"You're really sure about this?" Ryou asked, quirking his brow at Atem.

"Yes, absolutely." The Egyptian replied. "I don't know where exactly they are on this island, but I know they're on this island."

Ryou looked like he wanted to continue asking, because he obviously wasn't so sure himself, but he chose to close his mouth instead. Probably a good idea. Atem wasn't looking so charitable today. He seemed on edge. Angry. Was it because they were so close to finding Yami, but simultaneously so far away?

Ryou knew that was why he was irritated today. He wasn't sure if he and Atem were enough alike to be angry about the same thing, though. Didn't think they were, but couldn't be entirely sure without extensive questioning that neither of them probably had the patience for. That Ryou definitely didn't have the patience for.

He turned his eyes to Yugi, instead, wanting to quip the man's lack of tenseness, his expensive suit, anything he could quip, but finding nothing that would actually sting. He must have lost his edge.

Or maybe we're just learning to play nice. Green-eyes suggested. He sounded like the idea made him physically sick.

Ryou could relate.

"Well, how do you suggest we find them, then?" Malik broke the silence.

His shoulders were set, back straight, head high. He was really looking awfully kingly today. It was cute. Cute and sexy. Ryou knew already that he didn't quite look the part himself - he was wearing his coat, a pair of skinny jeans, and no shirt with the Ring hanging in front of his chest. He was slumped forward slightly, as well. No posture. And don't even get him started on his hair, put up at the crown of his head in a bun that he'd been too lazy to actually make neat by any stretch of the word. He'd just wanted it off his neck and out of the way. And Yugi was dressed just like he always was, with his usual posture and outward attitude and Ryou kind of wondered how hard it was to keep up such a consistent image.

Impossible, for us. Green-eyes muttered unhelpfully. We're too spastic.

Well no shit.

"We have Ryou here." Atem shrugged. "And we have Viper, too. Between the two of them we've gotta track them down eventually, especially with the rest of us here."

Malik hummed.

Why didn't I think of that? Ryou nearly smacked himself.

We were too busy hating ourselves to come up with anything. Green-eyes replied with a sigh.

Oh. Yeah.

Feeling their eyes on him, he shrugged. "I guess it's worth a shot." He concentrated a bit, reaching back for the traces of Yami's presence he could scrounge from his memory, stealing them away from the Puzzle for good measure, and then branched out… Only to be met with a mental slap to the face and a metaphorical brick wall. He flinched and opened his eyes. "Something's blocking me. Viper, you give it a shot."

"Sure thing, boss." He flinched as well after a moment and shook his head. "No good. Looks like we're searching on foot, eh, boss?"

"Looks like it. Good thing we were smart enough to bring plenty of troops, eh?" He looked to the others.

"I guess." Yugi huffed. "We'd better split up. Cover more ground. Atem, you're with me."

The man nodded as Yugi began giving out orders to their troops about who should go which way, how long they should stay together, yadda yadda yadda. As soon as they'd received full orders, each and every one of their men headed off to search. When they'd all gone, he rounded on Ryou and Malik. "And you two, figure out what you're doing and do it."

Ryou felt something stir a bit at the authority. He didn't really like Yugi actually taking advantage of his power over he and Malik. After all, hadn't he just been submitting to him on his own throne a few weeks before? He scowled. "I'll be going by myself, thank you very much." He said, letting his displeasure be known as he turned and stalked off down one of the many corridors.

Malik merely shrugged. "Guess I'll go this way." He headed down a different one while Yugi and Atem picked one and went that way.

He sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. He would have preferred some company, but no matter. He'd make do on his own. Wasn't like he needed company while he roamed an unfamiliar place, after all. It just would have been nice to have someone to talk to. Bounce ideas off of. A certain someone, really. A certain white-haired someone.

He was beginning to think he might be in love with Ryou. It was annoying.

After walking for a bit, someone suddenly fell into step next to him. He was greeted by the sight of green hair and four labret studs.

