Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh!.

Alright guys, here's a new original! It definitely started out simpler, shorter, and... well... lighter, but this is what came out. And it goes into dark territory. Like, Death Note meets Breaking Bad meets Game of Thrones meets the original Yu-Gi-Oh! manga vibe.

This story is rated M: for cursing and sensitive, mature content. Basically, if you're already iffy about sensitive material, I'd steer clear of this one. But, if you're into it, you'll have a great time (I hope)!

My goal was to put these characters in the "real" adult world, within the events of this arc. I know I've done something like this before, but I'm taking it to deeper, darker levels this time. The Seal of Orichalcos is represented as some kind of powerful, mystical drug which Yami abuses pretty heavily. He goes through a lot of 'highs' (and 'lows') that typically come from hallucinogens, stimulants, and performance enhancers. Also, his relationship with Téa has a wider dynamic range and could be considered more toxic than any other of my depictions of it. They go through a lot together; as it suits the overarching plot, their relationship is an ever changing, ever expanding force of nature. That's all I can say without giving anything away. :-)

Basically, I've upped the despair to angst-ronomical levels. Heh. Do you see what I did there?

CW: strong language, substance abuse, explicit sexual content, sexual assault, suicidal behavior/implications, death/dying, violence, physical abuse, psychological abuse, cult reference, religious fundamentalism

Vices
PART I: The Village of Sun

by Atemusluckygal

The train jolted on the tracks as it raced down the steep mountainside at unsustainable speeds. Téa threw her hands out to keep her balance. Yami—with an unconscious Weevil Underwood lying limp at his feet—met her eyes and confirmed what he feared to be true: their time was almost up. As soon as he opened his mouth to tell her to jump for it, he was suddenly thrown back against the hard roof as the car whipped through a sharp turn and jerked to the left. Thinking fast, he grabbed the kid by the back of his sweater and chucked him off the car to safe ground as hard as he could.

As he struggled to find his footing again, Téa grabbed his wrist and pulled him up, and they dashed towards the cliff as the car tumbled off the tracks. They leapt for it, but Yami realized too late that he was too far from the edge to make it. The only thing keeping them from following the train car to their demise was Téa's hand catching a small, dry weed branch protruding from the side of the chasm, with Yami dangling by the wrist in her other hand with a five hundred foot plummet beneath his feet.

Téa gritted her teeth as their momentum swung them from side to side, painfully stretching her arm and shoulder. The branch would not be able to sustain the weight of the both of them for long. "Pharaoh!" Téa called down to him over the roar of the high-altitude desert winds. "Are you alright?"

Yami looked back at her, sharp winds tossing his bangs. "Yes, but if we don't think of something, we're both done for!" He tightened his hold on her, and the branch in her other hand began to stretch off the cliff wall. She turned her head to the side, searching the area for a way out. The branch shifted again, making her stomach lurch.

The pharaoh called her attention back to him. "Téa, there's only one way out of this, and we both know it!" He looked her dead in the eye. "You must let me go!"

Téa's eyes widened in shock. "What? Are you crazy?!"

"You can climb up to safety if I'm not weighing you down!"

She shook her head furiously. "No way am I'm letting you go, Pharaoh!"

Yami held firm. "You have to! If you don't, we will both die!"

She tightened her hand tightened on him, despite the strain on her tendons. "I'm not saving myself by letting you die!"

"Don't be foolish, Téa! Go now and save yourself! You're better off without me, I've caused nothing but trouble for you and everyone else!" He turned his head away shamefully. "And Yugi—"

"No!" Téa cut him off sharply, "Don't be ridiculous! Your friends love you and need you, and that includes me and Yugi! I'm not letting you go and that's that! I'll get us out of here, I'll pull us up—"

Wasting no time on warning her, Yami suddenly released her wrist. Her weakening hold was the only thing keeping him suspended now, and she felt as if she were fighting both him and the very force of gravity itself for his life.

"What are you doing you idiot?!" she demanded incredulously.

"If you won't, then I will do it for you!" He looked at her with heart-wrenching finality in his eyes. "Téa… I'm sorry for everything. This is goodbye!"

"NO!" she screamed. "I won't let you!" She glanced back at the branch just as more roots began to loosen and break. "If you go, I go too!"

"Téa, don't—!"

"Look," she jerked her head to her right, "there's a foothold over there that should be able to support you. If you help me, I can swing you onto it, and we will both get out of here! Just grab onto me before I drop you… I can't hold on much longer!"

Yami looked away, looking conflicted but making no move either way. Téa's view of his face blurred from the angry tears growing in her eyes. Her voice was grated with desperation as her hand was about to give out. "Do it now!"

