28-War

The trip to the isolated island wasn't long. For they got there under ten minutes or so. They weren't exactly in a rush, they had all the time in the world to arrive and end it all. They all swiftly landed on the hard ground and gazed upon the large house where everything would go down. All three males stared at the two three-inch thick tall dark wooden doors. Once they entered, there was no going back. They were to seal their fate once they waltzed inside. They were only a couple feet away. It was quiet, very very quiet. No one spoke a word, and there was a long silence before anyone spoke.

For this special occasion, they all dressed appropriately. Yami of course, kept his black attire of a sleeveless shirt with leather pants and combat boots. Atem wore black as well, but seemed more formal. A black long sleeved button up dress shirt with matching pants that seemed to fit his lower body well, and some black shoes he 'borrowed' from Yami. Yugi wore a white long sleeved button up shirt, with white jeans and his white tennis shoes. Underneath, he wore a black tank top, almost like Yami's.

They all gave each other looks. Yami was the first to speak after a few minutes of staring.

"Where are they?" He asked, pointing his gaze at Atem. The former pharaoh turned towards the mansion and closed his eyes and exhaling softly.

"I see..." He practically whispered to himself. "I see two people in the basement, and one in the attic. In the main hall," The tanned male slowly opened his eyes. "More than fifty." Once he said that, their littlest one began walking towards the front doors. "It appears that Yugi's prediction was not too far off on this one. Those fifty are probably artificial shadow-walkers." Atem narrowed his eyes at the back of Yugi's head and quickly opened a mind-link, but only between Yami and himself so the other could not hear. "That is bad. That means his other predictions may come true."

Yami gave a glance, but did not respond to this. Atem looked back, trying to keep a confident expression and hide his worry. He looked back at their third companion who kept staring at the front door.

"No doubt that Akefia and Marik are the ones in the basement." The boy said. "And Pegasus must be in the attic." Yami walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Yugi, once we step through these doors, it is over. We cannot turn back or escape." He warned. Yugi slowly turned to Yami with an agitated expression.

"What are you trying to say? You're not gonna tell me to 'wait out here' again, are you?" Anger hid in his voice, and the glare he was giving Yami made it obvious. "Don't you dare do this to me right now when we're so close!"

"I never said any of that, Yugi." Yami quickly retorted back with a stern tone. "I am just saying, be careful. The most we are worried about is you, and you know that."

Atem only watched as he saw the boy begin to darken his expression. He quickly stepped in and pulled Yugi away from Yami. "We cannot fight each other right now. We are wasting time." He gave a look to Yami as to saying, Not now. Silence yourself. He supposed the other dark one got the message, as he just turned away and backed away from the doors.

Yugi placed his hand on the left handle of the doors. "I can take Venom. What about you two?" He looked back at them. Yami spoke first before Atem could.

"I will be taking on Atrocious for now. Atem, you should take care of Pegasus. You're faster than I am."

"What?" Atem blinked, frowning. "Yami, you could get killed." The other only shook his head.

"No. Sure, he will beat me around a little, but I will give him a damn hard time doing so." Yami wasn't cocky, but he seemed a bit too confident. Atem only sighed, shaking his head.

"You two will drive me insane. Move aside and let me in first." The tanned male watched as the others stepped out of his way. He walked up to the double doors and firmly gripped the handles. "Are you ready?" He asked once.

They both nodded. Yami charged magic into his hands while Yugi stared at the doors with determined eyes. "Ready."

Closing his eyes and exhaling deeply, Atem prayed for everything to go well. He snapped them back open and pulled hard, swinging the doors open and bolting inside quickly. Yami and Yugi quickly followed as the doors closed right behind them not a moment later.

