Note: Prolly my only fic ever to be set in Shantytown. Rated PG-13 for stuff.
Summary: One lucky fictive finds his way out of Shantytown...just not the way he'd expected.
Second Chance
by XMAN0123
There was nothing for it, they told him. No medicine, no advice, no nothing.
Nothing.
That's what happened to all the fictives in Shantytown, eventually. They became nothing.
Nothing.
He hadn't accepted it at first. That little part of him tucked into his last remaining treasure hadn't let him. It had fought against extinction, raged against time, and defied the will of the ruthless force that maintained Shantytown for eons. It had kept him young, innocent, and full of life.
But even it couldn't save his grandfather.
When the old man had died, an important part of the boy died with him. Then he was alone, left with nothing but faint memories, ravaged by the aura of forgetfulness that had always surrounded Shantytown. Soon, they would fade, too. He hardly knew his own name anymore. Not that it mattered. Who would bother to call out to a fictive in Shantytown?
* * * * *
It was stupid, he realized as he ran. He knew that now. Stupid to hope. Stupid to dream. Stupid to ever think he could escape Shantytown. It had claimed billions of other fictives. Why should he be any different?
The dirt in front of him exploded, sending dust and rocks into his face.
He closed his eyes and kept running, simply because there was no other choice.
It had been his own fault. He'd heard stories of the Marauders and the like. Untamed fictives that roamed the outskirts of Shantytown, looking to pick off anyone they decided wasn't close enough to death. Speeding up the inevitable, they called it. Lending Death a helping hand.
He'd met her once, he thought. Only she'd seemed a lot nicer back then. He thought, anyway.
Despite the stories, he'd tried it, anyway. It had been ages since he'd played the game, but once you played, you never really forgot the rules.
So he'd tried. And it had worked, too.
Sort of.
The Dark Magician had risen from his flat prison with an unearthly grace, stretching his arms as he harnessed his long-forgotten powers.
The boy had smiled at seeing his old friend again. His loyal helper. His faithful servant.
And then, of course, whatever the force was that controlled Shantytown had taken notice.
Magic was a dangerous thing. It could give fictives hope, and worst of all, in the right hands, it could give them freedom.
It could also doom them to a fate worse than death.
A crimson light had entered the Dark Magician's eyes, and the boy knew with certainty that he'd sealed his own fate. And so he'd run, crying at the loss of his only friend, and crying for himself, because he knew that soon, he'd never cry or do anything else. That is, if the Dark Magician was merciful enough to just kill him right away. He suspected that it wouldn't be that simple.
More dirt exploded around him, and something pierced his thigh. The boy cried out as he fell, trying to turn the fall into a roll. He succeeded, tumbling down the muddy hill at a fantastic rate with no hope of stopping himself. But if he'd stopped, ever, he would've been dead already.
He could feel the Dark Magician behind him, either readying the final blow or smiling as he decided to play with the boy some more. The boy wasn't sure which choice would've been worse by then. He was tired, so very tired.
The boy finally reached the bottom of the hill, landing face-first in a mud puddle. He stumbled to his feet and kept running, wiping mud from his face, hoping he might restore some of his already limited vision. He hadn't been sleeping well lately, and that made it harder to keep his eyes open.
Then, without warning, his legs gave out. He hit the dirt hard and rolled onto his back. He wanted to see it coming, for some reason.
The Dark Magician loomed over him, crimson eyes locking on his violet ones. They stared at each other for many moments, not speaking, not moving. Just...staring.
Then, for no real reason at all, the boy had reached for his heart. Maybe it was just a twist of fate, or maybe something as insignificant as a sudden itch in his final hour. Whatever the reason, his fingers had brushed something hard and cold.
He looked down.
It was there. Cold, mud-covered, and heavier than he recalled, but it was there.
Slowly, he brushed some mud off, uncovering the design on the front. He stared at it, trying to remember the familiar words blocked by the haze. "Yi-ee-go...Yig-eh-no..."
They wouldn't come.
The Dark Magician continued to stare.
"Yugi...remember..." a voice carried by the wind whispered.
The boy's eyes widened. "G-Grampa?"
No. The old man was dead. But still...
