Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Soul Of The Night ❯ Family Tree ( Chapter 18 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Family Tree

Ryou sat at the edge of the bed with his hands on his knees.  As he sat with his head lowered, his smooth, white hair draped over his shoulders.  He looked down at his stomach as he calmly breathed.  The hikari’s stomach began to rumble with hunger. He heard the lock on the door begin to click. Ryou turned his head and stood up.
Malik stepped into the room with four men flanked by two guards. “Good morning, Ryou. Did you sleep well? Our yami and I wore you out last night. You disappointed both of us by falling asleep.”
“What more did you have in mind?” Ryou asked, narrowing his eyes angrily.
Malik chuckled as two men placed a tray of meat and fruit on a side table.  The third man placed a large pitcher of water beside the trays of food. The fourth man approached Ryou slowly. “Kontar will examine you. We don’t want anything to happen to the next Prince of Egypt.”
Ryou backed away from the doctor. The doctor looked at Ryou’s stomach. “This is unbelievable! What evil spell has been cast upon you?”  The doctor reached for Ryou‘s stomach, but the hikari jumped backward. “Stay away from me!” Ryou growled.
“Please lay in the bed so that I may examine you.”
Ryou slapped the doctor’s arm away when he reached out for his shoulder.  “Keep your hands off me!”
Malik closed the door behind him as the two guards advanced on the white haired man against the wall. Ryou saw the guards and crawled over the bed to avoid them.  Ryou felt one of the soldiers grabbed his ankles. The hikari turned and kicked the soldier in the face with his bare feet.  Ryou stood on the opposite side of the bed as the two food carriers cornered him on the side of the bed.
“Ryou, do you honestly think that you can get away? The examination will just take a second.”
Ryou exclaimed angrily. “I don’t care what you do to me, but I will be damned if I let you hurt my baby!”
“We’re not going to hurt him, Ryou,” Malik said. “We’re just going to ensure that he is healthy.”
Ryou narrowed his eyes. “I was already examined and the doctor said the baby was fine. I don’t need your doctor to examine me.”
“This will be so much easier, Ryou, if you just do as I command,” Malik said.
The two men grabbed Ryou and wrestled him onto the bed. Two soldiers grabbed Ryou’s right arm and right leg. The food bearers held Ryou’s left arm and left leg. Ryou bit one of the men holding his arm, sinking his teeth in as far as he could.
“SETO! SETO, HELP!” Ryou screamed into the air. Ryou struggled in the grip of his captors.
The man grabbed Ryou’s arm again and pressed it into the bed.  
“It sounds like you are starting the fun without us,” Snefru said as he entered the room with his sister. “This is very peculiar.”
Ausaira approached the bed. “I have to see this for myself. I didn’t know our brother was capable of this type of magic.”
Malik watched as the doctor pulled down the edge of Ryou’s white skirt.  He slowly approached as the doctor’s hands touched the bump on Ryou’s stomach.
The white-haired hikari relaxed on the bed as his body was tired from struggling with his captors.  Kontar raised a curious eyebrow. “The child is moving. Remarkable, my pharaoh!  This is against the laws of nature set forth by the gods.” The doctor removed Ryou’s skirt and examined between Ryou’s legs.
Ausaira and Snefru leaned closely to examine Ryou's private area visually.
//Ryou, what the hell is going on?//
/The royal doctor is examining me. Your brother and sister can't tear their eyes away from my.....nether-region./
Ryou and Bakura tensed simultaneously as they felt the doctor massage between Ryou’s legs.
//Well, this is a hell of a way to wake up. I’d like it better if you were doing this to me rather than some stranger.//
/I tried to fight them off, 'Kura. I really tried./ Ryou felt tears trickling down his cheek.
