Rishid pushed Bernard away from him with all his might while still trying to keep a good grip on his shirt. "Tell us what you know and we shall release you," he hissed, not intimidated. He was quite sure Bernard was wearing fake Halloween teeth, but even if he wasn't, Rishid didn't plan on backing down.
Serenity watched all of this in absolute horror. "Oh please just let him go, Rishid!" she cried, not wanting anything to happen to someone else she cared about.
Marik stuck the Rod against Bernard's back. "I think this should work as a stake very nicely," he said in a dangerous tone. "If you make one more attempt to harm Rishid, I won't hesitate to use it."
Bernard's eyes went wild and he seemed to have genuine fear for the device being held on him. "I have friends I could call," he growled then.
"You wouldn't get a chance." Marik narrowed his eyes. "Look, we don't wish to harm you. Tell us what we wish to know and leave Rishid alone!"
Bernard stomped on Marik's foot and caused him to cry in pain. "You'll never learn anything from me!" he yelled in a defiant tone. "I'm sworn to keep it all secret and I intend to!"
Elsa just looked at him in disgust. "From this point, you're outta the detective agency!" she declared.
"It was a dumb thing anyway," Bernard retorted.
With Rishid's help, Marik managed to wrestle the super strong younger boy to the floor and get him pinned there. "Do you know anything about where our loved ones are?" he demanded.
"Of course not!" Bernard struggled, but Marik kept a firm grip. "Except. . . ." He narrowed his eyes. "My aunt Franceska wasn't too happy with you guys for what you did to the colony last year. I doubt she's gonna let you get away with it!"
Marik had no clue what Bernard was talking about, but he knew it couldn't be good. "And you're saying she did something with the others?" he pressed.
"I dunno," Bernard grumbled.
Bruce, in the meantime, had wrestled his way out of the Wolfman costume and had thrown it across the room. "Why can't we have peace and quiet?!" he yelled. "Is it too much to ask??!!"
"Well, you're sure helping provide some," Rikki remarked.
Bernard, overcome by a burst of strength, threw Marik back and lunged at Rishid again, sinking his fangs into the man's neck. Rishid gave a strangled cry, struggling against the young vampyre and not having any success.
Serenity screamed at the sight, wishing she knew what to do. She tried to grab at Bernard's arm and pull him away, but instead she wound up being flung back against the wall.
"Let him go!!" Marik screamed, pouncing on Bernard and striking him with the Rod. "He hasn't done anything to hurt you!!! LET HIM GO!!!!"
Bernard only laughed. "His blood is very tasty," he smirked. Rishid shoved him back in defense just as Marik was raising the Rod once more. Abruptly Bernard shrieked, being struck in the back with it.
Marik moved out of the way as Bernard grabbed at the Rod and tried to pull it free. He hadn't wanted to actually wind up stabbing or staking the preteen vampyre, but when it was going after Rishid in such a manner, he hadn't known what to do. Surely it wouldn't be considered a crime to do what he had just done. . . . And it *had* been an accident anyways. . . .
Bernard turned to glare at him. "This isn't over," he hissed. "I swear it!" Before Marik had time to react, the creature had vanished into thin air.
"Oh!" Serenity gasped, getting up from where she had fallen by the wall. "That was horrible!!!"
Marik was kneeling by Rishid, a lump in his throat. "Rishid?" he whispered. "Please, brother. . . . Say something. . . ."
Rishid looked deathly pale. He made no response to Marik's pleadings and stared up at the ceiling blankly as he breathed heavily.
Serenity's hand flew to her mouth. "That . . . thing. . . . It didn't . . ." She shook her head, alarm in her eyes.
"Rishid!! Look at me!!!" Marik screamed, ignoring Serenity's words—though he knew exactly what the girl was worrying about and that he himself was concerned. Gently the boy lifted his brother's injured hand and cleaned the wound carefully before bandaging it. "Please, Rishid," Marik sobbed. "Don't leave me!! Please don't leave me. . . . Please don't. . . ." The boy laid his head on Rishid's chest and continued to cry, afraid that Rishid would die . . . or else go through a deadly transformation. Everything was so nightmarish lately. . . . Poor Marik didn't know what was real anymore and what was only fictitious.
****
Joey was still in the building. He had been fighting, but the loudspeaker had had nothing to do with it. He and his attacker had both fallen down a secret panel in the wall—much like the one Bakura had experienced—and now were continuing to scrap in the basement. Joey could hear the screams from above him, but he wasn't sure what was happening, as he was too busy dodging punches and delivering his own.
