Living With Maniacs
Chapter 13- The Game Begins
Once again, Froggy enters the scene. "Aha, an update sooner than you expected! But you'd better review both chapters anyways...if you haven't already reviewed 12. Please check the bio, got stuffs in there again! And, if anyone wonders why I, Froggy, am in the beginning of almost every chapter, it's to communicate with the readers without doing anything illegal on ffnet." Eyes ffnet police. "Whom I love and respect very much. On to the chapter now! Give lots of helpful information in these reviews, very concerned about the violent upcoming qualities..."
Bakura woke with a start and rolled off the couch. Marik sat up as well, alert, clutching his chainsaw, and…well, evil. Ryou stayed sound asleep, sprawled on the floor, and Misty snored peacefully, curled in a ball on her recliner.
"What on earth is that awful noise?" Bakura cried. He looked at Marik, who only shrugged and listened. "Misty. Misty!" Bakura poked Misty's shoulder.
"Wha? Hmm?" Misty mumbled, slowly opening her eyes.
"What's that noise?" Bakura asked over the din.
Misty sat up. "Oh, it's my stopwatch," she said. She pushed a button, and the beeping stopped, but the wailing continued.
"Not that!" Bakura exclaimed. "That horrible loud thing that's making every dog in town bark!"
"Oh, it's just the noon whistle," Misty said, rolling over and curling up again.
"But it isn't NOON!"
"Oh." Misty sat back up. "Then it's the tornado siren."
"There is no tornado!" Bakura yelled, almost desperate.
"Ohh…so then there's some sort of emergency…" It came slowly together. "Ai! Quick! Get Ryou up, give Marik the weapons, and get out to the tank! Hurry!"
Bakura leaped off the couch, kicked Ryou, tossed the bag of weapons at Marik, and raced for the tank without missing a beat. As soon as he opened the door, however, he stopped short. His eyes widened, then he turned tail and ran back into the living room as the screen door slammed shut behind him. He took a deep breath an said slowly to the three people staring at him, "We've got company."
Before the other three could even open their mouths to demand an explanation, a loud, unfamiliar voice was heard over a megaphone: "We have the house surrounded! Come out with your hands in the air!"
OoO "Oh my God, I forgot about that!" Misty said in a panic. "It said on the news they would release a search party first thing in the morning to look for the missing tank!"
"They found it," Bakura said dryly.
"What's the problem?" Marik asked, pulling a machine gun out of his bag. "I'll just hose 'em down with this, then we get in the tank. It's pretty simple really." Everyone stared silently at him. "Look, I'll show you." He hiked the gun up and marched for the door, but Misty blocked his way.
"No, Marik! You can't kill these people!"
"Why not?"
"Because, they're police and military and…they're good people!" Misty said desperately.
"So?" Marik said coldly. "They're in my way, and killing them will be fun. Now out of my way!" he tried to push past her, but Misty shove him back.
"No! I won't let you!" she said bravely, even though she was scared half to death that he might snap. He almost did.
"Look, if you don't get out of my way right now, I'm going to have to break that little promise of mine and hurt you very badly!"
"Come out with you hands up, NOW! We have you surrounded!" repeated the megaphone voice.
"Wait Marik, that's a great idea!" Bakura said suddenly.
"What?" Misty cried. "Hurting me is a good idea?"
"No, threatening to!" Bakura said, looking very pleased. He pulled a simple pistol out of the bag, then grabbed Misty around the waist and put the gun to her head. "Now, you get Ryou!"
Marik grinned. "I get it!" He grabbed Ryou, wrapped his arm around Ryou's neck and held the machine gun to his side. "Now to the tank!"
"Yup," Bakura said. "Now Misty, grab the weapons bag, but look like you're being forced to carry it. You and Ryou try to look scared, but neither of you try to run, cuz as long as we've got you two, they can't shoot."
"Wait," Misty try to say, "don't you think this is a little extreme--"
"Go!" Bakura said, and the four of them pushed out the door. The sound of guns being cocked in every direction made Misty flinch, but Bakura and Marik kept their cool. "Stay back or we'll shoot!" Bakura shouted, shoving the pistol against Misty's head.
"Yeah, one false move and we kill 'em both!" Marik added forcefully.
"Hold your fire men, they've got hostages!" someone said. No one fired, but all the guns stayed trained on them as they made their way slowly to the tank.
"Back away from the tank!" Bakura ordered as they neared the tank with their "hostages." Misty tripped, and every trigger finger in the surrounding ranks twitched, hoping she would fall and they could get a clear shot. Bakura tightened his grip on her waist, and she regained her footing. They came up to the tank, and Bakura waved Ryou and Marik ahead. Getting into the tank without letting their guard down would prove difficult.
"keep beside me while we climb up," Marik muttered to Ryou. "If you don't, they'll shoot at me and I'll have to kill you. Understand?"
Ryou squeaked, and they began carefully climbing up the tank; Marik stayed lose beside Ryou with his gun aimed at him. Carefully climbing. Marik with only one free hand. Surrounded by policemen. A killer on the loose. Ryou about to have a nervous breakdown. And Marik was having fun. A huge grin was spreading across his face as his heart raced.
