Chapter 2

A tremor went through the spaceship and Mariku was pulled forward. Only the seatbelt held him in his seat. A loud warning signal sounded and the light flickered. Another shake let the ship tremble and it was thrown out of its orbit. They heard a loud crash, then another and another. Mariku clawed at the armrests so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He had his eyelids pressed together, because it felt as if his eyes would burst at any moment. Muffled he heard Ryou screaming: "What's going on?"

Nobody was able to answer him. Mariku gritted his teeth. Pain went through his body. His bones seemed to break at any moment and the pressure in his head was unbearable. The spacecraft was turned to the side. Another shake and suddenly they stood head. Mariku felt relief as the pressure subsided in his head and wandered into his legs. Nevertheless, he was on the point of vomiting. His clothes clung to him. A final tremor went through the ship before it turned back into its proper position and remained still. Ryou turned off the alarm.

"What, by all moons?" He gasped. His eyes were wide and veined red. "Is anyone hurt?"

Mariku wasn't able to answer him; he fought the urge to pass out.

"I think I have to die," moaned Jonouchi and wiped blood from his forehead. Disgusted, he stared at his hand and wiped it on his shirt. "Was that a solar storm?"

"Impossible," objected Ryou. "We were-" But he didn't finish the sentence. "Anzu, are you okay?" Anzu said nothing. She was breathing heavily. The gills on her neck fluttered. Her upper body was almost completely translucent, while her legs had assumed a dark blue. "Anzu?" She fell to the ground.

Ryou ran stumbling to her. "Damn it, Anzu! Pull yourself together!" He lifted her legs so that her blood flowed back into the upper body.

The cockpit door opened, and Bakura entered. Blood ran from his nose and he wiped it away with his hand casually. "Do you want to kill us?" He looked at Anzu. "Doesn't look good for the little one." Ryou gave him an angry look. "You should put her in water that should bring her circulation going again."

"Honda, get Anzu and put her in the tub," Ryou said, without averting his gaze from Bakura. "How do you know that?"

"I know many things, but I still don't know why you tried to kill us." He took a step to the side to allow Honda to pass.

"I would like to know what happened, too." Ryou muttered and got back on his feet again. He tried to open the star map, but the hologram showed nothing. Furiously, Ryou pounded on the armature. "Damn!"

"Is it broken?" asked Mariku. His tongue felt numb and heavy. Black spots danced before his eyes as if he would pass out at any moment. With trembling fingers he opened the seatbelt, but didn't dare to get up.

"No, it works, it just doesn't show where we are." Ryou replied without looking up from the empty hologram.

"Broken after all."

Ryou turned to Mariku. His eyes were wide open. "No, you don't understand! It doesn't show where we are, because there is no map for this galaxy."

Silence fell.

Mariku looked through the windshield. The only things he could see were stars. "It has thrown us out of hyperspace," Ryou sat down, "and now we are in an unknown galaxy."

"Can we call it the Jou-Galaxy?"

Ryou rolled his eyes. "This isn't the time for jokes."

"What's the plan?" Bakura asked, sitting down next to Mariku.

Ryou ran a hand through his hair. "Finding a planet or a space station, someone who can tell us where we are."

"Can't we," Mariku stroked over his eyes, "simply jump out of here?" He still felt dizzy,

Ryou looked at him as if he had said something incredibly stupid. "Are you out of your mind? We don't know what happens if we jump without coordinates! And you want to be a pilot?" Mariku raised his eyebrows in surprise. After Ryou's previous behavior, he hadn't expected that he really cared about the reason, he was going to Ptera. "Jou, has the ship been damaged?"

With dash Jonouchi slipped on Anzu place, looked from the screen to the buttons in front of him and then turned to Ryou. "I don't know how to use it."

Ryou took a deep breath. "She showed you how to do that."

"That was months ago."

"Last week." he sighed.

"As long as we float, it can't be that bad," Bakura said, just as Honda came into the cockpit again.

"How's Anzu?"

"She regained consciousness."

Ryou sighed with relief. "Good. Jou, back on your seat; let's take a look around."

Bakura smirked at Mariku. Through the blood around his nose and mouth, his grin was something psychopathic. "Like a real adventure. I'm really excited."

Mariku couldn't contradict him. It was exciting, albeit dangerous. They didn't know where they were and what would happen next.

Slowly the spacecraft began to move, and performed a rotation. Only with difficulty Mariku could hold himself in his seat, at least until Bakura bumped into him and they both rolled through the cockpit. "Fasten your seatbelts, idiots." Ryou hissed as they lay at his feet.