As if her voice were a punishing whip to his back, Yami obeyed, adding security to their tether. Gathering her nerves, Téa swung her shoulder to the right as hard as she could, letting him fall back to gain momentum. With another groan, she threw her shoulder again, trying hard to ignore the immense aching in her arm.

"Just a little harder," she panted. Beads of sweat ran down her forehead and into her eyes, but she blinked them away and ignored the sting. Yami was only one more swing away from being able to reach the small ridge.

"Almost there!" he called as he stretched his arm for the next swing.

Snap!

Yami's hand was only a mere arm's length away from the foothold when it fell away. Téa's support branch came completely loose, and the two began their deadly descent, screaming as they plummeted down the chasm. Their velocity was too great, and there was nothing to catch them but scattered trees and unforgiving solid earth beneath patches of dry grass. The next thing Téa felt was a blow to the back of her head, a few seconds of dull, throbbing pain fading away, and then nothing at all.

Yami gasped as he sat up with a start. It was that same nightmare again—a vision from the past. Guardian Eatos—Rafael's ace monster—skillfully struck the ground with her Celestial Sword, sending a blaze of searing heat towards him, fueled by the vengeful hatred of his sacrificed allies, singeing the flesh from his bones… or at least, that's what it felt like.

Digit by digit, his duel disk counter dropped to zero, 'dinging' as it hit the bottom. Rafael approached Yami, saying something he couldn't hear over the ringing in his ears, but it sounded both boastful and damning at the same time. Rafael stood tall and proudly before him with a satisfied smirk. As much as the pharaoh resented him, he had no strength left to defy him. After all, his soul was about to be taken as penalty for his cruel actions—what good was his pride going to do him now?

A pair of small hands pushed his back out of the Seal's ring just before the harvest, and Yugi…

"No! I won't let this happen to you!"

Sweet little Yugi, the sacrificial lamb, vanished into the neon green light before Yami realized what was happening or could do a thing to stop him. He left Yami with a gentle smile that would never stop haunting him.

It only needs one of us, so I'm letting the Seal take me instead.

The anguished pharaoh screamed for Yugi with a breaking voice as he grasped at his partner's fading spirit form, feeling only empty air where a warm spectral presence should've been. He searched the skies, looking for any way he could somehow chase down the light soul being ripped from his body before it could make its escape.

"Take me as well!" Yami roared furiously at the glowing green emblem in the sky. "Do it! Take my soul too, damn you!"

But the Seal of Orichalcos paid his demands no notice; it only retreated into the clouds storming above him, taking Yugi's soul with it, and leaving the beneficiary of his body on the mesa in Death Valley to collapse under the massive weight of his defeat.

Yami shuddered as he struggled to shake off the nightmare. He flattened his palm over his racing heart, breathing slowly to calm it down. Blinking, he focused his eyes and took in his surroundings. He was in a small canvas tent, with a thick brown wool blanket covering him and lavender incense gently wafting into his nose. Téa, still unconscious, lied beside him. There was a cold compress beneath her head, half-buried by her tangled brown hair. Her facial muscles were slightly tensed.

As much as he would've preferred to let her sleep, Yami was growing too anxious to trust their new territory, and he needed both him and Téa to be ready to flee at a moment's notice. He gently nudged her shoulder.

"Téa?"

She groaned, but did not wake. He tried again. "Téa, wake up."

Moments later, Téa's eyes fluttered open, and she gasped as she sat up. "Whoa!" She grimaced as she touched her head where the cold compress had supported her. "Ow…"

"Are you alright?" Yami asked softly. It made him uneasy to see her in as much pain as she was, though he was nevertheless grateful that she was alive.

"Yeah," she muttered, rubbing her temples to soothe the headache. "I mean, I've definitely felt better, but nothing's broken or anything. What about you?"

The thought to assess himself hadn't occurred to Yami at all since he awoke. Bruises and scrapes here and there, including a slightly swollen lower lip and a deeper scratch over his abdomen—likely from the sharp edges of Millennium Puzzle sometime during the fall. His back and shoulders had taken a blow, as he felt quite sore in his neck and lower back just trying to stay upright. Nothing too serious, to his relief.

"I'm reasonably alright. We both got lucky, it seems."

"Yeah," Téa quietly agreed, observing their surroundings for the first time. "Where are we? Who saved us?"

The pharaoh's eyes narrowed. "I don't know. However, while whoever it was did help us, we shouldn't assume that we are out of danger yet."

She tilted her head. "What makes you say that?"

