"Geez, Bakura, you look like a ninja in that outfit…" Zorgi idly commented when he spotted Bakura standing a few feet away. The young blonde boy continued with his busy typing, only registering Bakura's unusual reticence when he didn't receive a response to his statement.

"Bakura?" Zorgi questioned again, allowing his eyes to slip momentarily away from the screen in order to look at Bakura " Are you even listening?" Zorgi questioned a little amusedly. The red eyed man obviously seemed a bit preoccupied staring at something he was holding in a definitely lovestruck gaze.

"Huh? What?" Bakura suddenly looked up in alert. He hurriedly tucked the shining, purple object he'd been holding in his black tunic's pocket.

Though Zorgi raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the ancient's conduct, he decided some things were better left unsaid. Besides, he had a feeling he already knew what Bakura was thinking about, judging by his dazed eyes and unconscious little grin.

Zorgi rolled his eyes at Bakura's rare exhibition of blunt stupidity. 'What a woman could do to a man…' Zorgi thought in honest wonderment 'drive him so crazy so as to make him forget even his name…even a man like Bakura can fall victim to their charms! Marik has altered his mind!'

Shaking his thoughts away, Zorgi kicked away from the desk he was sitting at and stood up from the chair. He snickered a bit, watching Bakura try to focus "I said: you look like a ninja in that outfit." The blonde repeated.

Bakura raised a defiant eyebrow "What the heck is a ninja? Sounds offensive…" Bakura said, fixing a steady glare at Zorgi' s face as he spoke the words. Zorgi, for his part, rolled his eyes once more and waved a hand in resignation.

"Forget I ever said anything…" he simply said, and took a last look at Bakura's new appearance. Black trousers, wide enough to fit another two Bakuras, topped by a black, long-sleeved tunic that reached the man's knees. Then, of course, there was that long black cloth that Bakura had tied around his forehead. Geez, who did he think he was, Rambo? Judging from the black boots and the general variety of daggers that seemed to be attached to the cloth around Bakura's waist, maybe Bakura really did think he was Rambo, although he probably didn't even know who Rambo was.

Naturally, Bakura's BLACK hair only served to magnify the effect of general BLACKNESS that the man seemed to carry. His pale, almost albino-fair skin made a magnificent contrast to his black accessories, and the shining red jewels that adorned his face seemed alive enough to burn out of his face and rip everything around apart.

"No!" Bakura's deep voice insisted, now obviously insulted "If you start doing something, finish it! If you want to say something, say it!"

Zorgi was at a loss for words and didn't exactly know how to answer such a demand. He was actually saved by the most unimaginable source.

"BOY!" Lend roared as he entered the huge library, which was curiously empty at a day such as this. Obviously, not many people in the rebel city were scholars…

Zorgi immediately felt his muscles tense at the harsh yell of his name. He stiffened immediately and stood in attention. Bakura made no attempt whatsoever to hide his snort.

Noticing Bakura's presence as he drew closer, Lend' s face diverted from sadistically satisfied to subtly intimidated.

"Bakuraaaa" the fat rebel leader started with a sugarcoated voice and a friendly pat on Bakura's back. Bakura stared pointedly at the offending hand on his back and Lend withdrew immediately, "Bakura, Bakura, Bakura…my good friend…so, any luck on those…uh…" Lend struggled with words, trying to select the most appropriate one.

"Glyphs?" Zorgi added helpfully, with a curiously squeaky voice. The reason why the boy seemed to fear this smoking bag of fat of a 'fearless leader' truly evaded Bakura. Why was he a rebel leader anyway? He seemed…stupid, to put it bluntly.

"Yes, glyphs, thank you boy, that was exactly what I wanted to say…so, how's it going?"

Bakura's demonic eyes seemed to glint mysteriously "Actually, I just came in hopes of finding out, when YOU came in and interrupted us, mortal."

Lend bit his lips in discomfort and Zorgi fought to bite back a snicker at Bakura's absolutely snobbish expression and Lend' s totally intimidated look. Unfortunately, Lend had to display his authority in some way, and that way had to do with Zorgi, as usual.

"Well, what are you waiting for, boy? Give us a briefing, already: Lend positively barked at Zorgi, so the blonde took it as his queue to start speaking, before he received a spanking or something…in this case, one of his persecutors was worse than the other. As if he hadn't had enough problems with Lend…now Bakura had to turn up too…

"Well, um…" Zorgi started "The files were extremely well-guarded. I had to use all the codes we broke and all my hacker abilities to break into the Fuhrer's personal log system…."

""And what did you find out?" Bakura eagerly demanded, boring his fiery eyes in Zorgi' s glinting emerald ones.

"Ummm.." Zorgi was a little taken aback by usually reserved Bakura's sudden intensity "Actually, even though it was very hard to draw out specifics, I figure there has been a confusion of tombs and glyphs…Marik's 'release curse' seems to be locked in something like a museum on the planet surface, as an exhibit.

Lend and Zorgi watched, terrified, as sparks of electricity literally started to flutter around Bakura's fingertips.

"Exhibit?" he repeated Zorgi' s words with incomparable malice and ire, making the poor boy nod numbly and Lend simply stare, slack jawed, as his ever-present cigar hanging limply from his mouth,

"Do you know where?" Bakura simply inquired, in a whisper so low it somehow sounded much more intimidating to Zorgi and the other than any kind of shout would have.

The blonde boy nodded vigorously, not wanting to anger the ancient further.