"The control system is totally messed up," muttered Jonouchi and had trouble to bring the spaceship to its normal position. Mariku rubbed the back of his head. He slid down from Bakura and used Ryou's seat to get back on his feet.

Bakura also stood up. He turned his gaze to the outside, closed his eyes for a moment, except for a small gap and then went closer to the window. Ryou wanted to hiss at him again as Bakura began to speak: "There, on the left side, isn't that a space station?"

"Where?"

"Well there!" He reached out and Ryou's eyes narrowed.

"I can't see anything."

Bakura sighed. "Your eyes are just too bad. Just fly in this direction." Ryou looked at him suspiciously, but indicated Jonouchi to do what Bakura said.

And Bakura was right: a space station came into view. "Doesn't look very inviting," muttered Jonouchi and let the ship stop to keep a safe distance. They couldn't see any lights or other signs of life.

"It bears the mark of rebellion," Honda said suddenly and Ryou straightened himself.

Mariku looked at Bakura. "Rebellion?" But Bakura shrugged his shoulders.

Ryou grabbed the radio. "This is the captain of Amane, we request permission to dock. Our ship was damaged during the jump." But only noise was their answer. "I repeat, this is the captain of Amane, we may ask for permission to dock." Once again he got no response.

"Seems like it's abandoned. What do we do?"

"Docking." ordered Ryou. "We have no choice. The control system is damaged and perhaps even more. Furthermore, we could find clues as to where we are. "

The landing process was difficult. They turned a few times and almost crashed into the outer shell before they finally were able to land. Everyone sighed with relief.

"Jou, Honda, you two stay on the ship and look at the damage. Maybe Anzu is fit enough to help you. You two," he pointed at Mariku and Bakura, "come with me. We'll look around." They followed him out of the cockpit. "The station seemed to be abandoned, but that doesn't mean it is. Who knows what's hiding here and I certainly won't take any chances, so we don't go outside unarmed, even if we have only stun guns." He handed them two rifles. "Have you ever shot with that?"

Mariku looked at the gun in his hand. It was light as a feather and had a red energy core pulsing in its midst. "No."

"Once," Bakura replied, "accidentally."

Ryou sighed. "Just try not to shoot us."

In the space station it was freezing cold, and pitch black. The light of their flashlights was just enough to brighten up the way before them. Bakura had no problems with the little light; his night vision was amazing. The space station was, as expected, abandoned. Debris from space ships took up most of the space. There were some boxes, mostly stacked on the walls. "There shouldn't be a lacking in spare parts," Bakura said as he let his gaze wander through the great hall. His voice echoed along the walls.

"Hush," Ryou hissed at him.

"Don't worry," Bakura pointed at his ears, "I've got super-hearing and night vision. No one can sneak up on us. "

"Maybe I'm just not in the mood to listen to your voice?"

Mariku chuckled and Bakura nudged him with his elbow.

"You know, for a Cygni you're really rude."

Ryou snorted and pushed open the door that led out of the great hall. "I'm different."

"Different is exciting."

"Are you trying to hit on me?"

"A little bit."

"Should I leave you two alone?" Mariku intervened.

"Better not, because now it's getting disgusting."

Mariku and Ryou looked at Bakura in surprise. Bakura however, had his eyes fixed on something in the distance. He pushed past Ryou and ran down the passage. Mariku and Ryou followed him. The glow of their flashlights fell on two skeletons in uniforms, their heads missing. "They are lying here for a while."

"Where are the heads?" Mariku wanted to know and crouched down. It was the first time, he saw real skeletons and found it very intriguing.

"Over there," Ryou said. He had checked the passage with his flashlight. The two heads were only a few feet away from the bodies.

Bakura looked at them and touched the neck vertebrae. "Torn off," he muttered and stood up again. "Someone or something had torn the heads downright from the body." He gripped the handle of the gun tightly. "And I hope it's not here anymore."

"Let us go on. We have to get to the command room."

They continued on their way. This time, however, they didn't talk. Mariku chewed on his lower lip; the skeletons still on his mind. How long were they there already? Were they in danger, too? Was something lurking in the darkness of the space station, which would also tear off their heads? He swallowed; all the horror sci-fi movies came to his mind. Not an uplifting thought.

They entered a room to their left, and the smell made Mariku almost vomit. Ryou also turned up his nose, only Bakura seemed unaffected by the sweet smell of decay.