He stared harder at the object nestled in his hand. It seemed to be lighter now, almost...shining in the pale moonlight.
He would try again.
"Ya-ni-go...Yo-ir-no...Yu-gi...oh?"
Yes. That was it. Wasn't it?
"Yu-gi-oh."
Yes. That sounded a little better, more confident. But...why hadn't it worked?
The boy frowned, his heart filling with a sudden urgency.
"Yu-gi-oh. Yu-gi-oh! Yu-gi-oh!!!"
The Dark Magician started, then snarled as he raised his hands.
"No! Not yet!" the boy cried. He gripped the object until his knuckles turned white, as if willing it to work. "Yu-gi-oh! Yu-gi-oh! Yu-gi-oh!"
Nothing.
What he was soon to be, he realized.
"Yu-gi-oh! Please! Yu-gi-oh!" Tears spilled down his face, mixing the mud and running into his gaping mouth. The taste was horrible, worse than the coppery taste of his own blood.
Twin balls of black energy formed in front of the Dark Magician's hands. With a sinister smile on his face, he finally spoke.
"Goodbye, Master."
"No! Don't do this to me! You HAVE to work! Please?!" With what he thought to be his last breath, the boy tried one last time to save himself. He threw back his head and lifted his voice to what would've been the heavens...at least, in any other place.
"YU-GI-OOOOOOOOOH!"
...Nothing.
The Dark Magician laughed and fired.
The boy covered his mud-streaked hair with both hands, waiting for oblivion.
But unless oblivion had come in the form of an angel of death, or unless he'd already gone to heaven, something wasn't quite right.
The angel seemed to smile as she appeared between them, knocking the Dark Magician's blasts away with her hand. "Close enough," she said, throwing a wink the boy's way.
The Dark Magician growled and tried again.
This time, the angel blocked the blasts with a hastily constructed shield of golden energy. She turned back to the boy and held her hand out to him. "Are you okay?"
He stared into her big, blue eyes, sensing the power of ancients within her.
A power he'd once had himself, until this dreadful place.
"Please," he whispered, the tears renewing themselves in his eyes. "Just do it quickly."
"Do what?"
"Kill me. Hurry. Before anything else happens."
Her face fell, losing some of its radiant light.
The boy closed his eyes, waiting for the sharp flash of pain in his neck, or maybe in his head. Instead, a strange sensation filled him as something claimed his lips with warm, pleasant softness. He tasted sugar, candy, and strawberries. Eventually, he dared to open his eyes.
The angel was kissing him, carefully cupping his face with her small, soft hands, as if she might break him.
That was when the dark-haired boy with glasses had appeared next to them. "There's no time for this, Yugi!" he cried. "We have to leave now!"
The boy instantly broke the kiss, whipping his head around. "How do you know my name?!"
The angel sighed and raised her hands. "Ready."
The dark-haired boy joined hands with her and closed his eyes, murmuring something under his breath.
The world turned upside-down, then faded to darkness.
* * * * *
There was a light shining on his face, he could tell, but he didn't want to wake up. He wasn't sure if he wanted to see heaven just yet, because it would mean that he was dead.
Then a cool hand patted his cheek gently. "Come on," a voice insisted. "Wake up, kid."
Finally, he gave in and opened his eyes. He caught sight of the wild, black hair, pale skin, and black lips. His eyes widened, and he mouthed the word instead of saying it.
"Death?"
She smiled. "Not really, no. You're alive, Yugi."
Yugi blinked several times, then sat up. It felt good to have someone call him that again, instead of whatever it was they had called him in Shantytown.
"Do you hurt anywhere?" she asked, her eyes filled with concern.
A darkness seemed to pass through his violet eyes as he pressed a hand to his heart. "Only here."
"I'm sorry for your pain," she said, pressing her hand over his. "We should've come sooner."
"We?" he asked. "You were...with the ones who saved me?"
She nodded. "You were already out cold by the time I saw you. You can just call me D, by the way."
Yugi nodded, glancing around. "What...is this place?"
"Nate's Place. That's the official name. The unofficial one being Yugi & D's Crash Pad."