//Take a deep breath, Ry, and try to relax. A second opinion couldn’t hurt on the baby.  I’ll make sure to put him on my list when I rescue you and kill everyone who laid a finger on you.//
/How could Malik do this?/
//He’s lucky if I don’t make him suffer ten million deaths for what he has done to you.//
Ryou squirmed as the doctor examined between his legs. When the doctor removed his hand from Ryou’s manhood, Ausaira reached for it and moved it to either side searching for an opening. “There‘s no place for the brat to come out.”
Ryou closed his eyes as complete embarrassment overwhelmed him. He felt the baby hiccup, causing the belly to slightly jump. “Get your hands off me, you bloody tart!” Ryou seethed.
“How can this man birth his child? Surely he can’t defecate it out,” the doctor suggested.
Snefru crossed his arms. “No Common Magic can do this. This has to be the work of Noble or Royal Magic."
/This is so incredibly demeaning./ Ryou said through the mindlink, feeling humiliated.  The doctor lifted Ryou’s scrotum and examined below. He closed his eyes, trying not to blush at the doctor’s curious pokes, prods, motions of his fingers, and his gasps of amazement.
“Can you please stop doing that?” Ryou groaned.
Ryou’s eyes widened as the doctor slipped a finger into him. Ryou clenched his fists and squirmed. “Get away from me!”
Malik sat beside Ryou and placed his hand on top of his friend’s chest. “Now, now, Ryou. You don’t want to exhaust yourself.  The last thing any of us want is for you to have the boy before he is ready to be born.  The prince can’t survive in these times without modern medicine.”
Ryou glared at Malik. “If we were not pulled into this era, that wouldn’t be a concern!”
Malik pat Ryou’s chest. “Relax, Ryou. The doctor will not hurt you.”
“This is fascinating," Snefru said with a grin. From the doctor’s touch, Ryou’s body began to react against his will. “Who would have known that our brother would be capable of this?"
Ausaira shrugged. “At least one guy in history learns how painful it is to deliver a kid."
Ryou relaxed as the doctor stopped his deep exploration of his body.
“I feel nothing wrong with his body.  The child is active and feels healthy.”
The men released Ryou, who curled into a ball on the bed facing away from Malik. Ryou covered his face as his knees bent. “I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life,” Ryou whispered.
“Our baby is healthy, Ryou,” Malik said, trying to feign concern.
“This baby is not yours!” Ryou said angrily. “And I will not let you take him from me!" Ryou’s eyes shed tears as he looked up at Snefru and Ausaira. “I will fight you if you come near my child." Ryou’s bottom lip trembled as he couldn’t stop the tears from embarrassment and pain. “So help me, I will tear you to pieces." Ryou turned and sat on the bed. “I will fight you with all my strength," the hikari said with venom in his voice. He looked up at his friend and narrowed his eyes. “Get out of here and leave me alone.” Ryou stood on his feet. “If you try to take my baby away from me or worse, I will kill you myself," Ryou growled with narrowed eyes.
Malik stood up from the bed. “You will eat and drink.  Perhaps if you are a good boy you can go out for a walk later with Marik and I.”
“I want Seto.”
“Seto is busy and has no time for you. Eat and drink. We don’t want you to die of starvation.”
Snefru and Ausaira turned to leave. Ryou watched Malik and the other men leave.  
The hikari made his way to the trays of food as the door was locked. He took a piece of bread and began to eat hungrily.
**********************
Aten stepped down the stairs and saw Bakura sitting with Little Marik on his lap. The little blond boy was snuggled against the thief, sleeping peacefully.  Bakura looked down at the boy and smiled.
“He told me before he fell asleep that he was worried about my younger self. How is he? Is he still asleep?”
Aten shifted on his feet. “I couldn’t find him last night. I couldn’t find mother either.”
Bakura snuggled Little Marik against him tighter. “Your father has captured your mother and he’s in the palace.”
Aten swallowed nervously. “Mother is in my father’s custody? Father Bakura, we have to get him out of the palace!”
“I’m going to scope out the security today. Marik knows the secret entrances to the palaces as much as I do.  He probably has those tunnels protected heavily.”
“What if he hurts mother?”
