YD: I'm seriously bored so here's the next chapter.
HS: Also, I've decided that there will be an alternate epilogue along with the original epilogue. No, the story does not end that soon. I'm just saying I will post the alternate epilogue for anyone who wants shounen ai. And it'll be Yuumeishipping.
Chapter eleven, Crash and Burn
Yami stirred the lukewarm coffee absentmindedly. All his thoughts were on how much his life sucked. Yuugi hated him. Yuugi left him for losers. Yuugi hated him. Yuugi didn't like him anymore. Yuugi hated him. Yuugi stepped out of his life forever. Yuugi hated him. Yuugi wasn't going to come back. Did he mention Yuugi hated him?
Bottom line was, Yuugi hated him. Yami screwed up big time and now he was paying for that huge mistake. Marik was playing with a small ball of dark magic and staring at absolutely nothing. Bakura was silent and he kept his head down.
All three Darks knew they failed. They failed their Lights and caused them to hate them. Marik and Bakura had humbled up, however slight the change was, it was a change. The two were no longer being loud and annoying.
"So what do we do now?" Bakura asked. No one answered. Yami shrugged nonchalantly and Marik continued playing with the shadows.
"We do nothing. We have nothing anymore. I guess the reason we abused our Lights was because it was our amusement. We had nothing else to do." Marik reasoned. Yami sighed and banged his head against the table.
"That's not a good enough excuse, Marik. Being bored gives us no right to harm our Lights."
"Yami is right. But what was our excuse?" Yami sighed heavily.
"Our excuse is that were all idiots that deserve to rot in the Shadow Realm." Yami replied. Bakura scoffed.
"So what do we do now?" Marik asked, repeating Bakura's former question. Yami resumed his position, stirring the now-cold coffee.
The three were silent once more as the stewed in their own thoughts. No waiters or waitresses had the will to break up the depressing scene unfolding at the window booth. They just stayed away and waited until the three would leave.
Yuugi stared at the window, watching the clouds go by. The birds flew in the sky so freely. Maybe… just maybe… one day, maybe he could be free as well.
Yuugi scoffed at himself. Wishful thinking. There was no way that would ever happen. The only way that would happen… would be to die. The teen squeezed his eyes shut and tried to think of something else. But no thought came except for the feeling of a blade against his skin.
NO, NO, NO! He refused to go back to cutting! Not now, not ever!
"Yuugi, are you okay?" Ryou placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"No, Ryou. I'll… I'll be in my soul room." Ryou nodded and Yuugi fell limp, consciousness abroad.
"Ryou," Lissa called. The said teen turned and saw her point at Yuugi's prone form. "Is he okay?" Ryou sighed.
"Not really. He's suffering from depression. Maybe we shouldn't have come back."
"We've been through this before, Ryou. If we didn't come back we would have died." Malik said, poking Ryou's shoulder. The teen sighed and brushed Malik's hand away.
"I'm starting to think Yuugi wanted that death rather than see his yami again." Ryou glanced at Yuugi. "I just hope he isn't hurting himself in there."
"You can hurt yourself in your soul room?" Likika asked, confused.
"The harm you inflict on yourself will never show up on your body, but you'll feel the effects. Some might die from blood loss. But their bodies never show a mark. Your soul is your essence. You kill your soul, you kill yourself."
"But Yuugi wouldn't do that, would he?"
"I don't know, Likika, I don't know."
Yuugi sat on the floor of his soul room. Everything was so different. It was nothing like the room it was three years ago. All the walls were gray and bloodstained except for one. That one wall had his friends' pictures on it. All his friends smiled at him, forever frozen like that. The teen stood and walked over to the bed. He felt the material and sat on it.
"You're crazy, Yuugi." The Light whispered to himself.
The bed was crimson, the color of blood… and of Yami's eyes. The sheets were made of silk, and oh-so-soft. It was like sitting on a cloud.
A black-winged angel sat on a stormy cloud, his tears falling and mixing with the rain. A misunderstood angel who was now all alone. His friends abandoned him for someone better, wings that were pure white before now ebony black with despair and regret. No one wanted to be with the angel. Amethyst eyes clouded over with tears. He looked down on Earth and saw a couple holding each other in the rain. A small smile graced the angel's lips.
"Be happy, young couple. Love is meant to be forever. Do not lose it, for it is very precious. More precious than the rarest stone, purer than the whitest snow, love is meant to last for eternities. It was never to be forgotten. Do not lose such a precious thing as I have."
With that, the angel blew a kiss to the couple, blessing them. He curled his wings in and jumped. Sad crimson eyes watched the angel fall to Earth. He was too late.
