Trial By Nightmare

Trial by Nightmare

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.

Warning: Some swearing

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**********at the hotel********

“I’m never letting you add stipulations to anything ever again” Marik pouted as he stomped into

the kitchen.

“Oh come on, quit being a buzz kill, Ishtar. I beat you fair and square.” Caroline gloated.

Marik grabbed a 2-liter of Mountain Dew and took a drink straight off the bottle.

“It doesn’t matter I guess. Those new duel disks were pretty neat. Way high-tech, wouldn’t you say?

Kaiba really outdid himself.”

Caroline propped herself up on the counter and nodded.

“Yeah, I know. That man is a genius, how he ever got a hold of such realistic virtual software is

beyond me”

Marik put the soda back in the fridge and turned back to Caroline.

“I have a theory, but it’s irrelevant.”

Marik leaned forward and kissed the tip of Caroline’s nose, “let’s just say I think Kaiba spends

too much of his time with a stupid computer”

Caroline wrapped her arm around Marik and used him as support and she hopped off the counter.

“Let’s go for a walk” she suggested as she latched onto him.

“We’ll probably get yelled at if we wander off” Marik reminded her.

“We’re adults, we can do anything we want. We’ll leave a note. So what if they get pissed,

right?” Caroline grinned eagerly.

Marik shrugged his shoulders

“Very true” he muttered as Caroline dragged him out the door.

*~*~*

“Say that again? Tany gaped.

“We drank a few cases of beer and woke up wearing only our underwear......infront of Yugi’s

grandfathers gameshop.” Ryou grabbed his side from laughing so hard.

Tany couldn’t hold back, she burst out laughing and smacked Ryou playfully upside the head

“You and Marik have had some interesting adventures”

Ryou nodded his head.

“Yes, we have. He was the only person that would talk to me after Battle City. My friends had

completely disregarded me because of Bakura. Marik was stuck with Malik, whom nobody liked,

so we just kind of -cliqued-.”

“Why didn’t your friends like Bakura? I didn’t think he was that bad.” Tany stated

“He wasn’t always like he is now. He used to be more destructive. Marik and I had a hard time

with Bakura and Malik at first. After a while we got sick of out darks bossing us around, so we

started messing with them.” Ryou explained.

“How so?” Tany mused

“We found that spirits don’t function well under a heavy influence of drugs and alcohol” Ryou

snickered.

Tany cuddled closer to Ryou as the winds picked up on the roof and smiled.

“You guys are mean” she laughed.

A guilty smiled crept across Ryou’s lips.

“It might seem mean, but the way they get their revenge is by leaving us with the hangovers and

gnarly women! Now -THAT- is mean.” Ryou laughed. “This one time Bakura and Malik went

out while Marik and I slept. Initially they were sneaking out to go super glue Yugi to his bed and

steal his rare cards and Millennium puzzle. When they got there they were shocked to find Tea in

bed with Yugi. Somehow they ended up super gluing Tea’s mouth shut and going out with Yami

bar hopping. Something tells me Yami doesn’t care for Tea much....considering his only options

were sleeping with Tea or tipping drinks with Bakura and Malik...anyways, They got as drunk

as they could and all three of them brought home the most repulsive women..... Once they started

feeling sick they receded and gave us lights control again. It was not a pretty thing. ”

A wide grin emerged on Tany’s face.

“That’ll teach yah!”

Ryou made a sour face

“All I learned was never take a nap when Bakura’s in control!”

Tany chuckled and patted his arm.

“You shouldn’t have to worry about that anymore now that you both can separate.”

“Yeah, that’s going to take some getting used to.” Ryou sighed downheartedly.

“Damn, this duel is lasting forever.” she mused as she watched Joey’s Panther Warrior get

skewered by Gaja the Fierce Knight, than vaporizing.

Tany took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She looked back at Ryou.

“Can you still feel Bakura?”

Ryou shook his head.

“Not at all. It’s very strange actually. It’s hard to explain”

Tany looked thoughtfully at Ryou.

“Is it like you lost part of yourself?”

Ryou stared down at his shoes and sighed

“Yes, it is I guess”

Tany patted his shoulder.