Yugi raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, right. I KNEW the name thing would cause some trouble." She sighed. "Okay. The boy you might've saw, with the glasses? That's Eriol. The girl you had to see, unless you've taken to kissing in your sleep, was Yugi. Same as you, but female."
"The same," he murmured, remembering the ancient power he'd sensed in his rescuer...well, both his rescuers, now that he thought about it.
"Want a burrito?" D asked, smiling hopefully.
"A what?"
"Are you hungry?"
"Oh. Yes. Very."
D giggled. "She was right. You're too cute."
"She?"
"Yugi. Uh, the other one. We have GOT to do something about that..."
* * * * *
"Nate, you can stop cuddling me now," Yugi said, brushing her blonde hair out of her face again. "I told you, I'm okay."
"And I might just believe you this time," Nate replied, kissing her forehead. "I'm sorry."
"Stop saying that. We're fine. Really. Tell him, Eriol."
The boy raised his head, and smiled his innocent, eerie smile. "All is well."
"See? Eriol doesn't lie. Anymore. Most of the time. Well, not THIS time."
Eriol smiled again, then went back to watching himself on TV. "God, I don't even SOUND like that..."
Nate continued to cuddle his Muse. "Whatever. I shouldn't have sent you there."
"Yes, you should've, and you did. Case closed." Yugi pushed his head away. "I never thought I'd say this, but stop that."
"Fine. But I'm taking you all in for a check-up in the morning. You and D and Eriol and the other Yugi especially."
"All is well!" Eriol repeated, muttering a string of curses in Japanese. "Baka! I would NEVER say that!"
"Stop watching the dub, Eriol. You know it gets your blood pressure up." Nate finally let Yugi go. "So do you think he's awake yet?"
"Well, I told D to come get me the minute he woke up, so no...unless she's trying to keep him for herself." Yugi thought for a moment. "I should go in there."
"No need, Yugi," D replied as she emerged from Nate's bedroom. "Our cutie is awake."
The boy slowly came out behind her, trying to remember the last time he'd been that clean. It had been before Shantytown, so it was understandably pretty much impossible to remember.
Yugi smiled. "Hey, you."
The boy turned to look at her, his violet eyes almost doubling in size. "Then...you weren't a dream?"
"I could be, if you asked me real nice," Yugi replied with a wink. "I don't go messing around in just anybody's head."
Nate and D both coughed loudly at this.
"Shuddap!" Yugi snapped, shooting glares at both of them. She turned and smiled at the boy again. "Feeling better?"
He nodded slowly. "I think so."
"That mean you've gotten rid of that death wish?"
He nodded again.
"Good. Cuz you're way too cute to be dying on me."
His cheeks turned scarlet. "I'm...uh...hungry..."
Nate grinned. "We could all use a good meal, and I need to get out of the house. Who's up for a trip to the Sake Bar?"
"Can I get a Monster Margarita?" Yugi asked.
"Sure. But only if you share it with D."
"What's a Sake Bar?" the boy asked, looking confused.
"Fear not, my friend," Eriol said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're in the company of angels now."
The boy looked thoughtful. "I didn't know angels were allowed to consume alcohol."
Eriol blinked. "Ah...well...these are different angels."
"The alcohol-consuming kind?"
Eriol sighed. "Perhaps it would be best to explain this once we've eaten."
"Good. It sounds like a long conversation."
"C'mon, guys," Yugi said, herding them to the door. "There's a margarita with my name on it waiting for us."
The boy turned to look at her. "I never really thanked you. For saving me, I mean."
Yugi grinned. "Sure you did. That was a pretty good kiss, Romeo."
The boy blushed. "But weren't YOU the one who kissed me?"
"You people are all stuck on the details of everything!" Yugi muttered, pushing him out the door.
"Just smile and nod," Eriol whispered to him. "You'll find it's much easier that way."
The boy nodded-then smiled-and tried to look like he was enjoying himself.
Then Yugi grabbed his hand, winked at him, and pulled him along after the others. And suddenly, he realized that he wasn't pretending anymore.
Disclaimer: Yugi (uh, the boy) and the Dark Magician belong to...uh...I forget. But not me. Yugi (the girl) & D do belong to me...sort of. Eriol belongs to Tomoyo-chan...uh...I meant CLAMP. Really.
