Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh, and I'm rather glad I don't own Yami no Malik, since I don't think I would live to hold his leash for very long. I really wasn't expecting to continue this, but what can I say, when inspiration hits you, it hits you. Herein Yami no Malik toys with Shizuka's mind a bit more. Read and review, and feel free to give any suggestions for future installments.

Author's Note: I've toyed with this chapter a little bit as well. I'm be surprised if anyone picks up on the changes though.

Shizuka felt her knees buckle and she slumped to the ground, the Darkness not even bothering to hold her up anymore. Her head was swimming, pain dancing in front of her eyes in a nearly tangible form. Every inch of her body ached, burned, swallowed her up in an inferno of pain. She vaguely heard him laughing, but it was so distant, she could have been imagining it. She could feel every hurt he had inflicted as if it was happening to her that moment, but the memory began to fade as if she were waking up from a dream. Everything in her mind was hazy, felt so distant…

Had any of it really happened? Perhaps it was just a dream…a bad dream she would awaken from and laugh about later…the suggestion was disturbingly familiar, as if she'd just considered it not long ago, the same voice continually planting seeds in her mind, gently manipulating.

Strength slowly seeped back into her though she was so weary all she could do was curl up and whimper. A warm, sun-kissed hand stroked her tear-stained cheek with false affection, a cold nose nuzzling the wound in her neck that was still dribbling blood. A tongue darted out, tasting her salty skin and coppery essence, causing a mild flash of pain to course through her body. Trembling hands rose and feebly attempted to push him away. The Darkness was not so easily persuaded.

"…not over yet…" he was saying, his voice drifting in and out of her ears as her consciousness attempted to fade. "…someone's looking for you, calling you…don't you…they need you…listen…hear it..."

Indeed, she could hear someone faintly calling out her name.

Her pulse sped up, her breath quickened; she knew that voice.

"Onii-chan!" she croaked, pushing herself to her knees. She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes against the wave of sickness that enveloped her with her movement, but she ignored the discomfort, gradually getting to her feet and wobbling unsteadily. The adrenaline pumping through her body mingled with a bright spark of hope, giving her the strength to move towards the sound.

The Darkness stood back and watched with a smirk upon his tan face, arms crossed smugly. His head tilted to one side, spiky blonde hair brushing his shoulder. His tongue ran along his lips as he took in her trembling, pain-wracked form so stubbornly pursuing the little tidbit he had dangled. Oh yes, this was the stuff he fed upon, the very thing he was born from. Watching her struggle was almost as amusing as watching her try to fight the pleasure he offered, try to push away the pain he delivered with such painstaking care. It was time to play a new game before returning to what he did best, before he used her up and attained his destiny.

It was such a shame, really, that he needed her so badly. It meant he couldn't damage her too thoroughly too soon, and he couldn't play quite like he wanted to. In hindsight, he should have kept some of the others alive, made her watch as he flayed them, listened to their singing screams, danced in the wake of their fading echoes. Then again, he had yet to find Isis...

Perhaps nee-san will offer me what this girl cannot. His tongue snacked out and he laughed, moving to follow the redhead and watch, melting into the shadows. It wouldn't do to allow the Key out of his sight, after all.

"Shizuka!" There it was again; weak, desperate, but undeniable. "Shizuka! Shizuka!"

"Onii-chan!" She nearly fell against the closed door as she fumbled with the lock, throwing the door open and almost tumbling into the darkened hallway. Broken glass littered the floor, and a few lights flickered on and off intermittently.

Silence. Everything was silent.

A few fresh tears streaked down her cheeks, washing away some of the blood. She held her breath, her ears straining. She knew that had been her brother calling for her. Maybe he wasn't dead. Maybe he'd simply lost consciousness, and now that he was awake, he was searching for his beloved sister. Maybe she wasn't so alone. He needed her, she could tell, but she didn't know where he was, and it was so dark and cold, and she felt so weak…

But why did she feel so weak? She shook her head, a pale hand rising to her temple and jerking away almost immediately. She hissed in pain and confusion. Why did she hurt? Where were her clothes? Why was the Battle Ship so quiet, so deathly quiet, and so very very dark? It felt empty, and the solitude and confusion crushed her. She almost felt like she knew why, like the answer was sitting right in front of her, just waiting for her to reach that final inch and grasp it. She reached out her hand.

