Fallen: Hey, everyone! I known it's a little late, but what the hell? Happy New Year! :) And, may I just say, that I am personally very proud of myself for how quickly I cranked this chapter out. I finished it within... what? Like a week or so of Chapter 5? And I was spending the weekend at a friend's house when I did it! *laughs*

Nickey: Yeah, what she said! Happy New Year you little hooligans! Ya know, Fallen here actually got this chapter out really quick... (Compared to all her other times she failed miserably :P) lol But! We hope you enjoy, ladies and gents. [Don't forget the disclaimer, chapter number, chapter name, and title this time, Fallen... I know how bad you are about that...] ^w^

Fallen: Hakuna your ta-tas, woman, I've got it.

DISCLAIMER: Nickey and I do not own, nor are we affiliated with Yu-Gi-Oh! nor anything pretaining to Yu-Gi-Oh! This is a fan-made story made purely for entertainment purposes, and nothing more. Enjoy!

~ Chapter VI ~

A Rude Awakening

"H-Hey! Let us out of here!" I pounded a fist heavily against the metal door, yelling for help, "There's someone inside of here! Open the door, please!" Frustration and panic began to fill me as I banged an open palm against the doorway in one final attempt to draw attention to my situation. I paused a moment. Were my brothers in the same predicament? Oh, Gods, I could only imagine how Ryou was feeling, if they were! The poor thing had terrible claustrophobia. I could only hope Amane was managing to keep him calm.

"Ryou! Malik! Are you guys alright?" I tried again.

Nothing.

Arceus maneuvered himself carefully at my back, trying to turn to face the same way that I was. He ambled forward, and I watched his long, spiked head as it tilted up and down. Surveying the walls before us. His claws clicked quietly together as he raised a lethal-looking paw, and lightly tapped at the steel caging that had trapped us inside. His metaphysical talons scratched lightly against the surface, which brought on confusion. Quickly followed by dread.

"You can't phase through the wall," I breathed quietly, though the observation was obviously not required, going by the grim look in his silver-purple eyes. He just shook his head at me in silent affirmation. "So that means... that we're stuck here, until either the power turns back on, or someone outside notices that something went wrong?

It had already been – well, going by an estimated guess – fifteen or so minutes since the power had initially cut out. And, with cramped spaces, odd mechanical components, and absolute dark nothing to greet me, I was beginning to feel my anxiety rise. I'd already tried pressing the aforementioned 'panic button'...

It hadn't done a damn thing.

I clenched my fists a second time, intent on smacking that bitch of a door until someone finally noticed and got us the hell out of there, but was stopped. Arceus had decided to intervene on my plans, shifting his scaled hips quickly, to slide his thick, weapon-like tail into my direct path. I looked to him sharply, but before I had a chance to voice my complaints, he just shook his head. Slowly, almost sadly. I saw concern in his gaze, and for some reason that seemed to trigger the downfall to my adrenaline rush. I gasped and hissed in pain as I felt my hands and wrists begin to throb along with the pulse of our heart. I bit back a whimper of discomfort, and rose the now-quivering limbs close to my face so I could see them better. My Ka leaned his head closer, as if to inspect them, himself. His soft, bluish-white aura gave off the faintest of illumination from his spiritual manifestation, and I was beyond thankful for the light. It wasn't powerful, but it was bright enough to paint the tech around us in a gentle, feathered glow, allowing my diurnal eyes to just barely make out the shapes surrounding me.

I gently turned my hands over in his ever-present lambency, and silently marveled at their appearances. The outsides of my dominant hand – which had been used for the majority of my wall-hitting – had taken on deep, purplish bruising, while the palms and knuckles had adopted a slight, irritated red shade. My non-dominant hand was in somewhat better shape, with minimal bruises and more of a pinkish color to show their tenderness, rather than the apparent inflammation in its other, but that didn't mean it hurt any less. The shock of the metal barrier had traveled down my arms, and I winced as the joints of my wrists pulsed mildly in pain.

A soft, sympathetic grumble rolled from Arceus' throat, as the Lightsworn leaned forward to brush his bumpy snout against the damaged skin. I flinched back slightly, before mentally smacking myself across the face.

My Ka and I were one in the same. So that meant that it was hurting him, too. Embarrassment and guilt flushed my chest, and I sighed. "I'm so sorry, Arce'," I murmured to him, and he just gave a gentle, very dragon-like smile in return.