And thus, in a flash of black, red and blonde in front of Lend' s eyes, Bakura had dragged Zorgi away, out of the library, and all across to the town Gates. People looked at them as they walked, staring shamelessly, but Bakura was unperturbed once again.

He hauled Zorgi relentlessly, his red eyes fixed on the distance, on nothingness. Now he had found what he was looking for… and he wasn't going to pass up the precious opportunity.

His love's salvation…rotting somewhere as an exhibition! A damned exhibition! He would not tolerate it!

As they walked out of the catacomb-city, many people stared after them, Lend being one of them. None of them knew whether this dark stranger would ever come back, and what he would bring along with him, if he ever did.

"Please, at least just take a look at it." Reyna begged for the umpteenth time as she shoved the purple cloak at the zombie's face. Unfortunately for the girl, sometime along the way, Marik had decided that torturing her by showing off a few bones simply wasn't enough- he had to reveal ALL the bones. Thus he had generously disposed of the robe and was now standing almost proudly in the middle of her room, flaunting his disgusting appearance.

"Ugh…I'm gonna retch…" Reyna made a grimace and tried yet again to convince Marik to wear his robe again. She noticed that the skeleton had a purple cloth wrapped around its waist, concealing what would have normally been its private parts. Reyna rolled her eyes. Geez, what was there to hide, anyway? The next thing they'd know, Marik would asking for a bra…

"Please…" she begged, trying to force Marik's masked –thank God- face to look at the clothes in her hands. As expected, Marik stubbornly refused to turn around.

"Please…" Reyna's patience was starting to wear off.

"What's going on here?"

At the sound of the dark baritone, both occupants of the room turned around in alert. There stood the notorious black angel, bathed in all his cursed, ancient glory, with his red eyes shining brightly and his ebony hair cascading beautifully down his back, pulled slightly up by the black bandana.

The situation was diverted in a second, as Reyna immediately felt some unheavenly force pry the purple fabric out of her hands. The next thing she knew, Marik was frantically pulling and struggling, trying to put the darn thing on his body as quickly as possible.

"Oh great, NOW you wear it! Thanks a lot!" Reyna whined, throwing her hands up in exasperation. Although, she had to admit, Marik's sudden self-consciousness in front of Bakura was to be expected. It amused her a bit, the way the mere appearance of the beautiful man made the zombie run frantically and hide its disgusting appearance in shame.

"Hmph!" she snorted loudly, crossed her hands, and turned her back on Marik, all the time thinking 'Marik doesn't deserve someone as brave and wonderful as Bakura…Nor do I, of course, but that's another story! This isn't the point! The point is that Bakura is worth much more than this slimy creature!"

"Reyna? Everything cool?" Zorgi questioned in mild interest, as he came to stand near his seemingly angered friend. Both were utterly ignored by Bakura, who approached Marik predatorily, much in the manner of a newlywed approaching his wife at the first night of their marriage.

How could he? It was disgusting just thinking about it! With Marik…EWW!

"Mariku! Lohla traan hu haymet…?" (Marik! Did you miss me…?) Bakura questioned eagerly, his red eyes sparkling in a kind of blind excitement unseen to mankind. A vigorous nod was received from Marik's part, as the glowing golden snake slithered particularly fast around Marik's torso, signifying his fervent reply.

Bakura smiled somewhat hungrily as he and Marik approached each other quickly. Immediately, once they were at a respectable distance, Bakura assembled Marik's hands in his own and stared into the faceless mask with a dull, hypnotized gaze. No one knew what Marik's eys would have looked like, if they could return Bakura's gaze. All one could see was the slow, meaningful gaze the golden snake was giving Bakura, from above Marik's head.

"Shimar huunda…glyoprna shimeetayaka" (It won't be long now….we've found the glyphs) Bakura whispered the words in incredible exultance, all the time clutching at Marik's gloved hands as though they were the anchor tying him to life. The snake hissed loudly signifying Marik's response and mutual excitement.

"Shimar huunda…"(It won't be long…) Bakura repeated somewhat dazedly, as he took Marik's hooded, masked head in his hands and held it gingerly, as though cradling it.

"Uhh…Maybe we should give them some time alone…" Zorgi suggested, not really expecting an answer as he proceeded to drag an unwilling Reyna along with him to their room.

Upon the realization that they were alone, Bakura almost danced from joy. He wanted to tell Marik so much, since he was so enthusiastic about Marik's newfound jealousy, but Bakura really knew he couldn't talk about that to his beloved. Instead, he took to fueling his blind excitement on something else.

He reached slowly in his pocket and pulled out a shiny, long object. Slowly, he stretched the amethyst chain in front of Marik's masked face, earning a hiss from the snake.

"Amni hue koranme har…" (It shines with your beauty…) Bakura started, as he let the other observe his elegant gift carefully. "Suhma hra kumar larka…thhari manar suu zumer" (When the time is right…tie it around your waist…)

And then, as if in a dreamy, lust-crazed haze, Bakura allowed his hands to slip affectionately over the over-accentuated, robe-clad, bony hips and tug insistently at the fabric…caress longingly. He breathed in deeply as he let Marik rest his masked face on his shoulder and the serpent slither from one body to the other, drawing sensual lines as it did. Bakura caressed carefully, expectantly…it was in the fashion of a worshipper touching a holy relic. "Koranmi thhari suu…" (Your most beautiful waist…) he dragged on with his husky, deep, honey-dripping voice.

At the sound of his own words and thoughts, Bakura recognized his own problems. Marik wasn't the only one at a vulnerable state, it seemed. It wouldn't be long for Bakura either. If he didn't find redemption soon he felt he would burn in chasmic fires…his nerves were a tangled, overexcited mess and his body was desperately aroused out of nothing, demanding attention. He clutched a bit more forcefully at Marik's frail figure and tried to restrain his throbbing heartbeat.

