Finally, I've finished the chapter. Sorry for taking so long, but I was having problems with parts of it, so I hope I didn't mess it up. Enjoy!
Chapter 3: You don't just leave what belongs to you.
Marik's POV:
"Wake up, you lazy good for nothing weaker selves!"
I groggily blinked my eyes open, focusing them on Mariku's smirking face. A groan from my side told me Ryou was also awake. That bastard over there must have noticed our tired looks, because he started violently shaking our shoulders. Ra dammit, just leave us alone, Mariku!!
"What do you want?" I spat while glaring at him. My headache hadn't left overnight, I was tired, my back and neck were cramping from the uncomfortable position I was in. I was in a real bad mood, and Mariku's chuckles weren't helping!
"I'm hungry, Bakura's hungry, and neither makes good meals. I heard little angel here could, though!" He said as he freed Ryou from the heater, but still keeping a firm hold on him lest he tried to escape. Ryou scowled back; clearly his mood wasn't any better than mine.
"What if I refuse?" Go, Ryou, show them we're not afraid of them! Don't let them boss you around!
A deep chuckle brought our attention towards the door. Oh great, Bakura just arrived! I growled under my breath as he took a step into the room.
"Ryou, Ryou, Ryou… So naïve… You don't have a say in this matter."
Suddenly there was the sound of a hit, and the next thing I knew, Ryou was dashing towards the exit, Mariku stumbling backwards with a bloody nose. Never knew Ryou could hit that hard...
Unfortunately, Bakura was faster than him. In one swift movement, he had my best friend knocked against the wall.
Ryou's POV:
I yelped as my back hit the wall behind me, knocking out the air from my lungs. My mind barely registered the yells echoing in my room whereas colours swirled in front of my eyes, blurring my vision. As the fog clouding my eyes slowly disappeared, a glaring face appeared in front of me. A face I knew all too well and wished I would never see again.
Suddenly something hit my cheek. Hard. So hard the side of my face met the wall behind me. Now I've got a general idea of what Marik must have felt… Slowly looking up, I noticed his hand still posed in midair from when he'd slapped me. His narrowed eyes were blazing red, a sign he was angry. Or just really annoyed. Doesn't really matter, either way it's not a good sign.
"Don't you ever…" His voice had taken a dangerous edge. "Don't you ever dare lift a hand on us again, you little runt!" I bit my lip to prevent a cry from escaping them as his nails dug deeper into my shoulder. Unconsciously I registered Marik yelling at him, only most of it was egyptian, so I can't quite make out exactly what he was saying, besides I've got other things to worry about. Like how close his face is to mine right now. So close I can feel his warm breath on my nose.
"Do I make myself clear?" So angry, I'm sure I'd regret it if I defied him.
Yet, that's exactly what I did. Guess I was tired of being pushed around, he used me so many times in the past, I didn't care what would happen to me if I decided not to cooperate. I was sick of being a mind slave. I wanted to fight him, prove he couldn't control me any longer. He couldn't force me inside my soul room nor take hold of the body anymore, so he couldn't do anything to force me, right?
I can't really smirk. All I can do is smile weakly. That's enough to make him frown. Don't think he actually expected me to do that…
"I'm not afraid of you anymore…"
Bakura's POV:
"I'm not afraid of you anymore…I faced you before, I can do it again! You can't push me around anymore!" His voice grew stronger with every word. He was actually smiling. A weak smile, but nonetheless a smile. He wanted to challenge me. Such confidence it annoyed me, but at the same time it filled me with enthusiasm. The more confident he gets, the more fun I'll have breaking him.
That little runt couldn't possibly think he'll get away that easily after trying to escape, does he?
It only took a sick grin to make his smile fade and his face pale. But still the weakling held his ground. That soon changed.
"I'm hurt yadonushi…" I leaned down closer; my forehead now resting against his as he tried to flinch away from me. "You don't want anything bad to happen to Marik, do you?" I smirked as his eyes widened in fear, briefly flicking behind my shoulder to glance where said Egyptian lay. "I thought so. Now how about you be a good landlord and make us a nice meal, hmm?"
I saw him clenching his teeth. My smirk widened as he glared weakly at me. He's mine to command.
Mariku's POV:
Ow... Now THAT hurt... Damn that hikari...
I leaned myself against the wall while waiting for the pain in my nose to subside and for my vision to clear. Blood dripped down my chin, but I didn't really care. In fact, it wasn't long before the pain turned into a dull ache, which I'm sure normal humans can't do. What did you expect? I was born out of someone's pain and anger, do you honestly think a broken nose is enough to stop me?
