Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Warnings: death, blood, language

"...Malik..." = talking

...Malik... = flashback

//...Malik...// = dreaming

One shot: The Bloody Underpass

Tap tap tap.... tap tap tap...

His steps echoed in the long, abandoned underpass. The longer he ran, the louder the echoing got, it seemed. The noise of the footfalls which was mingled with the tanned teenager's permanent gasps slowly became unbearable for his own ears. His head began to throb and sweat mixed with blood was flowing down his cheeks.

Malik needed to get out of this fast or else....

What would happen then, if he failed to get away? What, if the beast, the demon that was chasing him got hold of him?

With a blink of his eyes Malik tried to shove these thoughts out of his mind. He couldn't think about this right now. Or rather, he had no time to think. All he had to do was to get out. Out of this absolute darkness, the underpass.

Or was it even an underpass? ... Malik had thought so at first, but now, as he was running and running and running, he doubted that. It was simply too long. You couldn't see the end of it, even after running for minutes. It was a tunnel and the Egyptian didn't know when it'd end.

His "great" plan to escape the creature chasing him by running through an underpass and quickly change the route as soon as he got out was about to turn on him. He was tired at this point, his body ached and he thought about giving up.

Giving up... it would be so easy, so frigging easy to give up right now. No more running, no more problems, no more of all this.

No, Malik was a fighter, he'd always been one and he didn't want to be remembered as a quitter. He would never give up. His whole lifetime he'd had to endure terrible things; the death of his mother; his own father carving old hieroglyphics into his back with a hot knife; all the beatings whenever he'd done something wrong... to name just a few horrible events of his.

Malik's running slowed slightly. He had a stitch in his side and was all out of breath, but he couldn't allow himself to stop here and now, he couldn't.

This thing... was it still after him? Did Malik dare to turn around and have a look?

...No, not now. He should just keep on running. Turning around would just slow him down. Besides, he would not be able to see anything in the darkness anyway.

So Malik continued to run. He really couldn't see anything in front of him, not even his own hands. Everything around him was pitch black. Either that, or Malik was blind all of a sudden. The teen didn't even know himself. It was hard and exhausting to think in the darkness.

Was he still alive anyway or had the demon already got him, without Malik noticing?

No, that was not possible. This creature was devilish, it wouldn't let him die without pain and fear. He knew exactly it'd make him beg for life should it get him.

That was for sure.

Tap tap tap... tap tap tap...

Again, the only sound were his steps and his gasps.

How far had he already run? More than a kilometer? He wasn't sure, but Malik knew that he couldn't keep running like this forever. Soon, very soon he'd have to stop.

Too soon. Nausea came over Malik in a flash and he gagged, pressing his hand onto his mouth to stop himself from throwing up. A bloody taste flowed through his mouth. It was the effort of running that had caused all that. He wasn't used to run such a long way so fast, after all.

Thanks to all this, he was forced to stop now. The tanned teen stumbled sidewards until he could feel the cold tiles of the tunnel-wall. There, he slipped down, his hands leaving bloody marks on the wall, although he couldn't see them in the dark.

The sweat from earlier was replaced with cold sweat because of the nausea. He didn't want to vomit just now, he felt already bad enough after all.

On his knees Malik was sitting there, panting, both of his hands on the ice cold, wet ground in order to support him.

"Crap", he gasped as he heard footfalls, approaching him faster than he would've liked.

The beast... it was still following him and it came closer with every of Malik's breathes.

"My, my! Look at you down there, boy. I told you from the beginning that running wouldn't help you in any way", it sneered.

"Shut... up", Malik growled, barely managing to get the words out. It was true that the creature had told him from the very beginning that running was useless, but Malik had been stubborn and was more than willing to fight for his life. He would never allow this creature to make fun of him, even if he was in a situation like this one, where he was helpless.

"Now, now, don't be so rude", it told him, chuckling. "You should have listened to your siblings, Malik, don't you agree? They did tell you about the curse, after all. But you... you were ignoring the advice they gave you, ignorant brat."

