into Darkness

Teaser Chapter III: Of Bandits and Kings

Author's Note: In no way taken from the 'Bandits and Kings' DVD for Yu Yu Hakusho. Because I promised I had to do this, I did. It's short and a bit hacked up but my FMA fics demand attention. A HUGE thank you to all who reviewed, you warmed my heart. Thanks so much for them! Please continue to leave reviews if you can spare some time.

Call this a teaser for now.

Rishid closed his eyes and held to the seat tightly. He hated planes. Oh Ra, why? It had to be a plane. Not a boat, or a car, even a flying carpet would have done, but gods, it had to be a plane. He looked over to Marik, who looked so calm. As indifferent as if he were sitting in a chair, safe on the ground and not a flying metal death trap. He was a very down-to-earth person, Rishid, he was generally smarter than this. But this was the fastest way to get to Japan, what could he do? Five hours of pure torture while his brother could sit and read. Or maybe watch a movie.

But Marik was far from at ease. Under his carry-on, his hands wrung in despair. How was Isis? Would she be all right with him gone? And then the birth of the Dark King. Fuck. It just kept repeating in his head. Getting faster and faster until the mantra slurred together into a drunken song. What could he do now, sitting in the plane going down the run way? Maybe Rishid was right. Maybe they should have just driven. It would have taken some off his mind if only he'd been at the wheel of a car. He could turn back at any time, he could call the hospital, he could stop and have better food or he could keep going and going until he dropped dead from exhaustion. He could be caught in traffic and he could see the entire world before he was resigned to wait at the border of Japan. He could enjoy all the little things in life and go on postponing the inevitable.

Why did he try so hard, anyways? The tomb keeper looked out the window, watching the land shrink away. If the gods had a plan, if this was all fated to happen, why bother fighting against the tide of destiny? What could humans do, in the end. Did any of it really matter, whether or not they tried so hard? Were doctors and scientists wasting their time, would the world have 'advanced' so far if no one had done anything about it? History states otherwise, as does practically every human being on Earth, but yet those same people believed they were destined for something. That a life was born for a purpose.

Frowning, Marik tossed all the philosophical bullshit out the window and put on his earphones. Perhaps L'Arc en Ciel could cure the annoying arguments and doubts that plagued his waking mind. Have of what he was muttering to himself about didn't make sense anyways.

Now what could Rishid do? Not even a bit of conversation and he left his carry-on that held his books and Marik's Game Boy in the upper compartment by accident. Not a single thing to take his mind off the ride. Marik even had the CD player. Standing up on a plane, that was worse than just sitting. He had to get to those wonderful manuscripts taken - with permission, of course - from the crypt's little library. Bah. This was Seth's doing. He took one of the peanut bags being passed by the stewardess and munched on the air plane food (which is always as bad as they say), trying to ignore the sick feeling he had while the plane balked and shuddered every few seconds. If Marik hadn't wanted the window seat, Rishid would have passed out fifteen times by now. And after they had to get on a small plane from Hong Kong.

"Ate ni naranai chizuyakute shimaeba ii sa,"

"Uzumoreta shinjitsukono tenohira de tsukami torou."

He hummed the upbeat tune to keep himself in high spirits. What else could Marik do, at this point? They were on a journey that eventually would lead them back to Japan. Everything was up in the air for now. Who knew if they were to stay afloat and arrive safely or crash and burn? That was Rishid's main concern, actually.

#Please fasten your seat belts. The captain says we're in for a few minutes of turbulence.#

"So early into the flight?" Marik wondered as he adjusted his seatbelt across his waist. "This is a bit odd, no, Rishid?"

The adoptive older brother nodded.

"You're not shaking, are you?"

Nod.

"It's not as bad as you think, really," he smirked. If it had been his darker half, he'd be jealous of the plane. He never caused as much terror in his brother's eyes as this nice piece of mechanical technology.

Nod.

He made a mental note to take more plane trips.

- Bakura's Residence-

"Come on, how long does it take before he breaks out of that vegetative state?" he growled. The albino paced his living apartment in mild distress. "What the hell could take him so long!"

How did the Pharaoh break so quickly, anyways? It must have taken something very shocking indeed. The Mutous were dead, however. That would account for something, he mused. Maybe that was what distressed him. Although legally, he was Yuugi Mutou, his demeanor spoke for itself. I wonder what mad man tried to kill the two, he thought. It was a bit of random luck to have killed them, one after the other with forensics saying the grandpa died first. Apparently, only Anzu and Honda knew it happened, along with the police and doctors. Perhaps one of them would tell Kaiba, he did own half the town.

Ah yes, young Seto. What a sweet boy. A hardened angel. Maybe now that he was free of that bothersome light he could take the brown-haired child in his arms and reap some benefits of the young soul. Of course, first he had to convince the pharaoh, but he could be such a naive fool. It wouldn't be hard to break into some files and find more about this abrupt killing and use it against the ruler. Be a puppet master, working from the shadows to gather the Millennium Items and dethrone Atem when he's lost his usefulness.

Although . . . Atem was not stupid. He may be sentimental and filled with raging emotions that could easily blind his reason but still he was no moron. How long before he realized it was all a jest for the thief's gain? They were on shaky grounds as it was. Now that they were even, what could he do?