Hello again! I really appreciate you all reading! I'd just like to apologize for the pace of these first few chapters. I know it's far less descriptive than it could be and feels rushed, but I'm still working out the pacing for how I want it all to go. Please read and review!
Chapter Warning: Quite a bit of language in this one, so be ready.
Chapter Three
Hidden in the foliage surrounding a cabin stood a tall Scalactic demon. His scales were a mustard yellow color signifying birth into a particular Scalactic clan with the ability to take human form when needed. He remained in his natural state at the moment, for it better served his purpose of intimidating and informing the cabin's inhabitants. His leader, Dax, wished to frighten them before killing them. Five hundred years of waiting had truly heightened his taste for playing with his food.
Serp, as he was formally named, hunched down into the darkness surrounding his frame. The moon was new, much as the impending new world order.
Now he had only to wait.
"Jou, get the guitar! You play for me?"
From his position on a stool in the kitchen, Jou picked up the acoustic guitar he had been fiddling with earlier, a familiar hobby of his ever since the passing of his sister. He and Yuugi always made music when they prepared food. It gave an air of excitement to the mundane activity and for just a little while they could be happy.
Apart from them and their music, Jou and Yuugi were alone in the kitchen. Seto and Marik escaped to a bedroom for Kaiba to do work and Marik to read in peace with friendly company. Originally he stationed himself in the living room, but Malik and Ryou started watching The Breakfast Club and shouting the lines at each other which isn't very conducive to reading.
Upstairs, Yami and Bakura were hotboxing the bathroom and having "brotherly conversation", which, according to Marik, means they are gossiping like little girls.
And quite frankly, that's exactly what they were doing.
Yami sat on the closed toilet lid with his knees pulled up and his arm outstretched with a blunt dangling in his fingers. Bakura was next to him on the sink counter sitting criss-cross applesauce glaring at his friend. The delicious blur surrounding his vision was the only reason he hadn't punched Yami in the face yet.
"It's not that weird. Look at Seto; he and Jou fight like Freddy and Jason but they cuddled all night."
"That's different," Yami responded. "They fought to cover up girly lovey emotions with manly pride. Yuugi and I fight because literally everything he says is obnoxious and vexing."
Bakura rolled his eyes as he dragged the blunt, coughing slightly when the smoke hit his throat. He had been arguing his point to Yami for nearly half an hour by now and was getting nowhere. Bakura was convinced that his friend looked at Yuugi with more than just lust, but Yami was just too damn stubborn to listen. His inner rant abruptly ended when Yami spoke next.
"And what about you, then? Going to get out the trench coat and boom box soon?"
The boy on the toilet laughed slightly at his friend's blush. The two of them had been this way since they were children; Bakura would steal Yami away from the crowd to raise hell or just talk together for a while. Before Bakura joined their family, Yami hadn't spent any time with people his own age other than Seto.
"I'm thinking about it. But he's the first person outside of the family that I actually care about. So it's hard."
Yami could almost understand, but it was difficult for him to accept Bakura feeling any type of fear. He was saved from his discomfort by Marik calling them for dinner.
Downstairs was alive with music and the scent of a heavenly spice; Yuugi danced on the kitchen counter around the food while Jou played guitar. The rest of the gang was scattered around the kitchen holding plates with fajitas and Spanish rice. Yami and Bakura chose from the spread on the stove top with grins on their faces, enjoying the atmosphere. It was nearing ten o'clock (but the fact that they hadn't gotten up until four in the afternoon excused such a late dinner) and there was a nasty wind shaking the windows. It did nothing to inhibit the festivities within.
For a peaceful while, the boys engaged in pure silliness and devoured Yuugi's food. Seven of them were so wrapped up in their debauchery that it took some time to notice the state of the eighth.
Amidst the silly dancing, Ryou stood perfectly still with his ears perked. His face fell as he strained to make sense of what he was hearing. A soft voice seemed to be floating on the wind and directly in to Ryou's ears; he glanced around to his friends as if in a daze, wondering why they couldn't hear it.
