Here's the next chapter.
I'm updating both this story and One Ending is the Start of a New Beginning because on Thursday 6/24, I'm leaving with parents to go visit my brother, his wife, and their daughter for the weekend, so I probably won't be able to update again until Sunday 6/27 or MOnday 6/28.
As with the last chapter:
Italics= past memories
Regular type= present
Enjoy!
Chapter 13- The Past part 2
"I'm going out!" Yami called before he left the Game Shop.
Yugi let out a sigh at this.
"Yugi?" Atemu asked.
Yugi turned to look at Atemu and gave him a weak smile. "You'd think that I'd be used to the way he treats me by now." Yugi said.
"Yugi, no one should be used to being treated the way you've been treated. I wish that you would let me have two minutes alone with Yami. He'd know fast what he's been doing wrong." Atemu growled. The anger was evident in his crimson eyes.
"I appreciate it, Atemu, but no. I don't want to hurt your relationship with Yami." Yugi said.
"Yugi, I can't stand the way Yami is treating you. If you would just let me tell him what is going on, then things might be different." Atemu said.
"Or it could make things worse. Don't worry about it." Yugi told him.
Atemu obviously didn't like this, but he said nothing.
"Atemu, I think that I'll go out for a walk. I'll be back in a little while." Yugi said.
"Okay." Atemu said.
Yugi the left the house.
"Damn. Talk about ignorant." Marik said.
"Marik, he doesn't need this. He already knows what he's done." Tea said angrily.
Marik glared at her. "And did Yugi need what happened to him, Tea?" Marik asked.
Tea flinched at those words.
"I didn't think so." Marik said.
"I don't see how I could have been so stupid." Yami said.
"Yami, whether you want to admit it or not, you got a taste of a new life, and you decided to enjoy it." Heba said.
"There's nothing wrong with that." Seto said.
"No. There's not. The problem comes in when it becomes your whole life, and you forget the things that are important to you. Or rather, the people who are important to you." Heba said.
Yami sighed. "I enjoyed the life I had, but Yugi had to pay the price for that life. It wasn't worth it." Yami said.
Atemu hadn't said a word. In fact, he had frozen when he saw this memory. 'No. Not that.' Atemu thought.
The scene changed once again.
The park was quiet. It was late at night, and there was no one around.
The only sound that could be heard was a small whimpering.
"Come on, Marik!" Bakura said.
The two were walking through the park.
"Hold up!" Marik said as he tried to keep up with his friend.
"Geez. You're lazy tonight." Bakura said.
"Oh. Shut up!" Marik retorted.
"Atemu knows that we're coming over, so he'll be expecting us. He'll start wondering what's happened to us if we don't show up soon." Bakura said.
Bakura and Marik both froze at that. They knew that conversation. They knew what that memory was.
Bakura and Marik looked over at Atemu, who looked at them.
All three knew what this memory was, and they weren't sure that they could handle having to see this all over again.
"Hey. Do you hear that?" Marik asked.
Bakura stopped and listened. "Sounds like whimpering." Bakura said.
The two looked around and found that the whimpering was coming from behind a bush.
"We'd better see if whoever that is needs help." Bakura said.
Marik looked over at him. "Since when did we care if others were okay?" Marik asked.
"I guess our Hikaris changed us without us realizing it. Come on." Bakura said.
The two made their way to the bushes.
Joey snickered. "I guess you two really are whipped." Joey said.
Everyone looked over at Marik and Bakura, but the two had melancholy expressions as did Atemu.
"Hey. What's eating you guys?" Tristan asked.
"This isn't a joking matter." Atemu said.
"What are you talking about?" Yami asked.
"You're about to find out." Bakura said.
Bakura and Marik walked back through the bushes.
"Over there." Marik said.
There was a figure that was shadowed lying on the ground.
The two walked over and nearly had a heart attack.
"YUGI!" Bakura and Marik exclaimed.
Yugi was lying on the ground. He was naked and bleeding badly. He had been obviously beaten severely.
"Oh my god!" Tea exclaimed, a hand going over her mouth.
"That-that was-" Seto wasn't able to finish the sentence.
Serenity felt tears come to her eyes at the memory.
