A/N: Heya everybody! I had the dream this was based off of in January, but I only got around to posting it now. I hope that you like it. I worked hard on it!
"All quiet on the North Block." The teen whispered into the walkie-talkie. "Over." He released the talk button and listened to the replies.
"All clear on the East Block. Over"
"Same on South Block. Over."
"Nothing on West Block. Over"
The teen on the North Block breathed a small sigh of relief and looked over the railing on the roof of the building he was watching from. The scuffles with the Kaibatachi had gotten less and less frequent, but more and more ferocious. Ryuji had only been associated with the patron of their gang, Maximilian, through a chess game, but he had been beaten within an inch of his life.
Running a hand through his tri-colored hair, the teen stood up and started pacing. His walkie-talkie squawked. "Yami? Calling Yami. Over" A crackly male voice called. The teen picked up the walkie-talkie. "Yami here. What do you need? Over."
"I-" The voice was cut off with a burst of static. There was a slight scuffle, and a female voice yelled, "Give it!" There was a sigh and Anzu started speaking. "Ryou's coming to take over shift. He's bringing food too, over." Yami nodded. "Over." He settled down against an advertisement for some fast food joint.
"Well, well, well. Looks like we have a stray mutt." A casual voice said. Yami leapt to his feet with a curse. "What are you doing here, Seto? You should know this is our territory." The brunette named Seto stepped out of the stairwell with a shrug. "That's debatable. The whole city could be mine, if you think about it."
Yami crossed his arms with a smirk. ""Could" being the operative word here. You're not going to get far by yourself." He pointed out. Seto snickered. "Good thing I'm not alone." Out of the shadows emerged a small boy with long black hair. "Are you ready. Mokuba?" Seto asked as the boy stepped next to him. The boy, Mokuba nodded.
Yami covered a snort. "You think you can beat me with the help of a boy?" Yami asked incredulously. Seto nodded as Mokuba drew out two dagger-like knives. Yami's heart skipped a beat, and his stomach dropped to his toes. "Ah." He backed away, licking suddenly dry lips.
Seto chuckled and leaned next to the door as Yami and Mokuba danced a dangerously sharp dance. Yami tried to get his walkie-talkie from his belt, but Mokuba was a quick and clever boy. He managed to keep Yami from getting a second's break.
Yami's legs gave out momentarily, and Mokuba lunged. Twisting in midair, Yami grabbed Mokuba's arm. They went down in a heap of flesh, cloth, and flashing metal.
"Yami!" A fair-haired boy burst out of the stairwell door as Mokuba and Yami wrestled on the ground. Both wrestlers glanced up as Ryou came to a sudden halt an dropped the knapsack he was carrying. Yami took this opportunity to flip Mokuba off and regain the height advantage. "Ryou! Watch out!" Yami warned.
Before Ryou could whirl around, Seto had him slammed against the hard concrete floor. At the same time, Mokuba lunged sideways, keeping Yami from coming to Ryou's aid. Laughing manically, Seto stepped hard on Ryou's back. "Well, it looks like your gang's got a new member. I heard that he wasn't much, but still. I expected more than this." Seto stepped harder on Ryou's back, relishing the muffled grunt. Then Ryou started laughing.
Seto stared as his foot rag's shoulders started shaking with laughter. He was even more surprised when Yami joined in. Mokuba took a wary step back. Growling, Seto stomped on Ryou's back even harder between Ryou's shoulders. "What's so funny?" He demanded. Ryou locked eyes with Seto and grinned. "Watch." Seto scuttled back as Ryou started to glow.
"No..." Seto breathed "No!" he screamed. Seto and Mokuba watched in terrified awe as Ryou's body lengthened, slimmed down, and shifted into the body of a 10-foot-long, lizard like dragon. Ryou extended his wings and opened his cat-like eyes.
Seto swore under his breath. "He's a Host..." Then Seto's eyes flicked to his younger brother on the other side of the mass of rippling muscles and yellowish scales. "Mokuba, don't!" Seto screamed.
Ryou's head whirled on the younger boy, who was holding a single dagger in both of his shaking hands. Its tip was pointed in the vague direction of Ryou's underbelly. Ryou growled and trained his glare into Mokuba's. Ryou's scales were flushed an angry red, and he turned to face Mokuba.