His mind was overtaken by a fog so thick it blinded him. Although he could not hear them anymore, he prayed his friends were still nearby and safe. His hearing seemed to have left with his sight, leaving him trapped in his own mind with no sense of the outside world. Only that whispering to keep him company and it wasn't even coherent. It sounded like someone trying to speak but not moving their mouth enough to finish the words.
Suddenly, the fog poisoned and solidified around his mind leaving him with an excruciating constriction inside. He was completely cut off from his friends and all sense of reality. Just him and that damn voice trying to take him over.
Around him, Ryou's friends were terrified. They had been shaking and screaming at him for a good few minutes to no response. He only stared ahead with a blank expression, unmoving.
"Did one of you give him something?"
"Of course not!"
"Ryou! Sweetheart, snap out of it." Malik gripped his lover tight when yet again his friend did not respond. "This isn't funny, Ryou!"
Tears filled Yuugi's eyes as he looked at the unresponsive boy. He had only seen such empty irises once in his life and he wished with all his might that people couldn't die standing up. He was so despondent that he didn't even mind Yami's hand on his hip.
Bakura stood closest to their friend, hands holding both sides of the white hair.
"He's sweating," Bakura remarked. "He's scared of something."
They all held their breath when he wrapped Ryou in a tight hug. He read once that holding someone in the midst of a panic attack helped balance their heart beat.
"Ryou, if you can hear me, I am here." He whispered in to Ryou's ear. "You are safe here with me."
The small body in his hands began to tremble violently and everyone except Bakura covered their ears in terror at the shriek that left Ryou's lips. His eyes were suddenly alive and full of tears and he sobbed uncontrollably into Bakura's arms, begging for help. The man holding him quickly picked Ryou up into his arms and carried him to the sofa where he laid him down. The others followed, Jou carrying a glass of water and circled Ryou, anxious to know what ailed their friend.
"Outside," Ryou croaked. "He's outside."
"Who is, honey?" Yuugi kneeled next to Bakura and held Ryou's hand.
"The m-m-man with scales."
They all stood back slightly, obviously confused by their friend's words. He kept repeating himself as he stared into Bakura's eyes, not letting him move. Whispers irrupted throughout the living room while the boys looked around nearing hysterics, peaking out of the windows and creating a generally startling atmosphere. Everyone, that is, except Kaiba.
"Okay, here is what we do. Marik and I will go outside to investigate. Bakura, you stay here with him; get him to drink some water. Everyone else, go upstairs and pack our things as fast as you can. Whether or not someone is out there, we still need to get Ryou somewhere he feels safe."
Jou felt momentary relief and comfort at the way Kaiba took control. Then he was terrified.
"No, it's too dangerous. You can't go out there with Marik." He moved closer to the CEO with fire in his eyes, completely unwilling to allow his man to walk blindly into danger.
"And like hell am I letting you take my boyfriend out to meet a psycho killer." Malik crossed his arms in front of Marik defiantly. Before his lover had a chance to refute Malik's unnecessary fear, Jou grabbed Kaiba's hand and walked outside with him.
"Same plan, only Marik and I switch." He looked at his friend with a cocky smirk on his face, contrary to what he was feeling inside. "No offence, sunshine, but a street fighter like me has got a better chance in the snow than a desert bug like you."
With that, he and Kaiba left. The remaining teens shared anxious glances before climbing the stairs to pack everyone's belongings. On the couch, Ryou's grip on Bakura's hand tightened.
"What's happening, Bakura?"
The boy on the floor looked sadly at his friend. Since the moment Ryou stopped talking, Bakura felt an unnatural tightness in the air. Almost as if no matter how far into the woods he ran, he would never get a deep breath again. In this moment, he wanted nothing more than to comfort the obviously terrified Ryou, but he couldn't find truthful words to do it.
Instead, he raised the glass of water to Ryou's lips and made him drink, praying that this really was a panic attack and not one of his aunt's bedtime stories come to haunt them.
Outside, Jou and Kaiba were looking around the house together, trying to see into the woods without going too far away. Kaiba was walking in front of Jou who kept a look out behind them. It was getting late, his glow watch told him, only five minutes to midnight.