Bakura pat the sleeping boy’s leg. “I don’t think he will. He still thinks that Ryou is mortal. He wouldn’t want to kill Ryou while he still has the baby. No matter how much of an asshole he can be, I don’t think that he would be so cruel as to kill Ryou in his current state.  Ryou isn’t harmed. Marik told him he’s to be kept comfortable and fed.  Marik doesn’t want our Ryou to be starved and locked in the dungeon.” Bakura sighed. “That in itself makes me sigh with relief.”
“Does this mean that a part of my father still exists?”
Bakura nodded. “Let’s hope that’s the case, young Ishtar.”
“I’ll try to find your younger self, Father Bakura. He has to be around here somewhere.”
“My mother said some pretty nasty things to him. Whatever she said really pissed Ryou off.  The boy could be anywhere. In fact, Robbie should look for him. You and Marik here are the only ones who can read the scrolls.”
Aten watched the boy settle against Bakura and whimper in his sleep. “I’m surprised his father isn’t tracking him down.”
“His father never really cared about him, Aten.  His father is too busy wrapped in himself.”
Bakura held the boy against him and watched the little boy sleep. “Your father still means alot to me, Aten. I love your father.  My brother and sister will pay dearly for manipulating him and Malik. I promise you.” Bakura kissed the boy’s forehead and stood up. He handed Little Marik to Aten. “Ankhenaten, if something should happen to me while I’m trying to free your mother, you are in charge.  Keep Little Marik and Little Bakura safe. Do what you have to do.”
Aten held the boy in his arms. “I will, Father Bakura. You can count on me.”
“Good boy. Have Robbie find Little Bakura.”
Bakura caressed Aten’s cheek lightly. “Good luck, Aten.”
“Be safe, Father Bakura.”
Aten watched Bakura leave.   Bakura left the brothel and walked down the road toward the entrance to the city.  He turned right and walked down the adjoining road.  Bakura stopped at an intersection and looked down an alley. Two guards were posted at the end of the alley.
Bakura continued down the road and saw more guards on every street.  Bakura ran behind a house and climbed on top of a roof. The thief walked along the rooftops to survey the troops.
Every street is crawling with soldiers.  I hope my younger self hasn’t run himself into trouble.  Bakura looked at the palace walls where armed soldiers were carrying their spears on patrol. I can’t give up. Ryou is counting on me. I won’t let you down, baby.
**********************
Joey and Yugi watched as black-robed Tombkeepers patrolled the grounds of the royal gardens.  Aria and Umi were sitting under a palm tree, but the children were not wandering from within their parents’ reach. Yugi and Joey approached the Tsunamis and saw the uneasiness in their eyes. “Hi, guys, I’m glad to see you two are doing alright so far,” Joey said. “That is, considering crazy Marik’s back.”
“Who are these creepy creeps?” Umi asked.
Yugi looked at a man and woman emerging from the palace, hand in hand. “They’re Tombkeepers. Your father and us encountered them in the Battle City Tournament before you were born. They were under Malik’s command.”
“What do they want?”
Yugi shrugged. “I don’t know why Malik is leading them again.”
Aria watched as the young woman and man approached her. “Can I help you?”  she asked, keeping her guard up.
“You look like someone we know quite well.  Do you know Bakura Osiris Itemri?”
Aria nodded. “Yes, I do.”
Kai and Rhett smiled. “Papa Bakura! Where is he?”
“He’s my father,” Aria said.
The man and woman chuckled. “So, it is true.  Well, we’ll have to sit down and talk about him sometime. We know him, too. We have alot of catching up to do.”
“How do you know him?” Umi asked.
The man grinned. “He’s my brother.”
Aria’s eyes widened as she slowly rose to her feet. “My father’s brother? That can’t be possible. Daddy never mentioned having a brother.”
The girl crossed her arms against her chest. “Bakura never spoke about us, Snefru. Such a pity.”
Aria looked at the other girl. “Who are you?”
