Marik stood in the open alley of Miperg Ave. with a look of pure and utter disgust on his face. He beckoned a group of his Rare Hunters over with a single motion of his finger.
"I demand you to set out and kill Yugi Mouto. If you succeed, bring his body back, as well the Millennium Puzzle. If you do not, do not come back. If you do not have either his body or the Puzzle, do not come back."
The Rare Hunters caught themselves before they gave Marik looks of confusion. They strolled off without further command. It was known among them that when Marik was defeated in some way, he was more deadly than ever.
"Master."
Marik turned his head swiftly and saw a straggler, a Rare Hunter who had not set off with the others. His lips tensed; his eyes glinted dangerously. He swept his body all the way around and glared at the Rare Hunter, as if waiting for him to speak.
"Master, I only wish to offer you my knowledge. Once you kill Yugi Mouto, you cannot make his Puzzle your own. You must duel him first, and once he is dead, that is not possible."
Marik's neck muscles tightened as he contained his anger for being countered by one of the lowly ones. His lips trembled. He tried to seem as if he had known this all along.
"Do not question my orders."
"I was just giving you the facts. I don't – "
"I said, do not question my orders. I want Yugi Mouto dead and I want his puzzle."
"And as I said, Master," the Rare Hunter quickly
added. "You cannot do anything with his puzzle if you do not duel him first. That's
what you want, isn't it?"
Marik could not believe his ears. Who was this Rare Hunter to argue with him? And yet, how could he have overlooked the fact that the Puzzle was in fact no use to him if Yugi was dead?
"I know what I am doing, so go! I want him dead!"
The Rare Hunter left without another glance at Marik.
"Wait, come back," Marik ordered. The Rare Hunter walked back. "Go tell the others that I changed my mind. I want Yugi back here alive, but hurt. Torture him, fight him, do anything, but do not kill him. Now go." The Rare Hunter left once again.
Marik walked in front of Swilly. It had once been a wild bar, but when too many people had gotten drunk in it, the police forcefully closed it down. Marik pulled out his dagger and used it to jerk open the locked door. He stepped in, pulled cartons full of beers out from under the tables, and began drinking. This was his resort for his anger. Drinking made him feel more better than worse; it cleared his mind and gave him odd but wonderful sensations.
He thought back to his previous life, a life of pleasure and adventure. He had guarded the Pharaoh's tomb with his sister, Isis. He had fought off grave robbers and magic. His life had been…exciting. But now, he inhibited a weak and useless being named Malik. His Rare Hunters were useless; they could not do anything right. His one, and greatest goal was to defeat Yugi in a duel and steal his Millennium Puzzle. Now, once again, Yugi had escaped from right under his nose. His spirit was too powerful. He had powers even unbeknownst (A/N-whoa, wut does that word mean :-D) to himself.
Marik knew it was foolish to use Seto Kaiba's younger brother to strengthen his Rod. He was deranged, he was drunk. He was filled with such anger and lunacy that he had come up with such a foolish idea. He had thought that if his Rod was stronger, he could overcome the Pharaoh's great powers and brainwash his mind. He had thought that if he controlled the Pharaoh's mind, he could duel him. And he actually thought that it just might work.
But oh, Kaiba had to make a lunge for his Rod. Everything had gone wrong; Kaiba had been knocked unconscious, Yugi's Puzzle had suddenly emitted blasts of light, blinding Marik and the Rare Hunters. For the first time that Marik could remember, he had been afraid. He suddenly realized how powerful and indestructible the Pharaoh was…
He could kill me.
*~*~*~*~*~*
"What? What is it?"
Isis turned to look at Kaiba, who was watching her with a puzzled look on his face.
"It's nothing, really," she answered quietly. But she couldn't prevent her worried expression. There was nothing she feared more in the whole world than her brother. She feared his rage, his psychosis, his madness. Now that he had been thwarted by Yugi and Kaiba, he was surely out to get both of them.
"Isis!" Kaiba said again with a chuckle. "You're looking at me like you're nervous about something. Don't tell me it's nothing."
"No, no, really, it's nothing…"
"So he's your brother," Kaiba whispered, as if reading her mind. Isis didn't know how to respond. She merely shook her head.
"It's ok, we can talk." He continued. But Isis didn't speak. She couldn't. She was feeling strange and getting more worried by the minute. She couldn't stand feeling like this. She couldn't stand the thought that if Marik knew what she was up to, her life was on the line.
"I'm just tired, ok?" she said a little too forcefully. She lay down on the hard mattress with her back to Kaiba. She needed time to think.
"Yeah, me too, I guess." Isis listened to Kaiba stretching out the sleeping bag and laying on it. She felt guilty that he had to sleep on the ground while she got the mattress, but decided it was for the best.
As the night wore on, darkness fell, but Isis was more awake as the seconds rolled by. It was impossible to sleep. She couldn't stop feeling afraid for her life. Marik would instantly kill her the moment he found out about this, she knew. But Kaiba needed help.
I don't love him, she realized. She had known it all along; just failed to let it flow through her mind. He's just a man who I don't see anything special in. He may love me, but I don't love him. I can't. Love can be deadly.
Isis gulped and quietly slid out of her covers. She tip-toed out of the building and into the streets. It was pouring outside. Fighting the tears that welled up in her eyes, she ran down the street. She was going to meet her brother. Fear was something she had never learned to cope with.