Sighing, Yami tried to push Mokuba's arms down, but Mokuba lashed out. If Yami hadn't been able to get his hand away quicker, he would have found himself with one less hand to get away. As it was, he got away with a deep gash on the side of his wrist.
Ryou growled and flushed a deeper, angrier red. Mokuba dropped the knife and fell against the railing off the building, eyes wide with fear. Ryou collected fire in the back of his throat when he heard a heart wrenching scream and a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his back.
Ryou looked back curiously to see Seto clinging on to Ryou's back. Ryou was surprised to see a single tear streaming down the cold, businesslike teen's face. Ryou put his face right up to Seto's, took a deep breath and...
Blew a factory's worth of smoke right in the teen's face. Seto stumbled back, waving the smoke out of the way and hacking furiously. Yami burst into a deep belly laugh as Seto stumbled back, eyes streaming. "Brother! Are you okay?" Mokuba ducked under Ryou's stomach and hefted a shaking Seto to his feet.
Seto coughed and wiped his face. He was about to say something when a new voice spoke. "How cute. Even after they threaten your life, you still show mercy." A wild-haired blonde boy with tanned skin was floating level with the top of the building, arms crossed.
Seto composed himself as the blonde boy landed lightly on the other side of the fencing that surrounded the perimeter of the roof. "Hello, Marik. What are you doing here?" Seto asked, crossing his arms over his chest and raising an eyebrow. Marik strode over with his back to Yami and Ryou. His long violet cloak rippled behind him. "I just thought you might need some help." Marik finally turned to face his opponents.
Marik's face took on a look of overexaggerated disappointment. "Oh. I apologize, Seto. I thought your opponents would be tougher than a boy and a lizard. Marik smirked and started to run away when an inhuman bellow interrupted his long, graceful stride. Turning slowly, Marik saw the dragon's scales boil into a wrathful reddish-purple, and his eyes narrowed into blood-red slits. His kindly human temperament was consumed by draconian rage. Marik continued walking.
Ryou lashed out with his tail, striking the roof a few feet from where Marik's right foot was about to place itself. Marik barely stumbled. "Hmmm…" Marik turned around and stared at Ryou. "I suppose you do look rather intimidating." Taking a paintbrush from his pocket, he stared waving it around, as if writing in cursive, and started chanting. Ryou looked curiously at Yami. Did this person not know that magic doesn't work against dragons?
Even Seto seemed confused. "Marik…" He started, curiosity piqued. Marik didn't answer, instead starting to pace back and forth. Everyone stared, entranced, as his brush dipped and rose, trailing some faintly glittering lines behind him. The glittering lines solidified into a definite shape: a scroll. This scroll dropped into his open palm. It was opened and looked over with an unimpressed gaze. "It'll do, I suppose." Marik pointed at Ryou, finishing a quick chant with a single Gaelic word, "Nascaim."
One end of the scroll perked up and shot at Ryou, who collected fire in the back of his throat and fired. Instead of incinerating, the scroll shot faster, wrapping tightly around Ryou's dragonlike body. Ryou's eyes widened in shock and anger as the Binding Scroll slid along, wrapping its seemingly infinite self tightly around Ryou's arms, legs, and wings. Ryou struggled, angry red melting into a terrified whitish-blue. No Binding Spell had ever worked against him as a human, much less as a dragon! He looked desperately at Yami, who looked as scared and confused as Ryou felt.
Marik laughed a deep belly laugh, chortling out, "Coiscim". He watched in sick pleasure as energy ruptured from the scroll and surrounded the thrashing dragon. The dragon bellowed a roar of pain, which shifted into a bloodcurdling scream as the scroll forced the dragon back into his human form. The boy was thrown into unconsciousness when the scroll had finally finished his job. The thud of the boy's body hitting the roof filled the awed silence.
Yami's heart plunged as Ryou fell to the ground, unconscious. "Ryou!" Yami rushed to his fallen comrade's side. Ryou was sweating slightly, and the scroll was still wound tightly around his arms and legs, pinning them at uncomfortable angles to his body. Yami tried to rip off it off, but the scroll zapped him and seemed to squeeze tighter. "What did you do to him?" Yami's voice cracked. It was three-on-one, and one of the three was a mage who had Bound and Restrained Yuugitachi's most powerful Host.