“Bakura is my older brother, too, sweetheart,” the girl smiled. “It’s a shame he never mentioned having a brother and sister.”
Yugi and Joey exchanged glances and stood on their feet. “Bakura never talked about his family.”
“What a pity,” the man said casually. “It’s not surprising.”
Aria stared at the two in shock. “My father didn’t have a brother and sister. He never talked about you.”
Snefru scoffed with derision. “Well, my dear, it’s about time you know your real family tree. I’m Snefru and this is my sister, Ausaira.”
“What is your name, our little niece?”
“Aria Kanika Itemri,” Aria said uncomfortably.
Ausaira looked at the two young boys by Umi. “Is this your family?”
“Kai is four and Rhett is two years old. My husband is Umi Tsunami.”
Snefru raised a curious eyebrow. “Who is your mother?  I had heard rumors on the streets that our brother....didn’t always favor men in his bed. He stuck it to any girl around.”
Aria narrowed her eyes at the woman.  “I don’t know who my mother is.”
“I miss Nana,” Kai said sadly.
Ausaira chuckled. “It doesn’t surprise me that you don’t know who your mother is. Your daddy is and will always be a little man-whore.”
Aria narrowed her eyes. Umi saw his wife’s hair twitch with irritation. “You take that back, you little bitch.”
“Oh, did I hit a nerve? Didn’t your daddy teach you not to use such language on your elders?”
“You don’t look that much older than me!”
“Umm, Aria? Maybe we should go back inside,” Umi said uneasily.
Aria glared at Ausaira. “Yeah, you’re right. I don’t like the smell out here. It smells like rotten fish. You should get that looked at Ausaira.”
Snefru grinned as he watched his sister’s teeth grind.  “She has a mouth on her.”
Aria picked up Rhett and brought him into her arms. “Stinky pussy,” Aria whispered as she walked away with Kai and Umi.
“You little bitch!” Ausaira exclaimed as she shoved Aria.
Aria turned her head and quickly punched Ausaira in the face. Ausaira held her face as blood trickled down her cheek. “Touch me again and I’ll kick your ass!”
Yugi and Joey exchanged uneasy glances. “Bakura was right,” Joey said calmly. “The fruit never falls far from the tree.”
Yugi tapped Joey on the shoulder and the blond leaned over. “I know she didn’t get that from Ryou.”
“I don’t know. Ryou can get pretty feisty at times.”
Yugi and Joey ran to Aria and her family. “Aria, do you think that was a good idea?”
“I’m not going to let anyone bad-mouth my father. I don’t care who they are. My father may not be perfect, but he is my father.”
Joey and Yugi watched Aria walk away with her family. “Do you think her father will be so forgiving when and if he finds out that Seto fathered Aria’s daughter?”
Joey shook his head. “I doubt it.”
*******************************
Ryou sighed as he sat before the crackling fire in the fireplace.  Ryou sat on the rug and rubbed his teary eyes.  He would have given all the money in the world to have Bakura nearby.  He cringed as he could still feel the doctor’s hands on him.  Deep in his heart, he trusted Bakura with the skill to bring the baby into the world rather than the doctor.  Even though Bakura had no medical training, he trusted his husband more.
He wanted Bakura near him. He needed Bakura near him.  He was afraid and had found no escape from the room.  Ryou lowered his head as he looked at the burning wood in the fire.
Every day the doctor would return and examine him and he had already been groped by both Marik and Malik.  His throat was hurting from calling for help.  
//Ryou, are you alright?//
/Yami, I wish you were here, but somehow...I’m glad you’re not. I know what Marik would do to you./
From his perch above the city streets, Bakura felt his lover’s emotions flooding through the mindlink. Ryou was scared, lonely, and upset.  It hurt him that he couldn’t be near his anxious hikari.
