This is just a little one-shot I wrote when I was bored. I though, how far would Atem go to save someone he cared about? That's where I came up with this. So read it if you want. Oh, and also, about the game. I made it up, so hopefully you get it.

Warnings: Lot's of blood, and other stuff.

Disclaimer: Dun nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh don't own! Don't own! Don't own! (Yugioh, anyway)

Let's Play a Game

The first thing Atem saw when he entered Wheeler's house was blood. Everywhere. The thick, red substance stained the floor and dripped slowly from the walls. He dropped the box he was holding in his hand. As it fell from his grasp, the item held inside dropped and shattered as it made contact with the ground. He didn't even notice.

As he stepped inside, the smell of the blood began to overwhelm him. His vision began blurring as the stench got stronger. He closed his eyes, remembering earlier happenings from that day.

Flashback

"So how old is Serenity turning? Fifteen?" asked Atem, leaning against a shelf of the Game Shop.

Yugi laughed as he swept the floor. "Sixteen. I would think you would know that because…"

"Hey! It's only been a couple months."

"I know, I know. Oh, Pharaoh! Don't forget this!" Yugi tossed a neatly wrapped box to Atem, who fortunately caught it just before it hit the ground.

"Yugi! Don't throw it! It's crystal you know!"

"You told me it's packed with Styrofoam." Yugi said with a grin.

Atem scowled. "Still. I don't want it to break before she even gets a chance to open it…"

"What is it anyway?"

"It's a crystal version of her favorite flower, and in her favorite color, of course. A blue iris." He looked at the box and made a face. "I hope she likes it…"

"Are you kidding? It's from you. She'll love it!"

The Pharaoh smiled a little at that comment. "Maybe."

"Don't worry. Oh, it's already 3:30! You better get going. I'll close up the shop and meet you there."

"You sure?"

"Uh huh. Besides, I have to clean up this mess those kids made when they came in. The brats…" Yugi muttered something under his breath and Atem laughed quietly as he went out the door.

End Flashback

Atem opened his eyes. His vision was getting clearer as he walked through the rooms of the house. He looked on everything with horror.

When he reached the stairwell, he paused, not wanting to go up. But he did, taking one step at a time. He put his hand on the rail and immediately regretted doing so. Warm, gooey liquid oozed between his fingers. He brought his hand before his face and stared at it, then looked up toward the top of the stairs. Taking a shaky breath, he moved on. As soon as he reached the top, he headed for Serenity's bedroom, expecting the worse.

The worse was not even close to what he got.

It was like a massacre. Blood on the ceiling, the walls, the carpet, smearing the mirror, and splattered upon the bed. Atem felt sick as his eyes searched the room, and he fell to his knees once he laid eyes on the source.

One word came from his lips. "Serenity…"

He got up and rushed to her, saying nothing, but screaming on the inside. He lifted her bloodied body and looked into her eyes. They were dilated and hollow. Atem brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her dry lips. He gazed upon her with sadness.

Then, he heard a voice. One of evil and severity. And it was laughing.

The Pharaoh closed his eyes. "Who dares to even think of laughing at this time?" he said harshly.

"Oh, Pharaoh," said the voice. "I dare. I dare to laugh at your misery. After all, it is one of my joys and pleasures to watch you suffer."

Atem's eyes shot open. He knew that voice. He knew it quite well. Turning his head, he stated the name: "Marik…"

"Oh, goody! You remembered!" Marik said mockingly. He laughed again. "Do you like how I redecorated the place? I mean, blue just seemed so bland, and I thought, what about red-"

"SILENCE!" Atem yelled. He was on his feet now, his eyes burning with rage and hate toward the being in front of him.

"What…have you done?" he asked through clenched teeth.

Marik looked at him with wicked eyes. "I have just taken away your most precious possession. Your friend. And considering that kiss, it was more then that." He sneered. "It seems I chose correctly."

"Where are the others that were here?"

Marik didn't answer.

"TELL ME!" Atem shouted.

"Hmm. Pharaoh, this impatience is not like you. But they are gone. Wheeler, Kaiba, Taylor, Devlin, Bakura… the whole bunch."