"He hasn't been dead for long," was his dry comment. "But he looks different than the others before." Ryou approached while Mariku stopped at the door. "Somehow he looks nibbled."

Ryou let the light of his flashlight wander over the corpse and drew a sharp breath. "Impossible," he cried out hoarsely. He stumbled back a few steps, the sheer panic was written all over his face. "This is IMPOSSIBLE!"

"What? What's going on?" Bakura looked at him confused.

"Impossible! Simply impossible!" repeated Ryou. His body was shaking. "We have to get out of here right now."

"Why?"

"NOW!"

Bakura looked down at the corpse. Scales partially covered the body and he could see sharp teeth. One of the long canines was broken. He strained his memory, but it wasn't a species he had ever seen. Why was Ryou so afraid? Ryou suddenly grabbed his wrist and pulled Bakura with him. He was surprisingly strong.

"What's the matter?" asked Mariku.

"We're leaving," was all Ryou said.

Mariku and Bakura exchanged puzzled looks.

Before Mariku could even feel the pain, his body went numb. The only thing he felt was the weight on his back and something that slammed into his back and shoulder. He blinked. His surroundings were blurred and distorted. Mariku staggered. He took a step forward, and then he collapsed. He tried to breathe, but his lungs had trouble to fill themselves with oxygen. Mariku fought against the blackout, but more and more black spots danced before his eyes. As if from a distance he heard Bakura's and Ryou's voices and then a shot. After that, his world turned black.

"What was that?" Ryou yelled at Bakura.

"Sorry, I panicked!" Bakura yelled back and picked up the gun he had dropped in shock.

"You're more anxious than a human child!"

"I've never met a human child, so I don't know if you've just insulted me!"

Ryou sighed resignedly, and then looked to Mariku and the alien, which lay stunned by his side. "Shit!" Mariku had a gaping wound in his shoulder and several smaller on his back where the claws had drilled into his body.

"We need to get him back to the ship," said Bakura. "He must be medicated immediately."

"He's dead."

"How can you say that? He's just bleeding."

"That," Ryou pointed at the alien next to him, "is a Notechis. Their venom is the strongest that you will ever find. Mariku is dead."

Bakura gritted his teeth. "There is always an antidote, no matter the poison." He crouched beside Mariku and felt his pulse. "He still lives and I won't let him die like this. I haven't at least tried to help him. Now help me carry them." He went to lift Mariku, but Ryou stopped him.

"I'll carry him. I won't touch that Notechis bastard."

"Whatever you say." Bakura was surprised how light the Notechis was. He felt the bones and muscles under the firm skin. The scales felt as hard as stone. He could smell the blood on the Notechis mouth and licked his lips involuntarily. Bakura swallowed and tried to push the thought of sweet blood aside, but the smell made it impossible for him. He was hungry. "Isn't Mariku too heavy for you?"

"Oh please," Ryou replied snidely and put Mariku with ease over his shoulder.

"You're really full of surprises." It was better that Ryou carried Mariku anyway. Just the smell of his blood tugged at Bakura's self-control.

Ryou smiled briefly before his expression turned serious again. "What are you going to do? Why do you need the Notechis?"

"I need his poison for the antidote," said Bakura.

They hurried back towards the ship.

"And you know what you got to do?"

"Of course."

"A Nocidea who is familiar with antidotes, how interesting."

"I'm different," Bakura said, grinning.

"What's going on?" Jonouchi shouted to them as they approached the ship.

"Mariku is injured," Bakura replied. "I need bandages, a glass, your entire first-aid stuff and Anzu. Oh, and alcohol!"

"In here." Ryou said, leading Bakura to a small, almost empty room. Bakura let Mariku slide to the ground.

"Is that...?" Honda stood at the door. On his face was the same terrified expression Ryou had as he saw the Notechis.

"Yes, get the chains." Ryou snapped.

In the meantime Bakura ripped Mariku's shirt. The smell of blood almost drove him mad. "Pull yourself together," he muttered to himself. Anzu entered with the first-aid kit. "Seiren can produce water, right?"

"Yes."