//I know, Ry. I’m trying to find a way into the palace. Malik’s little boy toy has this place guarded tooth and nail.  The old entrances into the palace have been destroyed. Unfortunately, the walls are patrolled constantly.//
/Have you found Little Bakura?/
//We’re still looking for him. That boy hid himself really well. I’m surprised he hasn’t returned to us. I've checked all my old hiding spaces and he's nowhere to be found.//
/Bakura, you can’t let anything happen to him./
//We’ll find him, Ry.//
Ryou looked into the fire sadly. /Yami, what are we going to do?/
Bakura could feel his lover wanting to cry. //Ryou, be strong. I know you can be strong for me.//
Ryou nodded slowly. /I will be. For both of us./
//That’s my good boy.//
Ryou’s head snapped up as he heard the lock snap. Ryou stood up and swallowed nervously.
The door to the room opened and Yami Marik stepped through the threshold with two men carrying trays of food into the room. Both men scurried from the room hastily and the door locked behind them.
“Hello, Ryou," Yami Marik said casually with a grin, his coal-black eyes shimmering in the firelight.
“Marik?  What do you want with me?"
Marik grabbed a seat and sat beside the table with the dishes of lamb, fruit, and bread. “Sit. Eat. Join me for dinner."
Ryou cautiously sat across from Marik. He watched every movement of the yami carefully. “Marik, tell me one thing.”
Marik grabbed a roasted leg of lamb. The yami dug his teeth into the leg and ripped the meat from the bone with his sharp canines.  Juices from the meat crept down his chin as a piece of lamb swung like a pendulum off the bone. “Ask away.”
“You’re not going to hurt my baby, are you?”
Yami Marik chuckled. “Why would I want to harm my child?”
“You are not his father, Marik." Ryou swallowed nervously. “You’re going to deprive my child of his real father?”“I have no doubt that Bakura would love for his son to be the next king of Egypt. It’s better than living on the streets being bitten alive by rats and lice, foraging like an animal, giving in to...baser appetites to feed his belly.”
“I think Bakura would disagree with you,” Ryou said calmly as he took a piece of bread.  
Yami Marik shrugged. “He can disagree with me all he wants. I’m the pharaoh. I can do what I want. I have the power over life and death.”
Ryou took a bite of his bread and chewed slowly. When he finally swallowed, he looked at Marik. “That’s what Yami said. Marik, can’t you see the power of being pharaoh is blinding you to all that you hated in Yami? You’re becoming everything you have ever hated.”
The yami snorted with derision. “I’m still nothing like him.”
“So far I don’t see any difference, Marik.”
“You don’t, hmm? You will see the differences in time.”
Ryou placed a chicken breast onto his plate and cut it up slowly. “Marik, what have I done to make you hate me?”
“I don’t hate you, Ryou. If I hated you, I would have locked you in the dungeon like Yami.  I’d take the baby right now if I hated you, but I know he wouldn’t be able to live out here now. So, I’ll give you and him a little more time.”
Ryou swallowed nervously. “Marik, how do we get home? What happened to you in Kaiba’s Summer Home?”
“A bright light filled the room and I was awakened to my true purpose. What I saw was the Light of Truth. Everything was made clear and I knew my destiny had to be fulfilled as the Son of the House of Ishtar.”
Ryou ate a piece of his chicken. “But, Marik, you never had anything good to say about your family.  You hated your father. This you....this is not the Marik I know. What happened to you before you saw the light?”
Marik tore another big bite of meat from the lamb leg.  “I placed Malik behind me because I was protecting him.”
Ryou swallowed his morsel. So that means that whatever changed him occurred after he was transported here. Marik was protecting Malik from something. Was it that light? “Marik, what did Snefru and that girl do to you and Malik?”
Ryou saw the yami chew quietly. Yami Marik’s eyebrows narrowed and the yami swallowed slowly. The hikari squirmed in his chair uncomfortably under the angry scrutiny of his lover.
“Marik, I don’t trust Snefru.  Don’t you see he is trying to get revenge at Bakura through you?  Bakura wants you and Malik back. I want you and Malik back.  Marik, tell me what we have to do to get you back.”
