Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The Yami Virus ❯ The Cure? ( Chapter 49 )

WARNING: LANGUAGE AGAIN.

Kura Magician Girl: Aria can go scary when she gets yami.

Angel Hoshi: Do you want a Marik x Malik x Ryou? I think that can be arranged. I can do that for you.

Super JM: I hope you're feeling better. *hugs*

Valea: All my bullies' parents were like Eric's mom…their kids always did no wrong. Aten kicks butt all the time!

Broken Time: No…the cure won't bring Bakura back. They need to find a way to bring him back.

Mariku182: Rhonda will get her butt kicked.

Crazy-Kins: I hope you enjoyed your vacation. Where did you go?

Lady Elfskye: Aria loves Umi. It hurt her to hurt him. It will be Aten vs. Aria in the finals.

lost light: they won't come back to life for a little bit.

The Cure?

Malik and Marik had returned to the Museum library, sneaking past the guards the same way he had with Bakura.

Malik rolled his eyes. "Could they have placed those security cameras at an any more obvious place? They're getting sloppy with their security system."

Marik held his hikari's hand as they walked through the halls, the Millennium Rod making them both invisible to the guards and the system. "This is not the place to be sloppy with their security system. See that belt? That used to be mine. That was when I was living with my Latin hikari in the Middle Ages."

Marik lead Malik down the steps to the library. The two looked around. Malik tossed books off of the shelf.

"Seen this one…..and this one…….and this one……..and this one…….and this one……and this one……….Dear Ra Almighty! I feel like I've been through everything!"

Marik opened up another box. "We can't give up, baby. If we give up, you'll lose me." Marik stepped up to his frustrated hikari. He stroked Malik's cheek. "I don't want to lose you forever, Malik." Tears welled up in Marik's eyes. "I don't want to die."

Malik hugged his yami. "You won't, Marik. I won't let you die."

"Let's keep trying. We haven't checked the boxes on the top shelf here yet."

Marik reached up and grabbed the box off of the top shelf. Marik closed his eyes, the room starting to spin.

His hikari's hands gripped him to prevent his fall.

"Marik! I've got you!"

"Get the box!"

Marik handed Malik the box and fell back off of the ladder. The box tipped slightly and a scroll rolled to the other end of the room and stopped.

"Marik! Are you okay?!"

Malik put the box down and went to his yami. Marik rolled on his side and looked down as the pain in his back radiated up to his head.

Marik's jaw dropped. "Oh……..my…….god! Malik! Look at that!"

Malik looked down to where Marik pointed. It was a figure who looked like Bakura and who was standing in front of Anubis.

"Does it say whether Bakura passed the trial of Anubis?"

Marik sifted through the text. "No. It doesn't say."

"What does it say about Bakura?"

Marik narrowed his eyes.

"'The Spirit of the Ring shall fall from grace

Whose punishment is spent with battered face.

Crimson rivers flow like blood

Tears of sorrow his cheeks will flood.'"

Marik shook his head. "I have to go to the Underworld and see what is going on with him."

Malik put a hand on Marik's shoulder. "Are you sure you want to go to the Underworld? What if you can't return?"

Marik shook his head. "I went down there to get you and the kids before, Malik. I can come back. If you or Ryou come along, I will not be able to bring you back. You will die if you go to the Underworld."

Malik looked at the previous part of the scroll. "Yami! It's Yami!"

Marik narrowed his eyes.

"'The pharaoh shall remain untouched

by Anubis' scales, but is guilty much.

The pharaoh shall attain great power

by watching his prey shake and cower.'"

Marik's fist clenched and slammed against the floor. This news, coupled with Bakura's fate, made him nervous.

Bakura needed a visit.

Badly.

Malik and Marik scanned this scroll.

"Still nothing on how to cure the Yami Virus."

Malik gasped. "No! Look! A CURE!"

"Read it!"

"'The Yami Virus, dark and deadly

Kills off each yami slow and steady.

To cure this Virus of painful death

Each yami must breathe his last dying breath.'"

Marik and Malik exchanged glances. "That has to be wrong, Malik!"

"It's right here in black and white hieroglyphics! You have to die to cure the Yami Virus!"

Marik buried his face in his hands. "But, obviously if I die from the Virus, I'm not cured of it! How can that be possible?!"

Malik re-read the passage. "I read it right, Marik. You have to die to cure the Virus."

Marik's eyes darkened and his canines sharpened. "This fucking scroll makes no sense! All this searching and I have to die?! This is bullshit!"

Malik held up his hands in front of him to protect him from his yami's wrath. "Maybe when Bakura died, the Virus left his body with the dust that was left behind! That's a possibility."

