Master Of PuppetZ

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How I'm killing you

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN YGO! Nor the song, it's Metallica's…I don't even own my hollow soul anymore.

FAB: I just want to remind you to REVIEW please. Let's move on!

Master Of Puppets – Chapter 4 – Someone, Somewhere, Some Wicked Way

Marik closed the door of the room. /Nothing. Still nothing. I think I'm wasting my time here. She wouldn't keep this here; it's too obvious the item is close to her stupid human heart. I wonder how she got it. I wonder if she knows about its powers…Or MY new powers, shall I say, because I'm going to take the item from her./

As he thought he went into the kitchen and then into the living room. He found nothing interesting; the place was grayish and boring as a history lesson. He sat on the couch, stretching his arms as he looked at the setting sun /She still isn't here…I wonder what takes her so long…She's alive, I feel she's alive…But where is she? When will she come back?.../

He looked as the light square on the floor was slowly fading into darkness, the tiles remaining cold and stiff. He remembered the day she fell asleep on the floor, almost starved to death, too weak to move herself. /Stupid girl…I'll have to watch her carefully, I can't let my power slip out of my grasp…And the day your power will be mine…It is going to be the end of this damn world…I'll make revenge run through this earth for the Hell my life made me pass…/

He closed his eyes, as he remembered the cold Egypt nights, down in the stone dungeon, when he still shared half of his body with his stupid hikari…The hours of sorrow and physical pain his other side felt…These feeling weren't his, but he was pleasured when their aftertaste flowed into his own veins, into his soul, he devoured their bitterness, this wonderful taste of gloom. He was fed on gloom the nights Malik lay in his bed, his soul breaking more and more.

In fact, the more Malik grew desperate and angry, the more his dark half gained strength. Soon Marik was strong enough to break through his other half, and take control over his body. And soon afterwards, Malik became his poor puppet, a doll with no wants or needs but Marik's. The threads were tightly grasped in Marik's hands, so his hikari had no way to escape…

/And even when I freed him into the Shadow Realm, he came back to fight against me, dragging the stupid thief to help him, since he had no body of his own anymore. So stupid and naïve, little Malik…You could never win over me./ Marik remembered that duel with amusement /They never knew about Ra's special attacks, the fools…But I can't say this duel wasn't worthwhile…The millennium eye and the millennium ring are mine, finally mine…And Malik is a puppet again, and next time I visit him he'll lose the game…/

Marik leant back into the couch to sit in more comfortable way. He remembered the feeling of being a puppet himself, changing every time Malik's mood swung. He remembered the hiding from Odion because he wasn't strong enough to surface again. And the nights Malik lay still on his place, praying he won't ever wake up again, his other part was really active, filling the hikari's mind with little soft lies and broken promises about destiny. And he fell for it, until his soul was weak enough. It took time, a long time, but finally Marik got what he wanted. Malik's body. And Malik was expelled forever.

He felt a twist in his link with Malik when the thoughts about the past came to his mind /So he can still feel it…His memories are carrying so much hatred and eternal loathing, so much disappointment…Don't be so sad, hikari…Your life wasn't a waste…After all, you gave me my life in one wicked way or another…And though I hate you so much, I am going to remember you when I take this girl's power and open the gates of Hell…/ Malik stirred in his cave, his eyelids moving a little, and his heart lost two beats. Marik's smirk grew even larger when he felt this reaction.

"Don't worry hikari, your death is close now…" he whispered, though he knew his worthless hikari couldn't hear him. Marik made his way to the window, opening it and getting out. The evening sky was cloudy, and the crimson glow of the sun almost disappeared in the rims of the horizon. The skyscrapers hid the sky as Marik slid on the smooth wall of the building, almost invisible in the shadows. The lights of the city gleamed nigh, him making his usual whirl jump, leaving Crystal's apartment behind him.

"Do you really want to go?" Kaiba Seto asked his guest. Crystal nodded silently, looking at the floor /I know he may find this a little offending, but I have to go home. I can't stay here anymore, because it is enough. And also he did enough for me, I shouldn't disturb him more./

"Yes, Seto. I need to go home. Understand me please. I can't stay here because it's unfair, I just can't…" she stuttered, but she knew he understood. He looked at the computer again. They've worked for the entire day, building arrays of files and connecting structures together, making the system more comfortable to use, adding some functions to make it suitable for the Duel-Disc. Sometimes Crystal proposed something and he agreed, sometimes he wrote the program and she observed the way he worded the commands.

