Marik stepped out from behind the crate, marching towards his sister's coworker, Rahal. The breeze pulled at Marik's hair, and it was hard not to think of that day when he'd had a similar meeting at this very spot. Ryou and Jonouchi walked behind him, but Honda and Yugi had stayed behind the crate.

"Yes, let's discuss deals." Marik smirked, shifting his weight to one foot and resting his hand on his hip.

"Glad to see you're reasonable." Rahal nodded his head.

"What did you have in mind?"

"I need a certain game piece removed from the board."

"I don't know about that. I've lost contact with all of my Rare Hunters over the years. I'm reformed you know." Marik twirled his golden hair around his finger, as if he was thinking about the color of it instead of what Rahal just said.

"I thought you were the sort that could handle these things on your own." His brown eyes skirted to Ryou and Jonouchi. "Or have one of those two take care of it for you."

Marik laughed, sweet and musical and disarming. He pointed behind him. "The lug is here to protect me, and the pretty one is here to entertain me." Marik pinched Ryou's chin, displaying Ryou's face to Rahal. "Look at him. He's fresh as farm milk. He couldn't hurt anyone."

Marik was impressed by the way Ryou blushed and tried to turn away, keeping his eyes lowered and his body language meek and submissive. He knew that Ryou was ready to skin Rahal alive for his earlier threat, but Ryou never broke character. He was also proud of Jonouchi, who played the part of silent thug beautifully.

"Still …" Marik brushed his fingers along Ryou's rosey cheek as he continued to play the disinterested ex-con. "I have a few other pets that might be more suited for errands. Who would they be going after?"

Rahal started to laugh. Marik turned to face him, the fine hairs rising on Marik's neck.

"You think I'm stupid."

Marik raised an eyebrow, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

"I couldn't give that information unless you gave me a token of your loyalty."

"Such as?"

Rahal snapped and two of his hired goons brought out a bound and gagged Yugi from behind the shipping crate in which they'd been hiding. Marik rolled his eyes, wondering who'd fumbled their roll to get Yugi caught. At least they didn't have Honda and that hopefully meant that he'd avoided or escaped them.

"We found a mouse hiding behind that crate. I think he's looking for some cards he lost." A look of mock surprise expanded Rahal's face. "Now that I think about it, isn't that where you were hiding?"

"It's no secret that I'm an acquaintance of the famous King of Games," Marik said with a calm level voice.

"But you were once enemies."

"We were."

"Well, consider this your second chance. Kill him. Right here. Now. Get vengeance on the shame he caused you during the Battle City Finals. Do that, and-"

"I get the honor of being your lap dog. Fail to do so and you'll kill us all. Yes, yes, I know how this works." Marik interrupted, his annoyed tone genuine. "Jonouchi. Go for it."

"It's about time." Jonouchi adjusted the grip on his baseball bat and swung it at the nearest goon holding Yugi.

At the same time Jonouchi attacked, the other goon screamed as orange paint exploded over his face, blinding him. The blind guard dropped to his knees while the other one dropped face first after another hit from Jonouchi's bat.

"That was a mistake, Ishtar."

"Oh was it?" Marik asked as Ryou un-tied Yugi.

"Do you know the secrets that lie in those old tombs you spent your life trying to escape? Power, beyond mortal dreams, sitting and rotting in the dust, locked away from humanity because the Ishtars were always there to guard it." His lips peeled back with a smirk. "But not anymore, thanks to you. As soon as you left, it was easy to bribe the lower castes, and now even the gods are ours- behold!" He spread out his arms. "Power lost for Millennia now reborn!"

A pendant around his neck and a three headed dog the size of the shipping crates appeared behind Rahal. The center head howled up into the foggy sky as the outer two muzzles growled.

"It's so cute!" Ryou shouted as he watched spittle dripped from their growling mouths.

"It's so gross." Jonouchi twisted up his face in disgust.

Marik snicked. "You need a charm to summon a mediocre ka like that and you want me to be impressed?"

"Hey! Yugi!" A voice shouted from above them. They looked up and saw Honda on the roof of one of the closest warehouses. "Catch!"

He tossed something, and Yugi caught it with both hands. "Thanks, Honda!'

Marik used the distraction to tackle Rahal into the ground. He struggled, but Marik pinned him down. Meanwhile Yugi opened up the bag Honda had tossed to him and pulled out three Milkbones.

"Come on, Katsuya! Let's charm the beast!" He handed one of the doggy treats to Jonouchi, and ran towards the monterious ka.

"Why do I have to help!" Jonouchi whined, but followed Yugi all the same.

Ryou pulled some zip ties out of his bag and helped Marik bind Rahal's wrists and ankles.