"You've sure got a lotta nerve to be comin' around like this," the Brooklyn boy grumped. "Man, what the heck is your problem anyway??!!"
"You kids are in my way!" an electronically altered voice responded just as their fist connected with Joey's jaw.
Joey grunted and staggered back, but refused to give up. "Yeah? And why's that?! You got some kinda record pirating racket goin' on?!"
"Maybe I just have," the voice replied, "or maybe it's deeper than that!!"
Now Joey attacked, sending the person off-balance and to the floor. Instantly the boy flicked the lights on, anxious to see who he'd been fighting.
He found himself staring at the vampyre from earlier.
"Hey, you're the one who gassed all of us!!" Joey cried.
The vampyre glared up at him as the fangs started to slip from his mouth. "Yeah? So?"
Joey snatched the fangs away. "You must be a fake!" he deduced. "You've gotta be!"
"I'm still dangerous," was the reply. "And you'd be surprised at the number of real ones you'll have to worry about!"
****
Tristan and Yami Bakura were heading back to town when they met up with Seto's group.
"Man, am I glad to see you guys!" Tristan breathed in relief. "You won't believe what's been happening to us!"
"I think that goes double for us," Téa declared. "We've been at the house that vanishes at will!!"
"No way!" Tristan gasped. "I thought that place blew up!"
"Obviously it reformed itself," Yami Bakura said irritably.
"Marik and Rishid are not here," Ishizu said sadly, worried for her two precious brothers. She fingered the paper in her hand, trying to decide what to do about it.
"Hey, what's that?" Tristan asked, noticing it.
Ishizu explained as they walked along, after which Tristan recounted the hologram scare.
"Someone did steal a hologram machine from me," Seto muttered. Narrowing his eyes, he added, "And I know the pilot it's talking about in that note."
"Then who is it?!" Yugi exclaimed.
"He was always reliable and upright in the past," Seto replied, staring ahead. "Prideful, though."
"What he did to Marik sure wasn't reliable or upright!" Mokuba cried indignantly.
They were about halfway to the KETY studio when they were stopped by a frantic-looking woman who bore a striking resemblance to Bruce.
"Are you Grace?" Yugi asked her after introducing himself.
Grace nodded. "Yes, and I'm looking for my brother," she said. "He runs the KETY radio station here, you know!"
"We're familiar with Bruce," Bakura told her. "Unfortunately, as far as we know he's still missing."
Grace shook her head. "He'd return to the station if he could," she insisted. "Radio is his passion!" Catching sight of Ishizu's paper and the pilot's name on it, Bruce's sister gasped and stared more closely at it, her eyes wide.
"What have you found so shocking?" Ishizu asked calmly.
Grace snatched the paper from her, her intense eyes nearly burning a hole through it. "That guy used to be my fiancé," she declared. "What are you doing with one of his flight schedules?!"
Quickly Ishizu explained about her brother's predicament and how she had just come upon the note a few minutes ago. Grace hung on to every word, narrowing her eyes.
"So he was involved in a scheme to do something with this Marik kid?" she said finally at the conclusion.
"Yes," Ishizu nodded.
"I can't believe that about him!" Grace spoke very softly, not angry but only puzzled.
"We are journeying to KETY," Ishizu said. "Perhaps you would accompany us and enlighten us with tales about this man you admire?"
Grace sighed. "What relevance is it to getting my brother?!"
"Nothing, really, I don't think," Tristan said. "Just relevance to finding out what's going on around here."
Grace just crossed her arms. "What's to tell? He seemed nice enough when we were going out." She wrung her hands, worried about Bruce.
"But you two didn't get married," Yugi said slowly.
"No," Grace said, shaking her head. "He was too cocky. Thought he was the greatest thing since sliced bread." Her brow furrowed. "You know, he did say something kinda weird the last time I saw him. . . ."
"Oh! What was it?" Bakura asked, perking up.
"Well . . . this was about six weeks ago," Grace said. "We met up in the local grocery store, of all places. He was arrogant as ever. More so, I think. He told me that he had closed a hot deal and that he'd be rolling in dough before I could count to three."
"Did he say anything about what it involved?" Ishizu asked calmly, continuing to pray that Marik and Rishid were alright.
"Just something about some new flights he was making to here in Domino," Grace replied. "I didn't think anything of it at the time. It never once occurred to me that he might be into something illegal." She looked at them incredulously. "And now you're telling me that he could be a record pirate and worse—a kidnapper?!"