"Well, you can't walk from here. We are distant from the city centre. I saw your address in the applying papers, and you are living really far from here. If you really want to go home, I can ask one of my drivers to take you." he wasn't looking at her but at the computer. She lowered her head, and said "If it is not difficult. I…I want to go home. Please." she said. He looked at her again "Ok, Crystal. I can't hold you here. You are not a prisoner or something. I just want you to eat some dinner with us, and then you will go. Just please eat with us. I think Mokuba was going to prepare us something special."

Crystal smiled and thanked Seto. He saved the program and shut the computer down. Then Mokuba walked onto the terrace, his eyes sparkling and his smile wide. "Dinner's ready! Let's go, I'm hungry!". Crystal found out her legs were still a little weak as she stood. She shook on her place, holding the chair's back-rest. Seto noticed this "Are you Ok?" he asked, as his hand caught hers and helped her to make a step. She nodded quietly, and progressed toward the corridor with his support.

/She shouldn't leave./ he thought as he felt how weak she was, barely walking /But how can I make her stay? Tomorrow is a working day, now the weekend is over, and she wants to go back to work. But…Will she manage if I let her go home? I mean…She couldn't walk by herself! But she is so stubborn, and she is feeling uneasy staying here…Well, I make sure she gets home safe. But she has to eat now, and I want to see she's eating. I don't want to find her unconscious on the floor once again…/

They sat in a beautiful dining room, and Crystal's eyes passed on the furniture and the matching color of the walls, everything looking just appropriate and comfortable. The table was big and really long, so they have plenty of space for the three of them. Mokuba had to sit on his knees again, and Crystal wished she could do this. Because it was a real challenge to reach the plates and if you wanted a dish from the other end of the table, it had to pass through the others as well. Yet the food was really good. Crystal could eat everything, since they all ate the food she was allowed too. And this also made her feel uneasy. It was hard to eat again, her throat still burned and her heart was beating too quickly as she tried to chew. But she had to force herself to eat, because she really didn't want to faint again.

/I can't believe they are doing this for me. And normal people (Unlike me, of course) eat some meat for their dinner. Yet they don't, and I'm sure it is because of me. I didn't mean to ruin their daily life like this…Oh, stupid Crystal. You don't deserve this. You had to be left there on the floor…/

"Crystal? Could you please hand me this bowl of salad?" Mokuba's voice penetrated her thoughts, and Crystal smiled, handing the bowl to Seto and he placed it in Mokuba's hands. "Now, somebody can give me this juice?" he asked. Crystal stretched her left hand, catching the jar and handing it to him. It was the moment she noticed the pea bowl, and asked for it. Mokuba gave it to Seto and then it reached her.

Another ten minutes of playing with the dishes, and they were all set. Crystal felt really full, and the burn in her stomach was slightly relieved, when Mokuba said "What about the dessert?" Crystal's eyes widened /Oh NO! I just can't eat anymore…/

"I don't want a dessert." said Seto calmly "I have had enough." Crystal sighed and said "Same here. I can't eat anymore."

"Then may I have your portions?" asked Mokuba hopefully. Seto and Crystal glared at him. "I think not," he said lowly, sweatdropping.

"Well, do you still want to go?" asked Seto, wishing for the negative response yet clearly knowing she would reject this offer.

"I'm sorry," she said "I have to go."

"Are you going?" asked Mokuba in disappointment "Already? But we still have to talk about many things!" she looked at him and said nothing. Mokuba smiled at her "Hey, but you will come again, right?" Crystal turned in her chair, looking at Seto briefly. His smile seemed welcoming enough (For in the series he doesn't seem like a person who just loves guests) so she answered "Yes, I will."

Mokuba's smile widened as he got up "I'm going to check what about the dessert, just wait here!" and he run out of the room.

"You are really lucky," commented Crystal silently "You have a wonderful brother. You must be proud of him." Seto nodded "I am. He is doing fine though I wasn't a good parent for him. But he made it out, and that's what makes me feel he will manage. He is clever and sharp."

A silence fell between the two while Crystal was admiring the room around and Seto was hesitating. Finally he let out "What do I have to do to make you stay?" she looked at him, surprised. "Seto," she said "I'm not running away from you. I just feel…Well, I'm over grateful for what you have done for me. I mean, you saved my life! And you did it twice – once you gave me the job in your company, and then you were the one who found me on the floor when I starved. I…I feel really stupid for what I did, and…I feel uneasy staying here after all that." Crystal finally let out loud the things in her heart.

