"Ok, this has gone way too far," said Duke. They had all gone to Yugi's to sleep over. "First Joey, then Pegasus, then Mai, and tons of other people. Somebody's got to stop this madness."
"It's not fair!" said Serenity, pounding her fist on the table. "None of those people deserved to die!"
"It's turning out to be like Yugi said," said Tea. "All of the people who couldn't get to their heart's desire are targets. But, why?"
"Maybe it's just a coincidence," said Tristen. "Maybe their heart's desire has nothing to do with it."
"Or, maybe that's how they're going to get back at us," said Yami, as he walked into the room. "This Shadowman has bigger plans than killing people, I'm sure."
Yugi yawned. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired. I'll see you guys tommorrow." He walked into his room, and shut the door. Serenity and Yami walked into Yami's room, and shut the door. Tristen stayed up watching TV, while Tea slept on the couch, and Duke slept on the floor.
Hours later, Duke woke up. He felt like something was wrong. He got up, passing Tristen, asleep in the chair, the TV still on. He grabbed his jacket, and left.
Serenity woke up and opened the door, to get a drink. She looked at the bed that Duke had made on the floor. Then, it hit her. She ran down stairs, not bothering to do it silently. She ran off into the night.
Yami heard thumping, as Serenity ran down the stairs. He looked at her empty bed. "Ren?" He got up, looking all around the house. He couldn't find her. He walked to the front door, and opened it. He didn't see her anywhere. "Oh no," he thought, and he ran as fast as he could.
Serenity ran down a few streets, then turned a corner, and she saw it. The Shadowman was talking to Duke. He seemed to be in a trancelike state. Serenity ran to Duke, and yelled, "Don't kill him! He has a heart's desire!" Serenity ran up and kissed Duke. The Shadowman stepped back. Duke awoke from his trancelike state. He looked at Ren, then saw the Shadowman, and he backed away, shoving Ren behind him. The Shadowman walked closer. "I didn't want to show this to you, Serenity, but it seems I have no choice," he said, and he lowered his hood.
Serenity fell to her knees, tear running down her face. Her whole childhood was flashing before her eyes. She never thought it would end like this at all. "I'm going crazy," she thought. "I'm halluccinating. None of this is really happening." Joey grabbed her hand, staring into her eyes. "Serenity, come with me." He smiled at her. She got up.
"SERENITY!" Yami ran to her, and grabbed her, pulling her back from Joey. It broke the trance, and Serenity screamed as she looked into the face of her decaying brother. Duke tried to tackle him, but a strong force shoved him, and he flew backward, landing hard on his back in the road. The man with purple eyes walked out of the alley, his white hair shining in the light. In his hand, he held up the Millenium Rod.
"Marik!" yelled Yami. "How did you get the rod back! We had it!"
Marik smiled. "Oh, I have my ways, Pharaoh. And, it turned out that is was worth having the rod in the end. See? it brought us all together." Marik raised the rod. A strong power was coming from it. Yami looked around. A foul stench of rotting flesh was in the air. Living dead bodies were surrounding them, including Pegasus, and Mai. Their eyes shone white.
"Ever heard of Necromancy, Pharaoh?" Marik laughed.
