The Ishtars Go To the San Diego Zoo
A/N: I know a lot of you guys said that you liked my two other stories in which the Ishtars go to Disneyland and Sea World: San Diego, so I decided to write another one! I hope you guys like it!
Constructive criticism is accepted and very much appreciated! This is not recommended for children under the age of 13 due to language, violence, and suggestive themes. People of the internet, you have been warned. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or the San Diego Zoo (or anything related), or anything else people may have heard of before reading this.
"Ishizu, when are we going to get there?" Malik asked with impatience. His sister sighed as she drove down the interstate. She was taking her little brother and his yami to the world-famous San Diego Zoo. Unfortunately, when her older brother, Odion, heard what happened to them when they went to Sea World, he was paranoid in being around animals, even though Ishizu tried to tell him that you were supposed to get wet. Hint's the name, Splash Zone. However, he still refused to join them on their trip to the zoo.
"We're almost there," she said, "we're in Balboa Park right now, and soon I'll be driving into the zoo's parking lot." Only a few moments afterwards, they could see a long line of cars and directional signs pointing towards the zoo entrance.
Ishizu pulled into the first parking space she could find, and she unlocked the car doors. Malik eagerly leaped out and ran towards the front gate.
"Malik, wait up," Ishizu yelled as she and Marik exited the vehicle.
"Oh please, Ishizu," Marik snickered, "how hard could it possibly be to find an Egyptian teenager with abnormally blonde, cream-like hair running around a large parking lot?"
"Come on," Ishizu urged. As they made their way to the front gates, neither she nor Marik could see the younger Egyptian. Ishizu sighed.
"Well, look at the bright side," Marik snickered, "at least it's not me you're looking for this time."
"Considering the fact that you have the supernatural power of permanently trapping an ice cream man's soul into the shadow realm," Ishizu growled, "yes, I am happy you didn't run off this time."
"Hey, he didn't have bubble gum ice cream," the yami roared, "he deserved to spend all eternity in the darkness of pain and despair!"
When they finally reached the gates, Ishizu scanned the crowds of people for her little brother. Eventually, she spotted him sitting on a bench not far away. She sighed with relief and ran over to him and hugged him.
"Ishizu," Malik complained, "you promised to never do this again in public!" When Marik came over and saw them, he frowned.
"How come whenever I run off and you find me you start yelling at and threatening me?" he grumbled. Ishizu let go of her brother and flashed a mean glance at the yami.
"Shut up, Marik," she growled, "Malik and I were trying to have a moment!"
"Oh how precious," a deep British accent laughed, "siblings and a yami threatening to rip each others' limbs off." Ishizu looked up and saw a man with pale skin and long white hair standing in front of them.
"Bakura," Ishizu noticed with surprise, "what the hell are you doing here?!"
"Sorry I didn't know it was illegal to come to the San Diego Zoo the same day as you," the other yami snickered.
"Is Ryo here, too?" Malik asked.
"No, he went to Serbia to help his father's brother's sister's aunt's uncle research the rare Albino Sandy-Rock Stripped Turtle-Kitty," Bakura hinted, "what the bloody hell do you think?!"
"Sorry that took so long," another British accent explained, "there was a long line at the cessations." A boy who looked similar to Bakura but much less threatening ran over to the group with a bottle of Diet Coke in each hand. He looked over to the Egyptians.
"Oh hey guys," he greeted, "what a coincidence! We can all go walk around together!"
"Like hell," Marik growled.
"Don't get us wrong, Ryo," Ishizu explained, "you're a really sweet kid, but your yami…" she stopped when she looked up. She saw the pale hikari frown, and his eyes began to swell up with tears as he looked down at his feet. Ishizu's heart sank.
"Oh no, it's not like that," she panicked, "okay, we'll go with you guys!" Ryo looked up and rubbed the water out of his eyes.
"Come on, then," he smiled, "let's go through the gates and grab a map!" He ran over to towards entrance. Marik turned to Bakura.
"How the hell does he do it?" he asked the other yami. Bakura shrugged.
