Title: Confined Anomalies
Fandom: YuGiOh
Date: 8/13/2006
Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize belongs to me. Don't steal the other stuff.
Author's Notes: The first part of this chapter (written 8/13/2006 and edited 12/30/2011) has not changed. There will be another note before the second half indicating what bizarre thing I'm doing with my stories now.

Thank you Yami Yuugi, Sky, Dragonlady222, Unseenwater, Cheeky-eyes, Carmen-Nemrac, Kyo lover with little sanity, Kikyo's killer, Thunderstorm101, Frogger666, Cactus Bob, fairy'smaiden, Black Crystal Draygon, and Ilikeyaoi for reviewing!

-lines- are mind-speech
italics are thoughts

Chapter 8

The faint sound of traffic filtered through Yami's sleeping mind, gradually awakening him.

"Ugh…" with a low groan, the young man cracked open his eyes. "Wazzat?"

Normally, my wards keep out the noise. What's going on?

At the sight of the living room (still in shambles), knowledge of the previous night's events crashed through his skull. He was fully awake in seconds.

The others. Are they okay? Is…huh, I still don't know my double's name.

"Bakura! Hey Marik!"

There was no response.

Still out most likely but I'd better check just to make sure.

Both men were still unconscious. The fact that they weren't awake yet wasn't too worrying; they were normally very heavy sleepers. Besides, they were reacting exactly like the fairy creature said they would.

Speaking of which…

A worried frown creased his brow as he recalled how drawn the little one had looked during the 'interrogation'.

I hope he's alright. Yami slowly moved back to the living room. I doubt the interrogation- actually, it was more of a talk- was good for him but it was necessary. That doesn't make it the right thing to do but…He arrived at the makeshift cage and sighed lightly. I just hope he's okay.

With that final thought, he knelt down and peered through the mesh separating him from the captives.

Malik glowered at Yugi's owner when his head appeared over their cage. The three of them had been warm, together, and sleeping peacefully…right up until the human howled something at the top of his lungs.

Bet he doesn't even care that he woke me up.

The large crimson eyes found him crouching in the corner and he gave his best approximation of a growl. At his current size, it came out more like a miffed squeak.

The giant blinked once then withdrew.

He was probably planning on disturbing us. After what the bastard did to me and Ryou last night…not to mention whatever he did to Yugi…I wouldn't put it past him.

At the thought of his friends, Malik turned to observe them with concern. Ryou was alright, just tired from the events of the previous night. His magic didn't replenish as fast as the others because his wings, being part thin membrane rather than fur and/or feathers, didn't store as much energy. Rest was helping him recharge.

But Yugi…

Last night, Yugi had expended an enormous amount of energy to save them; more than enough to exhaust him and possibly enough to warrant his behavior (or non-behavior). However, Yugi's owner had kept him out of the cage for a while after their capture. When he was placed with his friends, he was sound asleep and unable to tell them what the human had done.

What if the human hurt him? Or put him under some kind of spell? I can't feel any magic but I'm not used to humans using it.

A slight rustle from beyond the confines of the box prompted Malik to squeak in annoyance and crane his neck in an attempt to see out.

What was that?

Another rustle, softer this time, piqued the winged boy's curiosity enough to make him stand and move to the side nearest the noises.

Is Yugi's owner doing something?

A thud followed by vivid cursing drew a smirk to his face.

Yup. Sounds like he just dropped something on his foot. Good. I hope it was painful.

"Goddamned cages…"

The smirk froze as he felt all the blood drain from his face. Cage alone was a bad word but cages meant something much worse.

He's going to separate us!

"OW! Goddamned cages…"

Yami hopped on one foot, attempting to massage his injured toes while glaring at the device on the floor.

The cages were 12 inches tall, long, and deep, appearing as perfect cubes made of thin wire mesh. Each one was part of a standard equipment set given to each agent 'just in case'.

They were to be used if a rogue magic user had some sort of pet that needed to be neutralized peacefully. The wire was spelled for magical containment and there was no door to escape from; a full side opened outward upon the command of its owner.

