The creature watched as Yami fell asleep waited patently knowing there was another one 'there he is' it thought as Ryou entered the room he bent over Yami and pecked him on the forehead before his lips moved to say
"good night" before he lay down on his own cot and fell asleep that was it's chance it swooped down to the window from the tree branch it had been watching from It placed one clawed finger on the glass which almost instantly turned red and started to liquefy under his touch he ran the finger around the glass to make a hole large enough for him to get in. He stepped in his leathery black wings releasing themselves from the darkness unwillingly. He crept across the room to Yugi's bed an orange tinged clear shield spread from his body heating the air around it and inside it he reached out to Yugi touching his face, tracing his jaw line, below his eyes, and along his forehead, brushing his bangs out of his face.
"Yugi, Yugi, Yugi" he growled as Yugi flinched in his sleep when he heated up the finger that he had placed on Yugi's forehead
"Why do you flinch?" he asked sounding slightly surprised as he applied more of his warm hand to Yugi's face
"why are you afraid of the same heat you felt when you were born?" he asked warming his hand a little more as Yugi tried to draw away his eyes finally opened slightly looking up into the lavender eyes of his captor who still had his hand on the side of his face his eyes shot open when he realized those eyes didn't belong to Yami or Ryou. Yugi opened his mouth to scream but the stranger put a hand over his mouth so it just came out as a muffled
"Mmmmmph" Yugi started to try to franticly get away from the slowly warming and cooling hand
"Don't struggle" Yugi didn't listen as he tried to pry his hand away from his mouth
"I'll burn your mouth shut if you don't stop" he threatened having had enough of the boy trying to claw at his hand. Yugi stopped moving all together gazing wide eyed fearfully at the tall blond male above him
"I'll let you go if you promise not to scream, okay?" Yugi nodded barely wanting to move at all, he moved his hand and kneeled next to him
"You're afraid of me?" Yugi nodded again
"Why?" he asked Yugi kept his mouth shut
"I'm sorry about the threat, but please answer me I want to know more about you"
"W-w-why?" Yugi asked timidly the stranger looked a little surprised he had spoken so soon
"I asked you first" he rumbled
"Stranger" Yugi said poking him on the nose
"My name? Marik. What happened to you?" he asked looking Yugi over Yugi pointed to Ryou
"He did that to you?!" he had to keep himself from yelling it
"No, ask him" Yugi said quickly not wanting Marik to attack him. Yugi's eyes widened again as Marik turned he noticed Marik's pair of black leathery wings he reached out and stroked the wings which folded neatly behind him. Marik spun around to look at Yugi
"Those are wings?" Yugi said simply used to seeing feathers instead of leather
"Yeah I'm a little like you, you want to see them?" Yugi nodded, Marik sighed he unfurled his massive black wings they spread out and over Yugi he had to curl them slightly to keep them inside his heat shield they were huge Yugi could see a few small tendrils of veins streaking through them, they made a leathery black tent over him almost. Yugi stared up at them open mouthed
"You like?" Yugi nodded
"You're a good guy?"
"Depends whose side are you on?" Yugi pointed to Yami
"Then I'm a 'good guy'" Marik said
Yami opened his eyes and rolled over trying to get more comfortable on the cot he was sleeping on when he rolled over though his face was met with a small wave of heat he blinked and sat up slightly to see an orange sheen in front of him but what was behind is was what scared him completely awake. A man wearing nothing but a pair of black pants, with huge black wings spread wide was leaning over Yugi he started to fold those wings back up behind him
"Tell me more" Marik said Yami reached up and touched the sheen but pulled his hand back quickly as though he had been burned his fingers were stinging like they had been though. Marik looked up when he felt someone touch his shield and saw Yami sitting up on his elbow staring at him he quickly refolded his wings and turned to leave Yugi saw Yami too and grabbed onto Marik's belt not wanting him to go. Yami quickly got off the cot and started to come around the bed but Marik managed to pry Yugi's hands off his belt and continued towards the hole he'd made earlier in the window at a faster pace
'sorry Yugi but I have to go' he thought sadly; but Yami dove after him catching him around the ankles and making him trip making a loud enough noise to wake Ryou who just plain fell off his bed with a loud thud
"get off of me" Marik hissed trying to wrestle Yami off of his ankles he would rather give him a black eye than give him a third degree burn.