Summary: One lucky fictive finds his way out of Shantytown...just not the way he'd expected.
Second Chance
by XMAN0123
There was nothing for it, they told him. No medicine, no advice, no nothing.
Nothing.
That's what happened to all the fictives in Shantytown, eventually. They became nothing.
Nothing.
He hadn't accepted it at first. That little part of him tucked into his last remaining treasure hadn't let him. It had fought against extinction, raged against time, and defied the will of the ruthless force that maintained Shantytown for eons. It had kept him young, innocent, and full of life.
But even it couldn't save his grandfather.
When the old man had died, an important part of the boy died with him. Then he was alone, left with nothing but faint memories, ravaged by the aura of forgetfulness that had always surrounded Shantytown. Soon, they would fade, too. He hardly knew his own name anymore. Not that it mattered. Who would bother to call out to a fictive in Shantytown?
* * * * *
It was stupid, he realized as he ran. He knew that now. Stupid to hope. Stupid to dream. Stupid to ever think he could escape Shantytown. It had claimed billions of other fictives. Why should he be any different?
The dirt in front of him exploded, sending dust and rocks into his face.
He closed his eyes and kept running, simply because there was no other choice.
It had been his own fault. He'd heard stories of the Marauders and the like. Untamed fictives that roamed the outskirts of Shantytown, looking to pick off anyone they decided wasn't close enough to death. Speeding up the inevitable, they called it. Lending Death a helping hand.
He'd met her once, he thought. Only she'd seemed a lot nicer back then. He thought, anyway.
Despite the stories, he'd tried it, anyway. It had been ages since he'd played the game, but once you played, you never really forgot the rules.
So he'd tried. And it had worked, too.
Sort of.
The Dark Magician had risen from his flat prison with an unearthly grace, stretching his arms as he harnessed his long-forgotten powers.
The boy had smiled at seeing his old friend again. His loyal helper. His faithful servant.
And then, of course, whatever the force was that controlled Shantytown had taken notice.
Magic was a dangerous thing. It could give fictives hope, and worst of all, in the right hands, it could give them freedom.
It could also doom them to a fate worse than death.
A crimson light had entered the Dark Magician's eyes, and the boy knew with certainty that he'd sealed his own fate. And so he'd run, crying at the loss of his only friend, and crying for himself, because he knew that soon, he'd never cry or do anything else. That is, if the Dark Magician was merciful enough to just kill him right away. He suspected that it wouldn't be that simple.
More dirt exploded around him, and something pierced his thigh. The boy cried out as he fell, trying to turn the fall into a roll. He succeeded, tumbling down the muddy hill at a fantastic rate with no hope of stopping himself. But if he'd stopped, ever, he would've been dead already.
He could feel the Dark Magician behind him, either readying the final blow or smiling as he decided to play with the boy some more. The boy wasn't sure which choice would've been worse by then. He was tired, so very tired.
The boy finally reached the bottom of the hill, landing face-first in a mud puddle. He stumbled to his feet and kept running, wiping mud from his face, hoping he might restore some of his already limited vision. He hadn't been sleeping well lately, and that made it harder to keep his eyes open.
Then, without warning, his legs gave out. He hit the dirt hard and rolled onto his back. He wanted to see it coming, for some reason.
The Dark Magician loomed over him, crimson eyes locking on his violet ones. They stared at each other for many moments, not speaking, not moving. Just...staring.
Then, for no real reason at all, the boy had reached for his heart. Maybe it was just a twist of fate, or maybe something as insignificant as a sudden itch in his final hour. Whatever the reason, his fingers had brushed something hard and cold.
He looked down.
It was there. Cold, mud-covered, and heavier than he recalled, but it was there.
Slowly, he brushed some mud off, uncovering the design on the front. He stared at it, trying to remember the familiar words blocked by the haze. "Yi-ee-go...Yig-eh-no..."
They wouldn't come.
The Dark Magician continued to stare.
"Yugi...remember..." a voice carried by the wind whispered.
The boy's eyes widened. "G-Grampa?"
No. The old man was dead. But still...
He stared harder at the object nestled in his hand. It seemed to be lighter now, almost...shining in the pale moonlight.
