Pain. A world of pain, everything hurts. He doesn't understand how it happened. How could it have happened? No signs, no warnings. From one moment to another, darkness and pain. One second everything was fine and all right, the next second was an explosion of pain, and everything is dark. He's used to darkness though, it's not like his Puzzle is a shining beacon of light. Puzzle. He was inside the Puzzle, wandering around as usual, amidst the stairs and doors blocking his memories, trying to find that one door that would open. It was a normal school day, Yuugi had a math test this morning, nothing out of the ordinary.
He tries to move. His body feels strange, cold, limp. He can't move. Sounds. "Who is there?" It's not his voice. That raspy, squeaky sound couldn't be his voice, could it? His throat feels dry and he coughs. Another sound, like rustling fabric. He's not alone. "Who is there?" No answer.
As he can't recall what has happened, he tries to search his mind to fill in the blanks. Yuugi and his math test. After school, they'd go to Burger World, their usual place to hang out. He didn't want to be intrusive, so he stayed in the background, in his Puzzle, until Yuugi would call for him. But this... he groans. His neck hurts. He brings up his hand and touches the back of his neck - and a paralyzing fear overwhelms him. The chain is missing. He's not wearing his Puzzle! Where did it go?
He can't see anything in this darkness, his eyes need time to adjust. He needs more information to determine a strategy, to figure out what to do... Yuugi. Aibou. He can't feel him anymore. Ever since Yuugi solved the Puzzle, they developed a 'mindlink' of some sorts, a connection that's not exactly telepathic as they can't reach each other's thoughts, but it somehow allows them to feel each other's presence. It's not only dark around him, but it's also dark in his mind. Silent. Hollow. Empty. That warm, comfortable, reassuring feeling that Yuugi is there... it's gone. He tries to move again. Get up. Don't lie on the ground. Get up on your feet. He moves, but just as he's about to push himself up, a heavy weight hits him in the back and pushes him to the floor again.
"You're awake," a voice echoes around him. He can't pinpoint the direction it comes from. "Nice. Takeru thought he'd killed you."
He grunts in return. "Who are you?"
A short, barking laugh. "O~ooh! Awake and a big mouth!"
"He told us he was strong. Surrounded by pitch-black darkness and he doesn't even squeak."
He? Every little piece of information is important. Why can they see him when it's so dark?
"Who are you?" he repeats.
"Don't mind us." Chuckling. "You're ours to play with, for now."
"Don't get too excited, Sumatsu."
Takeru and Sumatsu. Their names didn't ring a bell at all. Had he done something bad to them? Had he wronged them somehow? He can't remember and worse, he can't ask Yuugi. Aibou. Where is he? The weight on his back is lifted and reflexively, he rolls over on his side. Wrong move. A foot plants itself in his stomach, and he doubles over.
"What did I say? Don't get too fucking excited! He has to remain in one piece!"
"He still is in one piece," the other with the child-like chuckle responds. Sumatsu reminds him of Malik Ishtar's dark half: violent, ruthless, mindless, laughing at pain, his own or anyone else's. Takeru is more like Bakura Ryou's dark half: more cautious, apprehensive, strategic. Bakura... could he be the 'he' Takeru was talking about? Is Bakura behind all of this? Who knew. He hasn't seen him since Battle City ended, and the Spirit of the Ring draws his own plans. But it's not his style to involve others, is it?
He coughs. This darkness, however... it's not the Shadow Realm. If it were, he would've felt the despair of the roaming souls, lingering in a place where they can't move on, haunting themselves for eternity. This is 'just' a pitch-dark room. Somehow this knowledge comforts him. No innocent people were dragged into this. The next kick hits him in the back and the pain returns with a vengeance.
"Why are you doing this?" he manages to croak out. His fists punch into empty air. It's of no use. Even if he could land a hit, it wouldn't make much of a difference. He's not that strong, physically, and all of his muscles hurt, his limbs hurt, his head hurts... He never made it home, which means he's still on school grounds. Domino City High has many class rooms, storage spaces, offices... he could be anywhere in the large building. Wait... maybe this is the same room Anzu had been lured to quite a while ago, by that lecherous, perverted creep? Then this is a storage room, located far away from the class rooms, and it would be futile to cry for help; no one would hear him. Anzu... Jounouchi... Honda... where are they? He hopes they're safe, as he's in no condition to go and rescue them - he needs rescuing. He's convinced his friends are looking for him. He only needs to hold on, until they find him.
"Why do you even ask?" The voice he connects to Sumatsu, sounds bored. The next moment, he's kicked again and he rolls into a fetal position. "You're the stupid one here, walking around with a chunk of gold around your neck. Did you never think someone would try to rob you?"
Another kick, and he grunts once more. Sumatsu isn't holding back, and the physical pain is hard to bear. The only comforting thought is, that Yuugi isn't in charge right now; if his aibou is hurt...
"We're going to melt it down, you idiot," Sumatsu speaks again, interspersing his words with that infuriating chuckle. "Piece by piece, chunk by chunk. We're going to be rich! And all we have to do, is to beat you up."
Where's the other one? Where's Takeru, and why isn't he talking? He rolls over again, expecting to be kicked once more and yes, the pain follows immediately. "This is boring." Sumatsu punches him on the shoulder and he cries out, surprised by the sudden attack. "We should just take that gold and be done with it."
Be done with it? With his Item? With his Puzzle? Anger overwhelms him. He has taken enough by now, hasn't he? These punks are trying to rob him, to take his most prized possession... Yuugi. Yuugi is in the Puzzle. They switched bodies when these assholes knocked him out. He had automatically taken Yuugi's place, suffering the pain. He would do anything to protect him.