Jou was forced to look away from his watch when he walked into Kaiba's back. He raised his head confused and worried that they stopped because Kaiba saw something. But looking around, Jou saw nothing to cause alarm. His fellow investigator turned to look at him with a struggle upon his face, as if he wanted to say something but was unsure.
"What is it? Did you see something?" Kaiba shook his head and reached between them to grab Jou's hand.
"I don't think we are going to find anything, pup." He played with Jou's hand with both of his, his face making it obvious that he was choosing his words very carefully. "Last night…you got on my lap and asked if magic could bring your sister back. How long has it been?"
Jou would have swallowed if his mouth weren't so dry. He barely even spoke to his friends about his sister because it made him sound so weak. And now…
He couldn't even imagine what Kaiba thought of him.
"Two years," he mumbled. Then he tilted his head and put up his signature 'of course I'm fine, don't worry' smile. "I was wondering why you let me stay curled up like that. Usually you hate me so much I woulda been on my ass in no time. But I guess when siblings are involved, you get it."
Kaiba looked at Jou sadly for a moment and then glanced at their hands, uncharacteristically nervous.
"I don't hate you, Katsuya."
Jou's eyes widened. Kaiba really didn't hate him? Then why did they fight so much? Why did he have to anger the guy to get attention?
Kaiba's eyes held shocking emotions in them for Jou to see. They spoke of regret, fear, kindness, and something else Jou couldn't quite place.
"Katsuya, I-" his confession was cut off by a sudden ball of light slamming in to Jou's side and violently launching the teen through the kitchen window, shattering glass and splintering wood. Seto screamed his name as he jumped through the new hole in the wall to reach the unconscious boy, debris crunching under his weight. He recognized vaguely that the others had run to join them and barely heard Malik scream at the sight of his injured friend.
"What the fuck happened?!" Yuugi pushed in front of Kaiba and lifted Jou's head onto his lap. "The hell is your problem, Kaiba?"
Yuugi's voiced cracked with emotion as he glared malevolently at the taller boy who snapped out of his trance at the accusation.
"You think I did this?" His voice was dangerously low. Yami caught the perilous offence and stood between his cousin and Yuugi, not sure who needed more protection.
"Let's just get Jou and Ryou to the car, okay? Jou at the least needs to get to the hospital." Yuugi nodded with a sniff, willing to forgo his blaming Kaiba in order to save his friend. With a harsh glare, he allowed Kaiba to pick Jou up, never letting them get too far away. When they stood at the front door, Bakura walked Ryou up carefully holding his waist. Malik grabbed the car keys and started to walk to the door when a powerful gust of wind threw the door open and pushed them all back with Ryou and Bakura falling to the living room and the others littering the stairs and surrounding floor. Kaiba made sure to hold Jou's head close to his body for protection.
"You aren't going anywhere, benders." An awfully gravelly voice entered their ears with such malice and hatred as none of them had ever heard. He said the last word as Draco Malfoy said 'mudblood'. "At least not tonight."
The teens stared in surprise at the intruder, all too terrified to move. His body was covered in yellowed scales, all exposed except those hidden underneath his pants which seemed to have been made out of a burlap sack. His face was angled disgustingly vertically with eyes that fit sideways under a protruding brow and his jaw unhinged to reveal what seemed like a hundred pointed yellow teeth and a long, blue split tongue. He bent toward them menacingly and traced them with his eyes. Briefly he hesitated on Jou and a sick, malicious laugh left his lips.
"I'm almost sorry about that. Just needed your attention." The twisted attitude he used in reference to their friend served to draw Yuugi out of his fear-induced silence by gripping his anger and pulling it to the forefront.
"You almost killed him, you dick!" With a yell, Yuugi hauled himself to his feet and glared at the demon as if he was just another scumbag human and not a supernatural psychopath. He would have lunged at the offender, but Yami grabbed him around the waist and pulled him back.