"In different temperatures?" Anzu nodded. "Okay, his body temperature is now close to 41 degrees. His normal body temperature is about 37 degrees." He ran his fingers through his hair. The blood was distracting him. He wanted to bury his face in the shoulder wound. "Is that alcohol?" He exclaimed as Jonouchi came through the door with a bottle in his hands. "Quick!" Bakura took a deep gulp and then sighed relieved. The alcohol suppressed the blood thirst at least for a short time. "Water temperature 45 degrees." Mariku's body flinched as the hot water touched his wounds. "As long as he's twitching, he's still alive." Bakura took the glass and turned to the Notechis, who had been chained to the wall by Honda. Bakura opened its mouth and pressed the glass under its canines. Poison dripped into the glass. Afterwards Bakura filled the glass with alcohol and mixed it with painkiller. With one of his canines, he scratched his finger and dripped his blood into the glass.

"Your blood?" Ryou asked skeptically.

"It neutralizes most poisons." Bakura replied with a concentrated face. With the rags of Mariku's shirts, he wiped his back dry. Carefully he poured the contents of the glass on the wounds.

"And that should help?"

"I hope so."

"And what do we do with him?" Bakura noticed the fear in Anzu's voice. Why were they so afraid of him? He looked at the boy in chains. He seemed very young to Bakura, but that could be deceiving. He looked thin and sickly. His ribs were showing. He didn't seem particularly threatening, apart from the claws and teeth.

"We kill him." Ryou replied coolly.

"Why?"

"Why?" Ryou repeated hissing. "He's a Notechis, that's why!"

"That's no reason!" Bakura checked the bandages, and then looked up at Ryou.

"It's the best reason ever." Ryou's pure hatred towards the Notechis was a mystery to Bakura. He wanted to know the reason, but didn't dare to ask. Not yet.

"I might need more of his poison," said Bakura. He didn't like the thought of killing this boy without talking to him first. He wanted to know who he was.

Ryou snorted. "Tomorrow morning he is dead." He looked to his team. "Tell me something about Amane, are the damages worse?" They left the room.

Bakura sighed with relief, then lifted Mariku up and brought him to his cabin. "Don't die, I dare you."

Slowly Mariku came back to consciousness. His head felt heavy and he felt a dull pain in his upper body. He wanted to move, but his body didn't obey him. It didn't even feel like his body. He had a metallic taste in the mouth. The attempt to open the eyes failed miserably. What had happened? The last thing he remembered was the landing on the space station, but everything that came after that was just black. He felt like he had a hangover, only worse. Where was he? What had happened? Mariku managed to turn his head.

"Mariku?" The voice seemed familiar, but strange at the same time. Who was with him? He felt cool fingers touching his face. "Your fever has gone down." Fever? Mariku's eyelids flickered. Only dimly he could make out his surroundings. He saw the outline of a person next to him. Mariku opened his mouth, but no sound left his throat. "Are you thirsty?" He nodded weakly. Slowly, his vision sharpened. Bakura was with him. "Sit up carefully." Bakura helped him and he gave a plaintive sound as a sharp pain went through his shoulder. Only now he noticed the bandages.

"What...?"

"Drink first of all."

Mariku greedily drank the water, ignoring that half of it landed on the bedspread and his chest. "What happened?"

"You were attacked and poisoned." Mariku looked at Bakura in disbelief. Why couldn't he remember it? "Don't worry, I have you patched up and now that you're awake, I'm assuming that you won't die."

"Thank you," murmured Mariku and sank back on the mattress. "What has attacked me?"

"A Note—I forgot his name, but everyone seems to be in quite a panic because of him. No one tells me why though." Bakura shrugged. "Ryou had him put in chains and wants to kill him in the morning."

"Oh." Mariku closed his eyes. He felt exhausted and wanted to go back to sleep. "I want to see him."

"You better not move."

Mariku turned his head to the side and looked at Bakura. "Please."

Bakura sighed. "As if I could resist a hurt, half-naked guy." He shrugged his shoulders resignedly and Mariku chuckled. Bakura helped him out of bed and steadied him.

"I will remember that."

"Please make sure you don't almost get killed next time, it's a bit stressful."

Mariku stared at the alien for a long time before he said anything. "He doesn't look so threatening."

"I second that, Ryou doesn't look threatening either, but I would still be afraid that he'd bite my cock off."

"That's what I'm going to do if you continue making stupid comments."

Bakura ducked his head and grinned slightly. "I hadn't noticed you."

"You've already impressively demonstrated that you don't hear it when someone is sneaking up. What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see who nearly killed me." Mariku answered.

"Enjoy the view while you still can. I can't wait to squeeze the life out of him. Although I haven't decided yet how I'll kill him. It will, in any case, be long and painful and I will enjoy every second of it. "

Suddenly a chuckle. "As if I let scum like you lay hands on me." Malik looked up; an amused expression in his eyes. He lisped and Mariku could see the forked tongue as he licked his lips.