"'Could have been,'" Ishizu said quietly. "He perished during the abduction of my brother. Marik should have died as well, but his precious life was spared."
Grace blinked in surprise but then sighed and shook her head. "I guess it was bound to happen," she remarked. "He was always a risk taker."
She looked up and smiled as she saw they were approaching KETY. "The lights are still on!" she reported. "Maybe Bruce just escaped the hospital and went back there." Chuckling, she added, "I can picture him doing exactly that!"
In spite of the probable seriousness of everything, Yugi and the others—minus Seto—had to laugh.
"That does sound like Bruce, alright," Bakura smiled.
****
None of them were prepared for the shock they discovered upon entering. Bruce was there, screaming orders at Phil Court and a strange redhead they hadn't seen before. And Serenity was kneeling on the floor beside an emotionally crushed Marik, who was desperately trying to get Rishid to respond to him.
"Marik!!! Rishid!!!" Ishizu cried in horror, running to her brothers.
"Marik, what's wrong?!" Mokuba burst out, dashing over as well.
"Rishid is so listless," Marik whispered, clutching at his older brother's cloak. "He won't acknowledge me at all, but his eyes are open!!!"
Grace surveyed everything, her eyes wide, and then ran to her brother and started demanding explanations from him. Bruce tried to answer her as best he could, but with the post-hypnotic suggestion he'd been given he still didn't remember much at all, and Marik was too overwrought to try filling in any details.
"Stay with us, Rishid," Marik whispered. "Fight whatever is tormenting you, brother! Please!!"
"I don't understand what happened here!!" Yugi gasped.
"He was bit by a punk vampyre," Phil grunted, not seeming surprised.
"What?!" Bakura cried. "Oh my!! No!!! Not Rishid!!!" Sadly he shook his head. "It's just one thing after another. . . ."
"And here's another."
Everyone whirled at the deep, familiar voice.
"Yami!!!" Yugi exclaimed. "And . . . Joey???!!!" His violet eyes widened with horror as Yami Yugi came in with a stumbling Joey Wheeler, the blonde boy's arm around his shoulder.
"Where have you been?!" Tristan wanted to know. "And what's wrong with Joey??!!"
Hearing her brother's name, Serenity looked up in alarm and then ran over. "Joey!!!" she screamed. "Joey, what's wrong??!! What happened??!!"
"Hey, it's alright, sis," Joey smiled weakly and then felt his legs crumple under him. Yami Yugi and Serenity immediately tried to steady him, without much luck. "At least . . ." Joey held something up in his hand. "I got an important clue. . . ."
Yugi took it from him when he held it out. "What is it?!" he cried, turning the envelope over and over in his hands.
"Eh. You'll see. Maybe you can make heads or tails out of it." Joey sighed and leaned against a chair before sinking into it.
Yugi put it in his pocket for later. Right now, he knew, the most important thing was to make sure his friends would be okay. Joey didn't seem too much the worse for wear, but Rishid on the other hand was starting to disturb him highly.
"Rishid!!!" Marik screamed, tears dripping from his kind lavender eyes. "DO SOMETHING!!! Please . . . this is breaking my heart. . . . I can't stand to see you like this!!!" He gazed into Rishid's sightless golden eyes.
~I remember how your eyes always watched me, how they followed my every move. They say eyes are the window to the soul. . . . Yours, Rishid, my brother, bespoke the gentle, kind spirit you have. . . . Even though your appearance may be forbidding and even a bit nerve-racking to those who don't you, all they would have to do is look into your eyes, so full of compassion and docility, to know that they have nothing to fear from you. . . . Unless, of course, they are doing evil. You never let anyone get away with that.
But now your eyes are blank and emotionless. I see nothing there. I see nothing, Rishid—no strong spirit, no kindness, no hint of the brother Ishizu and I love so dearly! It frightens me to no extent!! Where are you, Rishid?! Are you even still there??! Answer me, Rishid!!! PLEASE!!~
Marik looked down and closed his eyes, finishing the message he was trying to get through to Rishid mentally. He didn't know if Rishid would even hear him, but they had a special brotherly bond that he didn't intend to have broken by some vampyre.
Ishizu was tending to the puncture wounds on the poor man's neck, tears of anger in her eyes that her older brother would be treated this way. Why have we been targeted?! Ishizu felt like screaming. Why are we being put through so much agony on this case??!
Is it some sort of test of strength?!
She looked up as Rishid made a slight gesture with his hand. Painstakingly he reached up and brushed Marik's tears away, his hand shaking. He managed a small smile, his eyes reclaiming their kind look.
