Honestly guys. The only reason I didn't update this sooner was I couldn't think of a title. I got one for the last chapter, the one after this one.
Also it's the season to be unproductive, seriously.
DON'T FORGET: Never lose your awesomeness. Cause without that, you ain't got nutin'.
It's ok, some times I don't know what I'm saying either.
Chyaputa 29: Desolation
1. The act of desolating or laying waste; destruction of inhabitants; depopulation.
3. A place or country wasted and forsaken. havoc; devastation; ravage; destitution; wretchedness; misery.
4. Sadness resulting from being forsaken or abandoned
Bakura smelled like alcohol. Poisonous, drug-like, but sweet.
Malik smelled sweet. Sweeter than candy. A delectable scent that was nearly irresistible. So was the characteristic pull of pure magic.
All of these new smells were driving Ryou insane.
When Bakura jumped into the sky, bursting like a flower into his majestic demonic form with Malik in his clutches, Ryou had to stare. Bakura was beautiful. Far more beautiful than Ryou could imagine. When the beautiful thing shot into the trees, the company around Ryou frantically followed. But Ryou stood for a few moments wondering where his beautiful thing had gone.
Then he remembered.
And Ryou tried not to remember things like this.
Malik, sweet, kind, energetic Malik, was a bundle of pure energy. Fashioned by the Master. Molded by the human world. Programmed by an angel he thought was his sister. Innocent Malik.
Dangerous Bakura. Who knew he had so much depth? And hate. Much more than Ryou could have possibly seen even if he still had his mind scanning eyes. Scanning could only read the surface. Bakura was not a surface.
Ryou ran after the dangerous angel of his nightmares. His skin flushed as his human flesh flew away, scraped off by the passing wind. He still hated the look of himself, white. Blindingly white. He was so… visible.
Bakura was dancing above, encircling a large tree while dodging attacks thrown by Jounouchi the White and Yugi the Sun. Malik was perched in a high branch never too far from Bakura's protective power. Malik's sister was crying at him from below, still clinging to her human form.
"Please, Malik, listen to me!" Ishizu called.
"No!" Malik screamed back. The chocolate cream tone of his human guise was rich in the afternoon sun and in the glow of Yugi's brilliant wings. "You've never been honest with me, ne-san. Why have you always avoided talking with me about my condition? Why have you never explained anything to me?"
"Malik, please, you don't understand," Ishizu implored. Her human form shrunk beneath the glare of so many other Higher Beings, zipping in flashes around the area.
"Of course I don't understand! You didn't tell me anything! Why are you with these people? Who are they? Why are you hurting Bakura?"
"Because he wants to hurt you!" Ishizu explained, striding gracefully towards the tree.
"Bakura would never do that!" Malik snapped, clinging to his branch.
"Wake up, kid!" Jounouchi shouted, spiraling around the tree and shooting rays of white lightening-fire at the sinister target above. "Bakura's the bad guy here. We're trying to rescue you, duh!" A second later a shadowy hand jumped up from the foliage below and dragged Jounouchi down into the bushes. Atemu, who was on the ground because he would do no good up in the air, dove after Jounouchi to wrestle with the shadowy hand.
"Are you not going to assist?"
Ryou turned to find Kaiba slumped against a tree, his head topped unstably on his shoulders. And yet his fearsome eyes locked onto Ryou, questioning him with all their might.
"Are you too afraid to face your old companion?" Kaiba sneered. But it was in a tired way. As though, and Ryou was just guessing, he couldn't do anything about it.
'Old companion?' Ryou pondered. He would hardly call last night old. These seconds old.
"I have no right to stop Bakura," Ryou said.
Kaiba scoffed. "Ridiculous. Don't you have a single will of your own?"
"Should you be talking, demon-fucker?" Bakura cursed as with a rush of air he glided lazily down to Kaiba's level. Without Jounouchi, he could easily hold off Yugi with half his mind on other things. "You hopeless helper of the Council, following every order, futilely hoping for a bone, a speck of respect," Bakura sneered, speeding around Kaiba's tree now and yet Ryou could hear everything he was saying. "Hashmallim-sama! Why do you think the Council sent down an angel of such high authority on such a rudimentary mission?"
Yugi answered by charging at Bakura, sunlight around his form sparking like diamonds.
