening music. Mai turned at Marik and shouted something at him in order to be heard over the music, but it was still impossible to hear her.

“WHAT?” Marik shouted, holding his hands over his hood, in order to keep it in place.

“DON'T GET LOST!!!!” Mai now screamed at the top of her lungs, with her ostentatious voice. Marik finally seemed to understand and nodded fervently at her, in order to let her know of his comprehension. Focusing solely on following Mai, Marik motioned with his hand for Bakura to keep close. Yugi, who noticed Tea getting distracted by some punk-like rockers, grabbed Tea's hand and tugged on it, thus making sure the girls would keep in track.

Marik and Bakura looked around with identical, overly suspicious, unfriendly scowls. At some point, the heat was a bit too much, and Marik carelessly pulled his black cloak off, revealing his impressive ensemble and his platinum hair. Seeing this, Bakura also removed his hood and was now only wearing well-fitting black trousers and a loose black shirt. All of the others were glad to remove their disguise, since they could feel much more comfortable.

Bakura glared at everyone and everything, especially the people who seemed to be staring at him appreciatively. He was not a hunk of meat to be drooled over, so he would not tolerate being treated like one. Marik, Yugi and the girls seemed to feel uncomfortable with the sudden attention they had drawn to themselves. It was because no one around had seen them here before that they immediately caught peoples' eye.

Scantily clad women were suddenly everywhere and Marik didn't know what to think of the people staring at him. As he and Bakura walked, side-by-side, the crowd separated in two for them to pass, staring at them as if they were well-known celebrities. When Mai reached a tall staircase that led to the upper part of the club, Marik suddenly felt something warm latch onto his torso.

He was shocked to realize that a member of the hordes of scantily clad women he had noticed before had practically jumped him and was currently rubbing her partially exposed body frantically against his, in accordance to the pounding music.

“Wanna have some fun, baby…?” a ticklish girly voice echoed in his ear, making him want to wiggle away as his predator continued rubbing against him. He did not want to think she was attempting to grope his rare right now.

Marik made a small sound that was lost in the volume of the music. Okaaay…he really didn't want this to be happening!!!!? He faintly thought about where Bakura was and what he would say about this. How different it felt when this hot, half-naked girl rubbed against him and when red-eyed, brutal Bakura touched him in any way! Totally different feeling…

Suddenly, he felt the weight of the woman be lifted from his body and took a deep breath. Man, she almost choked him! He looked on his right an saw an irate looking Bakura glaring at something. Marik followed the albino's scorching gaze and met the now fallen body of the girl who had jumped him. Then he looked back at Bakura's positively wrath-twisted face.

Slowly, a coy smile crawled upon Marik's face. If he hadn't been so shocked at the moment, he would've thought Bakura was jealous.

But nothing, not even the curious gazes of the onlookers could've shocked him more than Bakura's next actions. He vaguely registered Mai, Yugi and the others had stopped walking and were now curiously watching the display.

Marik's heart leapt to his throat when he felt an iron grip positively grab his waist and slam him against Bakura's side. He couldn't contain his startled gasp when he realized the strong thing around his waist was Bakura's pale, strong forearm. It didn't stop trying to pull him closer, even when he was practically adhered to Bakura's body. Marik didn't know what to do. His heart was killing him, beating painfully in his ribcage, threatening to tear him apart.

He had no choice but to look straight at Bakura's cheekbone, which was now right in front of his nose. He expected Bakura to be looking at him, but instead he found the albino staring still at the girl who had pounced on Marik. Marik choked on his own saliva, recognizing the anger in Bakura's glare, the fierce possessiveness as he tightened his arm around the blond.

It was like that for a few moments, Marik's breathing hoarse and hot as it hit Bakura's face. Serenity, Tea and Yugi were staring at the scene with their jaws hanging. If one knew where to look, they would have surely noticed that Mai didn't look one bit surprised at the development of the situation.

Bakura glared at the desperate-looking girl for a few more moments, then gave a vicious deep growl, which reverberated through his chest and Marik's body. Suddenly, as though the whole incident had never happened, Bakura twisted his body towards Mai, consequently dragging a weak-kneed Marik along with him. Mai quickly took the hint and started walking again with a shrug. Bakura didn't even bother removing his hand form Marik's waist, letting his grip tighten even more, thus pulling Marik so close to his body that they were practically joined at the hip.

Marik, for his part, didn't know what to do. He settled for keeping his hand loosely perched over Bakura's shoulders, trying to look as impartial as possible, but failing miserably. His heart betrayed him when he looked at Bakura's unrelenting, scowling face- the possessiveness was still there, and it made Marik want to faint with glee.

Bakura didn't say anything, and Marik didn't really know if he wanted him to say anything. In these cases, words weren't needed. Not when Bakura's almost palpable desperation was fluttering around.

To be perfectly honest, Marik didn't fully understand what Bakura might be feeling or what it could mean. He understood one feeling, though, which Bakura emitted more than anything else: fear. Bakura's fear of losing the one person that had truly seen him. Because Marik had not seen just Ryou, but him, Bakura. Bakura's frantic possessiveness of Marik, his fierce passion of keeping Marik close to him, so they would never be apart. Bakura's feelings were so primitive, and Bakura experienced them in such blind intensity, that it was impossible for one to believe he was really dead.

Marik's problem was whether this feeling of possessiveness in Bakura signified a deeper kind of bond…a more complicated feeling. Were Marik's…unorthodox feelings about Bakura reciprocated or not? Did Bakura see Marik merely as a very good friend- a brother- or was Marik something even more important in Bakura's stone heart? Marik couldn't know that much, and he didn't really want to know. He didn't want to feel rejection hit him, not when he had unconsciously based so much on Bakura's existence by his side.

But then again, Bakura's hand was around his waist. Not his shoulder, but his waist. He was slowly caressing Marik's hipbone, even though he didn't seem to be aware he was doing it. Every time Bakura's thumb brushed over that small patch of exposed skin on his hip, Marik's heart gave a sharp jolt, as though reminding him painfully of his starvation for the albino's affection. Deep down, even though he knew it wasn't right, Marik's treacherous heart wished that Bakura could keep Ryou's body…that he could stay alive…alive with Marik…like this…

Marik didn't see Serenity, Tea and Yugi exchange stunned stares from behind him. The three friends didn't speak to each other and hurried to follow the now cuddled Marik and Bakura, who were being stared at from positively every single person nearby. Good going keeping a low profile, Marik! As if he didn't pull enough attention already, with the way he looked.

