7. Ballad of a Broken Man


I can see what you can see, it's worrying.
I'm fading my fast towards my last, I'm hurrying.
I wish that I could pacify the guilt that I feel.

I know the wrongs this vagabond has done to you.
I hit rewind, well, every time that tape runs through.
Your memory is haunting me, and cuts to my bones.

-- From Ballad of a Broken Man by Duke Special.


The waiting room was so full of tension it slapped them in the face the moment they opened the door. Honda went first, Jounouchi limping after him, but both paused only a few steps in.

Mrs. Mazaki was crying again. It was the only noise in the small room, but her face wasn't wet. Instead, dry sobs tenderised her insides, as she pressed Grandpa Mutou's hankie ineffectually to her eyes and the man himself rubbed her elbow. He looked up at their entrance, as did Yuugi, and the desperation in Yuugi's eyes was all they needed to see.

"What's happened?" Jounouchi asked, already-painful chest even tighter. "Is Anzu all right? She's not…"

"No, thank goodness," said Grandpa Mutou. "But there have been some complications due to the power outage. Something to do with the anaesthetic and brain waves." He shook his head, like this was all far above him.

They hadn't ever seen Grandpa Mutou crack before – not properly, the way other people cracked. He was the jolly shopkeeper, the cheerful relation who was in on their secret. Even when lying at Seto Kaiba's feet he hadn't broken, nor across a duelling field, nor on the end of a bad connection too far away to help them. Yet now his face was strained, and he kept shooting furtive glances at Yuugi, clearly as concerned about him as Anzu.

"The power outage," Yuugi mouthed. "Aramanth."

"Shit." Jounouchi only just stopped himself from kicking something.

Mrs. Mazaki, thinking his response was due to the news of Anzu, didn't even look up. "She's going to die."

"What?"

"Now, Meron, you mustn't lose hope," said Grandpa Mutou.

"Then she's going to be a vegetable. I just know it. My poor Anzu, my poor little baby girl…" Her eyes were squeezed tight, like a juicer clenched around already-pulped fruit, unable to summon even a single last drop.

It was so different than his own mother's reaction during Shizuka's operation that it gave Jounouchi pause.

Mrs. Kawaii had sat demurely in a chair practically the whole time her daughter was out. She hadn't picked up a magazine like others around her, nor made any calls from the payphone. When Jounouchi used the last of his loose change to buy vending machine food she ate it without difficulty, while he picked listlessly at his. She hadn't cried; hadn't made any pretence at it. Her only concession to sentiment had been yelling at him when he was late, at Shizuka through a closed door, and then finally two thank yous – one when he arrived, the other when they got the all clear. Apart from that she'd been the epitome of reserve, only a slight bleach to her knuckles a sign she was worried.

Yuugi's bleak expression reminded Jounouchi of the need to talk with the little guy. He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "Uh, Yuugi?"

"Huh?" This fresh blow had obviously addled Yuugi, because he was slow on the uptake. "What is it, Jounouchi?"

"Can we talk to you for a sec?"

"Go ahead."

"In private?"

"Uh, sure. I guess." Yuugi slid off his seat and apologised to his grandfather and Mrs. Mazaki.

Grandpa Mutou just nodded at him. There was a lot to be said for having such an understanding adult in on their secret.

"Will this take long?" Yuugi asked as they gently closed the door behind them.

"Trust me, dude," said Jounouchi, gesturing to where Honda already waited in a little payphone alcove. "You need to hear this."


Yami listened with growing impatience, as Jounouchi and Honda related what had happened and what they knew of Aramanth. They kept their voices low, constantly watching and falling silent when nurses, doctors and other people rushed past. Each pause had Yami taping his foot, though neither of them could see him and appreciate this.

The more he learned of this new enemy, the more his fury banked and swirled and fed on itself. It made him bristle and bubble, until he could barely contain himself. After helplessly enduring news of Anzu's deteriorating condition, to now learn that her body didn't even house her soul anymore – it was inexcusable! And Jounouchi also being attacked …

The only thing that got to Yami more than these events was Aramanth's obvious interest in his aibou. That had him snapping into Yuugi's ear, "Aibou, you are going to mind-swap with me, and you are going to do it now."

