.:.Hellfire.:.
Summary: Yami no Malik and Yami no Bakura have been sent to Hell. And they're about to drag their hikaris down with them.
Chapter 8: To Oz! ... er, Isis!
Alternate title: In which kisses are tossed about much like candy.
Bakura, Ryou, Mariku, and Malik had been on their way to warn the others of the Ishtar household for some time before their tagalong, the freakishly tall and (in Bakura's vision) slightly half-dead looking Zangan, stopped.
"What is it?" he snapped.
"I lost the squirt again." Zangan said in a deadpan voice. "Damn."
Ryou, next to Bakura, was staring at Zangan in out-and-out horror. Bakura wasn't sure why; he'd probably react much the same way as Zangan if he lost a kid in a crowd. But then again, if he had done it, Ryou would be staring at him with that same horror-stricken look.
"What are we going to do!" Ryou shrieked, breaking the silence. Ra, did his hikari have to be so loud? If he took the time to reflect he would probably realized that he was the one who had taught the normally-quiet boy to be loud, but Bakura didn't have time to re- oh, wait. Damn. He already had.
"Nothing." Zangan replied, turning the pockets of his coat inside out.
"What, you think he'll be in your pocket?" Malik asked as his yami poked at the many pockets being revealed in the cloak, eyes alight with interest.
"No." he replied morosely. "But sometimes he is."
"He fits in a pocket?" Ryou said.
"Silver-thief-hikari... Mariku would fit in one of these pockets." Bakura watched with amusement as Ryou realized Mariku was addressing him.
"Not exactly true, Mariku, but close enough."
"Hikaaaaari-kiiiin, are we theeeeere yet?" the boisterous yami complained.
"Ten more minutes, Mariku." Malik sighed.
After counting to ten, Mariku started up again. Or, rather, he tried to, but found Bakura's hand clamped over his mouth.
"Save the world, remember?" he hissed into Mariku's ear, ignoring the taller soul-turned-physical-being's slight shudder. "It was your idea. Stop shuddering about it."
"But you're missing the point of that reaction." Mariku said, voice deep and rich and commanding as it had been at the height of his insanity. Bakura blinked.
"Mariku. I know you normally don't make sense, but right now you're really not making sense."
"That's because you and Ryou don't know hell from high water in your emotions."
"An' what the he–"
He was cut off quite effectively when Mariku turned about and kissed him. Brief, chaste; the kind from someone who has never kissed before, but the shock of his warm lips upon his won was enough to put Bakura quite thoroughly out of commission- for the moment.
"Mariku! Do you want to get there or not?" Malik yelled at them. The hikaris had gotten quite far ahead, as Malik had apparently convinced Ryou to stop freaking over the lost kid.
"Coming!" Mariku called, grabbing Bakura's hand and trotting after the black, billowing rob-figure that was Zangan.
"What was that about?" Bakura hissed at him. Mariku looked back over his shoulder, one of his, 'I know something you don't know and I'm gonna torture you with it,' smiles on his face. In the sun his hair and skin seemed almost to glow.
"Come on, silver. I've seen how you look at us. I know how we look at you. You were doing it just now."
What the– was he talking about- Oh Ra, he was. The worst part of it was, he was right. Bakura sighed.
"First sign of the apocalypse, you know, the psycho being right."
Mariku smiled in a self-satisfied way.
"... I'm going to have to teach you how to kiss, though."
Malik wondered what was keeping their yamis, but considering how his mind link with Mariku was reacting, he was pretty sure he didn't want to know. Wait. Oh, hell, yes he did. He wanted to copy them, too.
...And there was Ryou, walking along oh-so-innocently and beautiful in that same, yet opposite way to Bakura that Malik knew he and Mariku were too much alike to emulate. (It might have something to do with them being exactly the same, save bad qualities that were rather intensified in Mariku.)
Malik shook that thought out of his head. He couldn't just jump the boy in the middle of the street like that.
Ryou blinked, shock etched on his face, and started to swivel around just as Malik felt another wave of intense pleasure and happiness roll along his soul-bond. He caught the other teen's cheek before he could get all the way around to look at the others.
Ryou stared at him in curiosity and vague surprise. Malik moved gently until they were very close together, and suddenly the brown eyes widened in realization.
"You mean- they're like that?" Ryou squeaked.
Malik rolled his eyes. Only Ryou could get away with squeaking and not lose face.
"Ryou..." he sighed, face almost touching the other boy's cheek. "Don't you realize- we're all like that." He could feel Ryou smile.
"Well, yes, I do– better than Bakura, at least."
"'Kura's in denial."
"Why do you call him that?"
"'Cause he lets me get away with it, because he doesn't realize he is."