He didn't know Viper very well, but he knew enough to know that was who this was. He was probably the weirdest out of all of Ryou's band of misfits, and that was saying something. He was the only one who seemed to use his newfound affluence to finance himself rather than simply enjoying the wealth. In the time he'd been a Bandit he'd gotten all four of his lip piercings, three tattoos, and gone from wearing what could essentially be described as rags to wearing fitted leather jackets, skin tight muscle shirts, ripped skinny jeans, and clearly expensive boots. Malik sort of admired his commitment to looking more badass.

Viper didn't try to strike up a conversation with him, he just looked around and twisted one of his studs absently.

"What are you doing with me?" Malik eventually asked, after they'd wandered a good ways down the hall and opened a few doors.

"Pharaoh skipped me when he was giving orders." Viper shrugged. "Considered running off on my own, too, but I'm not much of a fighter and I have the nagging feeling we're going to run into trouble."

"Why not go with your boss, then?"

"He obviously wants to be alone. And I'm not eager to piss him off."

"Fair enough," Malik admitted. "And why not chase down some of the other troops?"

"They all have their partners picked out already." He shrugged again and shot him a look. "And the only one who didn't have anybody was Wraith and we both know he prefers being alone."

"Another fair point."

It was silent again. Malik lost himself in thought as he continued to stop and open doors and Viper did the same. They covered a lot more rooms a lot quicker like this. It was nice, to be honest. And it was nice to have someone next to him.

God, he'd really gone soft.

Three years ago he wouldn't have even spoken to Viper in the first place unless he was telling him to fuck off. Would have just walked with him and wished he was gone. But then again, three years ago, Viper was living on the streets and the chances of them ever running into each other were slim to none.

The sleeve of Viper's jacket rode up the next time he opened a door, showing off a bandage wrapped tightly around his wrist. Malik frowned. Even if he didn't actually care about this guy, he wasn't a fan of seeing people self-harm. And that really looked like some self-harm.

It was better to ask before he assumed, though. He knew that.

"Where'd that come from?" He asked.

"Huh?" Viper frowned slightly, eyebrows knitting together. "Where'd what come from, sir?"

"On your wrist." He replied bluntly.

His brows drew closer together for a moment before they shot up and a look of understanding crossed his face. "Oh, that?" At Malik's nod, a grin split his face and he laughed. "That's not what you think it is, dude, I swear. I got new ink."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." He paused and took his jacket off, tucking it between his knees and unwinding the bandage from his arm. "You'd be surprised how many people ask, sir." He showed off the still-red and somewhat swollen tattoo on the inside of his arm. "See? Just ink."

"Oh. Alright, good."

He laughed and put the bandage back on, followed by his jacket. "Didn't take you for the worrying type."

"I only worry about people who are depressed." He shrugged. "And considering your past I wouldn't have been surprised."

"Nah, dude, I'm resilient as fuck. Plus I'm rich now." He snickered. "Anyway, we should get our asses back in gear."

"Right. 'Nother door up ahead."

And they continued on their way for a bit.

You're being overly dramatic. Green-eyes huffed as Ryou walked away.

I'm always overly dramatic. He bit back.

You're angry at nothing.

I realize that. I don't care. He kicked a door open and checked the room. Nothing. Just let me be pissy, fuckface. I need to get it all out before we see Kura.

Green-eyes didn't reply to that. Ryou was simultaneously grateful and irritated.

He kicked open another door.

"Any ideas of where they'll be?" Yugi glanced to Atem after walking in silence for a while.

"Not really?" He shrugged. "I assume they'll be near the center, somewhere. Well guarded. And I'd bet the door won't be easy to open." He paused and opened one next to him. "That said, I wouldn't put it past whoever is holding them to put them in some random room with a rudimentary lock just to make us waste our time."

Yugi snorted and paused to open a door as well. "None of these seem to be locked."

"I noticed."

"Think it means anything?"

"Hard telling."

Yugi huffed.

The returned to their silence, opening doors here and there.

"Um, Malik?" Viper had gone very, very still. "Do you hear that?"

Malik paused. "Footsteps." He said after a moment.

Viper nodded. "Too heavy to be any of ours." He pointed out. "We all walk fairly quietly."

"Some of this asshole's men, then?"