Serenity didn't know what to feel about watching her beloved's body being used like that. It was true Bakura and Ryou didn't exactly look the same; they were discernible, if one knew where to look. But Serenity felt lonely, seeing her boyfriend being there, but not really being there. Knowing those arms should be wrapped around her and not Marik made her jealous, deep inside, even though she knew Bakura wasn't Ryou.

But Bakura was unreachable to her. She'd never come close to him. And even though it was only Ryou's body that Bakura affected, not Ryou's heart, Serenity still felt horrible knowing that her boyfriend's body was being so abused, literally worn by someone else, as though it was a costume. A mask, for Bakura to put when he wanted. Serenity bit her lip in order not to burst in shouts. She was hating this, every minute of it, watching her Ryou's face be twisted in a scrunched up glare, with scary demon eyes and wild silver hair. Ryou was being treated like naught in all this. Like a useless puppet, which Bakura effortlessly controlled.

She needed to have a talk with Ryou. Very soon.

Mai finally led them to a small settee in a forlorn corner of the club's upper floor. Like everything else in this club, this small, seemingly reserved space was drowned in smoke. Once they sat down on the curiously empty settee, they noticed belatedly that the music was drowned out in comparison to before. They looked around and realized they were located in some small portion of the club, which served as a small cafÃ©, and was thus protected by the blearing music from below. The couches were bathed in a romantic blue-green light, which came from flower-shaped florescent lights.

Mai, Yugi, Tea and Serenity sat in one couch, while Bakura led Marik to sit on the couch next to theirs. Bakura waited for Marik to sit down carefully in the middle part of the settee, before he too slumped down, casually laying an arm over a startled Marik's shoulders. Although everyone seemed to be uncomfortable, Bakura steadfastly ignored them, and they slowly became a little more relaxed. Yugi, especially, was trying his best not to stare at his two male friends, who were, for some reason, acting really weird around each other lately. He did not want to think about the possibilities.

“Um…so, Mai. Tristan said he'd meet us at `the usual place'…is this it?” Serenity asked, trying to make light conversation.

Mai, relieved to have the chance to unwind a little, answered cheerfully “Yes. Every time we come to BATTLE CITY, Joey, Tristan, Duke and I always meet in this specific spot at one in the morning. That's how the owners reserve these couches for us. Don't worry, the others will be here soon.” Mai finished, and the conversation started from there. The girls of the company started talking animatedly, while Yugi stared into the distance with a dazed look on his face. If one knew about the dark spirit hidden in the spiky haired boy's puzzle, they would instantly know Yugi was having an internal conversation with the Game King, right now.

As for Bakura, he valiantly tried to suppress the agony that had been killing him ever since that girl had pounced on Marik in the dance-floor. God, he was acting like a hormonal teenager again- not knowing why he kept doing things he didn't want to do. But Marik didn't seem better off, either…seems neither of them was an adult man in matters of the heart yet, even though they were brilliant in everything else.

Bakura didn't want to think about what he was doing, all of a sudden. He didn't want to explain his actions to anyone, including himself, since he honestly didn't know the answers. He just wanted to do it and get it over with, grab Marik and touch him and get it over with. He could not afford understanding himself. He didn't want to talk about it and he didn't want to accept he was feeling it, whatever it was.

All he knew was that suddenly he felt more alive than any other time, and he wanted to stay in Ryou's body just a little longer. To touch Marik just a little longer. To be with him, talk to him, breath the same air as him just a little longer. Bakura was confused. He didn't want to feel- it was too dangerous. If he got too used to it, he might become uncontrollable, but the sweet sin of being with Marik was slowly driving him insane, anyway.

Bakura had stopped thinking about how dangerous his dependence on Marik was. He didn't want to think about it, since he knew he had lost the fight long ago. He couldn't fight this feeling any more.

Unfortunately for Bakura, he had realized he actually had a heart in the worst way possible. He had seen it falling to Marik's feet, exposed for all the world to see. Now all Marik had to do was slam his foot down and squeeze all that was precious to Bakura. Bakura's soul, his entire essence was laid out in front of the blond, and Bakura could do nothing to stop it. If Marik decided he didn't want him, Bakura would be done for.

Since he knew that he had no power over himself any more, he would make sure that Marik didn't leave him, he thought. He couldn't keep himself under control, but he would fight with all his might to keep Marik from knowing that. And if he let some half-naked bimbo in a stupid club take Marik away from him, then he'd be even more damned than he already was.

Marik had settled down under the pressure of his arm now. The blond even seemed to be comfortable, judging from the way he leant back and sighed almost dreamily. Bakura's breath caught in his throat as he watched Marik flutter his eyelids closed and open them again, revealing his crystal, amethyst eyes- shining with the blue-green glow of the lights. Bakura saw Marik stare at the ceiling. He knew that Bakura was openly watching him yet he did nothing to prevent it- actually, his heart swelled by the thought of it.

This gave Bakura a little more confidence, and he grinned a little. He leaned back too, letting the side of his face settle softly on the back of the settee. His red eyes observed Marik's profile carefully, almost reverently. He looked at the gentle curve of Marik's nose, the robust fullness of his lips, the slow movement of his Adam's apple…Marik opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, and Bakura braced himself, waiting to hear that heavenly voice ring through his ears. Marik opened his mouth, that cursed rosy mouth, and started saying something, when…

“Hey guys, you're early.” Was heard the baritone of a vaguely familiar male voice, and Bakura didn't even bother suppressing the urge to grit his teeth. Why did someone always have to interrupt him when he was getting somewhere with Marik? Why? Why, damn it, why?! Every single time!!

“Well, it only took us about twenty minutes to get here from my house, so I guess we are kind of early. But then again, so are you, Tristan.” Mai replied good-naturedly. At the sound of Tristan's voice it was like an alarm set off, and Marik jumped up like a wild hare. Bakura closed his eyes and gritted his teeth even harder. Although, Bakura knew they had work to do, it was only when Marik's enchanting deep warmth had left his side that he realized he really did have to stand up.

Marik was watching Tristan tensely when Bakura joined the action.

“Well,” Duke started “I guess it's time we take you to see Bandit Kith, huh?”

Bakura narrowed his eyes at the unnecessary comment “You don't say!!” the albino sarcastically remarked. Okay. He was a bit bitter. So? Anyone would be bitter in his place! He had already been denied private moments with his certain someone, and he was not happy about it.

Marik promptly ignored Bakura's words and answered Duke's question. To the outsider, the blond looked completely unaffected by Bakura. How wrong. “Yes. We have to see him. Is there something we must know about him?” Marik cautiously asked.