He looked to the opening of the tent, where a sliver of sunlight sliced through. "Well, for one… no one has come in here since I came to. There's no telling if we are in good company or not." His gaze fell to his knees. "For another… I don't know how much time has passed since our train crashed. It is possible that Dartz and his cohorts have, by this point, figured that we are still alive, and with our souls intact. They already know that they captured the wrong soul, otherwise Dartz wouldn't have sent Weevil after us."

Téa tapped her chin thoughtfully. "So the person who saved us could also possibly be in danger as well."

Pharaoh Yami nodded. His brow lowered with his next thought, "Or, on the other hand, they could be working for Dartz, and are holding us captive. Either way, we'd be wise to stay alert. Don't assume that our 'savior' has the best intentions for us." He put his hand on her knee. "Stay here. I will go look around and see if I can find someone to talk to."

Téa stopped him with her hand on his forearm before he could move. Her bright azure eyes were firm. "You're not leaving me out of this. I'm coming too."

Yami shook his head, but made no move to remove her hand. "You need to stay and rest. It's too dangerous."

Téa scoffed as she released his arm with a sharp jerk. "You always say that."

Surprise briefly crossed his face at her aggression before it fell away. "And you always ignore me."

"And for good reason. You need the help."

Yami looked hard at her. "This isn't a game anymore, Téa. Too many people have been hurt from the actions of Dartz, his vassals, and myself. Including you. I…"—he paused, taking a deep breath to collect himself before he continued—"I've already failed to protect Yugi. I am not going to fail you as well." He patted her hand. "I promise, when the coast is clear, I will come back for you."

"I'm not a helpless damsel, Pharaoh," Téa simmered, folding her arms crossly. "You can't just hide me away and make me wait around, wondering when, or if, you're going to fetch me. That's not how this works. We're a team. We've always been and we always will be."

Yami's fist clenched over the blanket covering his lap. "Téa, please be reasonable. I can very well recognize that you're not helpless. But you are hurt, and this doesn't even touch what harm our enemy could be capable of. It's a wonder that we even survived what we did, but we can't push our luck."

Téa tightened her crossed arms. "You keep saying 'we', but you really only mean me."

"It's for your own good."

She dropped her arms. "Yeah? And since when do you get to decide what is for my own good? For that matter, when was the last time you stopped to consider what was for your own good? In case you've forgotten, you are the only one who can defeat Dartz and save Yugi. You can't afford to blindly throw yourself into risky situations alone. What if you get hurt, or captured? Or… worse?"

The pharaoh opened his mouth to answer, but all he could produce were low stutters. As much as he hated to admit it, she had a fair point.

Her expression softened a bit. "Listen, I'll be fine. Let's go." She rose to her knees.

"Téa," Yami warned, but she waved him off.

"I'm not having this argument again," she replied curtly as she pushed the flaps of the tent open, framing Yami in a burst of sunlight. He acquiesced with a small sigh and followed her, raising a hand to shield his eyes.

Their shelter turned out to be one of several in a small village, isolated in a remote valley in the desert. Several dozen other homes scattered across the plains and lined alongside the bank of the small river dissecting the floor of the valley and stretching infinitely towards the hills. A few resident villagers carried out their outdoor chores and chatted casually with one another, while young children laughed and chased each other along the bank. They hadn't yet noticed Yami and Téa.

"Excuse me?" Téa called timidly. "Can someone please help us?"

An older woman, standing outside her own hut holding a basket of wheat, regarded them with delight. "Oh, they are awake!"

Another elder, a tribally-dressed woman with grey streaks in her long raven hair, hobbled up to them with the assistance of a wooden cane. "You had us worried!"

"Us?" Yami inquired.

"Yeah, where are we?" added Téa.

The elder bowed to them. "Pardon, my name is Myrtle, and you are in our Village of Sun, home of the descendants of the Military Society of Atlantis."

"Atlantis…" Yami echoed under his breath.

"Our fishermen found you by the broken train." She used a wrinkled finger to indicate the river behind them, and in the distance Yami and Téa could make out the fractured train tracks upon the cliff, where the train derailed. "You were both in terrible condition, and I did what I could to heal you. I hope you are not in too much pain."

"So you were the one who took care of us," said Yami, clearly relieved. He and Téa bowed their heads. "We are very grateful. Thank you."

Myrtle graciously reciprocated their gesture. "It is my honor, Chosen Duelist."

Yami's eyes widened at that. "Did you say, 'Chosen Duelist'?"

"But of course, you are what the legend speaks of," Myrtle clarified, "when it tells of a brave warrior who will bring this to an end at last?"

Yami started back anxiously. "Bring what to an end?"

