Target: Destiny
Chapter Six
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Malik made his way through the palace corridors in the direction of the main military base. It was nearing ten o'clock at night, but servants were still bustling about, taking down party decorations that had gone unused. Malik mused that Ryoko had probably completely forgotten about her scheduled birthday party in the midst of the family crisis.
As Malik passed by a nobleman and his daughter, he heard the Bakurian grumble, "I bought you the dress for nothing."
The young girl with knee-length ivory locks looked up at him disapprovingly. "Father, the queen has been kidnapped."
Malik heard no more as he continued down the corridor, out of earshot. He wondered exactly how the servants fed news into the gossip wheel so quickly.
As he entered the main military base, engineers ran back and forth like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to prepare the nukejets for immediate take-off. The jets were being polished, checked out, loaded with one small nuclear bomb each, and filled with fuel all at once.
Malik glanced around irritably for his second-in-command. "Raptia!"
Within a few moments, the soldier was standing at attention in front of him. "Yes, sir?"
"Where are the pilots?" Malik asked. Raptia signaled five men standing off to the side, and they came forward, saluting the general.
Malik eyed each of the five men slowly and skeptically. Three blonds and two ivories, all blue-eyed. Each between 5'10" and 6'0" and muscular. Each very handsome. Malik leveled his gaze back at Raptia.
"Well, I hope their talent was taken into consideration," he stated sarcastically. His second-in-command blushed.
"Of course, sir. They are our best jetpilots," he responded, scratching the back of his head embarrassedly. The pilots all turned their stares on him, and he blushed more, carefully avoiding their gazes.
"Inform me the minute they leave," Malik told Raptia before turning and leaving.
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"What!" Yuugi exclaimed in horror.
Jounouchi nodded somberly. "Yeah, Mai and I both heard him. He told them to blow up a city!"
Yuugi fell back into a chair next to his grandfather, his magenta eyes rounded in shock. He clutched the armrests and bit his lip. "Who? Where? When? Why?"
Jounouchi shifted uncomfortably under the pressure of so many questions he couldn't answer. "You don't know what all happened after you left." Yuugi looked up at him expectantly. Jounouchi cleared his throat. "Anzu was kidnapped."
Yuugi leapt off the chair and grabbed his best friend by the collar. "Who did it!" he yelled. Jounouchi pried the irate prince's fists off of his shirt and stepped back.
"That's the problem. Bakura was injured somehow when she was kidnapped, and when he came to in the medical ward, his exact words were, 'That bastard. I can't believe Yuugi.'"
"That asshole!" the Earthling prince exploded. "I didn't do it! I'd never! Ever!" He slammed his fist into the wall next to him, further emphasizing his point. Jounouchi eyed the crack in the wall and the blood dripping from Yuugi's fist to the floor.
"I know, Yuugi, but for Malik, his cousin's word is law."
Yuugi threw his hands up in the air. "His cousin is a piece of shit, jealous son of a bitch!" He stomped around the room for a minute before finally coming back to stand in front of his friend, slightly calmer. "Jou, you know I'd never kidnap Anzu. I wouldn't... wait a minute..." he trailed off, his eyes growing wide. "Oh, damn!"
He ran out of the room, leaving a baffled Jounouchi in his wake. The blond turned to Yuugi's grandfather. "Your majesty, what should we do?"
The man sighed wearily. "I am old and tired. We will wait until my grandson regains his senses, and then we will decide on a course of action."
Jounouchi bit his lip, not liking that answer very much, but nodded anyway.
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"Aunt Careen, why is daddy sleepin' a lot?" the three-year-old prince at her side asked, tilting his head and looking up at her. She looked down at him with a sigh.
"Daddy's just really tired right now. He'll wake up soon," she assured him. This seemed to satisfy Baku, for he returned to staring at his father silently. Careen sighed again and prayed that what she said was true, and that the king really would wake up.
Ryoko sat on Careen's other side, her hand inside her father's fist. At the moment she had awoken that morning, she had run into the medical ward, boldly telling all aristocrats to get out, so she could be alone with her dad. Seeing the girl's distress, they had complied quietly.
"Anzu," Bakura groaned, clenching his fist tighter. Ryoko gasped and removed her hand from his harsh grip. The three occupants in the room waited hopefully, but no other words or actions came from him.