It's alright, Little One, he soothed. I opened my mouth to speak again, when something that sounded akin to that of grinding metal and the hum of electricity met my ears. I blinked, before hearing the door slide its way back open. I smiled and turned towards the sudden opening in relief, "Oh, thank the Gods you-"

I was met with nearly two-dozen figures, dressed in heavy armor and masks that looked reminiscent to the people playing as riot police on crime-television shows that Malik, Ryou and I used to watch with Jii-chan when we were younger. My initial reaction was to throw my injured hands up into the air and shout "don't shoot!", but I didn't dare to move a muscle with the twenty-something guns pointed in my general direction. I heard Arceus give an instinctive growl at my side, the desire to defend and protect flooding our mental bond. I saw his lips pull back in a snarl as he bared his teeth at men and women who could not see him as more than a semi-large cloud of silver-blue, sparkling mist at my side.

I was silent as another figure – this one completely unarmed – approached. The gun-toting-whoevers shifted to the side, parting like a sea of black-armor-clad bodies to the presence of their metaforical Moses. He was male (obviously), with a face and overall physique that appeared to be surprisingly young. Something that the long, silver hair that hung down past his shoulders didn't do much to compliment. The straight tresses came to pass over his left eye, while the right – a gleaming, amber-like color – had fixated itself onto me intensely. His straight posture, and red, business-suit-like apparel, despite giving him a rather dandified appearance, did nothing but add to the overall intimidation of his presence. It didn't take long for me to guess that this man was in charge of the rest of this little... entourage.

"Yuugi Mutou, I presume," the man spoke in an elegant, calculative voice. I blinked.

"H... Have we met...?" I dared to question, though I had absolutely no doubt that I had never seen this man before in my entire life. I glanced to his tense-bodied posse, the muzzles of various firearms still trained on my figure. "What's the meaning of this?"

He gave a dismissive wave of the hand, smiling to himself, as if recalling a particularly humorous joke someone had told him that day. "Just a precaution, Yuugi-boy. Nothing of concern..." He paused, before adding, almost thoughtfully, "Well, that is, unless you decide to not cooperate. Then I'm afraid we'll have a bit of a dilemma on our hands, now won't we?" His smile turned into a smirk. "Not that you'd try to resist, a smart lad such as you. After all, you've been able to escape my observation for just over sixteen years now – quite a feat, I must admit."

Confusion filled me, and I felt my brow quirk unintentionally in a manifestation of my befuddlement. "P-Pardon?" I managed. Despite the numerous red flags this stranger had generously triggered in my head, I couldn't help but to let the oddness of it all get to me. "Wh-Who are you? What are you talking about?"

"Oh, I do beg your pardon – how rude of me!" He gave a small, graceful bow. Something about the way he moved his body reminded me of a snake readying to strike. "Pegasus J. Crawford, owner of Industrial Illusions. And what I am speaking of, for the time-being, is none of your concern, Yuugi-boy." He straightened again, and I retreated a few steps, back into my metal-encased pod, shifting closer to my Ka, who only released another growl at the mental sensations of my fear and unease. I saw the man... this... Pegasus, look over to my Ka sharply. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought he'd heard him! I glanced down to Arceus, placing a hand over his neck in attempts to ease his aggression. Snarling and growling would do nothing to help the situation, I was sure.

Pegasus gave a small grin to me. "Wise decision, Yuugi-boy," he said. The nickname was really starting to get annoying. I didn't know this man! So why was he speaking to me, as if he'd been present the day of my birth? "Oh, I was, in a way," came the nonchalant comment without skipping a beat.

I looked up sharply, eyes wide. Did... Did he just...?

He just chuckled again. "Anyways..." he said impassively, "I do hope you'll come with us. Preferably without a struggle – wouldn't want things to get messy, now would we?" His visible eye shifted to the side, and I found myself following its path, only for my heart to leap up into my throat. They had my brothers, hands bound behind their backs, and with strange... collar-like things around their necks.

"Ryou! Malik!" I went to dash over to them, the instinct to protect my younger brothers overpowering all other thoughts. Including that of the strange man's subtle threats, and the fact that I was held at muzzle-point by a group of two dozen others. The shrieks of my adoptive siblings were drowned out by the cracking and popping of gunfire. Pain struck through my left thigh and side, just for a moment, before all feeling was gone from them. My ankle rolled, yet I felt no pain, and my eyelids dropped halfway within an instant as disorienting clouds of numbness swathed my head. I felt myself hit the ground, but the impact was muted. I heard voices, only it was as if my ears had been stuffed with cotton. My eyes rolled up lazily at the man as everything began to swirl and distort, as he made a motion for something.

