Author Notes: Midriffshipping as requested! This takes place early on in Season Four; sorry for the cheesy ending. :P Please review and request a one-shot for your favorite Marik shipping! (Or any Yugioh shipping, for that matter.)

Marik Ishtar: A platinum blond Egyptian teen with lavender eyes and the secrets of the pharaoh carved into his back. That was Alister's target, as assigned by Master Dartz. Alister was willing to do anything for the power the Orichalcos gave him, but that didn't mean he enjoyed being sent to the desert in the middle of nowhere. He guessed it was a punishment for failing to acquire the soul of Seto Kaiba at Pegasus' castle. At least he didn't have to travel across the desert on foot.

As he drove his motorcycle south, he glanced down at the GPS unit. He was rapidly approaching his destination. He'd been given the GPS coordinates for the target's Duel Disk, something they could track without hacking since they now had control over KaibaCorp, but he couldn't help but wonder if they were accurate. There wasn't anything around for miles as far as he could see.

He drove over a sand-dune and finally saw where he was going: an oasis. As he got closer, he saw a motorcycle parked under a palm tree. It was larger than he would have expected an oasis to be, but then again, he'd never been to the desert before.

Sand sprayed and billowed into the air in a cloud of gritty dust as Alister came to an abrupt halt. He dismounted his motorcycle and looked around, starting to get irritated. Where was the Ishtar kid? His Duel Disk was nowhere in sight and neither was Marik. Fantastic. He approached the water's edge, noticing a stack of loosely folded clothes on a large stone. He looked for any signs of his opponent under the water, but it was too dark to see much of anything.

A dark-skinned figure emerged from the water just then, his tattooed back turned towards Alister as he pushed his blond hair back, away from his face. Water streaming down his body, he wrung his hair and turned, unaware that he was being watched until his violet eyes met Alister's steely ones. They both froze for a moment, taken aback by the other.

Alister hadn't seen a picture of Marik, so he hadn't known that the youth would be this beautiful. It made him feel weak to admit that it took his breath away. Marik was shocked by the stranger's presence alone, nevermind his strange get-up. Finally, instinct kicked in, and Marik disappeared under the water again. Alister took a step back from the water, but not quick enough. Marik burst from the oasis again, this time snatching something from the stone that held his clothes and shoving Alister to the ground. Marik landed on top of him a moment later, pinning him to the ground and holding a curved dagger above his head.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, his eyes narrowed at the scarlet-haired duelist.

"I'm here to challenge you to a duel!" Alister announced, trying not to sound nervous.

"No."

"What?" Alister didn't understand what he meant. "What do you mean no?"

"I'm not going to duel you." Marik lowered his knife to the ground, laying it in the sand as his hand dropped to the spot next to Alister's head. The anger left his face as he gazed down at Alister, his face relaxing into an expression that was, of all things, peaceful.

"Why not?" Alister demanded, frustrated with this whole encounter so far.

"Because I'm done dueling."

"Then why do you have your Duel Disk with you?" Alister demanded, startling Marik.

"How did you know—?"

"That's not important," Alister snapped, shoving Marik off of him while he had the chance to do so. He sat up and started to wipe away the water that Marik had dripped onto him. He glanced at the tanned teen again, but looked away quickly, blushing more than he would have liked. "You're shameless, aren't you? Could you put some clothes on?" he muttered.

"You're the one who barged in on me," Marik reminded him with a hint of disdain as he stood and picked up his towel, which had been warmed by the sun while he swam.

"Why don't you want to duel me?" Alister asked as he remained seated on the ground with his eyes careful averted.

"I've given up dueling for good," Marik said steadily as he dried himself and started to dress. "It got me into a lot of trouble in the past. I used dueling as an instrument to exact revenge, and my anger consumed me until almost nothing good remained in my soul."

He paused, and Alister risked looking up at him. Marik was pressing his hand over his heart, his eyes closed and his head bowed. His wet, dripping hair brushed down against his cheek, dripping onto his skin so that the water imitated teardrops. He opened his eyes a little, the lavender slits turning on him with a sad look.

"I never want to become that way again, and that can't happen if I don't duel," he concluded, Alister contemplating his words.

"Did you get your revenge?" he asked curiously, thinking that if he'd attained his revenge, it would have been worth it.

"No. I almost did, but I realized that revenge doesn't benefit anyone. It's not satisfying to those who seek it and it harms those who suffer it. Revenge isn't worth selling your soul." Marik zipped up his cropped, sleeveless, lavender hoodie and crouched beside Alister, brushing away the water on his own cheek. "Why do you want to duel me? Who are you and who sent you?" he asked, all business.

Alister gazed up at him, trying to find the words to express his mission, but feeling guilty about all of it now. Was Marik right? Was revenge really as dissatisfying as he claimed? Was it really not worth selling your soul to attain it? The stone of the Orichalcos glowed in his choker necklace as the evil magic flooded his mind, convincing him that this was the right thing to do.

"I was sent here by Master Dartz and I'm here to claim your soul for the Orichalcos!" Alister declared, his features contorted with anger. He started to stand up again, but Marik lay his hand on Alister's chest and exerted enough pressure to make him stop.

"You don't listen very well, do you?" Marik's lips twitched into a smirk. "I've had to fight hard to keep my soul, and I'm not about to lose it to you." He leaned forward, his lidded eyes and mischievous expression making Alister blush. "Something tells me that you've already given up your soul to him in a way. Is it worth it, though? Have you been happy for even a single moment since you entered into his service?"

Alister opened his mouth to protest that he had, but realized before he spoke that it wasn't true. He'd been miserable since devoting his life to the Orichalcos. Nothing could satisfy him, nothing could please him.

"Even if you do get your revenge, it won't make anything better," Marik murmured, his face close to Alister's, and still getting closer. "I would recommend you rethink your life. Haven't you ever heard the saying, 'Make love, not war'?"

Those four simple words hit home for Alister, piercing his heart to its very core. He gaped at Marik in shock, conflicted and confused. He should have known better than to leave his mouth open, for in the next instant, Marik was gripping Alister's hair in one hand as he kissed his new acquaintance with a passion that lit a fire in Alister's stomach and made him moan. Marik's tongue stroked his, urging it to action as they made out under the palms. The kiss was wet and sloppy, but that didn't deter either of them. Panting, Alister broke away and let his head rest against Marik's.

"Make love," the pale foreigner whispered, tasting the concept as if for the first time.

"Not war," Marik finished with a sweet smile.

So that's what they did, right there in the oasis. Alister left without dueling Marik, but promised that someday he'd return, not for Marik's soul, but for his heart.