Ranko: Hello all of you lovely readers, I bet you weren't expecting me to update on this story again, huh?

Yami: Well, grab your torches and pitchforks and go after Ranko because the third installment is not ready yet.

Ranko: No, don't hurt me!

Yuugi: (rolls eyes) This is like an alternate ending to this story or just a continuation of the ending. You remember the cover art for the Shadow Game, right? Well, the same artist is doing something similar for this story and we wanted to pay her back, so here it is.

Ranko: I'm not going to answer reviews, but this shows what happens to Jou and Malik after they got through the fire and were captured by the Shadow Men.

Yuugi: Ranko twin does not own anything related to Yu-Gi-Oh or the Forbidden Games.

Ranko: Enjoy!

-/-

Malik's body ached all over. His skin was sensitive; he usually didn't get sunburns because of his heritage but he was sure this is what one might have felt like. His head was pulsing and it felt as if his skull would split open.

He was so tired and he just wanted to continue to lay there on the cold floor with his eyes closed and sleep like that forever. But he had an unsettling feeling that this place, wherever he was, wasn't the place to sleep.

He tried to push himself to his elbows but hissed in pain whenever his body fought against him. His skin was tingling and burning; he just wanted to scratch it to make the feeling go away but that would hurt too.

"Malik…" He heard someone call his name. It was like this person was miles away, their voice was so faint.

"Malik," the voice was a little louder this time. "Malik, wake up, come on."

Then he felt someone nudge his shoulder and he felt like crying. That hurt so much. He wanted to yell at that person to stop touching him before he dies from the pain but he didn't have enough energy to even open his eyes.

He felt someone's presence beside him; they wouldn't go away. Finally, Malik summoned up the strength and will power to sit up and open his eyes. His skin tingled and burned at the same time. His muscles were sore and his bones felt like lead.

Whoever this person was, they had better be important.

Finally, Malik peeled open his eyes and was immediately caught in a tight embrace. This time he did cry out in pain. The person who was hugging him let go and backed away so Malik could see his face. The first thing that he focused on were the golden brown eyes.

"Jounouchi?" Malik asked hesitantly.

The blond sighed in relief and hugged his friend briefly before helping him to his feet. "Yes, it's me. Thank God you're alright; I thought I hadn't made it through the fire."

Malik stared at Jounouchi in confusion and then all the pieces clicked together. He remembered what happened; it all made sense now. Yuugi wanted them to walk through the wall of fire, saying that it would be safe. They all walked in the fire in a line and Malik had lost his grip on Yuugi's hand.

He tripped, trying to reach for it, making Jounouchi trip too. Jou had gotten up first and got Malik up. He picked him and carried him, hoping to catch up the rest. The fire was disappearing quickly, leaving nothing but blackness. Jou turned to run back to the living room but it was too late, the blackness had engulfed them and they fell like they had fallen down a chute.

Then his next memory was of Jounouchi waking him up.

He couldn't believe that that had happened. Why did he have to be so stupid? If he hadn't have tripped then this never would have happened. If he hadn't have been so scared in the first place then they would be with their friends and not in some strange space. He wondered what his friends were doing now. Were they worried? Were they thinking where they were and how they could find them?

Malik blinked and looked around; where were they anyway? It was a completely white, open space. It looked as if there was no end, no walls, no ceiling. Malik only knew that there was a floor or else he wouldn't be standing now.

It was like being back in the paper house. The halls were go on, seemingly forever with no end. The only difference here was that there was no indication of where they were. They were just spots of color in an endless white.

Jounouchi seemed to be thinking the same thing. "Hey Malik, where are we?"

Malik snorted. "I was about to ask you the same question."

And then they both heard it; footsteps. Jou and Malik exchanged looks. The footsteps grew louder as the person neared and then it sounded as if they were running. The two boys looked around to see where the person was coming from but they could see no one.

Then Malik saw something, or someone. This person was dressed completely in white, with pale skin and all; that made it so hard to find the person because they were camouflaged well.

As the person neared, Malik noticed that it was a very slender boy dressed in white baggy pants and a matching short that hung loosely on his small frame. His hair was snow white…

Malik's eyes widened when the realization hit him. "Ryou…?" Was it possibly? Could it really be sweet, little Ryou that they lost in the last Game? But he was killed in his nightmare…no, Yuugi said that he was still alive, just being held captive by the Shadow Men.

