A/N: Hey guys! I'm terribly sorry that I took so long to update this story! If you read my other story 'Once Upon A Summer's Night' You would have already read this speech butbasically work and uni and ugh. Excuses I know. Also just note that a few times in this chapter I refer to Shin no Yami as just Shin, because it gets confusing when I put both Shin no Yami and Yami together in a sentence. Anyway, it's only slightly shorter than an average chapter but I just had to end it where I did, so I hope you enjoy it and sorry again for my terrible excuses, forgive me!
Chapter 13: Struggle
In a swift move that rivaled the speed of a martial artist, Yami slammed his dark counter part against the wall aggressively, earning a surprised grunt in the process. What he didn't expect however, was the searing pain that ran through the back of his own head when Shin no Yami's skull smacked against the hard wall. Yami squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to ward off the pain, and he was slightly aware of Yugi trying to talk to him, only a metre away from where he was. He turned his head towards the boy while his fists were still clenched in the other man's shirt, but before he could utter a word his dark half was whispering in his ear.
"Didn't think about that now, did you?" Shin no Yami snickered, earning a growl from his other half in response. Yami's head was too clouded with rage for him to make sense of any rational thoughts that his mind conjured, and Shin no Yami used this to his advantage, blowing air into Yami's eyes and making the other man close them. As soon as Yami reacted, Shin sent his knee straight into Yami's gut, causing the other man to widen his eyes in shock and double over. Ignoring the mirroring pain, Shin no Yami then stepped forward, placing his foot just behind one of Yami's, and pushed the man back. This all only happened in a matter of seconds, and Yami was suddenly stunned when he was once again on his back, staring up at those menacing crimson eyes. Shin no Yami placed his foot on Yami's chest as he did before, and the man on the ground was astounded by the intense feeling of de ja vu.
"You're not very good at this, are you?" Shin no Yami mused, looking down at the man with amused eyes. "Even if you do manage to get a few good punches in-apart from the fact that you would be hurting yourself-I have a higher pain threshold than you and therefore will not hesitate to put my foot in your ass." He gave the man below him a wicked smile, and it only made Yami's blood boil even more. His eyes narrowed into slits, and he swung his arm out, colliding it with the back of Shin no Yami's knee, causing his stance to falter. In the split second of weakness in the leg holding him to the ground, Yami rolled out from under the man and swung his leg around, managing to take out Shin no Yami's legs from under him. The crimson eyed man hit the ground with a thud and Yami tried to ignore the spasm that went through his back as Shin no Yami let out a painful grunt. In the next moment, Yami was instantly on his feet, and without a second thought, he swung his leg back and collided it with Shin no Yami's ribs. Yugi swore he actually saw the man's rib cage tremble upon the impact, as Yami let out his assault on the man, but it was cut short after the first kick when his own eyes widened from the sudden pain that coursed through him. Yami instantly reached one of his palms to the side of his ribs, gritting his teeth as he shared the pain with his other half, who had winced considerably when Yami had kicked him.
Yugi pulled on the chains that surrounded his wrists in a desperate attempt to call out to the man who held his affections, "Yami, what are doing? You're only going to hurt yourself!"
Shin no Yami had one hand sitting against his ribs, mirroring Yami's previous action, and he smirked up at the man. "I could do whatever I wanted to your little boyfriend, and you wouldn't be able to do a thing-" before he could finish his sentence, Yami was swinging his leg towards the man once again, intending to silence him with his own rage. Shin no Yami had anticipated this however and rolled out of the way, before jumping to his feet once more. "Yugi even agreed," the twisted man continued, his smirk never faltering. "I would make a much better lover than you ever could-" Yami's face twisted with rage as he swung a fist towards Shin no Yami, who very narrowly dodged the attack, blocking it with his forearm. Yami instantly felt the jolt of pain up his arm where his own fist had collided with the bone on Shin's arm. The crimson eyed man smirked once again.
"Yami stop it!" Yugi called out, "You're only hurting yourself!"
Yami's narrowed eyes never left their target, as he stared down Shin no Yami, who was staring back just as intensely, a smug smirk still plastered across his face. "I don't care," he eventually said, not breaking his stare, "As long as this bastard gets what he deserves for laying a hand on you."
Shin no Yami chuckled in amusement, "How bold of you."
"Shut up!" Yami instantly launched himself at Shin no Yami once more, flying his fist towards the other man, who this time had not expected such an outburst. Yami's bruised knuckles collided with Shin no Yami's jaw, and both men felt the repercussions of said attack, as they both grunted in pain and reeled back to assess the damage.
Shin no Yami dropped his hand from his jaw, looking over at the other man who was clenching and unclenching his fist. "You know that this is going to get you nowhere but even more injured, don't you?" he said, standing up straight once more. He then let out a laugh, "There's nothing you can do!" The menacing gleam in his eyes was enough to make Yugi feel sick, and Yami was simply trying to stop his stomach from churning at the thought. "Face it, Yugi is mine, and you can't defeat me without killing yourself at best." Yami had heard enough. He was going to take action, and he was going to do the only thing he knew would save Yugi.