Yuugi winced but stayed where he was, listening as Honda and Jounouchi came to a close.

"So this really is all my fault."

"Yuugi, you're my best pal, but I swear, if you start any of that martyrdom crap and I'm gonna rip out your hair and stab you with it."

Honda turned to Jounouchi. "Dude!"

"And I mean that in the nicest, most concerned-best-friend way." Jounouchi caught Honda's disapproving look and shrugged. "What? I just got munched on by Oricalchos poop. I got a right to be cranky."

"Oricalchos poop?"

"Shaadi said it was the nasty stuff it left behind, which sounds like poop to me."

Honda blinked. "Man, your brain must be a scary place to live. You could wander for miles and not meet an intelligent thought."

"Why you -" Jounouchi pounced and wrapped an arm around Honda's neck, forcing one arm behind his backing a half-nelson. "Say uncle!"

"Nyark! Dude, I don't think this is the right time!"

Jounouchi looked over at Yuugi, and his attempt to recapture some normalcy died. He sighed and let go, sliding to his feet. "Sorry. Things are just so doomy and gloomy, I was getting antsy, and I act stupid when I'm antsy. Honda, if you say 'we noticed' I'm gonna rip off your hair and ram it right up your -"

"Let me get this straight," Yuugi cut in.

Both boys fell silent and looked at him.

"Aramanth was born out of the Oricalchos," Yuugi went of softly, "and when we defeated Dartz it followed us home."

Jounouchi nodded. "Yup."

"And since then it's been feeding on bad feelings and fears and unhappiness, getting stronger and stronger, and growing a mind of its own – I mean, learning to think for itself?"

"You got it."

"And it's now using that mind to create the misery it needs to survive," said Honda. "Or at least engineer situations that lead to trouble for us, but the end result is the same."

"And then it gets even stronger!" Jounouchi rubbed absently at his chest beneath his shirt.

They were still all in their school uniforms, lending the scene an implausible air – fighting evil spirits was one thing, but you weren't meant to do it in shirts that badly needed ironing, or with ink stains on your fingers. Yami was suddenly struck by how young they all were. They'd always been young, but somehow it never seemed as significant as it did right now.

Yuugi bowed his eyes. "Then it is my fault."

"Yuugi -"

"No, really. I've been so worried about going to Egypt and seeing Malik and Isis, and where Mai and Bakura are, and graduating from school, not to mention finals and … some other stuff -"

Yami sensed an image of Anzu coalescing in Yuugi's back-brain. He narrowed his eyes, but let it go in favour of soothing his aibou. Right now Yuugi's muddled feelings for his friend weren't as important as making sure that friend survived the night – and that they did.

Besides which, he'd caught the implication of Jounouchi and Honda's tale. Aramanth fed on misery, but had been attracted to them in Atlantis because of Yami's own feelings. He'd been desolate without Yuugi, far worse at hiding or overcoming it than their friends, so it must have been him that ensnared this monster.

He recognised the same desolation he'd felt then in Yuugi now. Loss welled inside him, barely contained; an aching, wailing pain that would not stop. If Aramanth consumed pain then Yuugi was a beacon drawing it to him.

"– I must've been feeding it all this time," Yuugi was saying. "If what you say is true, then Aramanth is here because of me. It makes sense: why else would it be following me around? It was there in the alley, and then when the power went out it spoke to me again in the waiting room. I think it was sending me bad dreams, playing with me – telling me what it planned to do next because there was nothing I could do to stop it. It'd be an easy way of making me feel bad so it could … eat," he said, grimacing at the idea of his thoughts and feelings being consumed like rice, "so it could grow stronger. Only now those dreams aren't enough. It's me and my bad feelings it's after."

"Aibou…"

"I said you worry too much, Yuugi," Jounouchi said without malice. "But when I said it's not healthy, this isn't what I meant."

"It spoke to you again?" Honda was thoughtful. "And it deliberately tempted Jounouchi away from the light sources. That would explain what Shaadi meant about it living in darkness. It's not a metaphor – it really does need darkness to survive, which would be why it let you go, Jounouchi, when Shaadi turned up and pulled his nightlight trick."