"Gone…"

"To the shadows, Pharaoh. A place of darkness and loneliness. A place that will soon drive one mad, for eternity."

"Why… did you kill Serenity?"

"Oh, right, the girl. You see, when someone enters the shadow realm, if their bodies are still 'alive', they can still return if the one who sent them is destroyed. But when you are dead…"

"…you can never return." whispered Atem to himself.

"Exactly."

Atem stood frozen, looking at the ground. After a few minutes passed, Marik spoke again.

"I will save you the grief of going on without your friends, however. It's time for you to enter the shadows, where you belong!" He began to raise his rod toward Atem, when he heard a cry from downstairs.

"Yugi…" Atem said quietly, not looking up.

Marik smirked. "He is to be taken care of as well." There was a flash and Yugi's scream echoed through the house.

He focused his attention back on the Pharaoh. "Your turn…" He stopped however, when he noticed the puzzle around Atem's neck was glowing with a dull light. "What…"

"Fool." Atem uttered darkly. "Do you know what you just did?"

Marik said nothing.

Atem looked up. "You just sent my light to the shadows. He is what keeps me pure. He is what keeps me moral. Though we are separate, he is still there, lighting my way. Without him, I get to do what I want with who I want." He snickered and took a step toward Marik, who just stared.

Atem's red eyes flashed. "Let's play a game."

Immediately, the entire room was shrouded in darkness. Marik was unafraid, for darkness was his home.

"You foolish Pharaoh! Do you not know that I am the master of the Shadow Games? The Shadow Realm is the prison for my captives! Do you truly think that I will be affected by it?"

There was no answer, just a laugh, reverberating all around him.

The darkness subsided, and they were left standing in a graveyard.

Marik turned to Atem. "What is this?"

Atem smiled harshly. "It's the setting for our little game. Mostly, it's a game of chance. But it's also a test of knowledge."

"Knowledge?"

"Of each other. How well do we understand each other's skill with the Shadow Games? This is trial to find out."

Atem began explaining the rules. "There are 44 different graves here, and underneath them rests a different 'fear', you might say. It may be something childish, such as the fear of spiders. When you open the grave with that fear resting in it, then that will become your own fear. Then, there will be hallucinations of that fear. If you can withstand the fear for five minutes, you move on. As you go down the rows, it will become more intense, but I warn you, some of the graves are… well, let's just say they aren't what you would expect."

"Meaning…"

Atem smiled. "You'll see. Whoever is able to withstand the most is the winner. So do you understand the rules?"

Marik smirked and nodded. 'This is going to be easy.' he thought to himself.

"Alright. So let's get on with it. Oh, but first, I have a little story for you."

"A story? Pharaoh, I do not have time for your narratives."

"Just listen. Once, there was a spirit whose name was Emag. She had five children. Their names were Neves, Evlewt, Ruof Ytnewt, Eno Ytriht, Enin Ytriht, and Ruof Ytrof. Emag was a nice spirit and did not want any harm to come to anyone. But her children were very mischievous and naughty. Neves, Evlewt, Ruof Ytnewt, Eno Ytriht, and Enin Ytriht loved to play tricks on people and cause them pain. But Ruof Ytrof not only brought pain to people, he murdered them. Ruof Ytrof was evil, and he became a demon. Whenever he murdered someone, he would bring their souls with him into the depths of Hell. Only the wise could avoid him, and the rest would suffer for eternity." Atem stopped there.

Marik looked at him. "Well, not that it wasn't heartwarming, but I did not come here for fairy-tales."

Atem smiled. "If that's what you say it is. Now, let us begin."

"I'll go first."

Atem nodded. "Alright."

Marik scanned the rows of graves and opened number 5. Inside was chiraptophobia, the fear of being touched. Atem watched as Marik's eyes started darting about, and then grinned as he began slapping at things that weren't there. His breathing came in short breaths, but after five minutes passed, everything turned back to normal. Or as normal as they could be.

"Very good." Atem told him. "You passed the first one."

"That I did, Pharaoh. I am going to win this game of yours, and when I do, you will be trapped in the darkness forever!"