Then Malik saw the chocolate eyes and he knew for sure that it was their friend. "Ryou!" he shouted, running to his friend. Jounouchi noticed it was Ryou as well and got there before Malik did, swooping the smaller boy up into a bone-crushing hug.

"Ryou!" Jounouchi cried, tears rolling down his cheek.

"Hey, Jou…" he gasped out, his face turning red from lack of oxygen.

Malik smacked Jounouchi on the arm, rubbing the tears from his eyes. "Put him down Jou and let him breath." As soon as Jou set the smaller boy down, Malik embraced Ryou tightly, letting the tears roll down his cheeks. "Ryou…I can't believe it's you…" he said between his tears.

Ryou smiled and patted Malik's back; the blond shook from his sobbing.

Jou had to pry Malik off of Ryou and keep his arm around his shoulder. "Ryou, are you alright? Where have you been this whole time?"

Ryou smiled and nodded. "I'm fine, Jou. And I've been here the whole time, just wondering around. I had been asleep for a long time though and only just woke up a week or two ago."

'When we started the new Game,' Jou thought to himself. "Where is here, exactly?"

Ryou opened his mouth to answer but a voice cut him off. "This is the Shadow Realm."

Everyone turned and saw Akefia standing there with his arms crossed over his chest, wearing a confident smirk. Ryou didn't even flinch the way that he used to when he always saw Akefia in the old Game.

Malik, on the other hand, was paralyzed.

"Really, I thought that the Shadow Realm would be darker than this," Jounouchi said in a sarcastic tone, but his knees were buckling from fear.

"Oh, it can be, trust me," another voice said from behind them.

They all turned again and saw Marik standing there, his hands shoved in his pocket and his fangs peeking out when he smiled. Malik shrieked and went wide eyed, gluing himself closer to Jou's side. "Jounouchi…" Malik whispered helplessly. "I want to go home," he choked out from his tears.

Akefia and Marik circled the three friends like predators. "Well, well, looks like we have new guests to welcome to our Realm. Care to introduce them to us, Ryou?" Akefia asked, leaning in until his breath was tickling Ryou's ear.

Ryou didn't even blink; he stared straight ahead stubbornly. "You know who they are, now leave them alone."

"Oh, you're so mean to us Ryou," Marik joined in. "Why so cold? I thought that we were friends."

Jou saw that the Shadow Men were just starting to act like bullies now. Ryou could never handle bullies well, but Jou was proud of the little guy; he stood his ground. He wasn't even shaking.

"Who ever said that we were friends?" Ryou said bitterly.

Akefia put a hand to his chest in mock hurt. "You're words cut me like a knife, Ryou-darling."

"Darling?" Jounouchi echoed, confused and furious at the same time.

"Don't call me that," Ryou said harshly.

"Why?" Akefia asked, half serious and half joking. "I thought that we were on better terms now."

"Why would you think that?" Ryou snapped, finally looking at the Shadow Man.

"Will someone explain to me what is going on?" Jounouchi asked, finally shouting. It was like they had forgotten that he and Malik were there. Well…Marik didn't forget that Malik was here, he had been staring at him the entire time and Jou finally noticed the deep shaking that was practically vibrating his entire right side.

Akefia stared at him in annoyance. "Ryou can explain to you, Marik and I have something else to do anyway. Come on, Marik," Akefia said, dragging his companion behind him.

Soon, they disappeared into the white, leaving the three friends alone; two were confused and scared, the other seemed annoyed and way too casual for this kind of situation they were in.

"What the hell was that?" Jou asked. "Why were you acting so buddy-buddy with the Shadow Men?"

Ryou snorted. "I would hardly call that 'buddy-buddy.'"

"Well, it was enough, now tell us what is going on here?" Jounouchi pressed stubbornly.

Ryou sighed. "It's kind of a long story. You see, when I was asleep, I had these weird dreams, if you could call them that. Some of them were of you guys and I figured that they weren't actually dreams but me seeing what was happening to you guys."

Jounouchi thought of the time when Yuugi told them about his strange dreams with Ryou in it and he wondered if those dreams might have been two-way. Stranger things have happened.

"I also had dreams where I was looking back into the past," Ryou continued.

"How far back is the past?" Jou asked, thinking that he was just talking about the old Game.

Ryou twiddled his thumbs like he used to do. "Back to Ancient Egypt."

There was a stretched out silence. "…What?" Jou finally asked.

"Okay, this is where things start to get strange but you have to believe me when I say this. I saw the Shadow Men's past lives when I was sleeping, you know, their lives before they became Shadow Men."

