I'm sorry I killed Yugi, readers. I mean, he's my favorite character, the cute little guy. But he's such an easy target…
Atem kneeled beside his partner's body, sobbing and shaking with sorrow and rage. Bakura's suffering would be eternal for all the pain he had caused. For everyone he had hurt, everyone he had killed… For Yugi.
"Now is not the time for tears." He said mentally. "Now is the time for revenge." He pushed all sorrow, all fear, and all inhibitions from his heart. He could wallow in despair later. Right now, he had work to do.
Atem stood and walked slowly over to one of the writhing and bleeding spirits in the cavernous courtyard. Atem grabbed the spirit by the neck and held him close.
"Where is Bakura?" Atem asked, his voice reflecting his merciless fury.
The deformed spirit giggled hysterically. His tongue had been split in two, and was bleeding through his teeth. "Down, down, down you must go. Farther than any man should know."
"Down? How can I get there?"
"Go through the doors which all men fear. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."
Atem assumed that the spirit meant the large stone doors near the end of the stairway. They dripped with blood, inscribing the words "no escape" on them in shining, wet crimson. There was no choice. Atem walked up to the doors, which opened with the creak of stone, sensing his desires. Then he descended, deep into the depths from which only one man had risen.
Atem walked. The path before him, paved with human bones, stretched on endlessly. He passed tortured, once-human souls, begging him for help as he continued to walk. He passed fire and water and blood. He passed creatures he had never seen before. He passed forests of twisted and dying trees. Down stairs, across canyons, over peaks, he continued on forward. He paid it no attention, though. His mind was set on one thing – revenge. Everything else passed like a ghost before his eyes.
Suddenly, he reached another door.
"This is it… I can sense it." Atem thought to himself. "This is where I'll find him."
As he prepared himself for whatever lay beyond, a shimmering figure appeared in front of the gate. The light faded, and Atem found himself face to face with…. Himself. The other him smiled knowingly.
"Why have you come here?" The doppelganger asked.
"Don't you know? Aren't you me?" Atem asked, somewhat annoyed.
"I want to hear you say it."
"I'm here for Bakura."
"And what are you going to do once you've found him?"
"I'm going to hurt him. As much as he's hurt everyone else."
"Don't you mean as much as he's hurt you?"
Atem eyes narrowed. He was losing patience. "It's not just about me."
The other Atem laughed. "Isn't it? If it was going to be about anyone else, it would be about Yugi, wouldn't it?"
Atem merely glared at him.
"Can you possibly understand?" The other Atem asked. "Bringing Bakura pain isn't going to save Yugi."
"What are you trying to do?!" Atem yelled furiously. "Why are you here?! If anything, I would assume you'd be glad to see me risk my soul for nothing!"
"Pride is your sin." The other Atem said softly. "You can't save anyone."
"Get out of my way." Atem growled, clenching his fists in anger.
The imposter smiled. "I hope you know what you're doing." Then he disappeared, leaving the way to the door clear.
"Is he right?" Atem thought to himself. "Should I turn back? Is it all for nothing?" He had come this far, gotten this close. It couldn't be hopeless… it couldn't be. Steeling himself, he opened the door, and prepared for what would lie ahead.
It was dark. Atem knew that much, but not much else. Small, glowing lights floated about, giving a small amount of light to his surroundings.
"So… you've come to get your revenge, have you?" A mocking, accented voice said. A voice Atem knew all too well.
"Bakura!" Atem yelled into the void. "You will pay for what you've done! What you've done to Yugi!"
A cold, blue light appeared and grew in strength, until it illuminated everything in the room. Bakura stood in the room's center upon a seal engraved in the stone floor.
"Before you kill me… I want to ask you something." Bakura said softly.
"Why should I? Why should I even give you the right?!" Atem yelled at him.
"It will be worth your time." Bakura said. He wasn't acting like himself. The mocking, laughing attitude had softened, leaving a quieter, calmer Bakura in its place. The torture of his resting place had changed him.
Atem paused. "Be quick about it." He said angrily.
"If you had the chance… would you sacrifice yourself to save Yugi?"
"Without hesitation." Atem replied honestly.
"Yugi told you what would happen, didn't he? That if you spilt your blood here, upon the Gate of Anubis, all of the worlds would destroy each other?" Bakura asked, seemingly amused. "The question is, would you make that choice... would you exchange your soul for Yugi's, knowing what would happen?"
Atem was shocked. "What are you saying?" He asked.
Bakura shook his head, smiling. "You could save your Yugi."
"Do you mean that it's possible? That he could…" Atem choked on his words.
"Of course."
Atem couldn't believe what he was hearing. He could save Yugi… he could atone for his sins… he could undo what he had done to Yugi. But at the cost of all those lives? "It's my fault that Yugi is dead…" Atem thought. "It's my duty… I owe it to Yugi to pay for what I let happen. "
"… I will sacrifice myself… for Yugi." Atem said softly.
Bakura smiled darkly. "It's good to see that you finally understand that the good guys don't always win." Reaching out his hand, Bakura summoned the Dark Spear. The same Dark Spear that Yugi had used to take his own life.
"Stand on the Gate," Bakura instructed, tossing the spear to Atem. "And drive the spear through your heart. I want to see you bleed."
Atem caught the spear and slowly walked to the center of the seal. He held the spear to his chest.
"For you, Yugi."
"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here" comes from Dante's Inferno. I didn't come up with that myself, unfortunately.