"Most likely."

Malik grunted. "You said you weren't much a fighter, didn't you?" He hated to admit that that bothered him somewhat. He wasn't sure he could take out very many on his own. He lacked the bloodlust and the conviction.

"I did, but I meant when I'm alone." Viper shot him a grin. "I could take maybe one or two by myself, but with anyone around…"

"Draw strength from those around you, eh?"

"Yeah, I'm a parasite like that." He snickered.

"Fair enough. I tend to be too."

"A mutual symbiotic relationship." He glanced toward one of the halls that branched off from the one they were in. "They're coming from that way. You ready, sir?"

"Ready as I'll ever be. Been awhile since I've seen any real action…"

"Same here."

A group of men dressed in dark clothing rounded the corner, then, and all thoughts of continuing the conversation were lost. The next few minutes were a blur, for Malik. A blur of dark clothes, green hair, and the sharp sounds of skin impacting skin. He didn't feel any pain. Didn't think he heard Viper make any pained noises. But once the five men who'd attacked them had all collapsed to the ground, Viper hissed and pressed a hand to the side of his face. He kicked one of the men in the ribs.

"Nasty right hook ya got there." He muttered, rubbing tenderly at the flesh beneath his hand. "If it were up to me you'd never throw one again."

"Well," Malik gave himself a rather cursory once-over before continuing, "Luckily for you, Viper, and not so luckily for this poor bastard, it's up to me."

Something lit in the Bandit's eyes then. He cast a hopeful look downward, then to Malik.

"Go ahead, kill 'em all."

Malik wasn't really sure what happened, after that, but for a minute or two everything sort of went black around him. When his vision cleared, the previously dark-clothed men were… No longer there? That was strange…

Viper had a huge grin - rather indicative of him being a Bandit after all, despite all his choices - plastered to his face and blood at the corner of his mouth. A wisp of shadow magic was curled around his wrist, slowly turning to smoke and disappearing. Malik was unsure of what had happened, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know. He was probably better off being in the dark about it, anyway.

Regardless, he couldn't stop himself from taking a deep breath and asking, "Well what the fuck was that?"

"You don't want to know the details," Viper assured him with a snicker. "But I killed their bodies. And stole their life force."

"... Did you eat them?"

"Technically speaking? Yeah."

He considered that for a long moment, long enough that Viper started to shift slightly under his gaze. "Rad. Let's go."

Viper visibly relaxed and they continued on their merry way, encountering a few more of the dark-clothed men on their way. Each fight was interesting enough in its own right, and at the end of each, Viper would presumably become more like a giant shadowy anaconda and eat them.

At least that was what Malik gathered from what he could glimpse through the gloom.

He actually became a snake when the darkness fell over them. It would have been much more entertaining and, well, cool, if he could have seen it clearly, though. He wondered if the darkness was a necessity or if Viper was just trying to spare him all the gore. It wasn't like it mattered, but with little to do besides open doors and snap the necks of random men (and women) he was getting decidedly bored.

"So like, what do you look like when you're doing that?" Malik asked as they were systematically opening a long series of doors. "The life-force stealing thing."

"A snake." Viper shrugged. "Not sure what kind. Not real interested in stopping to find out most of the time."

"Can't blame you there. If I was a giant snake who had people to eat I probably wouldn't care much about what kind of snake I was."

Viper snickered at that. "Bet you're wondering about the darkness, too, right? Well before you ask, no it isn't necessary. But it's… I dunno. I like it better that way. It's scarier when you don't know what's trying to get you or where it's coming from, you know?"

"You are definitely one of Ryou's." Was Malik's only reply to that.

Viper only laughed.

So what should we do to him? Green-eyes yawned.

"Torture him?" Ryou suggested aloud, looking at the dark-clothed man he had beneath him, boot pressed firmly to his throat.

Good idea, but… How? What should we do? And should we try to extract information from him?

"Well, we could always rip his fingernails off one by one." He smiled slightly at the thought, "And he's just a grunt, Green-eyes. I doubt he knows anything."

Point.