It would be soon…very soon…he could smell it already, the intoxicating aroma of his love's body- he could hear the jingling sounds of the golden earrings and the beads Marik loved to hang from his belt…all those little things, like the tantalizing touch of wet, aroused flesh under his fingers…oh, how it was calling for him…imploring him…

And as Marik's snake stole away his very mind, the feeling of his lover's soul next to his stole away his heart. He gripped harder, pressured Marik's useless body even more, only to receive a fervent response from the serpent currently wrapped around his thigh.

Oh yes…the crystal depths calling to him…Marik's slow, provocative smile as he curled his long fingers around the sheets…the sensual mouth opening only slightly, letting those unrequited breaths heat Bakura's very skin…the mocha thighs gliding around his pale body, nesting him forever in their fiery embrace…and last of all, the beautiful sounds…the heavenly voice calling out to him, crying out his name in that unique melody, making all his untold dreams come true.

How deeply he could taste it, hear it- relive it: the white-hot warmth, the trembling oblivion, the blinding darkness! He had to take it! Without it even immortality was useless! He had to! He had to….He had to find it again! The blessed light, the searing pleasure, the heat!

Suddenly, he pulled back from his aesthetic reverie, and fought the will to resume his dreaming. Soon, he would make dreams reality. Marik seemed to understand his purpose immediately, as the zombie summoned its snake back to its shoulder.

The thin skeleton looked carefully at the shining chain now in its hands, and bowed its head gently as a gesture of gratefulness and joy. Bakura grinned a little shakily, trying to fight his own demons and be strong for his love at the same time. Who would have known that the angel of his dreams would also be his torturer of desire?

He watched as Marik placed the chain carefully in his robe's hollow curve of a pocket and smiled lovingly.

"Shimara, Mariku…" (Soon Mariku…) he whispered, as he caressed the thin palm in his hand.

"Well, sorry to spoil your little romantic get-together, but I just wanted to remind you we need to go right now, in order to find those glyphs!" Reyna decidedly broke the silence with one of her rough glares. Naturally, when she showed up out of nowhere to interrupt the conversation, or monologue, the snake on Marik's shoulder hissed and glared at her, although the zombie itself did not turn to watch her.

Bakura grinned secretively, since now he knew what it was that caused Marik's profound aggravation about the girl. He was a bit mad at himself for enjoying it so much, actually.

"Well, don't just stand there!" Zorgi shouted from beside Reyna as he came to stand next to the girl "You have to disguise- we're going up to the surface. Fuhrer's territory! Ring a bell?" he reprimanded, making Bakura visibly roll his eyes.

"Honestly, mortal. Sometimes you and your stupid theories make me sick." The red-eyed man said.

"I don't like the feeling of this, Bakura…" Zorgi commented while looking around suspiciously. Though they were amongst total strangers in the roads of the Fuhrer's capital, nobody seemed to notice them, much less identify them as rebels.

"Poor, stupid mortal." Bakura lamented sarcastically, all the time walking protectively in front of mysterious, dark Marik. "Of course you cannot perceive the depth of my telepathic powers. They do see us, they just don't acknowledge us as living beings…They think we are part of the background…a thief's most subtle technique. How could a crude and inexperienced child like you understand that?" Bakura caustically asked, making Zorgi fume as he led the way towards the desolate museum.

Reyna seemed interested in Bakura's previous words "So you have telepathic powers, huh? That's how you managed to gain knowledge from my mind so as to learn English…telepathy,"

Bakura sneered disinterestedly, focusing more on the surroundings than he did on the girl. "Very good mortal. We might make a normal person out of you yet."

Reyna chose to dismiss the comment and the fact that Bakura seemed to be openly ignoring her. "So why can't Marik read our minds also? No psychic abilities?" she asked.

That moved Bakura's attention, but only a bit. "I thought I already made it clear, woman, than Marik and I have very different powers. The dark charisma differs according to one's character traits and personal highlights. I never thought you'd notice anyway, but I don't have a snake, do I? Una, however, has always been with Marik, so…"

"Una…" Reyna curiously asked "Who's that?"

Bakura very pointedly rolled his eyes in exasperation "Honestly woman!" he exclaimed tiredly "Marik's snake- who else could it be!" he simply said in an overly aggravated tone, signifying the conversation was over.

To say Reyna was perplexed at finding out that the disgusting creature actually had a name, was an understatement. Not only Marik seemed to treat that…that…thing as a pet, but Bakura did too? Although Reyna felt the burning need to find out how Bakura knew the snake's name without having Marik tell him, she decided not to speak further and to focus instead on the road.

Many a time had Bakura spotted various beautiful shiny objects he had liked at the exhibits of various shops. Predictably, he showed them to Marik and offered them to him with an air of a generous husband, giving to his wife everything she could ever ask for. That, however, was beside the point, since Bakura didn't seem to believe he was overdoing it at all. His lovesick gaze actually betrayed his inner feelings- he believed he wasn't offering enough!

How could it be that this disgusting zombie had such a lasting affect on him? Although Marik denied Bakura's presents each and every time, Bakura did not refrain from stealing them, and stacking them away for later use- probably to give to Marik later.

"He's just spoiling her…" Reyna had whispered to Zorgi at some point, referring to Bakura's over-exhilarated state of giving presents to Marik.