"And never have I been happier to have a nightlight," Jounouchi declared.

"Which gives us the advantage."

"Wait - it does?"

"Sure it does."

"Uh, I don't if you'd noticed, dude, but it's dark outside and this thing's already proved it can turn off the power to this building if it feels like it. We can't leave because of Anzu, but if we don't leave, we're sitting ducks for it to pick off. And Shaadi isn't coming back anytime soon. I'm too young to play zombie movie stakeout!"

"True, but a big hospital like this has to have storerooms, right? And if there are storerooms, there are bound to be some torches we can use to beat it back if it tries to attack us again, or if it tries to get at Yuugi. It doesn't like light, ergo, we get ourselves some light. What exactly did it say to you, Yuugi?" Honda looked at him.

Yuugi recounted Aramanth's words. Yami was surprised.

"I didn't hear it say that."

Honda nodded. "That just proves my point – it's trying to wring every scrap of pain it can from what happened to Anzu, probably because it missed out on getting your soul too, Jounouchi. It went straight to Yuugi after losing you, and stirred up some more pain from him to feed on. And what better way to do it then put doubts in his head about Anzu?"

Yuugi's heart punched his ribcage. Yami felt it as if it were his own.

"If it's centred on Yuugi as the best source of fuel, it stands to reason it'll focus on getting to him so it can absorb that fuel. If we cut it off from its fuel source, it'll get hungry and perhaps do something stupid, and then we can strike and take it out. So if and when it tries something, only this time we'll be ready to drive it away again."

Jounouchi frowned. "With torches? I'd prefer a lightsaber. I'd feel safer with a lightsaber."

"You'd be safer without me around," Yuugi declared, turning on his heel.

A hand landed on each of his shoulders.

"You're not going anywhere," said Jounouchi.

"Yeah," Honda agreed. "We're hereby nominating each other as your personal bodyguards against evil shadow-beasts."

Jounouchi looked at him. "You mean Oricalchos poop."

"Dude, I'm not calling it Oricalchos poop."

Yuugi pulled away from them. "You're being ridiculous. You can't fight Aramanth! You don't even know if shining a light at it will do any good; and if it doesn't, what then? You lose your souls. No." He shook his head. "I won't let that happen. It's safer for everyone if I just leave. It won't try to attack you if it knows I don't know about it. I'd have to know to feel bad."

"Being a hermit won't solve anything." Jounouchi folded his arms. "You were the one who taught me never to run away from my problems, Yuugi."

"This is different."

"Still looks like you running, to me. Besides, what about Anzu?"

Yuugi said nothing, but Yami felt the words catch in his throat. Yes; what about Anzu?

He knew, as they all did, that as long as she was here, her life suspended on such a slender thread, Yuugi could not leave. He may get all the way to the door, or even out onto the street, but the thought of her dying without him there would ultimately drive him back to her side. His feelings for her were the world's worst kept secret – not that Anzu exhibited any knowledge of them. Girls were supposed to be more receptive to matters of the heart, but as far as Yami could see, girls were even blinder when it came to matters of their own.

When Yuugi had spent nearly a whole minute saying nothing, Jounouchi broke the silence. "Yuugi, we're your friends. This is usually the time when Anzu gets out one of her speeches, but she can't right now, and we need to make sure the thing that hurt her can't hurt anyone else."

"Like you." Yuugi's voice was thick. Yami tasted salt. Sometimes it felt like they'd never separated at all. "You're making me choose between you and her." His voice was a choked whisper. "Please don't make me choose."

"We're not leaving and neither are you. If Aramanth thinks it can use you as a smorgasbord, it's got another thing coming. And that thing has alkaline batteries to burn."

"But -"

"Stop arguing. If you run away, there's no guarantee it won't find you, or if it can't find you it might go after someone else and cause them all sorts of misery instead."

"But what can we do?" Yuugi burst out. "All we know is it doesn't like the light! We don't know where it is, we don't know who it's going to strike at next, or how – we don't even know how powerful it is now!"

"What does Yami say?" Honda cut in.

