Ryou loved his morning walks. The sky was a cool shade of pink, the birds were just starting to chirp, and the traffic had yet to reach the smothering roar of morning rush hour. Existing and enjoying being in his own skin was a treasured treat. Taking in and remembering every bit of scenery between his apartment and the campus was a dream, and he delighted in recognizing each landmark. Only three years ago his life had been a montage of strange people and places. Not anymore.
The strap of his messenger bag dug suddenly and firmly into his chest. He barely managed to remain upright as he halted mid-step.
"Found you, thief," a voice hissed behind him.
"Oh!" Getting in trouble for things he couldn't remember was another familiar experience he'd tried to put behind him. It took him a moment to collect his thoughts. Had he done something? It had to be a mistake. "I'm terribly sorry, but I believe you have me confused with-" he finished turning to look over his shoulder and his throat locked up. "...someone... else..."
The red sun back-lit the explosion of blond hair that surrounded the face scowling down at him. The frown deepened as confusion wrested control from anger. Then, as recognition dawned, the overall expression softened ever so slightly. "You're the other one, aren't you?" The dark being that used to be part of Marik tilted its head. "You're taller than you used to be."
Ryou shrugged. He had no idea what to say. He was only vaguely acquainted with the idea of Marik's darkness. All he knew was that he didn't want to upset it.
The dark being wrapped its fist in the strap of Ryou's shoulder bag and yanked him even closer. Pupiless eyes searched Ryou's intently. "What are you, hiding behind your host? You have three seconds to come out. If you don't, something very bad will happen to him."
"Hang on, hang on," Ryou forced himself to speak. His voice was high and strangled, but the dark being seemed willing to listen. "Bakura... the other Bakura... he isn't here."
The taller being scowled incredulously and started to speak.
"I'm not even wearing the ring, see?" Ryou explained desperately, patting down his chest for emphasis. "It's back in Egypt. The ring spirit is gone." The thing in front of him should have been gone, too, but Ryou was too busy negotiating for his life to dwell on that. "That was three years ago. That's why I'm taller."
"Liar," the thing growled. "You will tell me where the thief is."
"I really don't know," Ryou all but pleaded. He wondered if he could duck out of the bag strap before the mad spirit stopped him. "If he did something to you... I don't know."
The face melted into a contemplative frown. "Where's Marik?"
Probably just rolling out of bed in one of the dorm rooms, but Ryou was sure he shouldn't tell Marik's old demon that. Beyond that, if said demon didn't know where Marik was, and had also recently crossed paths with 'Bakura,' then what the hell was going on? "I'm not sure," Ryou swallowed. The blanker, more neutral expression he received as a response emboldened him enough to ask, "Are you- are you saying you've seen Bakura?"
Anger inflamed the violet irises. "He stole my little thing."
Little thing? Marik? Was Marik all right? Ryou had talked to him in class yesterday. He'd seemed happy.
"Greedy bastard thinks he gets to have two little things. Ha! I should-" The fire fizzled as swiftly as it had flared up. The wild eyes widened as an excited grin replaced the snarl. "I should take his little thing."
Ryou didn't waste a beat. He ducked free of the messenger bag and was poised to run when a solid kick swept his legs out from under him. He pushed himself up, but a foot slammed down on his back, pinning him.
"Don't do that," the dark being said as it slung the bag over its shoulder. The voice was hollow, neither angry nor cajoling. The hollowness sounded more threatening than any emotion the being could've mustered. "You are my little thing now." Stated matter-of-factly.
Before Ryou could figure out how to respond, he was on his feet with the dark being's hand twisted firmly in the back of his shirt. He wanted to know what was going on with the ring spirit, but Marik's rage construct seemed appeased for now and he didn't want to make it fly off the handle again. As it walked him off toward who-knows-where, Ryou finally tried, "I didn't know you were in town."
It didn't answer, but the statement didn't seem to bother it.
Hoping it might respond to a question, Ryou asked, "How long have you been here?"
After a pause it said, "Several days," though it didn't seem too sure of the answer.
Ryou chose his words carefully. "How did you... get back from... where you were?"
The dark being spoke slowly. "It was dark, and then I heard voices. I heard Marik. I followed his brightness." The fist in Ryou's shirt clenched and the voice dropped to a low growl. "But someone else got there first. That light was for me, not him."
Ryou's chest tightened. He could almost feel the rage roiling off the thing behind him. Like heat waves. Rage waves.
"I almost couldn't punch through," the dark being continued. "But I was so pissed off. I was going to find him and make him give my little thing back."