Bakura dipped out of the way. "Think about it. They sent their soft dysfunctional commander, too weak for war, and the Tainted blotch on their clean hands. This wasn't a mission for you, Hashmallim-sama, Principality-san. It was a banishment, your death sentence. They only want to get their problems out of their asses, you two. You were both meant to be sacrifices to me."
A ray of hot white solar energy shot out of Yugi's hands, but once again it missed Bakura's clever maneuvers.
Jounouchi had emerged from the bushes, a bit roughed up, human twigs in his immortal hair. Then the blond shot back into the sky, right at Bakura's heart, which he missed. Atemu staggered into view, red hair tousled. Accidentally his crimson eyes flashed to Ryou, then twitched back away just as quick. Ryou could not read eyes anymore, they were all as blank as paper to him now.
Malik was still clinging fast to his tree, red-faced from shouting at his sister.
"Why are you with these people, ne-san?" Malik screamed. "How do you know about angels?"
"Know about them?" Bakura smashed a double attack into both Jounouchi and Yugi, multiple shadows jumping out from the trees, the very leaves themselves. And the black angel traitor drifted down to Malik's side, black metal wings massive, a shape that seemed to block out much more light than possible. And Bakura's toes curled around a thin branch, arms folded coolly. "Your sister has a secret of her own."
Ishizu flinched, but not even Bakura could stop her from reaching out to her brother. "Don't listen to him, please." Her voice was low with thick intensity; she was serious now. "Malik, please…"
Bakura was smirking. And he looked very dangerous, even if his attention was not on Ryou at the moment. "She's got very interesting eyes… knowledgeable. Ancient." And then he bent down at level with Malik. "Holy eyes."
A betrayed horror consumed Malik's fine-toned expression. "What's going on, ne-san?" Malik accused. "Who- what are you?"
Ishizu recoiled, but refused to step backward. "I am your sister," she stated.
"Hardly," Bakura snorted. Then with a vicious flick of a nail, Bakura shot a shadow at Ishizu, fast as a bullet.
"NO! Baku-" Malik, arms letting go of the branch beneath him, stopped in mid cry. Because the shadow Bakura had sent at Ishizu was repelled by a rush of sparkling wind.
Virtue Ishizu's angelic form was like her brother's human color, cinnamon, her wings like sand. Her eyes shown blue through the air.
Malik was stunned, rigid with surprise. "Ne-ne-san…?"
Bakura mildly touched his ear. "Very interesting."
"Malik," Ishizu inched forward, hands forward, pleading. "Malik, I am angel. But to you I have always been a sister. I have always loved you unconditionally."
Malik was still fighting off his astonishment. It was a struggle. Ryou could understand; he remembered when he had found out about Bakura being an angel…
Bakura straightened up again. "If you loved him so much why did you lie to him? Why didn't you tell him what you are? What he is?"
Malik gazed up at Bakura, mesmerized. "What I am?" he repeated, hollow.
"Malik!" Ishizu screamed, trying to call her brother's attention again. "Do not trust him! His words are meant to twist your thoughts! Bakura is not your friend!"
But Malik seemed immune to her pleas, too occupied with his own existence. Bakura took advantage of this confusion; he slung an arm around Malik's middle, picking him up out of the tree. Then before anyone could stop him, Bakura leapt up and up into the sky. Jounouchi and Yugi followed quickly behind him.
Atemu extended his ruby wings into the air, immediately running after the battle. Even Kaiba, on trembling sickened limbs, hobbled to his feet and stumbled towards the conflict.
Ishizu and Ryou were left behind.
"Ryou," that was Ishizu, her feet still on the ground. Her mighty head fixed on the sky, tracing her brother's escape.
Ryou did turn, for her.
"Ryou, I've heard about you," Ishizu said. "From Malik. He would tell me stories about Bakura, you, and him." Her eyes grew softer, which hadn't seemed possible before. "He loves you as much as he loves Bakura."
Ryou didn't have the heart to contradict her.
"You knew Bakura," Ishizu continued, and an awful naïve hope relaxed her tight mouth. "You were with the two of them. Malik will not listen to me, I have tried everything." She closed her shining eyes to hide her weakness. "Please, I think the only one who can save my brother now is you."
Ryou didn't agree. But it was his plan to try.
His throat was too thick to speak. So Ryou nodded and launched himself into the air, following Malik's sweet sweet smell. His new wings were smaller, more flexible than his old, massive, black ones.
