Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh. Lyrics are by Halsey.

This story is obviously AU and contains plenty of OOC'ness. The content is mature, with themes such as drinking, swearing, drugs, violence and sexual content (consensual). The theme changes from fic to fic, but they all revolve around Yami/Atem and Bakura's relationship in one way or another. Sometimes they are horny as fuck, sometimes it's everyday domestic settings and other times again it's about serious matters like mental health and violence.

Regarding the characters age: they are all at the very least 18-20 years old (they'd had to take a few extra years in high school because of all the children's cardgames) and Yami/Bakura are in their mid-twenties. I know that it's not exactly canon, but I can't deal with the idea of people which I honestly regard as kids (as everyone above 25 will know, everyone less than 25 is babies and should be protected!) would/should deal with the scenarios I work with. Also, it gives Atem a few more years on the throne as Pharaoh. He deserves that.

Warning: this fic contains mentions of torture, violence, murder, trauma, malicious behaviour.

Control

Badlands: Chapter 14

"Man, remember this place?"

It was a gorgeous day in Domino. Being late summer, the first signs of autumn had started to appear with golden leaves and a brisk, swift wind that caught scarfs and coattails. The group of high school seniors were walking along the harbour, joking and talking. It was Saturday and having finished all of their homework they'd decided to meet up and enjoy the sunny weather.

They'd stopped by the very same place, where Joey - under the control of Marik - had fought Yugi, nearly causing both of them to drown in the process.

Yugi made a face at Joey's remark. "Kinda hard to forget," he said, eying the surrounding area. "That was a pretty horrible day." The others - Tea and Tristan - muttered in agreement, but Joey pumped his fist instead. "Well, sure - but we pulled out of it together! We were awesome, man!"

"Serenity pulled you out. Literally." Tea remarked dryly, causing Joey to wave her off. "Details, smetails, dear Tea. We won!"

Shaking his head at his friend's antics - Tristan had now trapped Joey in a headlock, demanding that he didn't leave Serenity out of the story - Yugi looked at the platform. It was the very place, where he'd freely taken off the Millenium puzzle, separating himself fra Yami. It had been hard. He looked down, one hand resting on the puzzle hanging from around his neck. Yami had been silent since Yugi and his friends went on their walk. The young duelist knew that the Pharaoh made a point of giving Yugi his privacy. Yugi bit his lip worriedly. He only hoped Yami didn't feel left out.

"Hey, punk!" a voice suddenly cut through the air, causing Yugi to swirl around in surprise while Joey and Tristan quickly let go of each other.

A short distance away, a small group of what could only be categorised as a gang, were walking towards them at a slow, intimidating pace. Each of the four friends quickly huddled together, Joey stepping in front of Yugi.

"What'd' ya want?" the blond asked defiantly, as the intruders stopped in front of them. The gang, seven people Yugi quickly counted, were looking at them with mock amusement, the man in front looking at the puzzle - shining brightly in the setting sun - hanging from Yugi's neck.

"Dat thing you've got - that gold?" the leader asked, eyes glinting and taking a step forward.

Yugi, instinctively grabbed a better hold of the puzzle, causing the man in front of him to smirk.

"Thought so. Get it, boys!"

'Yami..!' Yugi had barely yelled out for his dark mentally before he was tackled by three of the seven guys. One of them managed to remove the chain from Yugi's neck, removing his connection with Yami. All Yugi could do was to cling onto the Puzzle as his life depended on it. The other gang members went for his friends, and there was a brief fight. Joey got slammed backwards, Tea was locked in an iron grip alongside Tristan. His friends pacified, the remaining gang members turned their attention on Yugi, prying his arms backwards to loosen his grip on the puzzle.

"No!" he screamed, refusing to let go even as he received a quick kick to the stomach. Doubling over, his hands remained frozen in an iron grip around the cold surface of the puzzle. He could feel Yami's panic, but without wearing the puzzle the spirit had no way of helping. Yugi grimaced in pain.

"Let go, punk!" the leader yelled, hitting Yugi in the side, causing the boy to yell out in pain. Joey and Tristan were trashing wildly, and Tea was yelling for them all to stop. Another kick and Yugi fell backwards, losing his balance and the force causing him to lose his grip on the puzzle. The sudden swift in resistance caused the thug to lose his grip on the chain and they all watched as the puzzle - as if in slow-motion - were launched into the air, before crashing down towards the hard concrete ground.