Once they stepped inside they all got into a battle stance, ready to fight whatever they saw head-on. The entire ground floor was dark. The windows were curtained shut, even the lights of the huge chandeliers were off. Using their inhuman eyes, they couldn't see anything worth attacking in the dark. They were all ready and prepared to attack, yet there was nothing that was of a threat. In the darkness, Yugi saw how truly rich of a man Pegasus was. The halls were incredibly spacious, and the floors were carpet. Brilliant red with golden lining on the sides of the walls. The walls were painted a dark shade of crimson, making the place seem eerie. Paintings hung on the walls, yet they were all of one person. A woman with beautiful voluminous golden blonde hair and crystal eyes with a soft smile. It seemed that Pegasus was obsessed with this woman. He even put candles side by side of each painting. Though, they were unlit. Expensive looking antiques decorated the walls as well, and nightstands and tall vases were at every corner.

Out of all these places, Yugi couldn't see a single thing. Where was everybody?

Atem however noticed something. Yami quickly caught on once he reminded himself of a shadow-walker's true nature.

Blindly, Yugi began to walk forward towards the hallway. Trying to see if anything or anyone was here. As he took one more step forward, Yami yelled.

"Stop!"

Yugi froze on the spot and looked back, confused. "But there isn't-"

"There are." Atem whispered, suddenly behind the boy and covering his mouth. To this, Yugi flinched. "Look into the darkness. They are here."

Nothing but pitch black everywhere. Yugi stared and focus as hard as he could. Suddenly, the shadows of the room began to slightly twitch and morph. His eyes were outlining the figures within them. As if something was hiding. The entire room was like that, more than one person was here. But, looking around the hallway and ascending down, he saw more and more. These had to have been the fifty shadow-walkers Atem saw.

"They cannot move now because there is no light in the room. The doors are closed, and the windows are blinded." He held the boy close as he began to step back. Yami scoffed.

"In such a narrow space, they could be trouble. We might be able to move away from here-"

Perhaps Yami jinxed it, but once he said that, all lights illuminated the entire house. The chandeliers lit up by themselves, and those twitching shadows began to morph and change themselves back into their original forms. Grotesque shadow-walkers. At this, the trio was alert, looking around and getting back in their battle stances. They were charging straight towards them, making them panic as they were about to be cornered.

Atem thought fast and crossed his arms over his chest to make an X, about to send a shock wave of power. However, he was stopped.

"No!" Yami exclaimed. "Do not waste your power on them. We can handle it." To this, the other man frowned.

"And what do you two plan to do?"

Yami smirked. "Just find Pegasus. Once you take him down, let us know and follow us to the basement." With that, he scooped Yugi up into his arms and jumped along the wall, holding onto it with one hand, while carrying Yugi with the other. Underneath them, the shadow-walkers began running towards them like a herd of zombies. "Do not worry about us, just go!"

Atem clenched his teeth anxiously. He looked at the swarm of shadow-walkers, then back at them. He sighed, telling himself, Do not make me regret this, Yami. He formed his magic into the palm of his hand, gold dust sprinkling and falling down. He melted in the form of his own magic and disappeared. The gold dust quickly flew to another area away from the horde without any of them noticing.

Seeing Atem depart, Yami began to fly away from the area as well. They tried jumping up at them, and Yami had to dodge left and right, up and down just so neither of them would get grabbed. For they were inside of a building, so the ceiling prevented Yami from going any higher. He scowled at the dim-witted creatures. Yugi swung his hand and gave a blast of his own at them, making them fall back and distracted for a good minute. Yami took this advantage to go faster and fly away. He quickly thanked Yugi and jumped down to land on the floor. He noticed the quality of the carpet..."Fancy looking carpet..." That made the dark one feel a little nervous, but he quickly brushed it off and continued running, still carrying Yugi in his arms.

"Hey, Yami?" The boy asked. Yami glanced at him, and back at the hall he was running in.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for snapping on you back there..." He stared at Yami with those wide purple eyes he just couldn't resist. "Can you really take on Akefia?" He asked, he seemed to be worried too. To this, Yami softened his expression and gave a small smile.

"Definitely." He then smirked. "And what of you? Do you think you're truly ready for Venom?"

Yugi stared, but then felt himself smirk back. "No doubt."

