Hello! I hope you all are doing well!
Thanks so much to Aya El maghrabi, zero25, Lady Tallulah, and HermioneSakuraGardner07 for your lovely reviews! It really makes my day to hear from you guys! It's great to hear your sister is getting better, HermioneSakuraGardner07; that's wonderful!
Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I've been sick, so it's a little sloppy, my apologies.
I do not own YuGiOh.
Tea felt close to the tip top of the world as she walked along with several of her friends. Isis, Rishid, Mokuba, one of the Setos, and Ryou had all already departed-Isis and Rishid to do more research, the Seto to take Mokuba to school, and Ryou because he had accidentally left the oven on in the excitement of learning Yugi had woken that morning.
Still, despite the fact that her apartment might at that very moment be burning to the ground, Tea was beyond exuberant. To her right was Joey, and to her left was Yugi, awake and smiling and recovering, if not recovered. She kept sneaking glances at him, delighted at seeing the lovely violet of his eyes and the sweet and pure curl of his smile.
Yami walked to his left, and she rejoiced in seeing the smile on his face as well. Too often it seemed the former spirit was frowning, weighed down by worry and responsibility. The girl renewed her resolve to speak to him at some point today and set matters right between them. Now would be a good time, when they were all feeling hopeful and happy.
They had decided to go on a short walk together to try and keep Yugi's muscles from atrophying, setting their destination as a small coffee shop at the end of the block. Tea had good memories of the place; she and Yugi used to go there all the time when it was just the two of them as friends.
She was so lost in memory of such happy, simple times that she didn't notice Yami tense suddenly, halting midstep.
She did notice, however, the tall wild haired Egyptian that sprang out of an alley ahead of them, because that was a pretty difficult thing to overlook.
"Marik!" barked Yami, stepping forward menacingly.
"Been a while, Pharaoh," grinned the lunatic, his eyes blazing in his drawn face. "A long while full of time and dust and spiders…" he trailed off at the end of the word, clicking his teeth together. He twirled the Millenium Rod in his hands, looking maliciously overjoyed.
Yami snarled, and his hair stood on end as he gathered his power. A gasp at his side interrupted his concentration; he turned to see Yugi slumping over where he stood, the boy's eyes fluttering shut. Panicked, Yami tried to catch him, but a burst of brilliant light erupted from the boy-a wave of the Light magic Isis had been so in awe of. It washed over the former spirit, and while it did him no damage, it disoriented him badly.
Loud and mad, Marik laughed, and he raised the Rod, pointing it threateningly towards the group. A golden light began to grow at its tip, and for Tea, the world shrunk.
She did not hear Tristan attempting to rouse Yami and Yugi, nor Joey shouting. She did not hear the sounds of distant traffic; she did not see Kaiba put his hand surreptitiously in his pocket, preparing to summon his guards.
All she saw was that Rod, and Marik's smirking face behind it, and all she knew was that this person, this crazy and powerful and messed up person, was trying to hurt her friends.
Tea acted.
She launched herself down the road, ignoring the startled cries behind her. Marik's eyes widened right before her fist(keep your thumb out) slammed into his face. He staggered back a step, snarling in confusion and pain, and whipped the still glowing Rod towards her shoulder. She ducked down and out, then darted in and delivered a fast kick to his knee. Something gave with a sickening pop, and he roared, landing a hit to her stomach that drove the wind from her.
She wheezed, tears springing to her eyes, but kept her balance. Violet eyes flashing, Marik jumped at her. Desperately, Tead grabbed at his wrist as he came at her, using his momentum to swing him around into the wall. But he was fast, and his free hand found her neck and squeezed, long fingers more than able to wrap round her slender throat. She gasped frantically and pinched at the tender section of his hand between the thumb and pointer finger, digging in until she felt blood welling up. His grip loosened fractionally, and she ripped herself free.
He raised the Rod again, and Tea readied herself to attack, but then her friends were upon them, Tristan tugging her back as the revived Yami bellowed some strange sounding word that had the shadows reaching out for Marik with hungry hands.
The madman blinked dazedly, staring at them all with unfocused eyes as the shadows clutched at him. His gaze honed in upon Tea finally, with unnerving clarity. His widest grin yet stretched across his face as he stared at the girl, and a shudder went down her spine at the intensity of the foreboding look. With a flash of golden light from the Rod, he vanished, and Yami gave a shout of anger at his escape.
Leaning heavily on Tristan, Tea tried to force the world to make sense again. She had just punched Marik. Oh crud, that was the second psychopath she had attacked recently. Oh man, between them and the monsters, her life expectancy had just plummeted.
"Yugi?" she asked dizzily. "Is Yugi okay?"
"He's fine," Joey assured her, the sought after boy under his protective arm. "Musta' been some sorta reflex thing with that magic he pulled."
"Hello Tea," whispered the boy, eyes distant again, trained on some invisible horizon. "It's nice to see all your new friends."
"Um," said Tea. "Yes. New friends are always nice." Even the ones only your magically loopy friend could see. "Can we go get coffee now?"
