This chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but that's because posting 3 chapters in a day takes a lot out of you. Ha~ Anyway, please forgive me and enjoy. Also, I own nothing~
-Echo
"MONSTER!"
Marik scrambled away from the monster's touch and darted past it, running as fast as his legs could carry him. Blood rushed in his ears and adrenaline pumped through his body, fear taking over as he heard the flapping of powerful wings behind him. "HELP!" he shrieked, praying his companions were nearby.
Yami and Bakura shared a quick look before nodding.
They ran in the opposite direction.
Feeling a clawed hand grab the back of his shirt, Marik yowled in panic and clawed at the air, fighting against the monster's tight grip. He felt his feet leave the ground, but after a blast of shining red magic flew through the air, his whole body made contact with it again. He grunted and quickly looked up, watching in shock as the monster flew straight for Bakura and Yami, wrapping a hand around each of their throats. As much as the two struggled and hit at the beast, it had a grip tighter than iron. His teeth were bared in a snarl as he flew through the air, his massive wings easily carrying him and his captives. All of a sudden, his claws loosened and Yami and Bakura crashed through the ruined roof of the tallest tower.
Meanwhile back on the ground, Marik had not taken the chance to flee, instead admiring the monster's strength and effeminate appearance. His lavender top revealed his midriff and went well with the leather pants that clung to him. As the monster turned his attention back to the awestruck hybrid, he couldn't help but notice his long hair and pretty purple eyes. Perhaps the reason he found him so attractive was because he looked so much like him. As common sense finally slapped him in the face that he was in danger, it was already too late as right then he had been snatched up by the beast and felt the wind in his face as he was carried off.
A smile laced Prince Ryou's pale face as he watched a male stand up from the debris, a rather dirty helmet hiding his face. Seeing another figure rise from the settling dust, who was remarkably shorter, the prince laid back down, closed his eyes and steadied his breathing, pretending to be asleep.
As Bakura's crimson eyes flickered to the bed, he spotted a beautiful boy that looked similar to him, but had an air of grace and charm to him rather than danger and ferocity. His shadow fell over the apparently sleeping boy, but right before he reached out to shake him awake, they were ambushed. "STAY AWAY FROM THE PRINCE!" Seemingly out of nowhere, a small boy with large amethyst eyes and tri-colored hair similar to Yami's leaped out and struck the back of Yami's head with a frying pan. The whacking sound made Bakura cringe and the magician collapsed with a loud groan.
Ryou gave up his act as Yugi had complete ruined it so he sat up with a frustrated sigh, "Way to kill the mood, Yugi." Shakily standing back up, Yami tenderly rubbed his throbbing head, growling, "What the hell?! That hurt!" "Shut up, Yami." hissed Bakura, looking back at Ryou and wanting to get out of there as quick as possible, "More importantly, are you Prince Ryou?"
Ryou's face lit up with a bright smile and he gave a curt nod, "Y-yes I am~ You're the first knight who has ever made it far enough to rescue me." Bakura rolled his eyes, not caring for formalities, "That's great, now let's go."
"But this is our first meeting, shouldn't it be romantic?"
The demon shook his head and grabbed the prince's pale wrist and dragged him unceremoniously toward the door, stepping over the debris.
"Hey, wait!" Yugi protested, clenching his fists and starting for Bakura, but he never reached him as Yami easily scooped him up and threw him over his shoulder. "Hey, put me down!" His face flushed red in embarrassment while his "kidnapper" simply grunted, "You better come with us too."
Ryou continued to struggle in Bakura's grip, surprised by the "knight's" unusual strength and behavior. "This isn't how you're supposed to do it!" the prince cried out, large eyes shimmering with confusion and disapproval, "You're suppose to sweep me off my feet, carry me out the window, down a rope and then we ride off on your valiant steed."
Dragging the whining prince down the stone, spiraling staircase with Yami closely following, he raised an eyebrow at Ryou, "You've had a lot of time to plan this, haven't you?" He nodded in response, giving a sheepish smile as they hurried to the bottom of the stairs. The two continued the conversation as Bakura picked up the pace.
"Hey, why aren't you doing something romantic? You could at least recite a poem for me."
"A poem? Ha, you're dreaming."
"Could I at least know your name?"
"...Bakura."
"Well sir Bakura, thank you very much for rescuing me. This is what I've been waiting for, for several years..." As Ryou trailed off, his eyes shining with memories, the powerful sound of flapping wings and a faint shriek echoed throughout the stone castle. "Wait...you didn't slay the monster?!" Ryou cried out in shock and horror, his eyes widening and jaw dropping open.