"When did you bring those?"

"I always keep some with me." Ryou giggled. "Gaming nerd habits die hard, I guess."

"Okay, but what's Honda doing with dog treats?"

"He always carries them with him-"

"Now you're just fucking with me."

"No! Honda loves dogs!"

"What are you doing! Stop that!" Rahal screamed at Yugi and Jonouchi as they gave the dog snacks to the Cerberus-like creature.

Yugi spoke with a cheerful tone as he fed two heads at once. "Who's some good boys? Who's some good boys? It's you! Roll over, puppies!"

The dog-creature obeyed, and Yugi rewarded him with stomach scratches.

"Stop that right now!" Rahal shouted again.

"Let's kill him," Marik said.

"Yeah, this boss is lame. I don't want him to be a repeat."

"We can't kill him." Yugi scowled at them even as he turned the Cerberus creature into a loveable pup. "That wouldn't be right."

"Yugi." Ryou pursed his lips. "If we don't kill him now, he'll just pop up during the worst possible times annoying the hell out of us until he finally falls off a cliff or gets eaten by his own monster or something dumb like that."

"He's still a human being, Ryou."

"NPC's aren't really people ."

"You sound like a sociopath!"

Ryou sighed. "Fine, but when he's bad comic relief for the rest of this quest, just remember who's fault it is."

"Dammit, Yugi." Marik frowned.

"Stop it you two." Jonouchi stood up and pulled Yugi away from the giant creature. "Yugi's right. He's still a person."

The entire time Rahal continued to scream at them, threatening death, curses, all manner of torture. No one listened as they simply walked away before the guards showed up- guards that should have attacked them already, but Ryou probably forgot to generate them as they were taking shots during the night of the game.

Honda met them in the streets as they started to walk away, the trucks (and Atem and Anzu with them) already gone.

"Hey guys."

"Nice shot, Honda." Jonouchi gave him a thumbs up.

"And those dog treats really saved the day!"

"Yeah, I'll have to stop by the store and get Blankey some more on the way home, though, or she'll pout all night long."

"Is it okay to leave that guy tied up?" Yugi glanced over his shoulder towards the dock.

"Yeah, I'm sure some of his goons will find him," Ryou said, still looking annoyed that they'd left him alive, and Marik loved him for it.

Yugi sighed. "I guess now we have to go home and wait for Atem and Anzu to return."

"Do you need to stay at my place?" Jounouchi asked.

"Maybe I should go back to Ryou's? That's probably where Atem will go when they're done."

Ryou nodded in agreement.

"Are you sure you should go there? I mean, Bakura-"

"Is fine," Yugi insisted.

"If he hurts you-"

Yugi kissed Jonouchi on the cheek. "Thank you for worrying, but I'll be fine."

"We wouldn't let Bakura act too badly." Marik huffed. He understood the concern, but it was still insulting.

"If you don't call back in an hour, I'll come over anyway." Jonouchi said before walking down a side street to get to his own house. Honda waved and turned with Jonouchi.

"Would you really have killed him?" Yugi asked Ryou.

"Maybe not," Ryou said, "I just really hate the repeating boss trope."

They went back to Ryou's apartment. Ryou's mood improved the moment they entered the door.

"We're home!" He cheered, running to the sofa and jumping next to Bakura to nuzzle against the side of his throat.

Bakura laughed, running his fingers through Ryou's hair. "Did you level up?"

"Probably not, the boss was a little bitch. He needed a charm to summon his ka, and the thing was a four star Duel Monster card at best , but he called it a god."

Bakura laughed. "Too bad I wasn't there. I could have showed him what a real god-ka looked like."

"That's what I was thinking." Marik grinned, sitting beside Ryou.

Yugi sat on a chair next to the sofa. "I thought that battle was fun." Yugi gave them a sheepish look. "Except the part where I got captured."

"How did that happen, anyway?" Marik asked.

"Well, Honda left to find a spot to play sharpshooter, and then those two guards just appeared."

"Did you find anything useful?" Bakura asked.

"Atem and Anzu snuck onto the trucks taking the slabs away. Hopefully we'll learn where they're taking them." Marik shrugged.

"And maybe Atem will die during the quest." Bakura grinned.

"Don't say that!"

Marik felt bad for Yugi, the look of distress on his face was too genuine not to feel some sympathy.

"Atem's great with dice rolls, don't worry, Yugi." Ryou gave him a reassuring smile.

It wasn't until three hours later that Atem and Anzu knocked on the door. By then Ryou was passing around hot tea to the entire gang as they waited and tried to keep Yugi from getting anxious.

Yugi flew to the door when he heard the knock, bursting into tears at the sight of his friends unharmed.