Tristan thought for a moment, then responded “Just that he's dangerous and he could have you scalped in a heartbeat, so you shouldn't piss him off. Also, don't expect any special treatment. If you don't have the money to pay for the IDs, don't even dream about stealing them or anything. You'll be dead before you know it.”

“We'll be dead anyway.” Yugi said suddenly, unable to contain his words.

Marik scowled at the group's way of thinking and turned back to Tristan “Look, just take us to Kith, all right? We'll know where to go from there.”

Tristan shrugged in a way that suggested he thought Marik was highly irrational, then motioned for everyone to follow him. The lot started walking back to the lowest part of the club, then in the back of a bar, where Tristan and Duke exchanged high-fives with the barman, and finally into a privee dark room.

“Let's see that badass Bandit Kith, and how dangerous he can be…” Bakura said to himself, almost eagerly, as he observed his new surroundings. A room full of -what else?- half-naked women and smoke. There were couches here too, much like the place they were previously at, only here there was cigar smoke everywhere, and there were no soft green lights. Tristan didn't acknowledge anyone in this room, simply strode calmly with Duke on his heel and led the group to a particularly large couch, where a fat, blonde man was sitting, surrounded by women. Bakura and Marik wanted to roll their eyes from the absurdity of it all, whilst Tea looked positively horrified by the situation.

Bandit Kith was obviously the blond man who was dressed like a pimp, with ridiculously shiny objects hanging from his neck and wrists. He also had a ring on each of his fingers and a nose-ring. The most absurd thing about Kith's appearance, however, were the supposedly cool sunglasses he was wearing, which seemed laughably out of place in the middle of a room as dark as the one they were currently standing in. Even fashion has its limits.

“Hey BK. How's it goin' How's business?” Tristan asked amiably, but not too conversationally. Overall, Tristan seemed wary, which disgusted Bakura to no ends. Being Undead, Bakura was hardly impressed by any display of horror this pathetic Bandit Kith guy could muster.

Letting his eyes roam around with the instinct of a bloodthirsty predator observing its prey, Bakura noticed the butch, puffed-up guys that were standing directly behind Bandit Kith, each with a woman in hand. Kith's bodyguards, obviously.

How banal. Not at all refreshing.

Bakura would enjoy eating this Bandit guy for dinner. Him and his cronies.

“Tristan, m'boy! Now what brings your refreshin' air on our humble sida town?” Bandit Kith, or, in the terms of the locals, BK, said, with the air of a man who knows he's more powerful than the others and he likes it. He shared a hearty high-five with Tristan and turned his eyes on the rest of the company “An' ainl't than Mai. Whassup, girl? Haven't seen you in a while…How's that dinosaur of yours?” Kith asked a little maliciously, referring to Joey. Mai visibly tightened her jaw and obviously fought to keep from spitting in Kith's face. The pimp-like man grinned angelically.

Mai gave a small, reserved smile, showing she didn't like being there at all and couldn't wait to get out. From beside her, Duke was carefully avoiding looking Kith's eye. Seeing that things were starting to heat up dangerously, Tristan quickly strove to amend the situation.

“Well, BK, I brought you some friends. They're new in town, and they're looking for connections, so…I thought I'd bring them to the best.” A little sucking up can't be bad, Tristan thought. He gave his all to stay in good terms with Bandit Kith, since he didn't need more troubles right now, and neither did his friends. He motioned to the people behind him, and Bandit Kith's eyes finally fell on Marik and Bakura.

“Interestin.” Kith concluded, and Bakura desperately held back a comment about disappointing grammar skills. Hm. He never used to hold comments back before…looks like Marik was rubbing off on him. But then again, he was rubbing off on Marik too, right? For better or for worse, who knew? All that mattered was that Marik and he were affecting each other.

“So whassuma gonna do about you?” Kith asked Marik directly, and Tristan took a step back, taking this as his queue to leave the conversation to the others.

When Serenity had been living here she had never met Bandit Kith, and now she was glad about it, judging by the way he kept looking at Marik and Bakura- like a beast ready to tear its new victim apart.

“You know a man called Ishrat?” Marik cut to the chase directly, dismissing all attempts at seduction and sugarcoated conversation. That was something he kept doing more and more lately. Another effect Bakura had on him.

Kith's eyebrow shot up to his hairline in surprise. Then, he smiled disarmingly. “Scram, toots.” He told one of the girls that were rubbing his back and she walked away along with the other women, who were probably used to being dismissed when Kith had `business'. Yugi was disgusted, but fascinated by the sheer absurdity of this planet nonetheless.

“I see…” Kith narrowed his eyes and scowled at Marik, who was standing as a representative of the whole group, obviously “So you mean business, huh?” Kith said more to himself than anyone else. “Com `ere kid. Have a seat.” He patted the armchair, which was next to the settee he was sitting on. Marik looked at him suspiciously, wondering where Kith was going with his tirade.

Nevertheless, Marik saw it as the less dangerous solution to comply to Kith's wishes for the time being. Slowly, he moved towards the armchair Kith was pointing to and glanced at Kith's strange smile -predatory smile- for one last time before he walked closer.

“Hey, I said the kid only.” Kith suddenly said, scowling. Marik saw the reason he was angry was because Bakura had walked along with him toward the chair. Bakura didn't seem perturbed for a second, although he did frown at Kith when the fat man spoke to him.

Marik was instantly aggravated, for some reason.

“If I go, he goes.” The tanned boy said a bit more aggressively than necessarily and BK raised his hands in a gesture of mock surrender.

“Okay, okay…Didn't mean to offend ya!”

Bakura amusedly flung his long hair behind his shoulder and, with his nose snobbishly high in the air, smirked at a scowling Kith. Marik settled down relatively comfortably in the armchair and Bakura sat on the arm of the chair, staring at Kith from behind Marik.

“Martini?” Kith offered generously.

“I'm fine, thanks” Marik gave the perfunctory polite declination, wondering where Kith was going with all this stalling. They were here to talk about something, after all, not exchange salutations all night long.

“I didn't catch your name...” Kith remarked casually, throwing what seemed to be the first innuendo in a series of stupidly secretive sentences.

“That's because he didn't say it.” Bakura dryly answered, before Marik even had the chance to open his mouth. Bakura delightedly watched as Kith's eyes narrowed to impossibly thin slits, as though trying to spit venom from inside.

Marik, sensing the tension rising between the albino and Kith, took it as his responsibility to placate the situation that Bakura's thoughtless words had provoked.

“Namu.” The tanned boy quickly lied, before Bakura insulted Kith in a different way “My name's Namu.” For a moment, he feared Kith would come up with some witty line like `That name got a surname, boy?', in order to learn Marik's family name.

