Ranko: I bring forth an update!
Yami: That was rather normal…for you, anyway.
Ranko: Yeah, my creative muses aren't really working with me today when it comes to introductions.
Yuugi: You want to answer reviews?
Ranko: Hell-to-the-yes!
hikari no senshi17: I am the Queen of Cliffhangers! Anyway, I got you now; I understand what you mean and I agree! This story has been lacking in real action so far, but that will change soon! Is Yami the voice? Is Yami stalking Yuugi? …Yeah, probably . Please continue to review!
AmerillaRose: What can I say? I'm the Queen of the Cliffhangers! Aw, poor Yuugi; he is about to have a mental breakdown! Anyway, random note: I watched the anime that is used as your profile picture (Sukisho). I love it! It is now one of my favorite animes! Okay, enough of my randomness, please continue to review!
SincerelyChristina: I know, why does Yami have to be a big meanie? Poor Bakura, who would have thought he would have a phobia like that? Thank you and please continue to review!
Daemon Luciel: I know, I am such a mean person! Oh well, abusing the characters is fun anyway! (Yuugi: …What?) Please continue to review!
Phantom Luna: I mistreat and abuse Yuugi so much; I know I'm a bad person. Yes, that was Yami :) Please continue to review!
YugiFanP3: Thanks a million for reviewing! You made my day! Thank you!
Great: I'll make sure that Yuugi hits Yami really hard, don't worry about that ;) Thank you so much and please continue to review!
visitor: Yuugi appreciates the thought, he is happy that you thought about him and wants to give him a weapon to defend himself. Anyway, thank you and please continue to review!
LobaKarina15: Is it bad that I'm happy I scared you? I suck at writing suspense so that is the only reason I say that. Anyway, thank you so much and please continue to review!
Seth the Inu: Oh, thank you so much for giving my first story a chance, you don't know how much that means to me ^^ (that was not sarcasm). I'm glad that you have enjoyed my stories and it made me very happy when to read how much you appreciated my work. I cannot think you enough for the support and the kind words. Oh, and you should check out the Forbidden Game series, it is very good. Thank you and please continue to review!
Yuugi: You answered all of the reviews…
Ranko: I didn't mean to, it just sort of happened.
Yami: Ranko twin owns nothing!
Ranko: Enjoy!
-/-
"…Yami," Yuugi whispered; it felt like he was falling. He hated how weak and afraid his voice sounded; he sounded weak and defenseless against Yami. "Where are you?" he asked more sharply.
"Right here," a bright red light blossomed.
As Yuugi's eyes adjusted to the sudden light, he tried to prepare himself to see Yami again. But he was always a shock to his senses, no matter how he prepared himself, Yami always surprised Yuugi; he was a shock…a beautiful shock.
Yuugi found it amazing that every time he saw Yami, it was like he saw something new about him. Yuugi hated how everything about Yami was so perfect, too perfect and too beautiful to be human; but then again, Yami wasn't human.
The red light turned his blood red eyes a strange shade of pink that kept Yuugi mesmerized. It made his pale skin glow like fire one snow. It threw shadows across his face and made his distinct features even sharper. It cast an unholy glow around him, which was ironic. Yami was as beautiful as sin and as haughty as a fallen angel.
He always wore black, like a second skin, ever since Yuugi met him at that game shop downtown. He wore leather pants and a vest…no shirt, which should have made Yuugi uncomfortable, but it didn't. Then Yuugi noticed that the unnatural red light was coming from the torch he was holding.
Yuugi felt like he needed to do something when he saw Yami's face, but he couldn't remember what.
"You've invited me to come—and here I am," Yuugi said, standing across from Yami.
Yami smiled and crossed his arms over his chest, as if they were old friends having a normal conversation. "Yes, and you're off to a bad start. Couldn't even avoid this simple trap. Don't even know what Game you're playing."
Yuugi knew exactly what Game they were playing. It was the same Game he and Yami have been playing ever since they first met in the game shop. It was a strategic game of chess that had went on for far too long. "Whatever it is, it's the last Game and I'm going to checkmate you first," Yuugi said.
Yami chuckled. "You still amuse me, Yuugi, thinking you can win. You know you can't, I would have thought you would have learned that by now."