"Yugi! We're fine!" Anzu hugged him and planted several kisses on Yugi's forehead.

"Sorry, aibou." Atem ran his fingers through Yugi's hair. "It took us a while to sneak out of the warehouse."

"What warehouse?" Honda asked.

"One of Kaiba's." A frown shadowed Anzu's face.

"That bastard!" Jonouchi shouted, punching the flat of his opposite hand. "I'm going to kick his ass."

"I don't think Kaiba's aware of what's happening." Atem shook his head. "We overheard several workers talking. They sounded nervous that Kaiba might discover what they were doing."

"Rahal- the man we fought tonight- wanted 'a certain game piece removed from the board.' How much would you like to bet that Seto Kaiba is the piece in question?"

"We have to warn him," Yugi said.

"We'll try tomorrow, but he won't listen to us," Ryou said.

"He can't just ignore us!" Jonouchi clenched his teeth and balled his hands into fists.

Ryou sighed. "Remember the game. We fail twice, and then Bakura sneaks us into the Kaiba Corp HQ."

"Guess I better start casing the building in my free time."

Marik snorted. "You make it sound like you have other kinds of time."

Ryou smiled, thinking about Bakura's high wisdom stat. "Hey, Bakura? Who among us do you think you could teach to summon their ka?"

"That's a good idea." Marik gave a single nod. "If that charm Rahal wore has been mass produced, who know what monsters we'll face later in the game. It'll be better if we can attack on equal grounds as them."

Bakura pursed his lips. "You and Ryou will be easy." He side-glanced at the others. "She'll be good at it. Those two wouldn't be able to summon leftovers out of a refrigerator."

"Hey!" Jonouchi shouted.

"You're a knight," Ryou reminded him. "You're not good with magic. It's okay."

"What about us?" Yugi asked.

Bakura shrugged. "Atem used the gods. Considering this is technically a LARP, I doubt you'll be able to summon anything unless you get your god cards back."

"Oh, that makes sense." Yugi nodded, but he looked a little disappointed.

"So tomorrow morning we'll go see Kaiba-"

"And get sent away somehow," Anzu interrupted Atem.

He nodded to acknowledge that she was right.

"And tomorrow afternoon we'll grind with Bakura." Ryou winked at him.

A smirk distorted the scar on his cheek. "Sounds way more fun than how you mean it."

Atem gave Bakura a smug grin. "So, Bakura, do we get to have another slumber party tonight?"

Bakura matched the look with a smirk of his own. "By all means, take the floor again, but you might want to turn the TV up because it's going to get loud tonight."

Marik stretched across Bakura's lap. "You think so, Bakura? It's pretty late. Maybe I'm tired."

Bakura looked down at Marik in his lap. "Is that an excuse because you're shy in front of an audience?"

Marik snorted, giving Bakura a smirk saying that an audience was no concern of his.

Atem gestured with a dismissive wave of his hand. "You won't be bothering us. If anything, I'll have to turn up the TV so we don't keep you guys up long after you finish."

Ryou giggled behind his hand, noticing how Honda buried his head in his hands, but the others blushed.

Bakura leaned forward, Marik made the movement awkward, but it didn't stop him from glaring at the Pharaoh. "Bitch, you want a contest then you got one!"

"Game on."

"You're both sleeping at my house tonight!" Jonouchi yelled. "And it's time to go home!"

He grabbed Yugi, who was still sandwiched between Anzu and Atem, and pulled him towards the door.

"Have fun at Jounouchi's." Marik winked.

"We will." Atem pivoted and sauntered out of the apartment with Anzu looking nonplussed behind him and Honda muttering about being the only normal person in the group.

Ryou followed everyone to the door so he could lock up behind them. He sighed, turning and laughing at Marik and Bakura on the couch together.

Bakura looked concerned. "Are you really too tired?"

"Hell no, get your sweet brown ass to the bedroom right now because I'm about to tear it up."

Ryou ran to the room first, turning on the radio before they started.

"Good idea, set up the mood." Bakura joked from the doorway, his arm slung around Marik's waist.

Ryou sighed, pulling off his shirt. He'd ask them to keep it down, but he knew better (he also knew he was too loud himself). Marik untangled himself from Bakura and went straight to Ryou, slipping his arms around Ryou's stomach and kissing up Ryou's shoulder blade. Ryou sighed, closing his eyes and enjoying the feel of Marik's lips on his skin. Ryou couldn't help but look over his shoulder at Bakura.

The former thief watched with wide eyes and a slack jaw. He looked like he sleepwalked to them, stopping just out of reach. Ryou tilted his head, beckoning Bakura to take the last step and join in, even as Marik reached up and twisted Ryou's nipple, making him swallow a moan.