"I see," said Seto slowly "And you know you can go, but still I need to hear another promise from you." Crystal raised her grey eyes to look at his ocean ones "Promise me you will visit me and Mokuba again. I know he wants to see you more now, and I want to work with you again. We made a respectable progress today." Crystal nodded and said "The system will be perfect, I assure you. I will think about other things we can add to it, and it will be great."

Mokuba came back, carrying a tray with jelly vials "Look what I brought us! No one resists this magic jelly! Crystal, please taste this! It is great!" and his eyes were so big and pleading she indeed couldn't reject. Seto glanced at his brother, yet took his portion before the younger one had demanded it. They ate silently, and Crystal had to admit the jelly was really very tasty.

After the dinner had been over, the Kaiba brothers and Crystal went outside the mansion in order to send Crystal home. Mokuba hugged her and said "Please come and visit me, Crystal, and don't forget about breakfast! It is the most important meal of the day!" she smiled in the semi dark of the garage and said "I won't forget this, Mokuba."

"That's it," said Seto, who talked with the driver "Nice street you live on, the Daimoundo Avenue, is it a coincidence Crystal?" he asked, a little amused. "Oh, Daimoundo means a diamond in Japanese!" said Mokuba "Well, diamonds are beautiful, but Crystal is even more." she felt herself blushing, and hoped Seto didn't see it. He was still laughing about the name of her street.

When she sat in the car, the driver slowly navigating them toward the electric gates, she watched Mokuba jumping up and down, waving his hand, and Seto standing beside him, looking after them and she couldn't but wonder /They are so good to me…I will never forget this. They did so much for a nothing like me, and I'm going to do everything in the world for them./

"Do you mind if I turn on the radio?" asked the voice of the driver. "Oh, no, please, turn it on." she said rapidly, leaning back "I didn't hear the news for a while, did something happened?" she asked.

"I hope not," said the driver as he tuned the right station.

Seto and Mokuba made their way back inside. "Go and get ready for school, Mokuba. You are going tomorrow, you know." said Seto. "Yes, big brother, I am, and…" yet Seto wasn't listening; he eyes were focused on something in the dark "What happened?" asked Mokuba worriedly. Seto glanced once again into the total darkness outside.

"It is nothing Mokuba. Let's get in," and the brothers stepped into the lights of the mansion.

Silent footsteps were heard after Seto had closed the door. His eyes gleamed in the dark as he shook the shining golden item hanging from his neck /Really interesting…What do we have here? One item was here a minute ago but now it is getting away…I bet this is the millennium ankh that belongs to that girl…Or shall I say belongs to her temporarily, because technically it is mine, I can take it any minute now…But what is more interesting – I see there is another item here…Kaiba Seto has one? Well – it is surprising since he never believed the ancient tells…I think I pay dear Kaiba a visit in the darkness, and I am going to find out which item he has…/

"Thank you very much again," said Crystal as she closed the door. The driver raised his thumb and said "Do you think you can manage now? I can go with you upstairs, if you need me to." but she shook her head "No, I am fine. Goodbye," she said, and she walked on the way to the entrance of her house. She checked the mail box out of habit, yet the absence of any letters made her feel good this time /Still no bills I have to pay…Well, I will get my money soon so I can pay all the things I delayed lately./

She used the elevator /I hate this small cabin so much…Well, I just can't go up seven floor with those trembling legs of mine today…I still feel somehow dizzy. Why is this stupid elevator going so slow today anyway? I wish it was over…I wish it was ove-Oh, finally!.../ thought Crystal and got out in her floor, almost falling. She walked to her apartment, the same old figures "13" were on her door. /I am surely lucky enough…/ she thought /I am still alive, and I can eat normally soon though I did a great stupidity./

She pulled the key from her bag Kaiba brought with her, and opened the door.

The living room was cold and chilly, and smell of rain was in the air. Crystal was too tired to notice this. She threw her bag on the couch, and removed her shoes, getting off her soaks. Her bare feet stepped on the cold tiles as she went on her painful path to the bathroom. There she quickly (as her unstable position allowed her) removed her clothes, throwing them into the basket in the corner, and got into the shower.

While the hot water was washing over her body, she thought /Now I have to clean everything and begin all over again. That's like my teacher used to say/ each semester, Crystal's teacher have opened a 'blank', as he called it, and his students got another chance to prove themselves, improving their grades. (Everyone can start all over again,) he said once when Crystal had helped him to arrange the class before the first day of the new semester began (But what most important is to finish what you started. So I hope more students will make big efforts this time,) he smiled somehow sadly (Because it is really important for me you all excel.)