The fight had moved to the soccer field.
White fire-lightening and the Sun against Bakura. All beautiful Bakura. Malik was completely unseen in his arms as Bakura moved in a blur of dark metal, feathers clicking and clattering as he flew.
Ishizu was right behind Ryou, soaring two feet above the grass, parallel to the ground. Her eyes were fixed on Bakura with a new murderous light. On his way to the battle field, Ryou passed Atemu trying to help a furious Kaiba, who's knees had collapsed. The Principality was trying too hard, it would have been better for him to stay where he was. But for all this Tainted angel's rationality, pride was the higher power in his heart, Ryou guessed.
Bakura paused in the air, fighting attacks from either side as he saw the rest of the team preparing to rejoin the battle. Then, as Ishizu jumped into the sky between Jounouchi and Yugi to help, Bakura dropped like a stone, straight for the ground.
Ryou knew this strategy. And there was nothing he could do to stop it. So he didn't warn Atemu, because the old Soldier demon must have known this was coming as well.
Bakura, plummeting toward the ground in a very convincing fall, peeled a shadow out of his hair and it spun like a lethal boomerang at the Kaiba-Atemu pair. The proceeding explosion echoed throughout the field, bouncing off the high walls of the school. The staff would be quite baffled and outraged when they found a crater in the middle of their field the next day.
Yugi screamed, blazing so bright the real sun dipped behind a cloud to hide. Jounouchi cried, "FUCK NO!" And the two of them dove for their loved ones.
Bakura rocketed himself back up into the sky, this time only pursued by Ishizu, the Helplessly Hopeful.
Yugi and Jounouchi landed on the same spot, clashing into each other to get at their lover first.
"Atemu? Atemu?" Yugi had the Soldier by the shoulders, on his Hashmallim knees.
Jounouchi crouched over Kaiba. "Yo! Hey! Bastard! Wake the fuck up!"
In the air Ishizu wasn't doing too well, even through Malik's shouts of, "Don't kill her! Please Bakura!"
Ryou did nothing. Not yet. He had to wait. Not yet. Not yet.
With a cackle, Bakura struck his sole pursuer in the chest with a dark spell. Ishizu was so stunned by the attack that she dropped out of the air, landing with a sickening smack on the dirt.
Malik yelled, squirming in Bakura's hold. "No! I told you! Please, I don't care if she tricked me, don't kill her! Please! Please, Bakura! I'll do anything!"
Bakura scoffed, rotating Malik to look at him. "And? You know what I want. When are going to give it to me?"
"Don't, Malik!" Yugi screamed, cradling his unconscious Atemu.
"Hell no!" Jounouchi added, doing likewise to his Kaiba.
Ryou just stared up. His opportunity would come. Bakura would not expect it.
"Will you give me all of you now?" Bakura demanded. Not sweet. Just very very hungry.
"I don't know how!" Malik protested. "I don't know what's going on! Please, just tell me what to do!"
Bakura shrugged. "We'll try something."
Like the bubble of dread in Ryou's stomach, a shadow circle in Bakura's hand expanded, growing around the Black Angel and his copper prey like a shield. The pair were engulfed by the black sphere.
"Malik!" Ishizu fighting against the stunning spell shouted. But she was still grounded. She could do nothing. Yugi would not leave Atemu. Jounouchi could not abandon Kaiba. But Ryou could do something.
And now…
Ryou stretched out his nimble white wings and the free breezes of the human world took him up and up into the sky. He could hear nothing but wind, see nothing but clouds. It was exhilarating. Free. He fluttered toward that black ball of shadow. Hopefully, that mass of shadows would recognize their old master enough for Ryou to break through… His fingers outstretched, Ryou dove into the ball of shadow like a human diver into a pool.
The White Prince braced himself as his head went under.
All his senses clogged with darkness, Ryou managed to find what he was looking for, a sweet sweet arm of copper. He grabbed the treasure, snatched it out of the villain's clutches, and shot out the other side of the shadow ball, his loot in tow.
As soon as Malik emerged form the ball, he screamed. Not because he was two hundred or so feet from the ground, but because his T-shirt was ripped at the shoulder and there were deep pink fang marks on his exposed flesh where Bakura had attempted and failed to eat him. His cries echoed throughout the air and were answered by a roar from behind Ryou's vibrating wings.
