Atemu Fanfiction

Title: False Accusation
Author: Shadowesque13
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Mystery/Horror
Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! is © Kazuki Takahashi. Any books, movies, television shows, etc. mentioned belong to their respective owners.

The light outside had long grown dim and only darkness streamed through the windowpanes. He marveled at the shadows creeping all around with only his desk lamplight to quell them. A corner of the ceiling darkened, his bed giving off an ominous black silhouette, the light bulb’s glow only illuminating so far until it faded at the far end of his room at the wall. He slowly pondered in a moment of deep, random thought what would happen should he extinguish this loving light.
Would the shadows of his creature comforts engulf him fully, leaving nothing, taking all? Would he persevere and remain, even in the dark, to live to see another hint of light?

"Are you okay, Yugi?" asked Yami quietly, a bit thrown off by Yugi’s rambling mind.
"A philosophical moment, to be sure," Yugi replied, mouth being the only thing moving.
"Yeah, I can tell." Yami’s eyes rolled. "Want me to turn off the light?"
"…Nah, I’m good." Yugi blinked and sat up straighter. In one swift move he removed his feet from the desk to the floor and was sitting back on 4 legs again.
"Man, what time is it, anyway?"
"About 8:30. Why, are you tired?"
"Actually, yeah, I am. Odd."
"Think about the day." Yami paused. "Is it so odd now?"
"You’re right."
"As always."
"Heh, I wouldn’t say that, funny boy…"
"And I wouldn’t say that you wouldn’t say that, Yugi boy."
"…Okay, I’m just going to surrender right there." Yugi yawned as he stood and stretched a bit. "Oh, great, my foot fell asleep."
"You going to go to bed?"
"Now? You’re kidding, right?"
"Well, if you’re tired…" Yami chuckled. "It’s the most logical thing that one normally does."
"You know, I think I’ll just give the evidence another look."
Yami stood in front of the drawer, arms crossed, determined yet pleased look on his face. "I don’t think so. I do think, however, that you’ve had enough of this for one very long day." His eyes spotted an old pile of books and papers. "But I think that homework of yours is calling your name."

"Are you hearing voices again, Yami?" joked Yugi with a slight groan. "You’re not really suggesting that I do homework, are you? At a time like this?"
"At a time where you have absolutely nothing better to do? Yes."
"Okay, good point, but…"
"It’s got to get done sometime. Even if you do take about the next school week off."
"Well, then, this would be rather obsolete, wouldn’t it?"
"Okay, now that’s a good point."
"Thank you. Any more bright ideas?"
"Do I detect a hint of mockery in your voice?" Yami shook his head in enjoyment. "If you really want to deprive your body of precious sleep that much, maybe you could help your grandfather downstairs."
"…Do you know where I put my pajamas?"
"That’s what I thought."
"You do so enjoy our witty banter, don’t you?"
"But of course. Now go on," Yami gave a little shooing motion as he said this. "Get undressed and get those teeth brushed."

"Yeah, yeah…" The sneakers were the first to go, followed by the white socks warming his feet. Yugi pulled his black t-shirt over his head after taking off the Puzzle and the chain around it and setting it aside. The light blue buttoned top to his pajamas then was slipped on and buttoned save for the first two at his neck.
He pulled the partially dirty jeans off, probably dirty from when he collapsed to the ground after his little discovery, and his underwear afterwards, replacing both. As soon as the matching pajama bottoms were fit snugly around Yugi’s waist, he headed over to the bathroom to clean his teeth of all he had consumed that day. He came back into the room feeling fresh and ready for bed. He put the Puzzle back on and went downstairs. He found his grandfather rummaging around in the back room.
Stifling a yawn, Yugi told him he was heading to bed early. His grandfather assured him that he would not be disturbed while the young one slept peacefully. Then Yugi flopped heavily onto his bed, not fully realizing how tired he really was until this point. He said goodnight to Yami and hoped he would have a peaceful sleep. Though he wouldn’t be surprised if he was haunted by more than one dream. His eyes fluttered for a few moments until they came to rest, closed and delivering Yugi to a state of repose.