"Do not forget that love does not forget anyone. Stay pure, my fallen angel, stay safe." The crimson-eyed angel blew a kiss as well, blessing his fallen angel.
Yuugi awoke with a start. How long had be been asleep? Ugh… he felt like shit. Must've slept wrong or something like that. Wow… so quiet. Yuugi got off of the bed and continued his inspection of his room. He searched for his ex-friends pictures. They were collecting dust in a corner of the room. That part was the bloodiest. But one picture stood out. It only had a thin layer of dust unlike the others. No blood was splattered across this portrait.
Bloody eyes stared into Yuugi's eyes. The likeness was amazing and slightly creepy. This was not normal, not normal at all. The eyes pleaded with him, watched him… haunted him.
"NO!" Yuugi shut his eyes and held his hands over his ears. "I have no ties to you! I don't want to go back! I HATE YOU!"
Furiously, Yuugi started destroying the room. His ex-friends pictures were set ablaze but Yami's portrait was unharmed. Undaunted, Yuugi overturned the table, displacing small pictures of Yuugi's childhood. Glass cracked, frames snapped, a mirror smashed. Yuugi took a drawer out of his nightstand and paused.
His favorite knife winked at him. It seemed to control his hand as the limb reached for the weapon with its owner's consent.
"NO!"
Yuugi yanked his hand away. He threw the drawer across the room in anger and frustration. He could not keep the blade away from his skin! The knife embedded itself into the wall, hilt deep. It would take a while getting it out.
"Yuugi! Yuugi wake up!" Malik's voice seemed panicked. Quickly, Yuugi strode out of his soul room and left the mess for later.
"What is it, Malik? What happened?"
"Something exploded in the back. The pilot just made everyone return to their seat and asked us not to panic and that they had it all under control." Yuugi gave him a look. "Bullshit if you ask me."
"And what do you want me to do about it?" Malik glanced out the window and gasped. He turned Yuugi around and the teen had the same reaction as his friend.
"Get ready to die because what the explosion was took out a wing."
The ground was looming ever closer as the altitude continued to drop. As if on cue, the captain came over the speaker.
"I'm very sorry for this news but… prepare for an emergency landing." Immediately, and explosively, people started panicking. Well most people did. Others just sat there calmly like nothing was going to happen. "WILL ALL PASSENGERS PLEASE RETURN TO THEIR SEATS AND REMAIN CALM!"
Yuugi sighed. A headache started letting itself be known. He rubbed his forehead in anger and sighed again. "Kuso."
"I could say the same thing." Ryou remarked. Yuugi smiled briefly before turning back out the window. The angle of the plane seemed wrong… and it wasn't just because they were going to land…
"Oh no. There's no way the pilot is going to safely get us down! It's going to be a crash landing."
"This is it… guys… we probably won't make it." Malik said. Yuugi hit Malik's shoulder.
"We have magic, don't we? At least we can save a few people."
"But… who do we save?" Ryou's eyes scanned the plane, seeing the children struggling in their seat belts, trying to break free. He saw the fear in the mothers' eyes and the worry in the fathers'. Who could they save if they didn't know who to save?
"Can you try and save everyone?" Lissa asked. "I'll know it'll be hard but you can try right?" The Lights glanced at each other.
"We can try."
The three clasped hands as grey (mix of Light and Dark magic) magics pooled at their hands. Slowly, they spread the magic across the whole plane, encasing them all in magic. Only the three Lights could see the magic so no one panicked.
They focused all there attention on keeping the magic in place that they didn't notice the captain come on again.
"I'm sorry everyone, but I cannot control the plane. Everyone please prepare for a crash landing."
Since the Lights did not have an unlimited supply of shadow magic, they were draining themselves. Ryou cried out in pain and collapsed. Being forced to take on the load that Ryou left behind, Yuugi gritted his teeth. He refused to give in. Sweat dripped down, the strain getting to him. Malik, being the darkest of the three had slightly more of an advantage.
"I'm sorry, Malik." With one last forceful push, Yuugi collapsed. Malik was left all alone, trying to hold the shield in place.
"Malik, it's okay. Let go, protect yourself. The government will need at least one person to interview. The black box isn't anything to a human." Likika said mournfully. Of course she thought of all the lives about to be lost, but… she couldn't do a thing.
Malik nodded, too tired to argue. He wrapped the shield around himself and all his friends. No way was he leaving them behind, even if Yuugi and Ryou were… dead.
Bakura clutched his head and held back a scream that was threatening to rip through his throat. The pain was unimaginable. It felt like something was taking his soul right out of his body and ripping into pieces. But he hadn't done anything!