"Sounds good to me," Tristan said shakily. "But damn, Tea, where'd that all come from?"
"That's something I would like to know as well," Yami interjected, striding back to stare seriously at the girl. The taste of terror still coated his throat; the sensation of helplessness he had felt watching Tea tackle the dangerous criminal brought back his insecurities from the morning. These people were under his protection, and yet he continuously failed them, time and time again. His frustration at his own shortcomings made him angry, and he spoke rashly, words tumbling from his mouth.
"Are you insane, Tea?" he demanded, pinning her with his ruby eyes. The girl gaped silently at him, still coming down from the adrenaline of the fight.
"Yami, man, give her a minute; she just had Marik strangling her," Joey defended, glaring over at the spot the mad man had disappeared from.
Tristan cackled. "Yeah, but she sure landed a good one first! Damn, Tea, you just gave crazy pants Marik a black eye!" He pumped his fist in the air, clearly already recovered from the incident. Not for the first time, Tea envied him his easygoing attitude.
"She just put herself in unnecessary danger," Yami returned, a dark glower settling over his features. "Tea, what were you thinking?"
Tea blinked, and then she frowned herself, some of the anger from the fight rising up again. "I was thinking that I didn't want any of us to be hurt," she bit back, shaking off Tristan's placating hand.
"And so your first impulse was to attack him?" Yami scoffed. "Go after him with a physical assault when he is practically twice your size and can use ancient magic?"
To her embarrassment, the girl felt tears snap into place in her eyes(why was she always crying, whywhywhy). "I held my own well enough," she insisted. "And I stopped him from doing whatever magic thing he was trying to at the beginning. I don't understand why you're upset."
Yami turned away, shaking his head. In truth, he didn't quite know himself why he was so upset. He just knew that the image of her being throttled by Marik was burned into his retinas, and that he would do anything to keep her from that situation again, from any such danger again, and that the easiest way to do so was to keep her away from the fighting.
But Tea knew nothing of his thoughts, only saw his back facing her, and the silent rebuff was almost more than she could bear.
"You know," she said, practically trembling with anger and sorrow and humiliation. "You're not being fair. If Joey or Tristan had done what I did, you wouldn't have nearly the same problem with it. I get that I've held you back in the past-" Yami, Tristan, and Joey all twitched guiltily at the reminder of how they had left her behind- "But I am not as weak as you apparently think!"
"You were seconds away from being killed by him!" Yami retorted.
"You don't know that!" Tea shot back.
Tristan and Joey looked back and forth between the two nervously; Kaiba did the same, but instead of nervousness he exhibited a deep satisfaction. Yugi just stared vacantly at the sky.
"I think I know better than you what Marik is capable of," Yami denied, frowning at her darkly.
Tea switched tactics, reminding herself that she didn't want to bicker with her friend. "Look," she said, deliberately keeping her voice even. "I've always supported you. I always will. All I want is for you to support me in return."
Yami took a step back around at that, anger lighting his aristocratic face. "How am I to support you in your choices when recently all they seem to involve is violence?"
Tea bit her lip. So much for switching tactics. Was-was this what he thought of her? That she had turned into some kind of thug?
"That's enough, Yams." Joey stepped in between them, and Tristan snickered at the nickname, partially dispelling the growing tension.
"Yes, enough of your histrionics, Motou number Two," Seto drawled, looking immensely pleased with the world. "Now if you're done throwing a bitch fit just because someone else did something helpful for once, let's go."
He swept past them all, coattails snapping, and Yami followed, grumbling. Yugi trotted after, throwing a nervous glance over his shoulder at Tea. She walked along last, Joey and Tristan flanking her.
"Dude," said Joey, a note of wonder in his voice. "I think Kaiba just complimented you or something."
"I had shivers," Tristan confided quietly. "I thought the world was going to end."
And despite herself, Tea couldn't help but grin at them both. "Nah," she said confidently, leaning up and ruffling their hair. "He must have just had indigestion or something. Now, if he ever compliments Joey, then we're in trouble."
"Oi!" objected Joey, but he grinned too, and on her other side Tristan sniggered.
And it was all going to be okay. It was.
They had coffee and donuts at the shop while Seto discussed setting up a camera surveillance system around the Game Shop with Yami, and Tea, Tristan, and Joey talked with Yugi. And then they all parted ways-Seto into an ostentatious limousine, Tristan to his job, Joey to meet up with Mai, and Yami and Yugi back to the GameShop.
Tea watched them all go, sitting in the golden light of the well-lit shop. Her body was beginning to ache. The scuffle with Marik had aggravated her injuries, and she was starting to feel stiff. Sighing, she left as well, purchasing a few extra donuts to share with Ryou.
When she got back to their apartment, mercifully not burned down, Ryou was sitting on the sofa, reading an intimidating thick book. The smell of muffins floated through the air, and despite the events of the morning, the girl found herself smiling.
"Penny for your thoughts?" inquired the boy lightly, beaming a greeting in her direction.
"Do you think I've become…eh…punch happy?" Tea asked, flopping down over the back of the couch to join him.