Not surprisingly, he had first woken up at nearly 6 in the morning. Although he did feel rested, there was absolutely no way he was hauling himself out of his bed at 6, even to get an early start on searching the mansion. It’s not like he was going to comb the whole place again, although he might if he didn’t find anything this time around. So after a bit of restless movement and sleeplessness, he drifted back for 2 hours.
That was good enough for him. 12 hours rest was more than enough time to get back what sleep he had lost on this deal, he figured. He stretched out his arms over his head and relaxed again, staring at the ceiling until he felt awake enough to do anything. He sprung out of bed, ready to face the day with spirit revived anew and to finally find the punk who’s been messing with his life. He quickly got dressed and went downstairs into the kitchen. He ate as much as he felt he possibly could. His grandfather was glad to see him in such a splendidly great mood.

"Looks like somebody had a good night," he commented.
"Man, I don’t know," said Yugi, a smile on his face, "but I feel so re-energized. I’m totally ready for anything the day—or that mansion for that matter—has to throw at me!"
"Don’t be too overconfident, Yugi." Yami smirked.
His grandfather continued. "Well, that’s great. So, do you think this’ll be it?"
"I don’t know, but I sure hope so."
Nodding, his grandfather replied, "Yes, I as well. So when will you be leaving?"
"I don’t know, probably right after breakfast."
"And coming back?"
"…Lunch? Maybe? It depends." Yugi finished eating and cleaned up. He went back up to his room and reached for his backpack. He left without saying goodbye to his grandfather and was on his way.
Only about a block away, who should he find but Téa walking his way. She must have seen him, because her face brightened and she started jogging toward him.
"Yugi! Hey, I’m glad to see you!" Yugi sighed but stopped and greeted her. "You haven’t been at school. Were you sick?"
Yugi nodded. "Yeah, I was spending a lot of time in bed."
"Then what are you doing out today?"
"Well, I’m better, and there are a few places I wanted to get to." He tried to find a way to get away from her.
"The others said they’d meet me here, so if we wait for a few minutes they might-"
"Téa! Yugi!"
Yugi let out another groan. Tristan, followed by Joey, walked up to them. "H…hey guys…good to see you."
"You too, man." Tristan gave him a playful shove. "Where’ve ya been?"
"Sick," answered Téa. "See, I told you they were coming."
"Hey, Yug," said Joey with a large grin stretching across his face, "wanna join us? I’m sure you can’t wait to get back out and have some fun before you’re deep fat fried by school work!"

"Sounds great," said Yugi a little awkwardly, "but I really have a few places to get to."
"Okay, we’ll join you!" suggested Téa. "We didn’t really have much planned anyway."
"Because somebody…" Tristan glared at Joey. "Somebody just can’t make up his mind!"
"Hey! I can’t help it!" Joey snickered.
Yugi waved it off. "No, really, go off someplace else. I may catch up later. You really wouldn’t enjoy it anyway, that I’m sure." He backed away before turning to leave. "See you!"
"Bye then!" The others waved and started to talk about what they were going to do. Yugi felt he was a good distance away before he heard Téa again.
"Hey, Yugi, wait up a sec!" She stopped by him. "I was meaning to ask you…how has you’re…you know… Anymore suspects besides Joey?"
He nearly fell over. He’d forgotten that he had told Téa about Joey. "Oh, uh, maybe…"
"Bakura seemed a bit off the other day, but he wouldn’t say what it was."
"That’s because I thought he was the killer, too…" admitted Yugi, looking away.
"Really? Why? That’s nuts!"
"Yeah, tell me about it." He looked back and glanced at the others. "Look, you don’t need to know," he said bluntly, "and I really have to get going. Maybe we’ll talk about it some other time? Okay? Goodbye!"
He jogged off, hopefully not too fast that it was really rude, away from Téa who raised an intrigued eyebrow. She shrugged and went back to the others.