Finally. Yami took the opportunity to snag Yuugi's attention and wedge open their mindlink to make sure he was heard. "I say we fight it. I want you safe, aibou, but I want our friends safe as well, and neither can be achieved while this creature is still at large."

Yuugi repeated this word for word. "But you're all forgetting one vital thing," he added.

Jounouchi blinked. "What? That we outnumber it, or that it outguns us?"

"No. That we're in a hospital. There are more sick people here than just Anzu. This is no place for a fight."

"I see your point." Honda thought for a moment. "I guess we could try tempting Aramanth into the grounds. It's been out there before, so maybe it'll try something again if we lay a trap. It's dark enough out there if you stay away from streetlamps …"

"I claim dibs not being bait!" proclaimed Jounouchi.

"Nobody's being bait. It's too risky." On this, Yuugi was firm. "I may not be able to stop you from throwing yourself into danger because of me, but I can stop you from doing it recklessly. If we can't stop it in time, there's too much chance of Aramanth taking the soul of anyone who plays bait."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Yami wanted to know. "Wait until it strikes and watch it suck your feelings out of you?" He felt responsible for putting Yuugi in this position. If he'd kept better track of his own emotions in Atlantis, they wouldn't have to make these decisions.

"I … I don't know!" Yuugi pressed his hands against the sides of his head. "I need to think. We don't even know what's happening with Anzu yet … whether she's going to be okay … and we're expected to make choices that could mean … that could mean …"

Jounouchi crossed the space between them and dropped to one knee. "Yuugi, chill," he said, far more compassionately than anyone who'd known his early career would've guessed him capable of. "We'll deal. It's what we're good at. We've never had the odds stacked in our favour before, so why should we start now? We'll make it through – all of us."

"You can't be sure of that."

"Who says?"

"That's not how the world works."

"Screw the world. We have magic. You're telling me Yami's got nothing in his bag of tricks we can use?"

Yuugi's focus shifted to Yami like a telescope panning across open sea.

Yami had been wondering this since their first tussle with Aramanth, when he'd brandished the Dark Magician card like a blunt sword. He hadn't had time, or known enough about their opponent to try invoking a Shadow Game, but after sitting in the Puzzle and considering other options, this was what he wanted to do.

He hadn't called on a Shadow Game of his own in a long time. Mostly he now duelled in reality, bound by the same rules as everyone else. Games had become a source of fun and challenge since he gained enough sentience to be more than just some vengeful spirit, blindly punishing wrongdoers without deliberation or mercy. When Yugi first solved the Puzzle, games were only a means to an end, as they had remained for Malik, Bakura and Dartz's troops. However, even though he rarely enacted his own Shadow Games, that wasn't to say Yami couldn't. He still had powerful magic at his disposal, held in check only by his mushrooming integrity.

If he could trap Aramanth in a Shadow Game, then perhaps the odds would finally fall in their favour. In a Shadow Game, Yami truly was king, and could manipulate Aramanth into sealing itself away in the Shadow Realm where creatures of darkness belonged. It was worth a try, even if Yuugi's initial reaction was a flare of alarm.

"I can control my darker impulses, aibou. Exposure to the Shadow Realm will not turn me into a monster."

That's not what I was worried about, Yuugi silently replied. I was worried about you being hurt if you pull Aramanth into the shadows with you.

Yami was touched by the concern, but resolute. In a Shadow Game he was master. Aramanth would lose the advantage it held in reality, therefore it was, to Yami, the most obvious path to defeating it.

Honda and Jounouchi agreed.

"If he says he can handle it, then I trust him," Jounouchi said without hesitation.

"Yeah," Honda added, though with slightly less conviction. He'd seen Yami's final battle against Dartz, at least in part; and Honda was the sensible one. He was the one who weighed things up, thought about the pros and cons and made informed decisions, while Jounouchi ran off and escaped disaster by the skin of his teeth. "Can we speak to him, Yuugi?"