Meanwhile, Atem was walking towards two large stair cases. Thankfully, they were no shadow-walkers here, so he would have no problem for now. He just hoped his other two lovers would be okay fighting off that horde and making it to Atrocious and Venom. There was one staircase that went to the left side of the house while the other went to the right side of the house. They were pretty high up, and it would take a good minute on normal speed to ascend up all of them. Instead, he floated upwards and looked between the two. He closed his eyes, exhaling.

He saw a life form on the left. That's where the attic was.

Atem flew to the left, and landed at the top of the staircase. He was met with another set of double doors that led to the left wing. Without a care of making noise, he kicked them open. As he sped walk through the corridor, he began to smell the awful smell of human. It smelled much more foul than Yugi's, who smelled sweet and exotic. Pegasus was definitely there for sure. At the end of the corridor, he was met with more stairs. He floated upwards once more, and saw another set of doors. He once again kicked them open and smirked. This was the attic.

He was once told by Yami that most attics of human houses were rather messy, as his own house had a messy attic of old human stuff from the previous owners. For most had the purpose of being a storage room. Yet, this attic was very clean and organized. The lights were not on in this room. The walls were a dark purple, reminding him of a certain someone. The floors were hardwood, and polished. He stepped closer and looked deeper within the huge room. A shrine was here. There was a large desk that held lit candles. A large group of boxes were stacked neatly behind it. Atem supposed that was where Pegasus' stuff was hidden. A painting of that same woman as before was in the middle, while roses decorated the sides. Atem stepped a bit closer and frowned. He almost felt bad for the man. This was obviously a woman he had held dear to him. Atem assumed this particular person was dead, or missing and that this was Pegasus' way of mourning.

His eyes quickly flashed black with yellow pupils, he sensed something of danger. They glowed in the dark like the eyes of a black cat. Oh he smelled him. The room reeked of human scent. He felt his teeth grow sharper into fangs, and he glazed his teeth with his tongue. Smiling maliciously.

"Come out, come out, where ever you are..." He taunted. He heard shuffling, and he could almost taste the human flesh in his mouth. He whipped his head towards the sound and narrowed his evil eyes.

There it was again.

He sprung into action and pounced into the pile of boxes. And there he was, the man of the hour. Atem's smile deepened, becoming more evli and vile. He had Pegasus' arms pinned over his head with one hand while he sat on his torso, his own legs preventing him from moving. He roughly gripped the collar of the bastard and grinned. "There you are." Seeing the man's frightened face amused him greatly. And he could see the revolting gaping hole of his left eye, the place where Yami recently ripped out the Millennium eye. "So how would you like to die? I would gladly let you see your wife in hell." For what he said was absolutely cruel, but this was how Atem truly was. This was a side he'd never reveal to Yugi. A side that Yami was familiar with, and has feared for a long time now.

The human kept the frightened look, making Atem more amused. Also distracting him from what he was trying to do. He grunted and snatched his arm away, feeling behind them where tumbled boxed sat, and grabbing hold of something. Atem noticed the movement of his arm and growled. He prepared to punch him, until Pegasus swung his hand upward and threw the object he had in his hand at the shadow-walker.

Chains!?

"Argh!" Atem was roughly thrown across the room into the wall, knocking painting down. Pegasus had threw chains at him, and they felt incredibly heavy. He looked down at his torso, and saw that those same chains were still on him! They were tightening around him as if they had a mind of their own. And they stung horribly. They were made of light magic! Atem hissed and yelled in pain. Groaning as they got even tighter, making him choke. The more he tried to break free, the more they strangled him. The only thing he could do was kick since his legs were free, and that didn't do much.

They started to drain his energy. He panted heavily, becoming tired quickly. He glared at Pegasus and grunted as he was pulled to the floor face first by the enchanted chains. Pegasus stood up and dusted himself off. Flicking his hair so that it covered his disfigured left eye socket. He smirked tauntingly. "Akefia installed that one. Said he made it out of Marik and Ryou's light energy. Whoever that is..."

"Ha.." Atem spat. "Of course." Revenge of that whole giant hand incident, he supposed.