In fact, none of them were dry-eyed.
"This was the night Yugi was raped." Marik said lowly.
"Yugi!" Bakura exclaimed as he ran over.
"Who the bloody hell could have done something like this?" Marik exclaimed, filled with rage at what had happened and worry over his young friend.
Bakura knelt down and reached over to Yugi.
Yugi immediately jerked away, eliciting a cry of pain from him at the movement.
"Damn it! He's still semi-conscious." Bakura said.
"Now what?" Marik asked.
Bakura grimaced. He held Yugi still as he said, "Sleep."
Immediately, Yugi went unconscious.
"A sleep spell?" Marik asked.
"Never mind! We have to get Yugi to a hospital! He'll die of blood loss if we call an ambulance!" Bakura snapped.
"Teleportation." Marik said.
An instant later, the two were in an alley near a hospital.
Bakura took off his jacket and wrapped it around Yugi before he picked him up and raced into the hospital with Marik on his heels. "We need a doctor here!" Bakura shouted as he ran into the ER.
A nurse started to scold him until she saw Yugi in Bakura's arms. "Get a gurney over here!" she hollered. She ran over. "What happened?" the nurse asked.
"We found him in the park. We don't know what happened." Bakura said.
A doctor and other nurses soon came and took Yugi.
"Bakura, was he-" Marik started.
"Yeah, Marik. Yugi was raped." Bakura said. He took out his cell phone and dialed a number. A moment later, he growled. "Damn that bastard! Even at a time like this, he can't drag himself away to answer his damned phone!" Bakura growled.
"What?" Marik asked.
"I thought that that bastard Yami might have actually answer his phone." Bakura said as he placed his phone to his hear. "Obviously not." Bakura said. A moment later, he said, "Atemu, Yugi's in the hospital, and he was raped."
There was a loud shout on the other end.
"Yeah. Get here now. We're at Domino General." Bakura said before he hung up. He turned to find that Marik had just hung up as well.
"I called Malik. He and Ryou are on their way." Marik said.
"So is Atemu." Bakura said.
Atemu, Ryou, and Malik soon arrived.
"What happened?" Atemu demanded.
"We don't know. We were going through the park to go to your house. We found Yugi in the bushes. He was beaten and raped. That's all we know." Bakura said.
"The doctor's are looking at him now." Marik added.
Atemu cursed. "Who did this?" Atemu asked.
"If we knew that, we wouldn't be here." Bakura said.
"Yeah. We'd be out hunting." Marik agreed.
Atemu took out his phone.
"If you're going to try and call Yami, I already tried. He didn't answer." Bakura said.
Atemu slammed the phone shut. "Damn him! Some protector he turned out to be." Atemu said.
Yami winced at those words, though he understood them better now.
"How could someone do that to him?" Tristan asked. Seeing it made it a whole lot more real to Tristan than just hearing about it had.
"I don't know. Whoever did is the lowest scum of the earth." Bakura growled.
"How long did Yugi lay there in the park for?" Seto asked.
"We had to have arrived shortly after those men left. Not long. He would have died had we gotten there any later." Bakura said.
After what had seemed like an eternity, a doctor finally came out to see them. "Who's here for Yugi Mutou?" the doctor asked.
"We all are. How is he?" Atemu asked.
The doctor sighed. "It's not good. He sustained a great deal of injuries." the doctor said.
"Like what?" Bakura asked.
The doctor ran a hand through his hair. "Mr. Mutou has several broken ribs as well as a few cracked ribs. He has a severe concussion. His left leg is broken, and his right wrist has been shattered." the doctor said. He went on to explain other injuries, including the ones that Yugi had received from the rape itself.
By the time the doctor was through, the five were angry and horrified.
"I'm sorry, but your friend only has a twenty percent chance of survival. There is just too much damage. We will do what we can, but the chances of Mr. Mutou actually pulling through are slim. As of right now, he is in a coma. We will do what we can for him, though." the doctor said.
The five nodded.
"Can we see Yugi?" Atemu asked.
"Only family." the doctor said.
"We're all Yugi has right now." Bakura said.
"Very well. In this case, I believe that I can make an exception. Follow me." the doctor said.
The five followed the doctor back into the ICU and to the room that Yugi was in.