Ryou felt eyes on him and glanced up. The mad spirit was smiling at him.
"But maybe a trade would be okay. You're not such a bad little thing."
They were approaching a panel van. Ryou balked at the sight of it, so the dark being hooked its arms under the young man's armpits and started dragging. "H-hang on a minute..."
"Don't run," it hissed. "You're my little thing now."
"I'm not disputing that," Ryou explained quickly. He wanted to dispute that, but it would have to wait. "We can talk for a minute, though, right?"
"You talk a lot," it said, but it paused near the back of the van as though waiting.
"Where are we going?" Ryou tried to keep his voice level. The strength with which the dark being gripped his arms could easily break something.
"The place where I will keep you," it answered impatiently.
"Okay," Ryou answered carefully. "What if, and this is just a suggestion," he added quickly when he felt the grip tighten. "I have a lovely flat not too far from here. There's only one bedroom, but I have a sofa bed. What if we go there instead? Both of us. Together." He watched the mad spirit absorb his suggestion. There was confusion at first, and then contemplation, but ultimately the features settled on a stubborn scowl.
"No," it said. "My place is better." It opened the door, forced Ryou into the van, and climbed up his back to sit on his legs.
Ryou's eyes widened as the tanned hands reached for a roll of duct tape and a box cutter. "I promise I won't fight you," he insisted.
The being cackled. "I'm not stupid, little thing. You have been fighting me the whole way here." It forced the pale wrists together behind Ryou's back and wrapped them in a thick cocoon of tape. Then it sliced off a smaller length of tape and slapped it across Ryou's mouth.
Ryou bucked and kicked at the thing holding him down. The weight settled onto him harder, grinding his body into the metal floor.
"Don't do that," it hissed. The box cutter bit into the flesh near the base of the pale back. "All I have to do is shove something sharp between these two vertebrae. Or maybe take a swipe at the backs of your ankles."
Ryou cringed and whimpered, but he stopped squirming. The weight lifted very slowly. Then the dark being turned sideways to sit on his back while it taped up his ankles.
"There we go." It smiled and ruffled Ryou's hair. "All packed for transport. Only..." A frown creased its face. It yanked on the back of Ryou's shirt and slashed at it with the box cutter.
The boy yelped more out of surprise than pain. A strip of fabric settle across his eyes and pulled tight around his head. Then the weight lifted entirely and he heard the back door slam. The driver's door opened and closed. The engine rumbled and they started moving.
Ryou tested the range of motion in his arms very slowly and very carefully. Hopefully the rage construct was too busy to notice. There didn't seem to be much he could do, however. The bonds were secure. He worked himself into a kneeling position and leaned against the side of the van. His ears strained for a clue that would indicate the direction they traveled. He tried to keep track of the minutes in his head, but as they started stretching into hours it became too difficult. At least counting kept him from panicking.
Hours later the van stopped and he heard doors again. Rough fingers grabbed his hips and dragged him out into sunlight. It slung him over a muscular shoulder and started walking. The ground crunched like... pebbles, or maybe sand. Then he heard another door and the change in light told him they must be inside. They walked a bit more and the steps took on a jerky, halting quality. Climbing stairs? Turn, more stairs. Maybe six flights in all. More footsteps, but the place echoed now. His captor placed him on a hard floor and he heard a metallic rattle like a manual garage door sliding up. Then it dragged him across the floor and propped him up against a wall.
When the blindfold lifted, Ryou found himself sitting in an empty storage unit. The place was dark except for a few pale splashes of sun from a distant window and the subtle gleam of the dark being's eyes. Ryou trembled as he stared up at it. He couldn't help himself. What did it want? Was it just going to keep him here, or was it planning on really hurting him now that it had him alone? It knelt down and peered into his face.
"Didn't I tell you this was a much better place?" It smiled. "No one to interrupt us. No thieving bastards to snatch you away. It won't matter if you start screaming. Just me and my little thing."
Hands grabbed and squeezed the sides of Ryou's head. Not hard, but Ryou still cried out against the gag. The mad spirit pouted and tilted its head. Then one hand left the side of Ryou's face and ripped the tape from his mouth in one, deft movement. Ryou flinched and groaned. "Why," he started. His lips were sticky. "Why would I scream?"
It shrugged. "Marik screamed sometimes. I'm sure the thought has crossed your mind." It chuckled and grinned the way someone might grin at a puppy. The hand that still touched Ryou's face slid down and grabbed his chin, shaking it playfully. "You little things are so skittish."