"Continue."

"Ummm……well, Viruses live in tissue and the bloodstream, right?"

"Go on."

Malik stood up. "When Bakura died, his tissue rotted! His body dried up into the skeleton that we sat in Cairo! Maybe the virus is cleared from the body through that dust." Malik looked down. "Then again, Ryou said that Yami just turned into a mummy. Maybe that is the way to destroy the virus, yami. Maybe the scroll is right."

Marik's eyes lightened a little. He re-read the scroll and lowered his head. "Well, now that we know the cure, now we have to find a way to bring a yami back from the dead."

Malik saw Marik waver. "Yami, you're tired. You need to get home."

Marik winced at the pain in his back shoulder blade.

"What's wrong?"

"My shoulder blade is killing me."

Malik rolled up Marik's shirt and found a red mark by his shoulder blade. The red mark was trickling a small amount of blood.

"Yami, you're bleeding! Come on, we're going home."

Marik turned to look at his shoulder. "That's where I was shot with the arrow when I was killed."

Marik gripped his chest. "My heart…chest is killing me."

Malik helped Marik onto his feet. "Let me get you home, angel."

**************************

Ryou tucked Aria into bed with a smile. "I'm proud of you today, Aria."

Aria sighed. "But, I hurt Umi. That wasn't very nice of me. I tried to control it, mommy. I really tried. Maybe Eric is right." Aria looked over sadly. "Maybe I am a freak because of my Shadow Powers."

Ryou kneeled beside the bed and turned her head to face him. "Aria, baby girl? I don't ever want you to think that you are a freak because you have those powers. You are special. You just…haven't learned how to control them yet."

"But, they scare me! I can't control my other self when I'm like that! When I go…..yami, I can't control myself."

Ryou brushed her white spiky hair with his hand. "You'll learn how to control it, Aria. You have to give yourself time. You're young. Trust me, baby, there is nothing freaky about being different."

"I'm not like the other kids," she whimpered with tears in her eyes. "I want to be normal like the other kids."

It hurt Ryou to see his daughter so sad. He didn't know what to say to her. He didn't have the powers that Bakura had. Only he could explain this to her….and he wasn't here.

"Aria, you might think that the powers are a curse, but one day, they can save your life. You aren't a freak. You look like a normal girl to me, but you are not normal, Aria."

Aria looked up at Ryou sadly.

"Aria, we are not a normal family. Nobody else in your school lives with four men, two of whom are spirits. I'm not a normal mother. If I was, I'd be a woman. But, I'm a guy. Malik and Marik, well, they are far from normal, but I love them both. We may not be a normal family, Aria, but we all love each other, no matter who says differently."

Aria hugged Ryou tightly.

"You can't stop being who you are, Aria. To everyone else you may look like a normal kid, but to me……you will always be my chibi yami and I will always love you. And nobody can take that away from you. If you feel really bad, Aria, maybe you can ask Daddy Marik to teach you how to control your powers. I'm not saying he knows a lot about control, but he'd be the best one to talk to you about Shadow Magic. We want to help you control your powers, Aria."

Aria nodded. "Okay. I'll talk to Daddy Marik tomorrow after Aten's duel."

Ryou smiled. "Who's got daddy's bloodlust?"

Aria giggled as Ryou tickled her. "I do! I do! I got daddy's blood lust!"

Ryou kissed her cheek. "You sure do, baby girl. Here's your dolly, sweetheart. Go to sleep, angel."

"Goodnight, mommy. SEKHMET!"

Ryou shut the light off in her room. Aria's dog, Sekhmet trotted into her room and jumped up on her bed.

"Goodnight, baby girl."

Ryou kept the door open a little so he could let the dog out before he went to bed.

Ryou went into Aten's room and tucked him into bed.

"Nervous for tomorrow, baby?"

Aten bit his lip. "Mommy? Tan…Tan I borrow your Ring again tonight?"

"My Millennium Ring? Sure, son. Did it work?"

Aten nodded. "It tept away the bad girl in my dreams the other night. I need a good night seep so I tan win tomorrow."

Ryou smiled. "Take it for tonight, Aten."

"Love you, mommy."

"Love you, too, sweetheart."

Ryou kissed Aten on the cheek and gave him Bananas, his favorite monkey. "Sleep well."

"You, too, mommy."

Ryou closed Aten's door and went downstairs. He boiled himself a hot cup of tea when Marik and Malik walked in through the door.

Sekhmet came running down the stairs to protect its master. When it saw Marik and Malik walk in again, the dog ran upstairs.

"Marik, are you okay?"