Marik snarled. "Stop it now."

"But what fun would that be? No, after all this time, now that I'm finally here, I cannot simply go away, can I? All the omens I gave you... they can't have been in vain."

Malik closed his eyes. Yes, the first omens... the dreams... the advice of his siblings... everything was etched on his memory. Everything, from the very beginning, 5 years ago, until this exact day.

*flashback*

// "It'll come... and then it will catch you, boy", the voice whispered threateningly. "And after that, it'll crush your little soul."

"No... please...", Malik begged, his small hands reaching for the direction the voice seemed to come from while he was surrounded by dark fog.

"You can't do anything about it... boy...", the voice said. "There is no way to rescue you... and your soul..."

"Wait!", Malik shouted into the darkness. "What do you mean? I don't understand!"

Blindly, he ran through the dark and felt his legs getting scratched by branches and twigs; he had to be running through some kind of forest. Malik ran and ran until, suddenly, he was able to see a faint light. Single-minded, he ran towards the light and found himself on a circular clearing. The bright moonlight fell upon the place like the light of an enormous flashlight.

Never before had the young Egyptian seen such a place with his own eyes. He'd only read about places like this one as he'd never been allowed to leave the tomb they lived in.

Only after a moment or two, Malik noticed that there was something lying in the middle of the clearing. A body.

Carefully, the twelve-years old Egyptian walked closer. His eyes widened when he had to notice with horror that it was his father lying there, bathed in his own blood.

Malik was shocked and confused at the same time. How did his father get here? He was already-

But before the boy could manage to finish his thoughts, the body of his father burst into flames for a second and after the fire was gone, there was nothing left, not even ashes.

Malik took a step backwards in terror.

What was going on?

He jumped and his lavender eyes widened, when a hand as cold as ice, but the same color as his own hand was pressed onto Malik's mouth.

"Hello, boy." There was the horrible voice again! This time, it was chuckling. "Let's play a game, shall we?"//

With a bloodcurdling scream, Malik woke up, panting, tears flowing down his cheeks. Two seconds later, his older sister Ishizu and his adopted brother Odion were standing in his room, looking at him with wide eyes.

"Malik? Malik!", they shouted, when he didn't stop screaming.

"It's okay, it's okay", Ishizu said, sat down on Malik's bed and held him tightly. "It was just a dream, a nightmare."

Slowly, Malik stopped screaming. "A... dream?...Nightmare...?", he breathed, barely audible.

"Exactly", Ishizu told him and looked at Odion. Worry was conspicuous on both of their faces.

Since the death of their father two months ago these nightmares were becoming more and more frequent. Neither Odion nor Ishizu knew how to help Malik with them. All they could do was to comfort and calm their younger brother as well as possible.

"It's alright now, Malik. You can go back to sleep now", Ishizu told him and then, she and Odion left the room and Malik was alone again. Sitting on his bed, he was wide awake right now and looked around in his dark room. There was nothing abnormal...

Malik noticed that Ishizu and Odion were talking to each other in another room, probably the kitchen, but he couldn't make out exactly what they were saying.

Though he could guess that they were talking about himself and his nightmares.

Malik sighed.

He'd never had nightmares before. Never. But in the night of his father's death, these nightmares had started. Surely, because of the death of his father. Maybe because, secretly, he wanted to know what had happened, but his siblings wouldn't tell him.

It had been really mysterious. From one moment to the other, Malik had suddenly lost consciousness and when he gained it again, he was lying in Odion's arms, which pressed him against his body, so that he wouldn't notice that his father was sitting on the floor, leaning against the sandy wall, dead.

But Malik did notice.

The face of his father, covered with blood... the crimson streak along the wall... the face of his sister, scared stiff... Odion's panicky attempts to stop his younger brother from looking at all that...

Malik would never forget it. He could never forget it.

At least not as long as he didn't know what had happened.

It wasn't that Malik missed his father. He'd been the one who had beaten Malik a lot and he had also been the one who had carved the hieroglyphs into Malik's skin after all. The young Egyptian's life was more peaceful without his father.