Marik sat in shock for several moments and then cried out in joy, throwing his arms around the brother he loved so dearly.
Serenity watched all of this in absolute horror. "Oh please just let him go, Rishid!" she cried, not wanting anything to happen to someone else she cared about.
Marik stuck the Rod against Bernard's back. "I think this should work as a stake very nicely," he said in a dangerous tone. "If you make one more attempt to harm Rishid, I won't hesitate to use it."
Bernard's eyes went wild and he seemed to have genuine fear for the device being held on him. "I have friends I could call," he growled then.
"You wouldn't get a chance." Marik narrowed his eyes. "Look, we don't wish to harm you. Tell us what we wish to know and leave Rishid alone!"
Bernard stomped on Marik's foot and caused him to cry in pain. "You'll never learn anything from me!" he yelled in a defiant tone. "I'm sworn to keep it all secret and I intend to!"
Elsa just looked at him in disgust. "From this point, you're outta the detective agency!" she declared.
"It was a dumb thing anyway," Bernard retorted.
With Rishid's help, Marik managed to wrestle the super strong younger boy to the floor and get him pinned there. "Do you know anything about where our loved ones are?" he demanded.
"Of course not!" Bernard struggled, but Marik kept a firm grip. "Except. . . ." He narrowed his eyes. "My aunt Franceska wasn't too happy with you guys for what you did to the colony last year. I doubt she's gonna let you get away with it!"
Marik had no clue what Bernard was talking about, but he knew it couldn't be good. "And you're saying she did something with the others?" he pressed.
"I dunno," Bernard grumbled.
Bruce, in the meantime, had wrestled his way out of the Wolfman costume and had thrown it across the room. "Why can't we have peace and quiet?!" he yelled. "Is it too much to ask??!!"
"Well, you're sure helping provide some," Rikki remarked.
Bernard, overcome by a burst of strength, threw Marik back and lunged at Rishid again, sinking his fangs into the man's neck. Rishid gave a strangled cry, struggling against the young vampyre and not having any success.
Serenity screamed at the sight, wishing she knew what to do. She tried to grab at Bernard's arm and pull him away, but instead she wound up being flung back against the wall.
"Let him go!!" Marik screamed, pouncing on Bernard and striking him with the Rod. "He hasn't done anything to hurt you!!! LET HIM GO!!!!"
Bernard only laughed. "His blood is very tasty," he smirked. Rishid shoved him back in defense just as Marik was raising the Rod once more. Abruptly Bernard shrieked, being struck in the back with it.
Marik moved out of the way as Bernard grabbed at the Rod and tried to pull it free. He hadn't wanted to actually wind up stabbing or staking the preteen vampyre, but when it was going after Rishid in such a manner, he hadn't known what to do. Surely it wouldn't be considered a crime to do what he had just done. . . . And it *had* been an accident anyways. . . .
Bernard turned to glare at him. "This isn't over," he hissed. "I swear it!" Before Marik had time to react, the creature had vanished into thin air.
"Oh!" Serenity gasped, getting up from where she had fallen by the wall. "That was horrible!!!"
Marik was kneeling by Rishid, a lump in his throat. "Rishid?" he whispered. "Please, brother. . . . Say something. . . ."
Rishid looked deathly pale. He made no response to Marik's pleadings and stared up at the ceiling blankly as he breathed heavily.
Serenity's hand flew to her mouth. "That . . . thing. . . . It didn't . . ." She shook her head, alarm in her eyes.
"Rishid!! Look at me!!!" Marik screamed, ignoring Serenity's words—though he knew exactly what the girl was worrying about and that he himself was concerned. Gently the boy lifted his brother's injured hand and cleaned the wound carefully before bandaging it. "Please, Rishid," Marik sobbed. "Don't leave me!! Please don't leave me. . . . Please don't. . . ." The boy laid his head on Rishid's chest and continued to cry, afraid that Rishid would die . . . or else go through a deadly transformation. Everything was so nightmarish lately. . . . Poor Marik didn't know what was real anymore and what was only fictitious.
****
Joey was still in the building. He had been fighting, but the loudspeaker had had nothing to do with it. He and his attacker had both fallen down a secret panel in the wall—much like the one Bakura had experienced—and now were continuing to scrap in the basement. Joey could hear the screams from above him, but he wasn't sure what was happening, as he was too busy dodging punches and delivering his own.
"You've sure got a lotta nerve to be comin' around like this," the Brooklyn boy grumped. "Man, what the heck is your problem anyway??!!"
