Ryou slid Yuugi gently to the ground, nosing the boy's various wounds, the worst of which appeared to be a stabbed shoulder and what could have been a stabbed eye . Marik landed gently in front of them, followed by a human Koe.
"Don't worry. Angels are rather hard to kill, even if they are just half-angel." Marik smirked. "But as for you..." He trailed off, insinuating painful Binding spells. Ryou growled and shifted back into his human form. Better to take his chances as a human than risk unconsciousness at the hands of a Binding Scroll.
"Aww! You're no fun!" Marik pouted. "But I suppose killing you in this form wouldn't be so bad." Marik had his paintbrush quivering in the air when Koe placed a pale, long-fingered hand on Marik's. The other hand was engulfed in fire. "Let me handle this little Host. He battered my patsy, so I'm in a bad mood!" Koe said, grinning devilishly.
Ryou scooted backwards on his butt, spreading his arms wide in an attempt to cover more of Yuugi's body. "Why are you protecting that halfling?" Koe asked. "A strong Host like you shouldn't be bogged down by such trivial relations. " Koe's other hand burst into flames, and he fired. Ryou threw himself at the ground, barely avoiding the deadly bullet. The fireball slammed into someone's shoulder. Ryou hoped he was on Marik's side.
"So I guess only your scales are fireproof? Lucky me." Koe grinned, firing both fireballs. Scales! The thought suddenly occurred to him. He could breathe fire while in his human form. So why couldn't he cover himself with fireproof scales? Ryou concentrated hard on covering his arms with his scales, crossing them in front of his chest protectively. The fire bounced off his unclothed arm and disappeared. Koe growled. "Clever little Host." Marik said. "But as long as any part of your body uses your dragon's powers, I can Bind you." He reminded Ryou, twitching his paintbrush wand.
Ryou growled and shifted his scales back into skin. Koe glanced at Marik with a look somewhere between anger and gratitude. "I'll take it from here." Koe said, calling fire to his hands again. Ryou spread his arms wide. This will only work once, so make it count! He thought. When Koe fired with a mocking laugh, Ryou concentrated with all of his might, making sure his chest was completely covered with scales.
The fire hit him smack in the middle of his chest, blowing him back a few feet. Ryou laid as still as possible, feigning unconsciousness. Please let Koe come check on me. Ryou thought, gripping the pocketknife he had hidden, wedged underneath his body. There was a jangling of metal, and Ryou somehow knew that Koe was leaning over him. With a fluid move that came from years of practice, Ryou cut the cord of the Millennium Ring with one hand and snatched the Ring with the other, rolling out of the way.
Koe's eyes widened in fear. "So you guessed..." He growled, sweat trickling down the side of his face. Ryou shrugged. "You said I had damaged your patsy. The only thing that looked damaged was this Ring, and that's pretty magical, isn't it?" He taunted. Now that the Yuugitachi had all of the Items, the war was over! Ryou was about to retreat when a giant, invisible hand closed around his middle and lifted him into the air a bit, where his limbs suddenly froze and stiffened.
Ryou glanced at Marik, who had shoved Koe out of the way. "I guess I have to do everything by myself..." He sighed. "Now, hand over the Millennium Ring." Ryou tried to shake his head, kick his feet, or hold up his middle finger in defiance. Anything besides just retorting "No!" like a pathetic little child. Where was everyone, anyway? Was he supposed to fight the two strongest people alone?
Apparently so. Marik walked over to Ryou and tugged on the Ring. "Let go!" Marik said angrily. Ryou growled, wishing with all his might that he could move his leg just two feet to the left and smack Marik right upside the head.
Marik stopped his futile tugging and pulled out his paintbrush wand. "Fine! If you won't give it up willingly, I'll just have to use this!" Marik chanted a quick spell and suddenly, Ryou's hands started to unclench without his permission. "You see, I don't have much time to waste, so if you'd stop fighting the spell, I'd really appreciate it." Marik said conversationally. Ryou growled and struggled. He was a dragon! No spell could hold him for this long!