The human knelt down to Atem and smiled softly. He then reached within one of his pockets of his maroon suit and slid a knife out, raising it in front of Atem's eyes. Making them shrink with fear and anger. "You'll do perfect in the labs. Just beautiful." His surprisingly soft hands caressed Atem's face, making the tan male mentally vomit. "I'll make sure I cut every single organ out of your body, and explore every depth of your brains." His expression turned from sickening, to just plain creepy.

Atem continued to scowl, but then made a smirk of his own. He continued to stare at the human as he sent his magic out of his body to synchronize with the light magic of the chains. They formed and combined, turning into twilight. The bright shine the chains gave slowly died out and turned to normal metal, making Pegasus slightly whimper and back away quickly from Atem. The other male however, broke out of his binds and his sneer deepened. He looked back, and saw the chains begin to form back together and repair itself, bright light shining from it once again. The power of those chains were so strong, they couldn't stay broken forever. He glanced back at his enemy who looked like he was trembling.

The tan male bolted towards him and swung his leg underneath Pegasus. He yelped as he lost balance and fell backwards on his back with a heavy thud, the knife flying out of his hand. Atem pounced on top of him once again, pinning him down in the same position.

"Looks like I've found a new toy."

After running in several corridors, they finally found a single wooden tattered door. The basement door. The horde finally let up and lost sight of the couple. They were panting, they had to run and fly once more. But no longer, they had to catch their breaths and get ready again. They both felt two strong presences in there, and there were definitely Marik and Akefia.

They felt the sinister dark aura pouring from within the cracks of the door in the next room. It made them both shiver. It was scary.

Slowly, Yami took hold of the doorknob, and twisted it. He tightly held Yugi's hand as he pulled it open ever so quietly. Making the tiniest creaks. They were blasted with the terrifying aura. It engulfed their bodies, and conquered their emotions. They felt nothing but pure evil and negativity, and they almost fell down. Yugi had to hold onto Yami for support while Yami had to hang onto the doorknob to keep from flying away from the impact. It even made it hard to breath, as if gravity got heavier. The wave of darkness flew over, and in just a few seconds, the intensity of the air was gone. They gasped for air and collapsed on the floor.

Yugi sat up first, crawling on his kneels and finally getting up on his own two feet. He looked at Yami, who was kneeling as well, coughing. He seized his hand and pulled him up. "You okay?" He gently put a hand on the dark one's chest to feel the pattern of his breathing. It was irregular, but it was slowly becoming normal and steady. Yami nodded and sighed.

"Yeah..."

"Yami, Yugi?"

Atem?

'That you Atem?' Yami asked through mind-link. This time, Yugi was connected too.

"Indeed. I wanted to let you both know that I have retrieved our new toy. He is in binds, so he will not be able to escape." Yugi and Yami could both hear a sneer in that arrogant voice of his. Though, they both smiled at the information.

'Excellent. We are about to enter the basement. Atrocious' aura has manifested the place.'

"Understood. I will make my way over there as fast as possible. Until then, please be careful." His voice faded away once he said that.

"Well, now that that's out of the way," Yugi rolled up his sleeves, clenching his fists. "Let's go."

Yami stared, a troubled look in his eyes. Fancy carpet...Pegasus tied up...He glanced at the door, it was slightly swinging open. He gave a solid nod and stepped through with Yugi. As they walked in, the aura made them feel weaker as they proceeded in. They forced their bodies to push past it and keep moving. Down the stone staircase, they made it the floor of the basement and looked around. It was completely empty and dark. There was absolutely nothing here as far as furniture or stuff that Pegasus might have owned, except sticky thick cobwebs. That aura however, clouded the room like a deep purple fog. Yami took hold of Yugi's hand again and tightened his grip. They slowly walked forward deep into the dark room.

They heard a loud SLAM, the door behind them had closed.

Yugi looked away from the door as he smelled a familiar scent. He gritted his teeth, he smelled Marik. He let go of Yami's hand and sprinted away deeper into the fog of aura.

"Yugi!" Yami called out. No answer back. "Shit!" He ran after the boy, proceeding the same direction he went. The more he ran, the more it seemed like the room was getting longer, and darker. He saw the wall fade into a deep red, like blood. As if something terrible was about to happen. They couldn't separate now! This was dangerous! He had to find Yugi and quick before someone got hurt.