Yugi was lying on the bed with an oxygen tube down his throat to allow him to breath. His wrist and leg were in a cast. His face was bruised and swollen. The left side of Yugi's face was worse, although the right was bad, too. There was a bandage over Yugi's middle, proof of surgery.
"He'll receive around the clock care for now." the doctor said.
"Thank you." Bakura said in a low voice. He was the only one who had managed to say anything.
The doctor then left.
The five were silent and still.
Finally, Ryou and Malik walked into the room.
"I can't believe this." Bakura said.
"Yeah. I wish I knew who it was that did this. So I could make them pay." Marik growled.
Atemu looked at Yugi for a moment. He then turned and walked off.
Marik and Bakura looked at each other before they followed Atemu.
Ryou and Malik looked at each other, wondering what was going on.
"I can't believe this." Tea said in a hushed whisper.
"How could anyone do that to another person?" Mokuba asked, horrified.
"There are some sick people in this world. That proves it." Seto said angrily.
Joey looked over at Atemu, Marik, Bakura, Ryou, and Malik. "How did you guys handle seeing him like that?" Joey asked.
"Because we had to. Yugi had no one else at the time." Atemu said.
"Besides, he needed us with what had happened. He needed someone, and we were who were there." Ryou said.
"It was still Yugi. He needed help, and we were going to give it to him." Marik added.
Atemu slammed open the door to the roof of the hospital and stormed out onto the roof.
Bakura and Marik were right behind him.
"I can't believe that this is happening! I ought to just march out there, find him, and beat the shit out of him after I tell him what his actions have caused!" Atemu said.
Bakura and Marik looked at each other, shocked.
"It's not even close to what he deserves, but it's a start!" Atemu growled.
"Atemu." Bakura said.
"What?" Atemu growled angrily.
"We're angry, too, but there's nothing we can do." Bakura said.
"There's a lot that we can do." Atemu retorted.
"Atemu, we want to hunt down the ones who did this to Yugi, too, but-" Bakura started.
"Who said that this was about Yugi's rapist? Believe me, I'll kill him, too, but I'm talking about Yami." Atemu said.
"Yugi wouldn't want that, though." Marik said.
"That is the only reason that I haven't started hunting him down. When Yugi was attacked, I guarantee you that Yugi was screaming for Yami to help him the entire time, and that bastard never heard him! That is the worst thing that he could have done! He has failed as a Yami." Atemu said.
"Well, Marik and I aren't much better." Bakura said.
"Yeah. You are. You take care of your Hikaris. You protect them. You stand by them. You don't ignore them. You don't love them and then act like they don't matter. You don't let them get hurt the way Yami has. He is a failure. You two aren't. He doesn't even seem to realize what he has done wrong. You two have, and you've made amends." Atemu said.
"So, what now?" Marik asked.
"We help Yugi. Right now, Yami and all his friends can go to hell. They don't matter anymore." Atemu said before he headed downstairs.
Marik turned to look at Bakura. "Do you think he meant that?" Marik asked.
"Every word." Bakura answered before the two followed Atemu.
"And I did mean every word that I said." Atemu said.
"You're right. I am a failure." Yami said.
"You failed as a Yami, and we failed as friends." Joey said.
"How can we even call ourselves Yugi's friends with all that has happened?" Mokuba asked.
"We can't." Seto said.
"Well, at least Yugi wasn't alone through all this." Heba said quietly.
Atemu was sitting beside Yugi. "Yugi, I know that you're going to be okay. You're a lot stronger than this doctor thinks. You have to wake up, Yugi. We could really use having you back." Atemu said.
Yugi was still unconscious. The swelling in his face had gone down, though, and the bruises were starting to fade.
Atemu let out a sigh.
"How is he?"
Atemu turned to see Marik, Bakura, Ryou, and Malik standing there. He then turned to look back at Yugi. "The same." Atemu said.
"It's been three weeks. I wish he'd wake up." Bakura said.
"Yeah. He's made it longer that that doctor thought." Marik added.
"Doctors don't always know for sure when a patient will live or not." Ryou said.
"I know. I just wish that Yugi would wake up already." Atemu said with a sigh. He ran a hand through his hair.