Yuugi nodded, and Yami felt the immediate rush that preceded his acceptance of the invitation to take control. He was always struck by the openness of this exchange – Yuugi never held anything back, he just laid himself wide open and trusted Yami would be honourable. Even when Yami was just a ball of writhing vengeance and had given no cause to think this, Yuugi had still offered up his own skin to share. It was the way he was with everyone, and those who recognised how special he was appreciated this sincerity more than gold dust.

People as genuine as Yuugi were a rarity – people who walked the fine line between innocence and ignorance, trusted as easily as breathing, put themselves completely at the mercy of others and inspired decency because of it. Most who tried were just taken advantage of, but Yuugi forced you to be better than you were by being totally and utterly true to himself.

Yet as Yami slipped out of the Puzzle there arose a commotion from down the corridor.

The three boys and one spirit turned to look at the waiting room door, which banged open and shut once, but not wide enough for anyone to pass through. After a few moments it opened again, more sedately. Grandpa Mutou stuck his head out. He looked up and down the corridor until he spotted them.

"Would you boys mind coming back in for a minute?"

"Is everything all right, Grandpa?" Yuugi asked, already complying. Yami fell back to watch from a distance.

"Mrs. Mazaki would just like a word."

"I didn't see anyone come in here," said Honda, "so I'm guessing this isn't because you've had news of Anzu."

"No, we haven't heard anything. But, uh, it is to do with Anzu."

"'Scuse me, Gramps?" Jounouchi was the last to enter, but the first to pull up as a finger jabbed into his face. "Whoa!"

"All right, spit it out," Mrs. Mazaki said with uncharacteristic harshness. "You three have been acting strangely ever since I got here – sneaking out, keeping secrets, going to the bathroom and coming back covered in cuts and bruises. It's not normal behaviour and I smell a rat – three rats. You know something."

"Mrs. Mazaki, I think you need to calm down," Jounouchi started.

"Don't you tell me to calm down, Katsuya Jounouchi. I'm a hairsbreadth from the edge, and you do not want to push me over it."

Everybody could see she was serious. Her lips were pulled back in a rictus that might have been a snarl, were it not for her tomato-red nose and puffy eyes. It was more like seeing a swan suddenly stretch out is neck and lunge, snapping, at the nearest available target. The gracefulness and beauty were still plain, but channelled into something so alien it was hard to reconcile the two.

"It's been this way for months," Mrs. Mazaki went on. "Anzu thought I didn't realise, but I was just so happy she seemed more content at school. I ignored the sneaking around, even though I knew something was going on that she didn't want to tell me about. I know that you know what really happened to her, and I want you to tell me – right now!"

"Uh…" Jounouchi fumbled.

She rounded on Honda. "Is it drugs? Is that what you kids have been up to?"

"What? No!" Honda was aghast.

"Sex, then." Back to Jounouchi. "Is this about sex? I know you; you used to be a gang member. That was one of the few things Anzu did tell me – and if that's what she did then how bad are the things she didn't mention? Did you sleep with her? Is that it? Did your old gangmates catch her? Did they rough her up? Did they settle old scores with you by taking it out on her?" She punctuated every suggestion with a jab to his chest.

Jounouchi obviously didn't know where to look. He was backed up against the door, which he'd kicked closed behind him. His elbows pressed against the wood, working their way up, and he rose onto his toes to get away from this woman and her prodding finger. "It's nothing like that! Honest!"

"Liar!"

"Honest, Mrs. Mazaki, I'm not lying. I haven't had any contact with Hirutani in months, and he'd never be so stupid as to try anything with Anzu."

"But you are sleeping with her."

He shook his head so much Yami thought it might twist right off his shoulders like a bottle cap.

"How about you?" Honda found himself on the receiving end of her wrath. Months of bottled up frustration had come to the surface – far more than anybody, possibly even Anzu, knew her mother had been harbouring. Now, with her daughter injured and possibly dying, Meron Mazaki's feelings had boiled inside her until she could no longer suppress them. Her Easygoing Mom exterior had cracked and she wanted answers.

Unfortunately, not one of them knew how to tell her the truth – and definitely not The Truth. It was one thing to tell your grandfather about magic game cards and ancient spirits when he was an ex-archaeologist who had a history with Duel Monsters. It was quite another to tell a distraught mother whose only exposure to magic was a turn in her high school talent show, when she squeezed into a sequined dress to complement Miyuki the Magnificent.

