The Yami Marik plot bunnies have struck! Noooooo!
Bast: Erm… care to explain?
Oh, yes. Well, you see, everyone knows what plot bunnies are. And DarkShadowRose1 and I agreed that Yami Marik plot bunnies are EVIL. And they have sharp little teeth that they use to grab onto you and they don't let go until you write the story. And let me tell you, it's bloody annoying. So now a Yami Marik plot bunny has me in its clutches.
Bast: Sounds… interesting…
Well, yeah. So this particular plot bunny is, as usual for me, very dark and violent and depressing. I'm SO sorry, sukairaa-chan, but Marik's really gonna get it in this fic. Yeah, if the later scene goes how I think it will, he's most likely going to be bound, hacked, punched, and beaten with a blunt object.
Bast: FOR THE LOVE OF RA!
Yeah…. Sorry! It has to happen! So, a few things I have to explain about this story first…
First of all, as with all of my other stories, no yaoi whatsoever. Actually, no pairings. The only pairings are friendship and/or sibling love; Marik and Ishizu, Marik and Rishid, Ryou and Marik. All only friendship or brotherly love. Well, okay, Ishizu and Marik isn't exactly brotherly, because she's a girl. ANYWAYS! You know what I mean!
Second, the POV switches at times. In the beginning part, it's Yami Marik. Next, it's normal POV. Sometimes it will be Marik, sometimes Ryou, sometimes Yami Marik, sometimes Yami Bakura.
Third, this is set after the Final Battle. Please don't point out that Yami Bakura was defeated and is now gone. I know.This is my own take.
One last thing! I realize that the title of this fanfic is a word that is not commonly known. The dictionary definition of a "recidivist" is one with the chronic tendency toward repetition of criminal or antisocial behavior patterns. I love that word! It's so fun to say! Try it! Recidivist! Recidivist! Yaaaaay! So, basically a recidivist is Yami Marik.
Ummm… I think that's all! Sorry for the long authors note. On with the story.
They were fools to think I could be stopped so easily.
Trapping me in the shadows? Ha! I am the master of shadows. I cannot be bound by what I command, by what I control, by what I am!
If you confine a man into a cage that he himself created; he will know its weaknesses, its strengths, every facet of it. He will know exactly how to escape.
Did they really think that same principle wouldn't apply to me?
Fools. I was not stopped by their imprudent plot! All their little stunt did was slow me down for a bit.
But now, I'm back. And every single one of the pharaoh's friends will pay a high price for this.
I will so enjoy killing all of them.
Slowly.
And very, very painfully.
Ah, the blood will flow without restraint. It will lap at my feet, run over my lips, splash onto my hands. This earth will drown in blood.
I will have my revenge. I've waited so long, and now it is time.
Time for me to bring pain.
Time for me to bring destruction.
Time for me to bring endless suffering.
Time for me to kill.
And no one in the world shall stop me this time.
Time for the waters of the world to run red with blood.
~/~/~
It had been nearly a month since the Final Battle. Though no spoken agreement had been voiced, Ishizu, Marik, and Rishid had followed Yugi and the others back to Japan. It seemed like the right thing to do; Yugi had been the pharaoh's vessel, and the pharaoh's closest friend. Everyone knew how much he must have been grieving. To the clan of tomb keepers… this was something they felt they should do. Their duty as tomb guardians was over, after 5,000 years, but they wanted to see this through to the end.
And that meant being there for the boy who had become their friend.
Yugi was grateful for this, of course, but at times, he wished that the three had stayed in Egypt. It was too painful to look at the ones who had guarded the pharaoh's secret for so many years. It reminded him to much of his aibou.
But he was grateful for the distraction of his friends. He even found himself laughing at times. Not a day went by when he didn't miss Atem, of course, but he was gradually learning to move on.
No matter how much all of them missed the pharaoh, however, they all had to admit that it was nice to relax for a while. Not having to rush off to save the world, not having to fight for their lives, just being able to… slow down and enjoy life.
They had no way of knowing that what would perhaps be the hardest trial of their lives was not far on the horizon.
It was a warm night in Domino City, the kind of spring night that hinted at the hot nights of summer creeping up slowly. The large group of friends exited the movie theater together; Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Tea, Duke, Ryou, Marik, and Ishizu.