"You kids are in my way!" an electronically altered voice responded just as their fist connected with Joey's jaw.
Joey grunted and staggered back, but refused to give up. "Yeah? And why's that?! You got some kinda record pirating racket goin' on?!"
"Maybe I just have," the voice replied, "or maybe it's deeper than that!!"
Now Joey attacked, sending the person off-balance and to the floor. Instantly the boy flicked the lights on, anxious to see who he'd been fighting.
He found himself staring at the vampyre from earlier.
"Hey, you're the one who gassed all of us!!" Joey cried.
The vampyre glared up at him as the fangs started to slip from his mouth. "Yeah? So?"
Joey snatched the fangs away. "You must be a fake!" he deduced. "You've gotta be!"
"I'm still dangerous," was the reply. "And you'd be surprised at the number of real ones you'll have to worry about!"
****
Tristan and Yami Bakura were heading back to town when they met up with Seto's group.
"Man, am I glad to see you guys!" Tristan breathed in relief. "You won't believe what's been happening to us!"
"I think that goes double for us," Téa declared. "We've been at the house that vanishes at will!!"
"No way!" Tristan gasped. "I thought that place blew up!"
"Obviously it reformed itself," Yami Bakura said irritably.
"Marik and Rishid are not here," Ishizu said sadly, worried for her two precious brothers. She fingered the paper in her hand, trying to decide what to do about it.
"Hey, what's that?" Tristan asked, noticing it.
Ishizu explained as they walked along, after which Tristan recounted the hologram scare.
"Someone did steal a hologram machine from me," Seto muttered. Narrowing his eyes, he added, "And I know the pilot it's talking about in that note."
"Then who is it?!" Yugi exclaimed.
"He was always reliable and upright in the past," Seto replied, staring ahead. "Prideful, though."
"What he did to Marik sure wasn't reliable or upright!" Mokuba cried indignantly.
They were about halfway to the KETY studio when they were stopped by a frantic-looking woman who bore a striking resemblance to Bruce.
"Are you Grace?" Yugi asked her after introducing himself.
Grace nodded. "Yes, and I'm looking for my brother," she said. "He runs the KETY radio station here, you know!"
"We're familiar with Bruce," Bakura told her. "Unfortunately, as far as we know he's still missing."
Grace shook her head. "He'd return to the station if he could," she insisted. "Radio is his passion!" Catching sight of Ishizu's paper and the pilot's name on it, Bruce's sister gasped and stared more closely at it, her eyes wide.
"What have you found so shocking?" Ishizu asked calmly.
Grace snatched the paper from her, her intense eyes nearly burning a hole through it. "That guy used to be my fiancé," she declared. "What are you doing with one of his flight schedules?!"
Quickly Ishizu explained about her brother's predicament and how she had just come upon the note a few minutes ago. Grace hung on to every word, narrowing her eyes.
"So he was involved in a scheme to do something with this Marik kid?" she said finally at the conclusion.
"Yes," Ishizu nodded.
"I can't believe that about him!" Grace spoke very softly, not angry but only puzzled.
"We are journeying to KETY," Ishizu said. "Perhaps you would accompany us and enlighten us with tales about this man you admire?"
Grace sighed. "What relevance is it to getting my brother?!"
"Nothing, really, I don't think," Tristan said. "Just relevance to finding out what's going on around here."
Grace just crossed her arms. "What's to tell? He seemed nice enough when we were going out." She wrung her hands, worried about Bruce.
"But you two didn't get married," Yugi said slowly.
"No," Grace said, shaking her head. "He was too cocky. Thought he was the greatest thing since sliced bread." Her brow furrowed. "You know, he did say something kinda weird the last time I saw him. . . ."
"Oh! What was it?" Bakura asked, perking up.
"Well . . . this was about six weeks ago," Grace said. "We met up in the local grocery store, of all places. He was arrogant as ever. More so, I think. He told me that he had closed a hot deal and that he'd be rolling in dough before I could count to three."
"Did he say anything about what it involved?" Ishizu asked calmly, continuing to pray that Marik and Rishid were alright.
"Just something about some new flights he was making to here in Domino," Grace replied. "I didn't think anything of it at the time. It never once occurred to me that he might be into something illegal." She looked at them incredulously. "And now you're telling me that he could be a record pirate and worse—a kidnapper?!"
"'Could have been,'" Ishizu said quietly. "He perished during the abduction of my brother. Marik should have died as well, but his precious life was spared."