Marik chuckled, "I've already formulated a theoretical style of magic that can work against magical creatures. It works against sirens, griffins, and vampires. I guess I can add "dragons" to the list." Marik sighed. Yami's eyes widened as Marik reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small notebook, jotting a few notes.
"Now back to the matter at hand." Seto said pointedly, shoving Marik roughly aside. "We've come for this building." Seto crossed his arms over his chest, calculating the effects of his words. Yami could do one of 4 things.
A: He could attack Mokuba. In that case, Seto would pull Mokuba out of the way and shove Marik in his place. Then he would use that time to get backup.
B: He could attack Seto. If that happened, Seto would pull Marik in the way to intercept the blow and use that time to get backup.
C: He could attack Marik. In that case, Seto would step aside, let things run their course, and call for backup.
D: He could run away. In that case, Seto would throw Marik off the building.
But before Yami could react, Marik turned on his heel and walked to the edge of the building. Gripping the railing, he swung his body into the open air. Seto raised his eyebrows as Marik fell from sight. Well, that was painfully simple. Seto thought. That prick had only been in Kaibatachi for a few days, but he already managed to annoy Seto more than he had thought possible.
"Oh! By the way!" Seto growled as Marik reappeared, floating so his head and chest barely peeked over the edge of the railing. "Boy…" Marik trained his glare on Yami. "Tell me how it affects his personality, sleep patterns, general mood, or anything else really. That is, if he doesn't remain a drooling vegetable for the rest of his life…" Marik smirked as Yami clenched his fists. Then Marik turned to Seto. "Now Seto, be a dear and finish the job. Chiao!" Marik disappeared, free-falling through the air.
Yami ran to the railing as Marik fell lightly to the ground a dizzyingly far distance away. Marik looked back at the teen and made an over exaggerated winking motion. Fury boiled inside him at Marik's nonchalant attitude. His grip tightened on the cool railing, as if to keep himself from jumping off after Marik. Then his breath hitched as a knife was shoved against the small of his back.
Instinctively, his hands flew into the air. "Now…" Seto growled, poking the knife more ferociously. "Leave now, or you -" Seto was cut off as a large group of breathless people burst through the door leading to the roof. Seto whirled, murderous glint in his eyes. Yami took this chance to dart away and stand over Ryou.
The girl who led the group gasped. Ryou was lying on the ground, unconscious, and Yami's wrist was bleeding badly. She growled and shifted into the body of a sleek black jaguar. Training a glare on Seto, she swallowed the mild surprise she felt at seeing the Kaibatachi's leader out of his domain. The smell pouring off him was too elegant to ignore. Sweat dripped off his sharp nose and down the back of his neck. Fear from the leader's body wafted gently into her sharp nose.
Perfect. She crouched low and stuck her hindquarters into the air. More fear. Seto knew he was going to die. Finally, the war would be over!
She pounced, waiting to feel Seto's skin and bones between her claws, but she fell heavily on open air. A hand pet her head gently. "Relax, sis. He's gone. Teleported." One of the mages in their group explained with a scowl. The jaguar sighed and shifted back into her human form.
Yami stood, turning to the seven people in front of him. He asked, "Why are you here?" The jaguar Host, Ishizu, stepped forward, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Ryou called for backup." She explained. "So here we are." Yami nodded gratefully. "You all stay here in case they come back. I'm gonna bring Ryou to Headquarters." Yami heaved Ryou over his shoulder and started hurrying down the stairs.
"Wait!" The mage raced after Yami's retreating back, clamping a hand on the fighter's shoulder. "I'm coming with you." He said. "Malik…" Yami warned. "I'm coming with you." Malik repeated, eyes narrowing. Before Yami could protest, Malik snatched Yami's keys and dangled them out of reach.
"You're hurt." Malik pointed at Yami's wrist. Yami's eyes widened as he realized how much blood was flowing from the side of his wrist. "Oh…" He said, pressing his wrist against his torso. "'Oh' is right." Malik laughed, pulling a bandage out of thin air and handing it to Yami. "It's not much, but it's better than nothing."
"Better than bleeding out, I suppose. Anyway, Anzu should be able to heal it well enough." Yami replied, shrugging. Malik nodded and unlocked the pickup truck. Yami unloaded Ryou to the passenger's seat as Malik stole driver's seat. Yami glared angrily but leaped resignedly into the trunk.