He stooped down next to me, and I felt his hands reach around my neck. Something snapped into place, and I cried out as I felt something – several somethings, actually – pierce into the skin all around the circumference of my throat. I cringed as Arceus gave an agonized, ear-splitting roar, and then fell silent. I felt as if something cold and insulating had been wrapped around some part of me, and I couldn't help but to choke out a pathetic whimper as my body refused to follow through with what I was commanding it to do. Instead of folding up and helping me to stand, my legs only twitched and scrabbled uselessly against the cold flooring, seemingly unable to support the rest of my body and bring me to Ryou's and Malik's sides. My arms couldn't even lift up my chest, or move up to grasp at this strange thing now clamped over my throat like an internally-spiked dog's collar.

"You've just been shot by and injected with the contents of two darts filled with nonlethal doses of sedative," Pegasus murmured to me calmly, on one knee at my side, "That collar around your neck has now inserted several small, conductive metal spikes into your skin, and are now sending an electromagnetic energy pulse along the circuitry of your nerves and brain stem, severing any and all connections between you and your Ka. Therefore, you cannot Merge, cannot use one another's energy, and you cannot speak to one another, unless it is removed."

I only grunted, the numbness now spreading all along my body. It made it difficult to breathe. The world began to swirl, and I was starting to see double.

I had never felt more vulnerable, more powerless, than I had at that exact moment. Not even Arceus could help me now.

"Oh, and another lovely feature to this collar?" Pegasus smirked. I could only shiver and meet his single amber eye with my own two amethyst, feeling both scared and defenseless. "It allows me, or any other authoritative figure, to remotely deliver an electrical shock to your nervous system, should you try to misbehave."

My sluggish mind had kicked into fight-or-flight mode. I tried to feel my left arm, the right pinned beneath the weight of my own body. I managed to make it twitch. And, against any sort of better judgment, I swung out at Pegasus – that devious, silver-haired bastard. I tried to aim for his visible eye, intent on clawing it straight from his smug face, when something took hold of me.

Molten agony, broiling within every last cell and fiber of my existence. Whiteness exploded behind my eyes, as razor-clawed fingers gripped and tugged at my body as it fell into unwilling convulsions. My throat began to burn, while my ears rang deafeningly loud, and it took a moment for me to realize that I was screaming. And it hurt – oh Gods, it hurt – and it wasn't stopping. I immediately wished for it to end. It made me wish that my racing heart would just stop and die. I just wanted it to go away.

After what felt like eternity, my wish was granted, as the horrible current that had been tensing and tearing away at my muscles stopped, and I fell limp as a marionette cut from its strings. Even the terrified shouts and screams of my own name falling from my brothers' lips sounded foreign to me, as blackness came to embrace my mind, and all went black.

Wake up...

I tried to huddle into the blackness around me. Don't want to... I thought tiredly. My body was aching, as if I'd just run a marathon, and then decided to fucking flap my arms and fly laps around the perimeter of Domino City right after. A felt something give me a light shove, trying to jar me from my rest. Go away, Arceus! I mentally snapped at that cantankerous, crystal-scaled dragon, unintentionally making a stubborn, disoriented noise. Let me sleep in a little more...

Wake up!

My senses were snapped into awareness as I felt a hand strike me across the face.

My eyes flew open, and I instantly went to fend off whatever force had decided to attack me. Only, strangely enough, after shoving away from whoever had taken hold of me, my equilibrium was thrown wildly off. The only thing I could do was submit to pain and gravity as my nerves shrieked in protest, and I fell clumsily to my side. My muscles were already shuddering in defiance, refusing to obey my will as they began to twitch and constrict uselessly. An achingly familiar, although smaller-scale pain, traveled in a current across my spine, before cutting off seconds later.

The last bits of an electric shock were quick to leak from my muscles, leaving me twitchy and limp. I felt a hand – light, fleeting, and trembling – press itself against my shoulder blade. It took a lot of willpower, but I managed to fight off another shock-induced nap, and squinted one eye open. I felt something warm and damp drop onto my face, and I blinked as fuzzy views of pale skin and white hair formed in front of me. Wide orbs of color swam with moisture, making them a dark, muddy-brown shade. I blinked a few times, before my (literally) shell-shocked head caught up with the rest of me.

"Ry... Ry-Ryou...?" My voice sounded a little slurred, even to my own ears. I felt as if I'd swallowed some kind of anesthetic, and my mouth felt dry and more than a little bit numb. I grunted in pain as someone impatiently shoved me in the side with a thin, cylindrical object.