Kith immediately turned to the blond, briefly forgetting about Bakura, who continued watching the Bandit like a defiant child who was trying to anger his parents- in this case, Kith.

“Well enough, Namu.” Kith rolled the name in his mouth appreciatively, as though savoring the taste of a new victim in his schemes. From the side, Serenity and the others watched the interaction nervously, trying not to look too interested but not too ignorant either. Tea was doing the best job so far.

“So…what can I do for you, Namu?” Kith asked in his sleazy way. Absently, Bakura noticed there were no traces of the bad grammar he had used before. Perhaps he could actually be serious when doing business…

Marik grinned. Finally. They were coming to the subject. Judging by his earlier reaction, Kith was obviously uncomfortable with the subject of Ishrat. Therefore, Marik would move on to the next important topic- the most pressing one of all. The ID Cards.

“Word tells me you're the hottest dealer around right now, Bandit Kith” Marik quickly lapsed into his not-so-promising street talk. Nevertheless, Kith did seem pleased by the fact that Marik talked like him, unlike most cowering idiots who came shaking in front of him, asking for favors.

“I try.” Kith said smugly, not quite succeeding in giving the reserved impression he wanted. It was obvious the man was downright a sucker for compliments. Marik was especially pleased by this, since coaxing people was his personal highlight.

“So, Kith. Me and my boys have just come to town and we need cards for the upper levels.” Said Marik in his gangster voice, deliberately leaving Serenity and the others out of the whole situation, so they wouldn't be in danger in case it didn't work out.

“Whoa whoa!!” Kith chuckled, throwing his hands in front of his face in mock defense. Bakura narrowed his eyes at Kith's amusement. What the heck was so funny?

“Sow down there, boy! You're gonna blow my head off! Cards? Cards? What kinda jerk told you can buy cards just for a fling?” Kith amusedly said. At his words, Tristan huffed somewhere in the back. He had told them that they couldn't buy cards, but Kith couldn't know that, of course.

Marik exchanged looks with Bakura, then turned back to Kith.

“I know it ailn't easy. That's why I came to you. Because they told me you're the best. And I need the best, Kith.” Marik now used his slightly threatening tone, insinuating lightly that he could always go to another dealer. It was a method Marik knew well: when in doubt, convince them you've got some kind of advantage over them, even if you blatantly don't. That was it. He would convince Kith that Namu was a full-fledged, serious criminal. That way, trust would be ensured.

Kith seemed to be sizing the situation up in his pea-sized brain, until he finally came to a conclusion. “You're serious about this aren't you?” Kith asked in an obviously incredulous tone.

“Do I seem less than serious to you?” Marik inquired with that same amount of stealthy superiority. Bakura grinned. Marik was such a good actor...it made him even more desirable!

Kith chose that moment to actually consider Marik's request “How many cards are we talking about?

Marik knew there were five people in their group, but Serenity already had a card, so that would make the needed cards four. “Four. By tomorrow.” He told a positively stunned Kith, who started laughing at Marik's face the moment the boy finished his sentence.

“You're kiddin' right? Nobody can get you four cards so soon.” Kith said it as though it should have been obvious.

Marik grinned slightly “Oh, I believe that with the proper payment, anything's impossible. Right Baku?” he bluffed, using a fake name for Bakura also. He looked into Bakura's fearless ruby eyes and smiled. Both Bakura and he knew that they had absolutely no money whatsoever- truth is, they were utterly penniless, in every meaning of the term.

Kith, however, seemed to take the bait flawlessly, since he raised an eyebrow and licked his lips in the manner of a hungry reptile eyeing a rat. “Kid, come with me.” Kith said as he suddenly stood up, motioning with his hand for Marik to follow him. Marik and Bakura exchanged suspicious glances yet again. Marik then turned to Serenity and shrugged at her inquiring glance. Then, he followed Kith in order not to raise suspicions, with Bakura faithfully beside him, of course.

Kith walked to the back of the room and opened a dark doorway they hadn't noticed before. They remained silent as he led them down a long corridor. When they reached another door, he produced a key from the pocket of his ridiculous furry coat and unlocked it. Bakura inadvertently saw something glinting suspiciously in Kith's pocket, but didn't comment on it. Was that a gun?

“Come in.” Kith hosted them in a small empty room and closed the door behind them. Marik immediately turned when he heard the thud of the door closing, leaving Bakura to take his time observing their surroundings.

Kith looked positively ravenous by now. “Here we can talk a bit more privately about our exchanges. Have you any idea how much what you're asking costs?”

Marik amusedly thought he had not once spoken the word `money' yet here Kith was, talking about it as if it was automatically insinuated.

“We have enough.” Marik reassured him calmly, feeling Bakura come and stand right next to him.

Bandit Kith narrowed his eyes in distrust “And why should I trust you? Do you have it with you?”

Marik thought it unwise to completely reject the possibility that he had money on him. He wanted to keep this little game going for as long as possible.

“Chill, Kith” Marik amusedly said, enjoying having the advantage of being calmer than Kith “why the rush?”

Kith smirked easily “Income is always welcome, now that business with drugs is running low.” He said “If you have the cash ready, we can trade even now.”

At this last sentence, Marik's eyes widened imperceptibly. Did Kith actually have the cards on him right now? They were alone in a room, and Kith had the cards? They were two against one…they could take him down. Bakura seemed to think the same thing, since he asked “How can we trust you not to give us fake cards?”

Kith grinned “The same way I know you ailn't giving me no fake cash. That's the risk, gentlemen. Deal with it.”

Marik smirked ironically for a moment. He really wished Kith's cards weren't as non-existent as their money.

“Gimme a moment to confer with my partner, and I'll be right back witcha.” Marik said and tugged on Bakura's sleeve.

“Sure man” Kith said, as he lighted a cigarette and turned away to study a trophy hanging on the wall “take your time.”

Marik pulled Bakura on the side and they both leaned in to talk confidentially.

“We can take him” was the first thing Marik said to a pensive Bakura “We're two and he is one. If he really has the cards, it'll be easy to knock him out, then get the hell outa here!” Marik whispered, pulling Bakura closer, in order to prevent Kith from eavesdropping.

Bakura looked unusually skeptical for something that had to do with violence. “No” he said finally, startling Marik “we can't. He's got a gun- laser by the looks of it. Too risky.”

Marik stared at him “Oh come on, Bakura! As if that's ever stopped us before!!” he whined.

But Bakura shook his head firmly “No.” he repeated “We can't afford being suspected by people around here. We mustn't hurt him…There must be another---ah!”

“Bakura? Bakura what's wrong??!”

