Note: I'm trying to get back in the swing of writing, things are crazy IRL. It'd help if FFN would let me upload now that I've finally written something, but this site hates me. Meh. Anyway, more deaths and stuff. A few of 'em are gonna survive, but I'm quite enjoying doing the angsty deaths. 'Tis good for stress. I made up the card/monsters, by the way.
Twist of Cain 3 – Countdown to Extinction
Bakura followed Marik through the forest of black pillars, carrying Mokuba and listening to the haunting sounds echoing through the hall. Anzu's faint screams of pain and terror, followed by the pharaoh's horrified shouting. Everything had fallen silent then, but they kept going, into a new area where many of the pillars had broken and littered the smooth ground in uneven pieces. Finally Marik pulled them to halt next to where one pillar had fallen across another, creating a small alcove.
"Hide the kid." Marik gestured to the small, dark space – just big enough for a child.
"No!" Mokuba clung to Bakura as the thief carried him over to the alcove and knelt down beside it. He knew Marik had the right idea.
"We will not let him find you." The tomb robber promised, but Mokuba refused to let go.
"You can't leave me here – did you see what that guy did to Jou?" The younger Kaiba brother panicked, looking pleadingly up into Bakura's crimson eyes.
"He will not touch you. Your brother and I may not be together at the moment, but I will not allow harm to come to you." Bakura swore, gently prising Mokuba off himself and helping him into the hiding place.
"Promise?" Large, grey eyes begged, filled with frightened tears.
"Yes. We will not leave you, we can go no further. We will be right here until your brother and the pharaoh win the game."
Mokuba nodded, trembling, and ducked down into the hole.
"Alright, but you'd better not go anywhere!" He threatened. Bakura gave a husky laugh and stepped back, bowing his head once.
"As you command. Now be silent, if he comes this way keep your head down and do not look up, no matter what you hear. Remember, if you look up he will see you." The thief instructed, then stood up and turned back to the other yami. Truth be told, he just didn't want Mokuba to see what was probably going to happen to them. He cared enough for the younger Kaiba brother, and the events unfolding reminded him of things he'd rather forget. When he'd been a child, much like Mokuba, he'd watched as his friends and family were slaughtered, hiding behind a broken wall and praying for the soldiers not to find him. He knew now that if he could go back and change the past, if only a little, he would have kept his eyes closed.
"The plan?" He demanded, folding his arms and bringing his attention back to Marik. "I will not stand and wait to die. I am not merely a distraction."
"You're definitely more than that," Ryou smiled weakly, his shaking abating a little because he was held protectively in Marik's tanned arms. Malik was also standing against Otogi next to them, looking shaken but trying to be as brave as they could.
"I'm not letting that bastard near our mortals." Marik growled.
"Then we fight until the game is won." Bakura said firmly, knowing it was the only choice they had.
XxXxX
"I love it when they fight back." Noa sneered, wiping out one of Yami's monsters easily while the Game King watched Yugi run on one of the screens. The other screen showed Bakura persuading Mokuba to hide, the thief's words loud and clear to Seto.
"Pay attention, unless you want to lose this." Seto told Yami coldly, ignoring the pharaoh's glare. Bakura's conversation with his younger brother remanded him why he needed to win, not just to save their lives, but also so that he had a chance to make things right with the thief. He knew he'd hurt Bakura by trying to buy him off with gifts – he wanted to make it up to his lover. He felt sick at the thought of Anubis touching either Mokuba or Bakura, and he wanted to murder Noa for ever starting such a twisted game.
"I wonder if Anubis will find little Mokuba? He's a very good hunter, or so he tells me. Then again, I think he might be paying more attention to your lover than Mokie." Noa laughed sharply. "And he claims not to be a distraction. I think Anubis would disagree."