It shattered completely, the pieces spreading out in different directions, causing Yugi to cry out in despair - "Yami!" - as he fought against his captors. Suddenly Joey was free, having thrown his assailant over his shoulder, tackling the leader, causing them to roll over the shattered puzzle pieces, fighting to gain the upper hand. The two men holding Yugi down let go, as they jumped to help their leader. Yugi fell to his knees, scrambling to get his hands on all the pieces of the broken puzzle with frantic motions.

Suddenly the noise of a police car could be heard. "Fuck!" the leader snarled, quickly showing Joey off him, causing him to fall into Yugi and the two fell backwards.

"Let's go, guys!" and then they were gone, down an alley leading away from the harbour.

Suddenly there were people all around the shocked teenagers.

"We saw what happened! Are you okay?" asked an elderly woman, fussing over Tea as two police officers came running.

"We're fine." Tea stammered, shaken but her voice oddly even. "They, they attacked my friend - his pendant, it's .."

They all looked at Yugi, who were desperately trying to collect all the pieces of the puzzle in his jacket, not even bothering to look up at the growing crowd.

"I'm sorry." the woman said with feeling. "Was it valuable?"

Tea nodded, still too shocked to think clearly. It had been over in less than a minute but it felt like hours already! Yugi looked like he was about to cry.

"Did you see what they looked like?" asked one of the police officers. Tristan shook his head.

"They'd covered their faces.. their clothes were all black though, mid to late twenties if I had to take a guess."

As his friends talked with the police, Yugi was focused on the shattered puzzle in front of him. He was shocked, it had happened so fast. He only hoped Yami was alright. His stomach felt like led, and his heart was racing. His hands were shaking so badly, and he couldn't get the pieces to stick together. Groaning in frustration, he gave up - he had to calm down. The danger was over. The pieces were there.

The police had insisted on them coming with them to the police station, to get their statements about the assault. While waiting for their parents to come to pick them up, the shaken group - who had now been permitted to leave - sat in the waiting area. Joey was holding an icepack against his head, where the leader had planted one of his fists. They sat in silence, all watching as Yugi tried to reassemble the puzzle.

"Yami's okay, right?" required Tristan carefully. Yugi didn't look up, trying to match the pieces together.

"He should be. I mean, it's not the first time the puzzle has been broken. Keith broke it in the warehouse fire, but then only a part of the puzzle was shattered. This time.." his voice shaking, he stopped talking as he tried to calm himself. The puzzle had been broken before, and Yami had been fine. He'd been fine!

"… it's difficult to piece it together, guys. It'll take time and I won't be able to tell how Yami is until the last piece is in place".

Meanwhile in another part of the town, earlier that afternoon

Ryou Bakura froze as he was lifting the teacup to his lips. A shudder passed through him, causing his hand to shake. Then the feeling was over as quickly as it had happened. He frowned, but just as he was about to ask Bakura if he'd felt anything, the spirit of the ring all but jumped from the ring, his ghostly body appearing before Ryou. The British boy raised his eyebrows in surprise, as Bakura turned and stared at the Millenium Ring that hung around Ryou's neck.

"What'd you do, hikari?" the spirit growled.

Ryou spluttered, putting down his teacup and book. "I didn't do anything! I thought you did something.."

The thief frowned, staring at his hikari in puzzlement, arms folded in front of his chest.

"There was a disturbance in the shadow magic," Bakura said, eyeing the ring with a suspicious frown.

Ryou frowned too. "How?" he asked carefully.

The thief offered no answer. Bakura assumed the Pharaoh would know what had happened, but he wouldn't be caught dead admitting Yami might know something he didn't. After all, if it was important, the odds of them founding out were pretty high. He disappeared back into the ring without a word, leaving Ryou alone once again.

The teen frowned at the ring, wishing the spirit had been more informative - he normally didn't hold back on the details when it came to the Millenium Items. Instead, he reached for his phone, typing a quick text to Yugi. Asking couldn't hurt.

The following day, Saturday.

Solomon Muto was usually up pretty early, stocking up the shop and sweeping the sidewalk in front of the shop, enjoying the silence before the city woke up around him. He looked up at the window of his grandson, a faint light visible. After having picked up Yugi from the police station the night before, the teen had gone straight to his room, continuing his work of piecing the puzzle back together. Solomon had a sneaking suspicion that his grandson hadn't slept at all that night. He sighed, before returning to his tasks.