Suddenly, Bakura groaned and seemed to lose his balance. He started swaying on his feet, and Marik had to support him by the shoulders in order to keep him steady. He clammed his hand over Bakura's mouth in order to keep his groans from being heard by Kith. Bakura stiffened momentarily and opened his eyes blearily, only to rub at them dizzily.

“What the heck just happened?” Marik worriedly demanded, looking anxiously at Bakura's face.

“Don't…don't worry…” Bakura whispered, much too weakly for Marik's comfort. The tanned boy gave him an inquiring look, asking for explanations “It's just that…even though I can take over Ryou's body, it absorbs a lot of energy…Meanwhile, I'm also keeping Ryou's mind in a coma, so I'm losing strength from there too…I can't sustain myself in this body for much longer…soon I'll have to return to the ring, in order to regain my power!”

It came as a slap to the face- the sudden reminder of Bakura's inhumanity. Bakura wasn't human. No matter how much Marik wanted to believe it, he just wasn't!! He wasn't, damnit! Why did it have to be this way!? Why, of all the people in the universe, did Marik have to find an Undead to…to care,,,about…?

“Bakura…can't you keep it up for a little longer…just a little longer…” Marik practically begged, losing all ounces of sense control. Bakura's blood eyes turned to him slowly- to say Bakura looked happy that someone had asked him to stay would be an understatement. Then, suddenly, it hit Marik like an asteroid.

“Oh shit! Bakura can't you see?” he whispered wildly “This is it!”

Bakura raised an eyebrow at a complete loss “Huh?” he unintelligently asked.

Marik rushed to explain animatedly “This is it! Didn't you once tell me that you can control anyone, as long as that person has the ring!?”

“Yeees” Bakura said slowly, trying to follow Marik's trail of thought “So?”

Marik looked stunned that Bakura hadn't figured it out yet “So?! This is the way we'll get Kith. If we can give him the ring, you'll be able to enter his body and use it to give me the cards!!”

Bakura's eyes widened “Are you serious!? I've never tried that before with so little energy! What if I can't make it?! And I mean…Kith? That's disgusting!”

Marik rolled his eyes “Just try, Bakura. Don't waste any more energy. Return to your ring now, and have Ryou control the body. Once I give the ring to Kith, take over his body and we can go from there!”

Bakura nodded to himself “This can actually work!” he said in marvel.

“Of course it can!” Marik boasted “I'm the smartest there is, remember?”

“Oh please!” Bakura muttered, then looked at Marik condescendingly “Don't forget about me in the ring, okay?”

Marik rolled his eyes “How can I forget you in the expanse of five minutes!?” he asked, but then realized it was quite endearing that Bakura had asked him to retain his affection for him. It made him proud to know that Bakura sought his trust to such degree. Marik worried he might insult Bakura's softly exposed feelings, however, so he rushed to amend it “I wouldn't be able to forget you even if I wanted to, you bat.” He said, giving Bakura the reassurance he wanted.

“Fine. I'm letting Ryou out now.” Bakura said with a scowl, supposedly angry at being called a bat. But Marik could see the faint glow in the albino's eyes and the soft upturning that threatened to twist his lips into a genuine smile.

Then, suddenly, almost painfully suddenly, Bakura's eyes fogged up and smoke surrounded his entire body. It was a sight that only a select few could see, and Marik cherished the fact that he was one of them. When Bakura opened his eyes again, they weren't red. They were mahogany brown.

Ryou blinked ignorantly up at him, totally lost. After all, he had lost a great part of the evening and now he didn't know where on Earth he was. He was willing to ignore the fact that the last time he was conscious he had almost witnessed Bakura and Marik doing some unmentionable things, for the sake of finding out what the heck was happening.

“Where am I?” Ryou said loudly, not knowing he had to keep his voice low. Marik immediately clamped a hand over his mouth to silence him, then leaned in to talk to him.

“Listen Ryou, I know it all seems totally confusing right now, but trust me, it will make perfect sense later. I need you to do something, all right? There's this guy waiting for us to talk to him right now…”

Ryou's eyes slipped to glance at the distracted Kith across the room. He nodded to signify his understanding.

“We have to make a deal with this guy, but we can't do it unless Bakura takes over his body.” Marik briefly explained, watching Ryou's eyes widen in surprise.

`That's not making a deal!!' Ryou wanted to say `That's even worse than black mailing him!' but, as always, he held it in for the sake of diplomatic solutions. He nodded again.

“When I tell you to give him your golden ring, you must give it to him. Understand? Don't say anything. Just give him the ring!” Marik concluded. His somewhat worried tone let Ryou understand how important this situation was.

He nodded again, one last time, before Marik took his hand away from his mouth.

“Kith!” Marik shouted, still looking meaningfully at Ryou “We're ready!”

Kith was instantly close to them, watching them curiously. Ryou looked at the newcomer in a confused but certainly unappreciative way. Whoever this man dressed like a lantern was, he wanted nothing to do with him.

“Finally!” Kith complained “Took you long enough!”

Marik shrugged “Well, you know how it is with this things…You gotta be sure where you're investing your money, right?”

“I know just what you mean, pal.” Kith said as he put an arm around Marik's shoulders, taking a few steps with the boy. Ryou quietly moved to Marik's other side, watching them both silently and hating Kith more and more with each passing moment. For some reason, Kith reminded him eerily of Kaiba. “Just curious, but what's your business with Ishrat?” Kith asked a surprised Marik.

“Hey…” Marik shrugged Kith's hand of his shoulder and spun to face the other man “Our business is our own. You just give us the cards and don't ask any more questions, al'right?” Marik really hoped he'd pulled that gangster image well enough. By the look on Kith's face, he obviously had.

“Fair enough. So, about the cards, what's it gonna be?” Kith asked “Winner of loser?”

Marik grinned, easily recognizing a good opportunity when he saw one. “Deal, Kith. We'll give you the money now…”

A wide, satisfied grin broke out on Kith's face while Ryou just mutely stared from the sidelines “Great! That's great news, boys! So, where is the money?”

Subtle, wasn't he? Marik smirked at the ironic thought. Then, he finally started implementing his plan “The money will come in due time, Kith. But first, I want to give you something personal, as a token of my gratitude.”

Kith visibly stiffened, his hand automatically slipping in his pocket to grab his gun no doubt. So Bakura was right, after all about the laser. Hm…

“And what would that be?” Kith inquired, with no small amount of suspicion.

Marik amiably laughed and flung his hands in the air openly, as a gesture of good will “Oh don't worry, pal! It's just this little trinket we found washed up in some street around here and we've been trying to get rid of it since then. We thought maybe we could sell it to a dealer like you. Care to take a look at it?”