Okay, back to business... Bakura had his light pinned against the wall, good, saved me the trouble of hunting the little bitch. Marik was yelling at the thief, or swearing, actually it didn't matter, point is he was starting to annoy me!
"Shut up!" I ordered as I kicked his side harshly. He yelped in pain, twisting his body away from me, trying to cradle his abused side despite his bound hands. When he made eye contact once again, he was glaring so hard I swear he was hoping to burn me to ashes. Che, like he could do anything against me...
His glare deepened when Bakura forced Ryou out of the room. Now that's something I could use against him later on... If he's so damned protective of the pale boy, then he'll have to face the counsequences at one point, won't he?
Third person's POV:
Marik was angry. And worried. Because he had no way whatsoever of knowing what was happening to Ryou. And he didn't trust the Tomb Raider one bit.
Mariku had disappeared, probably to get something for his nose. Marik had to grin on remembering the look on his Dark's face when Ryou had punched him. Hell, he was sure he'd heard it crush into splinters! He made a mental note to congratulate his friend as soon as possible.
His grin was wiped out from his face at the thought of Ryou. He couldn't hear what was going on in the kitchen, and so he hoped it was a good sign. The Thief better not harm him...
Suddenly the door was slung open once again, revealing his darker look alike. His nose was no longer bleeding, and actually looked pretty normal. Marik growled under his breath. Damn, the nutcase managed to fix it after all.
"Miss me?" On seeing the glare sent his way, Mariku grinned insanely. "Thought so!"
"Why don't you just go annoy someone else, will you?"
"I could!" The spirit answered. "But we're supposed to stay hidden, right? No use spoiling the surprise. Now I could annoy Bakura, but he's kinda busy with Ryou right now..." His grin turned into a wicked smirk. "And then there's Ryou. Even I'm not insane enough to molest him when 'Kura's nearby. So I'll save him for later!"
Oh how Mariku loved the frustration he felt coming from his lighter half.
"Then go back to the Shadow Realm where you belong! I don't care how you managed to escape in the first place, I just want you to disappear!"
Mariku ignored him, choosing to move closer to him instead. Marik growled once again and tried to kick him as soon as he was close enough. The spirit couldn't help the grin spreading on his face as he watched his hikari's feeble attempts to hit him.
Suddenly Marik found himself with a heavy weight on his legs, halting all of his attacks. To his horror, his yami had decided to sit on him.
Which brought their faces real close to one another.
Clang!
"OW!!" For a second, Marik had forgotten that he was sitting against the heater. He was reminded, however, when the back of his head connected painfully with it while attempting to jerk his face away from Mariku's. Just when his headache had faded, too. Cursed luck.
The spirit chuckled as the younger one shut his eyes tightly to will the pain away. He brought his hand to the hikari's face, brushing a lock away, while the teenager pressed himself against the heater to evade his touch.
"You wanna know why we came back? Think of it this way. You might be weak, but you're something." Marik found he couldn't move, what with his yami stradling his legs and holding his chin to prevent him from looking away.
"Do you really think I'm stupid enough to let such a rare desert jewel such as you escape me? I think not, my dear weaker-self. I will get revenge on the Pharaoh, and I will make you mine again."
Marik glared. "Over my dead body, you bastard!" he spat." I'll never be yours! Not now, not ever!" He winced as Mariku's nails dug in his skin.
"Oh but you will, my weaker-self, you will. That is, unless you want something bad to happen to those you love. Now, who shall I torture first? That fool Rishid? Or your sister, Isis?" He leant even closer to his captive. "Tell me, would you like it if I caused something bad to happen to Bakura's light?"
"You're bluffing! You said it yourself! Even you're not stupid to hurt him!"
"Ah, but who said anything about hurting him when Bakura's around, hmm?"
Marik was trapped with no chances of escaping. The worst part was that he was well aware of that.
In the kitchen, Ryou was annoyed. Really annoyed. Not only was he a prisoner in his own house, but he was also forced to satisfy his captor's every wish! How the Hell was he supposed to cook with his hands cuffed together anyway?
Bakura was leaning against the wall, his eyes following his every move. Ryou scowled his way a moment. He wanted to get out of here. Or hurt Bakura in some way. He knew there was a pretty slim chance of him succeeding, however if he could inflict him even the slightest of pains, then he'd feel satisfied.
But he knew better than that. If he tried anything, Marik would be the one to suffer. And he couldn't allow that! Even if hitting his former yami did seem pretty tempting...
Shaking his head in annoyance, he turned back towards the kitchen counter. Now, where did he put that knife?