“He’ll be back though, right?”

Ryou bit his lower lip and shrugged,

“We can only hope.”

*~*~*~*~*

“So why did you become a cop anyway?” Marik ask as they crossed a little bridge in the

park across the street.

“My parents are in the Army. They wanted me to enlist and carry on a family tradition, but I

didn’t want to. I ended up being a cop just so they wouldn’t write me out of their wills.” Caroline

said regretfully.

Marik looked at her curiously

“So are you saying you don’t like being a 'big shot' cop?”

Caroline took a seat on a bench and nodded her head.

“I hate it. I’d much rather just move to Hollywood and peruse my real dream.”

Marik sat next to her and smiled.

“And what would that be?”

“Actress, duh” she giggled.

Marik shook his head and grinned.

“I should have known. Hollywood is where Ryou ended up when Malik and Bakura got drunk

and went duel crazy” he looked down for a moment and shook his head.

“They got all pissed up on some Moonshine that Ryou’s dad was hiding and snuck onto Ryou’s

computer. They went into a chatroom and ended up getting into a fight over duel monsters. They

went directly to Los Angeles and sent him to the shadow realm. In L.A they ended up getting drunk and

passing out. When I woke up I had a screaming hangover and Ryou passed out on top of me, and

we were in a car we didn’t recognize.”

Caroline listened attentively

“yeah, and?”

“As it turned out, our darks had stolen the car of the guy they beat up. They guy had a shitload of booze

and they drank all of it. After that they couldn’t remember how to turn the car on, so they just sat

there like morons. Some hookers approached the car and offered them $10 blow jobs and they

passed out before the women had finished.”

Caroline couldn’t believe her ears. She laughed hysterically.

“Did the hookers steal your wallets?”

Marik shook his head

“We didn’t bring our wallets. They stripped the car though. Not like it mattered to us much” he

laughed as they stood back up.

A mischievous grin surfaced on Caroline’s face as she looked around the park..

“Hey, I have an idea....Let's do something crazy!”

Marik looked at her apprehensively.

“Here? In the park? I’m not really prepared to...” Marik stammered.

“No, no, not that you horny goof! Something else....C’mon, follow me!” Caroline took off

running towards a parked motorcycle.

Marik caught up to her as she looked the bike over.

“Ooooooh, 2003 Harley....and the key is in it! Let’s take it for a ride”

Marik held his hands out infront of himself in protest.

“I don’t think so”

“We’ll bring it back, we won’t be gone long” she smirked as she yanked Marik onto the bike.

“You’re driving babe” Caroline winked as she scooted further back onto the seat.

“Oh well” Marik shrugged as he let out the clutch.

They rumbled off into the starry night, leaving everybody else behind.

Marik followed Caroline's directions and drove out to the old fire lookout tower at the edge of

town. They parked the bike and proceeded to climb to the top. They had a breath-taking birds

eye view of the entire sleeping city.

“Amazing” Marik sighed as he let out a deep breath.

“Isn’t it? I used to come here when I was a kid.” Caroline replied.

They both sat quietly and took in the serenity of their view.

“Do you think Malik, Bakura and Yami can stop Anubis?” Caroline asked minutes later.

Marik shrugged his shoulders

“I don’t know. Anubis is a god, so it’s only a 50/50 chance either way.”

Caroline scootched closer to Marik and traced his lips with her fingertips.

“Marik? Say they do stop him, and everything goes back to normal.....and you go back out on

tour with your band.....will you....ack....nevermind.”

Marik took her hands into his and looked at her curiously.

“Will I what?” he ask

Caroline quickly changed the sub.
.

"Hey, check it out......there's Venus"

They both looked out into the night and watched the suns first rays of light crept over the

skyline.

*~*~*~*~*~

“I should kick them both square in the head.” Tany scoffed as she handed Ryou a note that was

left on the table. Ryou took the note and read it out loud.

“Hey Crew,

We needed to get some air, so we went for a walk. Be back in a few hours.

Caroline and Marik”

“That’s just great. Well I hope they’re being careful.” Tany groaned.

“They’ll be fine.” Ryou assured her.