He clenched his fingers as tight as he possibly could, but knew it was only a matter of time before it was loose enough to pull out. His eyes were drawn to the side as he saw Koe transforming his fists into balls of fire. This will not be fun... Ryou thought nervously as Koe fired them right at Ryou's chest and arms. The pain of fire on flesh was nearly unbearable. Fire flickered at his face, scalded his skin, and smoldered in his hair. The oppressive heat surrounded his non-burnt skin, and the oppressive cold surrounded the burnt skin.
"I appreciate the help, Koe, but it's not necessary. I like torturing my opponents myself." Marik said, shoving Koe out of the way for a second time. Koe growled but backed away, smoke pouring from the top of his head.
"Now, I'm getting impatient. If you don't stop fighting, I'll have to break your fingers." Marik warned. Ryou scowled. Broken fingers would hurt. A lot. Should he just let go? He glanced down at Yuugi, and his resolve firmed. Yami had once told him the reason they all fight for the items. Those items can return Yuugi to heaven, where he belongs. Ryou would fight to make sure Yuugi got there in a good way.
"You're not going to say anything? You're not going to stop fighting?" Marik asked incredulously. "Very well." Marik started to chant the spell that would undoubtedly cause Ryou's fingers to break (because breaking them oneself was way too barbaric) when a voice called out his name, and suddenly, Ryou could move again.
Ryou dropped to the ground heavily, arms and chest shaking from the fire attack. Malik and Anzu ran up towards him, flanked by members of the Yuugitachi.
"Ryou! Are you okay?" Malik repeated. Ryou nodded slightly, trying to tie the Millennium Ring's cord back up. If he could tap into the Millennium Ring's power of invulnerability, the war would be over soon. "And who do we have here? The boy who used to use demon magic?" Marik asked, attempting to find all of Malik's buttons to push.
Malik stopped short. "H-How did you know? Then... you're the demon magic user! Hmm... So Zorc's living in your head now? Tell him I say good riddance, Fart-face!" Malik said, sticking his tongue out. Marik smiled. "He heard that and isn't too happy." He replied. Then he summoned a ball of power and heaved it at Malik. This single attack would wipe out most of the little mage's pitiful power. He thought. Malik saw the giant ball of energy shrieking at him and held out his palm to stop it.
Marik's eyes widened in surprise. No chanting? No wand? And he managed to stop a powerful attack? He's no ordinary mage. His powers are unrivaled by any mage. Even myself. That's why I gave him the ring he wears on his finger. It seals away most of his magic. The demon master said. Marik was surprised to hear real fear present in Zorc's voice.
Then what do I do? Marik demanded. Kill him before he has the chance to break the seal. Marik growled. Increasing the power of his attacks should overtax the boy's concentration and unsealed magic. That will surely kill him.
Marik produced another ball of energy and lobbed it at Malik's head as if in some barbaric form of catch. Malik lifted his other hand to catch this attack. He growled, panting for breath under the strain of holding back two powerful attacks. He knew he couldn't hold this for much longer. If only Anzu could help! But she was busy keeping Yuugi from dying. And Ryou wouldn't be much help if he was Bound. So it was up to him.
But how long could he last? Already, Marik's attacks were gaining ground, heating up his palms. Malik could hold them back for thirty more seconds, tops. Unless he tapped down in that power he felt right beyond his reach. The power that kept him from death when he tried magic that was "too powerful" for his pathetic amount of magic. That was the only way.
Malik dove deep inside himself, reaching for that last scrap of magic. He felt the seconds, precious seconds, crawl by slowly as he managed to grab a sliver of the hidden magic and yank it and all of its friends to his hands. Suddenly, the ring he had worn for as long as he could remember cracked. It was an obvious, but not necessarily loud crack. It sounded like someone had cracked a knuckle or pulled apart a pair of chopsticks.
Malik watched in confusion as the ring turned into dust, leaving only the small amethyst in its wake. What the... Malik's brow wrinkled in confusion. That wasn't supposed to happen. Or maybe it was. Malik's body suddenly felt really hot, as if he was having a hot flash (And I'm a teenage guy! What's the deal?). Marik stepped back. He could feel the power that was radiating off this boy. Almost too much for one body to handle. And he was right.
Malik's body burst into purple flames, his magic unable to be contained in his body. The balls of energy that were slowly eating their way into Malik's hands were extinguished in a puff of smoke. Malik stared at his hands in awe. He had just stopped a demon magic user with his bare hands. How awesome was that?