The morning went on, and a few hours later the door to the shop opened. Looking up to greet a potential customer, Solomon smiled as Joey and Tea walked in. The youngsters had, by all accounts, been at the wrong place at the wrong time. They hadn't been in a dodgy part of the harbour, in fact, the location they'd been at was normally a popular walking destination for evening strollers as you could see the sunset beautifully beyond the sea. Joey now sported an ugly bruise on the side of his face, but otherwise looked fine. Tea offered a small smile as she closed the door behind her.

"Good morning Mr Muto," said Joey, walking up to the counter. "Yugi home?"

Solomon nodded, appreciating the attempt at pretending it was just another normal morning.

"He's upstairs in his room, I think you can.." however, he was cut off as a loud crash sounded from the floor above, followed by a faint yell.

In a flash, all three were rushing up the stairs, towards Yugi's room where they could hear him trashing about.

"No no no no no no." they opened the door, to find Yugi scrambling beneath his desk. The puzzle lay, almost complete, upon the desk, looking oddly dull in the faint morning light. The chair had fallen backwards - most likely that'd been what made the loud crash before.

"Yuge!" Joey exclaimed, stepping into the room, surveying the chaos. "What's wrong?"

Tea quickly followed, sinking on her knees beside Yugi, who was now frantically searching his pockets. He was pale, and his hands shaking as he looked up at his startled friends and grandfather.

"Two pieces missing are missing!" he stammered, voice shocked from the realisation. "They stole two pieces!"

It had taken a bit of time to calm Yugi down. He'd been ready to charge out of the door, to find the gang and regain the missing pieces. Tea had all but yelled at him, that he couldn't just barge out onto the street without knowing where to look.

"They won't be at the harbour." she reasoned. "The police is looking for them, there's no way they'd go back there."

"Then what should we do?" Tristan had arrived a few minutes before after Joey called him explaining the situation. The brunette had arrived on his motorcycle, ready to search the entire town if necessary. However, Tea's voice of reason held them in check.

"I don't know!" Yugi was getting frustrated. He'd tried all night to assemble the puzzle, and it hadn't been until the morning he'd realised that the reason he had had such a difficult time doing it had been because pieces were missing. He had kept on starting over, thinking it was his nerves.

"Hey, Yuge?" Joey sat on Yugi's bed, holding his friends' phone in his hands. "You've seen this?"

"Seen what?" asked Yugi tiredly, reaching for the phone. He was wasting time, he had to look for the pieces. Yami was trapped in limbo until...

"It's a text, from Ryou. He sent it yesterday, I guess you've been too caught up to notice it."

Yugi accepted the phone from Joey's outstretched hand, reading the text.

'Hi, Yugi. Just wondering if you and Yami have done anything 'shadow' related today?'

Yugi frowned. Could the Ring had felt it when the Puzzle shattered? They were connected, and he knew that the spirit of the Ring - despite his volatile and violent nature - had a pretty fine-tuned feeling with shadow magic. After being free by Zorc's influence, Bakura had calmed down somewhat, though he still came off as both rude, malicious and cunning. While none of Yugi's friends would call the spirit of the Ring their friend, they all liked Ryou and had accepted Bakura's less than pleasant presence for his sake. Oddly enough Yugi knew that Yami and Bakura had been seeing each other in spirit form when the possibility had occurred such as when Ryou visited him or vice versa, or at school. Yugi didn't quite understand the relationship between the two spirits but with them both being, well dead, he assumed it was nice to have somebody to talk to, someone who was like yourself. Even if you'd spent a few millennia hating each other for reasons long forgotten.

"Ryou felt something yesterday when the Puzzle shattered," muttered Yugi, not sure what to do with the information. Could Ryou maybe feel the missing pieces? The Ring had been used before to track down the Puzzle, but then it had been in one piece. A hand suddenly clasped around his wrist, and Yugi stared into Tea's eyes. She looked resolute.

"Call him."

Ryou arrived at the shop not ten minutes later. He had been on his way, when Yugi called, worried when he hadn't received a reply to his text. Yugi normally responded quickly when the Items were involved.

The white-haired youth listened with wide, shocked eyes, as the others quickly filled him in on the events from the day before. Yugi had barely finished retelling the story before Ryou's eyes turned red and his hair seemed to grow even wilder.