"Hey, how else can he show her he loves her at this point?" Zorgi had merely suggested coolly, and let the subject drop, making Reyna think about ut. For once in his life, Zorgi had actually been right. That obviously WAS the only way for Bakura to show to his loved one how he felt about her at such a situation, wasn't it?

When they finally reached the museum entrance and saw the guards waiting outside the doors, Zorgi and Reyna- like any other normal human being- hesitated. Bakura and Marik, however, walked through the doors unperturbed, not even shedding a glance towards the ignorant guards' direction. Zorgi and his friend hurriedly followed.

"According to the information I found, the plaques must be on the 23rd floor." Zorgi informed quickly, as he saw Bakura's determined stare. "Um…let's take the elevator!" Zorgi suggested, leading the way to the elevator, since he knew Bakura couldn't possibly know how to operate one of them, being an ancient Egyptian and all…

"Quick, this way…" he urged. Once all for of them were in the elevator, Bakura turned to Marik and smiled broadly. They were so close now, so close…

Reyna idly stared at the face of an old woman in the elevator who didn't even seem to notice them being there. She probably didn't, had Bakura's powers truly been in operation.

Ding! The chime signifying they had reached their destination rang pleasantly around them, annoying both Bakura and Marik to no ends.

"I didn't press 23…" the old woman murmured ignorantly. She never managed to see the four passengers step out of the elevator before she insistently hit another button, making the elevator's doors snap closed again.

"Okay! This way!" Zorgi urged, as he tugged on Reyna's hand and led the small group across some other rooms, through some corridors, over some glass floors and, finally, to what appeared to be the Egyptian section of the exhibition. Sometimes, Bakura laughed as he saw the old Egyptian exhibits, some other times he frowned. Like when he saw that strange jar with carved symbols on it…he must have known what they meant or something.

"I don't understand." Zorgi finally said, as he came to a stop in front of what seemed a huge wall representation of the ancient Pharaoh's city, Memphis. "It ought to be here…" he ominously said.

Bakura's eyes narrowed dangerously. Reyna sensed the fury.

"Uhh…maybe it was here but moved to another place…maybe it's on another floor?" she weakly suggested. At the shaking of Zorgi' s numb head, her eyes darted desperately around, searching for an answer, anything. Suddenly, Bakura's hands clutched Zorgi' s jacket and brought him face to face with the irate red eyes.

"Where. Are. The. Glyphs?" he asked slowly, dangerously.

Zorgi staggered backwards…or at least tried to. "I…I' m telling you…they should have been here…the info said…"

Bakura's black pupils got dilated into satanic slits "Why you insolent, underhanded little-"

Just as the black-haired demon was about to strike the poor, shivering boy, a loud crashing sound was heard. Ominously, Bakura, Reyna and Zorgi all turned around to see the horrendous sight:

Marik, or rather, a very angry-looking Marik, with his bony hand piercing the glass barrier of the wall exhibition.

"Oh no! Marik! The alert!" Reyna tried to reason, ignoring the fact that Marik wouldn't understand her. Frantic footfalls were heard from the left as a museum guard ran quickly to speculate the damage. But alas, the poor man was too late, for he was brought face to face with the rage of destiny itself, as Marik grasped the person's throat with one hand and plunged the other in his body, drawing out his liver and guts, pulling them harshly enough to rip them away, as though Marik wanted to place them in HIS body, to rebuild his own non-existent organs.

"Mariku!" Bakura most uncharacteristically screamed as his usually placated face paled even more at the view of the cold-blooded kill. Well, even though Marik couldn't speak English, the zombie must have realized the glyphs that would bring its redemption were not around…and Marik didn't really like the prospect of staying a zombie for long.

"Oh my GOD!" screams and shouts were heard from the crowd that had gathered around the murder, and Zorgi and Reyna suddenly realized they were perfectly visible and noticeable to all others.

"Oh no…" Zorgi simply whispered in a cold rush of fear "Bakura…your magic is still working…right?"

But the dark demon didn't really seem to hear him, since his wide, bloody, dilated eyes were focused unbreakably on the object of their affection, Marik, who had now actually lowered himself to the point of trying to pluck the victims tongue out of his throat- such insane craze had assaulted him. The masked zombie doubled over suddenly, starting to make pathetic, retching sounds over the dead person's corpse, while Marik's snake dolefully made the same kind of hissing, crying sounds as its master.

Zorgi assumed it to be only logical that Bakura, upon seeing his loved one slip into such a desperate haze, had let down his defenses and, consequently, forgotten about the magic that was keeping them invisible.

"Oh no" Reyna managed to say, before an onslaught of sound attacked them all. Red flashing lights shone everywhere, and Zorgi covered his eyes and pulled Reyna to his side. Meanwhile, Bakura ran to Marik's side, trying to pry his beloved off the dead man and help Marik stop his retching.

Inevitably, more guards came running in, and upon seeing a robed figure with a black-haired, crow-like man standing above it, they naturally assumed that they had found their suspects. They ran offensively towards Marik, as if to seize him, but they weren't prepared for the unearthly, inhuman, penetrating cry that was heard all around them, like a rumbling of rocks or a cataclysm.

And then, before they knew it, something was in front of them- something like a huge, skeleton-like creature with wings, and very sharp fangs, that protruded from its enormous mouth. Vaguely, they registered the black-haired warrior had vanished form where he had been standing, and now this monster had taken his place, protecting the robed figure in the manner of a mother hen shielding her newborn.

The sudden strike from a huge flapping skeletal wing was enough to knock four men out, and the last thing they knew before they passed away was an awful hissing, almost weeping sound.