"Atemu, go home." Marik said.
"No. I need to stay here." Atemu said.
Ryou walked over and placed a hand on Atemu's shoulder. "Atemu, I know that you are worried about Yugi, but you've been here all night and all day. You need to go home and get some rest. One of us will stay with Yugi. You don't need to worry about that." Ryou said.
Atemu let out a tired sigh. "All right." Atemu said. He stood up.
It was then that a low groan was heard.
Instantly, all eyes turned to Yugi.
"Yugi?" Atemu asked as he moved over toward him.
Ryou, Malik, Bakura, and Marik also gathered around Yugi.
Slowly, Yugi opened his eyes.
"Yugi?" Ryou asked, placing a hand on Yugi's shoulder.
Instantly, Yugi tensed and jerked away. He then looked up. His eyes were filled with fear, horror, shame, and pain.
The five were shocked at this.
"Yugi?" Atemu asked.
Yugi then looked at Atemu. His eyes seemed to have some light return to them.
Atemu and the others took this a good thing.
"Yami?" Yugi said.
Those simple words made it clear what was going on in Yugi's mind, and it was enough to make the five upset and angry.
And it broke Atemu's heart.
Atemu placed a hand on Yugi's and said, "Yugi, its Atemu."
Instantly, that light seemed to vanish, and there barely seemed to be anything left.
"Atemu?" Yugi asked in a shaky voice.
Atemu nodded.
And the dam broke.
Yugi then started to cry.
"Its okay, Yugi." Atemu said as he pulled Yugi into a hug.
Yugi was sobbing now, and all five tried to calm him down.
"By the gods. I never knew that anything could sound that heartbreaking." Yami said. He was even more disgusted with the way he had treated Yugi over the months. Especially after seeing how Yugi looked after being raped and the look in his eyes when he woke up.
"Yugi looked like there was nothing left." Tea said.
"His heart and soul had been ripped apart. He barely was able to survive that, and the worst fight he hadn't even started facing yet." Bakura said.
"Still hasn't." Atemu remarked.
"How can this get any worse?" Serenity asked, wiping the tears away.
"It does." Atemu said. He had a feeling he knew what they would be seeing next.
The scene changed completely.
"Yami." Yugi said timidly.
"Yeah?" Yami asked, although he was obviously distracted by something.
The two were in the Game Shop at the entrance to it.
"Yami, there's something that I want to talk to you about." Yugi said. His voice was laced with pain.
Yami seemed to ignore the way Yugi sounded. "I don't have time, Yugi. I'm meeting the others." Yami said gruffly before he left the house, slamming the door.
Yugi bit his lip as if trying to stop himself from crying. There were already tears in his eyes.
Atemu stood behind Yugi, a look of anger on his face. He soon masked that anger and walked forward. "Yugi?" Atemu asked.
Yugi turned to look at his friend. "Why, Atemu? Why does Yami hate me?" Yugi asked.
Atemu walked forward and wrapped his arms around Yugi in a hug. "He doesn't hate you, Yugi. He just has his priorities mixed up right now. He'll realize how he has been acting soon." Atemu said.
Yugi nodded as he started to cry.
Atemu tried to calm him down.
"When was that?" Serenity asked.
"After Yugi came home. He tried to tell Yami what happened every day for a month." Atemu answered.
"And you never listened?" Tea asked.
Yami nodded. "I don't know why. I have no excuse." Yami said.
"At least you're not trying to excuse what you did, Yami. That would be worse." Heba said.
Yami nodded.
"Trust me. That alone got worse." Atemu said.
"It did?" Serenity asked.
Atemu nodded.
"I don't see how." Seto muttered.
Yami knew only because his brother had told him.
Once more, Yami was getting ready to leave the Game Shop.
Yugi approached Yami attentively.
Anyone could have seen that Yugi was scared of approaching Yami although only a few would know why.
"Yami, can I talk to you for a minute?" Yugi asked.
"Yugi, I have to go over to Seto's mansion. Joey and I have a project to work. I don't have time for you." Yami said before he left the house without looking back.
Tears filled Yugi's eyes and fell down his face as he started shaking.
"Yugi?" Atemu asked softly.