"Oh, get up, already!" a masculine voice snapped, and I looked past the body of my brother, to see an armor-clad figure holding a gun, already aiming at us with a finger on the trigger. Memories came rushing back to me, and I went to prop myself up on my arms, but they gave way beneath me. I grunted, trying again, moving to put myself between the guard and my brother, only to fall lifelessly into his lap when my body continued to be unresponsive. I glanced around, spotting Malik already outside of... what I assumed to be some sort of vehicle, with one unidentifiable person holding the muzzle of a tranquilizing gun at the small of his back, and another on standby next to them.

"C-C-Can't..." I panted as the man barked another order for me to move, "Ca-Can't... get... w-won't... wo-work..." It appeared as if the two previous shots I had taken an unknown amount of time earlier were still working their way through my system.

Not that the fact I'd practically been electrocuted twice was helping anything.

"You-" he motioned towards Ryou, "-help him."

I tried to help best I could as he grabbed me and slung my arm over his shoulder, but there wasn't much I could do, considering every last cell seemed to be working against me and refusing to respond. I yelped in surprise as cloth was suddenly drawn over my eyes – the sound echoed from Ryou, and then from Malik, so I knew that we were being intentionally blindfolded. And all I could wonder, as the miniature battalion wordlessly began steering us around a countless amount of corners, was where were we? Where were they taking us? Were we going to be hurt? Killed? What about Jii-chan? I had absolutely no doubt in my clouded mind that he had awoken and noticed the three of us were missing from our beds. What if he was out in the city, this very instant, looking for us? He must be frantic!

I had to bite back a groan.

Oh, Gods... I swallowed anxiously, my arm squeezing more firmly across Ryou's shoulders in a silent means for support – as much for him, as it was for myself. All of this... Whatever is going to happen to us, will be my fault. It is all my fault... I'm the one who let us all go to that Gods-forsaken Matching Center! I didn't even try to talk them out of it! Anguish hit me like a sack of bricks.

If they were going to be hurt, it would be all my doing. I had led my brothers into the mess, all because I couldn't just drop it and accept Jii-chan's refusal to let us go down to the Center.

And now I could see just how valid his reasons had been.

I may not know what would happen to us... But Jii-chan did. That was why he had kept us hidden away for so long... And now I had completely unraveled all the years he spent on attempts to keep us safe and secure. Because I was too stubborn to accept his words, and too selfish to do it on my own. I didn't have to drag Malik and Ryou into this. I could have talked them into staying home – and if all else failed, I could have gone by myself, and spared them any future woes. Whatever they were going to be.

We stopped, and from somewhere ahead of me, I heard a sickeningly familiar voice. Pegasus, my brain identified.

"Put those two inside, and take the whitenette down to the labs for a round of experiments."

Experiments?!

"Ryou!" I heard Malik shout, and someone grunted as he lashed out blindly. Ryou yelped loudly in panic as he was ripped away from me.

"No, let him go!" I cried against my will, an arm reaching out and groping the air for any trace of my brother's figure, as strange hands gripped me by the shoulders, "Ryou! Ry- agh!"

Another, fleeting current of electricity, although much less intense, ran down my spine. Malik echoed my cries as he received the same treatment. I thrashed about in retaliation, demanding to be released. I heard something like a door being opened, before the hands that grappled with my struggling form where suddenly gone, and I stumbled into an unknown room, semi-unresponsive legs buckling beneath me. I felt myself tumble to the ground in a disoriented heap, the air whooshing from my lungs, and seemingly unwilling to return to them. I groaned quietly at the treatment. I heard shuffling from somewhere behind me – shuffling that was far too heavy and cautious to belong to an equally-winded Malik, still somewhere beside me.

My arm shot up, and I ripped the blindfold from my face, shaking my head as if to dislodge the haziness and send it away. I glanced to my right, to see Malik curled into a ball, gripping his stomach with a grimace, his teeth grit. I stumbled over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder as dazed lavender eyes peeked open, glancing up at me. He offered a shaky grin, and I only felt my anger and fear grow more at the pain written on his face. I went to stand, dead-set on dashing out the still-open doorway for Ryou, when a deep voice broke in on my mental strategy.

"If you're going to make a run for it, I hope you like the idea of taking a dirt nap," it warned in an almost bored tone, "Because some of those guns out there have more than a tranq' loaded in the chamber." I turned sharply, about ready to rip this baritone-voiced stranger a verbal new one, when something caught my attention. Half of this room we were in was covered in darkness, the lights turned out, and the shadows concealing an unknown amount of shapes from within it. Not only that, but I caught sight of a glowing set of eyes from those shadows.