He would try again.
"Ya-ni-go...Yo-ir-no...Yu-gi...oh?"
Yes. That was it. Wasn't it?
"Yu-gi-oh."
Yes. That sounded a little better, more confident. But...why hadn't it worked?
The boy frowned, his heart filling with a sudden urgency.
"Yu-gi-oh. Yu-gi-oh! Yu-gi-oh!!!"
The Dark Magician started, then snarled as he raised his hands.
"No! Not yet!" the boy cried. He gripped the object until his knuckles turned white, as if willing it to work. "Yu-gi-oh! Yu-gi-oh! Yu-gi-oh!"
Nothing.
What he was soon to be, he realized.
"Yu-gi-oh! Please! Yu-gi-oh!" Tears spilled down his face, mixing the mud and running into his gaping mouth. The taste was horrible, worse than the coppery taste of his own blood.
Twin balls of black energy formed in front of the Dark Magician's hands. With a sinister smile on his face, he finally spoke.
"Goodbye, Master."
"No! Don't do this to me! You HAVE to work! Please?!" With what he thought to be his last breath, the boy tried one last time to save himself. He threw back his head and lifted his voice to what would've been the heavens...at least, in any other place.
"YU-GI-OOOOOOOOOH!"
...Nothing.
The Dark Magician laughed and fired.
The boy covered his mud-streaked hair with both hands, waiting for oblivion.
But unless oblivion had come in the form of an angel of death, or unless he'd already gone to heaven, something wasn't quite right.
The angel seemed to smile as she appeared between them, knocking the Dark Magician's blasts away with her hand. "Close enough," she said, throwing a wink the boy's way.
The Dark Magician growled and tried again.
This time, the angel blocked the blasts with a hastily constructed shield of golden energy. She turned back to the boy and held her hand out to him. "Are you okay?"
He stared into her big, blue eyes, sensing the power of ancients within her.
A power he'd once had himself, until this dreadful place.
"Please," he whispered, the tears renewing themselves in his eyes. "Just do it quickly."
"Do what?"
"Kill me. Hurry. Before anything else happens."
Her face fell, losing some of its radiant light.
The boy closed his eyes, waiting for the sharp flash of pain in his neck, or maybe in his head. Instead, a strange sensation filled him as something claimed his lips with warm, pleasant softness. He tasted sugar, candy, and strawberries. Eventually, he dared to open his eyes.
The angel was kissing him, carefully cupping his face with her small, soft hands, as if she might break him.
That was when the dark-haired boy with glasses had appeared next to them. "There's no time for this, Yugi!" he cried. "We have to leave now!"
The boy instantly broke the kiss, whipping his head around. "How do you know my name?!"
The angel sighed and raised her hands. "Ready."
The dark-haired boy joined hands with her and closed his eyes, murmuring something under his breath.
The world turned upside-down, then faded to darkness.
* * * * *
There was a light shining on his face, he could tell, but he didn't want to wake up. He wasn't sure if he wanted to see heaven just yet, because it would mean that he was dead.
Then a cool hand patted his cheek gently. "Come on," a voice insisted. "Wake up, kid."
Finally, he gave in and opened his eyes. He caught sight of the wild, black hair, pale skin, and black lips. His eyes widened, and he mouthed the word instead of saying it.
"Death?"
She smiled. "Not really, no. You're alive, Yugi."
Yugi blinked several times, then sat up. It felt good to have someone call him that again, instead of whatever it was they had called him in Shantytown.
"Do you hurt anywhere?" she asked, her eyes filled with concern.
A darkness seemed to pass through his violet eyes as he pressed a hand to his heart. "Only here."
"I'm sorry for your pain," she said, pressing her hand over his. "We should've come sooner."
"We?" he asked. "You were...with the ones who saved me?"
She nodded. "You were already out cold by the time I saw you. You can just call me D, by the way."
Yugi nodded, glancing around. "What...is this place?"
"Nate's Place. That's the official name. The unofficial one being Yugi & D's Crash Pad."