Yuugi scowled at Yami. It felt different to scowl; before Yuugi met Yami, he had never even considered the idea of frowning. Now he scowled and glared, all because of Yami.
Back then, he had always been fighting Yami. Fighting his damn sensuality, his beauty, fighting the memory of his touch. Now there was something different, it wasn't the same as it had been before.
In those days, Yuugi had actually longed and waited for the moment when he would finally stop running away and stop fighting, for the final surrender, just as Yami had waited for him…
But now things were different. Yuugi had changed. When he had passed through the wall of fire in the last Game, the one he had created to trap Yuugi, that had changed him. It had burned away the part of him that responded to Yami, the part that always ran to him, the part that craved danger and the unknown; a part of him that had not existed before Yami.
He might not be as powerful as Yami, but his will was just as strong if not stronger.
He had vowed that he would never give into the shadows ever again. That made the playing grounds different between them now. And it scared Yami, Yuugi could see that.
"More light?" Yami asked. He traced a rune in the air with his index finger. Yuugi recognized it; it was Kenaz, the rune of the torch, which was one of the runes that they had carved on his parents' oak door; it was like an acute angle.
Yami's long and slender finger traced the pattern in the air, creating a glowing Kenaz rune in front of him. The light of the rune rippled and with a dramatic flourish he plucked a burning torch from the air.
Yuugi stared at him stone-faced and gave him three slow claps.
Yami couldn't help but laugh. "You know, you don't want to get me angry." He matched Yuugi's hard gaze. "Not this early on in the Game, at least."
"I'm sorry, am I supposed to be impressed? Or frightened?"
Yami was obviously caught off guard by this. Yuugi had never spoken like this to him…ever. Yami narrowed his eyes at the boy. "You really don't want to get me angry. You will not like me when I am angry."
Yami, he was beautiful. He was unearthly beautiful, so inhuman. The way he gazed at Yuugi would have made him crumble a few weeks ago; has it only been a few weeks since the first Game? But now, Yuugi had a core of steel.
"Where are my friends?" Yuugi questioned, unfazed by Yami's earlier response.
"I know that you haven't been thinking about them this whole time you've been here," Yami said smugly, his eyes were as alive as the flames.
Yuugi hated to admit it, but Yami was right. He would never say it out loud though. "I came here for them," Yuugi said, trying to ignore what Yami had just said. "And I want them back."
"Then win the Game," Yami said.
Yuugi was about to snap back at Yami that he would win the Game if he just told him what it was. The Yami stuck one of the torches in a wide horizontal crack in the wall, and Yuugi finally took in all of his surroundings. But in his defense, it had been dark and with Yami around it is hard to focus on anything else.
He was in an enclosed space, and a very small one, almost as big as his bedroom back home. Three of its walls were hard stone and the fourth was solidly packed boulders.
Below the crack with the torch was a sort of natural stairway, each step broader than the one above it. He noticed his flashlight, apparently dead, resting on the very bottom step.
There was no entrance or exit to the room. The ceiling was low and it gave Yuugi a very trapped feeling. Trapped in this small room underground with no one there to help him…all alone with Yami. Can it get any worse?
Yuugi internally shook his head. 'Don't let him frighten you, Yuugi. That's what he wants, he's just a bully; don't let him get a reaction out of you.'
The little voice in the back of his head wouldn't shut up. 'Besides, what's to be afraid of? You're only buried under a ton of rock, alone with a demon prince who wants you, body and soul, and will literally do anything to have you, even kill you if it means no one else will have you. Oh, and you're pissing him off deliberately, but so what, why sweat the details?'
'…Shut up, voice.'
"So what is the Game this time?" Yuugi asked when he found his voice again.
Yami looked thoughtfully at Yuugi. "The clue will cost you."
It took Yuugi a moment to actually realize what Yami was talking about. All of the other times Yuugi had to pay up to Yami, Yuugi had to… "You're horrible, you do know that, don't you?"
Yami laughed. "I'm as cruel as life…and love."
Fury rose up in the pit of Yuugi's stomach. He would not let Yami control him. Yuugi suddenly remembered what he had forgotten earlier; that he wanted to punch Yami in his pretty little face. But instead he got up on the tip of his toes and kissed him.
