Since he's actually in this chapter, I figure I should post this again: I am slightly dyslexic and have a hard time telling the difference between the names Malik and Marik. So, more for my own (possibly selfish) purposes than for those of the story, I will be using the name Namu (Marik's assumed name from Battle City) when referring to Marik's lighter half, commonly known as Malik. I'm very sorry if this causes any confusion, and I hope you understand.

Passion is a Prison

Chapter 7

Namu sprinted through the street, hopelessly lost, legs growing weary and feeling like his lungs were on fire, but he did not dare slow down; Bakura and Marik were not far behind.

"IMMA KICK YOUR ASS, NAMU!" Marik roared from behind him. Bakura laughed, entertained by Marik's temper.

"You'll have to catch me first!" Namu shouted back.

The reply held nowhere near the power of Marik's threat, and it left him gasping that much harder. Marik heard it none the less, and his cry of rage sent another thrill of adrenaline through Namu's veins. He tucked his head down and surged forward with a speed he did not know he had.

Marik and Bakura had found him that morning, still sleeping, and decided it would be fun to play a little early-morning prank on him. A few pints of fake blood (convincing fake blood; Marik being Marik, and Bakura being Bakura, they knew how to make it so) dumped over him had him immediately consumed with fear that they had finally followed through with their long-lived threat and killed his sister. Namu had his hands around Marik's throat before either of them was aware he had moved. Bakura had managed to pry him off when Ishizu herself entered the room, wondering what was causing the brouhaha. Namu's fuel source changed instantly from anger to terror and he ran for his sorry life.

Marik and Bakura were simply fueled by their desire to kill him.

Sadistic bastards, the both of them.

But then again, that's probably why they got along so well.

An unforeseen pothole pulled Namu abruptly from his ponderings. Not to mention face-first into the concrete.

Gasping for breath, head spinning, Namu struggled to his feet, but he could not manage to get running again before Marik had taken hold of him and thrown him down again. Marik landed a sharp kick to Marik's chest (and a few more, for good measure) before dragging him, none too gently, to his feet. Bakura joined in the bashing this time while Namu struggled feebly against them, their jeering faces swimming in and out of focus with each sharp gasp he took.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"Jonouchi," Mai said, each syllable laced with anger. "I know you're only trying to protect Shizuka, but-"

Shizuka snorted. "Protect me from what?"

"Shizuka's right, darlin," Mai said. "Ryo's a nice guy. You said so yourself last night, remember?"

Jonouchi stared at Ryo. "What…why didn't you tell me?"

Ryo drew a deep, shuddering breath.

"Because I was afraid," he said softly, and then exhaled slowly. He paused briefly before continuing. "I've always loved her, since the minute I saw her. But I was afraid to tell you."

"Ryo," he said softly. "I'm so sorry."

Ryo shook his head. "Like Mai said, you were just trying to protect Shizuka."

"But, also like Mai said, you're a nice guy," Jonouchi said.

A sudden shout from outside interrupted the conversation.

"IMMA KICK YOUR ASS, NAMU!" Jonouchi recognized the voice to be Marik's. It was followed by a much weaker voice, almost undoubtedly Namu's yelling, "You'll have to catch me first!"

Jonouchi ran outside, closely followed by Shizuka, Ryo, and Mai.

Marik was holding Namu by the collar of his shirt and was, with Bakura's help, beating the shit out of him. The front of Namu's clothes was stained with what bore a sickening resemblance to blood. Bakura caught sight of the four of them approaching and his face held, rather than the sneer Jonouchi had been expecting, an expression close to fear. He backed away.

"Drop him," he said quickly to Marik. "Drop him, put him down, now!"

"No way, Bakura!" Marik yelled, but paused in his beating of Namu, who had gone utterly boneless against his captor's grip, choking for breath. "No way in hell! You saw what he did to me!"

"Marik," Bakura said angrily. There was a glint in his eyes that Jonouchi had come to associate with shadow games. "Put him down. Now."

"Why the hell should I?"

"Just do it!"

Reluctantly, Marik let go of Namu's shirt. Namu took a few staggered steps backward and collapsed. Marik looked ready to pounce again, but Bakura dragged him away. Jonouchi rushed to Namu's side and helped him to his feet. Namu latched onto Jonouchi's shoulder.

"Th…thank you," he said, coughing and gasping.

Jonouchi glared at Marik, but Shizuka spoke first.

"What is your damn problem?" she shrieked. "You're a monster! You could have killed him!"

"That was my goal," Marik said.

Shizuka turned away from him, long red hair whipping behind her, crystal green eyes flashing dangerously. Jonouchi followed the others back inside, still supporting Namu. Once there, Namu pulled away and steadied himself. He swayed a bit and Jonouchi was ready to catch him, but he managed to stay on his feet.

"Come sit down," Mai said gently, escorting Namu to the living room. He was limping severely, hardly daring to put weight on his right leg. He collapsed onto the couch, arms wrapped tight around his torso.

"It's not blood," he said quickly, voice shaking, when he saw Ryo eyeing the stains on his shirt. "Well, it is. But it's not real. Another prank from those two."

"Are you alright?"

"I think so," Namu said, still wincing. Ryo's look of concern intensified and he moved to sit next to Namu.

"What's wrong?" Ryo asked urgently.

Namu hesitated. "It hurts to breathe," he admitted. "Just when I take a deep breath."

Ryo grabbed hold of Namu's bony wrist. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said when Namu tensed and tried to pull away. "It's okay; I'm just checking your pulse. Try to relax."

Namu nodded, calming himself, as Ryo closed his eyes, focused. The others simply watched, knowing Ryo knew what he was doing.

"Your pulse is relatively normal," Ryo said after a moment, "so I don't think anything is broken. Marik probably bruised a few of your ribs. We need to get you to a hospital."

Namu shook his head. "I'm fine," he said. "It's no big deal, I've had bruised ribs before."

This knowledge did not comfort Ryo, and Namu noticed. He shook his head again.

"Ryo, I'll be alright," he assured. "I promise."

Ryo eyed him for a moment, concernedly wary, but nodded.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"Will you please tell me why you stopped me?" Marik asked, yet again, as he and Bakura walked through the door. Bakura turned and faced him, growing weary of the question.

"You were going to kill him," he said. "I had to stop you. There's still a connection between the two of you."

"There is not," Marik snapped. "Stop saying that. We are two completely different people."

"Marik, don't you see?" Bakura said. "All you are is the evil that was inside him. All you are is the pain he couldn't handle. You are his anger, his fear, his hatred. Nothing more. Without Namu, you would not exist. You must realize that and set your limits! He released you, and he can kill you just as easily."

"Explain," said Marik.

"If he really wanted to, he could kill you by thinking about it," he told him. "In the moment of his death, his fear and hatred for you would be unimaginable. He would subconsciously open the mind-link you two share, transfer his anger to you, and kill you without even knowing it."

"I see," said Marik. "How did you come across this knowledge?"

"I've seen it," Bakura said simply. "When Ryo is being tortured, his fear builds. Anger, rarely, but normally fear. There reaches a point when Ryo's fragile soul can no longer control this fear or pain. The mind-link opens and a portion of these feelings are transferred to me. I can't tell you how close Ryo has gotten to drowning me in his own fear."

"Interesting," said Marik. "Does this connection work both ways?" Bakura nodded. "Very interesting…"


Bum bum BUUUMMMMMM! Evil cliff of doom!