"No, not until you tell me what you're doing here" he said successfully pinning him down by sitting on him
"fine, fine, I'll tell you would you just get off me that really crinkles the wings" he rumbled Yami got off of him and grabbed his hands to make sure he didn't get away and steered him back towards the cot where he pushed him down to sit, he looked over his shoulder at Yugi.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm all right" Ryou got up off the floor to see the new comer staring at the floor as his large wings twitched behind him
"First off, who are you?" Yami asked turning back to Marik
"The name's Marik, 'Papa' to the angels" he said still looking at the floor
"Papa?"
"It's a long story you don't want to hear" he said
"Well we aren't going anywhere tell us it can't be much worse than these two's stories" Yami said referring to Yugi and Ryou
"All right, but you won't like it" he took a long breath and started
"I was the first one made I don't care what these two have told you I was the first one of us ever made that's why I look so much like 'him' so he kept me around but I wasn't like what he though I would be like so he just kept me around like a pet of sorts I would assist him I saw the one you call big brother born I saw your sister born" he said pointing to Yugi
"And I helped warm them up see" Marik reached up and grabbed Yami's arm making his hand hotter and cooler and hotter again before letting him go
"and I helped with others too but after she was born I had enough my 'father' was starting to get ideas to mass produce us an make armies so I took all the ones that were old enough and had them take all the babies who weren't old enough and smuggled them out but before I left I seriously screwed up some of their computers so they moved. He didn't give a care weather I left or not but the fact that I took most of the others made him mad so at this new place he made more but I followed him and started stealing the babies he produced so he jacked up his security I haven't been back since, and in that time I've been caring for a little over forty angels and demons as they like to be called I'm a demon type, you see when he turned out ones he didn't want he'd throw them out like last Tuesday s trash so I'd sneak up and bring them with me and help nurse them back to health, but over time I've gained the name Papa because me an the others have been taking care of all of the babies so I'm like a Papa figure to them" Yami actually looked slightly angry
"Why didn't you take them with you?!" he almost shouted pointing to Yugi and Ryou
"Big Brother and sister wouldn't leave without saving Ryou and Yugi but when they were finally born security was so tight there I couldn't go back, I'm sorry I really am, I'll take you to the rest of them when Yugi gets better if you wish" Marik said burying his head in his hands Yami's eyes softened and he felt bad for yelling at Marik
"Why did you try to run when you noticed I'd seen you?" he asked a little more kindly
"I've been watching you at night when all the children are sleeping I just wanted to talk to Yugi to see if he was all right I don't belong in society with people they may accept Yugi and Ryou, both angels, but people wouldn't be able to accept me, a demon-like, so I stay hidden and only come out at night, a trait that would also make people fear me more if they knew" he said sadly his once twitching wings were drooping and spreading out along the cot he was sitting on Ryou spoke
"Where do you get food for all of them?" he asked timidly.
"I steal it I know it's bad but we have to eat or we'd die off"
"Maybe we could help" Ryou said
"I'm sure the hospital here would be willing to help the entire hospital knows about us"
"Really?" he said looking up at Ryou
"Yeah they could probably give food, cloths, physicals, medicine, bedding at least until we find somewhere for you all to stay"
"Maybe, are you sure it's safe? I don't want any of my kids to get hurt."
"Positive; can I go see where they all are? You can take me there tonight"
--Yami can I go with him? -- He asked politely into Yami's head Yami nodded
"You're letting me go?" Marik asked
"Yes, you've got family to take care of and Ryou needs you there to show him where you live I've just got one more question... how old are you?"