Despite their high tech appearance, durability, and dependability, they were utterly useless in the field.

I mean, come on; what kind of rogue magician trains an animal less than 12 inches tall to attack? Theoretically it was possible but so improbable that the yamis had packed the cages away in the back of a closet mere days after receiving them.

Well at least they're good for something. I can't believe none of us thought of them before! Granted, we didn't know the creatures were magical until last night but still-

A low thump and squawk brought Yami back to the present and the low 'wumph' sound that followed caused him to spin around, forgetting about his bruised toes in the process.

Panicked squeaking emanated from the plastic bin housing the fairies so Yami hurried over, scooping up one of the cages on the way…

…only to laugh out loud at the sight that greeted him.

Malik found himself thrashing in the confines of a net yet again the second time he tried to escape the box.

Apparently the net hadn't been secured very well.

First that butterfly net, then the garbage bin, then last night, and now this? Someone up there is out to get me, I just know it!

He didn't even notice he was squeaking shrilly in panic until a low snicker resounded nearby.

"You just can't stay out of trouble, can you?"

A rough jerk accompanied the voice, dragging Malik into the air as the confinement was lifted. Despite his restraints, the hawk winged youth growled indignantly and glared into amused crimson.

The human fished him out much as he had the night before only this time leaving one hand over Malik's back to firmly pin his large wings.

What is he doing?

Following Yami's gaze, Malik felt his blood chill. Six sides…no door…cages…Oh NO…

At the very last minute, he began to squirm and struggle but was immobilized way too well for it to make a difference.

"Oh no you don't. You three are in quite a lot of trouble and I know for a fact you won't stay in that bin for long. This is as good as it gets."

As good as it gets? I won't even be able to stretch my wings in there!

As they approached the cage, Yami spoke a word in a Latin to make the left side swing out. Malik, in his panic, gave a final desperate thrash but it didn't work any better than the squirming had.

The hands on him let go even as the closing word was said and the door locked before the captive could turn around.

"There. Let's see you get out of that one." The triumph in Yami's voice made it clear just how futile an escape attempt would be.

But I still need to try.

Yami watched unsmiling as the creature studied its new cage. Discomfort was haunting his thoughts.

Is this really right? They're sentient beings even if they are magical. Is it ethical to cage them just for…well…being alive? He ran a hand through his hair unhappily. No, but last night's escapade and the mess they made of the living room are good reasons. Besides, they won't be in there long- only until I can get a big enough bird cage or tank to keep them in.

Ignoring the quiet voice whispering in his mind that a larger cage was still a prison, the human made his way back to the closet and removed the other two cages carefully (he didn't want to drop one on his foot again).

He studiously ignored the occupied container as he set the other two up beside it and returned to the bin.

Bakura's creature was next.

-Ugh..-

Ryou awoke to the feeling of something large and warm touching his chest.

-W'as goin' on?-

-Ryou?-

-Malik?-

-Run! Fly away! Don't let him put you in a cage!-

-Huh?-

Blinking fuzzily, Ryou finally took in his situation. The warmth on his chest was a human hand; that of Yugi's owner, he realized. The man was holding him gently cupped in one hand with the other appendage firmly pressing between his shoulder blades to immobilize his wings.

"Easy…just…hang on…"

-What?-

After an uncertain glance at his surroundings, during which Yami moved steadily towards his goal, Ryou spotted Malik. He was…behind bars?

-Malik, what's going on?-

-Fly away! He's going to put you in a cage too!-

Ryou finally noticed the mesh box set up beside Malik but was still too sleepy to struggle much as he was placed inside and the door closed.

"Easy…good. Look you two, I'm sorry about this but after last night; I think it's for the best."

Ryou blinked once, not quite understanding, then squeaked and gazed at Yami pleadingly.

The human faltered, paused, and then shook his head.

"Don't look at me like that; this really is the right thing to do. In fact, it's the only option."