Yugi raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, right. I KNEW the name thing would cause some trouble." She sighed. "Okay. The boy you might've saw, with the glasses? That's Eriol. The girl you had to see, unless you've taken to kissing in your sleep, was Yugi. Same as you, but female."
"The same," he murmured, remembering the ancient power he'd sensed in his rescuer...well, both his rescuers, now that he thought about it.
"Want a burrito?" D asked, smiling hopefully.
"A what?"
"Are you hungry?"
"Oh. Yes. Very."
D giggled. "She was right. You're too cute."
"She?"
"Yugi. Uh, the other one. We have GOT to do something about that..."
* * * * *
"Nate, you can stop cuddling me now," Yugi said, brushing her blonde hair out of her face again. "I told you, I'm okay."
"And I might just believe you this time," Nate replied, kissing her forehead. "I'm sorry."
"Stop saying that. We're fine. Really. Tell him, Eriol."
The boy raised his head, and smiled his innocent, eerie smile. "All is well."
"See? Eriol doesn't lie. Anymore. Most of the time. Well, not THIS time."
Eriol smiled again, then went back to watching himself on TV. "God, I don't even SOUND like that..."
Nate continued to cuddle his Muse. "Whatever. I shouldn't have sent you there."
"Yes, you should've, and you did. Case closed." Yugi pushed his head away. "I never thought I'd say this, but stop that."
"Fine. But I'm taking you all in for a check-up in the morning. You and D and Eriol and the other Yugi especially."
"All is well!" Eriol repeated, muttering a string of curses in Japanese. "Baka! I would NEVER say that!"
"Stop watching the dub, Eriol. You know it gets your blood pressure up." Nate finally let Yugi go. "So do you think he's awake yet?"
"Well, I told D to come get me the minute he woke up, so no...unless she's trying to keep him for herself." Yugi thought for a moment. "I should go in there."
"No need, Yugi," D replied as she emerged from Nate's bedroom. "Our cutie is awake."
The boy slowly came out behind her, trying to remember the last time he'd been that clean. It had been before Shantytown, so it was understandably pretty much impossible to remember.
Yugi smiled. "Hey, you."
The boy turned to look at her, his violet eyes almost doubling in size. "Then...you weren't a dream?"
"I could be, if you asked me real nice," Yugi replied with a wink. "I don't go messing around in just anybody's head."
Nate and D both coughed loudly at this.
"Shuddap!" Yugi snapped, shooting glares at both of them. She turned and smiled at the boy again. "Feeling better?"
He nodded slowly. "I think so."
"That mean you've gotten rid of that death wish?"
He nodded again.
"Good. Cuz you're way too cute to be dying on me."
His cheeks turned scarlet. "I'm...uh...hungry..."
Nate grinned. "We could all use a good meal, and I need to get out of the house. Who's up for a trip to the Sake Bar?"
"Can I get a Monster Margarita?" Yugi asked.
"Sure. But only if you share it with D."
"What's a Sake Bar?" the boy asked, looking confused.
"Fear not, my friend," Eriol said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're in the company of angels now."
The boy looked thoughtful. "I didn't know angels were allowed to consume alcohol."
Eriol blinked. "Ah...well...these are different angels."
"The alcohol-consuming kind?"
Eriol sighed. "Perhaps it would be best to explain this once we've eaten."
"Good. It sounds like a long conversation."
"C'mon, guys," Yugi said, herding them to the door. "There's a margarita with my name on it waiting for us."
The boy turned to look at her. "I never really thanked you. For saving me, I mean."
Yugi grinned. "Sure you did. That was a pretty good kiss, Romeo."
The boy blushed. "But weren't YOU the one who kissed me?"
"You people are all stuck on the details of everything!" Yugi muttered, pushing him out the door.
"Just smile and nod," Eriol whispered to him. "You'll find it's much easier that way."
The boy nodded-then smiled-and tried to look like he was enjoying himself.
Then Yugi grabbed his hand, winked at him, and pulled him along after the others. And suddenly, he realized that he wasn't pretending anymore.
Disclaimer: Yugi (uh, the boy) and the Dark Magician belong to...uh...I forget. But not me. Yugi (the girl) & D do belong to me...sort of. Eriol belongs to Tomoyo-chan...uh...I meant CLAMP. Really.