"I'm fifteen and thank you" he said standing he made his way towards the hole in the window he stepped out onto the window sill and leaned forward opening his wings he pushed off from the edge and flew hovering in the air as he waited for Ryou to join. Ryou walked over to the window and looked down at the street two stories below he gulped as he looked back to the ledge he was about to step out onto. Marik saw it and came down to where he was hovering in front of him
"What? Never flown before?" Ryou held up two fingers to show how many times
-- And that was when I was scared -- he replied mentally
"Ah, a telepath, you guys never do make excellent fliers, but you do make one hell of a brain twister when it comes to speaking terms" he said laughing a deep baritone he landed back on the ledge
"Come here" he said opening his arms. Ryou carefully stepped out onto the ledge and Marik grabbed him, he easily lifted him into a sitting position in his arms, with Ryou hanging onto his neck he turned around on the ledge and started to lean forward and let himself fall into an updraft. Ryou squeaked and gripped a little tighter to Marik's neck he opened his wings and pushed off Ryou looked back over Marik's shoulder to see Yami looking out the window waving before shutting the curtains to cover the hole.
Ryou looked down below him as Marik soared effortlessly towards 'home' Ryou started to notice there were fewer lights in the buildings and the buildings themselves were starting to look pretty shabby. Marik suddenly bent his body in half and changed his course downwards towards a small two story building nestled in between a pair of slightly bigger brick buildings. Marik landed in front of the building and let Ryou down
"Home sweet home" he said bitterly, looking up at the building; Ryou followed him up the creaky steps and inside. The place was okay, you could tell someone lived there at least, it was a little clean; Marik put two fingers to his mouth took a deep breath and whistled one long loud whistle that echoed of the walls. Ryou heard a door opening upstairs a head peaked around the corner to see if it was safe, he saw Marik and came down the stairs he had bluish tinged hair and a pair of pants with a little shark on the leg and white leathery wings, he was holding a little demon girl asleep against his chest.
"Fort's safe sir" he said jokingly saluting him
"Good, troops in their bunks?" Marik asked back playing along
"Yes sir, now may I ask one last question, sir?"
"Ask away sergeant Mako" he said Mako who had been standing ramrod straight slumped down looking more like a normal kid and asked
"Watcha doin' home so early?" he asked, Ryou snickered behind Marik
"I've got someone for you to meet" he said turning to reveal Ryou to him
"He's here to help us" Marik told him
"Well this is 'sergeant' Mako, second in command when the 'general' is M.I.A." he said laughing a little and ruffling the boys hair "the rest are probably still sleeping, do you want to see them?" he asked
"I'd like to" Ryou said amazed by just the sight of the one standing in front of him
"Mako would you mind showing Ryou, here, your room?"
"No sir" he said shaking his head Marik bent down to Ryou and whispered "I'll wait here for you" he walked past him and took a seat on an old mattress leaning against the wall. Mako started walking up the stairs Ryou followed him looking back at Marik before he turned the corner there were four doors down the hall way Mako turned and opened the closest one to the stairs Ryou gasped; inside were around six or seven angels and demons curled up on the floor in quilts and blankets some were leaning against the walls and a couple were balled up in a pile in the middle, it looked like a homeless shelter.
"Dis is my room" he said he said walking inside he walked across the room and sat down in his blanket up against the wall still holding the little girl. Ryou left the room closing the door quietly; he looked into the rest of the rooms all were practically the same some of the kids were asleep holding onto littler kids, but he immediately noticed something different in the last room. All the angels and demons in that room were staying well away from one little angel that was sitting in the corner wide awake; Ryou walked up to him the boy looked up at him as he approached he knelt down next to him the little guy was avoiding his eyes
"Hi what's your name?" Ryou whispered the boy curled up even more huddling further into the corner
"Don't be scared I'm like you, see" he said showing his wings to him
"y-you aren't af-f-fraid of me?" he whimpered
"Of course not why?"