Back inside the pickup truck, Malik stared at Ryou out of the corner of his eye and put the car in drive. Ryou was still completely still, his face perfectly blank. Malik furrowed his eyebrows, his attention divided between the road and Ryou.
How had a single mage been able to Bid and Contain Ryou in his dragon form? Malik swerved back into his own lane, startled back from his musings by and oncoming car's horn. Yami opened the glass partition between the front and back of the truck. "Keep your eyes on the road!" He hissed. "I'd hate to end up dead because of your reckless driving." Malik grinned and swerved purposefully into the opposite lane.
Seto flinched, eyes screwed against impending death. Nothing happened for a long moment, so he carefully lifted an eyelid. He was inside a room. A royally large and grand bed, a giant sleek desk, and an enormous armoire decorated darkly painted walls. His own room? A shady figure lounging by Seto's desk straightened.
"Did you…" Seto trailed off, unable to swallow the fact that he, Seto Kaiba, had almost died, and what's worse, that insufferable mage had saved him. Marik smirked a toothy grin and clapped a hand on Seto's shoulder. "You're welcome." Then he walked jauntily into the hallway and disappeared.
"No! Lower bunk!" Marik ordered as Yami deposited Ryou's unconscious body onto the designated bunk. "Is Anzu coming?" Yami asked, wiping his palm on his jeans. Malik nodded shortly, staring at Ryou's bonds. They were normal Binding characters of average power. So why could they bind Ryou?
Malik sat down at the edge of the edge of his desk and questioned Yami thoroughly, scrawling the answers on a stray piece of paper. "Where is he?!" A voice demanded as the door burst open. Both teens looked up as a girl with short brown hair and a hag half her size marched in.
Her gentle cerulean eyes widened at Ryou lying motionless on his bed. Then she sighed and walked over. "So you weren't joking." She said softly, kneeling beside the bed. "Wait… wh… what?" Anzu spluttered in confusion as she looked at Ryou's bonds. "B-but… These bonds are low-level characters. I mean, even you could take these off!" She seemed oblivious to the fact that she just insulted Malik. Either that or she didn't care.
She reached into her bag and drew out a mechanical pencil. Then she started drawing pictures in the air with quick, even strokes. The picture, invisible before, suddenly glowed brightly. Before anyone could comprehend what was happening, a black light shot out of the scroll and incinerated Anzu's magic. Anzu gasped and knit her eyebrows.
She scrawled dozens more pictures and spells, each one more complicated than the last, but each one was shot down by a ray of black light. Finally, she threw the pencil down with a scream of frustration. "Get Yuugi." She growled. Yami shook his head. "You can do it. Just-" "No! I can't!" Anzu snapped, boring her eyes into Yami's. "This kind of magic is beyond me, go get you butt into gear before I kick it there myself!" Yami nodded meekly, raced out of the door, leaving Anzu steaming and Malik standing awkwardly out of her way.
Yami walked down the hallway of their underground headquarters, his footsteps echoing oddly. He stared down at his feet pensively until he stopped in front of a giant set of metal doors. He swallowed his fear and knocked tentatively. There was a slight pause, and a small section of the door flicked open. A pair of eyes glared out, then widened. Yami smiled and waved sheepishly. "Hello Mahado."
The door swung in, revealing a tall Egyptian man with piercing black eyes and traditional black kohl surrounding his eyes and trailing down his cheekbones. "What brings you here, Yami?" Mahado asked in a smooth, melodic voice, beckoning Yami into the darkened room. Yami nodded respectfully and stepped into the lightless room, a stifling sensation surrounding him.
"What do you think I'm here for? A cup of sugar?" Yami grinned wryly. Mahado laughed once. "You do have a good point. However, Yuugi is resting right now. Is there anything I can help you with?" Yami shook himself out of his momentary stupor caused by the heavy air and Mahado's melodic voice.
"Yes! I mean, no! We need Yuugi, and we need him fast!" Yami yelled, shaking Mahado's shoulders. Mahado's eyes widened in shock. "Who is 'we'? What do you need Yuugi for?" The story spilled from Yami's lips in a hurried muddle. It took a few precious moments for Mahado to understand what Yami had just explained. When he finally understood, Mahado nodded slowly. "Very well."