Yugi turned to face the teen who had taken better care of him than his own Yami had.
Atemu walked forward and pulled Yugi into a hug, knowing that the boy needed someone to comfort him at the moment.
"Why, Atemu? Why does Yami hate me so much?" Yugi asked.
Atemu held Yugi quietly for a moment. His eyes showed that he felt some sort of turmoil. "I don't know, Yugi. I honestly don't know." Atemu said quietly.
Those simple words made Yugi cry even harder.
Atemu tightened his grip on Yugi.
"I-I can't stay here now, Atemu. I can't take it." Yugi said.
Atemu pulled away to look at Yugi. "Why, Yugi?" Atemu asked.
"I can't take this anymore. I can't take Yami being here and being like this!" Yugi said as the tears started falling faster. "I can't take him not being willing to talk to me. I can't take him not hearing when I wake up screaming. Knowing he hates me, I can't live here now!" Yugi said.
"Okay, Yugi. I'll figure something out. I promise." Atemu said as he hugged Yugi again.
Yugi only nodded.
Yami shocked. He had known that it was bad, but he hadn't thought that it would be that bad. He now saw the real damage that had been done. His own Hikari really, truly believed that he hated him.
And he wasn't the only one.
Everyone was starting to see the pain that Yugi had been in, and they were starting to understand a little more about why Yugi wanted them dead.
Marik walked into the Game Shop without knocking. "Hey, Yugi! You here?" Marik called.
There was no answer.
Marik frowned. "Hey, Yugi! Are you home?" Marik asked.
There was still no answer.
"That's weird. I thought that Atemu said Yugi came straight home." Marik remarked. He headed upstairs and to Yugi's room. He knocked on the door. "Yugi, are you in here?" Marik asked.
Still no response.
"Yugi?" Marik asked as he opened the door. His eyes widened in horror.
Yugi was laying on the bed unconscious. He was extremely pale and barely breathing.
Marik ran over. "Yugi!" Marik exclaimed. He picked up a pill bottle on the bed, and he nearly stopped breathing himself. "Damn it!" Marik growled. He got out his cell phone and dialed a number. "911. I'm at my friend's house. He just swallowed a whole bottle of pain killers." Marik said before he gave he address. He soon hung up. "Come on, Yugi. Hang in there. You're not dying on us." Marik growled.
An ambulance soon arrived.
Marik rode with Yugi to the hospital.
Once there, doctors started to work with Yugi.
Before long, Atemu arrived soon followed by Bakura, Malik, and Ryou.
"What happened, Marik?" Atemu demanded.
Marik sighed. "Yugi swallowed the pain killers. The whole bottle." Marik said.
"Damn it!" Bakura said angrily.
"It was too much." Ryou said softly. He shook his head. "Yugi can't handle the memories." Ryou said.
"Ryou, the rape is only half the problem. Yugi has tried for a solid month to tell Yami what happened, and he's brushed Yugi off every time. Yugi wants to get out of that house." Atemu said.
"Then he will." Bakura said.
All eyes turned to Bakura.
"If the others agree, Yugi can live with us. We all care, we all have been there for Yugi from the beginning, and he knows we won't hurt him." Bakura said.
Atemu nodded. "It's better than Yugi trying this again." Atemu said. He then looked at Bakura. "But don't you guys keep pain killers in stock at that house for when you and Marik pull your crazy stunts?" Atemu asked.
"Yeah, but we'll keep them under lock and key. Literally." Bakura said.
Atemu looked confused.
"The drawer we keep them in can actually be locked with a key. There's only two keys. We'll keep the drawer locked, and I'll have one key, and one of the others can keep the other key. Yugi won't be able to get them that way." Ryou explained.
"Okay. It'll work then." Atemu said.
"Yugi needs out of that house before it ends up destroying him. Yami ignoring him and living in the same house had to be bad enough. This has to be killing him." Marik said.
"Okay. We'll tell Yugi later." Atemu said.
"Yeah. He needs something to help." Bakura agreed.
"Atemu, if you want to, you can stay at the house some since Yugi will be living there." Ryou said.
"I might. I'm going to need a break from my brother every so often now." Atemu said.
"To stop yourself from telling him everything?" Marik asked.