It was not a sweet and gentle kiss, like lovers share with each other; it never was a kiss like that when it was between Yami and Yuugi. It wasn't wild and hungry kisses either like the ones that Yami forced out of him in the old days, either.
Yuugi grabbed Yami's face between his hands before he could even let go of the torch, let alone realize what Yuugi was doing. Yuugi was not shy or timid in this kiss; he was aggressive, he wanted answers, and if this is what he needed to do to get them…
Yuugi felt Yami's shock. No matter how many times Yuugi would kiss Yami, the smaller boy always caught Yami off guard. Yuugi felt Yami's free hand snake around his waist but he couldn't bring Yuugi any closer than Yuugi was already pressing himself to Yami. Yuugi completely ignored the danger of the torch right by his hair; let the great master of the elements figure that one out by himself.
Yami recovered fast; Yuugi felt Yami try and take control of the situation, trying to soften the kiss.
But Yuugi knew the danger of softness. He knew what power Yami would have over him if he made the kiss soft. Yuugi would be like a marionette puppet under Yami's control. He would lose control of himself and he would be free for Yami to manipulate.
That is why Yuugi kept the kiss strictly business. He kissed him angrily, with a clinical coldness and all the expertise that he could muster. In the end, Yuugi realized that he had managed to startle Yami two times in a manner of minutes; he would be lying if he said he wasn't proud.
When he finally pulled away, he saw that Yami was flabbergasted, caught off guard, and just staring at Yuugi wide-eyed and his mouth slightly open. Yami may be the Game master, but Yuugi could still use his special powers to manipulate Yami.
"Now, about that clue," Yuugi said.
Yami just stared at Yuugi a moment longer and then blinked. He laughed mockingly but Yuugi could tell that he was beginning to lose his temper; his red eyes glinted dangerously red. Yuugi had struck his pride dead-on. "I've known icicles that were better kissers than you."
Yuugi crossed his arms. "Really? I've known dead fish that are better kissers than you."
He had struck home again. Yami's eyes flared like fire, then his thick lashes drooped, veiling his fury and he gave a small half-smile.
Yuugi's stomach gave a lurch.
Yami was evil, and Yuugi had been stupid enough to poke the dangerous cobra with a stick. Yet he still wasn't as afraid as he should be.
"Alright, I'll give you a clue," Yami said. He slid his hand into the pocket of his skintight pants and brought it back out, holding something that shined and glinted in the light like gold. "Heads I win, tails you lose," he said with a sickly sweet smile.
Then he flicked the gold thing at Yuugi so quickly that he flinched. It hit the stone with a wonderful clear ringing clink. Yuugi picked it up and discovered that it cold and a little heavy. It was a cold coin and Yuugi could tell there was something engraved on its sides but he couldn't tell what.
"A pretty gold coin."
It took Yuugi a moment to realize its significance. And then it hit him. The game—the one the real Wonderland Park was holding. What had that kid said this afternoon? "You collect three coins and they let you in free the day that it opens."
ALL-NEW ATTRACTION! COLLECT THREE GOLD COINS AND BE THE FIRST TO EXPORE…ALICE'S ISLAND.
Yuugi remembered the scorching letters on the carpet. Yami had invited them on a treasure hunt. Yuugi had never made the connection, then again, there was never a real clue to indicate what the Game would be.
"You modeled this whole place after Wonderland Park just because they were having a treasure hunt?" Yuugi questioned. "Why? Is it because I cam here when I was a kid?"
Yami snorted. "Don't flatter yourself. This whole…Shadow Park, if you will, already existed. It was created ten years ago for a very…special reason, but you'll find out about that later." He gave Yuugi a smile that sent shivers up the boy's spine. "Did you know that this place was built on an old coal mine—a pit? The Shadow Men have been around for a very long time.
Deep into the Pit. Yuugi remembered that line from a poem he found on his parents' desk in Yami's first Game, during Yuugi's nightmare.
'Forget the conjectural crap,' the little annoying voice in his head said, 'get down to business.'
"My friends are on Alice's Island, aren't they?" Yuugi asked.
Yami smiled; it was like a shark's smile. "Maybe…maybe not. Don't even think about swimming there. The bridge is the only way to get there, and the toll is three gold coins. You'll find them hidden throughout the park."