"You are very confident of yourself. But confidence is not the only thing which matters in this game."

"Take your turn."

"As you wish." Atem walked passed 6, 7, and 8, and walked until he got to 13. He opened it. It contained eosophobia, the fear of daylight. He squinted his eyes, and froze. His hands went to his face, covering his eyes. For the next 300 seconds, he tried to hide under something, anything, looking like a scared child. But he also passed, and it was Marik's turn.

Marik laughed. "Fool! I know how I can quickly win this game! And I will do it now!" He went passed the twenties row, and the thirties. When he came to the forties, he stopped at forty-four.

"All I must do is open the last grave and stand against whatever is inside. Then I win!"

Atem merely looked on, his expression unchanging. Marik opened the grave. Immediately after, the headstone cracked, as did the ground underneath him. He gave a grunt.

"What's this?"

Atem spoke. "You should have listened to the story, Marik. Ruof Ytrof is coming for your soul."

"What!"

"Think Marik, think. I told the tale in your brain's perspective, in a twisted manner! It was your own fault you did not listen!"

Marik gazed upon his nemesis. Then his eyes widened. "Ruof Ytrof… Forty-four!"

"Correct. But you are too late!"

Marik was seething. "You deceived me!"

"You deceived yourself! Now, all the suffering you have inflicted upon everyone else will be repaid one hundred fold! You chose wrong! You lose! Now, the jaws of Hell itself will swallow you and keep you for all eternity! Your lust for power has gotten you nowhere, and now you are lost!"

Flames and putrid smells began seeping out of the cracks in the ground. They seemed to grab at Marik, pulling him in.

Marik's eyes were wild. "No! I cannot lose! Not again!"

"You just did! You are now banished, with no way of escape! Good-bye, creature of shadow!"

Atem gazed at Marik as he was pulled into the abyss. The last thing he heard from him was his screams of anguish. Then all was silent. The break in the earth came together again, and Marik was no more.

The Pharaoh sighed, but then turned his attention to grave number seven. His job was not yet done. He opened it. Once again, all surroundings were shrouded in darkness. He knew where he was going. He was entering the Shadow Realm.

The first thing he saw was his friends. They were all lost, not knowing one another, not understanding anything. With the help of the millennium puzzle, he could rescue them. He went over to them, one at a time, using his power to help them escape. Since there were so many, he began to weaken. But eventually, they were free. All except one. Serenity.

He found here sitting, staring at nothing. In her eyes was an endless amount of sadness, and yet no tears flowed from them. He touched her hand and she looked up, confused.

"Who are you? Where am I? What's going on? My friends… they're… they're gone…"

He stared into here eyes with pity. "I will help you get out Serenity. I know the way."

"My friends…"

"Shh shh… don't worry. Your friends are safe. You're just a little bit lost. But I will help you. You're going with me to the spirit world, the light world, where everything is good. I found you. Do you know who I am?"

Serentiy looked at him for a long moment. Then tears came to her eyes. "Atemu…" she sobbed, wrapping her arms around him.

He held her. "Don't cry. It's ok."

"What happened?"

"You…" He paused. How was he supposed to tell her she died? "You had a little accident. Your body… it's broken now, and very injured. I don't think you will be able to return to it."

She gasped. "I… oh. It was Marik… I saw him, I heard him coming. I tried to scream, tried to warn the others, but…" her voice trailed off.

She looked down. "He killed me, then."

Atem gave no reply.

"The others… they are safe?"

"Yes. They are back. And Marik… I don't think he will be returning, ever. But, neither will we."

She looked back up. "We? What about you?"

Atem gave a weak smile. "My energy is kinda gone. I'll be able to get you into the light, but after that…"

"You're going to stay here? No! I won't let you. Not you…"

"I might be able to go with you. We can be together always."

She smiled a bit. "Always…"

They looked into each other's eyes and brought their lips close together. As they shared a warm kiss, Atem's puzzle flashed, and they disappeared into a bright, blue light.

Meh, that's the end. How is it? Pleeeeeeaaassseee R&R! Thank you!