"No. To stop myself from killing him. Right now, I honestly think that I could kill him given all the shit that he has pulled recently." Atemu answered.
"So, that's when Yugi started living with you guys?" Tristan asked.
"Yeah. He needed it." Bakura said.
"Although none of us ever slept through the night." Marik said.
"Ugh. We didn't need to know that." Tea said.
"Not what I mean." Marik said.
"Yugi never slept through the night after that because of nightmares." Atemu explained.
"At least one of us were up with him for nightmares. We'd just hold him and let him know he was safe while he cried." Malik said.
Yugi was sitting on the bed he had in the house. He was staring at the Millennium Puzzle. "I don't get it. Why does he hate me so much?" Yugi asked.
Yugi's grip on the puzzle tightened.
Yugi's head was down so that his bangs covered his eyes.
"What did I do that was so wrong?" Yugi asked himself.
Suddenly, Yugi looked up as his anger reached its peak. He pulled his arm back and threw the Millennium Puzzle across the room.
The Millennium Puzzle hit the wall with a great amount of force, smashing the puzzle to bits.
"Great Ra!" Atemu exclaimed.
"Yugi broke the puzzle!" Marik exclaimed.
"You didn't know?" Joey asked.
"No. We never knew that Yugi shattered the Millennium Puzzle." Atemu said.
"He was so angry at me that he shattered it." Yami said quietly.
Yugi then started to cry.
"I can't take this anymore. I don't want to feel like this anymore. I wish I didn't feel so worthless." Yugi said as he started to sob.
Arms suddenly wrapped around him.
Yugi looked up into the eyes of Dark Magician Girl.
"It's all right, Master Yugi. We're here." Dark Magician Girl said.
Dark Magician was there as well.
Celtic Guardian and Magician's Valkyria were gathering up the pieces of the puzzle.
"I'm sorry. I just-" Yugi started.
"Do not apologize to us, Master Yugi. It is understandable why you are angry with the Pharaoh. He has caused you more pain than we could imagine." Dark Magician said.
Yugi nodded.
"Yugi must have rebuilt the puzzle at some point." Tristan said.
"All but the last piece, anyway." Heba said.
"Why was that?" Tea asked.
"Well, I can guess just by knowing my brother as I do." Heba said.
"Start talking." Bakura said.
"Well, to Yugi, the Millennium Puzzle is a symbol of his and Yami's friendship. It's what let them meet in the first place. My guess is that Yugi didn't plan on finishing it until he had that friendship back, if he ever got it back." Heba said.
"Makes sense." Malik said.
Yugi was curled up on a bed crying. He had his face buried in his arms as his small body was wracked with violent sobs.
'Why? Why did this happen? What did I do to deserve this? Why did he do this to me?' Yugi asked himself as the sobs continued.
Yugi never noticed the dark purple energy that seemed to swirl around his room. He noticed how his body started to glow this exact same color.
All Yugi could feel was the pain in his heart and the pain of the memories that would not go away no matter what Yugi did.
Kill him!
Yugi looked up and around, his face stained with tears. "What?" Yugi asked.
Go after him!
Yugi was scared now. "Who's there?" Yugi asked.
We will help you get revenge on the one who has caused you all this heartache. We will help you make him feel the agony that he ahs put you through. We can help you make him pay!
"I-I don't know who-" Yugi started. He looked down at his hands. He saw that there was a purple tint to his hands. "What?" Yugi asked.
We know your pain. We have sensed it. Our master did nothing, but enjoy his own life, never once considering you. He never cared what was happening to you. He never listened to you. He never pain attention to you. He broke his promises to you.
Yugi didn't know who it was that was talking to him. "Who are you talking about?" Yugi asked.
Yami, the former pharaoh of Egypt. He is the cause of what has happened to you.
"Who are you?" Yugi asked timidly.
We can help you make him pay. We can help you get your revenge. We are the shadows, the source of the Shadow magic that all Yamis possess. Our master has failed in his duty to you, and now we will help you. We will not allow this continue. Let us help you.
Yugi was in so much pain that he didn't know what to do. He wanted something. He was so angry that he needed to get it out. He needed to make others see what had happened. He wanted-he-wanted-he wanted-revenge.