Marik laid on the couch. "Yeah, just a chest cramp. I'll be fine."

Malik walked into the kitchen. "Well, we found a cure."

Ryou grabbed Malik's shirt and pulled him towards him. "What is the cure?!"

"Marik has to die."

"What?!"

"Marik has to die to get the virus out of his system."

Ryou released Malik. "Why?"

Malik shrugged. "I don't know. He just does."

"What kind of a cure is that?!" Ryou growled angrily. "That makes no sense!"

Malik stepped towards Ryou, but Ryou was in no mood for physical touch. "This means we have to find out what brings a dead yami back."

Ryou poured hot water over his chai tea. "Did you find anything else?"

Malik shook his head and grabbed a glass of soda. "Not much else. Marik wasn't feeling well. We had to come home."

Ryou sighed and added cream and sugar to his tea. "Oh. Better luck tomorrow."

"Yeah, I guess. Well, we looked on a shelf I couldn't reach. Marik had quite a tumble, but he's okay. A nice hot shower will take care of that ache."

Malik felt two arms encircle his waist.

"The ache I have, no shower can get rid of, Malik," Marik whispered into Malik's ear. "I'm going to go get showered and then, I think we should have an early bedtime." A playful lick to Malik's ear and the yami disappeared.

Ryou looked up. "You okay, Malik? You look pale."

"No, I'm okay. Umm…I'm going to go to bed early, Ryou. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."

Malik kissed Ryou on the lips. "Goodnight, Ryou."

Malik ran upstairs.

Ryou carried his tea into the living room. He sat on the couch and looked around. Aten and Aria were in bed. Marik and Malik were off doing their thing.

He was alone.

Ryou lowered his head. 'Alone……again.'

**************************

Malik stripped and slipped into the bed. His yami strut naked into the room and slipped beside Malik.

"Hello, baby….how are you feeling?"

"How's your chest, Marik? I know you were in pain earlier."

Marik placed his lips to Malik's neck and gently sucked on the tan skin. "There is only one thing that can make me feel better, Malik."

Marik jumped on top of Malik. Marik gently kissed Malik's lips and trailed down the front of his neck to his chest.

"Marik…don't strain yourself, angel."

Marik grinned. "I promise not to strain myself, baby. Just lay back, relax, and enjoy."

Marik traced Malik's collarbone with softly peppered kisses. Malik squirmed under Marik's body, writhing against him and enjoying the gentleness of his yami's actions.

"You had me worried with what you said in the kitchen, Marik. I thought you were going to hurt me."

Marik stopped and looked down at his hikari. "Baby, I never want to hurt you again. With Bakura's loss and what we have seen today, I just needed you. I don't want to lose you, Malik. I'm afraid. It's not like me to admit something like that."

Malik stroked Marik's cheek. "No, it's not. We'll find a way, Marik. Don't worry about it. Make love to me if that is what you need."

"Do you want me to make love to you?"

Malik rubbed his hips against his yami. "If that is what you want, baby. Yes."

Marik trailed another line of kisses down Malik's chest, taking a nipple between his lips and teasing it with his tongue.

Malik felt his yami's hand reach between his legs and massage him.

"Marik, baby…….gods, take me. I want you."

Marik stopped suckling on Malik's nipple and rested his head on Malik's chest. Marik's body was shaking. His hair spiked, and his canines grew. His fingers clenched the sheets tightly.

"Malik………"

"Marik, baby? What's wrong?"

Marik lifted his head and sweat had formed on his tan skin.

Malik saw lust in his yami's eyes like he had never seen before. It wasn't the usual look his yami had given him before some of their rougher love sessions.

This was a look of brutality.

"Malik……..leave the room."

"Why? Did I do something?"

Marik's body shuddered. "Leave the room…..lock the door behind you. Don't let me leave this room."

"What is it, Marik? Please tell me!"

"It's the Virus…..I…I want to hurt you…..I want to fuck you like you've never been fucked before. I don't want to hurt you. Please leave."

Malik shifted from under Marik and stood up.

"Lock the door behind you," Marik growled, his body trying to contain the urge to grab Malik and pound him mercilessly.

Malik locked the door and left the room.

Ryou had retired to bed early. "Malik? Weren't you and Marik….making love?"

"Marik told me to leave. He said he wanted to hurt me. He had me lock the door behind me."

Ryou opened his arms and a frightened Malik ran into them. "Yami and Bakura had this happen to them, Malik. It's part of the virus' progression."

Ryou hugged Malik tightly.

In the next room, they heard Marik moaning and growling.

His fierce grunts and moans made it obvious what was happening in that room.

Ryou caressed Malik's blond hair. Ryou held his naked friend against him, his own naked body pressed against Malik.