"Take me to where it happened," Bakura growled, having forced his hikari out of control, turning around and leaving the room before any of them had a say to the matter. "And bring the Puzzle!" he yelled from the stairs, voice shaking with barely repressed anger.

Not asking questions - Bakura wouldn't answer them anyway - they all quickly departed for the harbour, reaching the place of the attack in less than half an hour. Once there, Bakura resumed control from Ryou - they'd all agreed that Tristan should take Ryou on his motorcycle, and the others would take the bus. Bakura had flat out refused to share, only to have Ryou solve the matter by regaining control while on the bike.

At the harbour, Bakura took the Ring in his right hand, closing his eyes while he concentrated.

"There are traces of shadow magic." he murmured, walking swiftly down the same alley the gang had disappeared down the day before, eyes focused on the Ring. The others hadn't told him about that part, and Yugi felt his heart soar with hope as Bakura swiftly covered the distance from the harbour, heading into an old warehouse area. Often he would stop, and look around before deciding on a direction, mumbling to himself. Yugi, Tea, Tristan and Joey followed him anxiously, not daring to disturb the thief.

After about an hour of walking, Bakura stopped outside a building that looked abandoned. A lock had been broken up, and faint voices could be heard from inside.

He turned around, eyes falling on the mortal brats standing behind him. He signalled them to follow him and walked a small ten meters away from the building.

"Listen," he said impatiently, voice leaving no room for interrupting. "The pieces are in there. There are around ten people, and I'm willing to bet that they're armed. So, you stay out here while I go get the pieces. Got it?" the others looked ready to protest, but the cold red eyes made their arguments die on their lips.

"Don't solve the Puzzle until we've dealt with all of them," Bakura commanded, giving Yugi a hard look, before melting away in a cloud of purple shadows.

With Bakura gone, they crept back to the opening of the door, carefully peaking inside. The old building was filled with people, and they quickly recognised several of their attackers from the day before. They all sat in a circle, a small portable furnace standing between them.

"How long?" one asked, pointing at the furnace where heat could be seen swirling around.

"Just a few more minutes." the voice of the leader sounded, as he strode into view. Hidden by the door, the thieves could not see the teenagers watching them. Yugi saw Bakura move up from the other end of the warehouse, silent as a shadow. He bit his lip worriedly. What were they doing with the stove?

"I have no use for two pieces of gold in a random shape. But, on a big piece of gold.." the leader laughed, as he carefully placed something in the graphite cup on top of the furnace. A low sound of metal hitting metal reached their ears, and Yugi felt his chest constrict in terror. They were melting the pieces!

"No! STOP!" he yelled, bursting through the door, feeling his friends desperately trying to catch him by the back of his jacket. He didn't care, he would die before letting them hurt Yami!

The occupants jumped up in shock, and then laughed at Yugi's small stature. "What ya know, it's the midget from yesterday - and friends!" the leader laughed, knuckles cracking as Joey and Tristan filled in behind Yugi. The other gang members looked at their young targets with cruel, menacing smiles. Then a hollow 'dunk' sound was heard, and they all turned around.

"Hello," Bakura said pleasantly, an unconscious man at his feet, a metal pipe resting against his shoulder. And then he leapt into action, attacking the shocked gang members who quickly got over their surprise and leapt for the thief.

Making use of Bakura's distraction, Yugi darted forward, kicking the furnace. The two missing puzzle pieces clattered out onto the dirty floor, making an angry hissing sound as the hot metal touched the damp ground.

"Don't touch them! You'll hurt yourself!" yelled Tea from behind him, having followed him into the warehouse despite Bakura's warning. Yugi, despite his ecstatic joy - the pieces! - concluded the same. He would have to wait, until.. a fist connected with his side, and he went flying into the ground.

"Little shit!" growled the leader, as Yugi looked dazed up. "Brought backup, did ya? Too bad ya .." he words were cut short as he was suddenly hurled backwards, Bakura appearing in his place.

"Didn't I tell you to stay outside?!" the thief snarled, pipe swinging widely as he took down another thug. The man went crashing into the ground, screaming and with blood pouring from his mouth. Yugi was feeling sick but felt his temper flare-up. "They were melting the pieces!" Yugi shot back, matching Bakura's anger. The thief snarled furiously, spinning around and returning to the fight behind him. Tristan and Joey had joined in. Tea had grabbed a water bottle from her backpack and was dosing the cold fluid over the burning hot puzzle pieces. Yugi scrambled over to her.