The hot water became colder and Crystal shivered. Soon the hot water was completely over and she had to stop her shower. She took the towel, feeling its dryness for she didn't use it for a day and a half now. She wrapped the towel around her body when she got out the bathroom.

The frozen wind from the opened window cut her exposed skin like razors when she reached the living room. She shivered violently, making her way to the black hole in the wall and closing it. Coldness ruled the room now, and Crystal felt her head spinning /Why was this window opened? I never leave it open, and I didn't opened it now…/

Her eyes widened as the realization hit her mind. /No…It means that…/ she walked as fast as she could to the kitchen and then to her bedroom. Her room wasn't messy or anything, but it seemed…Odd…Like it wasn't her who was the last to touch the covers of her bed, the reading lamp on the small table, the window…/I think…But it is crazy…I think someone was here, but how? What did they want? There is nothing to take or to steal, I have no jewels apart from this necklace on my neck, and it was with me…Still, I feel someone was here, something was here, and if they wanted this jewel, they would kill me…Maybe I have to thank Kaiba for hindering me. If I had been home earlier, I could have been dead right now…/

She checked again everything was in its place. Nothing was taken. /It is so strange…And I feel it is somehow connected to a wicked dream I had while I was starving…I dreamt someone was here and lifted me from the floor…Maybe I am going out of my mind…I just don't get it. Why would anyone break into my apartment when it is clear I have nothing…Yet maybe it is my imagination, maybe I'm still dreaming…/ She lay in her bed, lightly drying herself with the towel. Her head was so heavy she couldn't think more about what was going on. She slowly went under the covers, the towel still around her body. Her alarm clock was set, and she closed her eyes, letting an unpleasant darkness to fill her thoughts.

The Kaiba mansion was silent and dark at 3:00 a.m. when Marik opened the window of the attic and sneaked in. The glow of the millennium ring was strengthened, and the little ingots on it moved on their place, two of them pointing to the north. He walked slowly, taking his time to explore the place. /It seems that Kaiba doesn't even know about the item in his house…That fool! He can't sense ancient magic even if it is stuck right under his arrogant nose! Or shall I say, his upturned nose!.../ Marik let out a small hissed laugh, and continued searching around.

The attic was filled with old things, burnt computer chips and old boxes, some of them full of old clothes. A box with Mokuba's old toys laid there, some of them broken, one of his old planes had no wings at all. An old steam iron was hanging loosely from the ceiling, and Marik was careful not to move it. He passed through the room, moving some boxes from his way by silently kicking them.

Then the item he was holding glowed harder. /Here it is…Let's check what our rich-boy is hiding…/ whispered Marik, opening an old cupboard. The millennium item on his neck almost tore his skin when it was attracted to the other power.

Marik's hand was covered in dust, yet he shook it and dug his hand into the darkness inside the cupboard. He slowly moved his hand, seeking for the item in the first shelf then in the second one. His fingers felt something soft, a material, and his stomach was filled with impatience /Where is it?.../ his anticipation was growing more and more when his hands touched something hard and smooth, slightly dusted, but so familiar…So well known, every little scratch or turn of this metal object…The object he held when he took control over Malik's body for the first time…The sudden heat from the power that was in his grasp during Battle City…The blinding power to control the minds of the people and bend them for his needs…

Marik let out a hissed gasp as he felt the familiar power streaming into his veins, and he felt Malik's being slightly shaking /Are you feeling this, my dear hikari? This is the power I - or shall I say you, lost in the past…Was it here, in Kaiba's mansion, all that time? I wonder how he got it, yet the answer is so clear…After all, this item was his ages ago, when he was high priest in ancient Egypt…And that fool doesn't even know about this item…/

Marik closed his eyes, pulling the item out of the cupboard. His right hand wiped the dust off its smooth, cool surface /I can feel the power coming back into me…The power that is mine…Now I have almost all the items in my grasp…My Rod…My millennium Rod…Long time I didn't use it…/

Malik felt the familiar power somehow close to him, the power that carried handful of his most painful memories, his awful sins and lethal mistakes so he struggled to move though his body was dead enough to resist him. /Don't try this, my hikari, I still want to taste your blood once again…Don't die before my last supper…/ thought Marik as his fingers examined his long known Rod.