-Malik, what exactly is going on?- Peering around the small container revealed it was about as tall as the jar from the fair but had much more floor space to move around. Compared to that form of imprisonment, this was far preferable but compared to the relative freedom they'd enjoyed the day before, it was hell.

Trying not to bend his wings, Ryou sat on the floor.

-Malik?- he prompted.

-I don't really know. When I woke up, he was shouting and moving around a lot but I couldn't see. After a little while he came and got me and put me in this thing.-

Malik conveniently 'forgot' the part about tangling himself up in the net.

-Are you okay?-

-Yeah, I'm fine.- He sat heavily against the side closest his friend. -I'm a little worried about Yugi though.-

That got Ryou's attention.

-Why? What did he say?-

-Nothing. That's just it. When his owner put him back last night he was asleep and he still hasn't woken up.-

Ryou twitched one wing slightly in worry.

-But that's to be expected after his display last night, especially considering how little magic we were using before that.-

-Yeah, but…-

-Yeah. You just can't help it. Both lapsed into mental silence.-

"And here's your friend." They looked up at Yami accusingly as he came forward and placed a still sleeping Yugi in the final cage.

He seemed a little more reluctant with the smallest of their number; almost as if he wanted to keep Yugi with him. However, he overcame it quickly and shut the door with a barely audible click and surge of magic.

Yami lingered for a little while to watch the fairies but pulled himself away at the thought of the time.

We should be at work by now but I think, for today at least, it'll be okay to call in sick. Hopefully whoever's manning the phone will believe me.

He left the room.

As the human entered the kitchen, a sleepy violet eye cracked open in the room he'd recently vacated.

-…I feel like my brain went through a blender…-

-Yugi!-

-Are you okay?-

-Yeah, I'm good. Just tired.- While stretching, Yugi's hands bumped something cool and smooth. He blinked at the low ceiling then swiveled his head to take in the rest of the cage and those of his companions.

-So…what happened?-

"Ugh." Bakura woke up slowly, rubbing his head. "What hit me?"

"Kura?" Marik stood in the doorway pressing a hand against his temple as if in pain. "What happened to the fairies?"

Bakura's eyes hardened as the events of the previous night came flooding back. "Let's go find out."

xx

Title: Confined Anomalies
Fandom: YuGiOh
Date: 12/29/2011
Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize belongs to me. Don't steal the other stuff.
Author's Notes: I am officially retiring from the YuGiOh fandom, for my own reasons. Some of you might think I did so in 2006, but I always intended to come back and finish my YGO stories according to the original outline. Now, I no longer feel the need to do so, mostly because the original storylines were ridiculously long, over-complicated, and (worst of all) trite. I realized I'd seen all of them before, and several of my first ideas (stories from 2003-2005 outlined for over 3 chapters) shared the same basic plot. Therefore, I am finishing off Freedom Through Inferno and Confined Anomalies with an addendum and an epilogue to each final chapter. Unfortunately, since no new chapter will be added, no alerts will be sent out. Originally I intended to personally notify everyone on the alert list but ffnet informs me that my account could be suspended if I do so.

I'm glad so many of you enjoyed my stories, and thank all of you for reviewing and supporting me for so long. I hope this ending is satisfying and I'm sorry it took so long to finish it.

Chapter 8.2

Yami was just re-entering the living room after calling in sick when Bakura, followed closely by Marik, barreled out of the hallway. Both men looked worse for wear; their clothes were singed and there were soot marks all over their arms and faces, but no physical injuries.

"Where are they?" Bakura's voice was an angry growl. Yami watched him warily for a moment before shrugging casually and sitting down on the couch.

"After the two of you got knocked out, I captured them. Turns out they can't stay human-sized for very long." He gestured at the cluster of small cages on the floor in front of him. As Bakura stiffened angrily, Yami frowned and held one hand up to keep him back. "Bakura, they didn't mean to hurt you. You attacked and startled them; my double was only trying to protect his friends."

"Are you trying to tell me what to do, Pharaoh?" The mocking nickname came out vicious and Yami's wariness transformed into anger in the blink of an eye.

"I will when you're being an idiot, Thief."