The woman sighed. "This age-old war."

"War…" Téa echoed.

"This war you're referring to," Yami began carefully, "does it, by chance, involve the Seal of Orchicalcos?"

Myrtle gravely met his eyes. "Involve? It has everything to do with the Seal of Orichalcos. It is the enemy of our people. The first time it has struck a living civilization in recorded history was in the city of Atlantis, ten thousand years ago."

Téa and Yami exchanged glances. "Well, that's starting to sound familiar," whispered Téa.

Myrtle continued, her voice weighted by disdain, "Whatever that thing is… there is nothing like it, no way to truly explain what it is. It came from nowhere, only seeking to corrupt and destroy. It enslaved our ancestors, the people of Atlantis, people who lived in paradise! It made them servants for the Seal, and worshippers of the Great Leviathan. It made them addicted to its power and willing to do anything to keep that power. They became greedy, blood-thirsty… evil!"

Yami took a breath too quickly and coughed, holding a hand over his mouth for manners. Téa watched him worriedly. He straightened himself and cleared his throat. "Please excuse me. But, if I may ask, how do you know all this?"

Myrtle's unexpected burst of dissonant laughter was, at best, unnerving. "Oh, I've known this for a long time, dear. Centuries, millennia, it feels like!" She waved her slender arm about for emphasis.

"That doesn't answer my question," he responded doubtingly, picking up on the peculiar change of tone.

"Pharaoh," Téa interrupted them, pointing her finger over Myrtle's left shoulder into the distance. "Look."

Myrtle turned around, and Yami narrowed his eyes on a moving black mass storming towards them through the valley with the hills at its back, about four hundred yards away.

"What is that?" Téa asked nervously.

Murmurs of speculation broke out among the surrounding villagers as more took notice of whatever was approaching them. The murmurs quickly evolved into panic.

"Quick, get inside!" shouted one villager, a middle-aged man ushering his son inside their hut.

"They're coming for us!" yelped a younger woman behind Téa.

"Mommy, what's going on?" a child's curious voice entered Yami's ears, causing him to turn around and watch the little boy being lifted into his mother's arms and carried off. "Where's Daddy?"

Myrtle took Téa's hand in hers. "Come, dear, we must go."

The three of them headed back to the tent, with Myrtle leading Téa while Yami assisted Myrtle to move quickly, with her other hand supported by his shoulder.

"What is happening?" he inquired as he helped her into the tent.

"The soldiers," she responded in a low, frantic whisper. "The Orichalcos Soldiers, they found our village, they've come to take our souls!"

Yami and Téa shared a shocked gasp. "What?!"

Myrtle turned to Yami. "You! You are the Chosen Duelist the scriptures speak of! Please, we need your help!"

Yami stuttered in shock. "There must be a mistake, I can't be the Chosen Duelist!"

Myrtle did not relent. "No, I know it to be true. You are the duelist who wields the power of the great Atlantean dragon, Timaeus! Are you not?"

He hesitated. "I am, but…" he trailed off. The memory of Timaeus abandoning him during his duel with Weevil clouded his mind with doubt.

"He is," Téa asserted on his behalf.

Myrtle nodded, a hopeful smile growing on her wrinkled face. "Then there is no mistake. You can save us."

A chorus of indiscernible cries of alarm rose to the skies. A woman's shriek pierced through the cacophony. "They're coming!"

"No! Noooooooo!"

A high-pitched whir caught Yami's attention instantly. He knew that sound; it made his stomach tighten with dread. It was the sound of a human soul being forced out of its body and absorbed by the Seal for serpent fodder.

"Mommy!" a child cried.

Téa yelped. She leapt forward, reaching for the tent flaps to push them open when she felt herself being violently yanked backwards by the shoulders. Before she could blink, she was lying on her back, looking up at the pharaoh sternly glaring down at her.

"What do you think you're doing?" he admonished her.

She sat up urgently, rubbing the sore spot on her head where it hit the ground. "What do you think I'm doing? Those people need help!"

He shook his head. "You and Myrtle must stay here. I will go."

She stubbornly held her ground. "I don't care what the scriptures say, don't be a hero. You need help."

His jaw tightened. "Not from you."

Téa's jaw dropped open at that. Yami realized what he had said and quickly tried to recant his words. "No, wait, I didn't mean—"

"'Not from you?' What in the hell is that supposed to mean?"

He stammered in weak apology. "Th-that's not what I meant to say, I—"

"I don't give a damn what you 'meant to say', Pharaoh… because despite that, I think you've really said it all!" she fumed, raising her voice over his meager protests. "I already told you, I won't argue on this anymore! There are people in danger right at this very moment, and I can't waste any more time getting your permission to do anything!"