"Bakura!" Reyna shouted desperately, now holding her Razor Gun firmly and pointing it at innocent citizens in order to terrorize them "We need to get out of here"

Having slowly returned to his original form, his clothes slightly torn from the metamorphosis, Bakura closed his eyes and focused. Suddenly, the innocent people didn't seem to notice them anymore. Naturally, they were completely perplexed and terrified about that, but having witnessed a young man turn into a monster and then back into a man again, they didn't really find it so unexpected…They continued to stare, disgustedly, at the dead corpse on the floor. Some continued to cry and scream.

"We must hurry! Get out!" Reyna urged, as she ran towards the elevators, which were undoubtedly bringing more guards that would be unable to notice her. While Zorgi ran after her, Bakura continued to try and dislodge Marik from the corpse on the ground.

"Shuruna estu, Mariku!" (They're coming, Mariku!) he shouted, and finally forced Marik away from the retching position on the ground. He hauled the thin zombie towards the elevators, where he found a pack of newly immobilized guards by Reyna. Quickly, The group of four entered the elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor.

"Quick! We must get out of here before the Fuhrer's men identify us!" Reyna urged, but Zorgi seemed skeptical. He suddenly pressed the button to stop the elevator and then pressed the button to another floor, an underground one.

"Zorgi!" Reyna cried in panic "What the heck do you think you're doing?" she asked.

Zorgi' s eyebrows furrowed in concentration of his memories of the info he read "Wait…There might be a chance to find the glyphs yet…"

"Are you crazy?" Reyna roared "You're gonna get us killed!" she shouted, but did nothing to revert his actions. He scowled harder and she gasped, realizing innocent cheerful little Zorgi was suddenly not innocent cheerful Zorgi anymore. He was the Zorgi. Zorgi Magna. The warrior that Lend had chosen to pull out his hardest missions.

Zorgi Magna. Why did she see him like a serious person all of a sudden? Why…

"Htarna mahalat, Mariku? Nralka! Hayaat mure amni me!" (What were you thinking Mariku! Tell me! You could have gotten yourself killed!) Bakura suddenly roared, making the others share apprehensive glances with each other and cower away slightly. That tone of voice didn't sound very good, and they had never heard Bakura use it on Marik before.

Right now, Bakura's eyes reflected hurt and angst and most of all, a sense of betrayal. Marik stared silently at the ground, his snake mimicking his actions, not moving, for once.

"Shehlta uri mamni ki…rumna huru sui massi." (You're not strong enough now…you know I can't live without you.) Bakura's voice had surely lessened in volume and harshness, yet it still held a tinge of its previous frantic worry. At Bakura's words, Marik's head snapped up. Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, Marik snatched one of the knives attached to Bakura's belt and pulled it away. The zombie held it in its fist and suddenly, unexpectedly, drove it rigidly to where its heart should have been.

Nothing happened. Bakura sighed and closed his eyes.

Marik kept stabbing himself, again and again, each time more fervent than the other, displaying to all exactly how much he hated himself at that moment. He finally managed to show to Bakura the extent to which his self-hate had consumed him, so much that he was ready to give up everything in order not to exist in that form, in that world, unable to touch, taste or speak…Unable to touch and feel and…kiss.

But Bakura wasn't a normal man, and, just like with everything else in his life, he was passionate about his feelings too. Thus, as Marik kept providing a most unwelcome sight by stabbing his none-existent, unaffected body, Bakura fisted his hand and hit the wall with finality. Marik stopped for a mere millisecond, but resumed the stubborn process soon after.

Only then did Bakura narrow his eyes, glare maliciously at the stubborn white mask on Marik's face and reach at his belt. He, in turn, pulled out a knife.

And then, just as sudden as Marik had been with his violent motions, Bakura copied the other's movement and drove the blade deep in his heart, in the middle of his chest. At once, Marik dropped his dagger and started making those hideous retching, choking sounds again, as he lunged at Bakura and tried to stop him from doing the repeated motion of stabbing himself, then pulling the blade out for another hit.

Bakura seemed completely unaffected. All he did was blink as he stabbed himself, yet the sight was still disturbing.

Marik grabbed, clawed, nearly bit on Bakura's hand in order to make it stop, but Bakura wouldn't allow it. Just as senseless and unfeeling Marik had been with the dagger, Bakura was even more so. It just felt different, seeing it happening from a normal looking human.

Unexpectedly, Bakura dropped the knife, startling Marik. He took hold of the forearm that had been clutching his hand, not caring that he was now touching naked bone and rotten flesh, not caring about anything. Marik stopped retching and stared upwards, his snake mimicking his moves.

"Htara? Htara ma? Autode thes, Mariku? Name skothei? Afou otan skothoeis tonea sou, skotheis ki emena…AUTODE THES!" (What is it? What do you want, huh? Isn't this what you want, Marik? To kill me? When you kill yourself, you kill me too…IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT!) Bakura roared, wet rivers now freely rolling down his cheeks, making all other occupants of the elevator freeze. They didn't even breathe, as Bakura continued speaking.

And to the others horror- even Marik's- he started to change as he spoke, to wither. To turn from a beautiful youth to a rotten corpse all over again, as he held Marik's hand in his own and cried like a child. Marik frantically touched his lover's cheek as if to bring back the beauty and youth, but it wasn't coming back…and Marik seemingly didn't know what to do.

