17-Even More Trouble

The door to the Kame Shop busted down onto the floor, cracked in half. Yami rushed in, anxiously looking around for his lover.

"Yugi?!" He yelled. No answer. His eyes dilated as his voice got caught in his throat.

He smelled blood.

Wasting no more time, he ran up the stairs to the apartment part of the building. He ran to Yugi's room, the metallic smell getting even stronger. He kicked the door open and gasped.

A pool of blood was splattered on the boy's bed, with the body of Sugoroku placed right in the center. Yami was shocked, not expecting the poor old man to be caught up in this mess. He slowly walked over to the corpse. The man's eyes were open, half lidded, as if he passed on from the pain. A terrible way to go. Yami stared at the man, feeling a strong surge of regret and guilt. He thought about Yugi, how terrified he must have been. How hurt he had to be seeing his only flesh and blood, dead in his own room. Yami walked towards a wall, and clenched his fist.

"FUCK!"

He punched the wall, that now had a large gaping hole in it. He loudly continued to curse at himself. That was Yugi's grandpa damn it! His only family! And it was all Yami's fault that the man got killed in the first place! Yugi would hate him, he would be so distraught and broken from this. Yami put a hand over his face and sighed heavily. Indeed, he did not know the man too well, neither did he care about him as much as Yugi, but he was still a good person. He was innocent, and someone who was very dear to his love. Yami slowly glanced back at the corpse and bit his lip. His body couldn't remain here any longer like this. Yami raised his hand, and a small red orb began to develop in his palm. Slowly, the corpse disintegrated into ash from the red beam the orb gave off. The old man's body was no more but a large pile of dust. Yami cupped the ashes into his hands and stared at it.

The least Yami could do was give the ashes to Yugi.

The dark one closed his hand, making the ashes disappear. They were now in his shadows. They would keep the ashes safe.

Suddenly he realized, Yugi wasn't here. He panicked, Yugi was in danger. Before he could make a move to leave, he sniffed.

Venom was here.

Yami gritted his teeth in pure anger and stormed out of the window. Flying up and ascending towards Venom's scent. It got stronger as he made it farther to center city. That's where the prick had to be.

Once the shadow-walker landed onto the streets of town, he saw that no civilians were here. He wondered, were they all evacuated? Hmph. The smartest thing any human in this town has done since Yami's time here.

Then, by passing Venom's scent, he smelled artificial shadow-walkers.

"Oh shit..."

Yami slowly turned around, only to see in the far distance coming his way, dozens and dozens of artificial shadow-walkers. All intelligent.

The dark one groaned. Venom was definitely here. Upon glaring at the crowd of shadow-walkers, Yami saw the said bastard dragging someone in his hand, with someone else walking beside him. Toxin. They were both here. And...they had-

"Yugi...!" Yami yelled. The boy was unconscious in Venom's hand, gripping him by the collar of his shirt. The bastard had a sadistic smile on his face. Yami felt his eye twitch, seriously annoyed. He whipped his hand over to the crowd of shadow-walkers, creating a whirl wind of shadows and dark power. They all were blown away and knocked back easily. Clearing the way for the dark one. He marched his way over to the two vermin who held his love captive. As he walked, he screamed. "What did you do to him!?"

Venom carelessly dropped the boy onto the cold concrete street and shrugged. Toxin picked the boy back up and smirked at Yami.

"You can have him back. We have what we want." He quietly replied, throwing the boy at Yami's feet.

At first, Yami was glad to see Yugi was at least alive, but that sign of relief was soon kicked away by utter terror.

Yami was absolutely horrified by what he saw. Yugi's body was so beaten, so bloody and bruised, even stabbed and sliced in so many places...He barely heard a heart beat. It was so slow and weak. His beautiful face, now swollen and bloody. His slender and perfect body, now red and blue with bruises and scars. So many wounds on his delicate skin, it...It made Yami wanna break down to his knees and cry like a baby.

And this was all his fault.

All his.

He told Yugi to keep the millennium puzzle. That had to be why they killed Sugoroku and did this to him. They stole it from him. They almost killed the boy. He wouldn't be surprised if Yugi was in a coma as if now. He did this to them. He's the one who got them involved. He got them hurt. He was the one who let this happen. If only he had been quicker, if only he wasn't such a fuck-up. If he was stronger...

He dropped to his knees and touched Yugi's cheek. He slowly shook the boy, mumbling for him to get up. The boy didn't even stir or flinch, as if he was dead. His body didn't feel warm. The light one's body was completely still. Yami shook violently. The boy was not conscious at all. Nor could he be woken up. Simple healing wouldn't help this. The color from the boy's face was drained. He looked dead.

The dark one's eyes grew smaller and smaller. His breath shook as he began to speak.

"What did you do to him?" He asked silently. The two shadow-walkers looked at each other with satisfied smiles, happy to see Yami in such a broken state.