"Téa!" Yami called, but before her name left his mouth, she was out of sight, dashing into the crowd.

"You must go," murmured Myrtle from beside him, making him jump. He almost forgot she was there. "You are the only one who has the power to stop those soldiers. She is strong, but if she takes them on by herself, she will lose her soul."

Yami looked on, torn by his dilemma. If he stayed to protect her, Téa and the villagers would lose their souls. If he went to help, Myrtle would be completely unprotected. "What about you?"

Myrtle put a slender hand on his. "Go, and do not worry about me. Please save my people."

He shut his eyes and bit his lip, hearing very clearly the finality in her tone. He grimaced as his mind recalled Yugi's gentle smile as he faded into the Seal of Orichalcos, willingly surrendering his soul to the Seal of Orichalcos. Eventually, he brought down his chin to nod affirmatively. "Alright. Please, be safe."

Myrtle said nothing, her expression somber and remorseful. It was as if she already knew it would be their final conversation.

The disorder that was ravaging the village was so overwhelmingly chaotic, Yami felt physically winded just by being confronted by it.

Within the square block Yami was standing in, he counted at least half a dozen warriors, towering at over nine feet tall and plated in thick metallic charcoal armor, rampaging the village and ensnaring its people in the trap of their activated Seal to harvest their soul in a burst of green light. Tents and shelters everywhere lied overturned on their sides, abandoned by their inhabitants. Several bodies were splayed on the ground, motionless, while the still-conscious villagers were running hysterically in all directions, one man colliding shoulders with Yami before scurrying past him. A Seal was activated about six yards ahead of him, with the body of a young male no older than Yugi collapsing into the dirt, his pale soulless eyes wide open.

"No!" he screamed, catching the attention of a nearby Orichalcos soldier. It reared its head, revealing the sinister red eyes and glowing neon mark of the Seal on its forehead. It abandoned its prey, a young girl shaking on her feet with her arms drawn over her face in defense, to pursue the pharaoh.

"Leave these people alone!" the pharaoh commanded. He hadn't necessarily expected the soldier to comply, but it didn't respond altogether, only storming wildly at him with its duel disk drawn.

Thinking quickly, Yami activated the duel disk on his left arm in return, and in one swift motion, slipped a single card from the holster on his belt.

I'm sorry for betraying your trust and misusing you. I am not deserving of your power. But I beg of you, for the sake of innocent lives, help me defeat these creatures of evil! Don't fight for me, but fight for them, the descendants of your people!

Taking a deep breath, he slapped the card onto a monster slot. "I call forth the mighty dragon of Atlantis, the Eye of Timaeus!" he summoned at the top of his lungs.

An eruption of light exploded from his duel disk, the mere force causing him to stagger backwards. An enormous dragon, with millions of turquoise scales sparkling in the desert sun, emerged behind him, tall as a city skyscraper. It majestically veered its massive head high above the earth and let forth a thunderous roar that shook the Earth under their feet. Soldiers and villagers alike stopped to behold the sight.

"Is that the legendary dragon?!" gasped an old man nearby.

"Let's try this again," Yami addressed the soldier once more, his back taller now that the dragon towered behind him, "leave, or be incinerated!"

The soldier took a step back, its head angled upwards to gawk at Timaeus.

"Very well, then. Be gone!"

Without needing a command to attack, Timaeus collected energy in its great maw, and fired an ice-blue beam into the center of the soldier's heart with deadly precision. Within seconds, the soldier was set aflame and then reduced to a pile of armor plates scattered over a pile of ash, carried away by the wind.

"The great dragon Timaeus, he's come to save us!" cheered the girl Yami had saved.

Within that time, Timaeus had selected its next target, a soldier caught in its tracks while an old woman, the same elder who first noticed his and Téa's presence, made her getaway as fast as her aged legs could carry her. The powerful dragon laid waste to her pursuer, and quickly moved on to the next.

"Get away from them!" screeched a young female voice behind him. Yami recognized it instantly. He turned around and ran towards the source without looking back.

"Téa!" He called to her as she stood stalwart in defense of a mother and her young child before their destroyed home, the same mother and child he first saw fleeing as the soldiers drew near their village. The soldier had clearly taken advantage of Timaeus's attention spent elsewhere, and took another threatening step towards Téa, the Seal's mark on its head glowing menacingly.

"Leave her alone!" he shouted, but he couldn't quite make it fast enough. As if it were consciously defying him, the soldier raised a massive black gauntlet for a hand and struck the dancer hard across the face with a sickening smack. Téa was knocked off her feet, wincing as she touched her marked, swollen face.