Kith seemed more relaxed, but he didn't take his hand out of his pocket “Depends on what it's worth…”

Marik grinned, knowing where Kith was getting at exactly ` Gold, my friend. Solid gold.”

He watched the avarice twist Kith's features in an eager grin. He smirked. “Then let's see this mystery trinket of yours…” he said.

“Baku, give him the ring.” Marik told Ryou, trying to keep the blind triumph from showing in his face. After all, it wasn't over until Bakura had taken over Kith's body. Ryou, being the silent ignorant that he was, thought it wise to obey his friend's instructions. He was unwilling to let go of his precious ring, of course, but since he saw that the situation called for extreme measures…

Kith watched with no small amount of interest as Ryou reached to the leather string that was tied around his neck and pulled it up, to reveal what was tucked under his shirt. Kith greedily observed the shining yellow quality of unmistakable gold. His hold on his hidden gun finally released and he took a step towards Ryou, who now stood holding is ring thoughtfully.

He didn't want to let go of it. He really didn't want to let go of it. Not when Bakura- his other self -was still inside it. And however unwilling Ryou was to admit it, he didn't want to separate with Bakura…it felt empty without Bakura in his conscience, no matter how annoying he was. Bakura was considered his other self, after all, after all those years of symbiosis.

Ritualistically, Ryou raised the ring to Kith's eager hands, and the man lost no time in grabbing it, watching it glitter through his sunglasses. Once Marik saw the ring pass from one man to the other, he couldn't help the victorious smile from morphing on his face. He watched, a wild happiness in his eyes and a startled agony in Ryou's as Bandit Kith suddenly gasped, and tightened his hold on the ring as though in pain.

They saw smoky mist forming a tornado around Kith's body, and when it finally dissolved, they took a good look at the new Bandit Kith. Slightly taller than before, wit shoulder's just a little wider and rippling muscles showing through his furry coat. His now wild, unruly short blonde hair fanned around his head.

Marik chuckled bluntly, sharply, as he rushed towards Kith. He saw the ex-Bandit take the sunglasses from his face and drop them to the floor calmly, crushing them with a boot-clad foot.

Marik smiled. Kith's red eyes were smiling back at him.

“Stupid fucker. How can he walk around in all this? All this fur weighs a ton. “ Kith, or rather, Bakura complained.

“Ya-Yami?” Ryou gasped, unbelieving, as he watched Kith take the rings and chains off his body and throw them carelessly away, muttering curses as he did.

“Oh, great, Brightside. Now that you're here, you can help me take these boots off.” Bakura calmly stated, his deep voice taking an entirely different dimension when used through Kith's vocal cords.

“Do you have enough energy now?” Marik asked quickly, helping Bakura take his furry coat off while Ryou was too busy staring at the commotion to speak.

“We need to hurry, I can't hold on for much longer…Quickly, search the pockets!” Bakura said hurriedly, shoving his hand down one of the coat's pockets. He took out the laser gun, some spare jewelry that Kith carried around, a few cigars, card keys for hovercrafts and Kith's house, but no ID Cards.

“You don't suppose he didn't have the cards with him either, do you?” Marik anxiously asked, searching another pocket and retrieving an…unidentified disgusting object.

“I don't think so…Maybe- hey wait a second!” Bakura suddenly exclaimed, making the others look at him curiously “I feel something weird.” Bakura said.

Unexpectedly, he shoved his hand down his pants, letting it crawl to his thigh. A wide-eyed Marik and a grinning Ryou observed the situation, as Bakura suddenly gasped.

“I don't believe this guy!!” Kith-Bakura said suddenly, and took hold of Kith's belt, starting to loosen it.

“Bakura!! What the heck are you doing??! This isn't a good time for this, man!!!” Marik shouted, for lack of anything better to do, since he was stuck with a stripping Bakura in a small, dark room. They needed to find the cards now!!! They had no time for…uh…games!!

“No, wait!!” Bakura said, and finally lowered his pants to the height of his knees “Look at this!!!” he pointed at the string of cloth that was tied around Kith's left thigh. Along with that strip of cloth, there were six see-through top ID cards tied around the man's leg.

Ryou promptly started guffawing.

“I can't believe he put them there!!!” Marik wailed, starting to pry the ID cards from their safe haven with the assistance of Bakura.

“Be glad they weren't in his crotch. I wouldn't have reached in there.” Bakura said with finality, as he cursed at Ryou for laughing at him during a time of weakness. Marik joined in the laughing and Bakura cursed doubly.

“ Okay! I got the cards! Let's go!!” Marik said and made a move as though to run outside, but then paused suddenly “Oh no! We have to get Kith back to normal so that nobody will suspect anything!”

“Don't worry” Bakura dryly said “No one will miss the bastard!”

Marik sighed “That doesn't change the fact that we need him to look normal when we go out there, in order not to raise suspicion. At least until we leave this place!”

“Oh my GOD!” Ryou shouted suddenly, pointing at Kith's, or rather, Bakura's boxers “Are these red little hearts on your boxers or is it just me!?” and that raised another string of frantic, uncontrolled, hysterical guffawing both from Ryou's and Marik's part, while a flushed Bakura -who refused to acknowledge that he was blushing- rushed to cover up the embarrassing underpants.

Once Bakura had managed to resume Kith's original appearance- save the sunglasses- they all ran out the door. As fast as they could, in hopes of saving some energy for Bakura, they rushed down the corridor. Once they reached the room where the rest of their friends were left, an onslaught of people pounced on Bakura, wanting to talk to Bandit Kith.

Marik tried to get to Bakura, but Bandit Kith's cronies were blocking him from approaching the spirit. Bakura non-too-politely shoved the prissy girls away from him and took a few strides towards Ryou and Serenity.

“Didn't you say you wanted to show us something outside the club, Bandit Kith?” Marik meaningfully asked, sending a look to Kith-Bakura.

“Is it true, boss?” a bodyguard from Kith's left asked the blonde Bandit, and Kith, looking a little flustered and annoyed, glared at him.

“Don't question my motives, you insignificant little punk.” Kith told the bodyguard, earning a strange look.

“Are you sure you're okay, boss? You sound a little weird…”the bodyguard said, but shut up immediately when he recognized the homicidal look on Kith's face.

“Shut your trap, you fool, and follow me outside. Mariku, we're leaving.” Kith-Bakura declared, wanting to take the bodyguard outside with him in order not to raise suspicion about his sudden change in conduct. Marik bit his lip and whole-heartedly hoped the bodyguards hadn't noticed that Kith had called him `Marik' instead of `Namu'..