Then Bakura was right in front of Ryou, lifting up on his toes so he could reach Ryou's lips. Bakura's fingers fumbled at Ryou's chest. They continued to torment Ryou, twisting and tugging until red blotches decorated the skin around Ryou's nipples. Ryou leaned back against Marik's chest, and puffed out his own. Bakura's fingers started to sneak down until he was stealing Ryou's belt away and slipping teasing caresses down Ryou's pants.

Ryou bit his bottom lip. He already wanted to start screaming and they hadn't even started yet.

Bakura growled. Ryou suspected that he was angry at the height difference. He stripped and jumped on the the bed, stretching like a cat and clawing at the black duvet.

Ryou lunged for the bed, tackling Bakura and swallowing as much of his bottom lip as Ryou could fit into his mouth. He felt Marik tug his pants away, and Ryou shifted to help him. And then he was woven up with their warm skin. Ryou went feral, kissing every flash of skin that came into view, be it honey or clay. There were fingers inside him and fingers wrapped around his cock, and he stroked Bakura as a bottle of lube was passed between hands.

Then Ryou twisted, pinning Malik down on his stomach and kissing his back even as Bakura prepped Ryou. Ryou leaned close, whispered against Marik's scars.

"Do we need to switch?"

Marik groaned, fisting the duvet. "I want to try it. I'll say stop if it's too much."

Ryou glanced over his shoulder. "Let me shift down."

Bakura nodded, pulling his fingers out so Ryou could move. Ryou bent down and licked up Marik's crack. A high-pitched, endearing squeak shot out of Marik's mouth. Ryou glanced at Bakura again and they shared the same grin. Ryou dove back down, generous with his tongue and causing Marik to throw back his head, squeeze his eyes shut, and call out to gods he'd never revered before that moment.

Ryou circled and flicked and circled again. As he did, Bakura alternated between stroking Ryou, bringing him to the edge, and then milking Ryou's prostate until he was almost at the edge again. Licking became hard; Ryou couldn't think. He used the bottle of lube and saturated Marik, adding fingers one at a time and giving Marik plenty of time at each phase to relish the feeling.

"I'm ready." He forced the words out of his mouth to let Bakura know it was time to start.

He slid into Marik and waited for Bakura to enter him. It took a little longer for Ryou and Bakura to set up a rhythm than it had for Ryou and Marik. Without Marik to domineer the pace and thrusts, Ryou felt uncertain.

Marik, however, did not sound uncertain. He sounded like he was going out of his mind in the best possible way, so Ryou kept thrusting and tried to predict Bakura's rhythm until he felt like they were starting to mesh.

Then Bakura pulled out. Ryou looked back, concerned.

"Can we switch?" Bakura asked.

Ryou nodded. He was curious, but allowed Bakura to slip into the middle. Ryou started adding lube.

"Just go." Bakura said, inserting himself into Marik who didn't mind the switch.

Ryou nodded, shoving himself into Bakura's asshole. Marik was a little warmer, but Bakura was a little tighter. In the end, it was hard to try and compare them. It was like comparing one heaven to another, and Ryou wanted both.

They seemed to do better with Bakura in the middle, and Ryou noticed Bakura moaned a lot more. He smiled as it dawned on him that Bakura missed being filled and that's why he'd wanted to swap. Ryou stared down at Bakura overlaying on top of Marik, two heavens stacked on top of each other.

Marik ground into the mattress, trying to get friction to his cock. Bakura noticed and slipped his hand beneath Marik so he could stroke him, and watching them caused Ryou to come at the same time Marik came.

Then there was Bakura, on edge, thick lips plump with arousal. Marik bucked, freeing himself of Bakura's weight, and then he tackled Bakura onto the mattress, climbing on top of him and impaling himself onto Bakura's stiff cock.

He threw his head back, rocking back and forth, and then bouncing, making Bakura flex his chest and hold his breath. Ryou watched. He could only watch. It was too beautiful to touch, the way the light played off of Marik skin and golden jewelry, the way the light played with Bakura's skin and platinum hair.

"Oh sweet, sweet, gods." Bakura curled up and then sank down, turning his head, noticing Ryou, and smiling- making Ryou feel as beautiful as they looked.

***(mild dsod spoiler) I still stand by my pre-dsod statement that Yugi doesn't get to summon he gods w/o the god cards. Maybe in "real life" Seto gets to summon Obelisk for no other reason than he's Seto Fucking Kaiba, but in this fic they have to follow the rules of the game, and in the game Yugi can't summon his damn gods w/o the god cards (/rant)***