They weren't going to make it to the ground; Ryou was certain of this even as he adjusted his grip on Malik's middle. His charge was shaking, muttering in terrified words, "H-he bit me… He b-bit me…"
Then, like a sign or something, a white hot blaze of sunlight blasted over Ryou, pulsing as it hit the object that was chasing the white Prince to the ground.
As Ryou landed in an ungraceful tumbling roll, holding Malik's body in close, he saw Yugi and Ishizu were in the sky again. Atemu was in Yugi's arms but the Hashmallim seemed to be flying smarter, with the Soldier hissing strategic instructions in his ear. Jounouchi was still on the ground, leaning over Kaiba.
"Fuck," Jounouchi gasped. "You cannot be serious. I can't take more from you."
Kaiba had awoken and there was a fistful of Jounouchi's hair in his hand as he forced the demon's head closer. "You're disappointing me, idiot. You are utilizing my powers poorly. It is despicable. I've got to do something about it."
Jounouchi groaned. "I can't fucking believe you." And then with an exasperated sigh, the demon released his fangs once again. "You're going to feel this tomorrow, you know that, right?"
"I am well aware," Kaiba admitted, bringing Jounouchi to his neck again for a second drink. So Jounouchi feed reluctantly. It was the most romantic thing Ryou had ever seen.
Meanwhile Malik was struggling to get out of his hold, pounding his fists on Ryou's arms "Get off! Get off of me!"
"Malik," Ryou spoke slowly, "My name is Ryou."
Malik looked up at him wildly. "Ryou? What- what- why? You're an angel too?"
Ryou released the confused boy and rolled onto his knees. "I am not an angel. I am a demon." And as proof he flapped his leathery pale wings once or twice.
Malik sat up on the dirt ground. "Oh… What's the difference?"
Ryou paused, for a second he couldn't remember. "Our wings?"
"What the hell is going on? Why are all these people and my sister attacking Bakura?"
"Bakura wants to eat you," Ryou answered simply.
Malik was still confused. "Yeah. But why?"
Ryou hesitated, unsure about how to phrase it.
But Malik was impatient. "What am I?!" he shouted above the crashing of Higher Being powers above.
Ryou said, without breath, "You're power."
Malik fell backwards on his hands, the weight of confusion was too much. "What? Power-what?"
"You are a large collection of pure, uncontaminated energy," Ryou explained. "Your sister found you and brought you to the human world to keep safe-"
"The human world-" Malik repeated, not comprehending the word at all. Unconsciously, his head was shaking side to side.
"Your sister really does love you," Ryou tried to make this sound important. "She rescued you. She let you exist."
But Malik was not paying attention to this. "I'm… not human. Is that what you're saying?"
"That's not important," Ryou told him quickly.
"Of course it's important!" Malik exploded, body jumping forward, "Y-you're a demon- Bakura's a-an angel- my sister- and I'm not human!"
"Listen," Ryou put a hand on his friend's shoulder and was glad when Malik didn't shake it off. "Bakura has a power. He can absorb any energy source nearby, that's why you felt so attracted to him. Pure energy wants to change, it wants to be absorbed-"
"Are you saying," Malik interrupted, voice full of air as though barely formed, "Are you saying that I don't really love Bakura? Is that it?"
Ryou closed his mouth, realizing what a horrible blow this must have been to Malik. "Malik," Ryou wanted to reach out to him, "I don't doubt that you honestly love him, Malik. I too-"
"But if I'm just- just- energy, right? Attracted to Bakura…" Malik was facing the ground between his shoes, face screwed up with the concentration of trying to figure out this puzzle. "That's not really love, is it?"
Ryou took his hand away from Malik's shoulder. He meant to say, 'I think its real,' but it came out, "I think you're real."
Malik's body bowed forward, bending to Ryou. "But I'm not…"
"Does it feel like love?" Ryou asked, curious.
"I don't know what love feels like." Malik's voice was thick now, as though fighting tears. "I feel like I want to give him all of- everything. But that's just the energy isn't it?"
Ryou thought about this. Malik was, after all, like his core, pure. Pure emotion, pure intentions. And, Ryou suspected, like his core, Malik was very susceptible.
"I think that can be love," Ryou said, trying to be helpful. But who knew, really.