"Yuugi, no." He pushed the smaller boy behind him and completely held him away. "He's Scalactic. He probably hit Jou with a fireball and a low-grade one at that. Usually they disintegrate mortals on contact."
Yuugi stared in awe at Yami while the others looked back and forth between the two adversaries, amazed at Yami's knowledge. No one knew what to say; was this actually happening? This was a joke, right? What was in that weed?
"Ah, you must be Yami. I was told to watch out for you. I guess that bitch family of yours managed to teach you a lot before they died." The demon mocked him with a bow before smiling at them all. "Allow me to introduce myself; I am Serp, commanding officer of the Scalactic army and the first among many demons to greet you all, I'm sure."
They stared dumbfounded, completely disbelieving. Malik uncurled himself from Marik's protective arm and narrowed his eyes at the intruder.
"Why are you here for us?" The demon gave another of his chillingly cheerful laughs and pranced in a circle. The way he seemed completely off his rocker while simultaneously life-threatening scared the teens more than if he was viciously killing them all.
"Why, my dear, I am here to scare the daylights out of you! You're all going to live, of course. We haven't had benders in half a millennia; we simply must play with you before we slaughter you."
Having enough of these games, Bakura rose to his feet while staring the intruder down. This man's words were enough to send shivers down everyone's spines, but to him it was Grade A bullshit. This nightmare was just some sick joke and he would put an end to it. He would protect what he loved.
With a growl, he charged at Serp's back. He would unmask that son of a bitch so he could watch the face as he bruised it.
Faster than a wink, the demon spun and grabbed Bakura around the neck, trapping some white hair between his slimy hands and the young one's skin. He glared, snarled, and bared his teeth all at once. Ignoring the pleas from the kids surrounding him on the ground, he leaned close to Bakura and smelled him with his tongue.
"Lucky for you, you are not the one I will be killing in the future," He growled. "Because if you were, I would be sure to make it slow and terrible."
Bakura struggled against his captor, momentarily concerned for his safety. A forceful voice surprisingly erupted from Ryou, who had struggled to stand on shaking legs. His glare rivaled the demon himself.
"Put. Him. Down." The frail boy's face was gray and he was horribly weakened, but his stare never wavered. He seemed somehow distracted behind his front, but with what no one knew. The demon laughed again as if the idea of him obeying a human, and a teenager at that, was ridiculous. Before he could retort, though, a growl broke through everyone's stupors.
In the door stood a giant bear nearly the size of the frame, reared on its hind legs and staring at Ryou expectantly. He pointed at the scaled man and ordered an attack; if it wasn't weird enough to see their friend talking to a bear, the whole situation got a lot stranger next.
The bear listened.
It swung a massive claw at the demon, knocking him down and freeing Bakura. Seto pushed himself away from the demon's fall to keep both him and Jou safe. Marik wrapped his arm back around Malik and turned them so only his back was exposed and Malik was completely hidden under him. Serp cackled on the floor before swinging his arm and throwing a ball of fire at the bear, turning it to ash. As he stood he brushed the dirt off his pants, a terrifying smirk adorning his face. He spoke four words before his body shimmered and disappeared completely:
"I'll be seeing you."
The eight teens stared at the wreckage in front of them, eyes wide and jaws slack. Compared to the uncontrollable disruptive noises that hadn't stopped harassing their ears since Ryou screamed, the silence now was overwhelming. Kaiba remained where he was, still holding Jou in his arms. Yami and Yuugi stood motionless next to each other, both sporting bruises on their backs from where they hit the stairs. Ryou had an arm around Bakura who himself had yellowing fingerprints bruising in to his neck. They walked together to examine the ash where their helpful bear friend once stood; Ryou fought to hold back tears.
He was beyond confused. How had the bear known to help him? Why was he upset to see such a dangerous creature disappear?
Marik held tight to his boyfriend, terrified that the demon would come back and take him away. Malik, on the other hand, chose to voice what they all were thinking.
"What the every loving fuck was that?"
His words seemed to break everyone back to reality and instead of answering his question, they scurried to grab their belongings and get to the car. Yami drove with Yuugi in the passenger seat and Seto holding tightly to Jou behind him.