"Oli mou ti zwi, ithela na eimai mazi sou…oli mou ti zwi…kai twra thes na mou klepseis tin eukairia…an miseis toso ton eauto sou, Mariku, tote miseis ki emena…Giati…Giati…giati ki ego, stalitheia san esena eimai…" (All my life, all I ever wanted, was to be with you…all my life…and now you want to steal that chance away from me, again…if you hate yourself so much, Marik, then you hate me too, because it doesn't matter how pretty I may look outside…I'm actually…I'm actually…just like you…and I'll stay that way for you, if I have to. In the form that I can love you…)

Until he'd finished those words that neither Zorgi nor Reyna could understand, he had turned back into a zombie again too. His voice was heard not from vocal chords, but from some unearthly force, as it rumbled out of his mouth. And for the first time since Zorgi and Reyna had ever met Marik and Bakura, they saw Bakura fully, truly, unguardedly embrace Marik, not at all disgusted or afraid or scared, since he, too, was giving what he was receiving.

And as Bakura closed his eyes and felt the gentle slithering of Una around his ribs, he saw their embrace for what it really was- beauty. Because they were beautiful, and no matter how much fate tried to twist it, he knew, without a doubt, that when he'd open his eyes, he'd find crystal lavender staring back at him, with the same care and tenderness of the very first time.

No matter how molded and rotten and bug-eaten Marik's face really was, Bakura would somehow always see it youthful and robust, full of life, waiting for him to explore it.

That was his love, the feeling that he had always felt pierce his heart, from the very beginning. That was how he knew love. Marik knew it differently. Marik tried to make himself a better person because of his love for Bakura, but Bakura knew now that he needn't try to find anything better. He had all he wanted, right here, and even if they never managed to find the glyphs, he couldn't care less. He had been granted immortality with the one he loved, and that, in itself, was a blessing.

"Quick, Bakura! There might be guards waiting for us!" Zorgi shouted, hoping against all odds, that Bakura would hear him. "There might still be a chance for the glyphs! Heads up!" Reyna yelled mere seconds before the doors of the elevator burst open, revealing the sight Reyna and Zorgi had feared the most.

Bakura had only managed to convey the short information about the glyphs to Marik when he realized what was going on. Still in his zombie form, Bakura lunged at the guards outside with feral agility, followed closely by Marik.

Zorgi and Reyna did all they could with their guns, covering the two ancients, though it wasn't really needed.

"Damn!" Zorgi suddenly shouted over the fuss "I hope Marik has really nice tits! I won't forgive myself for going over all this if she's a hag, or something!"

Reyna guffawed over the shouts of the fight "Typical!" she shouted back at her friend, as she took a chance at hitting a guard with her Razor.

There was silence for a minute, and Bakura's voice was heard. When Zorgi and Reyna came out of their elevator haven to a long, stony corridor, which was isolated and dark. They were glad to see Bakura changed back to his normal form. Well, at least the dark corridor seemed to be hosting only one ghost, not two, though appearances could be deceiving.

Suddenly, yells and frantic screams were heard from the far end of the corridor, alerting the others that guards were still hot on their trail.

"Quick!" Zorgi shouted, pointing at an old-looking wooden door at the side of the crypt "Over there!" he directed, and took off towards the door. Reyna and the others followed suit, while the voices of the predators were coming closer. Reyna, the last one in line, only had a glimpse of one of the guards' faces before she sneaked in the room and let Zorgi slam the door shut behind her.

And then, enlightenment came. It was as if she walked in a cavern of light, since those magnificent, though eerie carvings on the wall seemed to emit their golden light everywhere, in all directions. The oriental beads that hung everywhere clung joyously, as though the day they had been long awaiting had finally arrived.

It seemed the day HAD arrived, judging from Bakura and –probably Marik's too- blessed looks.

And suddenly, it clicked, and Reyna felt stupid for not understanding earlier.

Of course. Marik's glyphs.

"It's…beautiful…" she breathed airily, earning a nod of agreement for Zorgi.

But their astonishment was doomed not to last for long, since a harsh thud was heard from the door.

"They're trying to get in here!" Zorgi yelled in alert "Reyna, help me hold them back!"

For once in he life, the girl did what she was told without stalling or whining. All she could do was shout at their ancient friends.

"Hurry, Bakura! We won't be able to restrain them for long!" she shouted, seemingly breaking some sense into Bakura, who probably woke up from one of his pleasant, Marik-related reveries.

Bakura quickly turned to the zombie by his side "Mariku! Ish damnar!" (Marik! The canopic jars!) he demanded quickly. The zombie seemed to oblige from sheer happiness, if not from understanding. It opened the front of its cloak hurriedly, accompanied by the bangs and thuds on the door.

"Hurry!" Reyna gave the pained yell.

Marik revealed the small bundle that had been tied under his empty ribcage for safe-keeping. Well, being a skeleton had its advantages, from time to time. For one thing, you had more storage room.

Bakura grabbed each and every vase in blind excitement and anguish, and he and Marik took turns to throw the contents of each of the six sacred jars on the walls, to be absorbed by the symbols.

"Kramand…huyaata mar." (This is it…go now…) Bakura barely whispered, as he softly nudged Marik from the back. Una stared at him with her silky, glowing lavender gaze, as her master took the few steps towards the glyphs, which were now shining more brilliantly than ever before.

"Oh, my god, I can't believe it! This is actually happening!" Reyna over-excitedly squealed. Form her side, Zorgi couldn't believe it either, as he held his breath in apprehension and silence. The thuds from the other side of the door seemed so dormant now, so distant…

Marik was standing right in front of the glyphs, building to the suspense of the situation by doing absolutely nothing. Bakura's anxiety was so great that the ancient actually started biting his lower lip and clawing at his own nails.

