Thankyou all reviewers! kyro, Mittzy, Northern Trash-x, Spidey meets Wizard-Thief, dancers of the night and The Duelist's Heiress!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own YuGiOh.
WARNING!: GOREY CHAPTER! Very gorey/violent scene.
This chapter has been revised.
.xCHAPTER 8x.
Victory or Demise?
There was definitely the possibility that the ex-hunter would win, but there was also the possibility that Marik could win too. The question was, how? No doubt that sneaky traitor would have a plan, tricks up his sleeve, that sort of thing. The sort of thing Marik didn't have.
It was these things that were troubling him as he wandered through Domino park that afternoon. Malik had head back to his own home, apparently he was fully confident in his victory and was in need of some meditation to soothe his excitement. Another thing Marik didn't have. Confidence.
Looking lazily at the ground, he wandered on through the wet green grasses, not caring how damp his jeans were getting. He'd have to change before the fight anyway. One thing the vampire was sure about was that he needed to be agile, thick denim and jackets were not going to help this. He wondered whether it would rain. It had stopped for the time being and there were dry patches beginning to show on the pathways that twisted through the park, but there were also grey clouds looming above. Would they clear up before 10pm that night?
These were the thoughts that were passing through his mind when BANG! The next thing he knew he was sat on the grass, facing a very scared-looking Yugi, also on the grass.
"S-s-sorry Mar-rik I-I-I didn't s-see you there..." He stuttered, inching away.
Marik looked concerned at his friend's fear, "Yugi what's wrong? I thought we were friends..."
"We were... until you decided to bite me... I thought you said you would never bite me!" The small boy was trying hard to keep his voice level, but this attempt was in vain and Marik could see tears forming in his huge amethyst eyes.
"Can... can I see the bite?" Yugi hesitated but nodded fearfully, clutching the bite-free side of his neck. Marik glared at it. The two punctures were perfectly neat and tidy, no blood leaking from them, they were perfectly in line. He had to admit, the vampire was a pro at biting. He narrowed his eyes, feeling a surge of anger flow through his mind.
He stood silently, still glaring angrily at the bite. He held out a hand to Yugi, who stared at it as though it was a poisonous snake, "Yugi, I wasn't the one that bit you. There is another vampire here in Domino city. He's been posing as a friend to your brother, posing as a vampire hunter. I promise you it was him, he admitted it right in front of my eyes. If you trust me take my hand and I'll help you stand. If you don't, stay there." The younger hesitated once again. He couldn't find a reason to believe him, but they were supposed to be friends, right? He reached out and grabbed the vampire's pale hand.
Marik smiled grimly, helping his friend stand, "I'm so glad you still think of me as a friend.."
"Why's that?"
"I may die tonight, in fact there's a pretty big chance that I will." His voice was soft but grim.
Yugi looked horrified, "What? Why? How?"
"That other vampire I told you about has decided to fight me. I agreed, what do I have to lose? My family's dead and the hunters'll catch me sooner or later. May aswell die fighting."
The young boy's eyes filled with sympathy and concern, "You would lose your friends." He stated.
The vampire smiled weakly, "Yeah... I guess so... still I've accepted now so I've no choice, and... would you... seriously miss me?" Yugi nodded vigorously. Marik raised his eyebrows, looking doubtful. "I must go now, Yugi. If you want to watch, come back here at ten tonight." He turned and left Yugi to stare blankly after him, his mind slowly allowing everything the vampire had told him to become real.
He'd been on his way to Ryo's house anyway, before he'd bumped into Marik... now he had even more news for him.
.xVAMPIRE CHILDx.
The doorbell rang. Ryo didn't answer. Bakura had a key, he could go ahead and use it. And since when had they owned a doorbell anyway? It rang again. The albino slowly uncurled and climbed off the couch, heading towards the door. Expecting to see his brother, he walked slowly and his expression lay blank and unreadable.
He turned into the hallway, and that's when his expression did change. It wasn't his brother, it was Yugi! He hurried to let the boy in. Yugi was panting; he had been running, "Ryo... got... bad... news... Marik... fight... tonight!"
Ryo gave him a confused look as he closed the front door, "Catch your breath first Yugi, then tell me again... slowly. Do you want a drink?" Yugi shook his head urgently, his panting getting much quieter now so he could tell his best friend the horrifying news.
.xVAMPIRE CHILDx.
The night was a cold one. The stars twinkled in a sea of inky black, a cold winter breeze whipped through the city. At least it wasn't raining.
Marik stood in Domino park. The wind would have bothered him, were it not for his new found ability; using his sikuhoa to warm himself. He had changed his clothing, hoping what he was now wearing would enable him to move quicker and hopefully gain him a victory. His clothes were a sleeveless faded purple shirt that barely covered his thin stomach and thin black combat trousers and they were clothes he wore on a regular basis, so he knew them well. He found it silly that he was thanking himself for washing them beforehand and the thought wasn't helping him calm down.
The time was 9:55pm and Malik was no-where to be seen, but, as Marik had seen that afternoon, he had a knack for being exactly on time. This was going to be a long five minutes.
And it was. The seconds seemed like minutes in themselves, each one evolving the nervous little cell inside Marik's head. Was it right to feel nervous? Or should he be content with the fact that he could be dead within the next hour? The vampire sighed deeply, "God, I wish he'd just come so we can get this over with!"