"What if I told him he was?"
"...He would, at this point, probably not care. Especially as," -he checked behind them, "at this point, he is kissing my yami silly."
Ryou laughed, making his flying hair glitter in the afternoon sun, and then descended on Malik's mouth. For a few seconds, he forgot the world existed.
"Where'd you learn to kiss like that?"
"I don't know. Just instinct."
"Pfft. 'Kura's been influencing your subconscious mind."
Ryou shrugged. "Maybe."
"Hey you two!" Malik called. "Ready to keep moving?"
Mariku and Bakura seemed to awaken from whatever stupor they were in. Mariku ran up and draped himself over Malik's shoulder.
"I su-ppose." he sighed dramatically. Malik watched Bakura twine himself around Ryou out of the corner of his eye.
It was only after they started moving again that Malik realized that Zangan had been there throughout the entire thing.
(Ten minutes and many random passerby's stares later)
"Isis-nee–samaaaa!" Malik called as he opened the door cautiously. He waved all the others but Ryou back, not wanting to spring it all on his brother and sister at once.
"Malik Ishtar!" came the angry yell. Malik paled under his tan.
"Oh shit. She's mad."
The Egyptian woman came into view of the door, bearing down on the pair of teens in the living room- or more specifically, her brother.
"Do you know what time it is?"
"Umn... the afternoon."
"Where have you been! I called after noon and neither Ryou nor you were there! You better have a good explanation!'
Ryou glanced nervously over at Malik.
"Umn... well, you see..."
"Spit it out before you find yourself grounded into the afterlife!" It wasn't too bad; at least she wasn't naming numbers yet. Rishid had come into the room and was looming in the corner.
"Umn, we were, in, umn, I guess..." He really didn't want to say he'd been dragged into Hell in front of Rishid, especially after he had spent half an hour trying to convince the man to let him go to Ryou's unattended.
"Malik..." Isis used the low and deadly voice this time. He was screwed unless he thought of something fast. Why had he come back here again?
"Don't hurt hikari-kin!" Mariku shrieked, bouncing in and pulling Malik away from his sister.
"Mariku!" Malik groaned. Ryou stifled a smile.
"Well, he just did a class A job of ruining your plan." Bakura's smug voice came from the doorway.
"And you did a 'class A' job stopping him, 'Kura." Malik responded dryly. Bakura had no chance to make a rejoinder, as Isis found her voice at this time.
"What the hell are they doing in physical forms!"
"Wow, everybody's so perceptive today." Bakura faked amazement. "Of course, I wouldn't expect anything less from the amazing once-possessor of the Millennium Tauk."
Isis's glare indicated she was not amused.
"Umn... Mariku, you explain." Malik said, panicked.
"I can help." Bakura said ever-so-NOT-helpfully.
"'Kura, don't make me MAKE you shut up."
"And how are you planning to do that?'
"Well, you see, silver thief and I were sent to the Shadow Realm." Mariku was explaining, covering them up.
"Yes, yes, we KNOW that much!" Isis said, annoyance etched into every angle of her body.
"And, as it turns out, the Void sector has a bottom." Mariku continued hurriedly. "This seems to lead into Hell."
"What?" Isis screeched.
"Do you want the story or not? Anyhow..."
Bakura opened his mouth to add to the narrative, and Malik promptly covered it with his. Bakura reacted very favorably, seeming to forget all about the other conversation and deepening the kiss of his own accord.
Malik came back to reality to find Rishid staring at them very pointedly. He jumped away from the dazed tomb robber and laughed nervously, very glad Isis was caught up in his yami's explanation of events. Ryou had taken over for their side, leaving out the excruciating physical effects of dimensional separation .
"And then we came to warn you because we have to go save the world from an insane fire spirit!" Mariku finished.
"Not that you're one to talk about insane." Bakura put in. Mariku tugged on a lock of silver hair.
"You're just jealous."
"Speaking of that..." Isis got the dangerous glint in her eyes. "You two!" she snapped at Bakura and Malik. "What was that earlier?" Oh, Ra protect them.
"Umn, we gotta go, Isis-nee-sama, Rishid, save the world you know!" And he turned, racing off. Mariku followed half dragging Ryou.
"You haven't seen a kid, halve you?" Zangan asked, bending slightly to stick his head in the door. Isis and Rishid shook their heads, staring slightly at the tall, cloak swathed figure.
"Thought I'd ask..."
There. I did it. I actually typed it up and posted it. Just to reassure anyone actually reading this, I'm not dead! I haven't abandoned it! It will be brought to a conclusion!
This is just a little fluff chapter. It doesn't contribute to the plot, per se, but it was fun to write.