Marik eyed his friends wearily before deciding to ignore their argument and kneeling beside the cages. His creature was standing as tall as he could, glaring at him, while the other two were sitting on the floors of their respective cages; Yami's appeared tired and confused while Bakura's just looked resigned.

"Aw, poor little things." He murmured, smiling slightly as his fairy spread its wings aggressively at the sound of his voice. It couldn't spread them far, though, and Marik frowned when the feathery appendages struck the sides of the cage. That looked painful. He cocked his head in consideration. "If you promise to be very, very good, I'll let you out."

The aggression vanished and the small creature gaped at him in apparent disbelief before nodding rapidly.

"You promise? You'll be good, and not try to escape?"

This time there was a moment of hesitation before it nodded again.

"Alright." He set on a hand on the front, ready to open it. "But I'm only letting you out, not your friends. So no funny business."

A brief surge of magical energy and a quiet word of power was all it took to open the cage (Yami and Bakura were still engaged in a 'stare-down of doom' and totally oblivious to Marik's actions). Malik stepped carefully out of the cage, instead of barreling out like Marik had half expected. The two of them froze in their positions; Marik kneeling on the floor looking down and Malik standing a couple feet in front of him, looking up. Yugi and Ryou were watching with great interest but had yet to interfere.

After a long moment, the semi-sane human smirked cocked his head.

"Aw, you still look cute like that!"

The little creature scowled and glared.

"Well, I own you now. If I want to name you 'Pretty', I will!"

Malik squeaked angrily and tried to flap his wings, realizing too late that the cages were still in the way.

Marik laughed and reached out, trying to pet the wings even as Malik tried to twitch them out of his reach.

"If you don't like it, then tell me what your name really is!" The creature froze and stared at him, then at his friends. When Marik realized that Malik was no longer focusing on him, he turned his gaze on the others as well. Bakura's double looked up at him with soft, concerned eyes and he couldn't help giving it a smile of reassurance (well, what he thought was reassuring). He snuck a look at his friends to make sure they hadn't noticed (they hadn't- in fact, they were starting to spark and glow with magic in their anger) then leaned over and stuck his fingers through the bars of Ryou's cage.

Malik yelped in outrage and tried to push his giant double away but Marik just nudged him out of the way and continued. Ryou watched nervously but he was too far back to be touched. He looked from Marik's eyes to the giant fingers invading his space and back, in obvious confusion.

"Aw, c'mon! You were friendly last night!" Marik wiggled his fingers beckoningly but Ryou just looked away. "Are you shy?"

An affronted squeak from a different source distracted him into looking at Yami's creature. He couldn't help giggling at the sight of it standing tall and trying to look officious. The glare that was so intimidating on Yami was absolutely adorable on Yugi.

"Aw! You were friendly too!" Before the small creature could react, Marik moved his hand from Ryou's cage into Yugi's, managing to catch the tip of a wing before Yugi jumped backwards in surprise. He was so surprised, in fact, that he tripped on his own wings and fell to the ground in a tangled, disheveled heap.

Marik couldn't help laughing at that.

Then Malik landed on his head.

"What-? Hey! Get off!" He howled in surprise, leaping upright and nearly knocking the other cages over. He clutched at the little figure clinging to his hair but couldn't get a good grip, even as it growled squeakily and yanked harder.

"Marik-?"

"Damn, what now?"

"Shut up, Kura! Help me!" he wailed.

He was startled when it was Yami that came to his aid, reaching up and catching one of Malik's wings, trying to untangle him.

"S-stop."

No one heard the quiet words at first.

"STOP! B-both of you!" All three of them froze, and then turned as one to look at the source of the command. Ryou was standing, human sized, in front of Bakura. The older human had his hands firmly latched on his double's shoulders but Ryou was not fighting.

Malik was the first to recover from his shock, giving a loud squeak and releasing Marik before dropping to the floor and transforming into his larger form. Marik tried to grab him but he evaded, moving to the other side of the room and watching Ryou and Bakura warily.

"Let him go."