Venom cocked his head to the side and tapped his foot, as if trying to remember what he did to the boy. "Hmm..." He grumbled. "I am not quite sure Yami. Maybe you should ask Toxin. He did most of the beating." Before Toxin could retort, he found himself tackled onto the ground by a pissed off looking Yami.

"What the flying fuck did you do!?" He screamed in Toxin's face, making the other growl in response. Venom walked over, and gently patted Yami's shoulder. He pulled him off of his partner and made a sympathetic smile.

"Now now. No need to get violent. Don't worry, I'll explain." Venom helped Toxin onto his feet and cleared his throat. "You see, I paid a visit to the boy. It was at that little game shop his 'Jii-chan' owns."

Yami's eye twitch got worse.

"Looking for this?" The man asked. Yugi slowly looked down. The smell of blood immediately hit his nostrils. He looked what was in the man's hand, and screamed.

It was Sugoroku's dead body.

Yugi couldn't stop the tears that were spilling from his eyes. His body froze, he couldn't move, he couldn't speak. His only flesh and blood. Gone. He fell back onto his bed as the man walked closer. He screamed and wailed in despair. Crying for his 'Jii-chan'. He screamed so loud, his voice cracked. He felt his heart rip itself into pieces.

That was his only parent.

His only family.

He cried and cried until he finally silenced down and just sobbed quietly. The sandy haired male just stared at the boy without a care in the world. He sat next to the boy on the bed and patted his shoulder. Yugi slowly looked up, flinching violently from his touch. The sandy haired male tilted his head a bit and smirked.

"You have the millennium puzzle don't you?"

Yugi slowly shook his head.

The man laughed and gripped the boy's shoulder tightly, making him wince. "Lying doesn't suit light-users." The man then raised his hand up to the boy's throat, and squeezed tightly. Yugi began to choke from the grasp, and tried prying the man's tan fingers off. He smiled even more. "Don't worry..." He began to trail his other fingers on the boy's cheek. "I'll make you talk."

He punched the boy right in the gut.

"After that, I roughed him up just a little tiny bit. Then, after I got the information out of him, I stole your precious millennium puzzle. Then I dragged him to my place for a bit. Toxin was there, we had a real fun time beating the absolute shit out of him." Venom's smile was pure innocent, which only made Yami lose his mind even more. Toxin picked at his nails, bored of the conversation.

"I did the beating. He's such a whiner, worse than Ryou..."

"But you know Toxin, I've always wondered." Venom looked at his partner. Toxin looked back with a confused expression.

"What?"

"Do you think the boy still has some scarring down in there? I didn't exactly hold back."

SNAP went Yami's sanity.

Venom laughed at how Yami was panting heavily, like a dog with rabies. "It's alright Poison. I know you wanted him first. But I just couldn't help it. The way he screamed for Jii-chan-Oohh he was just so damn cute! With those big ass baby cheeks and that fearful expression."

Yami's body continued to tremble violently, while his breathing began very heavy, panting like a rottweiler. He literally had foam drooling out of his mouth as if he just overdosed from meds.

However, Venom continued on.

"Poison, understand. Noxious isn't coming back. All I need now is the millennium eye from you, and it's over. The true Akefia will awaken from his sleep and walk this pitiful earth. He will then, have his completed revenge, by killing you."

Everything just sunk in.

Yami failed once again to protect the ones he loved. First Atem, now Yugi. Two people have been brutally hurt by his own doing. He hoped to start over with this 'love' life. Only to fuck up once again. He was a failure. A weak, useless monster, who lets his loved ones die. It was over. Atem's items are in their clutches, and he can't get them back going up against those two at the same time. He was too weak. Yugi was going to die. Atem would remain in limbo for all eternity. They raped his beloved. They killed his beloved.

And in the end-

Was it worth it?

No. It wasn't. All this pain and agony-None of this was worth shit. This was all a stupid fucking idea. This was all for nothing. Everything was going to go to hell.

And now, he was all alone once again. What's anything worth? What's the whole world worth, if you have no one to share it to? He had no one anymore. Atem, Yugi, no one. He could only imagine. Where was he when Yugi needed him? Off doing his own selfish acts. Where was Yami when Atem needed him? Crying like a little bitch because of an argument he fueled. He fucked up everything. Everything that has happened towards this moment, was his fault.

It was just like he thought. Pain and death, were his only companions. That's all he could do.

Yami, I love you.

You be careful too!

Yami, someone is in this palace! They're evil!

I'm sorry, okay!?

Do not worry, I am fine.

I can help too, you know.

I-It is not your fault Yami.

Promise me you'll come back!