"Th-then why are you going t-to torture me?" The grunt shook from head to toe beneath his foot.

"For fun."

He revelled in the horrified widening of the grunt's eyes.

"Can you turn into that snake when you're not stealing life forces?" The question left his lips unbidden.

"Never tried." Viper glanced at him. "Why are you so interested?"

"I'm bored." Malik shrugged. "Fighting is great and everything but at this point it's just becoming tedious with all the door opening between the fights."

"Point." Viper yawned. "I'll have to remember to test that form out for you, if I survive long enough."

"If you survive long enough?" There was another question beneath it, one that didn't need to be asked. It was understood clearly.

"I get the strangest feeling there's gonna be a worse fight when we find who we're looking for. And I'm not the greatest at fighting but there's no way I'll abandon my cause, so…"

Malik considered that. It was a fair assumption, really. If there was a confrontation, most of their grunts probably wouldn't make it. Especially not the ones who couldn't fight well.

But it'd be a shame to lose Viper, somehow.

Malik hated it when he got attached to people he barely knew, but at least he could do something to help this time. "Here." He said, holding out the gem he'd gotten from his sister.

"Sir?" Viper hesitated as he lifted his hand to reach for it.

"Go on, take it." Only when Viper, who was clearly apprehensive about the ordeal, took the gem did he say, "That was a gift from my sister, so I'll be wanting it back…" Not a complete lie. "... But as long as you have it with you, you'll be mostly invulnerable. It's the only reason I'm not covered in bruises already."

Viper regarded the gem for a moment, turning it in his hands, before he tucked it away in his pocket and turned to regard Malik. A silence.

"Thank you, sir." He eventually said.

"Don't mention it." He shot him a smile and turned to continue their current mission.

When he glanced over his shoulder, he caught Viper staring ahead of himself with a weak - but clearly there - smile playing at his lips.

"Where are we even going?" One of them huffed.

"I don't know." The other huffed right back.

"This is useless." Said the first.

"So are you." Said the second.

"More doors." Yugi sighed. "Lovely."

Atem made a resigned noise. "Maybe we're getting closer?"

"I somehow doubt that. I feel like we might be getting further away."

"... Me too."

"We should turn around."

"Yeah."

They both sighed deeply and turned as one, stalking back the way they'd come. Yugi grumbled under his breath the whole way. Atem valued his life too much to remind Yugi that he'd picked the direction they went.

"Okay," Malik stopped. "This is getting ridiculous."

Viper gave him a lopsided smile. "Look at it this way," His voice echoed somewhat in the empty, wide and incredibly lengthy expanse of the hallway. "We're probably getting close."

"I hate the fact that you're right." He couldn't help a lopsided smile of his own. "If you weren't with me I'd probably just take off down one of the side hallways out of pure frustration."

He snickered. "Well, good thing I'm here, then." He looked down the hall. "Shall we, sir? Only one way to find out how this is going to work out for us, after all."

"Of course." He began walking again. "Say, do you even know who we're here for?"

Viper shook his head. "Nope, the Bandit King never told us."

"Believe it or not, we're looking for our lovers." Malik admitted. "They all disappeared three years ago."

Viper wasn't stupid enough to miss the correlation. "You guys have been setting up for this the whole time."

"Indeed we have been. The initial hostile takeover idea was the Pharaoh's. The Bandit King was, believe it or not, the voice of reason and asked how we were supposed to do that, so I suggested the whole gang idea." He shrugged with a chuckle. "There used to be a different Phantom King, you know, even though he didn't use that title."

"Yeah, I know." He smirked slightly. "And I think I know who it was."

He snickered.

There was a long silence, filled only by the sounds of their breathing and their shoes tapping the floor. Distracted by thoughts of the past and of the one walking at their side, both of them turned their eyes downward. But it didn't matter. They could have been blind. Could have been drunk and blind and they would still have noticed it.

What was 'it'?

'It' was a large, looming, vaguely intimidating door sitting on the wall directly in front of them.

A/N: Again, don't forget to tell me what you think about the story so far (since the end is coming soon) and whether or not you'd ever want to see a sequel/continuation.

Thanks.