Ryou's eyes narrowed. "Oh, you're awake."

But Malik ignored him. His gaze was fixed on Mariku. "Oh, the human still lives."

"It takes a bit more than just poison to kill me."

Malik gave an amused sound. "We'll see." he whispered, a shiver crept over Mariku's body. He had first looked harmless, but he got more threatening by the minute. His presence took the whole room.

"Hey Notechis!" Bored Malik turned his gaze to Ryou. "How many of you bastards are there?"

"Don't worry; I don't need help to kill you." His head snapped to the side as Ryou slapped him. "I'm going to enjoy peeling your face off." Another slap in the face. "You're so pathetic, Cygni. We will refer you back to your familiar place." Ryou punched him in the face. Malik laughed and licked the blood from his lips. "GET ON YOUR KNEES, SCUM!" He tugged at the chains. Ryou hit him again while Mariku and Bakura stood by helplessly, not knowing whether they should intervene or not. "You'll regret this," Malik said with a softly hiss, "You and your family."

"You had them already." snarled Ryou and Malik suddenly looked interested.

"Well, yes, you look kind of familiar. Who was it? A sister?" Ryou froze. "Oh yes, a sister. What a weak little thing. It was fun to pluck out every feather, one by one and watch her as she went mad, and scratched her eyes out."

Driven by his hatred Ryou punched Malik repeatedly until Bakura finally went in between.

"LET ME GO!" Ryou yelled at him and tried to wrest from his grasp. "I'LL KILL HIM!" Tears ran down his cheeks. "I'M GONNA KILL THIS BASTARD!"

"Calm down."

"NO!"

Bakura flung him over his shoulder and carried the screaming, flailing Ryou out of the room.

Mariku and Malik were alone and Mariku felt more than just uncomfortable. Malik's eyes were fixed on him, and it didn't seem to bother him, that Ryou had just beaten his face bloody. "A human." Malik looked amused. "You are almost as pathetic as the Cygni; a weak, pitiful race, short-lived and so fragile."

"Still, I've survived your poison. That probably means that we humans are stronger than you think or you're just weak."

The grin disappeared from Malik's face. No matter what he said, he could only lose. "Oh, you think you're so clever. In the end you will beg for your life." He made a series of hissing sounds and Mariku suspected that this was his mother tongue.

"You don't even know Ryou's sister, right?" Mariku changed the subject. He felt uncomfortable to speak about himself or human kind with Malik. It was better if he didn't say too much.

The grin returned. "No."

"Why did you say it then?"

"I wanted to see him suffer."

"Why?"

"It's fun."

His words sent cold shivers up and down Mariku's spine. He went to the door because he couldn't bear Malik's presence any longer. They really shouldn't be fooled by his appearance. Malik didn't let him out of sight. Before he left the room, Mariku took a last glance over his shoulder. Malik hissed, and then chuckled.

"What do you think of him?" Bakura asked as he undid Mariku's bandages to look at the wound.

"He is cold, cruel, enjoys to see others suffer, and he will kill us as soon as he gets the chance."

"Almost certainly."

"Has Ryou said anything?"

"Other than insulting me? No. I left him alone with the remaining alcohol. Oh."

"What?"

"Your shoulder." Bakura leaned closer to him. "It looks like as if he had bitten a piece out. That will leave a pretty scar."

Mariku sighed. He wasn't even two days on the road and almost gotten killed already. What a record. "Do we know where we are?" But before Bakura could answer there was a knock at the door. "Yes?"

Anzu entered. She carried a tray with two bowls. "I made you soup if you are hungry." She looked anxious and her usually blue skin had turned more greenish. "I'm not disturbing you?" Her eyes flickered briefly over Mariku's naked torso before she lowered it.

"No, of course not. Leave it on the table, thank you."

Anzu shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. Something seemed to be on her mind. "How are your wounds?"

"I'll survive. Bakura is taking good care of me."

"Good." She nervously fumbled around with the hem of her skirt. "I," she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, "I want to tell you about the Notechis." Mariku and Bakura looked at each other in surprise. "If you're interested?" The two men nodded and Anzu continued. "I wasn't born yet, so I can't tell you exact details. People don't talk about it too much. It was a dark time." She bit her lower lip. "The Notechis were once the rulers of several galaxies. Cruel rulers. They have enslaved and exterminated whole species. They tortured because they enjoyed it; for entertainment. There have always been resistors, but the Notechis were fighting machines. No one had a chance against them. Ryou's people, the Cygni, had it especially hard. They're a peaceful race, they don't fight and the Notechis had fun with them… a lot of fun." She clenched her fists. "Ryou knows what it's like to be a slave. That's why he is how he is. He has learned that you will be treated with contempt, if you aren't strong and he wants to be strong. The truth is he is afraid. He has huge fear of the Notechis, because they shouldn't exist anymore. The Notechis are an extinct species for over 150 years!"