Unless… unless it wasn't him. If he was feeling the pain because of the long-dead bond… then Ryou was in trouble.
Across from him, Yami was experiencing the same thing. Only it was slightly worse. Yami felt as if his entire body was on fire, and his forehead seared with pain. His magics flitted about him, as if trying to find the cause of the pain. They found the bond, linking himself with Yuugi and followed it to him.
Seconds later, Yami was still in agony, but it was slightly better. His shadows reported that Yuugi was… gone. Tears leaked out from the ex-Pharaoh's eyes. He had failed his Light again. He was gone and never coming back this time.
Pain and tears blurred his vision and he stumbled into the room Yuugi used to occupy. Everything was the same as Yuugi left it two years ago when he left. Yami fell upon the bed and cried. He cried for Yuugi and his failure. But most of all, he prayed for the fact Yuugi was in a better place.
Marik just sat there, watching Bakura hold back a scream every time his pain wracked his body. This type of thing didn't usually happen… when a person dies; their soul-bonded doesn't go through that much pain. The tomb keeper's yami just watched, as he could do absolutely nothing to help Bakura, only wait.
Malik was straining. His magic was running out. Pretty soon, he was going to drop it and collapse.
BANG.
Impact sent Malik into his seat, he lost control and the shadows surround the trio of Lights, forgetting everyone else. Malik watched helplessly as Lissa and Likika were through backward with the rest of the passengers. Most died instantly but some groaned as they hit the floor painfully.
"I'm sorry."
Malik lay down next to his fallen friends and let consciousness escape him. I'm sorry…
Likika watched as Lissa died immediately. Her friend had felt no pain, just was pulled into the next world violently, leaving her behind and all alone amongst others who were unconscious or dead.
"I'm sorry."
Likika slowly closed her eyes as pain overwhelmed her and she too, was lead into the next world. Good luck, my friends.
Good luck…
Fire set in after the plane was completely devastated. No body was left unscathed. The shadows still protected the trio from the fire. They were determined to keep them untouched.
Those who were still alive were too injured to find help. Everyone on the plane suffered dramatically. Not one single person was alive save for Malik once people started coming in. No one was left but him.
Yami and Bakura were considerably tired and somewhat irritable. Marik made them a cup of coffee and they sat in front of the TV and watched the news.
"—and so here's our top story tonight. Here's Sid with the latest."
"Thank you, Tanya. I'm here at the crash site where officials are trying to figure out what went wrong with this plane that killed everyone on board." Someone tapped Sid on the back. His eyes went wide as he listened to what the worker had to stay.
"Oh Lord, there seems to be one teenager who survived. How this is possible, I have no idea. Wait, how did this happen?" The reporter looked into the camera. "All the bodies are scorched but these two aren't. Wait! Don't wake him up!"
The camera zoomed in on the one survivor of the crash. Yami dropped his cup. It shattered into hundreds of little pieces, just like bond with Yuugi. Bakura's heart skipped several beats. Marik just stared, open-mouthed.
"It seems Akuii Kaen was the sole survivor of this crash. All the others— did not survive."
Malik moved slightly. Marik flinched as he absorbed most of his Light's pain.
"Yuugi… Ryou…" He called. None around him knew what he was talking about. Malik tried again. "Ikarii… Takal…" Many looked over to two bodies lying in the dirt. Malik followed their gaze and he saw his friends lying motionless. Tears sprang from his eyes.
Yami started tearing up as well while Bakura squeezed his eyes shut, trying to shut out the world.
"Likika, Lissa?" One shook his head. They had not found those two yet. Malik buried his head in his hands and sobbed. No one said a word to the grieving teen. They were all silent, watching the teen as sobs convulsed his form.
"Now the Fallen Angels have returned to Heaven. Rest in peace. Back to you—" Marik switched off the TV. He could take no more of this. Malik was now all alone again. He had no one now. The only place he could go now was Domino, back to him, back to his old life.
Marik looked at his friends. Bakura sat there, limp. Yami was nowhere to be seen. He had probably gone upstairs to have another good cry. Marik couldn't believe it. His whole life changed in a few seconds. Nothing was going to be the same again.
Yami and Bakura… were going to die.
To Be Continued
YD: Ahem… cliffhanger! Can anyone tell me why those two Darks are going to die? Anyone who guesses correctly gets the next chapter dedicated to them!
HS: Got this out fast, didn't I? I was bored since it was the weekend so I updated again! Doncha love me? (crickets chirp)
YD: (anime fall) Till next update!