"Poison.."

A familiar obnoxious voice.

Yami stopped in his tracks and quickly turned around. Akefia's ugly face. Yami took two steps back and charged magic once more into his arms. As Akefia walked closer sneering, his aura became even stronger. It was practically smacking him in the face. He struggled to stand against it. Grunting, he managed to push past it once again and stand his ground. Yugi would have to wait, Akefia definitely would not let him pass.

His bright red crimson eyes faded to royal blue as his pupils turned completely white. His nails slightly grew sharper, and as did his teeth. Black veins pulsed throughout his arms, and his skin grew paler. In the ten days the trio lived together, Yami managed to salvage abilities from his shadow-beast form. He made it so that he couldn't exactly transform into the same monster, but only use its traits in his magic. He manipulated his energy and magic, and made them more deadly and powerful, just like back in the city. He gave a cold glare at Akefia, prepared to attack.

Akefia merely whistled. "That's a nice look for you. Maybe now you'll be able to stand a chance against me this time."

Yami made the first attack, and charged towards him.

"Quit running!" Yugi screamed. Marik ran so fast, like the coward he was, that he led Yugi to another exit of the basement. A door that led to the right wing of the mansion. He even giggled as he dashed through the halls at amazing speed. But Yugi's speed rivaled his, because he was catching up, and gaining upon him. Marik looked back with a teasing smile and disappeared in black smoke. Yugi skidded to a halt and looked around frantically. His temper was getting the best of him. "Dang it, where are you!?" Left, right, up, down, no where to be found.

"And just who are you trying to intimidate, little one?"

The boy looked up and saw the bastard floating in the air, smirking. "Aww, you love me so much that you came all the way here to chase and fight me on your own? How sweet!" He grinned creepily, giving Yugi the chills. "You look so tense. What's wrong?" Marik made a small frown, but then brightened up his features once he realized Yugi's dilemma. "Oh I get it! You want to kill me!" He laughed, making an innocent face as if he done nothing wrong. "Aw its about Jii-chan isn't it? I'm so sorry Yugi."

Yugi bit his lip so hard, his mouth began to bleed grey. He tried to hard not to feed into the bastard's teasing. That's what Yami always said to him about Marik.

"He's a taunter Yugi. He will insult you and mess with you by saying the cruelest and harshest things you wouldn't think anyone would say to you. He will bring up your past, he will insult your appearance, talk shit about your relationships, anything to pick at you. He plays mind games with his enemies. Do not let him get to you, or it will be your downfall. Do no respond back and feed into his nonsense. You will only be giving him what he wants and feed his desire to tease you."

The boy breathed in, then out. He had to do what Yami said. He couldn't lose to this freak again. He felt his magic flow through his body and charge at his finger tips. This made Marik stare in amazement. It almost looked like smoke was coming out of them. That was the appearance of his light magic, white smoke. Yugi pointed his finger at Marik, shooting light energy at him. The other male yelped and landed back on the floor. Yugi tried punching him, but Marik only dodged to the left. Unsatisfied, Yugi tried swinging his fists at him once more, but to no avail. He just couldn't get a hit. He was getting frustrated, and Marik could see it, making him even more pissed.

He tried shoving his fingers towards Marik's chest, but the other man roughly gripped Yugi's hand and twisted it, flipping the boy to the floor. Yugi growled but got right back up on his feet. He got right back to attacking.

He tried shooting and hitting him with magic attacks as much as he could. He even tried blasting Marik just like how he did back in that messed up building. Marik was just too quick-He was a million times faster. All he did was waste a huge amount of his energy, and ruined the hallway.

Suddenly, as Yugi tried once more to punch Marik, he appeared behind him. He shoved his fist into the boy's back and knocked him to the ground. The smaller one landed on the side of his face and panted. He was running out of magic and energy, he was starting to get tired. He couldn't form another blast or light ball. He rushed from a deadly atmosphere of weakening aura, and he just wasted the rest of his efforts on this bastard. He didn't get at least one hit, and here he was on the ground like a helpless bullied weakling.