He saw that he wasn’t being followed, he even turned a few quick corners just in case, and slowed down. He took a look around to get his bearings. The Kaiba mansion was only a few blocks from his current position. In the distance, a gleaming, larger than life tower caught his eyes. It had been a while since he really saw it.
Actually, he thought he remembered that it could be seen from some of he upstairs windows in the mansion. The Kaiba Corp. building stood high above all others. He wondered if anyone was really running it now, or if it had temporarily shut down or something like that. He wondered if Mokuba was back. He wondered if the small Kaiba brother was behind all of this. The sun reflected brightly off of the many windows covering all sides of the building. The colorful KC logo was showed off at the very top of the interestingly formed building. The tower, halfway down, grew wider, forming an intricately shaped piece of art in whole.
Speaking of art, he was always amazed by the two stone statues that guarded the entrance that couldn’t be seen from here. The two incredibly detailed Blue-Eyes White Dragons looked like they could take off and join their master at any moment. He smirked. Kaiba always did have a special connection with his 3 Blue-Eyes. He might even have four if he didn’t rip up his grandfather’s. He still kept it, since it was a gift from Professor Hawkins, but it wouldn’t be able to be played in a regular duel. His grandfather kept it in a special box under the cash register.
The tape badly trying to hide the tear going through the middle seemed a disgrace to such a powerful and wondrous card. Of course, Yugi always preferred his Dark Magician. He snapped out of his daze and continued on his way. It was very comfortable for the morning. He wondered if, if he did find the killer and he was put away, he should go out and do some major celebrating. Hopefully for him, he wouldn’t be widely publicized. He really didn’t want to take credit for it at all. Especially if it did turn out to be one of his trusted companions. The buildings grew fewer and far between as he reached the familiar metal gate. He followed it, eyes vacantly looking but not seeing the plants starting to grow unruly, sticking out of the gaps in the bars.
Rose bushes, dwarf trees, all normally beautiful, normally neat, but now without anyone to care for them. He lifted his hand and let the black bars beat against his fingertips. It was cold to the touch, obviously not out in the sun long enough to absorb much heat.

It made a dull, mellow, rhythmic sound that was calming to him. Possibly because of his run-in with his friends, his mood wasn’t that bright, but the more he walked, the better he felt. He reassured himself with the optimistic thought that he might find the devious criminal who has eluded the police and him for, in Yugi’s opinion, far too long. Hopefully something of use would be found. The fence turned into the tall gate that protected the walkway up to the mansion. As usual, he tossed the backpack over and did the same with him soon after by climbing swiftly up it.
Sarcastically in his mind, he made a note to weigh himself and see if all this exercise has made him lose some weight. Not that he needed to, of course, he was skinny as a branch on one of the many trees on the property. After straightening himself as he landed on his feet, he lifted the backpack and carried it on one shoulder. He walked, as he normally did, up the pathway. As he did so, opaque clouds suddenly loomed overhead, covering the sun. It grew darker. He was glad that he packed his flashlight (which he didn’t think he needed, but he packed it out of force of habit).
A bitter wind bit at his cheek, making him stop and glance at the sky and weather around him. The usual weird and wild weather did change as fast as this sometimes, but this took him by surprise. He shrugged it off and continued on his way up to the doors. A gust of wind made him instinctively grab the nearest of the two handles to brace himself, but he didn’t really need to. His bangs blew about his face as he opened the door. It was eerily dusky inside the main room as he slipped in and laid the pack by the doorway but away from ‘his’ footprints. He quickly closed the door and looked around.
The dirt was still in the carpet, which was now disturbed by his presence and where he stepped. He silently cursed himself for not thinking about that, but if he were to find the killer, it wouldn’t really matter then, now would it? He shrugged it off. It may have been drab outside and in, but his eyes adjusted. He flipped on the light switch anyway and began to look around.

Apart from the footprints he messed up so the patterns on the bottoms of the shoes were more undistinguishable, nothing looked out of place or changed. So he began his search in his normal pattern, from the body’s resting place outward.
The indentation had faded still more, so he wasn’t quite sure where the hands and feet were. Not that it particularly mattered anyway, seeing as there was nothing to be found near them. The floor was searched and he stood up. He leaned back a little, stretching out his back from being in one position for a while. He walked back over to the usual spot on the floor and started looking at the walls and desks, tables and paintings. It didn’t take him too long to find something amiss.