The pharaoh's hands balled into tight fists as he was taken by rage. It moved quickly through his body, pumping liquid fire through his veins. His mind reeled, his heart sprang and his fingertips tingled. He was now sprinting so fast he hardly felt his feet touch the ground.

You will pay dearly for that!

Before the brute knew what was coming, the pharaoh's feet were soaring off the ground as he leapt onto the soldier, clinging onto its shoulders before he managed to bring it down to the ground. The soldier, still off its feet, swung at him. Yami was too quick for its burly fist, but the blade of its duel disk clipped his side, tearing through his shirt and leaving a shallow slit over his ribs. He gritted his teeth against the sting as he covered the wound with his left hand.

"Pharaoh!" Téa cried worriedly. She started to move towards him, but he held up his free hand to stop her.

"Stay back! Take them somewhere safe and leave him to me!"

Her gaze lingered on his other hand, where blood seeped through his fingers. "But, Pharaoh, you're—"

"Téa!" he interrupted her as he released his wound to dodge another swing from his opponent with a swift tuck-and-roll. "This time you must do as I say! Get them out of here now!"

Téa looked back at the mother and child, cowering on the ground behind her desperately clutched in each other's arms, and nodded towards Yami. "Alright! But please be careful!"

Yami tumbled to the ground as another attack missed him. "Doing my best!"

The dancer whipped around and knelt beside the mother, grabbing her by the forearm. "Come with me!"

The woman nodded, holding her boy close to her as she and Téa weaved around the fallen bodies of her neighbors and friends, dodging blasts and blows all around them. Ahead of them was a line of trees guarding the entrance to a vast forest. Téa didn't know what lied within it, but she was ready to take her chances.

"Almost there!" Téa shouted. "If we hurry, we can ma—"

A muscular arm caught her around the neck, yanking her backward and into a strange man's clutches. He had her arms tightly locked against her arched back, the cushioning of her backpack pushing her chest out and her feet off balance. "Hey! Let me go!"

"Where are you going with my prey, little girl?" the man growled into her ear. She tried to twist herself away, but she couldn't shake him off; his build was too sturdy. Before she could yell for the pharaoh, his arm tightened around her throat, strangling his name back into her mouth.

"Stop this!" the woman cried. "Dakotah, let her go!"

"Daddy, please stop!" pled the child meekly, falling to the ground to weep loudly.

The man crept backward, with Téa in tow. "Stupid child, Daddy is gone! Daddy is ridding the world of evil! Daddy is paving the way for a New World, a New Era, a perfect utopia ruled by the Great God Leviathan and his prophet Master Dartz! Daddy is doing this for us, for a better life!"

"Master… Dartz?!" Téa squeaked through her chokehold.

"The Great One is our new supreme ruler, he will cleanse the world of darkness!"

"Stop this Dakotah! This isn't like you, what happened to you?"

"Back off, wretch!" snapped Dakotah. "This girl's soul is mine, and you and that runt are next!"

"How dare you, that is your son!"

Another voice entered the field, dark and venomous and threatening. "Let her go."

The low baritone voice projected above the surrounding chaos with ease without shouting, causing everyone except Téa to turn their heads. Dakotah sneered at the newcomer.

"Ah, the mighty pharaoh has come to rescue his damsel in distress?"

Téa growled weakly, hating the position she was in. After all her efforts to stay on the front line, this was her fate. Again.

Yami took a step towards him, fists clenched and jawline hardened, the tail of his torn jacket flapping in the wind behind him. His hair was mussed, his face was smeared with dirt, and his clothes had new rips and bloodstains. His fierce violet eyes were predatorily fixed on Dakotah with an ensnared Téa struggling to get free.

"Unhand her, or today will be your last day," Yami warned threateningly.

A soft giggle dribbled out of Dakotah's mouth, which quickly progressed to a long shrill of maniacal laughter. His wife, son, and hostage were clearly rattled.

"My last day? My last day? It matters not, for once Master Dartz has your soul, it will be everyone's last day! Ha ha ha! The reaping of souls will commence as the Great God Leviathan awakens and destroys what's left of this rotten world!"

The pharaoh raised a finger to point at Dakotah. "Shut your mouth, cretin, and let Téa go. Now."

Dakotah slackened his arm on Téa's throat, causing her to gasp for air, only to stroke her battered cheek with his hand. "And waste a perfectly beautiful soul to offer our Savior, the great Serpent and his Master? Perhaps, you'd like to offer your own soul in exchange?" Téa winced as Dakotah's hand wandered to her neck.