Malik had little time to celebrate his victory, however. Marik had charged in with an attack, and Malik barely had time to dodge before his magic flared up around him even higher. The fire suddenly shot out, engulfing Marik's entire body. Malik took a step back as Marik started screaming in absolute pain, his skin and flesh being burned off his bones.
The people around him either stared in horror or turned away, screwing their eyes shut and clapping hands over their ears. The screams suddenly cut off as Malik's fire suddenly flickered out, and he collapsed. Koe rushed over to Marik and Ryou did the same to Malik. Malik was pale, and he was barely breathing. But he was alive. Marik, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. Ryou took one look at the burned lump of... whatever that used to be a human and nearly lost his lunch.
Koe, however, started laughing like a maniac. "Finally the arrogant knob head is dead!" Koe took a deep breath of air, a peaceful smile lighting up his face. "So, I take it that means you're on our side?" Ryou asked, finally slipping the Millennium Ring over his head with shaking, burned hands.
Koe whirled on the boy. "What makes you say that? I want all the Items for myself, not this louse." He said, his body starting to steam. "I would like my Ring back." Koe said as he transformed into his Phoenix self. Ryou smirked. Even beaten up as Ryou was, Koe no longer had the invulnerability the Ring provided. Within minutes, Ryou had the Phoenix trapped between his claws, ready to take the other beast's head off.
The phoenix didn't even bother to beg for mercy. He knew Ryou would show it. Ryou shot Koe a glare as they both shifted into their human forms. "Try to steal the items again, and I'll kill you." Then he stalked away to where Anzu was working hard to heal Yuugi, and the rest of their army was pushing back the remnants of Marik's.
Suddenly, Ryou sensed something bad about to happen. He whirled, just as Koe was lifting a giant sword above his head and swinging it down. Ryou lifted his arm, concentrating on strong scales to protect him, but knowing they wouldn't appear in time.
There was a large splattering of blood, and Koe went down with a yell. The sword scraped Ryou's arm as it fell out of the phoenix's grip. Ryou stared as Koe gripped the back of his thigh, howling in pain. Yami stood a few feet behind, a second throwing knife ready at a moment's notice.
"I warned you..." Ryou said. He shifted his hand into a dragon's clawed paw. Koe stared deep into Ryou's eyes. "Just get it over with already." He spat. Ryou paused. This wasn't right. They had all of the Items. Koe couldn't walk. The Yuugitachi was collecting the last of the weapons from the Kaibatachi's surrendered army. There was no more need for blood.
"Bring him back to headquarters and put him in jail." With that, Ryou turned to help Yuugi slowly sit up.
His shoulder was mostly healed, but his eye wouldn't heal for a long time. Anzu had wrapped a bandage around it to keep it from disturbing other people. "How are you doing, Yuugi?" Ryou asked as Anzu magically set up a medical tent for all the injured. Yuugi smiled weakly. "I feel like I got stabbed in the eye socket. Oh, wait. That actually happened..." They giggled for a second. Then Yuugi's eyes landed on the Ring Ryou had put on.
"You got the Ring back!" Yuugi said ecstatically. Ryou nodded. "Here!" Ryou took it off and handed it to the half-angel. Yuugi accepted it with a thanks and slipped it over his neck. "You know, I never thought this war would be so... violent. I had hoped no one would get hurt, and I could just collect the Items quietly. I guess that could never happen." Yuugi said with a laugh.
"Do are you really going to leave us?" Ryou asked as the first wave of injured hobbled into Anzu's tent. Yuugi stiffened and glanced at the dragon. "How did you-?" "Yami told me." Ryou said sadly. So it was true. Yuugi sighed and rested his chin on his knees. "Yes. I'm going to leave. My human body cannot stand my angelic powers for much longer. I need a fully angelic body." He said. Ryou nodded understandingly. Sometimes he felt his dragon side bursting to get out.
"I'll miss you." Ryou said.
"Yeah. I'll miss you too. But I can always watch over you."
A/N: Oh, I love Koe. Originally, I had him really out of character. Like, REALLY out of character. Even now it strikes me the wrong way. Did I do alright?
Please read and review!