"Huntar, Mariku! (Do it, Mariku!) he yelled suddenly, and Marik nodded slowly.

He raised his hand in somewhat a ceremonial manner and placed it on the glyphs.

Bakura raised his hand to block the blinding light from penetrating his eyes, while at the same time Reyna and Zorgi shut their eyes tight. No one could see what was happening in that blinding inferno, but they easily realized that Marik's body had been lifted off the ground and was now floating, transforming in midair, much like Bakura had in his transformation.

Suddenly, as bright as the light had been, just as rapidly it faded away, leaving behind it sterile-looking blank walls and non-glowing symbols. Reyna felt almost sorry for them to have lost their beauty, but now, there were more pressing matters…

…like the robed, hooded figure standing steadily with its back turned to them right now.

"Here it comes…the moment of truth…" Zorgi held his breath dramatically, trying to ignore the shaking of the door "DOES she have big boobs, of doesn't she?"

Unfortunately for Zorgi, Bakura didn't seem to be listening to him at the time, or he would have answered accordingly. Reyna, however, merely rolled her eyes heavenwards.

Nevertheless, the figure didn't seem to be moving. For a long time, it just stood there, unmoving , with Bakura making absolutely no move to approach it. Reyna's hands were beginning to ache, and she was about to start protesting, when Marik finally moved.

The hooded figure moved its left, gloved hand to its unseen, masked face. And though, from the outside, no change was obvious, they could all somehow sense it in the air…the air felt thicker, somehow…it smelled…different- heavily spicy. Curiously, Bakura seemed to close his eyes and devour that smell hungrily, greedily, as though he already knew where it was coming from.

A sudden clanking sound was heard and soon enough, the white mask came rolling down the few steps and to Bakura's feet. He looked down at it almost morosely, then turned immediately back to the spectacle before him.

No one could really see what was happening, but the person known as 'Marik' did something with his hands, then dropped something else. Soon, they knew it was a glove that the figure had disposed of, since a long-fingered, tanned hand literally slithered to his side. With unnecessarily accentuated movements, which seemed to make Bakura's insides tickle thirstily at the mere sight of, the hooded figure let its hand trail into its robe's pocket and come out with something shiny- something purple.

Bakura seemed fascinated by the sight of that soft hand, knowing there was more to come and loving every single bit of his silent torture. As for the two other friends, their breath was caught, stuck in their throats as they watched the figure bring the purple chain forward and do something with it.

If Bakura was stressful, he didn't show it. Instead, he seemed to be was salivating. How…disturbing…for some reason, Zorgi and Reyna both felt like salivating too, at smelling that suffocating oriental perfume.

Zorgi prepared for the sight he had been anxious to see. What kind of girl would it be? Beautiful? She was Bakura's girlfriend…she would be lovely no doubt….Zorgi rejoiced at the thought. As for Reyna, she idly wondered what her rival in love really looked like. Reyna was sure she would be tall and blonde and brainless, like all the other bimbos men like.

Bakura, however, seemed to have developed a strange itch at his chest, and fingers, and throat. He longed to scratch that annoying flip-flop in his stomach, but knew he couldn't move, even if he'd wanted to.

The hissing sound of a voice forever sweet in his ears was heard, as the familiar feeling of sweet oil running over his skin assaulted him. He looked down immediately, only to come face to face with the beloved serpent, which seemed to glow more vigorously than any other time. Bakura noticed it had an extra shine about it, and that its tail seemed to leave behind it a temporary glowing trail, much like airplanes did to the sky with their long white lines of smoke.

The serpent slithered up his leg in the familiar, sensational pattern, and Bakura immediately turned to the snake-charmer, knowing that the time he had been waiting for had come, finally…

Clinging bells echoed around suddenly, as the swooshing vision of a cape turning came to Bakura's eyes. And then, from the darkness of the half-open purple robe, suddenly stretched forward a single plain of mocha skin- much like the fashion of a stretching snake. The glittery purple chain appeared around the taut bronze stomach, with its clip secured gently at the navel. Marik revealed himself further, showing off the immaculate design of his stomach and the twin dark brown nipples that adorned his lean chest.

Two very sharp intakes of breath were heard, but neither Marik nor Bakura seemed to notice. Reyna glanced frantically at her partner, who gazed back at her at a loss.

"It's…she's…I mean, he's…unless this is a very bad joke…Marik is…" the girl started, locked gazes with Zorgi, and let him finish the sentence himself, adding to the shock of the whole situation.

"A man."

"But that's impossible!"

"It doesn't change the fact that he IS a MAN! Bakura's in love with a man!"

"I don't feel very well…I don't think…

Oh yes, definitely a man…And what a man he was, with his hardened nipples and the gentle lines of his stomach, which dipped softly into his navel, and then ran down below, to curve at his hips. Suddenly, the fact that Marik always wore a cloth around his waist and nowhere else made perfect sense, and the way Bakura had guffawed when told about Marik's womanhood made even more sense.

Then, as sudden as everything about Marik was, came the abrupt revelation of this face, as he shed the offensive article of clothing behind him, dropping the robe with serious, almost malicious, force.

To say the look on Marik's eyes was feral, was an understatement. The eyes were unnatural, almost too crystallic, making an unbelievable contrast with his bronze mocha skin. The majestic qualities of his shoulder-long bleach-blond hair could never be compared to the entrancing glow of his eyes, which seemed elegant and eerie at the same time.

Naturally, what more could be said about Marik, apart from the fact that his lecherous grin was aimed at none other than a certain pale-skinned tomb-robber, who was currently shamelessly OGGLING at him with absolutely no repercussions.

