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Three's A Crowd Chap 1: Quarrelling in the Shadows

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Chapter 1
Quarrelling in the Shadows


"Damn him!" Bakura punched the cold ground with his fist repeatedly, small rivulets of blood trickling down his knuckles. "That bastard should be here, not me! Damn him!"

Malik watched him with mild interest, his lavender eyes narrowed into slits and his jaw clenched. He was just as—if not more—angry as Bakura; he was the one dueling and wasn't listening to Malik. Unlike Bakura, Malik contained any anger he felt, releasing it by biting his lip and clenching and unclenching his fists.

He should have listened! He thought bitterly. Malik thought it was obvious that he was the one who knew the most about his deck, despite the fact that he changed it and stole his body. He shook his head angrily and dug his fingernails into his palms, little crescent moon imprints forming in his skin. He squeezed his eyes shut. How will he get his body back now?

/...\

A chilling feeling of dread threaded across his spine before Ryou's eyes fluttered open, the dark purple, green, and black swirling clouds of fog confirming his fear. Black. Cold. Foggy. Chaotic. Lifeless. Hopeless.

The Shadow Realm.

His chocolate brown eyes skirted around the smoky haze, taking in the inertness. The only sound he heard was an eerie wind and his own fast-beating heart. He was completely and utterly alone. This little fact scared him even more. Yes, the Spirit of the Ring—Bakura, Ryou thought sourly, loathing that their last and first name was one in the same—isolated and secluded him from the world and made all his friends disappear, he was there. Ever since his sister died, his loneliness escalated. His father stopped acknowledging his presence and became consumed with work. He was always known as the brainy, quiet kid at his old school in England. No one gave him a second thought. He was in his own little world of castles and role-playing. Ryou's life was a living hell with Bakura, but knowing he was there—even if he never associated with him—gave him a comfort.

A lonely rag doll floated through the haze, her button eyes gleaming in an unknown light. A tug at the gut told Ryou that it probably belonged to a little girl who was unfortunate enough to be sent to this place of horrible misery. Horrible loneliness. Fog swallowed up the doll and Ryou felt a change in the shadows. The only reason he noticed it was it was the same shift he felt when he knew Bakura was going to take over.

The magic and shadows altered, transporting him to another part of the Shadow Realm. It was sort of like the great Labyrinth in Grecian mythology, always changing, never ending, full of monsters and other unpleasantries.

At least I'm free to walk around, Ryou thought. He shook his head and sat up, pausing to hear the sound of… arguing? He couldn't make out any words, only yelling. His unease settled a bit as he came to know that he was no longer alone. The voices suddenly grew louder and echoed all around him. Ryou sighed when he recognized the two voices.

"My fault?" Malik protested. "How the hell is this my fault?"

"You bloody prick!" Bakura's gravelly voice boomed. (Ryou couldn't stop the tiny smile that crossed his face when he heard the British terms that Bakura was using, knowing that he was getting them from Ryou.) "If you had stopped feeling sorry for your pathetic little self, that asshole wouldn't have appeared!"

"Oh dear," Ryou gasped, standing up. The direction of where the voices were coming from changed again, sounding off to his distant left. As much as he dreaded it, Ryou needed to find the Spirit who he knew would know a way out of here. He walked forward, a bad feeling bubbling in the pit of his stomach as the shadows grew darker.

/...\

Neither spoke. Neither blinked. Neither breathed. Malik and Bakura were at a stand-still in each other's faces and neither was ready to back down. Malik had guts getting in Bakura's face. Even the mighty pharaoh never was in his face during a duel or confrontation. Malik may be taller than Bakura, but Bakura had more power and was more intimidating; he only had a slim chance of winning, and Malik wasn't going to give up. If he wanted something, he fought for it.

Bakura knew it wasn't his fault they were sent here. His strategy and plan was foolproof. The only reason he let Malik take refuge in his host's body was so he could get the Millennium Rod and to find out what this secret was. He really didn't care about the pesky teenager's problems. However, with Marik—who wasn't too keen to give up the Rod—he knew he had to help Malik. He had to hand it to him though. It was impressive that a sixteen-year-old could have such a powerful position and a knack at crime. He was pretty clever, but what he wanted to do during the duel was just stupid. For a smart kid, he could be pretty dense.

Malik was growing impatient. This had gone on too long, and neither was giving up. He couldn't hold back anymore, so he broke the silence.

"This isn't my fault," he said harshly.

Bakura scoffed. "You should have told me about Ra!"

"I didn't know it! I don't know how the hell he did!" Malik protested.

"Of course you didn't," Bakura said sarcastically. "In case you forgot, I was knocked unconscious in my little duel with the pharaoh," he spat out the word as if it were poison, "so I was rendered unable to watch your duel and know how Ra works."

Malik frowned. "Maybe if you weren't so hasty to waste our life points—"

"My life points," Bakura growled.

"—I would have told you about Ra!"

"And maybe if you told me about Ra, I wouldn't have had to take drastic measures in using life points!"

"WHAT?" Malik shrieked. "I was giving you advice!"

"As if I need advice from you." Bakura laughed cruelly in Malik's face. "I've been playing Shadow Games since they were first created!"

Malik clenched his teeth in frustration and made a fist. Bakura laughed.

"Oh please," he said, flicking his wrist. "Like you can do anything to me in my domain." A tentacle-like shadow slipped out the fog and wrapped itself around Malik's tanned hand. The shadow held strong as he struggled to get his fist back, tugging and pulling at the shadow. The more he fought, the tighter the hold.