He walked by the bookshelf and missed it the first time before he did a double take and walked back to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him. Sitting neatly (or rather, sticking, it was a sticky note now that he looked at it) in front of a few books in the row that came just over his eyes was a written note.
It wasn’t, however, like Mokuba’s. It was neatly written in a style that looked somehow familiar, but he couldn’t place it at first. It was written in a red ink compared to Mokuba’s, which was in blue. And this didn’t look rushed at all, but made to be read clearly by anyone.
He dared not touch it yet, so he took a small step back and read it. To his amusement, it was in the form of a poem, or it at least rhymed. Apparently, it was meant to be read by him, which took all of any slight amusement out of the situation entirely.
"You’ve journeyed far, You’ve journeyed wide,

And now I know, That I can’t hide.

My game’s been played, I’ve been sufficed,

And one of us, Must pay the price.

It’s Kaiba’s killer, That you seek,

Even though your, Outlook is bleak.

If you want to see me, You want me to show,

Then go to the mirror, Go go go!"

Yugi cocked his head. It wasn’t the best rhyme scheme he had ever heard, and he almost felt like laughing. In fact, it was downright lame. Surely this was some idiotic joke. About a foot to his left he saw the mirror hanging on the wall. It was small, oval in shape, and was probably meant for more decorative purposes or at least to only see the head and shoulders of a person.
He took a step and stopped. Did he really want to do this? What if this was a trap? Another step. What if the person he saw in the mirror was Joey? Or Mokuba? And they’d be behind him, so they would have the perfect opportunity to strike if necessary.
He stopped again and whipped his head around. He saw nothing, not a single person, nothing moving at all. He didn’t like this in the least. Maybe it would just be better if he never knew. Maybe the killer would just be contented with killing Kaiba and not anyone else. Could he take this risk? Should he just not bother and run out right now?
So many scenarios and questions raced through his mind as he took another step. If he looked to the right he’d see whoever the murderer was. He looked left into nothing. Still nobody. He still wasn’t sure if this was real, if maybe this was just a joke. His breath came quickly and with a quiver. He quelled the shudder he felt like giving and took a deep, not very calming breath and stared at the ground, turning. The mirror was in front of him but his eyes were fixated on his shoes.
He could still turn, he could still leave right now. Half of him, including his common sense, told him to bolt. The other half told him to look up, find and get this diabolical criminal, and finally have Kaiba’s spirit be at rest. He decided to go with the latter half and looked up. His eyes spied his own reflection, but realized in a heartbeat that it wasn’t him. He froze.

It was Yami.
Yami, his own loving and caring spirit, stood in front of his eyes in the mirror, replacing his reflection with that of someone older, wiser, someone he trusted with all of his heart.
If Yugi could see his own eyes, he would have seen them grow as large as humanly possible and his black pupils contract until they were mere specks compared to his irises. On Yami’s face was a smirk, but not one of his usual fun loving, sarcastic smirks. It twisted up in a way that made Yugi shudder inside. He met the spirit’s eyes.
His amethyst eyes showed no love, no care in them like they normally did. They drilled into him, piercing, cold, like two steel blades cutting into him. They held a spark of insanity deep within them, a psychotic and wild feel to them with a cool exterior. The light overhead went out in a flash as the sky, ever darker, added to the growing shadows. Yugi wanted to scream, but his voice was scared out of him. He could hardly even breathe.

Yami gave a cruel, vicious chuckle that echoed through the room. "What’s wrong, Yugi?" he asked rhetorically, not sounding like his old self at all. "Didn’t you think that it was your own self who was the murderer?"
He walked forward, ‘out’ of the mirror, appearing before him. "Well, I suppose it’s not really you, now is it? But it might as well be."