"Seriously, what the fuck just happened?!" Yuugi was nearly screaming at Yami, expecting him to know something. "And Ryou, why did that bear listen to you? Was that a fluke? What the hell?"
Ryou sighed, holding his head in his hands as Bakura rubbed his back. They sat in the very rear of the car, so when he explained himself his voice raised slightly.
"I can't explain it, honestly. When we were in the kitchen eating, everything got quiet save for this whispering in my head. At first I couldn't understand and then it started to hurt and then I heard Bakura. And as soon as I heard him, the whispering stopped. And instead an image of that…that…man showed up and it just hurt so much. It didn't go away until I heard Jou go through the window and the next thing I knew I could hear that voice clear as day telling me it was coming to help and then the bear was there."
Bakura's brow furrowed and he stopped stroking Ryou's back, remembering their conversation when they were drunk. It felt like fifty years ago, but it was just last night, wasn't it?
"You mean…like-"
"Like I was talking to an animal," Ryou finished, well aware of their previous conversation. "Yeah."
Yami gripped the wheel, feeling everyone's eyes on hm. It was two hours back to Domino and if he wasn't careful, it could be the most uncomfortable ride of his life.
"He called us benders," he began. "I'm assuming that means he – or at least his boss – believes us the new protectors of the innocent. Ryou, you gained your power first, but they all would have unlocked at midnight. We just haven't developed them like you; and before you ask, I don't know why. That demon was a Scalactic – a snake demon and from his scales, I'd say a pretty powerful one. He must not have been lying when he said his boss wanted to fuck with us first. Now if only we could figure out who that is, we could – "
"Woah, woah, hey!" Yami gripped the steering wheel tighter and glared at Malik in the rearview mirror for interrupting him. "The fucks are you on about?"
"My family diaries – "
"Are stories." Said Yuugi. "First of all, given that you can't even pass a math test I'm surprise you remember them. Second of all, they aren't real."
Yami's jaw dropped in disbelief but before he could say anything, Marik spoke up.
"I'm willing to believe anything you can come up with to explain how a bear turned to ash, kid."
Yuugi sputtered angrily. "Anything. Some kind of weird special effects or something."
"Are you kidding me?" The car sped up under the pressure of Yami's angry lead foot. "After everything you just saw, you can't believe in magic?"
"You certainly know a lot about what just happened, Notaro."
"And what are you inferring?"
"I'm implying that you are pulling a prank on us. You may infer as you wish."
Yami was at a loss for words, letting Ryou argue with Yuugi and instead focusing on getting Jou to the hospital. If he were to focus on his fury with the smaller passenger, they'd surely run off the road. How could this boy possibly be in denial?
Ryou and Yuugi argued (as well as they could, considering) for a good ten minutes with Malik chiming in every once in a while. Ryou was gobsmacked that one of his best friends would consider him privy to such a distasteful prank and used that defense to pry Yuugi away from his refusal to believe. It wasn't working very well.
"Enough," Kaiba finally ordered. "We will discuss this back at the mansion."
"I don't think s-"
"Shut up, Malik. Jou needs the best care and he will get it from my physician. Not some community college hacks at Domino General."
He efficiently shut his friends up for the rest of the drive. They were all far too occupied with their own thoughts to talk much, anyway.
Yami purposefully ignored the tear he saw running down Yuugi's face. Maybe at another time he would have mocked such a childish reaction to fear, but at the moment he had no room to talk.
After all, it was just as childish to want your mother.
"He'll be alright, Mr. Kaiba. A minor concussion and a few bumps and bruises, but just allow him to rest until he has recuperated. He'll wake up in the morning, probably. If not, call me right away." The doctor collected his brief case and coat, prepared to show himself out of the mansion. He left a bottle of painkillers on the bedside table next to Jou for in the morning before taking his leave.