The others, ignorant about Bakura being in Kith's body, were majorly confused by what Kith was asking them to do..nevertheless, fortunately for Marik, they did not question him and followed the orders.

Bakura did a flawless imitation of the real Kith's smug grin, as he approached the door that led to the main club. From behind him, his bodyguards faithfully followed. Marik, Ryou and their friends remained silent as they repeated their passing through the dance-floor and to the exit of the club. Needless to say, Ryou was a little more than plain shocked when he realized he was in a place he had never remembered going to. Then again, it was a usual occurrence these days, wasn't it?

For a moment, Ryou wondered why Serenity seemed to be avoiding him, but then he remembered Bakura was in control of his body before, so she might think he was still Bakura. Hesitantly, experimentally, Ryou put his arm around her waist, and she turned surprised eyes to stare at him. He smiled at her brightly, watching her eyes widen and glisten with happiness. Well, perhaps she had missed him as much as he had missed her.

He gave her a small peck on the lips and she beamed at him, stretching her hand across his back. She certainly felt content with Ryou's arms around her as they walked through the club, having a small, unwanted feeling of triumph. Finally, things were normal again. The body of her beloved one was finally used by its rightful owner, and the arms she adored so much were warming her, not somebody else.

Kith walked out of the club, giving the macho entrance guard a curt nod. He simply stood outside the club, waiting for Marik and all his friends to come out. Once Marik readily turned to talk to him, always wary of the guards around, Kith took it as his queue to speak.

“Well, I believe it's time to return your gift to you.” Kith said, with a dark smile. Marik mirrored the expression completely.

“Of course, Kith, it's always a pleasure doing business with you.” Marik drawled amiably, not failing to detect the incredible irony of the situation and his words.

“The boss is acting really weird, huh? Besides, his eyes look a little red…maybe it's the lighting or something…” one of the guards said to another and they both nodded thoughtfully in agreement to the statement.

None of the guards was watching Kith's face, however, since they were all gathered behind his back. Marik, who was face to face with the Bandit, watched in wonderment as Kith's red eyes started glowing brightly, like two fireballs in a storm.

Kith seemed to be in a trance-like state, as though not exactly in control of his actions. Bakura wasn't in total control of the body, obviously, so one could only assume he was controlling Kith's mind through the ring.

With glowing red eyes, Kith reached in his shirt and took out the glowing golden ring. Marik smiled almost maniacally as he looked at it.

Mutely, still in that trance-like state, Kith gave Marik the ring, surrendering it in the eagerly stretched tanned palms. Once Marik took hold of the ring, he felt its strange warmth heat his fingers and smiled.

“Thank you, Kith…I hope we have the pleasure of doing business with you again.” He said calmly, pressing the ring against his side. Had one been looking at Ryou at that moment, they would have seen the albino's worried eyes fixed solely on his ring, which Marik was now tucking safely in his pocket. Curiously, Marik's hand didn't leave his pocket, but remained clasped around the ring.

Kith didn't speak, just nodded numbly, his glowing eyes slowly losing their shine and turning back to bleak blue- their original color. Marik was worried- he wanted to tell Bakura not to let Kith go yet- not when Kith could still recognize them. But Kith didn't see to come to his senses at all.

Instead, the blond dealer started making guttural chocking sounds. His eyes didn't seem to move in accordance with each other and his limbs were flailing around frantically. Marik took a step back, looking wide-eyed at the lunatic in front of him.

The guards were alerted immediately. They ran to their employer's side quickly, supporting him and trying to get him to talk through his retching. Seeing the commotion going downhill from there, Marik back stepped, colliding with an aghast Ryou, who was standing a few feet behind him.

“Let's get the heck out of here!” Yugi suddenly said, grabbing Tea `s hand and urging her stunned body away. Mai, Tristan and Duke mimicked Yugi's movements.

“Hey, you! Wait a minute!!!” a guard shouted when he noticed they were starting to run. Seeing this was their escape route, Marik swiftly turned to the others.

“Run!” he shouted, and implemented his order by sprinting down the street, with Ryou and Serenity hot on his trail. Shouts from the guards could be heard on the back, as Kith's friends started chasing him no doubt. Marik stalled a little, wanting to be at the back of the group in order to observe the situation better.

`Damnit!!' Marik thought while he ran feverishly, taking a turn at a deserted alley on the right along with the others `What did Bakura do to Kith?'

\ \ I had to fry his brain. I couldn't allow him to come back to normal- he had already seen too much. \ \

Marik stopped dead in his tracks. A frigid angst climbed into his heart, as he felt a wave of amusement hit him from somewhere…somewhere…but not his own heart. Why was he feeling someone else's emotions…? And what was that voice in his mind? It sounded unfamiliar…almost…electronic.

`Bakura?' he thought privately, immediately looking down to stare at the ring in his pocket. Its pretty golden spikes clung melodically with each of Marik's movements. It looked innocent enough…

/ / The one who bears the ring is open to my control, Marik…Remember? / /

The voice…Bakura's voice, electronic and hazy in his mind. Was that Bakura's real voice? Why did it sound as though it was projected out of a computer?

/ / Run, you idiot! They're still after you!!! / / Bakura suddenly roared from his mind, making Marik wince and look behind him. He was still trying to recover from the shock when he saw Kith's guards running towards him.

He started running towards the direction his friends had disappeared to, quickly catching up to them.

`Why on earth did you have to make Kith a vegetable? As if we didn't have enough problems already…' Marik complained telepathically.

/ / It's permanent. Kith won't be recovering anytime soon. / / Bakura said in the satisfied manner of a cat which has just caught a disturbingly evasive mouse. Marik grinned at Bakura's glee in spite of himself, as he ran around another corner and stood rigid with his friends, stretching his ears to detect any sounds of guards chasing them. No sign. They were safe, for now.

Marik's friends started talking animatedly to each other, talking about how frightened they were and how they'd believed it was the end of their lives…But Marik stood alone, leaning on a dirty alley wall, staring at the ground. If only he could see his own face…he'd then recognize the dazed look he always saw on Ryou's face when the albino was talking to Bakura telepathically.

`I thought we'd never make it…' Marik admitted quietly, in a way that revealed he still couldn't register they had made it.

/ / You owe me one, pretty boy. / / Bakura said teasingly, and Marik could feel the comfort of Bakura's presence warm his heart. He sighed in bliss, savoring the rarity of being so very close to the one he craved- Bakura was under his skin. If Ryou had this advantage 24/7, then Ryou didn't even know how lucky he was.

Oops. Bakura hadn't detected that thought. Had he?

Marik was about to speak again telepathically, when he felt something shake his shoulder- something like an exterior presence. He vaguely registered Bakura's sheer annoyance at the interruption.