Grace blinked in surprise but then sighed and shook her head. "I guess it was bound to happen," she remarked. "He was always a risk taker."
She looked up and smiled as she saw they were approaching KETY. "The lights are still on!" she reported. "Maybe Bruce just escaped the hospital and went back there." Chuckling, she added, "I can picture him doing exactly that!"
In spite of the probable seriousness of everything, Yugi and the others—minus Seto—had to laugh.
"That does sound like Bruce, alright," Bakura smiled.
****
None of them were prepared for the shock they discovered upon entering. Bruce was there, screaming orders at Phil Court and a strange redhead they hadn't seen before. And Serenity was kneeling on the floor beside an emotionally crushed Marik, who was desperately trying to get Rishid to respond to him.
"Marik!!! Rishid!!!" Ishizu cried in horror, running to her brothers.
"Marik, what's wrong?!" Mokuba burst out, dashing over as well.
"Rishid is so listless," Marik whispered, clutching at his older brother's cloak. "He won't acknowledge me at all, but his eyes are open!!!"
Grace surveyed everything, her eyes wide, and then ran to her brother and started demanding explanations from him. Bruce tried to answer her as best he could, but with the post-hypnotic suggestion he'd been given he still didn't remember much at all, and Marik was too overwrought to try filling in any details.
"Stay with us, Rishid," Marik whispered. "Fight whatever is tormenting you, brother! Please!!"
"I don't understand what happened here!!" Yugi gasped.
"He was bit by a punk vampyre," Phil grunted, not seeming surprised.
"What?!" Bakura cried. "Oh my!! No!!! Not Rishid!!!" Sadly he shook his head. "It's just one thing after another. . . ."
"And here's another."
Everyone whirled at the deep, familiar voice.
"Yami!!!" Yugi exclaimed. "And . . . Joey???!!!" His violet eyes widened with horror as Yami Yugi came in with a stumbling Joey Wheeler, the blonde boy's arm around his shoulder.
"Where have you been?!" Tristan wanted to know. "And what's wrong with Joey??!!"
Hearing her brother's name, Serenity looked up in alarm and then ran over. "Joey!!!" she screamed. "Joey, what's wrong??!! What happened??!!"
"Hey, it's alright, sis," Joey smiled weakly and then felt his legs crumple under him. Yami Yugi and Serenity immediately tried to steady him, without much luck. "At least . . ." Joey held something up in his hand. "I got an important clue. . . ."
Yugi took it from him when he held it out. "What is it?!" he cried, turning the envelope over and over in his hands.
"Eh. You'll see. Maybe you can make heads or tails out of it." Joey sighed and leaned against a chair before sinking into it.
Yugi put it in his pocket for later. Right now, he knew, the most important thing was to make sure his friends would be okay. Joey didn't seem too much the worse for wear, but Rishid on the other hand was starting to disturb him highly.
"Rishid!!!" Marik screamed, tears dripping from his kind lavender eyes. "DO SOMETHING!!! Please . . . this is breaking my heart. . . . I can't stand to see you like this!!!" He gazed into Rishid's sightless golden eyes.
~I remember how your eyes always watched me, how they followed my every move. They say eyes are the window to the soul. . . . Yours, Rishid, my brother, bespoke the gentle, kind spirit you have. . . . Even though your appearance may be forbidding and even a bit nerve-racking to those who don't you, all they would have to do is look into your eyes, so full of compassion and docility, to know that they have nothing to fear from you. . . . Unless, of course, they are doing evil. You never let anyone get away with that.
But now your eyes are blank and emotionless. I see nothing there. I see nothing, Rishid—no strong spirit, no kindness, no hint of the brother Ishizu and I love so dearly! It frightens me to no extent!! Where are you, Rishid?! Are you even still there??! Answer me, Rishid!!! PLEASE!!~
Marik looked down and closed his eyes, finishing the message he was trying to get through to Rishid mentally. He didn't know if Rishid would even hear him, but they had a special brotherly bond that he didn't intend to have broken by some vampyre.
Ishizu was tending to the puncture wounds on the poor man's neck, tears of anger in her eyes that her older brother would be treated this way. Why have we been targeted?! Ishizu felt like screaming. Why are we being put through so much agony on this case??!
Is it some sort of test of strength?!
She looked up as Rishid made a slight gesture with his hand. Painstakingly he reached up and brushed Marik's tears away, his hand shaking. He managed a small smile, his eyes reclaiming their kind look.
Marik sat in shock for several moments and then cried out in joy, throwing his arms around the brother he loved so dearly.