He turned the page of his book, glancing over at her curiously. "What brought this on?"
She blew the bangs off her forehead in frustration. "We might have run into Marik."
Ryou's grip on the book faltered, and the girl instantly winced. "I'm sorry," she apologized contritely. "I know he's a touchy subject for you, and rightly so."
"No, no," assured Ryou. "It's fine; I knew he was going to show up sooner or later. I guess I was just hoping for later. What happened?'
Tea laughed nervously. "I may have attacked him."
Ryou blinked. "What."
"He was going to do evil magic on us!"
The boy sighed, giving up on his book for the moment. "Well at least you're all right. Let me guess, you fought him, then Yami finished him off and got angry with you, culminating in an accusation of an overzealous attitude towards violence on your part. Hence your query about 'punch happiness.'"
Tea stared at him. "You are scarily smart," she informed the boy. "I mean, wow."
Ryou's lips twitched up in a small smile. "Flatterer," he accused with no real heat. "To answer your question: no, I do not find you violent. You have been asserting yourself physically more often, but that's just because you've recently come upon that as an option, and also because thanks to our weird magnetism for trouble, you're often in situations where peaceful negotiation is not an option."
Smiling at him, the girl felt a weight lift off of her chest. "Thanks Ryou," she told him sincerely. "I was really kind of worrying about that."
He smiled back, that warm, sweet smile she was always amazed he had been able to hold onto despite years of Bakura's torment. "Don't forget, Tea," he reassured. "Yami is used to being the hero. It is part of who he identifies himself as. He's not used to other people putting themselves into the frontline of danger, and right now, when everything is so new to him, with his having a body, he's probably trying to hold onto the things he understands. Which don't include you going pro-wrestler on Marik." This last was said very dryly, and Tea giggled unreservedly.
"I don't know about wrestler," she grinned. "But I did give him a nice shiner."
Ryou stared at her in unabashed delight. "I knew there was a reason I let you be my roommate."
"Aside from your old apartment going up in flames, you mean?" Tea asked innocently, and he sniffed.
"Just for that, you don't get any of the muffins I made," he decreed, and she immediately begged for his forgiveness, because Ryou's muffins were the best.
Back in his warehouse, Marik had a staring contest with the Millenium Rod, cursing when it won again. It always won. Just like the Pharaoh.
Always, always, always.
He rolled over onto his back, disregarding the clouds of dust that arose with the movement. Mice scurried around in the shadows, their quick feet making a sound like raindrops.
It had never rained in Egypt. Egypt had been a neverending dream of golden sand and sapphire skies. Here though, it rained a good deal, and the ground was green with grass or grey with concrete, and the sky was broken up by mountains and buildings.
It was change.
"Change," Marik whispered to himself, enchanted by the concept. He chanted the word, over and over, his voice rising to a squeak and falling into a guttural rumble.
In Egypt, he had been angry, so angry and full of hurt and hate.
Here, he still had those things, but after spending so much time in the Shadow Realm, they no longer seemed as important.
"I changed," he concluded, sitting up, and a wild grin ripped across his face, because if he could change once, could he not change again?
But how? And into what?
That stymied him, and he slumped back down, pouting to himself. "Change, change, change," he droned, dragging a finger through the grime on the floor.
But those thoughts just kept running round and round and eating one another, and Marik groaned, lashing out at the wall and rising up.
He slipped into the shadows, and from there into the Shadows, moving out of the warehouse through the pools of darkness.
He retraced his footsteps from the morning, returning to the alley he had sprung a trap from for the Pharaoh. He kicked the same trash bag he had earlier, and then stabbed it for good measure.
His attack had not gone as planned at all. Oh, it had pretended to be going according to plan. But then it had all slipped out from in between his fingers, and a small fist had pounded into his face.
He frowned at the memory, running his fingers over the bruise discoloring his face. Yes, that part had definitely not been in his plans. He would have remembered putting it there, because it hurt. A lot.
As had the next couple of minutes when he had tussled with his opponent. There had been a lot of pain in those minutes.
And then the Pharaoh had entered the fray, which was confusing as well. Because the Pharaoh hadn't entered the fight until he was already hurt, which meant that someone besides the Pharaoh could hurt him.
The really confusing part was when he had finally gotten a chance to look at who had hurt him, it had been that girl.
That girl, the girl-the one his once upon a time host Malik had possessed. Marik remembered her, an annoying spot of brightness and support when he had been attempting to obliterate her friend.
The girl had changed.
His breath caught as he realized this. The girl had changed! He knew it; he had stared into her eyes at the end, not just bright but burning and blazing. They had scorched his skin where she had looked upon him, and he had grinned at her without knowing why.
The girl had confused him. The girl had punched him, and hurt him, and forced him to acknowledge her.
These were new things. New emotions, something different than the ever present throb of fury.
Marik wanted more of them.
AN: Sorry this is a bit short and messy; I've been sick for over a week now. Blurgh, sickness no is fun.
Thanks for reading; if you want, please drop a comment! Hope you all have a fantastic week!
Next time: Marik moves in. Whether or not anyone wants him to. He just does.