Yugi took a step back, then another, as Yami came towards him. He inanely remembered his wish, the one from the fountain, and realized that that much, at least, had come true.
He had found the killer. He turned, having his right side parallel to the bookshelf, back toward the far wall and continued to retreat as Yami’s callous assault continued.
"How oblivious can one be? I was there, the whole time, pointing you in the wrong direction."
His sneer grew. "Inside of you the whole time. But there could be no possible way, correct? No way that this ancient soul who’s been living with you for the past few years could kill someone right under your nose? Without your knowledge?"
He continued to follow Yugi’s retreating course with normal, easy steps compared to his counterpart’s erratic and small steps.
"I did it, Yugi. Don’t you see? I killed Seto Kaiba."
Yugi stopped moving; Yami did as well as he threw his head back and laughed madly, loudly, insanely. A dark, shadowy aura erupted from him, killing off any light that penetrated the room. Was he taking them to the Shadow Realm? No, he wasn’t, he could still see the windows from afar, the clouds outside, he still felt like he was in the mansion. But this swelling darkness made him shiver, adding to the shaking he was already doing.
"No…" he whispered. "No, it’s not…it’s not true, it can’t be…"

Yami took another step forward. "Oh, it’s not? I’m crushed, Yugi, I thought you’d have more faith in me."
He mockingly made a sad face, only looking more twisted and convoluted than ever, before returning his expression to the maniacal glee Yami was obviously experiencing.
"I suppose you’re wondering how on earth I managed it all, aren’t you?"
Yugi made no reply back took another step back. His knees gave out and he fell to them, staring up with disbelief in his eyes at what he thought was his closest friend, closer than a friend, closer than a brother.
His mouth was affixed in a slack-jawed gape. He felt numb all over.
Yami closed his eyes and gave a disapproving shake of his head. "Really, can’t you say a word? I’ll take your silence as a yes." He flashed teeth, the corners of his mouth reaching up to his eyes, making him look like a madman in the shadows of his own dark self.

"Fine. What to begin with…" He tapped his chin and looked up towards the ceiling feigning thought. "Well, how about we start with what you know. The so-called clues. I planted them all, every single one. How? How, indeed. My dear boy, it was your need for sleep that was your downfall."
Yugi shook his head. "But…I don’t understand!"
"No, I didn’t expect you to," spat Yami. "That’s why I’m explaining it, isn’t it? When you were asleep, unaware of anything going on beyond your dreams, I easily took control of your body. I do do it in more than just duels, you know. And so, in your body, I did everything. Remember Joey’s hair? That’s what it was, his hair. The gang was over and Tristan was mad about some idiotic bet. And in being in such a state, accidentally grabbed a few of Joey’s hairs. That night, while I started my plan to—well, I’ll save that for later—a few hairs still remained. What better to throw you off your trail than to find evidence against your best friend?"

"But how…" Yugi was still trying to find his voice. He sounded small and meek, which is exactly how he felt. "How did you get into the mansion?"
"Ah…that. Well, I do have powers that don’t involve souls, you know. I actually had unlocked the gate, the door as well. I just had to leave the doors open or else you’d never have been able to get inside. The gate, which I locked back up, I knew you could get over."
He stared into space in recollection. "Yes, I thought it a risk, but knew you wouldn’t figure it out. Let’s see, Bakura’s schoolbook. Well," he shrugged, "on that one, I had an accomplice."
Seeing the questioning look on Yugi’s face, he reiterated. "The spirit of the Millennium Puzzle, Yugi. Nobody broke into Bakura’s house, his own rather nasty spirit worked against him. He took the backpack and book, waited until he knew the pack made an impression in the carpet, and left behind the book for you to find. He’s really quite a nice fellow once you get to know him," he added with raised eyebrows and disdain in his voice.
He looked down at Yugi with a fake condescending look on his face. He sighed.
"Must I explain everything? Or can you figure the rest out on your own?"
Yugi’s mind, devoid of thought, began working again. The hair, the book, it was him. Does that mean…?
Yami nodded. "There’s a good boy, the note! I was wondering if you were ever going to have a thought of your own again. I’m sure you can figure the note and that ugly looking picture out."
Yugi could. Yami must have sneaked in, took a picture from one of the rooms that they had gone through the one night, and smashed it on the ground. He may have seen some of Mokuba’s handwriting, maybe not, but he scribbled the note onto the back. He blinked back tears. "But how could I not have known? We’re…connected…"
Yami sniggered, trying to contain laughter that threatened to release itself.
"You act like you’ve never even seen my Spirit Room! Sure, we do share thoughts, we can read each other’s minds, but mine," he tapped his head, "is far more complex. Full of traps, remember? I can hide things from you if I really want to."
He enjoyed watching Yugi struggle to get over the shock, the incredulity, and comprehend all of this.
"Now go on," he prodded, "go on, figure out the last one."