"People have nightmares when they are close to me"
"Ah, you are like me tell me can you respond to this"
-- name please? -- The boy looked up at him surprised
--Say it, just say it, e-s-p-a-- Ryou heard in his mind
"So your name is Espa?" Ryou said smiling the little angel looked at him confused
--How did he know that? I haven't told him--
"You were thinking it you're a telepath just like me" he answered
"Really can you teach me how to fix it?"
--I'll teach you later, for now, try to get some sleep-- he said pulling the boys blanket over him and standing. He turned to leave when he saw Marik standing in the door way smiling at him; Ryou made his way out of the room noticing Espa was already asleep. Ryou faced Marik
"Do you know what kind of powers they have?" Ryou whispered
"some of them yes but a lot of them are still too young to figure it out, there are four here with telepathy, you just met the oncoming fifth, two that I've identified with the heating power like me, two have healing power thought they can't do much ,but they can make a simple break into a small fracture"
"How do you know that?" Ryou asked
"Broke my wrist a couple months ago" Marik said raising his hand
"Wow. Just wandering but do they all sleep like that"
"Yeah the only bed in the place is mine and that's only my old flat mattress the only difference is the older ones are upstairs"
"I'll remember to tell the people at the hospital about that how are they with doctors? You know coats and everything" Ryou said
"The younger ones don't mind but some of the older ones are pretty touchy about them"
"I'll tell them just to wear normal cloths then, anything else I need to know about them?"
"No not really, though I would like it if you took care of Espa" Marik said tapping his head in thought.
"Okay can I go back now; I'd like to get started on this as soon as possible"
"All right. Um, I think I should warn you though Espa will hold you to your word so you really should come back real soon" he said laughing a little bit. They walked outside together Marik picked Ryou up like before and steadily winged his way into the sky. As they neared the hospital Ryou noticed something different about the window to Yugi's room, the curtains were open and the hole looked bigger, Ryou didn't wait for Marik to land he rolled out of his arms and opened his wings to catch himself before he fell, he ran to the entrance. Marik immediately followed him having to run to keep up with Ryou who was all ready through the doors; ignoring the people staring at him he race after Ryou almost catching up with him when he turned the corner Marik followed him around the maze until Ryou reached Yugi's room he was fumbling with the doorknob muttering
"Open up" Ryou started knocking on the door. Marik came up behind him and after a little bit with one huge kick he busted the door down, Ryou looked at him with a questioning look for a second before he looked into the room. It was a mess the bed sheets were scattered every were everything looked like a tornado hit it, but Yugi was nowhere to be found, he heard a moan from the corner he looked there to see Yami smashed into a cabinet Ryou ran over to him. He had a bloody nose and tons of scratches and bruises but other than that he was okay
"Yami what happened?" he asked trying to help him up but he moaned in protest
"Did you get the number of that buss?" he said sleepily
"Marik help me out" Ryou said Marik was still standing in the doorway stunned by what had happened he came over and helped him pick Yami up and put him down on the bed
-- Yami tell me what happened! -- He said mentally
"Please Ryou no mental talk now" Yami sighed pulling a blanket up to dab at his nose
"He took him, he took Yugi away."
Gruzzee: yay! Marik had to step into this somewhere
Cazi: and there's an entire orphanage of angels awww!
Gruzzee: awww? I didn't think boys said that kind of thing.
Cazi: yes but it's nice that you made more angels and demons like me
Gruzzee: Yeah I guess your right, but now Yugi's gone and I left it on an evil cliffhanger
Cazi: so just shadup and get typing on the next chapter; and you guys out there in 3D world R&R and if you mess with my aibou expect a big dog to be at your front door in the morning
Gruzzee: Cazi! Sorry he's feeling bad for me about the flames I got don't pay attention to him.