"Honestly," he confessed, "I have no bloody idea how he does it."
"You didn't teach him?" Malik asked. Bakura shook his head.
"Malik," Ishizu explained, "if Bakura taught Ryo how to convince people to do what he wants, then he would've held a knife or something else sharp to our throats."
"I won't deny that," Bakura laughed. Ishizu rolled her eyes as she stood up and began leading the rest of the group through the gates to catch up to Ryo.
Ishizu and the rest of the group were looking into the tiger exhibit as she read aloud the information about the big cats that were provided. Malik and Ryo were playing with the interactive tiger sounds board when Bakura turned to Marik.
"Why the bloody hell does she have to read it aloud?" he grumbled. The tan yami shrugged.
"Don't know," he answered, "but she did the same thing at Sea World." Bakura rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the stripped animal behind the glass. The large cat was prowling back and forth in front of a small door near the back of the enclosure.
"It looks hungry," Ishizu observed after her lecture, "maybe that's where they come in and feed the tiger."
"I have an idea," Bakura snickered, "why don't we feed it by throwing Malik in?" The tan hikari whipped around and faced the yami.
"I heard that!" he yelled. Ryo turned around as well, but he wasn't wearing a disappointed or upset look on his face. Instead, it looked liked he was thinking.
"…What is it, Ryo?" the pale yami asked. His hikari scratched his head.
"'Tiger'," he pondered, "why is that word ringing a bell?" His question ignored, they began to make their way past the tiger and hippos, and eventually they came to an open enclosure with a monkey jungle-gym and a running steam and waterfall. Ryo leaned over the bridge they were standing on and pointed out otters and monkeys.
"Hey look," Malik pointed out, "one of the baby monkeys has a pinecone!" Ishizu looked in the direction her brother was pointing, and sure enough, there was a furry little creature with a pinecone in its hands. When it began to make its way towards the stream, it dropped it. Malik frowned, but soon the pinecone was picked up by an otter, and the baby monkey climbed down and attempted to grab it away. The otter seemed to have been teasing it, but eventually the monkey found its opportunity and snatched the giant seed away, and it climbed back onto the hill.
"…Now I want a pinecone," Malik pouted.
"We can throw in with the monkeys," Bakura offered.
"No!" the tan hikari yowled.
"Why not," the pale yami snickered, "I'm sure you would fit in just fine!" Before Malik could come up with another come-back, Ishizu began urging them on.
When they were back onto the main path, Ryo pulled out the map and began to scan it for their next destination.
"It looks like we're not that far away from the pandas," he noticed, "maybe they'll be out today! What do you guys think?" Ishizu thought about it. Pandas are cute, quiet, and they don't do much. Maybe Bakura and Marik won't be able to think up of anything mean to say to her little brother.
"Alright," she agreed. They began to follow the pale hikari towards a large green wall with painted pandas on it. Eventually, they cam to an opening in the wall, and when they slipped through, Ishizu saw a black and white ball of fur resting in a tree. Her heart melted.
"How cute," she whispered.
"How about we throw you in this exhibit?" Marik asked his hikari.
"Why on earth do you want to do that?!" his sister asked.
The yami shrugged. "'Cause." Ishizu shook her head and led the others out of the panda area.
Eventually, they made it over to the African area, where they saw all sorts of unique wildlife from the continent. Ryo walked up to the White Rhino exhibit, and he read the information on the animal.
"It says that the Rhino has poor eyesight," he reported, "sometimes they chase butterflies because they think it's a predator or another kind of intruder."
"Hm," Ishizu pondered, "Poor eyesight… Why does that sound so familiar?" Malik shrugged and watched as the zebras ran around their pasture with different types antelope. He frowned.
"Ishizu," he complained, "where are the lions? If this is Africa, shouldn't they be here?"
"Look, Malik, I'm sure they ha--"
"Ishizu, did they go extinct?" he interrupted.
"No," Bakura growled, "they're over at the Elephant Odyssey exhibit."
"What's that?" Ishizu asked.