Kaiba and Yuugi were the only two in the bedroom with their unconscious fried – Seto because he carried him there and Yuugi because he was one stubborn little shit and refused to leave his friend until he could speak to him. The smaller boy lay down next to Jou, curling in to his friend's warm body seeking assurance he was still there, which left Kaiba sitting in the recliner next to the window. This guest room was closest to the master bedroom, though Yuugi was unaware of this fact. Kaiba wanted Jou as near as possible while he recovered.
"He's my very best friend. He's my Mokuba," Yuugi said. He was now lying on Jou's chest and his eyes were slowly closing, but Kaiba knew when he was being spoken to.
"I don't intend to hurt him, Yuugi. You have my word." The CEO also closed his eyes and began to drift off, dreaming unpleasantly of bedtime stories and broken glass.
Downstairs in the kitchen, the other five teens stood circled around the counter not speaking. They all just stared at the granite island top, still reeling from their night.
Malik, ever the impatient one, was first to break the silence with a deep inhale and words breathed out barely above whispering volume. "What the hell do we do now?" Tears filled his fearful eyes and he gratefully accepted Marik's arms around him. "I mean, he said there would be more. We need to be prepared, right?"
"Prepared for what?" asked Bakura. "We have no idea what is coming after us let alone if we can even handle it."
Yami sighed in frustration and leaned close to his friend across the counter. "I told you, it was a demon."
The glare from his reluctant friend sent a spike through Yami's heart. If anyone were to believe, he would have expected it to be Bakura.
"They were stories! Even if some terrible evil is coming after us, there is no way we will be able to handle it. In case you haven't noticed, Yami, we don't have powers."
With that final yell, Bakura stormed out of the kitchen. Despite the distance between the kitchen and Bakura's room upstairs, they could hear the door slam as clearly as if it were next to them.
Malik smiled slightly through tearful eyes and gripped Yami's hand. Marik nodded surely at his friend.
"I can't say what I believe right now, mate, but I do trust you," he said. Malik released Yami's hand as he was guided to the bedroom he and Marik shared. "Let's talk more after everyone gets some sleep."
They finally departed, leaving behind Yami and Ryou. Yami turned tiredly to his friend with a sad smile on his face.
"You've been quiet," he laughed bitterly. "Doing that silent judging thing?"
Ryou laughed barely, and leaned on to the counter. His elbows slid slightly on the cool surface, so he pushed down on them to make them stay. It hurt, but at least it was real.
"Yesterday I would have told you a sarcastic story about a cat named Sassifrass. But I just talked to a bear a few hours ago, so let's just say I'm on your side."
They shared a small, grateful smile; true happiness would be incredibly difficult to come by for a while, but the fact that they were together in their supposed insanity granted comfort.
"C'mon. I'll show you what my mom left me."
His room was pitch black save for a sliver of moon shining through the open window. It gleamed off of pearly white hair and shined particularly brightly against his brown eyes. Bakura was resting with his socked feet dangling over the bed, one arm thrown across his face gracelessly. If he were anyone else, he may have been crying because of the painful thoughts running through his head.
He could see his adoptive mother, Yami and Seto's aunt, smiling at him from the hospital bed; her heart weakening with every beat. He could smell the moth balls and stale air of the funeral home, hear the impersonal words of the priest giving the sermon, feel the dirt leave his hand as he dumped it on her coffin.
He could remember so clearly her last words to him.
Promise me to just believe. In love. In faith. In something you can't comprehend. Promise me to believe in yourself, Rabbit. You must always believe that you are great; you will achieve so much. And I will never be away from you, truly.
I love you.
With a frustrated cry, Bakura turned on to his stomach and gripped the bed sheets tight, his nails snagging on the fabric. She must have known that something like this would happen. She knew he would face this confrontation sooner or later. And even though he wanted with all of his might to uphold his promise to her, he just couldn't.
He couldn't believe that demons were real. He couldn't believe that the boy he was in love with could speak with animals. And he certainly couldn't believe that he held some hidden power deep within begging to be released.
Taking a deep breath, he crawled up to the pillows and buried his face into them so he could scream without alarming anyone. There was no way in hell he would trust in bedtime stories to protect him or his friends.
He just had to do it all himself.
Please review and let me know how it's going! Thank you!