Ryou closed his eyes. "I miss holding Bakura like this, Malik. I hope wherever he is…that he is okay."

Malik sniffled and buried his head in Ryou's scarred chest. "So do I. Even though we didn't have a lot in common…and even though we didn't spend much time together alone….I miss him."

Ryou wiped away a tear. "It feels like he's been dead forever. It's hard to keep going without him. Aria and Aten need me now. At least this tournament is helping to distract them. Aria's very self-conscious about her Shadow Powers. I wish I knew what to say to her. Aten's appointment with Dr. Chapman is after the tournament is done."

"Miranda once told me that as a parent, sometimes you don't have all of the answers, Ryou. And that's okay. Aria's naturally confused about her special powers. She'll learn how to control them. She needs training and practice."

"Maybe Marik can talk to her in the morning……..if he's up to it."

An angry growl came from the next room.

"I doubt he'll be up to anything."

Aten burst into the room. "Mommy! What's wrong with daddy? He's making funny noises in his room that are staring me!"

"Come into bed with us, baby," Ryou said.

Malik and Ryou spread apart and let Aten slip into bed between them.

Aten buried his face in Ryou's chest. He crossed his arms in front of his chest like a mummy and sighed contentedly.

"Mommy, tan you teep the bad dreams away?"

"I'll try, baby. Close your eyes, sweetheart."

Ryou wrapped his arms around his sleeping child with a smile and a contented sigh. Malik kept his hands off of Aten, afraid to make the bad dreams come.

**************************

Malik opened the door to his bedroom that morning and found Marik curled up in the corner of the room. His arms were wrapped around his legs and he was rocking himself. The bedsheets were torn and shredded, but other than that, there was no damage done to the room.

"Marik? Marik, are you better?"

Marik looked up. "Malik?" Marik staggered to his feet.

The yami brought his hikari into his arms. "I'm glad you're okay. I wasn't sure if I hurt you."

"I'm not hurt. I'm glad you're okay."

Marik kissed Malik's forehead. "Of course I am, hikari. I just didn't want to hurt you."

Malik nodded. "You don't need to explain. I love you, Marik."

Marik smiled. "Me, too. Now, let's get going. We have a tournament to go to today."

****************************

Aten waited nervously for Rhonda to show up. Tristan and Otogi came up to him. "Good Luck, Aten. We know you can beat her," Tristan encouraged him.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, brother," Tristan's brother grinned as he approached. "My girl is very good and very, very talented."

Rhonda stuck her tongue out at Aten. "Are you ready to get your butt kicked?"

Aten narrowed his eyes, his hair twitched and spiked. "Are you ready to lose, you little freak?"

Aten's eyes went dark and his hair spiked angrily.

Tristan's brother narrowed his eyes. "I see you brought your little bitch with you, Tristan."

Tristan growled. "Yes, I've brought him with me. What's it to you?"

"It's a shame you have to corrupt this poor child here with your embarrassing behavior."

"Do I look like I have my tongue down Otogi's throat? Hmm…That's a tempting idea."

His brother curled his nose in disgust. "You are an embarrassment to the family."

"And you're a homophobic, prejudiced asshole."

Tristan's brother laughed. "My girl will mop the floor with that boy."

Aten's nails sharpened. "I disagree. Let's get this started!"

Seto stood up. "The next round of the semi-finals is about to begin. Aten Bakari Ishtar Ibn Marik vs. Rhonda Jane Taylor."

Aten drew his cards and grinned. 'My faithful gravekeepers…'

"I play my 'Gravekeeper's Curse' (800/800) in defense mode. You take 500 points of direct damage!"

Rhonda whined as her lifepoints dropped to 3500. "That card is so ugly! Then again, it looks much better than you do!"

"I also play the 'Necrovalley' magic card. It raises the attack of my Gravekeeper cards by 500 points. My 'Gravekeeper's Curse' goes up by 500 points. I also place one magic/trap face down. End turn."

Rhonda picked up a card. "I play my 'Spirit of the Harp' (800/2000) in defense mode."

Aten turned up his face down trap card. "I activate my trap card 'Early Death.' Your monster is immediately destroyed."

Rhonda watched her monster shatter. "Awww!!!!! NO FAIR!"

Rhonda pouted and whined.

Tristan called out loudly, "THAT'S OUR LITTLE MONKEY!"

"GO, ATEN!" Otogi cried out.

"I play one magic/trap face down," Rhonda pouted. "End turn."

Aten drew a card. "I sacrifice my gravekeeper and I place this card face down in defense mode. I also place one magic/trap face down. End turn."