"Though the shadows are truly untamable, they answer to me," Bakura's blood-red eyes glinted as a smirk crossed his face.

Malik glared menacingly at him. Did this guy have a big head or what? He really did feel bad for the poor Ryou kid who hosted this bastard.

/...\

"Spirit? Malik?" Ryou called out timidly, afraid that something would jump out. Their voices grew louder, but he still saw no sign of them, only the dark, swirling mist. Occasionally he would catch sight of something but it just faded into the haze. He once thought he caught sight of his sister in the corner of his eye, but when he turned nothing was there and he felt an ache in his heart. He wrung his hands nervously, the eerie wind making him frightened. Ryou generally didn't scare easily, but this nothingness gave a whole new meaning to "afraid of the unknown."

"Spirit?" he called again, his voice barely a whisper. He almost gave up hope when he suddenly ran into the back of a tanned, taller, blond teenage boy who seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"What the hell?" Malik turned and glanced down at the calmer—not to mention frightened—toned down version of Bakura.

"Well what do we have here?" he said a tad surprised, glancing over his shoulder at a snarling Bakura. "Looks like you host has finally joined our little party." He laughed lightly, trying to ease the tension.

Bakura gave one last look at Malik before releasing the shadow, not missing the finger Malik flashed at him afterward. He returned the favor and turned his red-brown eyes to Ryou.

"It seems so." He said uninterestedly.

Ryou quickly put his head down and shuffled his feet. He wanted nothing to do with his other half.

Malik kept looking back and forth between the two, amazed at the similarities and differences between the two. Bakura's face was more angular, harsher. His hair never laid flat, always a wild mess as it tumbled down to the middle of his back. His eyes were his most frightening characteristic. They seemed to change colors in the light, flashing from a flat, cold brown to a bright blood red. Sometimes the two colors even mingled, his eyes flecked with both colors like they did at this moment. The one word he came up with to describe his features overall was "sharp." There was this hidden dark power that seemed to emanate from him. The shadows just clung to him, as if they would do anything for him, bend over backwards for him. It was a bit disturbing how dark Bakura was. Marik may be a twisted psychopath with a lust for blood, but Bakura was dark, menacing, and frosty.

Ryou, on the other hand, had a softer complexion. His hair was much tamer and a bit shorter then Bakura's, neatly cascading to his shoulder blades. His eyes were warmer as well, like melted chocolate. They were also very expressive, the fear he had of Bakura swimming on the surface of his irises. Every once in awhile in that unbearable, uncomfortable silence, Malik would catch Ryou glancing his way and then back over at Bakura. Ryou was afraid of Bakura for him as well! His eyes widened at the thought, but he quickly pushed it aside. He did not want to cause any trouble between the two, as he could tell by the pressure amid the two of them; they were not too fond of each other.

Not only did he have to cope with the annoying teenager, his sniveling host had showed up! His gaze switched back and forth from Malik and Ryou, making sure each of them was under his glare. If looks could kill, both would be dead already. Bakura had already been put in a pissy mood with Marik's annoying taunts and flaunting his plan around like a child would a new bike. But he had goals to obtain, so he couldn't dwell on that silly, little past event. Bakura always thought out future events, making sure that his master plan was indestructible. He glare faded and his lips curled upward into a harsh smirk. Why would he want to be here when there were places to go and people to destroy?

Ryou jumped at the sound of Bakura's dry laugh. How he hated that laugh, the cold and heartlessness that always crept into it, how it made shivers go down his spine, how he knew something bad was going happen when he laughed like that. That laugh always became the pinnacle of his nightmares, and Ryou was close to becoming an insomniac because of it.

"It was nice chatting with you, Malik," he said, his smirk turning into a cruel smile, "but I do have to be somewhere." He lifted his hand up and several shadows slithered onto it, twisting down his arm and engulfing his entire body. The crackle of Shadow Magic made the ground shudder and Ryou could feel the shadows' arousal and excitement. Bakura's frigid laughter echoed, sending electric chills up and down Ryou's spine. A powerful wind erupted where Bakura was standing, and his form melted into the fog, the shadows taking him away.

Good riddance! Ryou thought, breathing a deep sigh of relief. The temporary weight lifted off his shoulders and he rubbed his chest where the Ring usually hung out of habit.

"Jackass." Malik muttered, turning toward Ryou and sticking out his hand. "I don't think we've formally met. I'm Malik Ishtar."

Ryou took the hand. "Ryou Bakura." He winced slightly at his last name and glanced around, afraid that the Spirit would return. He didn't know why, but when Malik was near, Ryou felt safer. It was as if the Spirit couldn't touch Ryou without going through him.

Malik noted the wary trust that danced in the surface of Ryou's eyes. He sensed that Ryou wanted protection from the Spirit, and Malik couldn't help the feeling that he would whether he wanted to or not. What he didn't know was that handshake sealed the deal. A shadow slithered over the tan and white hands, making the deal permanent.

/…\

Somewhere in the darkest corners of the Shadow Realm, a figure chuckled.

"I have some special guests, hmm?" the voice said. "This could be fun."
NEXT: fav.me/d5jy80z

Three's A Crowd will be abbreviated to TAC in future chapters.

/... switches from one person to another when there are people in different locations
:::^::: is time passage like usual

I decided to upload this one as well. :D Hope you enjoy!

Yu-Gi-Oh!, Malik, Ryou, Bakura (c) KT
TAC (c) me
© 2012 - 2024 Mahersal
Comments6
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SereneDash's avatar
This is so good! You capture the emotions andthe characters very we'll!