A low rumble sounded from Marik’s throat. “You couldn’t possibly begin to understand.”
“Tell me what happened to you and Malik. What has made rage take over your heart?”
****************************
Yugi and Seto walked down the hallway. Seto strolled beside the shorter man listening to Yugi’s account of Ausaira and Aria’s encounter in the courtyard.  Seto chuckled as he heard of Aria’s reaction. “She has a little spark in her that comes from her father,” Seto said. “I don’t expect that to be extinguished any time soon.”
Yugi sighed. “I’m concerned about her picking a fight with Snefru. What if he puts her back into the dungeon?”
“If he wanted to do so, he would have done it already.  The fact that he let it go tells me either he didn’t care or was amused by Aria’s reaction.”
“WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF RAGE?” A bellowing voice sounded from down the hall.
“What the hell was that?” Seto asked.
“GET BACK HERE!”
“GET AWAY FROM ME! HELP!”
Seto and Yugi ran down the hallway towards Marik’s angry screaming voice and the desperate pleas of a British voice.  Two guards stood in their path as they approached the door.
“Sorry, High Priest Seth, you cannot enter.”
“SETO!”
Seto narrowed his eyes and punched the guard standing before him. The guard collapsed to the ground. The brunet pushed the other guard to the side and burst through the door with Yugi. Yugi and Seto saw Yami Marik slap Ryou across the face.  
Yugi ran in front of Yami Marik and held up his hands. “Marik, stop this!”
Seto ran to Ryou laying beside the bed. Seto kneeled beside Ryou and gathered the hikari into his arms. “Ryou! When did you get here?”
Ryou’s eyes remained fixed on Yami Marik. “A few days ago.”
Yami Marik narrowed his eyes at Yugi. He pointed the Millennium Rod at the shorter man. “Be careful, Hikari Motou.  This does not concern you.”
“It does when you are hurting my friends!”
“Your friend? In Duelist Kingdom, you couldn’t have cared less about him. In Battle City, you were more concerned with other matters.”
Yugi shook his head. “Not true! We begged Kaiba to land the blimp to get Ryou to the hospital.  How can you say we didn’t care?”
Ryou clutched onto Seto and cuddled close to the CEO. “Seto, keep him away from me! He wants to take the baby!”
Seto glared up at Yami Marik. “What are you thinking?”
“Get out of here. Both of you.”
Seto clutched Ryou closer to his body. “I’m not leaving Ryou.”
“You’ve made a big mistake interfering, High Priest Seth. Ryou does not leave this room. He is to remain here,” Yami Marik turned on his heels and walked out of the room quickly.
Ryou held onto Seto tightly and lowered his eyes. “Seto...”
Yugi grabbed a cup of water and brought it before Ryou. “Here, sip this.”
Seto watched Ryou sip from the cup. “Are you hurt?”
“Only my pride, I guess,” Ryou said, rubbing his cheek. “It wouldn’t be the first time I got slapped in the face.”
Seto kissed Ryou’s forehead. “Yugi, go get Glenn. Have him examine Ryou.”
“No!" Ryou tensed and cuddled closer to Seto. His body began to tremble.
“Ryou, we have to make sure the baby-."
“He’s fine, Seto," Ryou said quickly. “I don’t want to be examined again!"
Seto saw the look of horror in the hikari’s face. “What did he do to you, Ryou?"
“Marik ordered his doctor to examine me every morning. Seto, the things he was saying this morning were so embarrassing.” The hikari buried his face in Seto’s chest, sobbing quietly.
Seto caressed Ryou’s hair as he held the white-haired hikari on the floor. “It’ll be alright, baby.”
Ryou looked up at Yugi. “Thank you for coming.”
Yugi chuckled. “Seto actually punched the guard to get in here.”
“He was asking for it,” Seto said, looking into the hikari’s brown eyes.  “He got between me and my angel.”