They were a bright, ruby red. Clashing perfectly with my own amethyst as our gazes met. I felt my throat constrict, and my mouth go dry.

His eyes are so pretty... I felt as if something had clicked into place, if only for a moment. Something came rushing to me, and for a moment, I could see the results of my Matching process, displayed for me to see on a digital screen. I could see the sharp features, spiky hair, and intense stare that went along with those garnet gems, despite the fact that the rest of this man's body had been hidden by darkness. A name flashed to mind.

Yami Sennen.

My Kindred.

I was broken from my mental reverie, however, when light footsteps entered the room, and I heard the door close behind them. I looked up sharply as Pegasus grinned at Malik and I, looking very pleased with himself. "Well then!" he cheered, hands clasping together with such self-satisfied expression, I wanted to puke. Preferably on those posh, well-polished shoes of his. "Welcome to your new home, boys! Your companion should be joining you momentarily after some basic testing. You two will get your turns, don't worry, but until then, make yourselves at home!"

"Home?" I growled softly, fists clenching tightly, "Our home is back in Domino, with our grandfather! You can't just up and take us because you feel like it, that's kidnapping! And where the hell did you take my brother?!"

He waved his hand in the uninterested way of his, as if the well-being of Ryou were nothing of his concern. "Not to worry, Yuugi-boy, you'll see him again. And, well, yes, I suppose that technically, this would be considered kidnapping..."

He smirked at me in a way that made my skin crawl, and goosebumps rise on my arms.

"But not if the children involved were orphans, now would it?"

I heard Malik literally stop breathing, the air catching loudly in his throat, while icy claws gripped at my chest. I saw the tears begin to form along my brother's lashes. And where he felt grieved, I felt nothing but blind rage.

No-one fucked with my loved ones.

"How dare you threaten my family?" I snarled, unconsciously advancing towards him a few steps, "You stay the fuck away from my grandfather, you sick son of a b-!" My voice cut off from actual words, and broke into a short scream. For a fourth time, everything exploded into blank whiteness as boiling agony picked its way across my nervous system with ease. My muscles seized and my joints locked, dropping me to the ground like deadweight as Malik called out my name. But, instead of fading, the intensity increased, as if he were upping the power somehow. I felt my limbs start to jerk and while my throat constricted, taking away the ability to even breathe. All I could hear leaving me were a few scarce, choking noises, as I stared out at nothing.

I could have sworn I felt my heart actually skip a few beats.

"Stop it, you're killing him!" I heard Malik sob, sensing his aura as he kneeled by my side, but afraid to touch me for fear of being shocked himself. It was like I was suffocating. My heart was pounding so fast and loud that I feared it was about to burst.

"Pegasus, stop!" This voice was new. It belong to the pretty-eyed stranger that spoke a now-unknown time ago.

The current cut out, and their prickling fingers unwrapped themselves from my neck as my lungs were freed. I gasped deeply, swallowing large breaths of air in desperation, though large portions of those breaths escaped me in shallow, airy coughs. I could feel shock-induced tears streaming down my face as I vainly tried to escape the residual tortures of electricity that ran throughout my body, writhing from the utter excruciation it left behind. My ears rang so loudly I could scarcely hear anything other than that, and the frantic pounding of my own heart as it slowly fell back into its usual, sluggish rhythm. I felt arms wrap around me, and the shivering form of Malik held me close, shoulders heaving now and again with held-back sobs. I panted heavily, managing a glare to combat the one that had formed over that silver-haired fucker's face at some point during my near-electrocution.

"Now that you're going to behave, " he spat, as if he were speaking to a dog, "why don't you take the time to get acquainted with your Kindred? After all, you'll be spending the rest of your lives here. Or at least until your usefulness has exhausted itself." There was that smirk again. "Now, rest up, Yuugi-boy~" he sang, turning to exit the room, "You'll need all the energy you can manage when it's time for your own tests. But until then, I'll be seeing you in a little while."

The door slammed shut, and I growled at him on instinct, wishing I had Arceus' fangs to bare.

"J... J-Just wait..." I breathed quietly, only half to myself – the rest was intended for my Ka – "We'll show him... w-what happens... when you screw with a Mutou." Malik's arms tightened around me, and he scoffed under his breath.