As Bakura broke out into a full out run, Yami struggling to keep up behind him and Yugi no longer trying to break loose of his grip, the demon growled, "I'm working on it, now hurry up!"
Ryou's pale hair flew out behind him as his feet nearly tripped over each other trying to match his rescuer's speed, "You're doing it wrong! You're supposed to run in, sword drawn, that's what all the other knight did!"
Nodding towards what was left of a knight in full body armor, Bakura scoffed, "And you see how well that turned out, right?" He finally came to a stop in front of a large wooden door, a sort of glow sneaking out from under it. "Hey, the exit's over there!" cried Yugi, who was still slung over the magician's shoulder and he pointed in another direction, large eyes showing how desperate he was to leave. "Yeah, but we have to save that poor bastard." Yami gave a kind smile to his smaller counterpart and gently set him down, to which Ryou replied, "You're horrible knights."
"Thank you." was Bakura's snarky reply that left his lips before he easily pushed open the door, finding himself on a balcony. Reaching the edge, he realized that the glow was emanating from both the chandelier that hung near him and the treasure that nearly completely covered the floor below. Marik's voice reached the demon's ears as he spotted the hybrid surrounded by shining, golden coins and a few jewels shimmering among them. His wrists were pinned to the ground by the same monster that had attacked them earlier and was ironically smaller than the hybrid.
"Hi, I'm Malik~" the monster's voice was practically a purr and his purple gaze was locked with his prey's. His body shaking with a nervous laugh, Marik replied, "I-I'm Marik...nice to meet ya! But...what are you?" His eyes flickered to the massive wings that cast shadows over the two before his was forced to look back at the monster's face as Malik grabbed the hybrid's chin. Giving a seductive smile, Malik tilted his head slightly, "I'm a succubus." "...but I thought all succubi were girls..."
"Heh~" Malik leaned his face in closer to the taller male's, an amused look on his bronze face, "Well most of us our, in face I'm the only male. But...you know...we have a thing for seducing men..."
Just then, Marik's cheeks lit up red and he struggled against the stronger blond, "H-hey, don't touch that, that's my tail!" "But it's so soft...~" the monster purred again, his eyes narrowed into mischievous slits, "And you're so sexy~ Wanna do- GAH!" Malik let out a pained shriek as a powerful force slammed into him, knocking him off the hybrid and skidding across the sea of treasure. "Let's go, Marik!" Bakura snarled and yanked him to his feet, wasting no time in dragging him to the door. Shaking off shock, Malik rose to his feet, his claws suddenly growing longer and he let out a battle cry.
From a low ledge, Yami jumped and landed neatly next to the two, both Ryou and Yugi slung over his shoulders like rag dolls. Upon seeing the strangers, Marik gave them a stupid smile, the fact that the monster was still alive completely slipping his mind, "Hi, I'm Marik." "Less talking, more running." Bakura demanded, yanking the blond's arm and rushing toward the exit as another one of Malik's battle cries ripped through the air and he spread out his wings, taking flight right after the intruders.
A loud screech sounded behind the group, "Give him back, I'll tear everyone of you to shreds!" As Bakura rushed toward the exit, he occasionally glanced back to check on Yami, making sure the magician didn't fall too far behind. If Yami died, so did the prince, and if that happened, the demon would never get his land back. He skidded to a halt and allowed the others to dash past him. As Yami set both Ryou and Yugi down, Bakura shook his head and commanded, "Go on ahead, I'll take care of the monster." Nodding, the magician raced outside with the others.
The demon turned around but didn't plan to face Malik head on, knowing there was no way he could win. Instead, the snatched up a nearby sword that had undoubtedly been left by another knight who had been foolish enough to try to use it against the monster. His body racing with adrenaline, he slammed the hilt of the sword into the closest pillar. Dropping the sword, hearing the stone give way under the heavy blow, he backed up and watched as it toppled right on top of Malik with a loud crash, the beast giving a scream of pain and he become invisible under the dust and debris, buried. 'Heh..." Bakura gave a triumphant smirk before making a mad dash for the rope bridge, calling out, "Let's go!"
They didn't take the time to think that such a weak bridge wouldn't be able to hold the weight of five people at one time. Just as Marik and Yami reached the other end, the rope snapped and crashed into the cliff face just above the glowing lava below. While Ryou let out a scream of fear, he managed to hang on. Thankfully, everyone had kept their grip tight and weren't knocked up by the force of the bridge hitting solid rock. After recovering from shock, Bakura managed to scramble up to his other companions, where he then pulled up the prince. As Yami pulled Yugi up onto solid ground, he grunted and commented, "For such a small boy, you sure are heavy."
"...I'll hit you again."