"Ah but you see, I'm already here. 10pm I said, 10pm it is." Marik whirled around to face his foe. He was leaning casually against a tree, an air of calmness surrounded his form, though he wore a manic smile that showed his eagerness to start ripping Marik limb from limb. "It seems all of the hunters wish to forget about this doesn't it," Marik stood glaring at him, watching him with narrowed eyes, "then again...I don't think it'll last long enough for them to get good entertainment anyway." A searing pain slashed through Marik's back, he could feel his black blood trickling down in streams. He yelled and lashed out, hitting nothing but air.
Malik stood cackling away by a park bench this time, "How'd you do that?" Marik asked, wincing painfully.
Malik shrugged, "Oh just a bit of sikuhoa magic et voila! You've got yourself a clone to distract your opponent!" Marik snarled and began to step backwards, into the shadow of a group of trees, listening intently for anything behind him.
The ex-hunter rolled his eyes, "This isn't hide and seek you know, I came here for a battle, not a childish game! Come on out! I'll give you a free sho-ahh!" This time it was Malik who felt the pain, this was in his side. He turned around, now facing a smirking younger vampire, a bloody hand extended in front of his body.
"Who let their guard down this time?" Malik roared with anger and jumped up into the sky, bringing the heel of his foot down fast, Marik dodged the blow and grabbed hold of his foot, swinging the ex-hunter in a complete circle before letting go and watching him fly through the air screaming.
He landed in a tree. Snarling with rage, he stood on a thick branch and thrust his hand up into the air yelling an incantation. Marik could tell it was a spell as the next thing he knew he was pinned down onto the ground by some invisible force. He tried kicking and moving his arms, but all was in vain, all he could move was his mouth.
He growled in growing frustration. "This is not sikuhoa! What's going on? Why can't I move?"
The other smirked and jumped down from the tree, "Shadow magic, my friend." He waved a hand and the force holding Marik down was released. He scrambled to his feet, only to be knocked down again by a hard blow to the stomach thanks to Malik's knee. He spat out a mouthful of black blood, eyes flashing red then back to purple. He kicked at Malik's legs, unbalancing him for long enough to run away as fast as he could.
"I'll say it again, Marik. I don't like this game of hide and seek! Come out and act like a vampire avenging the death of his clan! Don't tell me you've forgotten it was me who lead them to you!" He was getting annoyed now, 'If only the other side of him would come out, that would make this a lot more interesting.' He listened intently, allowing his sikuhoa to hear Marik's footsteps. He was coming up behind him. But there were more than one set of footsteps.
The ex-hunter whirled around. He saw not one, but five figures approaching. 'So. They decided to show up after all eh?' He let out a cry as Marik slashed across his back, pointed claws ripping through his flesh. He grabbed at the young vampire, catching his arm and throwing him to the ground hard.
"You know, you really aren't worth my time! All you do is run and hide, you're not brave enough to even hit me when I'm looking! Why I ever asked you to fight me I'll never know! I'd be ashamed! Think abut it! I'm the one that killed your family, your friends, the whole Egyptian clan! You're the survivor and look at you, you're pathetic!" The hunter kicked Marik in the face and smirked at a sudden cry behind him (either Yugi or Ryo), then arguing. But he wasn't listening to them. He stared down at his foe. The teen was staring down at the ground, eyes shadowed by his golden bangs.
He rolled his purple eyes and turned away, "Fine, go ahead and cry. The hunters can have you, you can go visit your sister in the afterlife. I don't want to continue this fight if you wont even give me a fatal woun-" He gave a strangled cry and staggered with the weight of the young vampire that was now clinging to his neck. The teen snarled and hissed, grabbing hold of the hunter's ears and pulling.
Malik stumbled and fell to the ground, shoving the younger off his back. Marik stood quickly, his blood-red eyes gleaming in their sockets. He lunged at Malik again, grabbing his hair and wrenching it out in clumps. The ex-hunter tried hard not to voice his pain, scratching at the younger's arms as he pulled at his spikey hair. Marik stopped his painful hairstyling and grabbed hold of the hunter's ears once more, digging his razor-like claws into them and tugging. This time Malik did scream and he flailed his arms at this excruciating pain. Marik tugged hard at the hunter's ears and removed them from Malik's head. He held up the hunter's detatched ears triumphantly, throwing one of them away and putting the other one in his mouth. He chewed the ear, black blood oozing out of his mouth and dribbling down his chin, watching the hunter writhe on the floor screaming in pure harrowing agony.
Marik spat out the chewed ear and stepped over to the hunter, grabbing his collar and lifting him up to his height. Blood raced down the side of his face, the hunter still screaming. Marik bared his fangs and plunged them deep into his neck, grabbed hold of his arms and pulled hard.
Malik's clothes ripped as his arms were pulled brutally from his body. He stopped screaming and fell limp as Marik tossed his arms aside. He wasn't finished. He removed his fangs from the hunter's neck and replaced them with a clawed hand. He lifted the dead hunter higher and plunged his free hand into Malik's chest, then extracted a shriveled, black, fleshy object. His heart. The vampire dropped the dead one and held up the heart. He clenched the fist holding it. A sickly squelch emitted from the vital organ and the vampire watched black blood trickle down his arm.
He looked up suddenly as a small squeak of shock came from a very green-looking Ryo. The vampire snarled and started to advance towards the albino, he looked even more shocked and started to back away, staring in fear at his old friend.
"Oh no you don't!" Bakura stepped forward and punched Marik in the face, sending him flying backwards, hissing and snarling. He looked furiously at the hunter, red eyes wide and full of malice. He clenched his fist, raising it and moving forward fast.
.xCHAPTER 8 ENDx.