"I swear to God if you get yourself shocked again, you fucking idiot," he whispered sharply, voice thick with emotion, "I will be the thing that kills you." I only gave a breathless laugh, and attempted to break the emotional stress and tension.

"Is that Malik or Ra I hear talking through your Akh's ass?"

There was a chuckle, but it wasn't from Malik or I. And it wasn't amused – well, maybe it was, but not in the cheerful sense. More in the bitter, if-only-you-knew kind of way. "I hope you're not trying to contact your Ka," said that red-eyed voice, "Those collars around your necks keep you from being able to reach them, and vise-versa. I also hope you got the opportunity to say 'goodbye' to any loved ones, too, because you won't be seeing them again. Not in this life, at the very least." He finished with a nonchalant, "So, yeah, welcome to Hell." It sounded like he was some kind of real-estate agent that had just finished giving a half-assed presentation to someone looking to buy their dream home. I looked up sharply at that, casting my gaze over to the source of the chill-inducing voice. Malik helped prop me into an upright position, and I bit back a groan of discomfort.

"Wh-What... What do you... mean, by that?" I huffed, arm curling around my midsection, as if I were trying to hold myself together. At least, that's what it felt like. There was another laugh, cold and humorless.

"I mean, is now that Pegasus knows where your little family is, they're as good as fucking dead."

"Yami! Don't be such an ass!" a second voice scolded sharply.

There was an annoyed snort. "What? I'm just being honest."

My hands came up to hold my pounding head, feeling as if it were about to split in half in the after-effects of my fourth electrical assault that day. How I wasn't still writhing on the ground was a mystery even to me. As the two voices continued to bicker, I felt a deep, burning guilt overwhelm me. Yami... he was right. Something I mumbled to myself quietly. "Oh, Gods," I moaned in dread, and Malik leaned back a little bit, giving me a strange look. The two voices paused. "Jii-chan – all this time, I thought he was just being stubborn, but no, he was protecting us! Dammit, why didn't I just listen to him? We could have avoided this whole mess..."

There was a cruelly amused scoff from my Kindred, "Bet you're regretting not listening then, eh? Thanks to your idiotic, stubborn decision, your gramps is gonna get offed by that psychopath." Then there was clapping, slicing into my ears with its mocking cheer, "But, hey, congrats! You found your Kindred. Hope it was all worth it, Yuugi-boy."

That comment sent molten anger and icy pain through my chest.

I growled at him, "Glad I could amuse you, you ass!" I snapped at him, stumbling over onto my knees, despite Malik's cautious warnings for me to stay seated. "God, for apparently being my Kindred, you're not exactly acting anything like you're supposed to be! Like, oh, let's see here, at least having a little bit of empathy for another human being!"

Those red eyes rolled, obviously not caring about what was being said. "Why bother hiding the truth? Even if you sugarcoat a pile of crap, it doesn't make it any less shitty. So if you don't want to listen to my opinion, I personally couldn't care less."

"I didn't ask for your fucking opinion, you pompous-!" I stood up, words absolutely failing me at the audacity of this guy. The Gods must have hated me, having me unintentionally surrender my freedom to find my Kindred, and then him being one of the most insensitive people in the freaking world! And what's worse? I was dragging my brothers along for the ride! I felt my muscles tense, watching as those darkening eyes rose to follow suit. "God, with seven billion people in this world, I apparently was destined to be with the biggest jerk out of all of them!"

The figure laughed, as if in disbelief. I could picture the sharp, defined features of who was – evidently – the other half to my soul. The one that I had seen back in the Matching Center. "Yeah, and I guess that mine is nothing more than a selfish, whiny little brat!"

"Yami!" two voices snapped at once, and I was surprised to see a third pair of eyes peering out from the darkness. I could just barely catch a glimpse of the trio's silhouettes. A lavender-eyed figure – they look so much like Malik's, I couldn't keep from observing – stormed up to where I could assume Yami was standing. I saw dark arms shove him, and Yami stumbled. "Quit being so fucking insensitive!"

"Why should I?! No-one's ever shown us any sympathy the entire time we've been here!" His counter made something in my chest give a sharp tug. How long have they been here? I couldn't help but wonder. But that thought was quickly countered but a much more painful realization. My Kindred didn't care. And, as far as I could tell, he didn't give a damn as to whether he had the chance to meet me or not. Selfish as it may sound, that made me angry.

He didn't care if his soul was cut in half? It hurt – didn't it hurt for him, too? And if it did... was he really so... so impassive, so uncaring, if he knew that pain was – more likely than not – being inflicted upon another person? Who, in some way, was another piece of himself?