"Can I touch them?" he asked worriedly, eying them with caution.

Carefully, Tea held her hand above the pieces - she'd worked with hot metals before, Yugi knew, in chemistry. He trusted her judgement."...Yes." Barely had the word left her mouth, before Yugi picked them up from the ground. He fumbled to get the incomplete puzzle out of his bag.

Bakura was having a good time, despite all things. He had an honest reason to kick the shit out of these pathetic mortals without getting shit about from either his hikari or the other brats.

Blood rushing, eyes wide and dilated, he looked like somebody who took way too much pleasure at the dull sounds of the pipe making contact with his foe's flesh. Blood had spluttered the left side of his hair, making him look like a deranged psychopath. Which wasn't too far of the truth.

However, he was outnumbered - he didn't count on the two petty children trying to help him.

Grunting in pain, as two had managed to hold him down and a third hitting him violently, he ducked forward, hair hiding his face. It was him against at least 13. Not horrible odds, he'd been in worse fights with the pharaoh's guards back in the day. Breaking free with ease from his captor's grip, Bakura dived headfirst into the one who'd hit him - Ryou would bitch about that in the morning - tackling him to the ground. Bakura, standing up from the now unconscious man, not a second later, looked around to get a feeling of the fight. About half of the gang members were down, and some he noticed in disgust, had fled. His keen eyes found Yugi and Tea not a second later. The morons sat on the ground, surrounded by unconscious bodies. He snorted. 'I have to have a word with the Pharaoh about teaching his hikari some basic survival instincts' he thought with disdain. 'No bloody wonder that damn puzzle got stolen'. Eyes narrowing, he noticed Yugi had pulled out the nearly finished puzzle, and that he had something in his hands. Quickly realising what the absolute idiot was doing, he dived forward, attempting to reach them before Yugi could complete the Puzzle. He had heard stories of the Pharaoh from when he'd just been released. The Puzzle was a container, a vessel (or a prison) for the Pharaoh's spirit. Breaking it meant breaking the spirit, with madness and pure agony to be absolutely certain consequences. He swore loudly - they did not have the means to deal with a psychopathic Pharaoh right now!

"Don't!" he yelled, startling Tea who looked up but Yugi gave no indication that he'd heard the thief.

Bakura was not prone to feeling either scared or disturbed. His sadistic approach to many a horrible situation over the past few millennia had taught him to rarely feel anything above slight annoyance. But still, dread crept up his neck as he watched Yugi complete the Puzzle. He could feel it pulsating angrily as Yugi pressed the reclaimed pieces into place. And Bakura knew in that second that they were in for one hell of a shit show, as a blinding light emitted from the Puzzle.

Smiling in relief, Yugi felt the piece glide into place before quickly placing the chain over his head.

Then, he felt it like he got sucked into a vacuum. All around him dark purple shadows towered up and he felt a moment of incredible cold before he landed back first on the floor. Groaning in pain, he blinked, looking around in panic. He was in his soul room, but it looked wrong - shadows swirling around in the corners, seeping in from the closed door. Closing his eyes, he called for Yami but were met with a cold, silent wall. Yami had locked him in! He got up and ran for the door but before he could reach it, everything turned black and he knew no more.

Bakura swore loudly, as a mass of black and purple shadows shot out from beneath Yugi, creeping across the floor and swopping up, trapping them all in an impenetrable cloud of darkness. A terrible coldness filled the room. The girl screamed in shock, at Yugi fell forward, landing face-first on the ground. Al around them the fight stilled, everybody, looking around with shocked looks on their faces at this new development.

"What's happening?" asked a voice beside Bakura - it was Ryou, Bakura knew without taking his eyes from Yugi's still form.

The two white-haired men had been separated which could only mean one thing.

"It's a Shadow Game," Bakura answered between gritted teeth, trying to get a hold of the situation. The one overall conclusion was that they were royally fucked.

The shrimps two friends were looking around with unease, having no problem identifying just what mess they'd landed themselves in. The girl was shaking the unmoving Yugi - now, that was curious. What had caused the shrimp to faint?

Bakura felt Ryou shift closer to him, as the shadows danced around them, the air cold and damp. Taking hold of Ryou's arm - he had no intention of leaving his hikari alone while stuck in a different dimension - he (and the cheerleading boys) all headed for Yugi, ignoring the panicking gang members - who'd just learned that if they tried to run through the wall of darkness, they'd just appear right where they'd exited - for the time being.