"It's an exhibit that shows the natural history of Southern California," Ryo explained.
"But I thought we were in Africa," Malik complained. Ishizu slapped her forehead and led them towards the next attraction.
Before they went into the Elephant Odyssey, the group all went and saw another monkey exhibit. They watched as the black creatures climbed around they're indoor gym. Soon, one of the monkeys began chasing another one.
"Hey, look, Ishizu," Malik pointed out, "those monkeys are playing tag!" Ishizu watched the monkeys until the one in front stopped.
"Hey, what are they doing now?" Malik asked. Ishizu shook her head and grabbed her brother by the wrist before she began leading the rest of the group away.
"But sister," he complained, "I want to watch the monkeys play tag!"
When they reached the Elephant Odyssey exhibits, Malik ran over to watch the loin and lioness, while Ryo sat right up against the glass with a black jaguar licking a bone not far away. A few minutes later, Ishizu corralled the rest of the group near the large elephant enclosure.
Soon, one of the large, gray animals picked up a wooden stick with its long trunk. It reached over, and used the stick to scratch the back of its head. After it was finished, it just left the over-sized twig on top of its head.
"Hey, Ishizu," Malik asked, "why do you think the elephant did that?" His sister shrugged.
"I don't know," she answered, "but whatever the answer is, it sure is smarter than Marik when it comes to forgetting where things are."
"I heard that!" the tan yami yowled.
"Did you loose the Millennium Rod one time or something?" Bakura laughed.
"Not the point," the other growled in his own defense. The pale yami smirked.
"Alright," Ishizu ordered, "come on; let's get out of here before Bakura thinks of a way to drastically ruin this trip as well." As they were making their back towards the entrance, Bakura smirked again.
"Too late," he said under his breath, "I've already got a plan…"
As they made their way back to the car, the hikaris couldn't stop talking about all of the animals and attractions they saw. Ishizu was even kind enough to allow them to get one souvenir; a little snow globe with a white tiger cub inside for Ryo, and a stuffed elephant for Malik.
"Hey, Malik," his yami asked, "do you want to know what the monkeys were really doing?"
"What do you mean," Malik wondered, "they were playing tag with each other!"
"I mean after the chasing--" He was interrupted when Ishizu grabbed his ear and pulled him closer.
"Scar him and I'll drag you down to hell myself!" she threatened.
"Oh yeah," the yami countered, "Well, I already work there!"
"How shocking," Ishizu said rhetorically as she let go of his ear.
When they reached their cars, Ryo turned around and thanked them for the day.
"Actually," Ishizu said, "no problem, Ryo." The hikari smiled.
"Maybe we could do thi--" He was interrupted when they all heard screaming coming from the front gates. They turned their attention towards the zoo when the started hearing roaring and other animal noises. Ishizu turned to Bakura with a look of annoyance on her face. He snickered, and he pulled out a rack of keys.
"You let all of the animals out?" Marik asked with a smirk.
"No, Ryo did it," Bakura blamed. His hikari looked at him with a frightened look.
"Yes, Captain Obvious," the pale yami growled, "I let them all out!"
"Not very original," Ishizu pointed out. Bakura shrugged.
"Hey, it works," he laughed, "and it's classic to set all the animals loose! And I've never done it to a world-famous zoo before!"
"Doesn't it annoy you that you're yami does this all the time?" Ishizu asked Ryo. He shrugged.
"Well, I don't like it," he answered, "but he's just done it so many times, I'm just used to it."
Ishizu sighed and just stepped into her car. Bakura began leading Ryo towards a black car with a huge smile on his face.
"Oh hey, Ryo," Malik called before he followed his sister, "I meant to ask you something!" The other hikari turned around.
"Sure," he smiled.
"Remember when we were at Sea World and you and Bakura were in Utah?" Malik went on. Ryo nodded.
"What did you and Bakura do while you were stuck inside the cabin?"
A/N: I hope you guys aren't sick of these one-shots yet. I like writing them! I hope you guys like them as much as I do! THIS IS MY 20TH STORY!!! Please leave a comment!