Bakura felt the heat gather all around him, his temperature shooting to record highs. The until-recently dead blood in his veins started throbbing furiously, almost hurting him in the process. His mind jumped to overload soon after, and, as always, he literally shut down at the sight of those sinful, alluring crystal eyes.

And Marik hadn't even spoken yet.

Right then, when Bakura slipped out of his sensational daze and started to run towards Marik, Reyna knew there was absolutely no chance for her. No siree. No chance in a million. Neitherb spiritually nor physically. Compared to an Egyptian male aphrodisiac god…she simply didn't stand a chance. As for Zorgi, he didn't even know what to do at the revelation that Bakura had not been trying to bring back his fairy-tale princess, but his fairy-tale prince instead…Did that mean Bakura was gay…? In that case, had Zorgi himself been in danger of being groped all along!

Nah…not possible. Marik would have probably sent his snake to bite his head off before anything like THAT could happen….thank God.

When Bakura reached Marik, he didn't touch him immediately, just stared at him, seemingly absorbing the mere sight of him, the feeling of him standing so close. The tomb raider dipped his head forwards suddenly, taking in the smell that was overwhelming from such close distance.

Until, of course, he felt a thigh slide up, and hook around his leg. Slowly, he let his own hand roam down and sweep slowly up the generously offered soft flesh. He looked into Marik's eyes as he touched, probing carefully, blessedly. And then, in a swift flash of nothingness, when his overly sensitive nerves felt that hot breath he had been dreaming about hit his own skin, he lost all control… and cautiousness turned to huger… and bliss turned to desire.

Reyna and Zorgi didn't know if it was fortunate or unfortunate that they couldn't pull their eyes away. Bakura ravaged Marik's mouth, having wrapped an arm around Marik's waist and squeezed the boy's thigh with the other palm. Marik seemed to be enjoying it thoroughly, as he too had managed to bury his hands in Bakura's long mane of black hair, pulling Bakura's head even closer. Suddenly, Marik bit upon Bakura's lower lip, and the other gave a low growl in response, as he opened his mouth wider, allowing better access.

The blonde Egyptian started to give little gasps in their kiss, pumping his hot breath in Bakura's mouth, moaning the other's name languidly throughout their steaming exchange. Small actions such as these seemed to pummel Bakura's desire even more, as he violently bent forward and pulled Marik by the waist, so that we could be the one seemingly on top, while Marik had his long legs hooked intimately around the raven's waist. The tomb robber breathed dazedly into the other's throat with his eyes firmly closed, allowing his hands to roam a little more, over the juicy curves he so needed to feel. Oh…how long he had dreamed of this…the ecstasy of touching…taking…feeling that juicy skin.

This seemed to go on for a while, as the golden snake rolled in a trained loop around the lovers, pulling them tighter, closer together, enough to adhere them completely to one another, so that Bakura could no longer discern who he was or whether he was dreaming or not. The pit was simply too deep, and he wanted to keep on falling forever.

In a flash of understanding, Reyna and Zorgi realized, that the snake had probably done this dozens of times before…dozens of times it had pulled them together, keeping them close to one another, showing Marik's feelings, guiding Bakura…

A particularly loud crash from the door brought Reyna back to reality.

"Oh no!" she said, and turned to the kissing lovers for support "They're coming through! We can't hold them any longer!"

It had to be then, of course, at the most critical of moments, that Marik had to suddenly throw another sudden bomb at them. Upon hearing Reyna's voice, he broke the kiss, allowing Bakura to act like a lust-crazed, desire-driven, infatuated teenager and delve into Marik's crooked neck, biting down erotically at the other's skin. And though Marik had seemed intent on answering to Reyna before, only a long, wanton moan echoed earnestly from his throat now. He crushed his pelvis against Bakura's, giving out the strangled cry of an aroused animal simultaneously with the other, which certainly didn't make them sound like they were hurting.

Reyna and Zorgi blushed.

"BAAAAKURAAAA! Do you hear? Knock It off! We have to get out! Get a room for this!"

Seeing as Bakura made no move to answer to the girl, Marik broke away from the kiss yet again, accepting Bakura's diving heatedly and nibbling at his throat playfully.

And then, for the first time ever, they heard Marik's voice.

"Bakura…" came the long, lust-laced drawl from Marik's ethereal cave of a mouth. Ooooh, whatever he said must have been wonderful, since he looked so undeniably beautiful when he said it…how could that heavenly creature of such extreme divinity EVER say or do anything tainted…?

"Bahti rai…Suhaan umre corolda maa…huume koora" (Please, my star… let me kill that woman…when we're done)

a/n: ok so this is it for now. I hope you liked it! I'm so tired right now, and I just wanted to say thank you to OBSESSED for her oekaki! I liked it very much! Well, as always, I LOVE YOU GUYZ, YOU ARE THE BEST! I hope this chapter was ok, since I combined action with a little horror and romance. Then again, the next chapters will be more steamy and emotional, since they will focus more on our bishounen that the other chars…

The smut written in this chap wasn't really appealing, since it was seen from 'Zorgi and Reyna's' POV, mainly…this, however, is the beginning of the second part of the story…the first part was "observe from Reyna and Zorgi's POV how ancient Bakura displays his undying affection for Marik at their quest for Marik's glyphs"…the second part will be "learn Bakura and Marik's past, understand their relationship, their reasons to demand revenge (nemesis revenge in Greek)…and witness some steamy action, of course!"

That's all I 'll say for now…Plz review and tell me if you liked this chap especially! It would make me so happy!