"All right. Help me. Please." Yugi said. His tone was desperate.
Then we will help you. You can make the Pharaoh and all his friends pay for what they have done. We can help you do that. You are our new master. We will help you get the revenge that you need.
Yugi's clothes started to change. The power of the Shadow magic changed Yugi's clothes. He had been wearing his school uniform. Now, he wore very tight, black leather pants. He also had on a tank top along with a black leather jacket. He now wore black boots along with bracelets and a pure black neck belt.
Now, we must find them to allow you the chance for you revenge.
"Yes. I need revenge now." Yugi said, his voice now fill of anger.
Ryou and Malik suddenly burst into the room. Both froze at the sight.
"M-m-m-Malik? What's happening?" Ryou asked.
"I don't know." Malik said.
"Yugi?" Ryou said.
Yugi turned. His amethyst eyes had turned extremely dark now. So dark that they were almost black.
However, there was something else in his eyes that scared them both.
Yugi's eyes were full of anger and hatred. They were full of malice.
"Yugi?" Malik asked.
"No more." Yugi growled in a voice that was twice as strong as his voice normally was. It was a voice full of venom. "He will pay." Yugi said.
"Yugi, who?" Ryou asked, though he feared the answer.
"Yami." Yugi growled.
"No, Yugi. You can't!" Malik said.
"You can't stop me!" Yugi shouted.
Suddenly, the power of the Shadow magic was unleashed in a powerful blast, ripping the house apart.
A bright flash of light blinded everyone.
"Now what?" Seto exclaimed.
When the group could see again, they found that they were back in the living room of the Kaiba mansion.
"What was that all about?" Tristan asked.
"I think we saw our mistakes from start to finish." Yami said.
"Mistakes. Those were beyond mistakes. I don't know what to call them." Joey said as he sat down.
"Our catastrophes. That would be the term for it." Seto said.
"No kidding." Mokuba said.
The entire group sat down.
"So, now you have a better idea of what Yugi's been through." Marik said.
"I don't think that we can fully understand it, though." Yami said quietly.
"Yami, we saw it happen firsthand. We don't fully understand. We can't fully understand Yugi's pain. We can only partially understand it." Atemu said.
"The thing is that we have to try and help him in some way." Malik said.
"I wish I knew how." Yami said dejectedly.
Heba reached down and picked up the Millennium Puzzle, which was still in once piece despite the fact that it had been dropped. "I guess somehow the Millennium Puzzle showed us everything. Maybe to allow you all to understand better what has been going on." Heba said. He sighed. "I know that it gave me a better understanding." Heba said.
"I thought you knew." Atemu said.
"I did, but I wasn't here for it like you were. I only had a limited knowledge of it. After all, Yugi didn't let me know every detail of what was going on." Heba said.
"He didn't?" Marik asked.
"No. He didn't put Yami in as bad of a light as he should have." Heba said.
"Why not?" Yami asked, not understanding why Yugi would bother to protect him.
"Probably because he knew that if I knew how bad it really was and how bad he really felt, I would have come out here, and I most likely would have gone with dismemberment as my method of killing you." Heba said.
Yami gulped, knowing that Heba probably would have done that.
"The only reason I haven't after seeing all that is because we need you alive to save Yugi." Heba growled.
Atemu looked at his Hikari wearily. 'I might need to keep Heba as far away from Yami as humanly possible.' Atemu thought.
Bakura smirked. "You know, Heba, I have a machete that you could use whenever you do decide to kill Yami in case you decide to go with dismemberment." Bakura said.
"Bakura!" Ryou scolded.
"What? I'm allowed to dream, aren't I?" Bakura asked.
"Okay. What do we do now?" Seto asked.
Atemu leaned back in his chair. "I don't know, to be honest. We have a lot that we are going to have to deal with." Atemu said. He looked around. "But I don't think that we need to discuss that tonight." Atemu told them.
"Why not?" Joey asked.
"Because all of you learned a lot after going through all that. I know that there is a lot that you need to think about. Besides, you need time to digest everything. I say that we all go to bed." Atemu said.
"You know, he's right. We do need to think about everything that we have heard." Seto said.