But still...

His siblings didn't want to tell him anything about their father's death, they probably thought Malik was too young or something.

Moaning, Malik lay down again. With his arms crossed under his head, he stared at the ceiling.

After the death of their father, Ishizu and Odion had mentioned only one thing to him that was of importance to them: the legend of the curse.

Legend had it that every fifth generation, the curse of the tomb keepers would wipe out the oldest living male tomb keeper as well as his sons.

Why? Malik didn't know, unfortunately. His siblings didn't tell him much, if you thought about it.

Ishizu was profoundly convinced that the legend was true; that the curse existed. In marked contrast to Malik, who didn't mind legends, even now.

The death of their father, Malik's horrible nightmares... all that were mere first omens of what would happen to Malik soon enough. Death, death waited for Malik. Somewhere... That was what Ishizu feared. And there was absolutely nothing she could do in order to help her brother.

.........

That had been only the beginning. After that, the Ishtars had moved to Domino City, Japan, since Ishizu hoped to get rid of the curse -she believed it to exist after all- if they'd break the tradition of the tomb keepers which said that the firstborn son, the heir, would have to stay inside of the tomb his entire life long. And Malik was the firstborn son, as Odion was adopted which meant that the curse wouldn't harm him in any way.

However, the fact that they broke the tradition didn't change anything. Malik's nightmares continued and became more terrifying, more bloodcurdling and more frequent. Sometimes, he had hallucinations and daydreams, horrible day mares all of a sudden, no matter where he was.

Often it happened in school and he had to leave classes and go home. Most of his fellow students surely thought he was crazy or a schizophrenic the way he behaved from time to time. They could neither understand Malik nor deal with him, so they left him alone. Not that Malik wanted to have friends. He hadn't had friends his whole life and he didn't need them now.

And here he was now, five years later. Lying on the ground, alone, at death's feet. In the end, he had to admit that the curse existed indeed. Ishizu had been right all the time. Had he only listened to his sister and stayed at home all the time, then he wouldn't be in this situation.

Had he only trusted her and Odion.

"You thought it was merely a legend, just nonsense, right, Malik?", the creature questioned scoffingly, calling Malik by his name for the first time.

Malik bit on his lip.

"So, tell me. What ran through your mind when I appeared, boy? Did you make up plans for an escape?", the beast asked him.

"When you appeared?", Malik repeated. "Well..."

*flashback*

The school bell rang and Malik dashed out of the classroom immediately, out of the school building, just away from this place. He couldn't see clear, everything he saw was covered with blood. The ground, the people, the sky, simply everything. Again, a hallucination.

He knew it was one, but it scared him nevertheless.

Without thinking or looking, the Egyptian ran through the streets. Where, he didn't even know himself. He just had to get away from everyone, from everything in order to calm down.

Malik kept running until he reached the open fields, a good place to calm down.

Quickly, he slumped down on the grass and took a deep breath.

His sister had told him to go home directly after school. Malik was sure she was already worrying, so he shouldn't stay here all too long.

He lay down and closed his eyes.

However, not for long. A chilly gust of wind made him shiver and jump up.

There he stood now, on the field, all alone, the wind blowing through his sandy-colored hair, roughing it up.

"Maaaaliiik", the wind seemed to whisper. "Maaaa...liiik"

The young Egyptian gulped. Was he... hallucinating again?

Another gust of wind.

"Ruuun... while you can.."

Malik's eyes widened. What... was that?

He began to laugh nervously. His mind was playing a trick on him again it seemed.

Still, he was concerned now. Maybe he should really go home...

"What, are you going already?", a voice, the voice, breathed into Malik's ear all of a sudden.

Alarmed, Malik turned round in a flash.

"You", the Egyptian whispered, took a step backwards and narrowed his eyes at the figure in front of him. So this creature was the one the voice belonged to. Malik could tell that it wasn't a hallucination. It was real.

"Glad to see me?", it chuckled. "Finally?"