Jou furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What are you saying?" Of course he knew what Ryou was saying, he just refused to believe it.

"Before the Shadow Men were Shadow Men, they were human too. They had human lives but I guess something happened to them while they were human that made them Shadow Men, I don't know. The visions didn't show that much," Ryou said.

"That is insane," Jou said just above a whisper.

Ryou nodded his head. "I know that it is crazy, I didn't think it was true at first either; but it is true. I was only able to see visions of Akefia though, and it wasn't much, just enough. I think it is because he made a connection with me or something."

Jounouchi shook his head. "All right, enough of this, we have to find a way to get out of here and then we can talk more about this."

Ryou shook his head. "I don't think there is a way to get out of here. It is the Shadow Realm and the Shadow Men can control what this place looks like and where they want you to be. That's why its all white, like a blank canvas they can paint on."

"So what are we supposed to do, wait?" Jounouchi asked, the idea not sounding very appealing to him.

Unfortunately, Ryou nodded. "That's about it, you can also sleep…and dream." Ryou smiled softly and looked at Malik who had fallen asleep against Jou's side; he pushed Malik's bangs behind his ear, out of his face. "That is sometimes more helpful then anything else."

Dream ~

"Hey Marik, do you think that I'll ever be able to see the sunset as a free man and not as a slave?" he asked, staring longingly at the orange horizon from behind the iron bars of his cell.

Marik stared at his long time friend and felt a pang in his heart. "I hope so…"

"It's okay, there's no need to cry, it's going to be all right," Marik soothed as he rubbed his friend's back.

He was shaking from his crying and clung to Marik tightly. "No, how can you say that, it won't be all right! Don't lie to me! I don't want to go, Marik! Please don't let them take me! I don't want to be separate from you! Do you know what they will do to me when you're gone? They're disgusting hands all over me…please…don't leave me."

"I promise, I'll never leave you…" Marik whispered, holding his friend close to him and letting him cry.

"No!" Marik cried, trying to get free from his restraints to go to his friend. Their village was burning, set ablaze by local bandits. When he and Marik tried to escape, the bandits had caught them and started to beat them.

They had tied Marik to a wooden post and made him watch as they raped his friend and beat him do death. They were still kicking around his friend's body; he was barely breathing and looked as if he were barely hanging on.

"Stop it now! No! Stop torturing him! I swear, when I get free, I'll kill all of you!" Marik screamed furiously.

The spark in his friend's lavender eyes completely faded as he slipped away.

Marik's mouth opened in a soundless scream and then shouted, "Namu!"

Malik awoke with a scream and sat up straight up. He looked around; he had woken up from a nightmare and ended up in another nightmare. He was still in the Shadow Realm but at least he had Ryou and Jou with him.

"Malik-pretty," someone said right by his ear.

Malik shrieked and quickly put his hand to his mouth to cut off the sound.

The felt strong, surprisingly warm, arms wrap around his torso from behind and pull him against a firm chest. "Malik-pretty," the voice said again, this time it was closer. Malik could feel someone burry their nose in his hair. "You're my Namu, aren't you?"

"What?" Malik squeaked out, terrified at the moment.

"I had my suspicions when I first met you, but now I am certain that you are him. God, I am so happy that I have finally found you. You have no idea how long I have been looking for you, have you? I am so sorry, Namu, I made a promise that I couldn't keep but now we're both here and I can make it right."

Malik knew that it was Marik who was talking to him. He wanted to shove him away. He wanted to scream and cry. But he couldn't find it in his heart to do any of that. Marik sounded so broken and lost, yet relieved and happy. There was no dark aura around him like there usually was and Malik felt…comfortable.

So he decided to stay in Marik's arms a little longer and make him think that he was this "Namu" person, even though Malik knew that he would regret it later.

-/-

Ranko: Don't kill me! This is not a cliff hanger because I will be continuing this in the next story!

Yami: Which you haven't started on yet.

Ranko: Shut up, Yami!

Yuugi: Anyway, we hoped that you liked it Vann-chan and the wonderful bronzeshipping moment at the end. We hope that there will be more of that in the last story!

Ranko: Anyway, this is just a glimpse of what happened to Jounouchi and Malik after the fire, so yes, there will be more moments like these in the next story to clear any confusion.

Yami: Review and pressure Ranko to start the next story soon!

Ranko: Ah! Yami, stop being mean to me!

Yuugi: Thanks again, Vann-chan!