"What happened?" Bakura wanted to know. He had completely forgotten that he wanted to change Mariku's bandages.

"There was a war. The Notechis had tangled with the wrong race." Anzu stroked restlessly over her arm. "At least it looked like that at first, but the Notechis were just too superior and they had gained powerful allies."

"Nevertheless, they have been wiped out?" Anzu nodded. "How?"

"Luck. Pure luck. A supernova destroyed their home planet and 90% of their fleet. The survivors were hunted down and executed." She took a deep breath. Her gills fluttered nervously. "They were declared extinct."

"A supernova," muttered Mariku. "How can it be then, that we have one in chains on this ship?"

"That's just it!" She jumped up. Her voice was shrill. "If there is one, then there are more and they had 150 years to recover."

"What if he had simply just hidden all this time?" Bakura put new bandages on.

"Impossible. The space station was abandoned long ago. He would never have had enough food for such a long period of time."

"Well, it would explain why he had eaten his friend." Anzu and Mariku looked at him in horror. "What? The corpse had significant bite marks."

"There was another Notechis on the station?" Anzu voice trembled violently. She seemed on the verge of a panic attack.

"Calm down. He was dead."

"But that means there are more." Anzu put her hands over her mouth. "I have," she took a deep breath, "to lie down."

Mariku wanted to cross his arms behind his head, but as pain shot through him, he lowered his arms again. Bakura had given him something for the pain, but it was still there. His shoulder throbbed and he couldn't sleep at all. Anzu's story was still on his mind. It wasn't surprising that Ryou wanted to see the Notechis dead immediately. What he had been through, Mariku couldn't even imagine in his worst nightmares.

Mariku turned to the side and back again. His shoulder knew no pity for him. He stood up, took the bowl with the half-eaten soup from the table and left the room. On the way to the kitchen, he stopped in front of the room in which Malik was detained. Mariku took a deep breath and opened the door. Malik was curled up close to the wall for a comfortable sleeping position. As Mariku entered, his eyes opened. His face was still bloody.

"Oh, what a surprise. What's this? My last meal?"

Mariku looked at the bowl in his hand. "Not really," he muttered, and put the bowl on the table nearby. "Have you eaten recently?"

"A few hours ago. Meat. Juicy and tender." Malik licked his lips grinning and Mariku glanced at his shoulder.

"I heard what your species has done in the past."

"Ah." Malik closed his eyes. "The good old days. At that time vermin like you knew its place. "

"You were there?"

"Of course." The pride in his voice was unmistakable. The longevity of many alien races was still strange for Mariku. Malik was thus about 200 years old. However, he did look like a teenager.

"What's your name?"

Malik made a derisive sound. "Why should I tell you that, scum?" Despite his hopeless situation Malik showed no respect or fear. He behaved as if he had the situation completely under control.

"If you tell me, you get the rest of the soup."

Malik's eyes flicked briefly to the bowl on the table. "Bad deal." But his gaze lingered long enough on it to show Mariku that the soup was very probably a good deal. He only had to pass Malik's pride.

"You think so? Well, then I'll throw it away." He took the bowl from the table. "A pity, it's really delicious." He turned to go.

"Wait," Malik hissed and Mariku turned around with a pretended questioning look on his face. "My name is Malik, now give me the food, you fucking insect."

Mariku could hardly suppress the triumphant grin. He placed the bowl to Malik's lips and he drank greedily of the soup until nothing was left.

"Malik, huh?" He put the bowl back on the table. "That name also exists on earth." Malik's eyes narrowed to slits. He didn't seem to like the thought of pathetic humans sharing his name. "It means king." This, however, he seemed to like.

"Looks like as if you humans aren't quite so stupid."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Silence returned and Mariku stroked his neck restlessly. Under Malik's glare, he felt like the prey, face to face with its hunter, even though Malik was in chains. "Aren't you afraid for tomorrow?"

"Why should I be?"

"Ryou will kill you."

Malik hissed a few times. He sounded amused. "No, he won't."