"Where is it?" he growls.
"Takeru? What should we do now? This is no fun."
He's not sure what's going on. Takeru is silent, and Sumatsu grows impatient.
"Takeru? What are you doing, man? Keep it in one piece!"
"This is going to be fun," Takeru said, his voice coming from further away. "There, I'm done."
"What are you doing? You broke it?"
Broke what? Takeru laughs. "He told us that he loves games. Now, this is the perfect game, don't you think?"
Another chuckle, coming from Sumatsu. His voice grinds and squeaks as he joins in the laughter.
"Bakura," he mutters under his breath. Then, louder: "Did Bakura ask you to do this?"
"Huh, what? I don't know his name. He just told us stuff about you, and how we could get our hands on your gold. He said something about 'testing you', but I don't care. I just want money."
"And chicks."
"And a boat. And a Maserati. A Jaguar!"
"A plane! We could go to America!"
They both laugh. It grates on his nerves. It hurts his ears. He said something about 'testing you'. He moves his arms, trying to stabilize himself, trying to get up. Ignore the pain. Get up! His hand slides over the floor and his fingertips touch something. A small object, smooth. He grabs it, closes his fingers around it. They mentioned a game. Well, if need be... these kids are innocent, yet obsessed by their own greed. An easy prey to manipulate. Bakura is the culprit here. He doesn't know what kind of plan this is, but the thief will pay. First, he needs to get his bearings and... the object feels familiar. Heavy. His breathing hitches. Frantically, wildly, he fumbles around and there it is, another object, smooth and heavy like the other.
"Hey, I didn't tell you to start already!"
The hard kick to his stomach throws him over the floor, rolling a few times before he slams into a wall. His entire body protests, high-strung and tensed and he barely refrains from vomiting. He still holds the two objects in his hands, his fingers curled around them with such ferocity that he has to force himself to relax. He doesn't need any light to know what they are. In the distance, he hears Sumatsu and Takeru mumble. "... rules..." "...when he fails to find a piece in time..." "...kick..."
A piece. He has two pieces already. Two pieces of his Puzzle. Takeru has taken it apart and spread the pieces through the darkened room. His Puzzle. His Sennen Item. Taken apart by an innocent kid, overcome with greed. He wants to melt it down. He wants money. He wants a Maserati. The Puzzle. Yuugi's in the Puzzle. It has been taken apart. Yuugi has been taken apart. His aibou, shattered all over the floor.
"Yeah, that should do it," Takeru decides, sounding content. "We can start.."
"Hey, what's that? Did he bring a flashlight with him?" Sumatsu asks.
"What do you mean? The..." As he looks over his shoulder, Takeru sees a strange, lit shape in the far corner of the room. It's like... an eye or something, but stylized. Two curved lines with a dot in the middle, almost crude, but somehow terrifying. The light that comes off it, is cold and harsh. Takeru takes off his night vision goggles as the light blinds him, and he hears Sumatsu doing the same.
"Hey, what are you doing?" He asks with more bravado than he actually feels. "No fair!"
"No fair?" The booming voice startled them voice. The anger was clearly audible and Sumatsu took a few steps back. "You brought me here, you beat me, you kicked and punched me, you took something very dear from me, and you are talking about 'no fair'?"
"Hey man, it was just a joke," Takeru says, but his voice is shaky. He should never have listened to that white-haired kid with the doe eyes. Just play a game with him, he had said, test him a little. The gold is yours. Why had he even listened in the first place? The gold... that massive chunk of gold... he just wanted a little money to fulfill his dreams...
"Just roughhousing," Sumatsu adds and chuckles again, nervously. He gasps the next second. More light, in the definite shape of two eyes; blazing, infuriated eyes with an intensity that burns them. Neither one knows who's the first who starts screaming.
He doesn't even open the Door of Darkness for them. He denies them entrance to any afterlife, to any realm of peace. He tears their souls apart, ripping them out of their bodies and shredding them in front of their eyes, glazing over as they fall to the floor as empty husks. He splits their souls in so many fragments that it's impossible to retrieve them all; blinding, hot rage that fuels his magic: dark magic, black magic, Shadow magic. The Shadow Realm welcomes the torn, fragmented souls, welcoming them as if long lost brothers, and the screaming and the wailing only stops after he has send the last piece away, the Shadow Realm hungrily accepting them, almost embracing them. The magic is gone, and he's drained. He almost collapses, not realizing that he had gotten up, his anger so all-consuming that it blocked out the rational part of his mind. What has he done? He's not the vengeful spirit anymore, is he? He vowed to stop giving out penalty games after he had learned of the sinister nature of the Sennen Items, including his own Puzzle. Puzzle. Yuugi. He sinks to the floor. He's still holding the two pieces, his grip so tight that they have left imprints on the palms of his hands. The ragged breathing is his. Yuugi's not gone. His aibou is right here, and he's going to be so pissed when he hears about what happened. No more batsu games, mou hitori no boku.
"I kept my promise, aibou," he says, a smile on his face as he speaks to the darkness. "The game had not even started yet."
It takes him a while before he starts searching for the rest of the pieces. His body's still aching, his own soul's still aching... but as the magic has died down and he takes up residence in the corner of the pitch-black room, he patiently puts the pieces of the Puzzle back together. He doesn't need a light. He'll see his light soon enough, when he's done. When he finishes solving the Puzzle. His light is all that counts. He would use the darkest, blackest magic possible if that would mean he could see his light again.