Bakura and Misty watched nervously as Marik and Ryou climbed on top of the tank. "Ouch!" Misty hissed quietly. "You're hurting me!"
"Oops," Bakura muttered, loosening his grip on her waist, but keeping his pistol steadily trained on her head.
Marik and Ryou were standing on top. "Open the hatch!" Marik ordered. Ryou leaned over and pulled. And pulled. And -FWAP- It flew open, and Ryou fell over on his tender and cute bum. The entire police ranks twitched again, and Ryou whimpered. Marik growled at him and, keeping his machine gun focused, yelled down to Misty and Bakura, "You two get up here and get in first!"
Bakura nodded an d let go of Misty's waist to allow her to climb. Misty walked right up tot the tank, clutching the heavy bag nervously. She stared up and Marik and Ryou, then turned pitifully to Bakura. "I -- I don't think I can make it holding this," she said, loud enough for most of the careful ears of the surrounding policemen to hear.
Bakura glared at her and shoved the pistol roughly against her head. "Climb, bitch! And if you drop that bag, I'll kill you!" he threatened convincingly. So convincingly, actually, that Misty's eyes began to fill with tears -- and she was suddenly actually a little afraid. "No crying! Now climb!" Misty sniffled and tried to stand up tough without actually crying -- Bakura was only pretending, after all. She heard a guy near them say, "Aw, the poor thing's scared out of her wits!" For some reason, this comment brought on a fit of giggles, but she choked them down, slung the heavy bag over her shoulder, and began climbing the tank right beside Bakura. One-handed, both of them, but not too slowly.
Misty reached the top and stopped. She couldn't exactly climb on the very top with the bag still in her hands, an if she slung it up the contents may very well have exploded. Ryou, with only a glance at Marik, reached down and helped her up. She smiled at him, then at an order from Bakura, she climbed carefully down the hatch. Bakura followed closely behind her, pointing his gun down at her. And starting to sweat. From nerves. Because he just realized a slight flaw in his little plan. How would Marik and Ryou get down? If Ryou went first, Marik would be shot because he would temporarily be left alone. And Marik going down first was just out of the question. But his thoughts were interrupted by Marik.
"Tuck in your elbows!" he warned Ryou. He grabbed a hold of the Englishman and simply hopped down the hatch -- with his elbows tucked in. Once down, he sent Ryou back up to close the hatch -- "they won't shoot at him." once they were all safely inside, Bakura and Marik lowered their weapons and the four just stared around at each other.
"We did it," Misty giggled. "There were like, fifty military and law enforcement officers out there to claim their missing tank, and we just walked right into it and they couldn't do anything!" She put the bag down and burst into giggles.
Bakura stared at her. "Uh, sorry I called you a bitch," he said, rubbing the back of his neck a little apologetically. "I just thought it was more convincing that way--"
"It's - heehee - okay," Misty said between giggles, putting her hand on his shoulder. "It did - heehee - convince 'em. Did you - hee - hear that one guy pity me when I - heh hee hee - almost cried! Hahahahaa!" She fell over in full-blown nonstop laughter. The three men stared at her for a moment, then shrugged.
"Okay, I'll drive this thing, since I already know how," Bakura said. He pulled the keys out of his pocket and started the ignition. Ryou and Marik stared, confused.
"I didn't know tanks worked like that -- with keys and all…" Marik said, scratching his head.
"Neither did I," Bakura said. "But it works for me!"
Ryou and Marik shrugged.
"Okay now," Bakura said, "Marik. If you want something to do, go through the bag of weapons and take out what you like. Ryou… uh, keep and eye on Misty until she snaps out of it."
Marik smiled and sat on the floor of the tank with the bag in his lap. He looked like an innocent child, contentedly playing with his toys. Except his toys were guns…and grenades…and…ah, well, his face looked innocent. Ryou, however, looked less happy. He stood next to Misty, looking ready to bolt (even though there wasn't enough room to run anywhere). He just stared at her uncertainly, watching her roll around laughing hysterically. Bakura started the tank and drove happily and slowly away. The police and military, however, were not that easily disposed of. They were busy calling for backup, and the Channel 13 Lucky helicopter was hovering above the tank, broadcasting everything live.
On his private island off the coast of California, Maximillian Pegasus was watching it all and laughing his ass off. "Ah, Marik-boy, Ryou-boy, Misty-boy, Bakura-boy…you are so entertaining! It's obvious that was all an act. Bakura, with his slowly growing crush on Misty, would never hurt her; Misty is having so much fun drawing these men along when they don' realize she's already taken; Ryou, wimp that he is, wouldn't let Misty go without a fight; and Ma -- wait a second." Pegasus, with his long distance Millennium Eye, was having trouble. He put his hand to his head. "Hmm, this is odd…there's nothing going on in Marik's mind! Wait, here's something…" There was a moment of static, then a song could just be heard: 'Yo Danny Fenton, he was just fourteen, when his parents built a very strange machine; designed to view a world unseen. Gonna catch 'em all cuz he's Danny Phantom…' "What the…" Pegasus sat, confused, and listened to the Danny Phantom theme song play faintly on.