Yuugi looked down at the single gold coin in the palm of his hand. He showed it to Yami. "I have one already."
Yami smiled dreamily at Yuugi; it made the boy more uncomfortable than the shark smile. "Yes, you do. Now all you have to do is get out with it."
Yuugi was about to ask what Yami meant, but before he could open his mouth to speak, everything went black. It happened so fast that it took Yuugi's breath away; he was back in the darkness where he started before Yami showed up with his stupid torch and his stupid rune. It was like he was suddenly struck blind.
'Don't panic,' the voice in the back of his head told him. 'He made a mistake. He got mad and he screwed up. He left the flashlight…I hope.' He walked in the direction he remembered seeing the flashlight, his arms held out in front of him. He patted along the walls until he felt the uneven boulders.
His hand closed around the flashlight and he gave a sigh of relief. He flicked it on and only a soft orange glow came from the flashlight. Either something had happened to it when he fell or the batteries were about to die, but it was enough to keep him from going crazy.
'You shouldn't have made him mad, Yuugi. That was really stupid.'
'Shut up, voice.'
With the minimal amount of light, Yuugi could see all four walls of his prison. There was no way in or out. There was no way he could shift those boulders by himself, and even if he did, if he moved one the rest might topple down on him.
He told himself not to panic but the flashlight was already getting dimmer. He could barely see anything now. He was all alone in the midst of solid rock and absolute silence.
Maybe if he imagined that the cave wasn't really, like the fire in the last Game, he could get out. He could just pass right through the wall…but this wasn't an illusion, this was reality. He could feel the cold stone on his fingers and there was no way out of this mess.
He was stuck, there was no way out, unless someone came to help him.
Time to scream.
He shouted, again and again, until his throat was raw. He picked up a loose stone and banged it against the walls until all the sound he did hear was just a mass of gibberish and unintelligible words. That is why when the whispering came, he wondered if his ears were just playing a trick on him, or if it was real.
It was real. The voices were distant and musical—and oh, so dangerous. What they were saying was too soft and indistinct to be made out.
Yuugi felt like curling up in a ball and hiding in a corner. But instead, he slowly turned his head around and in the darkness…he saw eyes. He had a strange sense of déjà vu. He was five again. A little curious child who had went down to the basement, where he was told never to go, while his parents were out. He opened a closed door that was meant to be closed forever. And he saw eyes.
The Shadow Men; they were here with him.
It was like they were in the wall itself. Yuugi felt the little hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
The eyes, they were always there, always watching. Even to the people who don't believe or deny their existence, the eyes are always watching them from the darkness.
'They want you to be scared, Yuugi. They're here to scare you, don't let them get a reaction out of you. They aren't going to hurt you; they can't do anything.'
'But they're whispering.'
They were whispering words Yuugi didn't even understand—gibberish, yet it still terrified him to no end.
He couldn't help but listen, because he wanted to make sense of it; he wanted to understand what they were saying.
Then, like a flame being puffed out, the eyes were gone. Their voices lingered for a moment, and then they died.
Yuugi thanked God that they were gone and he relished in the silence for as long as he could…until another sound reached his ears. It was like rippling liquid. Yuugi turned his dying flashlight towards the wall with the steps, where the eyes had been, and he gasped.
The steps were moving. Yuugi shook his head; no, that wasn't right. Yuugi took a hesitant step forward and reached his hand out towards the closest step. He felt a splash of wetness hit his hand and bitter cold. The steps weren't moving…they were covered with water. Water was flowing down the rock staircase, smooth as glass, only faster.
It was pouring in a steady sheet all along the width of the crack—maybe three or four feet. At first, the water was just like an inconvenience; it wasn't as scary as the eyes. Yuugi didn't recognize the danger until his already ruined sneakers were soaked.
Yuugi tried to figure out where the water was coming from; the boulders were sealed tight and the ceiling was closed off. But the water was still coming…
Faster every minute and it seemed to be getting colder. He felt a prickling in his toes as they became numb. He marveled that his feet were actually numb from inside his shoes, but then he realized that he was going to die.
The full reality of the situation finally hit him. He was in a sealed cavern with water coming from no where with no way to escape. This wasn't a book, this was real life and there was no magical solution to this problem. He was screwed.