Yami nodded. "Right. We can discuss all this tomorrow." Yami said.
"And I think it might be a good idea to bring Ishizu and Odion into all this. They might be able to help us. They understand the ancient aspect to the Yami-Hikari relationship than we do. Maybe they can help us figure out how to help Yugi." Malik said.
"All right. That's not a bad idea, actually." Atemu said.
"So, we go to the museum tomorrow?" Yami asked.
"I think we might just have to chance it." Atemu said.
"We'll be ready then." Seto said.
Everyone then headed upstairs to their rooms.
On the way, Atemu touched Heba's arm.
Heba turned to face him.
"Heba, you can stay with me." Atemu said.
Heba nodded.
The two walked into Atemu's room.
"What's that about?" Tea asked.
"They haven't seen each other in five thousand years. They have a lot to talk about." Yami said.
"Yeah. I'm sure they'll talk." Bakura said with a smirk.
Marik smirked as well. "Yeah. I'm sure we'll be hearing them talking." Marik agreed.
"Okay! Knock it off!" Malik scolded.
"Let's just go." Seto said.
Everyone headed to their own rooms.
"Heba, we need to talk." Atemu said.
"Look. I wasn't serious about dismembering Yami, Atemu." Heba said. He sat down on the bed. "I don't promise that I won't be yelling a lot." Heba said.
Atemu walked over and sat down beside Heba. "Heba, I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about us." Atemu said.
Heba looked up at him.
"Let's face it. We have a lot that we need to discuss." Atemu said.
"Atemu, I know that I have my memories of ancient Egypt. Don't doubt that." Heba said. He sighed. "I just don't think that we can jump right back into that type of relationship." Heba said.
"What do you mean?" Atemu asked, fearful.
Heba reached over and placed a hand on Atemu's cheek. "I don't want to immediately start a sexual relationship, Atemu. I have changed since being reincarnated in this world. I don't want you to think that I am the exact same person that I was back then." Heba said.
Atemu reached up to cover Heba's hand. "Heba, I know you're not the same. Since being brought back, I have changed myself. I want to get to know the you of this time as I want you to get to know the me of this time. We have changed, Heba. I don't deny that." Atemu said.
"I don't mind dating you, Atemu. I am willing to do that. Just not now." Heba said.
Atemu knew what he meant. "You want to wait until all this with Yugi is settled." Atemu said.
Heba nodded. "Atemu, let's face it. There is a lot that we have to consider right now." Heba said.
"I know that, Heba. Once this over, we can try and figure us out." Atemu said.
Heba smiled. "Thanks for understanding." Heba said.
"Since when have I been able to deny you anything, Little Star?" Atemu asked.
Heba smiled. "Never." Heba said.
"Exactly." Atemu said. He pulled Heba into a hug. "Don't worry about Yugi, Little Star. We'll get him back somehow." Atemu said.
"Thanks, Atemu." Heba said as he leaned against him.
"Anything for you." Atemu said. He had wanted to save Yugi before, but he wanted to even more now that he had Heba back. He wanted to save Heba's brother and his closed friend.
Yami was lying on his bed.
The instant he laid down, all the memories of what he had seen came back to him.
The images of Yugi in the park, naked and bleeding, as well as the images of Yugi in the hospital bed came flowing back.
Yami closed his eyes as tears started to fall.
'What have I done? How could I have let this happen? I let all this happen. Yugi tried to tell me, and I completely ignored him. He needed me and I wasn't there. Some Yami I am.' Yami thought.
Yami rolled over and buried his face in his pillow as he started to cry. He hated what he had done, he hated what had happened, but most of all, he hated what he had allowed to happen to Yugi.
'How can I make things right?' Yami asked himself.
Yami ended up crying himself to sleep that night.
No one in the Kaiba mansion slept well.
All were upset over what they had seen in the memories that the Millennium Puzzle had shown them.
Even those who had already been through it were upset by what they saw.
It was a heart-wrenching and enlightening experience.
Now, they had to use it to find a way to save Yugi.
Hpoe you liked it.
Next: Yami has to answer to someone else about his actions. And it's not Yugi.
I have a poll up on my profile, so please vote in it. It'll be up until I get back from my visit.
R&R.