Misty finally sat up to gasp for breath. "Whoo! I'm okay. Hee hee." She got to her feet, supporting herself on the walls. "Wow. So it actually worked. But…wait a second." She plopped back down. "The warning siren. It can't have possible been because of the police; Malik's here somewhere. We gotta figure out where!"
"Yes," Ryou agreed, "before he starts killing innocent people!"
"Uh, that's not what I mean," Misty said hesitantly. "The people here aren't exactly what you'd call innocent. Do you know how many meth labs have been busted here? And just a few years back there was a murder cuz the dude wanted a divorce and the chick wanted his money. And the school system here is the reasons the state of Oklahoma had to change the definition of statutory rape to the child being under eighteen and the adult being a teacher…"
Ryou stared at her, Marik smiled affectionately at the little story, and Bakura laughed. "Sounds like you can get away with quite a bit here!" he chuckled.
"Yeah, just not stealing a tank," Misty quipped.
"Aw, shaddup," Bakura grumbled. "I almost got away with it."
"Ah, but almost counts only in horseshoes and hand grenades," Misty said wisely.
Marik looked up. "Did somebody say hand grenades? I've got some right here!" He held them up proudly. "I wanna kill something, puh-leeze!"
Misty glared at him reprovingly, but before she could say anything, they heard shots being fired.
"What the hell?" Bakura exclaimed. "Are they shooting at us?"
"No, listen," Misty said. "They're shooting away from us…and I hear another helicopter!"
"Finally, some action!" Marik rejoiced. He picked up his machine gun, tucked a few hand grenades under his belt, and climbed up to open the hatch. What he saw was utter chaos. Police cars were scattering everywhere -- it seemed the tank was momentarily forgotten. Above the crowd next to the Lucky 13 helicopter and being shot at was a white helicopter with the letters KC on the side. From the copter, laughter of the most maniacal sort was being emitted, and shotgun fire was raining down upon the ranks below. Marik's sadistic grin spread. "Found my yami!" he called down tot the trio waiting anxiously below in the tank. He crawled on top of the tank as it pulled to a halt, and he glanced up at the Kaiba Corporation helicopter . "Hey yami!" he screamed.
The shotgun fire from the helicopter never stopped, but above the noise could be heard, in a half growl and half laugh, the word, "Maaaariik!"
"Yeah," laughed Marik, pulling a grenade out of his belt. "And I've got a present for you! Catch!" He pulled the pin out with his teeth and hurled the grenade straight at the KC helicopter. His aim was perfect. The grenade exploded on contact, and the heat and shockwave from the massive explosion pushed Marik backwards, nearly knocking him off the tank. He knelt down, holding onto the tank and smiling at the fiery mass. But before he could celebrate, and before the burning copter even began to fall, he saw a lean figure, with a gun in one hand and a box tucked under the other, leap out of the fire into the Channel 13 helicopter. Hundreds of thousands of people across the nation saw a quick close-up of the maniac on their TV screen before the camera (and the cameraman) were sent hurtling out of the helicopter.
"Damn!" Marik cursed under his breath. Then he smiled a little. "Oh well, I didn't think it would be that easy, now did I?" He pulled out another grenade. "Maybe the second shot will be better." He took careful aim.
In the Channel 13 News helicopter, however, Malik was not about to lose twice in a row. "Take us up!" he roared at the pilot. The petrified man obeyed, and the copter soared upward. Malik set his Toybox down and leaned out the door, his wild hair whipping madly about. "I know you can't hit me up here! You always did have a weak arm!" He threw back his head and laughed. He did not yet realize that Marik was powered by the same insane fuel as he was.
Marik could barely hear Malik's taunting words over the din of the helicopter, but he heard enough to know he wasn't being complimented. "I'll show you who's weak, little Malik! Eat this!" With the last word, he hurled the grenade with all his might, and he smiled with the utmost delight as it sped with flawless accuracy straight at the doorway Malik was hanging out of. His smile disintegrated, however, the moment Malik's hand shot out and snatched the grenade out of mid-air.
"Nice throw, little Marik!" Malik called. "But next time try to remember to remove the pin!"
"Oh shit." Marik gaped for a second as he watched Malik remove the pin, and the helicopter began to position itself directly above the tank. He leaped into the tank, pulling the hatch closed behind him. "Move!" he screamed. No one questioned; Bakura started the tank back up and moved it as fast as it would go -- which, unfortunately, wasn't very fast.
Malik's helicopter hovered above the tank. He stared down at the tank's pathetic attempts to get away. Then chuckled quietly as he dropped the grenade. "I win," he whispered. But Marik wasn't going down that easily either. The moment Malik let go of the grenade, the tank hatch opened again, and the platinum blonde, with Bakura's pistol, took aim and shot the grenade halfway down. The grenade exploded, knocking the helicopter back and raining fire down on the tank. Marik ducked back down and closed the hatch before he caught fire, and Malik was knocked backward onto the floor of the helicopter. They both smiled and whispered simultaneously, "So the game begins."