Marik bent down and seized Yugi by his throat. He lifted him up easily and licked his lips. "I've wanted you since the beginning. And now I can finally suck you dry."

The boy could only stare, gulping. Why and how did Marik get so strong? Yami and Atem kept telling him he was getting stronger and stronger. He thought himself that he was getting tougher too. But he was nothing. He lost outright, and now he was going to die a pathetic horrid death and join his grandfather. All of his efforts, were for absolutely nothing. He was useless. Everyone was right...He was a waste of space, a poor weakling who could never stand up for himself. He failed Atem and Yami, and they would see his bloodied corpse here in this hall way on this stupid fancy looking carpet.

"You never had a chance, little one. This game of death? Its for big boys. You're too young, you're too inexperienced, and you will never be strong like Poison and Noxious." Marik held a sympathetic expression despite his harsh words. "Its okay. You'll see your grandpa, and you'll be where you belong. With the rest of the dead assholes who dared to come across my master." He slightly opened his mouth, revealing a sharp set of teeth much like Yami's and Atem's. "See ya in hell, Innocuous."

He bit into Yugi's neck, making the boy scream and howl in pain. He couldn't get away, the kicking against Marik's chest did nothing. He sucked the purity from his body, and it tasted absolutely amazing. No wonder Yami lusted after the boy so much, he figured. He tasted like fruits, candy and so many other innocently delicious things one could possibly savor their taste buds on. Yugi reached for Marik, but his arms fell limp and dropped to his sides as his eyes drooped. Marik licked his lips and threw the young boy carelessly on the ground like a broken doll.

"I'll admit, that light magic of yours is threatening, but not if you can't use it right. I think I'll come back for you later. For now, I gotta give the bad news to Poison and Noxious."

With that, he walked away, abandoning Yugi to die on the floor alone.

The boy was struggling to breath, he felt nothing but darkness corrupt inside of his veins. His entire blood stream was going out of whack. This was it, he was going to die a painful death. He failed the ones he loved once more. Clear tears dripped down his cheeks as he saw the entire world fade to black.

With the last ounce of his energy, he opened the mind-link and whispered...

"Help...me..please..."

Even though they both were in two separate places, both men's eyes widened and yelled, "YUGI!"

They both felt his life force drain and practically disappear.

Atem stopped flying and dropped to the ground. Panic and shock clouded his heart, was their lover dead!?

Yami meanwhile punched Akefia away from him, and gaped as he heard the boy's voice disappear from his mind. Yugi was in deep trouble, and they both needed to get to him!

Where...am I?

Yugi thought aloud.

Once he blacked out, he woke up in an entirely different world. At first he thought it was heaven, since everything was pure white. But, if this was heaven, he'd see Jii-chan, wouldn't he?

And he wouldn't be nude, standing in front of a giant glass heart, right?

Giant glass heart?

Yugi stared at the humongous object in front of him. It was pretty, and clear. It was made out of glass and diamonds in a heart shape. It was sparkling, pure and beautiful, free of any sins. The boy blinked, and saw flashes of Atem and Yami.

Suddenly, he heard a crack. The Heart began cracking and breaking. With a loud CRASH it shattered all over the floor, and once it did, the entire space of whatever world Yugi was in turned black. Darkness consumed the entire room, and swirled around the broken pieces of glass. The darkness was actually helping it come back together, forming a heart once more, but not out of glass and diamonds. It had turned into a dark heart made out of charcoal and rock. Intense darkness, was its aura. Nothing shimmered, and nothing was pretty anymore. Just dull and lifeless.

Tears couldn't stop falling from Yugi's eyes ad he realized what was happening. Images of Sugoroku and Marik appeared in his mind.

This is my world...Atem and Yami were right...

The darkness circled around him, and he screamed as they began to strangle him. He, would be one of them now.

One dull purple eye peeked out from the dark swirls, and watched as everything faded into black.

Yugi was gone.

END 29

"Yugi has met a permanent and terrible fate..."