Disclaimer: Nope, don't own it! Nope, nope.

Note: Now, I am fully aware that Marik's name in the manga is simply Marik, and his yami is Yami Marik or also simply Marik. There is no 'Malik' canonically, and it is not phonetically correct in Japanese, anyway. However, 'Marik' is not a Japanese name, and since it is tedious to write 'Yami Marik' every time, I will be using 'Malik' to refer to 'normal Marik' and 'Marik' to refer to 'Yami Marik'. I dislike using 'Malik', but it is necessary. Please do not reject my story because of it. 'Malik' is in very little of it, anyway. Alright, enjoy!

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A smirk twisted Marik's lips as he gazed up at the sparkling stars clinging to the black canopy of night. Full moon. The bright light cast countless shadows from the buildings, trees, houses…

He closed his eyes, feeling the cool breeze caress his tanned cheeks. He felt, again. No longer a simple shadow of another body through which the wind blew. No, the breeze brushed his skin, reawakening old desires.

Marik strode down the deserted street. He stared down at his fingers, relishing in his power over the body he now possessed. He did not know how it had happened, but he had returned. The Pharaoh and Marik's hikari gave themselves too much credit.

Now that he had returned, he would make them pay for their actions.

Marik grinned, the familiar swish of his dark cape behind him as a he rounded a corner. What fun it would be to torment the pompous Pharaoh and his pathetic circle of friends, again. As Marik began to match each victim with his or her perfect method of torture, he could barely suppress a shiver of ecstasy.

First would be the Pharaoh's gaki… Yuugi, was it? He could not properly punish the Pharaoh without affecting his hikari. Yes, the Pharaoh's downfall would be his attachment to his vessel. He would suffer most.

Next, Jounouchi. That boy had caused him far too much grief and escaped virtually unscathed. Marik narrowed his eyes. They all had. Jounouchi's fate would be much like the Pharaoh's. Those he held close would suffer and so would he. His sister… Shizuka. The boy Yuugi… that blasted woman Mai… Anzu, his indiscreet crush… and his dear friend Honda. Each would suffer, for their own sins and the sins of those connected to them.

Mai had escaped her fate on the Battle Ship. Not this time. A twisted grin contorted Marik's mouth. Oh, the pleasure of awakening old nightmares. How he loved it.

Who else? Who else should suffer?

Ishizu. Oh yes. His beloved Onei-san. She had earned her torment. How he longed to punish the sister of his hikari. The woman had interfered far too often. Suppressing him as a child; ensuring little Malik never awoke his darker side during his teen years; opposing him on the Battle Ship and hiding Rishid's body. Yes, she would pay dearly… and he would savor every moment.

He longed to kill Rishid now, but in searching his host's memories, he had found that the man was temporarily out of reach. He would have to be content with his current victims… for now.

Marik reached back, fingering the handle of his Millennium Item. With the Rod's power, he would increase their pain tenfold. This time… he would not hold back.

Looking up at the sky, Marik paused. Was there anyone else? There had been another on the Battle Ship, another of the Pharaoh's group. Ryuuji, was it? Marik smirked. Why not? The members of the pitiable posse were so interwoven that to harm one would be to harm the rest.

Seto Kaiba. Yes, the pretentious heir would be humiliated and beg for death when Marik turned his attention to him.

But not tonight. Tonight the Pharaoh would fall.

Marik frowned. The list still seemed incomplete. He pondered a few moments later before his eyes lit with fiendish recognition.

The Theif.

Yes, Bakura, the oh-so-mighty Thief had bowed to his power once, and this time he would wipe that yami's pitiful existence from history. Bakura would suffer like the Pharaoh, through the anguish of his-

Suddenly, Marik's scowl deepened. It occurred to him that he knew nothing of the Thief's hikari.

His eyes glazed over as he shifted through Malik's memories. Interesting. He seemed to act as an unseen thread, weaving through the group and binding them together, though none acknowledged it. Quiet and kind. A pure soul. His brow wrinkled in disgust. How could such an innocent person host the black-hearted Theif? No matter. He appalled such naïve hearts, and would crush the boy's.

It struck Marik that this hikari… Ryou… was the only one of the Pharaoh's group who had not witnessed Marik's power. Well, Marik grinned, he must not be deprived of such an opportunity.