"Their situation is different," the purple-eyed person tried to reason, sounding more than a little upset with his... companion? They sounded naturally familiar with one another. I decided to go along with the idea that these three were siblings.

"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" came the overwhelmingly sarcastic riposte, "We were forced into this, while they just skipped their merry fucking way into it! I'm not going to sit around and listen to his bawl-pussing, so try to keep from babying them too much."

I felt my heart stall painfully at the blunt, apathetic remark, flooding that hollow spot I had thought would be filled on this day. It really, truly, physically hurt. My hand came up and gripped at the fabric of my shirt, above where my heart pounded in my chest, an unwilling noise leaving my lips. Malik was there at once, hands hovering over my shoulders, as if he expected me to suddenly collapse. I could see the lavender eyes on the darker half of the room widen, and the figure came forward a few steps, looking as if he wanted to run over to us and make sure everything was okay. I could make out deeply tanned skin, and a wild mane of platinum-blonde hair. I internally gaped at his likeliness to my adoptive brother.

"Yuugi, you alright?" I heard said teen murmur to me, concern managing to smother some of the outrage that had been in his visage before at my Kin-... at Yami's comments... I just panted out a soft breath, feeling the shame and despair rising to drown me.

I just shook my head, and I could feel the bitter, incredulous smile that rose on my face. "I can't believe you..." I murmured quietly, "How could you be so... so heartless, towards the other freaking half of your soul...? Of your brothers' souls?" Red glared back at me. "Yeah, I might be just the slightest bit selfish for wanting Ryou and Malik and I to have even a chance to meet you all. So what? I must be the worst fucking person on the planet – I dragged my brothers into this mess. I didn't try to keep them from sneaking out – hell, I even went along with this crap!"

I shrugged Malik's hesitant hands away, advancing a few paces, ignoring the residual twitchy-ness that resided in my legs. "Maybe I was just so excited to finally discover a way to feel happy, genuinely happy, that I didn't bother to think of the consequences. Who the hell would expect to find out that, apparently, there's something so wrong with them that they deserved to be locked up – let alone with such an insensitive, angst-y, self-pitying little shit like you for a Kindred!" I saw Yami's eyes go wide in a mixture of surprise and irritation. "And I'm just as bad as you," I admitted, cutting off any attempts he could make at reprimanding me, "I don't even know you, yet I'm yelling at you like we've been each other's pain in the ass since birth. I just... God, I am just so angry and this is all so unfair I wish I'd never even bothered to try finding you! I literally just got here, and already I've found out that it's my fault my only family left is either going to be locked up and tortured the rest of their lives, or dead in a few minutes, if they haven't been killed, already! I can't feel Arceus, who's been the only constant comfort for me since I was born, and now..." My shoulders shook slightly with exertion, and I felt as if something were about to snap inside of me. "Yes, I'm a selfish, ignorant, weak and pathetic thing who's been locked up inside a house since they were a little kid, unable to make friends or feel like they could connect with anyone, not even their own family, because of how fucking lonely they felt!"

I mentally cursed as I felt moisture dare to trace its way down my face. I swiped the tear away sharply. "A-All I wanted... was to feel complete... I just wanted to know what it was like... to be normal, and happy, and like every other person in the world..." I trailed off, not even bothering to meet Yami's gaze this time. I just scoffed my frustrations and shook my head at the insanity of it all. I turned and walked away from them. Well, as much as my new prison's walls would allow me to. "Forget it. I don't even know why I bothered to find you. I'm wasting my breath talking to you. Just... screw everything."

I reached my destination – the corner of the room that was the farthest away from him. I hadn't even been here a full fucking hour, and I was already so done that I just wanted to slam my head into the wall until I passed the hell out. How could I have been such an idiot? I thought, making myself comfortable, and propping my back against the wall. I saw the shadowy figure of Yami storm farther into the darker half of the room, shoving past the one with lavender eyes, as well as the third, although silent, onlooker. I should have listened to Jii-chan... then none of us would be in this mess. And now, Ryou and Malik are stuck here with me... a-and Jii-chan... I bit the inside of my cheek so hard I instantly tasted blood. H-He could be...

I drew my legs up to my chest, and folded my arms over my knees, promptly hiding my face within the sleeves of my jacket. It was a little while later, before I heard feet approaching. I glanced up, thinking it to be Malik (and mentally slapping myself at the inkling of a wish that it would be Yami – if only so I could see him in more than a photograph on a screen), but was surprised when I was met with the figure of an entirely different, blonde-haired Egyptian.