Rhonda picked up a card. "I summon 'Queen's Double' and….."

Aten grinned. "I play 'Offerings to the Doomed.' Your monster is destroyed."

Rhonda's monster again exploded into tiny shards. "No fair! I can't get a monster on the field."

Aten's hair twitched and he grinned. "It's not my fault your cards are weak! Maybe you should have picked monsters other than fairies and cute-sy cards."

Rhonda stuck her bottom lip out at him. "End turn."

Aten picked up a card. "I play 'Theban Nightmare' (1500/500) in attack mode. I attack you directly with Theban Nightmare!"

The creature attacked Rhonda directly, making her lifepoints dip to 2000. Aten's remained untouched at 4000.

"I play the magic card 'Lost Childhood.' All of your magic cards in your deck must be removed!"

Rhonda stamped loudly. "How could a wimp like you pull a card like that?!"

Aten narrowed his eyes. "All of my cards reflect my past and my future. 'Lost Childhood' and 'Early Death' are my past and my future. They are two of my best trap cards."

Rhonda removed all of her magic cards. "Fine! Are you done there, half-breed?"

Aten snickered. "Yes, I am."

Rhonda pulled a card. "I play 'Injection Fairy Lily' (400/1500) in defense mode. But, I can't use her effect! I have nothing to increase my life points! Rats! End turn."

Aten rolled his eyes. "You have to be kidding! You're a waste of my time, Rhonda! It's time for me to put this game to rest! I attack your Lily with 'Guardian Sphinx' (1700/2400)!" Aten flipped up his face down card into attack mode and I attack you directly with my 'Theban Nightmare'!"

Rhonda's lifepoints dropped to 300.

Rhonda jumped up and down throwing a tantrum. "NO! NO! no! IT'S NOT FAIR!"

"If you don't think that's fair, this is going to be fun. I play my trap card 'Pain.' You lose 1000 life points. GAME. SET. MATCH! You're done, Rhonda."

Rhonda burst into tears. "YOU CHEATED, ATEN ISHTAR! I KNOW YOU DID! DADDY!!!!!!!!DADDY, HE CHEATED!"

Aten lowered his platform. "I won, Rhonda. Like it, or not."

Robbie cheered from the side of the arena. "YEAH, ATEN! THAT'S MY BOY!"

Robbie darted out of the executive box and rushed to Aten as fast as he could move his bad foot. He threw himself at Aten, who had faded from his yami mode.

He kissed Aten's cheek. "I'm so proud of you, Aten! You beat her good!"

Tristan and Otogi went to congratulate Aten when Tristan's brother brushed past him.

"Faggot," he muttered under his breath.

"Aten, you did such a great job, little monkey" Otogi squealed as he hugged Aten tightly.

"Great job, little man!" Tristan said, ruffling the boy's hair.

Ryou came to his son and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm proud of you, baby boy."

Aten hugged his mother. "Thanks, mommy!"

Marik scooped Aten up into his arms. "Great job, my son! You've made your old man proud!"

Aten's skinny legs dangled in the air. "Daddy! That tickles!"

Marik put Aten on the ground and Aria threw herself at him.

"You showed them, Aten!"

Eric growled. "You cheated, Ishtar! You're no better than Limpy!"

Aten narrowed his eyes. "I'm not a sheeter!"

Eric followed Rhonda, who was bawling her eyes out.

Seto stood up. "The winner of this round is Aten Bakari Ishtar Ibn Marik!"

Robbie raised Aten's hand up. "THE WINNER!"

Seto called out to the crowd. "Tomorrow we begin the championships! The first round will be Aten Bakari Ishtar Ibn Marik vs. Robert Allen Morgan!"

Aten and Robbie looked at each other. Robbie lowered Aten's hand.

"We have to duel each other?"

Aten looked over at Aria, appearing nervous. "Oh no! What if I go yami on you, Robbie?"

Robbie shrugged. "Aten, it doesn't matter. We'll still be best buddies. You'll still be my best friend."

"What if I hurt you?" Aten asked with tears in his eyes. "I don't thint I tould live with myself if I hurt you."

Robbie hugged Aten tightly. "Don't worry, Aten. I don't want you to hold back. Give me all you got! My Military Deck can take it."

Aten smiled. "My fiends and zombies will knock you down, Robbie."

Robbie laughed. "I can take a pounding from you, Aten, no problem! I don't want you to go easy on me!"

"I won't, Robbie!"

Aten and Robbie smiled at each other and shook hands. "May the best duelist win."

Updates: Friday

Next Chappie: Beast vs. Zombie. Bakura gets another visitor in the underworld….his father.