Before he could begin his tirade of vengeance, though, Marik had to collect his victims. After all, he smirked, the only way for the pain to be truly effective was for each his victims to witness the others' agony.

But who to seize first?

Soft footsteps broke the silence of the late night. Drawn from his scheming, Marik gazed down the street at an approaching figure. The person's face was shrouded in the shadows of the night, but his hair reflected the moon's light perfectly.

Marik chuckled. The Theif's hikari walked slowly down the road, coat wrapped tightly around his slim form against the chill, oblivious to his impending doom.

Marik smirked as he watched the figure amble down the sidewalk. What luck. The subject of his recent musings would be the first victim of the night.

Ryou.

Marik waited until the white-haired hikari approached before his slid out of the shadows into the inky glow of the streetlight. The boy halted, staring up at him with large brown orbs. Marik grinned, though his expression was hidden by the hood of his flowing cloak.

They stood staring silently at each other. Then Ryou cleared his throat, lowering his head.

"Excuse me," he muttered and attempted to sidestep Marik.

Marik allowed the boy to brush past him before he pounced. He whipped around and grasped Ryou's wrist in a crushing grip, twisting it into the air. Ryou cried out, instantly tugging at Marik's tanned hand.

Marik chuckled. "Not so fast, little Ryou."

Ryou froze, eyes doubling in shock. "H-How did you-?"

Taking advantage of Ryou's momentary submission, Marik yanked him out of the light into the shadows of the building. Marik slapped a hand over Ryou's mouth as he slammed him against the wall. The boy gave a muffled yelp and struggled, but stilled immediately when Marik closed his other hand around Ryou's throat.

Marik sneered. "Good boy. Now will you be quiet and not make a fuss?"

Ryou, who had both hands clasped around Marik's wrist, nodded shakily.

Marik slowly removed his hand from Ryou's mouth, watching the boy suck in fearful breathes. His hood shadowing his face, Marik knew Ryou could not recognize him, not that he had ever seen him before.

"I… I don't have anything valuable."

Marik laughed. "I doubt that."

With his free hand, Marik unbuttoned Ryou's jacket.

"Wh-What are you…?"

Once the coat was open partway, Marik grasped the cord hanging around Ryou's neck and held up the Millennium Ring for Ryou to see.

Ryou's eyes widened. "H-How did you know-?"

The Millennium Ring dropped back into Ryou's chest as Marik reached behind him. He brought his hand forward again, and the Millennium Rod glinted in the faint moonlight.

"Th…" Ryou strained against the pressure on his throat. "That's Malik-kun's…!"

Marik threw back the hood of his cloak, his hair flinging up to express its joy for escaping suffocation.

Ryou gasped. "M… Malik-kun?"

Marik chuckled. "Close, boy. Very close. This is indeed little Malik's body, but I'm not Malik."

Ryou frowned. "Then… Then who-?"

The boy sucked in a sharp breath, and his eyes doubled in size.

Marik grinned. "I see you've heard of me."

"Yami Malik." Ryou breathed.

Marik uncurled one finger from around the Rod and lightly caressed Ryou's cheek. The boy shivered, jerking his head away.

"What have they told you about me, hmm?" He gripped Ryou's chin, forcing the boy to look him in the eye. "Well?"

Ryou's breathes were shaky, the boy obviously unsure of how to answer and fearful of Marik's response. As he should be.

"I… They said you were evil. They said you were insane." Ryou cringed as Marik's clutch tightened. "It's just what they told me! I wasn't there. I mean… my body was, but…"

"Your yami, Bakura. I'm not interested in him right now."

Ryou cringed. His eyes pressed shut, Ryou's bit his lip. A second later, his face contorted into a pained grimace.

"Is that idiotic Spirit angry that I'm ignoring him? You can tell him I'll deal with him later."

Ryou looked at the ground. "He wants to know what-" He winced, assuredly at Bakura's colorful language. "Why he's unable to come out."

Marik chuckled. "I'm using the Rod to confine his to Ring."

Ryou's eyes widened.

"He'll be able to come out later, but right now I want my question answered. So tell him to shut up."

Ryou gulped.

"Now, what else did they tell you about me?"

"I… I don't know-"

"Did they tell you about how I fought, little Hikari?"