“Hey guys, you wanna lob water balloons at people walking down on the street?” Joey suggested

as he walked in.

“Isn’t that a bit mean?” Yugi replied.

“That’ll get us in trouble!” Mokuba exclaimed.

“Nah, it’s still dark. They won’t be able to see it coming” Joey smirked.

“I’m in” Duke said readily.

“Me too” Tany chimed in.

Ryou shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

“Uh....I suppose I’m in too.”

“Great! I’ll go get some balloons from that gas station across the street.” Joey grinned.

“That’s not a good idea Joey” Yugi pointed out.

“Whateva.....” Joey murmured.

“Think about it, a kid buys water balloons across street from hotel water balloons were

spotted flying off of......cops check surveillance video from gas station.”

“Good point” Joey sighed downheartedly.

“Too bad Bakura isn’t here, he’d just steal them for us.” Duke chuckled.

Ryou just smiled.

“ I know, let’s order up breakfast” Joey suggested.

“That sounds good” Yugi smiled.

Ryou walked away and sat quietly on the couch as everybody else befuddled the hotel kitchen with their breakfast

orders.

He stared at the blank screen of the television thinking about Bakura. It was a strange transition

for him. Bakura had been part of him for so long now that it caused him to feel displaced.

Thinking for himself again was tough. Bakura wasn’t there to give him the confidence he lacked.

Bakura wasn’t there to come up with a good insult for him to use. Bakura just wasn’t there. Ryou

closed his eyes and laid back.

//Please come back soon, Bakura” he thought to himself......non-expectant hoping for a reply

from his dark side.

*~*~*~*~*Meanwhile, in the Shadow Realm*~*~*~*~*

“We have arrived. This is the entrance to Anubis’s domain. Please enter with caution.”

Nephthys said before fading into the darkness.

Yami crossed his arms and looked around. They all could hear the agonizing cries and screams

coming from behind a towering wall on the otherside of the powerful waters of the river.

“Beyond those walls must be where Anubis is holding his victims captive.” Yami pointed out.

Bakura scratched his head and looked around.

“I kind of guessed that, but how in the hell are we going to get across to get to them?” he groaned.

Malik pulled out his duel deck and grinned slyly.

“I know, watch this. I summon The Dragon Dwelling in the Cave!”

The beast manifested in front of their eyes.

“There, now we have a ride across.” Malik grinned as he hopped up onto the beast.

“Jump on guys” Malik grinned

“When did he get THAT card?” Bakura mumbled himself as he and Yami boarded the beast.

The beast flew them across the river safely, and they were met with another road block.

“Shit! Now how the fuck do we get INSIDE?” Bakura scoffed.

Yami pulled out his deck and flipped through it.

“This card should do the trick.....I summon Beta the Magna warrior!”

“Figures” Malik groaned as the monster easily broke down the thick doors.

The three of them stepped cautiously inside, there monsters close behind them.

Torches with small red flames dancing out of them, dimly lit the narrow hall.

A dark, sinister voice boomed out from all around them, throwing them violently backward and onto their butts.

“How I've waited for you to come. I’ve been here all along. Now that you’ve arrived........please

stay awhile, and I promise I won’t keep you long.........I’ll keep you FOREVER!!!!!” the evil voice echoed.

*************************************************

((((authoress’s note; cue intro to Dead Skin Mask by Slayer!!!!!))))

Yes, I cheated on that last line....but it was so perfect! I was driving along in my car yesterday

and had the song blasting out my speakers. It was just SCREAMING Use me in your story! (lol)

So what do you think? Poor Ryou seems a bit torn, don’t you think? I’m sure he’ll fair

well, but I just like making my characters suffer a little before I’m finished with them. (Uh

oh-I’m sounding like Malik now! *evil laugh*)

We’ll be focusing on the Yami’s in the next chapter. The only words I can think of to describe the next chapter

are “pure evil.” Either Anubis is more than they can handle, or I make them out so stupid

Anubis’s head explodes!

As for Marik.....he's sure got some balls! Driving a stolen bike? There's gotta be more to this....Infact

I'm sure of it;-)

As always, thank you for the reviews!!!