"Are we really going to go through this again?" Bakura sneered at him and Malik snarled, starting to bring up his hands to attack.

"Malik, stop it. Please." Ryou looked at his friend beseechingly. "We really do need to talk about this."

"Well said." Yami stepped forward and nodded at the couch. Marik flopped down instantly and waggled his eyebrows at his counterpart who scowled and leaned against the wall, still watching Ryou worriedly. Bakura released his double but gave him a rough shove forward so that he stumbled into the couch. He sat down on the opposite side from Marik but Bakura gave him another push, forcing him over so that he was sitting in between the two humans. The boy was obviously uncomfortable and possibly terrified-his posture was rigid but his body was quivering with nerves and he kept darting glances around the room while nervously licking his lips.

Finally, after everyone else was situated, Yami leaned down over the last cage and released Yugi who instantly stumbled out and flapped his wings, taking to the air and landing on Ryou's lap.

"Why doesn't he transform?" Yami looked to Ryou but it was Malik that answered.

"Are you kidding? Using that much power isn't a walk in the park, you know!"

"Yugi's exhausted." Was Ryou's quieter response. "He won't be able to transform for another day or two."

"I see." Yami took up position standing in the middle of the room, where he could see everyone. "First things first. What are your names?"

"Oh. I'm Ryou. This is Yugi."

"Hn. Malik."

"Alright." This was actually going better than he'd expected. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean, 'what are we doing here'? You bought us!" Malik snarled, bunching his fists. "We're not animals, you know!"

"We didn't know you were sentient!" Yami protested. He had a sneaking suspicion he knew who trashed the apartment.

"Yeah." Bakura drawled. He was greatly enjoying watching the arrogant pharaoh trying to muddle through this mess. "If we had, we'd have gotten a full refund."

Marik pouted at his double in hurt. "You don't like it here?"

Malik snarled angrily and stepped forward but Bakura reached out and put a hand on the back of Ryou's neck, gripping firmly in obvious warning.

"Bakura, knock it off." Yami snapped.

"Um." Somehow, Ryou's quiet words managed to quiet the room. "W-what are your names?"

Bakura snorted in amusement. "The pharaoh's Yami, Tomb-keeper's Marik, and I'm Bakura." At the boy's wide eyes, he grinned. "The Thief. And your owner, I suppose."

Ryou mumbled in obvious discomfort and looked away while Yugi squeaked at Bakura angrily from lap-level and Malik literally growled from his position.

"Bakura, stop scaring him." Yami rubbed at his forehead in irritation. "But that does bring up an important issue. It doesn't matter how we got into this situation. What matters is- what do we do about it now?"

"Let us go." Was Malik's immediate response. He stood tall under their scrutiny, trying to look earnest. "We'll get out of your hair and you can go back to doing…whatever it is you do. We'll even reimburse you for whatever you spent buying us, when we get the money."

"Out of the question." Yami crossed his arms, matching Malik's glare easily. "If there is one thing I've learned out your species in the last couple days, it's that you are powerful, magical creatures who have little to no knowledge about living around humans. Letting you go, especially in such a populated area, would be a recipe for disaster. It's our job to make sure things like that do not happen."

Ryou shifted restlessly on the couch, nearly dislodging Yugi, before adding his two cents. "W-what if we promised not to hurt anyone? Would you let us go then?"

"No, I'm afraid not." Yami's tone turned gentler as he looked at all three of them. None of them looked surprised, but they didn't look happy either. Marik and Bakura were watching avidly, ready to jump forward if any of their visitors became hostile.

"So we keep them." Bakura sounded relaxed but his eyes were sharp.

"I am NOT going back into that THING." Malik snarled angrily, bringing his hands up warningly as he shot a glare at the cage he'd been imprisoned in. Ryou nodded instantly in agreement and Yugi squeaked his own assent.

"It is unpleasant to have our wings so cramped." Ryou explained, eying the cages with distaste. "We would prefer to be free."

"We sure as hell can't fit six people into this postage stamp apartment." Was Bakura's irritated response.