These words stung in his brain painfully. All phrases from Yugi and Atem. And soon, slowly, they're faces began to disappear from his mind. Their voices, gone. All his painful memories of them, deleted from his head. Soon, he wasn't sure if he could recognize the people who he was making such a fuss over anymore. Who were they again? Atem and Yugi...? Didn't ring a bell.

He felt his brain being fried dead. Blood dripped down his vision. Was he hallucinating? Blood shouldn't be there, he never got hurt.

At this point, Venom and Toxin were sure Yami was having a mental break down. His trembling and panting stopped. He was just staring at the ground, his face darkened since it was lowered. They couldn't see his face.

Venom was laughing at Yami, while Toxin held a worried expression. The sandy blonde looped his arm around the dark one's shoulders, and chuckled. "Poison, Poison, Poison...It's alright, you know. He's in a better place. You really shouldn't make a big deal out of nothing. You'll be fine!" His innocent smile soon turned back to it's sadistic, uncaring smirk. "Besides," He caressed Yami's face, licking his left cheek slowly with his vile tongue.

"You'll be next, walking into grave right after him." Venom walked away from the frozen Yami and snapped his fingers.

The shadow-walkers that were knocked back from Yami's blast earlier, crawled back up, and made their way towards Yami once again. And this time, Yami was not fighting back. He simply didn't care anymore. He just didn't.

He didn't want to be in this world anymore. So, not having any other option, he let himself become unconscious, and let the beast within take over.

The light-user slowly opened his eyes, trying his best to sit up off the hard concrete. God, everything hurt. He couldn't even move in the slightest. He laid back on the ground and clenched his teeth, trying to ignore the pain. He needed to get up. He was going to die here if he didn't move.

Yugi, Yami is in danger.

"Atem?"

Yes. I apologize for what happened. The boy could tell that the original dark one held nothing but regret and guilt in his voice. I should have did something to protect you both, but I cannot use any magic outside of your body since you are a light user. If I could, Venom would have been long dead by now. I am so sorry about Sugoroku...

The boy's eyes glazed with tears at his words. Knowing full well his only family was dead.

Regardless however, Yami has lost it.

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked while sniffing.

I mean, he is confronting Akefia and Marik now. I heard and saw everything while you were knocked out. Your body is now at Yami's feet, but no one seems to notice you awoken yet. Keep quiet for now.

"Okay, but what do you mean Yami lost it?" Without moving, the boy looked up with his eyes, to see Yami staring down on the ground, silent. He heard cackling from the man who Atem kept referring to as 'Marik'.

Venom-Err...Marik is a cruel son of a bitch. He explained thoroughly what he and Akefia did to you. Once they did, Yami's anger sky-rocketed. However, there was one thing that made Yami snap.

"..."

He made a cruel sick lie about taking your innocence.

The boy's eyes widened. "H-He what!?" Yugi felt even himself get furious. How dare the jerk lie to him and play with his temper like this?!

I feel Yami's emotions now. He was already emotionally hurt from the sight of your grandfather's corpse. He felt you would despise him. And after seeing your body, he thinks you're dead. He's out of it, Yugi, He thinks he's an absolute failure.

The boy's eyes lowered sadly, he never wanted any of this to happen. No one did. Yugi closed his eyes tightly and tried to conceal a whimper. This whole day was chaos, and utterly horrible. He wished everything would just go back to normal, where Jii-chan was alive and Yugi and Yami were together again. All happy.

I know you're in pain too-"

"Literally..."

But trust me Yugi. Just wait for the right moment, I shall tell you what to do. For now, keep quiet and close your eyes. Meanwhile, I will heal you. And do not worry about the shadow-walkers. Yami will take care of them.

The light user obeyed the original dark one, and kept his eyes closed. He then felt relaxed once Atem's magic did it's work. He felt all his physical pain gone, while his heart still beat with sorrow.

The shadow-walkers were coming closer, and yet Yami still didn't give a damn. He didn't make any movements to stop them. A few more steps and they were going to surround him and Yugi. He just kept standing, staring at the ground as if it made his life a living hell. His anger was eating at him so much, nothing left of himself or what was left of his humanity was gone. All that was left now, was the monstrosity he called a blood lust. It was taking over, and by each second that was passing, he was soon to turn into a true monster.

All that mess from Pegasus' little experimental building, that man-eating side of him, that was nothing compared to the monster everyone was about to see.

All his emotions were gone. Only two things mattered to him now:

Murder and destroy.

No mercy, no stopping. Just kill until his heart was content.

Maybe that would help him get rid of this empty angry feeling.

"Oh Poison!" Venom called out with a smile. "If you don't do something, you and your little light user will be mauled to death!" He taunted.

Oh he didn't have to worry about that. Yami continued to stand still, a soldier in attention.

He tossed his head back, and screamed.

END 18

I told you I'd post! Yes, indeed this was short as well, but don't worry! Yami's insanity hasn't even BEGUN yet!