Mahado led Yami through a series of musty passageways. Both men hated interrupting Yuugi's sleep, mainly because he got very cranky if he didn't get his precious naptime. But if Ryou was in this much trouble, they needed the help of their half-angel leader.
When Mahado and Yami had finally arrived at the door to Yuugi's room, they both paused. "D-do… do you want to wake him up?" Mahado asked nervously. Yami laughed once. "No, no! You go ahead." Yami motioned for Mahado to knock on the pale blue wooden door.
"B…but you're his brother! You-"
"I'm just his half-brother! There's a bit of a difference."
"But you're still related!"
"I see him, like, once a week! You're around him more."
Both of them froze in the middle of an angry tussle as a crash resounded inside Yuugi's chambers. The door opened with a gigantic boom. "What the hell are you idiots doing?!" Yuugi's hair and pajamas were horribly crumpled, and purple-ringed eyes spoke of a sleepless nap.
Yuugi's eyes flitted over Mahado to Yami. "Brother?" Yami nodded meekly. Yuugi's eyes widened, and a giant grin found its way onto Yuugi's features. "Yami!" Yuugi threw himself into his older brother's arms with a boyish giggle. "What are you doing here?" He asked as Yami ruffled his hair.
This time, Yami managed to explain Ryou's predicament more precisely. Yuugi gasped and zipped out of his room, not bothering to wait for Yami or even change. Despite Yuugi's short little legs, he could run pretty fast. Yami only managed to catch up to him a few feet from Ryou's door, when the half-brothers were stopped short by a bloodcurdling shriek. Yami and Yuugi burst in as Anzu and Malik butted heads.
"I didn't do anything!" Malik hissed angrily. "That's the problem!" Anzu growled back. Yami was amused despite the situation. The level of derogatory insults being hurled was quite impressive for a couple normally level-headed people.
Yuugi straightened and walked calmly between the bickering pair as if they didn't exist. Malik's snide comment died in his throat as both teens backed away, blushing furiously. "So what just happened?" Yuugi asked softly, running a finger along one of the characters inscribed on the Binding Scroll.
"I-I don't know." Anzu spluttered, snapping to attention. "A few minutes ago, right after Yami left, he started jerking around, like he was having a seizure or something. Then he suddenly screamed, and just… stopped." Anzu finished with furrowed eyebrows.
Yuugi nodded slowly. "It's starting to drain his energy." He said. Three pairs of eyes bored into the back of his head. "Is…is that even possible? To drain someone else's magic... and life energy…" Malik said incredulously. "It would take more magic, more life energy than normal humans have!" Yuugi shook his head. "We're not dealing with normal humans." He muttered to himself. Out loud, he pointed to three markings, spaced apart about a foot. "Do you see these characters?"
They nodded. "They can easily be mistaken for Binding characters. Indeed, if used differently, they can bind. But when used like this…" Yuugi trailed off. "But that doesn't excuse the fact that someone managed to use magic on a dragon." Anzu said, attempting to cover up her previous lack of knowledge with a display of intelligence.
Yuugi nodded absentmindedly. "So we can only assume…" He trailed off softly. "We can only assume what? Haven't you heard the saying, 'If you assume, you make an ass out of u and me!'" Malik nudged Yami playfully, but his laughter died in his throat as he saw Yuugi set his lips in a thin line. "Stay back." Yuugi warned. "Whatever happens, do not interrupt."
Yami's heart thudded painfully. He wasn't- he wouldn't… But he was. Before their eyes, pure white wings were growing from Yuugi's back. "You idiot!" Yami yelled as Yuugi's transformation subsided. "Your halfling body can't-" He was cut off by a glare from Yuugi. How an angel could look so murderous, Yami had no idea. But he stepped back with a growl.
"There is demon magic in this scroll." Yuugi's voice echoed strangely, as if it had a different tone to it. He leaned over and ripped the scroll in half. There was a high-pitched, keening noise, and everything went black.
A/N: Did you know that the honorific -tachi is used to designate groups? I found that out when I was wondering why Ryou would always call Yuugi Yuugi-kun-tachi in season 0. That's why I made the gangs "Kaibatachi" and "Yuugitachi". Because I have no creativity...
Read and review please? I'll give you a virtual cookie!