"Then I'll kill us both!" Yami thundered, launching from his place, and grappling Shin no Yami by the shoulders. The other man matched the challenge, as they fought with bare strength to get one up on the other. Of course, both essentially being two parts of the same person meant that raw strength would leave them at a tie, but neither of them let up the battle. Yugi was staring at them both in horror, unable to believe that Yami would even consider this as an option. The two men pushed each other into walls, and fought against the other with all of their strength, but no clear victor was arising as they both began to grow tired. Growing frustrated, Shin no Yami pushed the other away from him, and Yami stumbled into the wall that Yugi was still chained to, only a few meters away. The crimson eyed man then sent a punch to to Yami's gut, causing him to double over in pain. Ignoring his own pain, Shin no Yami leaned in and murmured in Yami's ear.
"I've already managed to make your Yugi gasp like he's never been pleasured before."
It was only one sentence, but it made Yami's blood boil higher than anything the man had said previously, and he found himself suddenly grappling Shin no Yami's neck between his hands, constricting the other man's air. "You fucking bastard!" he raged, tightening his grip as Shin no Yami clawed at his hands, trying to free himself so that he could breathe. Yami was desperately fending off the feeling of hands at his own throat, but when he tightened his grip he could feel the pain of his windpipe being squashed inside his throat, of the pressure of a pair of hands suffocating his only means of gaining oxygen. He almost loosened his grip, but that's when he noticed something: Shin no Yami couldn't breathe, and he was perfectly fine. Yami could definitely feel the pain from him choking his dark half, but he could still breathe perfectly fine. If he could just survive the pain for the amount of time it took to choke this man out, he might actually win.
Yami could hear Yugi behind him calling out for him to stop, to not sacrifice himself in order to rid the earth of his dark half, but he had no time to explain his reasons, he only tightened his grip around Shin no Yami's throat as the other man chocked and spluttered and clawed at Yami with all of his might, but his face was already a flush of red. Yami tried to take deep breaths as he held onto his dark half, trying to fend off the urge to let go and end this torture on his own throat, but he reassured himself that he was fine and that this was the one loophole to their stupid connection. Shin no Yami's eyes were wide and fearful, and finally, his attempts to claw at Yami ceased as his eyes fell shut and his body slumped onto Yami's. The man instantly let go of his dark half as Shin no Yami fell to the ground, and Yami dropped to his knees, panting in exhaustion and relief.
Yugi almost couldn't find his voice as he stared over at the two identical men, once of which was on the ground in a crumpled mess. "Is..." he chocked out, "Is he...?"
Yami shook his head, "He's not dead. Like he said, I would have to die also..." Yami lifted himself back up to his feet with a painful grunt and stumbled over to the boy, before placing both hands on the wall either side of Yugi as a means to steady himself. "He's just unconscious, so we don't have much time." He was still breathing heavily, and he leaned forwards so that his forehead sat against Yugi's, his eyes falling closed for a moment. "I am so, so sorry. I can't even-"
"Shh." Yugi would have placed a delicate finger against Yami's lips had he been able to. "No need for apologies, Right now, we just need to get out of here." Yami opened his eyes once more and moved back from the boy, nodding in the process. He lifted his hands to examine the metal surrounding Yugi's wrists, trying to think of how to get him out without hurting him. Yami's knuckles hissed in pain as he pulled against the chains sunk into the wall. His head was throbbing, his mouth was dry and it felt like his ribs and gut were on strike. He just hoped he'd be able to get Yugi somewhere safe before Shin no Yami woke up.
Yugi had been trying to look around the room for anything that might help free him of his constraints, and his head had been turned away from Yami in the process. The next thing he knew, Yami's eye were wide and he was making choking noises as he desperately clawed at two hands that were clasped around his throat.
"Yami!" Yugi's eyes widened in fear as he noticed the identical man standing behind Yami, having apparently woken up a lot sooner than expected. Yugi could see Shin no Yami's face twisting as he fought back the pain his hands were inducing on himself while he returned the assault Yami had done to him only minutes ago. Yugi screamed for him to stop, but Shin no Yami looked like he didn't even hear him.
"Like how it feels, partner?" Shin snarled in Yami's ear. The other man was seeing stars. His vision had gone blotchy as he desperately gasped for air, but nothing came. In a last desperate attempt to free himself, he swung his elbow back in Shin's gut, and pushed himself away from the wall, falling onto his back and squashing his dark half in the process. Yami gasped for air as he rolled off of Shin, and he knew that in any second the other man would be on him, tearing into him to gain payback for knocking him out minutes ago. What happened instead however, left Yami in nothing but blackness as a searing pain surged through his head, and his body instantly gave up as he fell into unconsciousness.
Yeah, I know, you hate me xD I was going to continue it but then again this was a perfect place to end this chapter and make you all hate me. I also just really wanted to update this story tonight because I'm going to be busy the next few nights and yeah. Anyway, I hope you liked it! We're verrrrry close to the end folks, my estimate is another two chapters i think? Something like that, so please let me know what you think!
PharaohsThrone :)