Malik took another step backwards, gulping. This thing... it looked almost like Malik himself... the only difference were the wild hair it had and the clothes it wore; a black trench coat.

The young Egyptian could feel his heart pound more and more in his chest. What should he do? This... creature was definitely not human, Malik was sure. It had such an evil aura around itself... and it had the voice that appeared in his dreams or rather nightmares all the time.

This... was... a demon!

"What... do you want?", Malik asked, taking another step backwards.

"Heh", the demon grinned. "What do I want, huh? Well, I am condemned to be the enforcer of the curse. I know you've heard of the curse of the tomb keepers, boy."

Malik pressed his lips onto each other so that they formed a thin line.

"And thus", the creature continued, "I have to do what I have to do, if you get what I mean."

The young Egyptian narrowed his eyes. This meant his death. Legend had it that all sons of the current leader of the tomb keepers had to die. The leader was already dead. And since Malik was his son, his only biological son, it was Malik's turn to die now.

With a steady gaze, he looked from the demon to his right, back at the demon again and then to his left, when he, suddenly, made up his mind. He wouldn't condone his fate without trying to change it. Malik was strong and he knew it, but was he strong enough to make a stand against a demon and his own fate? It was a ridiculous thought that Malik would manage, but it was worth a try.

"Fuck you!", he shouted at the black figure in front of him and turned around, bolting into the direction of the city.

While he was running, Malik could hear the demon laughing and shouting after him.

"Running is useless, boy! I'll get you, wherever you are!"

And the demon got Malik, indeed.

"And now, you're accepting death or what?", the demon questioned, smirking.

Malik, still on the ground, wanted to retort, but nothing came to his mind.

"Aww, giving up already? Man, just when I thought this could get a little interesting, you're finished? Tsk", the creature teased.

Malik squeezed his eyes shut. What... should he do? He couldn't win. ...

"No... I'm not finished yet", he said and stood up, his legs shaky.

Panting and gasping, he staggered into the direction where he thought the end of the tunnel had to be, although no end was in sight.

Hah, he didn't even get the chanceto see the light at the end of the tunnel, Malik thought. The last glimmer of hope...

Slowly, Malik trudged along the tunnel. The demon was still right behind him.

"This tunnel will never end", it told him, laughing. "No matter how long you run, you will never reach the other end, boy. There is no escape, for I am death."

But Malik kept on walking. He had to escape. He was too young to die here and now.

The demon grew impatient. It'd had his fun for five years. This game bored it by now and it wanted it to come to an end.

So it raised its hand that had claw-like fingers as black as its soul and pierced through the young Egyptian's body.

Malik gasped for air. His gasps were followed by a scream, that made one's blood run cold.

The boy sank to the ground, once again on this day. When the demon removed its hand, Malik clutched his chest at the place where the claws had come out. He could feel how fast his clothes got soaked with hot, crimson blood, which was pouring out of his wounds, even if he couldn't see it in the darkness.

"So... is this... what you... wanted...?", Malik asked with his last bit of strength, coughing up blood.

"Heh. You could say so, yes, Malik", the demon spoke and laid an icy hand on Malik's shoulder. "My job seems to be done here. For now, anyways", it continued. "The game is over. And you lost."

With that, it was gone and Malik was all alone.

Slowly, the darkness lifted. Where before had been absolute darkness, there was now warm sunlight. The Egyptian teen was leaning against the cold, blood-besmeared tiles at the wall, near the end of the abandoned underpass.

A whole in his chest, his clothes drenched in blood, he was laying in a pool of his own blood. His chest wasn't moving anymore.

The sunlight... his eyes had never seen it again.

---------------------------------------------The End--------------------------------------------

That's the end.

Just if you wonder: The underpass was indeed an underpass. The demon (Yami Marik) had just used shadow magic to lengthen the underpass immensely and thus foil Malik's plan.

I hope you liked the story. Please review and tell me what you think!

~Crystal of Moonlight~

PS: I will possibly write an one-shot about the curse of the tomb keepers I mentioned in this story. If anyone is interested or something, please tell me! ^____^