"If it is love," and Malik sat up now. And his eyes, like Ryou had suspected, were red with pain but refused to release a single tear. "If this is what love is like, I should give myself to him."
"No!" Ryou cried too quickly. "You'll die."
"I'm not alive to begin with!" Malik screamed back.
"You are as alive as I am," Ryou said firmly.
Malik was stunned. He sat back on the ground again.
"Besides," Ryou added. "If Bakura absorbs you it would be catastrophic."
Malik's eyes snapped back to Ryou. "What? Why?"
Ryou was glad he had gotten Malik's attention. "Bakura is mad with power, he-" Ryou gulped, and felt the guilt again. "There is a war, Malik. Between angels and demons. Bakura revealed himself to me, and I-" Ryou swallowed hard. "I captured him… I captured him…" Ryou fought off his own depression. This wasn't the time!
Malik was still, absorbing all the information. "Why? You love him, right?" he asked, like a child.
"It's war, Malik," Ryou answered. "I did what I thought was right… but I was wrong, and I was punished. Bakura Turned himself on me." When Malik still looked confused, Ryou elaborated. "He drank my blood, took my power. Now I am practically useless. And now he wishes to grow in even more power."
"So why is my sister fighting him? She's an angel."
"Bakura's not on anyone's side," Ryou tried to explain. "And if he does get your power he will be practically unstoppable. He will be able to do whatever he wants."
"And?" Malik demanded.
Ryou was struck with confusion. "He would be… unstoppable."
Malik remained expectant. "And?"
Ryou thought about this. "Bakura could kill us all."
"Would he do that?" Malik asked curious and with a hint of disbelief. "Even you?"
Ryou shrugged. "I assume so." Now that he thought of it, would Bakura want to spare him? "Don't you want to live?" Ryou questioned, changing the subject.
Malik shrunk backwards, turning almost meek. "Yes, of course I do. But if it's inevitable…" Malik reasoned but with a grim air. "And this… love, these urges that I have for Bakura, they're strong. I want to give myself to him."
Ryou could understand urges. But Malik didn't have to die. He didn't have to be the sacrifice. He was innocent. He deserved to live too. If Bakura went away, if all high energy sources were removed from Malik's life, the guy would be ok. Practically human. "Bakura became strong once before," Ryou explained. "He was tracked down and murdered by both Heaven and Hell because he was too strong to live."
Malik was aflame with injustice. "That's awful!"
"Bakura was killing thousands of angels and demons," Ryou pointed out.
Malik considered this, but very briefly. "And that gives you the right to take his life now?"
Ryou had not exactly expected this. "We don't want to kill Bakura. We want to cleanse him. Take his power away…"
Malik's face blazed with indignant stubbornness. "So you're going to make him useless? Take away his freedom? How do you know what he'll do with more power? How do you know he'll kill everybody? Maybe Bakura just wants to live!"
Ryou tried, he honestly did try, to find a good argument for this, but he couldn't. The only thing Ryou knew now was that he wouldn't let Malik be taken away like this. Nothing else at the moment mattered.
But their conversation was cut short as with a dark flash as Jounouchi smashed into the ground. Kaiba the Proud, lifeless just a moment ago, pulled himself with his very fingernails over to his lover. A second later, Yugi spiraled to the earth as well, smoking in a protective ball around Atemu. Ryou didn't hear Ishizu hit the ground but assumed that it had happened when a vast shadow overtook them.
A cold hand grabbed Ryou's neck and raised him up off the ground, blinding white wings and all.
Malik cried, "No! Bakura, please. Don't. Not Ryou, not Ryou…"
It was a good thing Ryou was no longer human and no longer need to breathe, since he was sure Bakura had closed off his windpipe. But it still hurt, a lot. Tainted metal against Bleached cloth.
And Bakura's teeth were still super white.
"You've become a nuisance, Yadonushi," Bakura commented. "I didn't expect it."
Ryou would have shrugged but it hurt too much.
Meanwhile Malik was still pleading. "You can have me! Just don't hurt Ryou."
"Easy to say," Bakura reminded his charge with a dangerous edge. Ryou loved that tone. Bakura's head tilted to the side, examining Ryou, looking in his eyes, surely.
'Don't kill Malik. He's too sweet for that…' Ryou thought as loudly as he could.
"Yes," Bakura responded out loud. "I always thought he was sweet. Almost cloy."
'How could you not guess what he was when you knew he was so sweet?'