"Age: 19, address: Daimoundo Avenue, house number 75, seventh floor, 13th apartment…Education: first degree in computer engineering…Well, it explains why she left, I don't need computer engineers here, because I've had enough of them. Well, Miss Saigo, it seems to me you don't have a job right now…Poor girl, you might have nothing to eat…But I can help you…This world is dark and evil, no one wants to offer help for a poor little being like you, and with a little pretending game, you will book in my list of victims…After all, I changed Raphael's loyalty, convinced Valon he is an idiot and fooled over Amelda (Or Alister) to chase Kaiba devotionally and even risk his own miserable life for the sake of getting rid of humanity…" Dartz glared at the computer screen in front of him "What can you do now? I see you are really alone in the world, a signature of an orphanage is printed instead your school education years…Well dear, I'm sure you've suffered enough. Now it's time for me to save your poor soul from the hunger…"

Dartz shut down the computer, leaving his office to pass through the mirror to his little temple. His traditional clothes appeared, and his yellow eye gleamed in the light of the candles arranged like an Orichalcos on the floor…/Now let's pray for you, Saigo Crystal…We'll pray your soul finds a rest…Soon it is all over, and I assure you, it is going to be so sweet…Your end is coming – and your power is mine soon, so let the last days of your life be your happiest…/ Dartz' smirk was psychotic in the dark, as his eyes widened in aspiration, his hand clenched together and the flames of the candles burning harder and warmer, leaping up /Before the Master Of The Power takes them…And your miserable life…/

/I hate them! I hate them so much!.../ she thought as she run down the darkened alley /Why had they mess my life up like this? What have I done? Why do I deserve this? I hate them!.../ Claira's feet were making a little tapping noises when she ran away, trying to escape from herself.

Her tears were running freely on her cheeks, her turquoise bright hair falling into her creamy eyes, her short light clothes weren't protecting her from the evening's cold. Little rain drops fell down on her already wet cheeks. She had neither a direction nor an aim; she was just running, her sandals drowning in the puddles pooling on the asphalted ground.

Domino River was close for she could hear the sound of water's rustling as the rain drops made contact with the watery surface of the pool. She didn't notice the brick in the paving stones and stumbled, falling hard on the unforgiving ground. She lay there, sobbing and making low screams as the pain from her fall reached her wounded thoughts.

"Get up, useless human," she heard a soft voice close to her. She raised her head, trying to see through the curtain of darkness and rain.

"Who is there?" she asked, really scared, her voice fearful "W-who ar-re you?" the voice only laughed softly as a response. Claira strained to see him, feeling a burning in her mind as her eyes met something that was silently glowing in gold sparkles somewhere in front of her. A millennium eye appeared on her forehead, her legs carrying her body's weight up, her eyes opaque and her body still shaking in the growing cold of the dead night.

"Call me Master," he hissed, his voice soft and seducing. Her wet hair was attached to her cheeks as her lips, covered by lipstick spreading on her left cheek, murmured "Y-yes…Master…"

His evil smirk only widened in the dark, as he stepped forward. She didn't move when he did so, remaining cold and motionless on her spot. He wore a dark cloak with little golden strings, his bright hair messy and wet from the rain, golden earring moving slightly with each step he made, glowing lightly. In his hands he held the millennium Rod, its glow slicing the darkness around him.

"Why are you running like this?" he asked as he pushed on her mind to answer him. She let out some words, not really sentences or logic thoughts, and finished with "I hate them for being like this me I want he dies…"

Marik nodded lightly, his smirk growing even more. /You stupid fool…/ he thought, as he raised his Rod up into the air. The scream was wild and full of pure pain, but it was like a lovely song to his ears. "Prepare to die…" he hissed as he leant over her tormented body on the pavement "Maybe a little more of this? This sweet pain of having nothing inside your head, the feeling of every hope and each happy memory you have torn out?" he moved the Rod again.

"No…Master…Please…" she let out in whimpers, as the pain washed over her head once again. She jumped on her legs, screaming several times till her back was hit by the barrier of the river edge.

"I know you want it," he said quietly as he progressed toward her "You want me to end this quick. You are waiting only for this. You are waiting I pull the right button in this useless mind of yours, or shall I say – just useless mind. You know you are not alone. Thousands of worthless human beings like you are still living, moving, breathing…Be the first to die in my winter season…" he whispered, moving the Rod once again, pulling the strings of life, making her suffer, and climb the barrier in despair to get away.

She fell off, screaming and fighting the cold air but it was to no advantage; the gravity took her down, smashing her body on the cold frozen surface of the river, where a layer of frost shattered under her weight, cutting her skin like thousands of knives. She screamed all the way down, yet her voice went silent all at once.

A psychotic laugher was heard as a blinding lightning sparkled over the sky, the horrible sound faded in the ululation of the thunder.

FAB: Hope it was just ANGSTY and fine. And about that Amelda thingy…Well, I was sure this dude was a girl when I first saw him…Oh well…

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