Marik's Secret

Original Concept by JTP1717

It had finally arrived, the Battle City Quarter Finals. The 8 best duelists in the world were assembled on the arena, a large airship bearing the insignia of its host, Kaiba Corp. As it began take off procedures, the finalists, as well as their friends, gathered in the main hall.

"Welcome to the Battle City Quarter Finals Everyone!" A loud voice of a guard echoed over the microphone. "We called you all down here to explain the rules of the ship. First, there is a 10pm curfew, at which point all finalists and guests must return to their respective rooms. Second, elevators are for crew use only, unless a duel is occurring, at which point spectators will be escorted via elevator to the stands. Lastly, be kind and cooperative. No one wants to deal with someone who's acting like an idiot, or turning hostile. If you break any of these rules, you will be disqualified from the tournament, and detained in the lower maintenance decks."

"Wow, I gotta say, for a big tournament like this, that's not a lot of rules." Joey Wheeler, one of the finalists, said to his friends.

"Honestly Joey, I think they really trust that if we made it this far, we wouldn't jeopardize our chances of winning by doing something stupid." Yugi, another finalist, responded to his best friend.

The group began to mingle and tell stories of their various adventures. One duelist, however, split from the group and headed back to his room. To the main group, he was known as Namu, a friendly duelist who had helped Bakura when he got injured. This was a cover, though, as he was actually the infamous duelist known as Marik Ishtar. Marik had entered this tournament to get revenge on the pharaoh and gaining an ultimate power. He also suffered from a severe case of bipolar disorder, allowing a darker version of himself to take over and commit horrible acts, such as murdering his father. He had gained some control over it, but it stayed dormant, waiting for the right time to strike.

"It is almost 10 o'clock, I would advise all of you to get some rest, you all have a big day ahead of you tomorrow." The same announcer from before relayed his message to the crowd of teens.

"Goodnight guys, I'll see you in the morning." Yugi said sleepily as he waved to his friends.

"Have a wonderful sleep everybody, I know I will." Ryou gestured to his friends as he entered his room for the evening.

As the other passengers were beginning their slumber, Marik laid on his bed, tossing and turning, before finally awaking in a cold sweat. He could hear a voice in his head calling to him, saying "Let me out Marik, you know you want to. Just like the old days, we can take anything you want from these fools." Marik screamed "No! I'll never let you out again! You don't understand the pain you've caused me." "What makes you think I'm giving you a choice…? Heheheh!" The voice cackled evilly as it possessed Marik's body and mind. "I'm finally free at last; free to have my revenge on anyone who stands in my way!" The dark man laughed to himself.

He used Marik's key to open the door and search for a victim, to truly test if he could kill. This test would come in the form of a guard walking down the hall. "Duelist! What are you doing outside your room past curfew? Return Immediately!" The man shouted at Marik, not noticing the glowing eye beginning to form on his forehead. Marik turned around swiftly, and before the guard could blink, his throat was slit, and he collapsed to the ground. Marik held his bloodied knife, and licked the blood from the blade. The man quickly expired from a loss of blood, and Marik continued to search for more people to fill his bloodlust.

The next victim would come in the form of Odion, who was posing as Marik so the real Marik could enter and claim his prize. Odion's door opened in a flash, and the spiky haired Egyptian boy walked in. Odion was resting, and Marik began to crawl towards his bed like a sneaking spirit. "You're the last piece keeping me out of this world completely. Let's finish this, shall we?" With that, he plunged his knife into Odion's chest, causing him to wake up and scream. Marik covered his mouth with his free hand and said "Shhh… We wouldn't want you to wake anyone now, would we?" He twisted the knife, causing blood to splatter on the bed and onto Marik's shirt. "Oh darn, I liked these. Guess I'll just have to buy another pair." The maniac laughed to himself as left the room, and Odion began to draw his last breath.

The next morning had arrived, and the ship was rocked with commotion. The bodies of the guard and Odion had been found, sending the other duelists, as well as Kaiba, into a panic.

"We will be initiating a ship wide lockdown at 5pm tonight. All guards will be fully armed and have been told to fire at anything or anyone out past five." Kaiba announced to his ship, a twinge of worry in his voice.

Marik arrived in the crowd, very confused. "What's wrong, why is everybody crying?"

"How did you not hear about this, Namu? A guard and Marik were murdered last night." Tea spoke softly as she wept.

"He may have tried to fight us, but no one deserves to die like that." Yugi said with a tear rolling down his cheek.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry to hear that. I had no idea; I blacked out last night after dinner." Marik began to feel sick and anxious as he thought about what had happened. His dark side must have actually taken over, and killed Odion. "I need to go sit down; I don't feel too good…" Marik said as he stumbled back to his room.

"Why would you do something like this? "He yelled in his head. "I did it because you wanted to do it. I am you, Marik, whether you want to believe it or not. I'm your Id, your animal side. I'm all your anger, your hatred, your pain. I do what you tell me to do."

"Then let me be! Go away and let me handle my own life! Get the fuck out of my head!" Marik yelled at his alter ego.

"Oh, that's not very nice Marik. You should really treat yourself better. And all your hatred of me only makes me stronger." The other cackled in delight.

As 5 o'clock approached, the other duelists returned to their rooms, each door being guarded by two armed guards. Marik struggled to maintain control of his psyche, but it was useless. His darker self began to take over. "Tonight has presented some new challenges, it should be quite fun…" The evil man laughed to himself as he began to open his door. The two guards turned to the open door, but no one was standing there. Marik had snuck on to the pipes above the two men. H silently dropped behind one, and grabbed his head. In an instant, his neck was snapped, and he was dead. His partner readied his weapon, took aim, and was about to fire- had Marik not buried his fangs into the man's jugular. He drank some of the blood, then released the man and watched him slowly and painfully bleed out.

"This is going to be a lot easier than I thought…" He said as he began his next night of brutality.