"Shizuka!" His voice broke the silence, emanating from further down the hallway like a beacon. Startled, her hand fell back to her side.

"I'm coming!" she called out quietly, swallowing heavily and wincing in pain. Her throat felt parched, her lips dry, as if she had sobbed out every ounce of liquid in her body. She didn't seem to have many physical wounds – a few cuts and bruises here and there, certainly nothing to warrant the pounding pain she felt – and she tried to push everything to the back of her mind. Her brother needed her, and for once, she wouldn't stumble. Hands braced against the wall, she headed towards the cry, shards from broken lighting piercing the skin of her bare feet. That pain, so rich and new and fresh, jolted her memory. She glanced down at her near nakedness and whimpered.

Her clothing – what was left of it – was in shambles. Her shirt, torn and discarded what seemed like years ago, lay on the floor of that room, she knew, and she prayed fervently that she never ever saw it again. She remembered what had happened to it and who had ruined the shirt her mother had given her for her birthday just months before, and her blood ran cold with fear. Her shoes…she didn't know what had happened to them, or her socks, or the pretty bow she had tied in her hair. Her shorts still clung to her hips, for which she was grateful, though they were so tattered and soaked in blood that she couldn't tell what their original color had been. She was also grateful that she still had her bra; she would have felt strange being any more exposed on the ship even though there was no one around. A locket that he had given her rested against her throat, the metal cool and comforting, almost as if it were trying to soothe her with its metallic song.

Jounouchi continued to call out to her, and the further she tread down the hallway, the louder and clearer it became, sounding almost like a broken record. Suddenly, as if crossing some sort of undefined threshold, light exploded in the hallway, momentarily blinding her and causing her to stagger to a stop. She blinked furiously, and when she regained her sight, she gasped.

He lay propped against the wall, blood matting his blonde hair to his skull on one side, his eyes shadowed and skin tinged blue. His breath was coming in pained gasps, and one hand was wrapped around his side tightly. "Shizuka…" In her elation, she did not even realize that the sound wasn't coming from him. Clearly, he was hurt, and needed her help, and she simply could not falter.

"Onii-chan!" she cried as she threw herself at him, tears spilling freely as she buried her face in his cold chest and clutched at him furiously. "Onii-chan, I thought you were…but you're not…oooh we have to get out of here, come on, why are you just sitting there!"

He twitched and made a strangled sound but did not reply; he did not even wrap his arms around her in return. He simply laid his head back and stared down at her unblinkingly, his breath gurgling in his throat.

Shizuka pulled back and looked at him, not understanding why he was acting this way. Was he so badly injured that he could not even greet her? His eyes gazed back dully, the shine and sparkle gone, orbs as lifeless as…

He was so cold…

His eyes looked like Mai's…

"You…you're…" Shizuka choked and tried to pull back but he moved suddenly, clammy hands grabbing her and holding her still. She stared in horror as he opened his mouth to speak and his jaw fell clean off, making a sickening thump as it hit the floor. She let out a full-throated scream as bits and pieces of his flesh slid off of him, his eyes sinking back into his skull, empty sockets leering at her. His hands, now nothing but skeletal remains, clung to her already bruised skin tenaciously despite her struggles. As he wasted away in front of her eyes, she threw back her head and screamed for help.

Amazingly enough, it came. Strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her away from the rapidly decomposing body and dragging her down the hallway. As they rounded a corner, she could see Jounouchi's body crumble into ashes and scatter.

Her mind was so numb that it took her several minutes to register her new surroundings. She was in another room, sitting on a bed pushed to the far wall, and there was a blanket wrapped around her securely. Nearly every other piece of furniture was destroyed. There was barely any light reaching through the bottom of the closed door, but she could feel a warm body close to her, vaguely see it facing the doorway, body stiff and ready for flight.

She blinked, eyes growing accustomed to the inky blackness. She, too, stared at the door, just waiting for that walking corpse to reanimate and bust down the door. Sure, she had seen it turn to dust, but her mind was beyond any sort of rationalizations; for a few moments, he had been so alive. And so had her hope.

A hand pressed against her side, probing gently for any hurts, slender fingers cold. Her gaze flew to her companion, his snowy hair nearly glowing in the darkness. Her eyes widened, one hand absently rising to her locket, heedless of the dangerous look in his dark eyes. How was it possible?

"Bakura-san!"