Bakura was immovable. "I don't much like sweet things. I prefer…" he paused, lips parting as his head tilted a bit more, eyes shifting to Ryou's neck, "A bit of spice."
Ryou resisted the humanness of his soul, morphing his thoughts back to Malik.
Bakura's face lost the playfulness, whatever amount had been there before. "Yadonushi. You are selfish. Stop trying to be the martyr, it's not your place in this scene."
Ryou choked in his urgency to communicate.
Bakura squeezed Ryou's throat in a warning. "You are no replacement. You have no replacement."
It was almost kind of the Black Angel. But harmless milky tears blurred Ryou's vision. If only he could save Malik... it was his fault. His fault…
Bakura released him, and Ryou's back would have slammed into the ground if Malik hadn't caught him.
"I'm sick of your whining," Bakura snarled at Ryou, looking more murderous by the second. "Let's go Malik."
Malik nodded obediently, and began to lower Ryou to the ground.
"No!" Ryou croaked, struggling. He wasn't giving up, he wasn't giving up!
He didn't have the control of shadows anymore but still he had to have something! Ryou's hand went uncontrollably hot, hot. And he grabbed for Bakura's blue-gray chest. When his hand hit its mark on the Tainted angel, Ryou released his exploding power, the heat in his limb and the blood in his brain burst. The ricochet made him dizzy.
Before he got his consciousness back, there was a blow to his temple that squeezed black sparkling dust into his eyeballs. There was a cry from Malik but it was blown out of Ryou's head as Bakura brought him back up with the grip of his shadows, shadows that, with the sheer weight of Bakura's outrage, no longer recognized their old master. It didn't matter that Ryou's attack had done next to nothing to Bakura's body. The simple fact that Ryou had even tried to attack him…
He had betrayed Bakura again. Now, truly, surely Ryou was dead. Now Bakura would have no choice to destroy him…
"You go too far," Bakura hissed, teeth at Ryou's ear. "Do you desire death that much, Yadonushi?"
'More than I desire you? No, not that much. But if it will save Malik…'
"You think dying will save Malik? You think saving Malik will atone your guilt? You foolish, selfish prick," Bakura spat.
The shadows shrunk, crushing Ryou. And the pain made the White Prince screamed. Malik's cries of, "Please! Bakura don't hurt Ryou!" were totally unheard.
"No more of this nonsense," Bakura commanded as he caressed Ryou's chin with a chilling hand. "I will grant your dying wish, Yadonushi."
Though no one was listening, Malik screamed, "No! Please, Bakura! NO!"
Ryou was dead. He knew it. His eyes closed anticipating the blow. This would all be over soon.
But then there was light.
A very strong light. So strong it hurt…? Ryou opened his eyes, and he noticed how the shadows that had been binding him were suddenly gone. Somehow there was light everywhere… and there was no more pain.
The source was standing above him like… like…
It was Malik. But it wasn't really. His human, mortal body had turned into glass. And his eyes… His eyes… They were lilac. Malik was colors and beauty.
Bakura couldn't have looked smugger. His smirk was vicious as the shadows abandoned Ryou and Bakura's hands closed over Malik's shoulders. "That's more like it," he hummed. His face was becoming sharper, more… evil with desire.
"Malik…" Ryou moaned. Although Malik had taken his pain away, Ryou could not seem to pull himself from the ground. He could not get up to save the glittering Malik.
With all his colors echoing inside his mouth, Malik smiled, smiled down at Ryou and through his transparent glossy lips he seemed really, truly happy for that moment.
"It's ok, Ryou. I'm ok."
What a tragedy that such a beautiful thing had to die like this. By Bakura. And Ryou could not stop it. The shining Malik gazed at him and Ryou instantaneously felt his chest fill with warmth.
"Don't be sad. I wouldn't want you to be sad for me. I'm just going to help Bakura, that's all. Nothing bad is going to happen. I promise."
Contrary to the warmth writhing in Ryou's insides, he couldn't believe Malik at this point. Not when the dead spoke to him so… happily.
'Do you even have a soul?' Ryou asked soundlessly, his mouth unable to move. 'Where will you go after all of this?'
But Malik had made his decision, so he turned and leaned up into Bakura's twisted face, always smiling. "I can give myself to you now."
Bakura snapped an arm around Malik's waist. "Then give it."