Ryou shrank away from the dark being's grip. It let him go, but its expression didn't change. "Are you going to..." he didn't finish the thought. He didn't want to put any ideas in that mad head. The tremor in his voice said all he needed to though.
The dark being looked surprised and then pained. "No, no, no, no, no, little thing," it cooed as it took hold of his head again. It tilted Ryou's face forward until their foreheads touched. "We're going to have fun together. Of course I'll untie you, once you're settled in. And if you're really good and promise to stay right next to me, I might even let you out of the box sometimes. For walks. And playing."
A long fingernail trailed down the bridge and off the tip of Ryou's nose. Then the mad spirit stood up and walked into the aisle where it had left Ryou's school bag. It placed the bag on the ground in front of Ryou and sat down on the other side. It crossed its legs and stared into the distance, pulling at its lower lip. It seemed to be thinking about what to do next. So was Ryou. This thing was unhinged if it thought it was going to keep him in a cage like a pet. He wouldn't get anywhere from his current position, but maybe he could play along long enough to convince it to untie him. He didn't want to play along long enough to find out what it meant by 'fun,' though.
A gurgling rumble broke the silence. Ryou winced instinctively when the pupiless eyes focused on him. "Sorry," he murmured. "I must have missed lunch."
"Is my little thing hungry?" The light in the eyes brightened. "Of course you are. Then I will feed you." It stood up and ruffled the white hair. "Don't do anything upsetting while I'm gone."
The sliding door clanged shut. Shrouded in a thick darkness, Ryou listened as the footsteps faded into the distance. Several minutes passed before he decided his kidnapper would be gone for a while. He extended his legs until the toes of his sneakers brushed his messenger bag. Once he had his orientation he shifted around until he could get his hands into the outer pocket where he kept his phone. For once he was glad that he was too poor to own a smart phone. His thumb brushed lightly over the buttons as he tried to visualize them in his head. With careful precision, he punched in Marik's phone number and pressed 'send.'
He set the phone on the floor and leaned over it as it rang. Marik didn't answer until the fifth ring.
"Hey, what's up? You weren't in class today."
"Marik," Ryou whispered. For a moment he was so happy to hear his classmate's voice that he wasn't sure what to say. "I need help. I'm in a lot of trouble."
When the Egyptian boy spoke again, all of the casual joy had drained from his voice. "What's wrong?"
"Your, what do you call it," Ryou fumbled. "That thing from Battle City... It abducted me."
"What?" The young man sounded shocked. There was a moment where he conferred heatedly with someone in the background, but Ryou couldn't make out what they were saying. "Where are you?" Marik asked.
"I don't know." Ryou's breath hitched. "I mean, it's a big storage facility, but I don't know where. I was blindfolded in the back of a van for at least three hours. It kept babbling about you and the Ring spirit and how it wanted to trade." There was silence on the other end. "Marik? Marik, please, say something..."
"I'm gonna find you," Marik said. "It might take a while, so there are a couple things you need to do."
"I'm listening," Ryou said nervously.
"You're still using that old dumb-phone, right?"
Ryou smiled a little in spite of himself. "Yes."
"When we're done talking, take out the battery and hide it somewhere. He won't take your phone away if he thinks it's dead. The other thing," Marik sighed, "you're not gonna like."
"What?" Ryou asked nervously.
"He might have moments where he seems calm, reasonable, or even almost nice, but you cannot trust any of his promises. He's completely unreasonable and there's nothing you can do about it. Don't beat yourself up trying to make him happy."
Ryou didn't know what to say to that.
"I know it doesn't sound helpful now, but for your own sanity try to keep that in mind, okay? Hopefully I'll find you quickly enough that it won't matter."
At length Ryou answered with a soft, "Okay."
"Good," Marik smiled. "It'll be okay, Ryou. We're gonna start looking for you right now."
Ryou stared at the little square of light in the darkness. He didn't want to let Marik go. Having another voice here in the dark with him felt so good. But he had to hang up. Before the rage construct came back. "Okay," he repeated. "I'll call you if I get another chance. Bye."
"Bye." Marik hung up the phone.
Ryou spent the next ten minutes fumbling the battery out of his phone and hiding it in his shoe. He managed to get the dead phone into the bag and shimmy back into place well before he heard the footsteps approaching.
The door slid up with a thundering crash that made Ryou cringe. Towering over him in the half-light his abductor looked like a piece of shadow that had gained sentience. It shoved the school bag aside with a foot and knelt in front of Ryou. It spread the contents of its hands across the floor between them. A candy bar, two packets of crisps, and a can of something Ryou couldn't see in the dark. The dark being sat back and rested its hands on its thighs. It watched him with half-lidded eyes for a moment. Then the eyes widened slightly and it opened one of the bags. Two fingers plucked out a crisp and held it to Ryou's lips.