Marik and Ishizu shivered slightly; it may have been warm for Japan, but for the two Egyptians who were used to the hot, sun-baked land of Egypt, it seemed unseasonably cool.
As the group stepped out onto the street, they were met with gasps and panicked shouts. They looked around for the source of the commotion, and spotted a burning building not far from the theater, with a crowd gathered around it, watching the fire fighters combat the blaze.
The friends quickly moved into the crowd surrounding the inferno, their faces lit by the flickering flames shooting from the building.
That's when Marik saw him.
Marik's eyes had momentarily left the burning building, sweeping over the assembled crowd. His gaze had stopped, however, on one man in the crowd's midst. The man's back was to Marik, but there was no mistaking the wild, spiky blonde hair, the tanned skin.
The man slowly turned his face towards Marik, and Marik swore his heart shuddered to a stop. There was no shadow of doubt in Marik's mind now; it was him.
The cruel, wild smirk playing upon his lips… the insane, maniacal glint in his violet, kohl-outlined eyes…
Marik wasn't exactly sure when the scream burst from his lips. It certainly hadn't been his idea. The yelp had come without his permission, tearing itself from his throat before he could stop it. The man in the crowd, the man Marik knew all too well, the darker side of Marik, threw his head back, his laugh echoing hauntingly in Marik's mind.
Marik pressed his hands to his ears, letting out another terrified cry, his head thrashing back and forth violently. Why he thought covering his ears would help, Marik didn't know. His eyes slammed shut, and he backed up.
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" he howled over the maniacal laughter ringing in his brain.
He felt hands upon him, heard the startled cries of his friends. When he opened his eyes, the man had disappeared.
Marik drew in a shaky breath, removing his hands from the sides of his head. He shivered, but not from cold. His worried lavender eyes hovered over the crowd, but if the man had been there, he had left no trace. Marik shivered again and looked back at his friends, who were all staring at him with shocked expressions.
Actually, everyone in the crowd was staring at him.
"Hey, you all right, man?" Joey was the first to break the stunned silence.
Marik ran a hand through his long sandy blond hair, nodding slowly. "Yeah…" he said carefully, his voice quiet. "I think so."
Duke raised an eyebrow and frowned slightly. "Dude, you screamed bloody murder," he pointed out. "That sure doesn't sound like 'all right' to me." The others nodded in agreement.
Marik sighed and let his hand drop. "I just, ah… thought I saw someone I knew, that's all," he explained. It wasn't exactly a lie. His friends, however, did not look convinced.
"Who?" Ryou asked softly. A simple question, yet it was the word that none of the others wanted to voice. Ryou knew that, for himself, there was but one who could induce such a reaction in him.
And that was his darker half.
Marik sighed again, his eyes refusing to meet anyone else's. "Just… well…" he trailed off.
Finally, he locked eyes with his sister, and the look she gave him told that she knew everything.
Ishizu slipped her hand into Marik's giving his fingers a gentle, comforting squeeze.
"Rishid," Marik whispered for only his sister to hear. "I need—"
Ishizu nodded and pressed a finger to her lips before he could finish. She reached over and gently swept a few strands of hair from his forehead in a motherly way. "Shhh. I know."
There was worry in her eyes, and sadness as well.
She knew what was happening.
Ishizu turned to face their friends once again. "I'm sorry, but my brother isn't feeling well," she informed them. "We should return to our hotel. We'll find you tomorrow."
She felt a small twinge of guilt at leaving so abruptly, but Marik needed to get to Rishid as soon as was possible, if this was indeed what Ishizu feared it was.
The friends understood however, nodding. Joey clapped Marik on the back, with a quick "Feel better, man." Tea cast him a worried glance, but nodded. Ryou rested a hand on Marik's arm, their eyes meeting briefly. Ryou gave Marik a sad smile and stepped back.
"I hope you'll be all right, Marik," was all that Ryou said. Marik nodded slightly, feeling a connection with the white haired boy. Ryou knew what it was like for Marik.
Ishizu and Marik turned, hand in hand, and hurried away, followed by the concerned gazes of their friends.
The beginning of the end… is now.
Well, there you have it! The first chapter! Review? Please? Homemade lemon bars for everyone who reviews :) Please be nice, though! Thank you!
And I promise I'll update my other stories, too. Pinky swear. Sometime... .