He was tall, with a well-muscled frame that showed beneath his clothing. His skin tone was deeply bronzed with his natural ethnicity. His hair was wilder, too – spiking out like a lion's mane. I found myself looking up more, to observe his slightly-broader features, looking strong and almost overpoweringly masculine. He looked like a Malik doppelganger that had decided to hit the gym, then completely tear said building from its foundation, and chuck it to the other side of Domino City.

In short: tall, dark, and fucking terrifying.

Yet he offered a smile that was the exact opposite of that. It was... hesitant, but showed some kind of sympathy. Even a tinge of... sorrow? "Hey," he murmured, and I just blinked at him. "Yuugi, wasn't it? Look, I'm sorry for the way my brother acted. He's... an idiot, who let his emotions get the better of him. Doesn't really think straight, y'know? Hell, I'd bet he's going to start brooding here in a few minutes for being such a dick to you." That last part was added with a nervous chuckle.

Again, I only blinked.

"I'm Marik, by the way," he then added. "So... again, I'm sorry about that."

I looked away from him, brows knitting together in my irritation. "Not like you did anything... Marik," I replied quietly, mentally rolling the name over my tongue. God, even their names were alike. "Look, no offense, but I don't feel up to conversation right now. And if he decides that he feels bad enough that an apology is needed," I added, refusing to look in the direction of anyone in the room, "he can come over here and do it himself. Until then, I've got nothing left to say to him."

I felt Marik remain crouched down beside me for a few moments, before he made a somewhat-accepting sound, and stood up straight. I heard his footsteps quiet as he walked away, and only once I was sure he had retreated at least a few feet from me, did I dare to glance up. Now, he was approaching Malik, who was sitting in the same spot as before, looking rather... lost. Helpless, even. I felt a small stab of guilt at the way I just stormed away and left him to cope by himself.

Either way, I saw Marik offer the smallest of gestures in greeting to him. My brother only blinked, as if coming out of a stupor, before meeting him halfway. "Y.. Y-You're Marik...?" I heard him whisper. Said person only offered a nod. I saw him give a hesitant smile. "I'm... Malik. I-I... I saw your picture... wh-when I went to the Matching Center..."

Tears gathered in his eyes, and Malik was quick to grab Marik in an embrace. He was just a little bit shorter than the other – an inch or so, at most. I saw Marik gradually return the hug, as if he were unused to human contact like that. "Y... Y-You're my Kindred..." I heard Malik mumble into the fabric of the other's shirt, before their voices became too hushed for me to catch. I couldn't help the briefest spark of envy to strike my chest, and I looked away once more. My fingers tightened their grip over my knees.

I wished for Arceus. I could almost feel his scales against me, his paw clamped over my hip, holding me close as he nuzzled comforting paths along my head and neck with his muzzle, whispering soothing nothings into our Akh. The mental-and-physical bond between us that now felt painfully cold and empty. And, all of a sudden, as the full gravity of the situation fell upon me, I felt the overwhelming urge to grovel and plead for forgiveness.

To my brothers, for bringing them into this mess. Ryou, especially – I didn't know where he was, or what they were doing to him. I just hoped that he wasn't in pain. And I wanted to apologize to Arceus, who I could no longer sense. I didn't even know if he was there anymore.

Could one's Ka cease to exist without the person knowing? Or would the Ba die along with them? Either option was undesirable, and I couldn't help but to feel a little scared at both possible scenario.

I felt as if anyone I had ever been close to were suddenly hovering over my shoulders, upset and disappointed at my foolishness. Ryou's father, my mother, who had both died trying to bring the three of us to safety. To our grandfather, who had spent nearly two decades of his life trying to protect us from the fate I had practically paraded the three of us into. I just wanted to shrink into my little corner and fade from existence.

I hid my face in my arms, completely silent as I grappled with these rising demons inside of me. I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. Instead, I sat there, completely silent, praying beyond all hope that they'd be able to hear me... Arceus, my mother, Jii-chan... it didn't matter who to me. I just... wanted them to hear. At least then, I wouldn't feel so... alone.

I bit my cheek harder, and held back the urge to cry.

I'm sorry for this, everyone. If you can hear me... I am so, so sorry...

Fallen: Eeh... personally not all that proud with the ending, but I couldn't find another way to tie things up. XD Sorry if it went a tad OOC/over-dramatic. *nervous laugh*

Nickey: And next chapter is mine :3 I liked it, so stahp eet, Fallen. Until next time everyone! *waves* Goodbye!