"Open," it said.
Ryou turned his face away. "Can't you just untie me?"
It chuckled and shook its head. Then it forced the crisp between the pale pink lips so that Ryou had to chew and swallow.
Ryou tried to protest again, but it simply used the opportunity to shove another crisp in his mouth. The young man scowled as he chewed. He didn't like the feeling of that thing's fingers brushing past his lips. Marik's warning rang in his head. Never trust it. On the other hand, if it was feeding him it wasn't hurting him. If he put up too much of a fight, it might let him starve to death. So he chewed, swallowed, opened his mouth, and repeated, until both bags of crisps and the candy bar were gone.
The mad spirit picked up the can and considered it. Then it pulled Ryou away from the wall and situated itself behind him. As it forced the young man to lean against its chest, Ryou shuddered and pulled his hands farther up his back. Sitting so close with its legs splayed on either side of him put his hands in a very awkward position. If it noticed it didn't react. It held the can in front of him and cracked open the pop tab. The hiss of air that escaped suggested the beverage was carbonated. Ryou let it bring the can to his lips and tip the sweet liquid into his mouth. He didn't exactly have much choice in the matter.
Liquid trickled from the corners of his mouth, down his chin, and spattered the front of his shirt, but he drank as much of it as he could without choking. When he finished, the dark being used the front edge of Ryou's shirt to wipe his mouth. Then tan fingers swept some hair away from the side of his face.
"Is that better, little thing?" It cooed in the newly exposed ear.
Ryou tilted his head away from the voice and clenched his fists. At least it wasn't hurting him.
A sharp nail slowly traced his neck from his ear to his shoulder. "You're so blank," it said in the frighteningly empty voice.
Ryou couldn't tell if it was a threat or an observation, but he definitely didn't like it. He knew Marik had said he couldn't reason with it, but he had questions and concerns and he really didn't like the way things were unfolding. Partly out of curiosity, mostly to distract it, he forced himself to level his voice and asked, "What if I have to use the loo?"
It stopped moving but it didn't answer.
"Bathroom?" Ryou corrected, hoping it was just confused. He couldn't see its face and he didn't want to look.
It looked around and leaned over to retrieve something from the floor. Ryou couldn't see it very well at first, but he quickly realized it was the blindfold. Then it scooped him up in its arms and started walking again. They descended the six flights of stairs and then it tucked Ryou under one arm while it opened two more doors. It set Ryou on his feet and stood behind him.
When he felt hands at the waist of his jeans Ryou yelped and tried to twist away instinctively. All he did was almost fall. The mad spirit leaned its weight into him, pinning the smaller body to the wall of the cubical with its chest while it continued working open his fly.
"Wait!" Ryou begged as it pushed his clothing down under his bottom.
"Are you shy?" The dark thing asked. Then it smiled. "You're my little thing, there's no reason to be shy."
"I want to do it myself." Ryou's voice shook. "Please?"
The rage construct growled. When it spoke all traces of the comforting lilt had vanished. "You're trying to trick me into unbinding you."
Ryou's heart skipped a beat. "No," he protested. "I'm shy. I only-" He winced and tried to keep his balance as the mad spirit jerked his pants down to his knees. It grabbed his upper arms, spun him around, and all but slammed him down on the toilet seat.
"Then go," it hissed.
Pain resonated through his lower body and fear paralyzed him. He heard the rage construct slam its fists on either side of the bathroom stall and sensed it leaning over him.
"If it's not a trick, then go!" It yelled.
Or what? Ryou thought, terrified. The fear made him sick, but it had been several hours. Fighting to concentrate, he managed to obey. The shadow looming over him receded. That didn't offer much relief, though. Was it still angry? Would it still hurt him? His heart wouldn't stop thudding.
After what seemed like an eternity the dark being lifted him to his feet, dressed him, and carried him back upstairs. It only removed the blindfold once Ryou was back on the floor of the storage unit. Kneeling in front of him, it cradled Ryou's head in both hands.
"I'm sorry I had to yell at you, little thing," it cooed. "Listen to me next time, okay?"
Ryou stared at the half-lidded eyes. The dead smile. It was horrifying Don't trust it, Marik had said. Don't. But what was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do? "O-okay..." he answered uncertainly.
It patted his cheek, picked up his messenger bag, and left him in the dark again.