Marik turned dizzily to his left, only to see a strange-looking Ryou shaking his shoulder. There was some alien feeling -something akin to jealousy, yet understanding- in the albino's eyes.

“Sorry, what did you say?” Marik asked an apologetic Ryou.

“Um….” The reserved man started, looking pointedly at Marik's pocket where the ring rested “I asked if I could have my ring back, please.” He finished finally.

/ / Ahh…Brightside…always so polite. It's sickening. / / Bakura said his customary scathing comment. Marik smiled in amusement and felt Bakura's thrill at having succeeded in making him laugh. Bakura was really such a child, deep down -so cautious with his uncharted feelings—that it was truly sweet. Marik knew better than to believe all that crap about `the Brightside' and `the Darkside'. The truth was, Bakura and Ryou were two separate people in one body. It wasn't as though Ryou had all the good parts and Bakura had all the bad characteristics. They were just different people- different personalities, which, by some sullen twist of fate, had been squeezed together in one white-haired carcass. Whether the albino body's mouth sneered or smiled innocently depended solely on the person who was wielding it…

Marik knew Bakura and Ryou were different people. He had to know, because no matter what a pleasant guy Ryou was…Marik would have never felt for him what he felt for his spirit counterpart.

Upon seeing Ryou's expectant gaze, Marik remembered he was supposed to give a response. Nodding, he reached to his belt and started taking the ring out of his pocket.

He tried to ignore the compelling urge to keep Bakura's ring for his own- to keep Bakura with him forever and gain what he had always been jealous of. But, after all, he knew that Bakura's ring belonged around Ryou's neck and nowhere else. Everyone had connected the dark spirit with the angelic albino's face. A demon in an angel's body. Heaven's devil. Ryou's Bakura.

Slowly, trying not to look too reluctant, Marik gave Ryou his precious ring back. He let out a sigh when he felt the brilliant energy of Bakura's presence leave his body. Ryou looked deeply relieved when he pulled the ring over his neck again. He smiled at Marik and the tanned boy smiled back with all the sincerity he could muster

“You really do want him in your body, don't you? No matter what you say…” Marik asked Ryou quietly, as though resigned to his fate on never achieving the special bond that Ryou had with Bakura. But then again…maybe Marik's bond with Bakura could be a little different…

Ryou smiled softly and stared at the ring now resting in his hands. The golden ornament glowed softly. “Bakura and I are one and the same, no matter who wears the ring…” Ryou simply said, not really discarding Marik's question, but not fully answering either.

Ryou softly patted the surface of the ring, and Marik looked at him awkwardly.

“Rest, Darkness. You're home now.” Ryou said quietly, and Marik finally understood that Bakura must be recovering his powers. It all made perfect sense, suddenly.

Though Bakura was in his ring while he was with Marik, he wouldn't rest. Now, finally in Ryou's grasp, Bakura could finally let go and relax…even ancient spirits had a home, it seemed…A home where a family was waiting for them- in Bakura's case, where Ryou was waiting. Ryou, who was, for Bakura, a mother, a father, a sibling and a friend. Ryou's body, which was Bakura's solitary sanctuary.

It all clicked together: why Ryou didn't complain about being manipulated when Bakura used his body. No matter what people thought or what Ryou said, Ryou and Bakura had made an unspoken pact: to share the body and understand each other. Ryou might not be in agreement with Bakura's motives and he might not give up his body willingly, but he never threw the ring away. (2) He never voluntarily tried to get rid of Bakura…

Marik was blinded, suddenly, by the moving intensity of this brotherhood. It was crystal clear now: Ryou loved Bakura. And Bakura loved Ryou. It didn't make Marik half as angry as he thought it would, somehow. And he knew that though Serenity was uncomfortable with Bakura's use of Ryou's body, she would immediately understand too, if she could look in Bakura's heart and see the small child sitting there, blinking tearfully, waiting to be loved.

She wouldn't be angry either, had she known her beloved loved Bakura like a part of himself- like a brother, or even a son. Because that's what a family is. You don't select it, you just have it, and love it for what it is.

“We should go back to my house.” Mai's voice was heard loud and clear.

“Yes!” Marik nodded at once. He reached into his pocket and drew out the ID cards. At the surprised gasps of his friends, he smirked “I told you I'd get them.”

“But…but how?!” Tristan spluttered form beside an incredulous Duke.

Marik smiled once more “I'll tell you once we reach Mai's house. For now, I just want to sleep.”

Half-hearted nods of agreement came form everyone as they set out for the long walk to Mai's house. This place really was prehistoric- they actually had to walk! Then again, they couldn't really use a hovercraft, since they would draw too much attention.

Marik smirked at that thought. Right. As if they hadn't pulled enough attention already, what with the Bandit Kith fiasco and all.

He made small talk with Ryou and Serenity as they walked. The albino had his arm wrapped protectively around Serenity's back, and the girl looked happier than Marik had seen her in a while.

Oh great. Now he felt bad for wishing Bakura could take over Ryou's body again.

Well, this was Marik's life. A series of confused flashbacks and unrequited desires for something he could never have.

Time to push such disorientating thoughts aside. Marik looked down at his palm, which had the long-craved see-through ID locator cards.

Soon. Soon, when they'd reach Mai's house, he'd tell everyone their plan to get to the upper levels. He'd explain how they would break in Ishrat's house and find Joey.

Tomorrow was the day. The day they would hopefully find Joey and solve some of the mysteries that had been killing them all this time.

Tomorrow was the day. The day the answers would come.

(1): this is a real line from the dubbed YGO series (one of the two dubbed episodes I've ever seen). At the top of the Alcatraz tower in the BATTLE CITY arc, the dialogue goes like this exactly:

Kaiba: …so get out of here, coz in one hour, this tower will explode!!!

Joey and Duke: What! No!!

Tristan: You're kidding right? Please say yes!!

Kaiba: (baritone) I don't kid.

(2): notice that in YGO, Ryou is always saying that he doesn't want a cursed spirit in his body and that he'd rather die than be Bakura's puppet, but he never actually throws the ring away on his own volition. Tristan throws the ring away at some point, but it is magically returned to Ryou. Then, at some other point, Marik steals the ring, but it's returned to Bakura again, eventually. Notice that even though Ryou hates Bakura, he never throws the ring away on his own. It doesn't matter whether Bakura would return or not - what we care to notice is that Ryou doesn't even try to throw the ring away on his own.

A/n: Oh dear…things are getting serious…I don't know when I'll post the next chapter, but I'll try my best! Until then, plz review! PLZ with a cherry on top!!