XxXxX
Marik clutched Ryou closer and narrowed his violet eyes at the sound of footsteps heading towards them. Bakura turned to look as well, clenching his fists, but relaxed when a figure much smaller than the Lord of the Dead broke from the shadowy fog. Yugi ran over, tears streaming down from large, innocent eyes, and collapsed in Ryou's arms. The British hikari comforted the pharaoh's light, kneeling down and stroking his back as he sobbed over Anzu's sacrifice.
"Tears suit such pretty eyes." A growled voice laughed, causing everyone to spin around in shock. Anubis had carried on the way Anzu had been running, coming out behind the group when the shadow realm folded around. He stood between two half-ruined pillars, looking huge and threatening in the murky light. He was much bigger than even Marik, who took his place with Bakura in front of the others, trying to keep Anubis away from them. They were the only two who stood a chance at being able to fight Anubis, Marik knew. He was strong and Bakura was fast, if they could hold Anubis off until Seto and Yami won the shadow game then there was no need for any of the others to die. They were his family, Malik, Ryou, Otogi, Mokuba, Seto and Bakura. Yugi was a friend, even if he was the pharaoh's light. The thought of Anubis laying a finger on any of them made him want to tear the sorcerer's throat out with his bare hands. The idea of him touching Ryou… Marik couldn't even think about it. Nobody hurt his angel.
Over in his hiding place away to one side beneath the fallen pillars, Mokuba ducked his head down as Bakura had told him to and curled up, trembling in fear. He wasn't going to look, he trusted Bakura to know that Anubis would see him if he did. Besides, even if Anubis wouldn't see him… He wasn't going to look.
XxXxX
"Now, who first?" Anubis looked them over, taking in and savouring the looks in their eyes. He wanted the tomb robber – wanted to really make that death last. The others, though… An evil smirk crossed his lips as he looked over at Marik and Bakura, trying to keep themselves between him and the others. The Kaiba child wasn't there, but he could easily catch him later. After all, hiding only worked for so long.
Drawing a card from the deck at his side, Anubis held it up and watched the shadows swirl down and pick it from his fingers, swallowing it. An instant later the monsters appeared, born of the thick, black mist and lining themselves obediently up in a circle around his prey. He wanted to keep Marik and Bakura busy while he picked off the weaker ones, after all.
The creatures each carried a curved sword and had blank, featureless faces except for the eyes, which were sharp, black slits. Ryou, Yugi, and Malik huddled together with Otogi on one side and Marik and Bakura on the other, those who could fight ready to defend the others as long as they could. Malik looked over at Otogi standing alone in front of one side of the circle and broke away from Yugi and Ryou, striding forward to stand as confidently as he could with the dice player. Otogi gave him a questioning glance and he grinned shakily, lavender eyes sparkling.
"Until death do us part?" The Egyptian said, just loud enough for Otogi to hear him.
"Not even then." Otogi smirked slightly, edging just a little closer to Malik.
On the other side of the circle of monsters trapping them, Marik glanced back at Ryou to find him holding onto Yugi protectively, determined not to let any of the creatures near the smallest duellist. Turning back to Anubis, the Egyptian yami took up a fighting stance, noting from the corner of his eye that Bakura did the same. Looking over at Anubis, Marik gave a wicked, cocky grin.
"Bring it on," the tomb keeper hissed, and Anubis was more than happy to oblige.
XxXxX
The monsters were relatively weak, but there were a lot of them. Bakura and Marik easily took down a pair each with their bare hands, picking up the swords from the fallen monsters to make the battle easier. Swinging a curved sword expertly in each hand, Bakura spun around gracefully and slashed at the creatures, unnerved slightly by the fact that they made no sound when they died. The last time he'd been in such a battle had been thousands of years ago, but his skill had barely diminished since then, even with his smaller frame. He was much faster than the creatures, and he almost made killing them look easy to Ryou and Yugi, and those watching on the screens. Over in the duelling arena, Seto couldn't help but think that Bakura looked incredible with a sword in each hand, blocking glancing blows from the monsters and returning them with killing strikes, arcs of black blood cutting through the air with each one he took down. It worried Seto, because he could see the way Anubis was watching Bakura as well, his eyes following the thief as he snarled, ducking under clumsy blows and making the air sing with the sound of steel clashing.