Suddenly all the air seemed to have been sucked from the room. Honda looked nothing like the sensible one who weight pros and cons. He looked like someone caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Yami, Yuugi, Jounouchi and Grandpa Mutou all recognised that the guilt on his face was for the Egyptian-flavoured secrets they'd been keeping, but Mrs. Mazaki didn't. She'd put two and two together to get seven, and Honda's face was all she needed to confirm it.

"I knew it! I just knew it. So what happened? Did you get too rough with her?"

"N-no, ma'am! It's not like that -"

"You be quiet. You've already done enough damage." She pinched at the spot between her eyes, breathing through her nose. "I can't believe this. I can't believe she kept this from me. Please tell me you've at least been taking precautions."

"No, Mrs, Mazaki! Wait, I mean -"

"I can't believe this! You irresponsible … negligent … augh!"

She hadn't even tried accusing Yuugi, which, perversely, Yami found vaguely insulting. Was his aibou not good enough to sleep with her precious daughter? Was he somehow too inferior to register on her radar?

Grandpa Mutou had stood with his hand on Yuugi's shoulder as if to shield him from Mrs. Mazaki's attack. Now he moved forward, both hands raised placatingly. "Meron, please calm down and think rationally -"

"I've had enough of being rational, Sugoroku. I've spent months rationalising away Anzu's strange behaviour – running off to that Duel Kingdom thing without telling me, not to mention going to San Francisco to 'visit her father' and then staying for all of five minutes, when I know how much she misses and wants to see him. Staying out late, wearing long sleeves to cover friction burns on her wrists, thinking I wouldn't notice her picking at her food and staring out the window at dinner like she'd rather be anywhere but with me – it all adds up. Only I was too stupid to realise it. I wanted to believe it was all innocent and to do with that silly card game Yuugi's so good at. But that was all a cover-up, and I can see it now."

"Meron, your blood pressure -"

She barked an extremely rude word that made him take a step backwards. Pain and anger fizzed from her so much they could practically see sparks effervescing from her hair and skin.

"I've had my fill of being reasonable! Now I'm going to be emotional!"

As if on cue, the light bulb exploded, plunging the room into darkness.

At the same moment the windows shattered inwards and something that felt like a rushing wind blasted into the waiting room.

Thick shards of glass flew at everyone. Mrs. Mazaki screamed. Yami heard Grandpa stumble and fall, and Jounouchi and Honda yelling, "Now! Now! Do it now!"

"Aibou!" Yami bellowed. There was no time for finesse, as he took up his place at the helm of Yuugi's body and turned the full force of his fury on the thing that could only be Aramanth, drawn like iron filings to a magnet by the intensity of Meron Mazaki's misery.

Wait! Yuugi was protesting. We're not ready yet!

"There's no time! If we don't strike now, then we lose someone in this room."

Yuugi shifted, though Yami felt his reluctance and apprehension like a thorny hedge he had to pass through.

Yami called on the shadows before he could think, working on instinct to enfold them around him in the boundaries of a game older than memory. Things stirred in the dark, awakened by the invocation, though they could do nothing but swirl in the depths of the Shadow Realm, awaiting their chance to strike at whatever fool broke the rules first.

"Aramanth!" Yami shouted above the wind. "I challenge you to a Shadow Game!"

Aramanth's mocking laughter filled the air. "I told you once before that I do not follow your rules, Ancient One. I was born of magic far older and greater than your petty games."

Yami's senses skimmed over the corners of the field he'd created, sealing fissures and shutting them in. "You don't have a choice. The field is already set. You're trapped unless you win the Game."

"You think I cannot break free from your restraints? Silly Ancient One. Silly, silly Ancient One."

"Do you refuse?"

The Realm creatures salivated mist the colour of freshly spilled blood. Yami could smell their desire and taste their malevolence like rancid milk in the back of his throat. Keeping them back was like clenching a muscle. He was reminded of why he'd abandoned the Shadow Games to Bakura and his ilk – the more time Yami spent with Yuugi and his friends, the less stomach he had for this sort of magic.