"Not to mention what happened the last time you were left here alone." Yami shot all of them a stern look but it was only Malik who wouldn't meet his eyes.

"If the fairies don't like the cages, then can't we get them a new one? Something big?"

Yami nodded thoughtfully at Marik's suggestion.

"That's a thought. We were originally considering a big bird cage but it looks like we'll need something bigger still."

"A reptile cage." All of them looked at Bakura in surprise and he scowled. "Knock it off. I have some good ideas. They make huge cages and tanks for big snakes and iguanas. I'll bet we can modify one to contain magical creatures."

At the Marik's enthusiastic approval and the hikaris' worried stares, Yami nodded slowly.

"That's actually a good suggestion. We'll need it today so that we can return to work tomorrow (there is no way I'll be able to bluff two sick days in a row). Any ideas on where to get it?"

"There's a pet store out in Bullville that sells heavy duty equipment. That's where I picked up our original gear." Bakura responded, standing from the couch and stretching. Ryou snuck into his spot, moving away from Marik in the process.

"Good. Bakura, you go buy the biggest cage they have- make sure it's got a reasonable amount of floor space. I'll stay here and design the wards to be worked into it. Marik-."

"I want to play with the fairies!" He grinned at Malik, somehow managing to look innocent and malicious at the same time. Malik scowled and backed away nervously.

"Actually," Yami exchanged a guarded look with a far-too-amused Bakura, "I think you should go with Bakura. The cage might be too heavy for one person to handle."

"Okay." Marik stood and walked down the hallway, returning after a moment with an inhibitor net. At the sight of it, Malik snarled and Ryou stiffened. "But Yami shouldn't be here with them alone. The little one is powerful."

The magical creatures turned to Yami in protest but he shook his head. "Marik is right. I'm sorry, but you'll need to return to the cages until they return. After everything you've done, we can't trust you not to destroy something or hurt someone. Not yet. Eventually, if you can prove that you're trustworthy, we'll dispense with cages altogether. We might even be able to let you go. But you'll need to work for that trust and it's not going to happen by tomorrow."

Between the three of them, the humans managed to get all of the fairies back in the cages. Ryou almost went on his own- he was still very timid and unused to interacting with anyone other than his friends- and Yugi was half asleep, with his fatigue from the night before catching up to him. Malik was the only one who truly struggled, and it was more of a token protest than anything else. He seemed as relieved as Ryou to be away from the humans, especially Marik.

After two of the humans had left and the last retreated to his room to make wards, the fairies finally had a chance to discuss what had happened. There wasn't really much to say.

-That could have gone better.- Malik grumbled, flopped down on the floor of his cage.

Yugi yawned and shrugged. -It didn't go too badly. We have a chance to get free some day and a safe place to stay until we figure out how to do it.-

-I agree with Yugi.- Ryou piped up. -They aren't bad people and we'll be living in better conditions than we have in years. This will also be a valuable opportunity to learn about humans, so that we'll be able to live among them when we get free.-

-Well,- Malik turned to look at the apartment, massive to his small eyes. -At least they won't try to separate us. And we will escape someday. Someday soon.-

It was a future to look forward to, and none of them were going to let the opportunity pass them by.

Epilogue

Three months later, the six friends had settled into a new routine, and the hikaris were spending more time out of the cage than in it. Ryou had become more self-confident, and Malik was calming down somewhat (at least, he no longer took everything Marik said as a personal slight), while Yugi spent his time becoming fast friends with Yami. Bakura and Marik spent their time trying to bully the hikaris and getting in prank wars with Malik, who inevitably dragged Ryou and Yugi in.

After six months, Yami was satisfied that the three of them were trustworthy and the humans offered the fairies their freedom. For the first time, the boys entered human society on their own terms. They still maintained a close friendship with their original 'owners' (in fact, they lived in the same apartment more often than not) but were able to become self-sufficient and look after themselves. They built lives for themselves and went on to live them, no longer curios and victims but people.

Of course there was that one time when the supernatural hunter Kaiba managed to track them down…but that is a story for another day.

Fin.