Surprisingly though, he wasn't hysterical. However, thoughts were rushing through his head at a dizzying speed. He couldn't help but think what would happen to his friends after he died. They must be so worried about him; they didn't know where he was. Then Jounouchi, Malik, and Ryou…they were relying on him, but he was useless now. What about his grandpa? He would be alone when he came back from his dig.
The whispering was back, and this time, Yuugi thought he knew what they were saying.
"Die…die…"
Yuugi couldn't help but frown. So that is why Yami was smiling; that bastard.
As the water rose higher and higher, Yuugi couldn't make himself believe it. His mind just could not process what was happening; he could not imagine that he was going to die.
He also couldn't believe that Yami wanted him dead. Yuugi knew that he was evil, but dead? Didn't Yami love Yuugi?
The water was too his hips at this point and it was so cold, painfully cold.
Then a thought came to Yuugi. Maybe Yami just wanted to humiliate Yuugi. Make him beg for help. But that didn't make any sense. Yami knew that Yuugi wouldn't beg. Ever since the first Game, Yuugi has made it clear that he would rather die than surrender to Yami.
Then he thought of something even scarier. Something scarier than the eyes or the thought of even dying. It was so unbelievable that it took Yuugi's mind a few moments to actually process it.
What if Yami didn't know what was happening right now? What if he wasn't the one doing this?
Yami had stormed off in a rage, his ego bruised, and then the eyes had appeared. What if the water was their doing?
Yuugi would be dead before Yami even found out.
The thought made sense. Yami had always been at odds with the Shadow Men, his brethren and family. When Yuugi was five, Yami argued with the older Shadow Men. They wanted Yuugi dead, but Yami wanted to keep him.
"So, you're one of the youngest Shadow Men?"
"And the nicest."
"I believe that."
Yuugi's parents had given themselves up to save Yuugi, and now the Shadow Men were back to finish what they had started. And Yami had no idea.
It was strange to think about. Yami and his two brothers may be evil, but the other Shadow Men were worse. They were more twisted. In the other two Games, Yami had controlled everything. Now he controlled nothing. They were in the Shadow Realm now, and all of the Shadow Men were the game masters.
The water was up to his neck now. It was so cold…then an idea came.
What if it got colder? Until it was ice? Yami had conjured up a torch rune, so maybe…
He was so numb and so cold; he hardly knew if he was crawling or floating but he made his way to the top step on the stone staircase. He was blind, it was dark again, but he could feel the wall, and the rune he wasn't was the simplest to imagine.
Just one stroke, up then down. A capital I without any bars. The ice rune, Isa.
He scratched it directly onto the rock, oblivious to the pain of the skin of his finger scraping against the rock. And then he waited.
It was so cold it was hard to tell if it worked or not. Then he felt the jagged sharpness instead of the smooth numbing gusher. The flow over the rune Isa had become a frozen waterfall. The water around Yuugi remained liquid but at least he stopped the flow!
'I did it! I stopped the water!'
He sucked in a few grateful breaths of air. It was good to breathe; it was good to be alive.
Then his high came crashing down when he realized he was still going to die. He had stopped the water, he wasn't going to drown; he was going to freeze to death.
It was just so cold. He was going to die of hypothermia. He was going to lose consciousness and sink. Then he would drown, just like the Titanic. Irony.
And there was nothing he could do about it.
He was already too weak when his stupefied mind stumbled upon the idea of using the torch rune; Kenaz. If he could remember it then maybe…
But he couldn't change the rules of the elements to his whim. He could not make fire out of water frozen into ice.
It didn't hurt much anymore. Dying. It wasn't so bad. Nothing seemed so urgent, it was just peaceful.
His weary mind cried out, 'Help.' But there was no reason to.
No one would hear him. Yami couldn't hear him, Yami wouldn't save him. He would die alone. He only had one regret; he had forgotten to punch Yami in the face when he saw him.
He felt all of his senses go numb until he felt nothing but pure bliss and the lapping water against his cheeks as he sunk down into the water, into the darkness.
Gebo, the rune of sacrifice.
-/-
Ranko: And cut!
Yuugi: Did you just kill me?
Ranko: Hm…maybe.
Yami: At least I didn't get punched in the face.
Ranko: You're time will come my friend.
Yuugi: Review!