Malik accepted this rough order. And he leaned on the tips of his toes to kiss Bakura's mouth…
The world turned into a vacuum. Everything that seemed once good and colorful was sucked right out the air, right out of the lungs leaving a raw residue. As with a snap of atmosphere and a pop in his ears, the world around Ryou vanished and was replaced by one that was gray.
He was still on the ground as Malik's form melted into Bakura, as his glassy light drifted away. It had taken Malik barely two seconds to disappear from existence, from every realm except memory.
Above the scene stood one more obstacle. Bakura. He was the only one who had remained standing during the entire shockwave. He was not glittering. He did not, in fact, look any different then the Bakura of a few seconds before.
The human soccer field was full of silence. Yugi, Atemu, Jounouchi, Kaiba, and Ishizu's lungs all hesitated, throats tight. All waiting…
The first to breathe was Bakura. His face drifted upwards, towards the sky, looking up and up and up…
At the clouds?
That's when his knees broke from under him.
Surprised echoed in every face around the human soccer field, Yugi and Atemu turned to each other in astonishment. Kaiba and Jounouchi was stunned froze, Ishizu rigid with disbelief.
Ryou had closed his mouth as he examined the shaking Bakura. The Black Angel's whole body was trembling as he crumbled into a ball.
No one, except the shivering Bakura, moved for a moment. Then Atemu stood, holding onto Yugi's small hand. The Soldier of Hell had a hard contemplating look on his face.
"What the Hell happened?" Jounouchi questioned, voice small.
Kaiba glared to silence his impudent lover.
Yugi rose to stand beside Atemu, still clutching his hand.
"Ryou…" Atemu urged, attention fixed on Bakura.
Ryou crawled over to Bakura and, not hesitating, because there was no point now, put a pale hand on the Black Angel's back, the spot between the joints of his black metal wings.
Bakura twitched under Ryou's fingers.
Ryou was scared to death. But this was something no one else could do. "Bakura?"
In a flash Bakura's arms shot out from under him and grabbed Ryou's shoulders so hard that Ryou was certain he was going to be dragged under… but no, Bakura just held him, pulling him closer so that Bakura head was in Ryou's chest.
Then Ryou realized that Bakura was gasping, breathing, although he knew he didn't need air. A human mistake.
And Ryou felt the build up of power before it actually happened. Bakura screamed and that anguished cry ripped through Ryou, hurting his soul. The sound morphed into a ring of raw power blasted in all directions. Jounouchi jumped in front of Kaiba and two of them were protected well enough, Yugi managed to erected a shield around Ishizu, Atemu, and himself. But Ryou was hit by the scream at point blank range, right in the stomach. And the pain was pretty bad, it almost shook Ryou right out of conscious thought but he held onto Bakura, fighting his blinking vision.
As Bakura's scream bounced off distant human structures, the power fizzed out into mist. Warmth rose in Ryou's throat and coated his tongue with his own blood; drops of the crimson stuff oozed sticky warmth down his chin before falling artistically into Bakura's white hair.
Meanwhile Bakura's body was still echoing with the rough gulps, trying to push air down into unfertile lungs that did not care for oxygen. But Bakura had forgotten about that.
"That… bastard… that… bastard…" the Black Angel panted.
On impulse, Ryou stroked Bakura's tangled hair smearing the blood into pink smudges. It didn't really seem to help Bakura but it distracted Ryou well enough.
"That… bastard… that bastard tricked… bastard tricked me…"
Ryou thought he was hallucinating when he caught a glimpse of Bakura's eyes and saw that they were crowded with silver. But he must have been wrong.
…)(-)(Desolation)-(-)(…
Yes. I know. Malik is made of rainbows. *cough*gay*cough* Ha ha. Ryou was so insane during this whole scene. Why is he so insane?
YAY FOR THE CLIMAX!! Exciting, ne?
So who's up for an epilogue? Anyone? That's ok. It will be coming whether you like it or not in two weeks. :p
NEXT CHAPTER!: There will be no crumpets or scones or three part harmonies of "You are the Wind Beneath my Wings". (sadly) However, there will be lots of other sweet stuff. Hopefully everything will be answered and if not, well, suck it like a juice box.
LOVE YOU GUYS!!!
Now it is time: REVIEW!!
REMEMBER: next chapter is last one. Try not to cry too much.
REVIEW!