It wasn’t that hard for Yugi to do so, of course. The night it had been raining. Why he felt slightly damp that morning. Yami took over him during the night and muddied up his shoes and walked through the house.
Yami gave a slow nod. "Riiight. There you go."
Yugi then realized something. His head snapped up. "The dreams… Of course, the dreams!"
It was Yami’s turn to be confused. "Dreams? What do you mean?"
Now Yugi explained, slightly glad that caught the pharaoh slightly off guard. "On those nights you mentioned, I had these dreams. Connected with it. The first night’s I remember, your Soul Room, Joey, the mansion, but every time I had a dream like that, I paid it no mind."
Yami gave this some thought. "Hmm. I guess your subconscious was aware of what was going on." He shrugged and regained his smooth composure. "Not that you could have done anything anyway. Even if you had woken up, I would never have let you take back control."
Now that that was out of the way, he continued with what he was originally explaining.
"Now, let’s see what else your childish mind can conjure up as an explanation. Riddle me this: how, exactly, did I manage to kill Kaiba without ever touching him or leaving a single mark on his body? Hmm?"
Yami crossed his arms again, smirk returning, a hint of insanity strafing the edges of his words.
Yugi had no answer for this. It boggled his mind, what little of it he was able to keep from shutting down, at how this was possible. He was still reeling from this madness, making him slightly dizzy.

Yami tilted his head. "Don’t know? Pity. But I suppose you really wouldn’t right now, would you? No. Well, I snuck easily onto the compound. And it was the changing of the guards, too, lucky me. Now normally, a guard might have spotted me since I was going straight through the front door, but remember…"
He tapped the Puzzle, amused. "I have more power than you could ever imagine. Lo and behold, whom do I find going to his bedroom when I walk in but Kaiba! What luck I have sometimes. I stood in the shadows, unseen, undetected."
"That’s how you seem to do all of your work, isn’t it?" snapped Yugi, though his pseudo-insult fell short due to his sorrowful, wavering, quiet as a mouse voice.
Yami took no offense, but grinned broadly, eyes flashing. "Indeed, I like it that way." He continued with his horrid tale. "He didn’t have a clue it was coming. I took his soul and locked it away for good without him ever knowing what was going on or who was doing it. You should have seen him, lying on the floor…"
"Stop…please, just stop…" Yugi covered his ears, protected his head, made sure he was still real with his hands.
"…Right in the moonlight through the windows over there…"
"Stop it…"
"…Looking like some limp rag doll… I doubt Pegasus could do as good a job as I did, or even Marik and his sloppy work." His booming laugh seemed to go on and on forever, echoing in Yugi’s very soul.
He couldn’t find any words. He stared down at the carpet, tears now flowing freely from his large eyes. This can’t be happening. He repeated that to himself. This isn’t happening, this can’t be happening…it’s a dream…
"If it is a dream," sneered Yami, "then it’s one hell of a nightmare."
He couldn’t voice it, but thought it instead. Why? Why kill Kaiba? Wasn’t he a good friend in your life…? Wasn’t he a friend in mine?