The pharaoh's eyes narrowed on his target. He took another step towards him, trying with concerted effort to keep his boiling fury in check. "Take your filthy hands off her. This is your last warning." His voice changed again, deeper in pitch and grittier in tone, like gravel in his throat.

Téa turned her head as far as she could to see him, with Dakotah's rough fingers trailing over her chin. "Pharaoh…" she croaked helplessly. She couldn't stand being touched so humiliatingly in front of him, feeling like a helpless plaything. She twitched as she caught a glimpse of Dakotah's hand as it left her face, as a soft green glow covered what she could see of it. A reflection of the Seal of Orichalcos, the mark shining brightly mere centimeters from her eyes. The hand dropped to her chest, and Téa's heart stopped as it rested upon her breast.

"These are nice," Dakotah praised in a lascivious tone that made the hair on her neck stand up. "Tell me, are they just as perky without the support? After I take your soul, I think I'll see for myself."

"Don't touch me, creep!" Téa snarled, but she was powerless to stop him.

Dakotah tightly squeezed her breast, and she grunted in pain. As disturbing as this was, what scared her even more was how it was provoking the pharaoh, remembering that he was still mentally unstable, not to mention already quite incensed. She had to act fast before it was too late—and she didn't want to find out what 'too late' meant for either of them.

Craning her neck forward, Téa threw back her head with all the force she could manage, and bashed Dakotah square in the nose with her skull. She cringed when she heard the bones crack behind her. Pain shot through her head as she quickly recalled her head injury, hoping it was his nose and not her skull that took the brunt. She blocked it out and managed to struggle free as Dakotah reeled from the assault. She stumbled towards Dakotah's wife and son, her feet kicking up dirt behind her.

"Bitch!" Dakotah screamed through his hands, enclosed over a bloodied nose. The Seal shone brighter still, glaring like a neon green lighthouse beacon. Téa coughed and straightened herself, turning around to stand defensively between him and his family. She could finally see Dakotah in full frontal view—he was a large man, just over six feet tall with a strong, bulky build. He had silver streaks in his shoulder-length dark hair. His brown eyes, glaring furiously at her, were obscured by the menacing red glow that complemented the green occult pentagram etched above his brow and, now that she could spot it, the small green stone on a black rope hanging from his neck. She grimaced at the sight of him and remembered how he'd violated her, still feeling his hand on her breast from only a moment before.

Dakotah released his broken nose to wave the blood off his hands. He pointed a red-coated finger at Téa. "Your soul is mine!"

Téa jumped back in surprise as Yami wildly charged into the scene with a loud battle cry, suddenly throwing the weight of his body against the much larger Dakotah's, bringing both men to the ground in a similar fashion to his attack on the Orichalcos soldier. Dakotah hollered and kicked blindly around him, hoping to land a lucky hit. The pharaoh's smaller stature granted him the gift of agility and a quick recovery; he somersaulted into an upright position and dove towards Dakotah's head from behind. He threw his arm around the man's throat and restrained his head against his chest in a lethally tight chokehold. He held him tighter as Dakotah resisted, his long body flailing and his fingernails clawing desperately at Yami's forearm. Dakotah was finally paralyzed from the lack of oxygen, and Yami could get a word in.

"You like taking souls, do you?" he whispered in the strangled man's ear. Dakotah could only answer with bulging wide eyes and an open mouth choking for air. Blood from his nose trailed into his mouth. "Go on, take my soul then. Isn't my soul the one you're really after? What are you waiting for? Hmm?"

"Pharaoh, stop!" Téa cried pleadingly. "He's not a soldier! You're going to kill him!"

But Yami couldn't hear her. Her voice became muffled, indistinguishable from the other noises, fading slowly out of earshot as if he were submerged underwater. He drifted into something of a lucid dream state, out of the village and into an empty void, where no one seemed to exist but himself and the man dying in his elbow. He felt the warm arms of the Seal embrace him, caressing his back and his face, dragging him deeper into its spell, indulging every inch of his body and every drop of his blood with the most gratifying, electrifying rush of pleasure he'd ever known. It thickened his bones, strengthened his muscles, sharpened his mind. It suppressed his doubts, fears, and weaknesses until not a single obstacle stood in his way. He felt invincible, superhuman, and in passing moments, godly.

With Dakotah's fate literally in his hands, he once again had the power to decide who lived or died. He could rid the world of another rogue who dared violate Téa, who dared associate with the menace who stole Yugi from him, who dared join an evil organization to help commit the most calamitous mass murder humankind would ever see.

He once again held a gavel in one hand and a noose in the other, and it felt incredible. And Yugi was no longer around to get in his way.