He had finally spotted it lying innocently beside the sink, and was about to reach out for it when an arm snaked round his waist, pulling him flush against someone's chest. Not again!! he thought.
Ryou growled in annoyance, now really wishing he had the knife in hand. "Please tell me how exactly I'm supposed to work when I can't even bloody move?"
Bakura chuckled at the angry tone his lighter half had used against him. "I know you better than you think I do, Ryou. It bothers me, to tell the truth." His other arm crept around Ryou's chest. "To know you only fear me when your friends are involved. It disappoints me..."
Ryou was by now feeling claustrophobic, and it was starting to unnerve him. He wanted to pull away, but Bakura spun him round, and he found himself with his back pressed against the counter, with Bakura's hands on either side of him to prevent his escape.
"It disappoints me..." he continued "...to have one of my very own belongings willing to turn against me."
Ryou brought his cuffed hands in front of him, as if using them to shield himself.
"I'm not your belonging!" Bakura's eyes narrowed at the defiance in Ryou's voice. "I'm not an object you can claim as your own! I don't belong to anyone!"
"You don't, heh?" Ryou tried to shrink away as Bakura leaned closer to him, glaring. "I think otherwise. You owe me, Ryou Bakura. I granted your childhood wish, didn't I?" One of his hands came up to twirl the boy's white locks. "I made sure that baka didn't chop off your precious hair. It would have been such a pity..."
Ryou pushed the hand away. "Wish? What wish? I wanted to play with my friends forever, I never asked for them to fall into a coma! I never asked you to hurt anyone! I don't owe you anything!"
Bakura smirked evily. "Oh but you do. So now you belong to me." He grabbed the cuffs linking Ryou's hands together and yanked on them, hard. Ryou found himself pulled closer to the Thief. The taller man took hold of his chin, forcing him to make eye contact. "Allow me to prove it."
Ryou never had a chance to react as Bakura's lips were forced upon his own, the thief easily taking advantage of his shock and slipping his hand behind his neck.
Marik jumped when Ryou was brutally shoved into the room, yelping as he hit the floor by the Egyptian's feet. Mariku, who had been relaxing on the bed, cackled insanely as Bakura strolled in casually, a huge smirk on his face. He grabbed Ryou by the back of his collar and forced him against the heater, fastening the handcuffs back on.
"Sweet dreams." He whispered once he was sure the teen couldn't escape, hands resting either side of him.
He would have closed the gap between them, hadn't a foot connected painfully with his side, knocking him away from Ryou. Mariku's chuckles doubled as the white haired thief clumsily stood back up, glaring at the Egyptian who had dared kick him. Marik glared back, defiance and anger burning in his eyes.
"Get lost!" He spat, venom dripping from his voice. Bakura narrowed his eyes as he marched back to the captives, drawing his fist back to land a punch in his stomach.
Marik choked as the air was knocked out of him. Bakura was about to swing his arm a second time, completely ignoring Ryou's screams for him to stop, when Mariku's hand caught it mid air.
"Watch it, I don't want you to ruin him! Come on, we're leaving!" Bakura glared his way before dropping his arm.
"Whatever!" He spat before leaving the room with the other spirit.
Marik continued to sputter for a while, until it subsided into heavy breathing. Ryou had shifted so that he could in some way support his friend, but with his hands bound there wasn't much he could do.
"Marik, I'm sorry..."
"Did he hurt you?"
Ryou was taken aback by the question. He tried to catch a glance of his friend's face, but his hair was shielding his eyes from the whitenette.
"Wha...?"
"Did he hurt you?" Marik repeated with a sharper edge to his voice as he lifted his head to face Ryou. His eyes were blazing with pure anger as he locked them with his best friend's.
The teenager tried to smile back reassuringly. "Not really." He answered as he looked away. "Don't worry about me... What about you? Did he hurt you?"
The Egyptian shook his head no. "He didn't. Listen Ryou, I know he did something to you. Please, tell me! Tell me and I swear he'll pay!"
This time it was a sad smile that Ryou gave him. "He already did, Marik. Thank you... I'm sorry you got hurt though..."
"I survived, didn't I? So don't you worry. By the way..." He added with a smirk, "...that was quite a lovely punch you gave Mariku!"
Ryou smiled back. "Thank you."
They drifted into a comfortable silence, enjoying each other's company. They were still trapped, but at least, they were together. And that was enough to make them hope.
That's the end of the chapter. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. (Never mind if I struggled with it.) Thanks for reading!
Feedback is most appreciated... Yeah, that's my not so subtle way of begging for reviews... (embarassed smile)