"They… They said you… hurt everyone. And you liked it… a lot."

Marik sneered. "Indeed. Torturing your friends was my favorite pastime." He chuckled as Ryou sunk back into the wall. "Don't worry, little Hikari, I won't hurt you, yet."

"Wh… What do you want?" Ryou whispered.

"What does every villain want after he is defeated?" He leaned over Ryou. "Revenge. You may think me horridly cliché, but it is reality." He pressed a finger against Ryou's chest. "Even that weak yami of yours has motives for revenge, whether he knows it yet or not."

"B-But I didn't do anything to you."

Marik squeezed Ryou's neck, and the boy gasped desperately for breath. "Not directly, no. But you are useful for two reasons." He curled back all but his index and middle fingers. "One, you are tightly connected to the majority of the humans and…" he smirked, "non-humans on whom I shall enact my revenge. Two, I believe you are the only one in little Yuugi's group that has not witnessed what wonderful terror I can inflict. I wouldn't want to leave you out of the fun."

Ryou shook his head, eyes widened in fear. "N-no… please-"

"Frankly, little Hikari, I am not in the mood to argue, and I must hurry if I am to collect all of my victims tonight. Therefore," He raised the Millennium Rod in front of Ryou's face. "It's time for you to take a nap."

A bright light flashed, momentarily flooding the dark street, and Ryou's body became limp. Marik reinserted the Rod into its designated belt-loop in his pants and released his hold on Ryou's neck, allowing the boy to slump forward into his arms.

"It seems almost impossible," Marik brushed Ryou's white hair from his face. "That such a frail child could be the host of the infamous Bakura, the supposedly greatest enemy of the Pharaoh." He smirked. "Well, they will all have a different enemy tonight."

The door to the old warehouse swung open, and Marik sauntered in, Ryou's unconscious form hanging lifelessly over his shoulder. He headed deep into the building's infrastructure, winding through passages and down stairs until he emerged in a large, black room.

Marik dropped the limp boy unceremoniously onto the floor. He smirked down at his captive, then turned out of the room again with a flourish of his cape. He walked down the hall to a small room. His eyes scanned the objects littering the unorganized shelves, sparkling with fiendish excitement when they rested on a coil of barbed wire. He swiped it off the shelf, savoring the sharp pain in his hand as it sliced into his palm. Perfect.

Marik turned to leave when a roll of thick silver tape caught his eye. He corked an eyebrow and grabbed it, as well.

After shutting the door behind him, Marik quickly returned to his unconscious guest. He placed his supplies on the floor and, after discarding the boy's coat, hoisted Ryou into a chair. Marik grabbed the length of wire and wove it through Ryou's pale arms and the back of the chair, then wrapped it around the boy's chest as to pin the boy to his wooden prison.

After he had finished securing Ryou's legs, Marik smirked and slipped two fingers under Ryou's chin to tilt his face up.

"Wouldn't want you running out on me, would I?"

He chuckled, then ripped off a piece of the silver tape and stretched it across Ryou's sallow lips.

Marik gave the wire a final tug, and then stepped back, admiring the first of the night's bounty in the form of the unconscious and hopelessly bound boy. He grinned, eyeing Ryou's head that rested limply against his chest. After adjusting his cape, Marik gave the sharp wire another jerk just for good measure, eyes lighting with a vicious delight as the bonds cut into the boy's pale skin, and a few thin lines of crimson ran down his arms and darkened sections of his pants.

Satisfied, Marik spun away, heading out of the building to gather the remainder of his victims. The terror in Ryou's eyes flashed across his mind's eye, and Marik cackled.

That boy won't live to see morning's light.

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Author's Notes: Alright! You don't know how long I've been waiting to post this! For those of you who are worried or skeptical, this is not your average, run-of-the-mill, bloody, gory torture fic. Yes, there is torture; you can't avoid it with Marik. However, there is actually very little blood in the entire fic. For those of you have read my Scars fic, the physical inflictions are nowhere near as vivid. As Marik is the tormentor, the torture is mostly phsycological, which is one of the reasons I enjoy this fic so immensely, despite the dark plot. Okay, the next chapter will probably will be near double the length of this one, but I will do my best to update in a timely manner.

Translator's Notes: 'Onei-san' means 'older sister'.

Reviews are greatly appreciated.