Without Yugi around, Yami was finally free to dip into that wellspring of power once more.

Without Yugi holding him back, Yami could be strong again. Powerful again. Use his abilities for good again.

He could save the world.

Looking down at his prey, who was mere moments away from losing consciousness, Yami let a small, pleased smirk twist his lips, and made sure it was squarely in Dakotah's view. Despite still having no memories of his past, Yami finally felt like a king, dealing divine justice just as he should've been doing from the start. This was who he was.

"I told you to take your hands off her, didn't I?" Yami hissed. The smile never left his face, only twisting further to look more sadistic and deranged. "Did I not warn you of the consequences? You will pay for your insolence, you pathetic fool." He giggled hysterically as the color drained from Dakotah's face and lips—from fear or asphyxiation, he could neither tell nor care. He drank in the sight of his own justice being served, the sight of the life leaving his bulging eyes.

A deafening roar rang out, forcing the remaining civilians and soldiers to stop in their path to cover their ears. The sound sliced through Yami's intoxication, sobering him instantly. His vision regained its clarity, and he was suddenly back in the village square, knelt on the ground, firmly holding a man's throat in his arm, with two women and a little boy crying and imploring him to stop.

The mighty dragon roared again, causing a tremor to shake the ground. His head dipped back so that his snout pointed towards the sky. Timaeus turned his scarred eye to his master just as their gazes met each others', and the tip of his snout began to disintegrate into the air. Soon its entire head turned to white dust, vanishing into the clouds.

"No…" Yami gasped. "Timaeus!" The headless dragon continued to fade away at the shoulders.

Widespread alarm filled the air around him. "The dragon! It's disappearing!"

"What's happening?"

"Our savior is abandoning us!"

"Run for it!"

"Daddy!"

"My baby!"

Timaeus was nearly completely gone by this point, and a reinforcement team of soldiers had since arrived—at least a dozen more. With the dragon no longer a threat, they converged fully onto the village, extracting souls at an accelerated rate.

"Pharaoh!" Téa yelled over the screams. Her voice sounded labored; she had been trying to get his attention since he had attacked Dakotah. Still somewhat in a stupor, Yami had no idea how much time had passed since he had slipped in and out of his catatonic trance, and realized too late that he had slackened his death grip on his victim while he was distracted by Timaeus's departure.

Yami's head snapped to the side as an elbow cracked against his cheekbone. His vision spun off kilter from both the impact and still feeling dazed from the crash from his "high". Dakotah rolled away and stopped to wheeze, but wasted not another moment while his captor was disoriented. Aided by the Seal, Dakotah recovered extremely quickly while Yami was still struggling to his feet. Sweaty and beet-red in the face, the enraged man grabbed the pharaoh by the lapels of his jacket and hoisted him into the air.

Yami thrashed about, twisting his body and kicking his feet to no avail. Dakotah brought him up to face level, locking eyes with him. Yami gasped as their gaze met merely inches from each other; the Seal of Orichalcos and the Orichalcos stone were gleaming as bright as ever.

Though Dakotah and Yami looked nothing alike, Yami saw a distinct reflection of himself, a man under the spell of the Seal. Behind the broken nose was a face contorted by fury and bloodthirst, eyes a murderous, manic red. This was a special kind of rage—the Seal of Orichalcos had fully hijacked the man's will, and there was nothing holding him back.

"You're dead," Dakotah hissed. His hot breath reeked of the stench of blood. Without the adrenaline, it would've been enough to make Yami retch.

The pharaoh was suddenly thrown backward with exceptional strength. He soared through the air until a solid surface caught his head. He howled in agony, clutching his throbbing skull. A high-pitched ringing lacerated his temples. He shut his tear-filled eyes and pressed his palms to the sides of his head, desperate for relief.

"Stop this!" ordered Téa.

Dakotah stormed at Yami as if he didn't hear her. Yami forced his eyes open, wincing painfully at the sun's glare, when his vision started to double, then triple. Through a blurry vignette, he saw three Dakotah's stand over him, watching him triumphantly.

"Your soul is mine," the brutish man declared breathlessly, pointing down at an immobilized Yami. "And after that, I'll rip you to pieces with my bare hands!"

"No," Yami wheezed, slamming a hand on the ground beside his hip as he swayed. "No… stay awake, damn it!" His eyelids fell heavily, and he collapsed onto his side. He was unconscious by the time his head hit the ground.

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: Like I said, dark territory. There will be more of that coming up. If this chapter was too rough for you, I'd abandon this story right away.

If not, I'll see you in PART II!

Thanks for reading,

ALG