A/N: And the updates keep coming. We're coming to the end of the fic now. So please put your tray tables in the upright and locked position. This is SUPERSHORT because I'm keeping you on edge!!!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my plots and OC's.

Chapter 14: The Charity of My Native Place

"Thus was descending the eternal heat, whereby the sand was set on fire, like tinder beneath the steel, for doubling of the dole."
Canto XIV, from Dante's Inferno

I don't understand. And I tell him so. He seems angry.

"Don't be an idiot Yugi. You know how deep your influence runs. The article? It was bullshit. Not a single person believed it. They retracted it this morning because of how many angry letters and phone calls they got. You're a fucking superstar. And if you were to die at the hands of the Duel Monsters Killer, the entire game would be revived. Forget the others. They'd name a god damned card after you. Every arena would be renamed. Every tournament held in your honor. Imagine if I died what Mokuba would do for me! Another arena here, a tournament there, a few cards someplace else. You and I, Yugi, we could be martyrs. If only one of us were willing."

"I don't want to die."

"And neither do I. But I have accepted the fact that one day I will. And so must you." He reaches behind him and pulls two guns from his belt.

He throws one to me.

"Listen very carefully Yugi. It all ends here. The police will arrive in less than five minutes. One of the men who've been doing my bidding called them. They were, of course, apprehended a very short while ago. I think they're both dead now. A police shoot off. I told them not to go down without a fight. I forgot to mention the accuracy of Domino City police officers these days. I had to, really. They're cowards, both of them. Why do you think one of them raped Rebecca? Only cowards do these things. Only cowards and weak men work for men of power. Men like us." He lifts Yami by his shirt collar. "Doesn't seem so royal now, does he? No matter. This is it."

"Kaiba, please. Let's talk this out."

"We don't have time to talk! The police will be here any moment. Now I'm giving you a choice, Yugi! Shoot me, or I'll shoot you both. Either way, I win."

"You can't win if you're dead Kaiba!" The gun is shaking in my hand. Yami begins to stir, but he's still out of it. Blood is covering his face. I can't look.

"I told you that's not what this is about! Now do it!"

"No!"

"I'm going to count to three. And on three, I will shoot you. And then I'll shoot him. And you can die here together. One!"

"Kaiba!"

"Two!"

"Kaiba, please!"

"Three!"

A shot rings out across the warehouse.