Ryou closed his eyes as Seto pressed his lips against his own. Ryou felt Seto caress his cheek. Seto could feel the other man relax in his arms. Ryou rested his head against Seto’s chest.
“Angel,” Seto whispered as Ryou’s eyelids began to flutter.
Yugi looked at the table full of food. “It looks like Marik’s feeding him well.”
“I don’t think Marik wants him to starve,” Seto said, shifting an arm under Ryou’s legs. The CEO picked up his drowsy friend and laid him on the bed. “If he wanted Ryou harmed, he would have locked him in the dungeon with Yami.  If Marik wanted Ryou hurt, he certainly would not call a doctor in every day to examine him.”
“Seto.....”
Seto looked down at Ryou and sat beside him. He rubbed Ryou’s stomach lightly and felt a slight movement under his palm.  “What is it, Ryou?”
“I miss Bakura.”
“Where is he?”
“He’s in the city. He went to the brothel where he’s staying with Aten, Robbie, and the little boys.”
Yugi stepped beside the bed. “I don’t know if Marik will welcome Bakura with open arms.”
“He’ll welcome Bakura with the blade of the Millennium Rod,” Seto commented.  Seto caressed Ryou’s cheek and kissed Ryou. “Go to sleep, angel. Yugi, can you stay here with Ryou until he falls asleep?”
Yugi nodded and sat on the bed. He took Ryou’s hand. “I’ll stay with you, Ryou. You have nothing to worry about.”
“Thank you, Yugi.”
The shorter man nodded. “I have your back, Seto.”
Seto left the room and saw the injured guard standing and holding his face. He grabbed the guard’s leather armor and pulled him close. “If I find for one moment that you have hurt Ryou, you will suffer more than a broken nose.”
“Yes, High Priest!”
“Where is Marik?”
“His quarters are next door."
Seto walked down the hall towards Marik’s chambers.  Seto burst through the door. Marik and Malik turned their heads to see Seto grab the yami by the throat. “What the hell is wrong with you assaulting Ryou?”
Yami Marik pushed Seto backwards angrily.  “Keep your filthy hands off me, Seto!”
“What’s this bullshit of you wanting to take Ryou’s baby? Marik, that child is not your son and you know it!"
Marik grinned. “I take what I want. I don’t need to ask."
Seto stood up and glared at Malik. “What do you have to do with keeping Ryou locked up in that room?”
“Would you prefer we put him in the cold, dark, damp dungeon until we’re ready to pluck the baby from him?” Malik asked. “I guess it would be appropriate for Ryou to perish in the same cell as his yami. Ryou can get a little taste of his yami’s medicine. Ryou would perish quickly.”
Marik poked the fire in the fireplace with the metal poker. “You’re acting as if we are abusing Ryou. He’s safe. He’s well-fed. The royal doctors are keeping an eye on him.”
“You need to return Ryou to Bakura.”
“I don’t NEED to do anything,” Yami Marik said.  “Ryou stays here. If I find that you have freed him, Seto, your friends will pay the ultimate price, including Aria.”
Seto glared at Marik. “Why did you hit Ryou?”
“Ryou made me mad.”
“So you hit him? Seto, you can’t do that!”
Yami Marik stood and looked Seto in the eye. “I am the pharaoh. I can do anything I want. In speaking of doing whatever I want, to celebrate Malik and my ascension to the throne, we will be throwing a little celebration.  I trust as my High Priest that you will go.”
“What makes you think I am your High Priest?”
Malik approached Seto and poked him in the chest with the Millennium Rod. “If you don’t wish to serve in that capacity any longer, you can join Yami in the dungeon. It’s your choice.”
Seto growled. “I won’t tolerate Ryou being assaulted,” Seto turned and left the room.
Malik stood beside his yami and put his arm around him. “Do you think it was smart to tell him about our little party?”
Yami Marik grinned and pulled him hikari against him. “Bakura won’t pass up an opportunity to come and save his husband. He’ll be here. When he comes, we’ll be ready for him...and so will a dungeon cell.”