Aramanth sighed. "Fine, I shan't leave. Depart, abscond, withdraw. But I shall not play by your rules, Ancient One. I came to feed on the delicious misery I sensed inside this room, and I shall do so."

"I've sealed us in, Aramanth. Mrs. Mazaki is outside the Game. It's just you and me now."

"Not so, Ancient One. There is one other."

Yami realised in a flash what he meant. Yuugi!

Too late. Something arrowed towards him. Instinctively Yami raised his arms to protect his face, throwing up a bank of shadows as a shield.

Aramanth passed through them like they were nothing. It hit the Millennium Puzzle square on its elaborate eye motif … and kept on going, into the Puzzle.

Yami experienced a sensation akin to the rug being pulled away while he was still standing on it. He'd sensed such a thing only once before, and the memory seared through him like lemon juice in milk. He bolted down the mindlink, but was only in time to feel Yuugi slip away from him, like a hand his fingertips brushed without getting a proper grip.

"Yami!"

Just that thin cry – and then Yuugi was gone.

Pain corroded Yami's insides and turned his brain inside out and rightside in again. He was blinded by it. His control of the shadows wavered. "Yuugi!" he screamed. "Aibou, no!"

But both Yuugi and Aramanth were gone. The rules had been broken, but a soul had been claimed in forfeit, and so by his own rules Yami could end the Shadow Game he'd invoked. He did so. He did so, unable to maintain control.

When the darkness cleared the light from the streetlamp outside seemed inordinately bright. Jounouchi and Honda's faces were nonetheless ghoulish in the glow as they advanced.

Yami was on his hands and knees, breath ragged and eyes wide. He felt numb.

It had happened again.

He'd lost his aibou's soul again.

"Yuugi!" he shouted, as though it would bring him back.

"Yuugi?" Honda blinked. "But … I thought Aramanth needed one of us so it could feed on Yuugi."

"It took him." Yami cursed in languages they couldn't understand. "I let it take him. I should have known – I should have guessed - "

"But it needed him to feed on. It shouldn't have taken his soul."

"Unless it changed its plans." Jounouchi punched his own thigh in frustration. "Crap on a raft! We're always one step behind this freaking thing."

"Wh-wh…" Mrs. Mazaki stuttered, obviously terrified. "Wh-what ... what was that thing?"

Yet Yami was deaf to all this. All he knew was the empty space, like the still-warm hollow in a mattress, where Yuugi's soul had been. His head dropped to conceal the wteness beneath his eyes.

"Aibou…" he whispered.


To Be Continued…
Side-flings, Homages and Downright Rip-offs

Mrs. Kawaii had sat demurely in a chair practically the whole time her daughter was out.

-- Right, now, I'm not entirely sure of the official view on this, but my interpretation is that Jounouchi and Shizuka's mother reverted to her given name (Kawaii) when she divorced their father, but kept the 'Mrs.' Prefix so her daughter wouldn't have to deal with awkward questions at school and suchlike, and also because ... well I always imagine her as slightly obsessed with what other people think. That might explain how and why she could leave her son behind when she left - he didn't fit into her 'version' of the world. I've always felt she was rather callous to do that, however nice she might be in other ways.

"Yuugi, you're my best pal, but I swear, if you start any of that martyrdom crap and I'm gonna rip out your hair and stab you with it."

-- Taken in part from a Gargoyles fanfics by one of my favourite fanauthors ever, Allaine (FFN id: 112267), although the original quote involved stabbing a fairy with his own pointy ears.

"Screw the world. We have magic."

-- Big fat YGO: The Abridged Series sidefling.

It was more like seeing a swan suddenly stretch out is neck and lunge, snapping, at the nearest available target. The gracefulness and beauty were still plain, but channelled into something so alien it was hard to reconcile the two.

-- Swans are actually nasty, vicious blighters – especially the cobs. Many times I've gone to feed the ducks and found dead moorhens and ducklings because the male swan broke their necks. Nope, no love of swans here.

" … wearing long sleeves to cover friction burns on her wrists …"

-- Referring to when she was manacled to a chair during Battle City here. Those things gotta leave a mark.