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Anzu moaned and writhed in her sleep, tossing and turning with the blanket wrapped around her sweat-soaked body. The wedding dress itched her severely, but she could not remove it since she didn't have anything else to wear. She had ripped the necklace off and shattered it against the stone wall, however.
"Bakura," she cried, tears streaming from her tightly closed eyes. "No..."
In her mind, she clearly saw her husband and Careen. The woman was grinning at her like a cheshire cat as she stripped Bakura of his last piece of clothing. The vivacious blonde gently pushed the king down onto the bed, climbing over him slowly. She lowered herself onto him, moaning her pleasure as she did.
"No, stop," Anzu cried, trying to turn away from the scene.
"Unh," Bakura grunted as the woman moved herself upon him, tossing her head back with eyes closed, "you're so good, Careen."
"Stop it!" Anzu screamed. Her eyes flew open to greet the dark room which she had grown accustomed to the past day. She took a moment to steady her breathing before finally laughing at herself. "What was that all about?" she wondered lightly, although she could not fully shake the strange feeling which had settled over her.
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Two days later, Malik was in one of the meeting rooms with five of the foreign delegates who had been on Bakura for Ryoko's birthday party. They were discussing strategies for their next step after the nukepilots had completed their mission on Earth. The pilots were expected to reach Earth in mere hours.
"Well, we should wait to see what Earth will do after your pilots bomb that city. Speaking of which," the delegate paused cautiously, "is that action not too rash? After all, there are innocent people in the city that had nothing to do with Prince Yuugi's action."
Malik narrowed his eyes at the man. "Do not sympathize with the people who injured my cousin and kidnapped his wife."
The man gulped. "Of course, Lord Malik."
The door was opened by the guards, and Careen came jogging inside. "Lord Malik--"
"Stupid woman! Do not interrupt the men's meeting!" one of the delegates growled. Careen stopped mid-step and stared at him with wide, blue eyes. Malik slowly pushed back his chair and stood. He eyed the delegate calmly.
"Emperor Uwe, you are on Bakurian soil, and on this planet, men do not think themselves superior to women. You will never speak down to another woman on this planet again, and if you do, my foot will be promptly deposited in your ass before we throw you into the nearest spaceship and send you back to your little mudball of neanderthal assholes."
Emperor Uwe gasped in outrage, too stunned to reply to Malik's calm warning. The other four men in the room snickered behind their hands. Malik strode over to Careen.
"What is it?" he asked. Careen was still staring at her insulter, open-mouthed. She turned her gaze to Malik.
"You defended me!" she exclaimed with a sly smile. She said in a sing-song voice, "I think you love me, you want to hug me, you want to marry me."
He frowned, shifting uncomfortably. "What do you want, Careen," he snapped testily. She giggled one last time before sobering.
"Prince Yuugi is here, demanding an audience with you or else he says he'll suffocate King Bakura in his sleep," she told him with a small quirk to her mouth.
Malik nodded. "As expected." He turned to the delegates. "Gentlemen, adjourned for now."
The five men filed past the pair, and Emperor Uwe gave a parting sneer of "Probably going fuck the little wench." Careen tripped him on his way out.
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"Ah, Yuugi, how good to see you," Malik greeted sarcastically as he entered the medical ward with Careen at his back. "Haven't strangled Bakura yet, I hope."
Yuugi growled at his opponent's light tone. "How dare you? There are innocent people in whatever city you're planning to obliterate! Hell, I'm innocent!"
Malik's eyes narrowed dangerously. Careen wisely side-stepped the two men and made her way over to the bed where four guards were sitting with the prince and princess next to their father. She motioned for the guards to leave; they did not hide their eagerness to get out of the room before their general exploded.
"I trust my cousin over you any day! Feh, I should have you shot on the spot."
Yuugi stomped over to the bed and grabbed the unconscious king by his shirt collar. Careen gasped, trying to pull the prince away from Bakura. "You bastard! Wake up and tell the truth!" Yuugi growled.
"Give Anzu back and I'll call off the pilots!" Malik offered heatedly, yanking Yuugi away from Bakura and throwing him to the ground. The Earthling jumped back to his feet.
"What do I have to do to prove I don't have her!" he screamed, frustrated beyond belief.
"What's with the bloody shouting..." Bakura mumbled, cracking his eyes open a slit. The first thing the king saw was a terribly angry Yuugi launching himself at him again.
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Could Yuugi be telling the truth, or is he a big fat liar! XD We'll see!