"Who ever gave a damn about Kaiba? Beyond his annoying little brother, always following him around like a faithful pet."
He spat the last word, putting emphasis on how much he disliked the both of them. "Kaiba was nothing more than an arrogant, conceited, greedy little jackass. He got what was coming to him all along."
He scoffed. "And you say he was a friend? What the hell were you thinking? The guy hated your guts. He practically wanted nothing more than to eat them for dinner. Any thought you had about him secretly feeling the same? They’re false. Don’t give me that crap, Yugi, he always hated you. And as of right now, in the Shadow Realm," he added, now taking a few more steps closer to the quivering mass before him, "I bet he still hates you. But I think that’s the last thing on his mind right now."
He’ll come back, I’ll get him back, just like Mai, just like Bakura, just like--
Yami gave a quiet laugh that silenced his mind. "Oh please, spare me your lovey-dovey happy ending thoughts. He’s never coming back, I can assure you of that. The Millennium Eye and Rod, they’re pansies compared to my power! And you…"
He crouched down and looked at Yugi. Yugi knew he was being watched intently, which only made him shudder more.
"You won’t ever get the chance to save him."
Yugi wished there was something, anything he could do. Even if he could get away, what could he do? If someone were to see him now, they’d only see him arguing with himself. The spirit was only visible to him and it lived inside of him.
People would think he was crazy and possibly arrest him now that evidence pointed directly at him. He was trapped. He couldn’t do anything. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to block out everything. He then grabbed the Puzzle’s chain from around his neck. I’ll get rid of you…
"It’s nowhere near as simple as that!" cried Yami, sounding truly psychotic. "We’ll always be together, forever, Yugi! Unless something were to happen to one of us…"
Yugi looked up, face only inches away from the crazed, translucent face, eyes holding malevolence and insanity that scarred him through his bones. He was about to jump back, crawl away.
The spirit took a hand and grabbed his chin, forcing the boy to look at him. The grip was tender, not trying to hurt him, but strong so that he couldn’t get away without some damage. He forced down a lump in his throat as he asked,
"What…" He gulped again. "What are…you going to do to me?"
Yami examined his face, not looking particularly interested but was looking nonetheless.
"That’s just what I was trying to decide, you know. I’m not sure what exactly would be fitting. I could send you to the Shadow Realm, spending an eternity with all of my other victims…"
He extended the ‘s’ as if he was a hissing snake, making sure Yugi knew he and Kaiba were not the only ones to feel his wrath.
"I could just take over your body for the rest of your life, you being helpless, hostage inside your own body, stuck inside your toy-filled Soul Room… You could join me, but, then again, you could always turn on me, and besides, what possible help could a whelp like you be? Hmm, decisions, decisions… Maybe I should just go with the most amusing?"
He let Yugi go and stood back up, torturous, murderous expression seen in his eyes, in his smile, in every crease of his face.

Yugi fell to the side, able to keep himself from hitting the floor with his weakened arms. He felt so sick inside. He vomited on the floor, bile unable to stay down.
Yami rolled his eyes. "Now really, that’s a nice carpet! Oh well, I’m sure the maids can clean it up once they come back here."
Yugi was too sapped of strength to do much of any thing but stay in his all fours position. He heard Yami pace a little as he coughed some, which rattled his body. This went on for god knows how long, driving Yugi slowly insane, wondering what the hell would become of him. The pacing stopped and he tilted his head, glancing up tiredly at Yami’s gleeful expression.
"Guess what?" he asked in a singsong voice. "I’ve decided! Are you ready?"
Yugi spat in his direction. Yami clicked his tongue.
"Tisk tisk, Yugi, I thought you knew better than that." He shrugged. "Not that I care, it’ll all be over for you soon."
Yugi tried desperately to find another way out. Anything. Any path at all that could lead him to safety. A sudden chilling thought came to mind, or perhaps it was Yami telling him this through his thoughts, but Yami would be with him no matter where he ran. He couldn’t escape. He was trapped. He sighed and went up to his knees, turning back to face Yami. "See you in hell, you bastard."
Yami smirked malevolently. "Oh, I know." There was silence as his shadowy aura grew more, grew darker, more fierce, stronger with every passing second whirling like a tornado around the two.
Yugi bowed his head and closed his eyes, body relaxing. The darkness licked his body like flames, trying to get in. He surrendered to the overwhelming power of the shadows, and they engulfed him.