Nearby, Marik was taking out his fair share of the monsters as well, though with less natural grace than Bakura had. He wasn't as fast as the thief, but he was much stronger. No matter how many of the creatures came at him, they couldn't hold him off for long.
Otogi and Malik were fighting on the other side of the circle, back-to-back and managing to hold the group of monsters surrounding them off for the moment. Neither of them had the skill or experience of Marik and Bakura, but they were managing, just barely. Malik was almost daring to hope they might be alright, but as he knocked away a blow and cut one of the creatures across the stomach deep enough to put it out of the fight, he felt Otogi tense against his back. He couldn't hear anything but the clashing of swords, and he couldn't turn around or he'd end up dead. There were only three creatures left on their side because most of them had gone after Marik and Bakura, but to Malik's horror one of them had bright red blood dripping from its sword. Otogi was sliding down to the ground behind him but he still couldn't turn, and he knew Otogi would never be able to hear him shouting over the noise all around them. He still tried to make Otogi hear him, tears filling his purple eyes as he felt Otogi finally fall to his knees and then forward, away from Malik's back. The Egyptian leapt forward at the last three creatures, cursing in his native tongue and earning a few cuts for his recklessness, but finally managing to take care of the last few by himself. Standing over the last one, he slowly turned around, seeing what he'd prayed he wouldn't. Otogi was on the floor in a pool of blood, his bright green eyes closed and the sword he'd been fighting with still in his hand. Running over to him, Malik dropped to his knees and felt numb tears running down his cheeks, unable to tear his eyes away from the blood spreading out from the dark line across Otogi's pale throat. The dice player's emerald eyes opened a little, managing to focus on Malik once more before they slid closed for good. Malik knew he was the last thing Otogi saw, and he wanted to scream and curse and cry but he couldn't get it to come out. He'd been with Otogi for years, they'd hardly spent any time apart and losing him was worse than dying himself. He knew he should be getting up and going over to help Marik and Bakura take care of the rest of the creatures, and he knew he should be protecting Yugi and Ryou from Anubis, but he couldn't move. He closed his eyes and bowed his head, feeling the dark presence of Anubis closing in on him but unable to make himself care. He couldn't open his eyes, even when he felt Anubis pick him up by the front of his shirt like a rag doll. He just wanted to be with Otogi, go wherever Otogi had gone. So, when a huge hand closed around his throat, crushing the golden chokers he wore easily, Malik kept his eyes closed and barely felt the sharp jerk as his neck snapped.
XxXxX
Anubis threw Malik down like a broken toy next to Otogi and listened in satisfaction as Marik screamed in agony at the loss of his light, falling to his knees. Bakura looked over and saw what had happened, snarling in rage. The thief made his way over to Marik and stood in front of the shaking yami, breathing heavily in exertion as he fought the last of the creatures off by himself and kept them away from Marik. The Egyptian yami was on his knees, his skin glowing gold and blood welling up from his fists as he dug his nails into his palms, screaming in anger and pain. The feeling of having his light ripped away from him threatened to force him down into unconsciousness, but he refused to let it, knowing even through the torture that he had to make Anubis pay for Otogi and Malik. He still had people left to protect, he knew that even with the void of Malik's absence clawing at his mind. Dragging himself to his feet with his eyes glowing red and the Sennen Eye standing out brightly on his forehead, Marik snarled like an animal and turned around. He could see Anubis heading for Ryou, even through the red haze of pain, and he wasn't about to let that happen while he was still breathing.
TBC
Not much longer to go, and that was actually really hard to write! I love Malik and Otogi together, so they had to die together. Poor little catatonic Malik, I feel kinda guilty.