Tea looked up, when Bakura crouched down beside her, staring at Yugi with a calculating gaze. "What's going on? Is this.." she asked, her voice shaking lightly. However, before Bakura had a chance to explain, the air filled with a low, horrible chuckle. It echoed off the walls, swarming around the trapped people who huddle together, trying to locate the unknown enemy.

Bakura ignored the girl, as a faint golden glow from beneath Yugi caught his attention. He flipped the unconscious shrimp over, reaching for the puzzle with the intention to get it off him. A blinding flash and he went soaring backwards while the others shouted in surprise, as he landed hard on the ground a few meters away. Coughing - he'd the wind gotten knocked out of him - he got up, just in time to see Yugi's body get up.

In a sense. Bakura watched with morbid fascination as Yami casually stepped out of Yugi's body, leaving the smaller hikari lying still on the cold floor. Yami had his back to Bakura and the others, as he settled on the ground a few meters in front of his friends although he did not indicate that he'd even noticed them; His attention was exclusively focused on the shaking men in front of him. A low growl sounded, almost inhuman, silencing the deep chuckles. The air around them became eerily silent.

"Pharaoh!" Joey exclaimed in worry. "You alright pal?"

His voice seemed to alert Yami to their presence - Bakura felt like smacking the blond idiot as the Pharaoh looked over his shoulder, with an expression of utmost disdain. The sign of Horus shone from his forehead, and his eyes glowed red, an unknown dangerous gleam dancing around in the dark depths like a raging fire. His mouth was set in a straight line, his eyes trailing over the ones huddled behind him. When his eyes fell on the unconscious Yugi, his mouth turned into a predatory scowl and his head snapped back to the others trapped.

Bakura got up, ignoring Ryou trying to help him, eyes never leaving the Pharaohs still unmoving form. "What's wrong with Yami?" whispered Ryou lowly, sensing the uneasiness from his darker half.

Bakura grimaced in response, as he regarded the new problem. The Pharaoh was poised like a snake waiting to strike, shoulders straight and arms hanging loosely by his side, giving him a distinctive predatory look. His posture held none of the normal confidence he normally strode around with. It radiated chaos, pain and malice.

"He's hurt. When the puzzle shattered, it hurt him." Bakura stated grimly. He had little experience with this particular brand of madness - the Ring couldn't shatter like the puzzle so he had never had the misfortune of having his soul ripped apart. He had suffered under the thousands upon thousands of years of solitude, but Yami had been torn into pieces for just as long. He knew the Pharaoh had been greatly unstable for the first long period of time after Yugi had solved the puzzle the first time - almost a year had gone by before Yami had healed enough to make his presence known to his hikari. And the thief knew that in that year, many people had simply vanished: he had eavesdropped on a talk between Yugi and Ryou some months ago. People disappearing, some going mad, some committed suicide… he almost felt some sort of kinship with the Pharaohs taste in vengeance, so morbidly deranged and destructive.

While the Puzzle had only been shattered for a very short period this time, who knew what kind of effect it'd have on the complex and damaged mind of the human god. Bakura was willing to bet that it was not good.

Yami raised one hand slowly, pointing it at the gang. It shook faintly from the effort, and the skin was deadly pale with a sickly shine to it.

"You have fallen into the realm of demons" his voice was low, hollow-sounding and full of malice. It bounced off the walls, echoing around them. "And I am meaner."

Shadows sprung from his hand with his words, just as Bakura leapt forward. Quickly gathering the unconscious Yugi in his arms and moving back, the thief focused on creating some distance between the deranged Pharaoh and his vessel. The others followed stumbling, not daring taking their eyes off Yami. Settling Yugi on the ground, Ryou kneeling beside them, tending to his friend as

Bakura once again stepped forward, somewhat shielding the young ones behind him. He eyed the Pharaoh with a calculating look. Yami looked positively mad. Eyes too wide, sweat on his brow, the hair even more spiked than normally. The shadows had dived for the humans as Bakura had secured Yugi, and they all screamed in terror as the purple darkness surrounded them.

"What's wrong with him!" whispered Tea fearfully, starring at the Pharaohs back as if she'd never seen him before. "He looks completely insane!" Joey sounded horrified, and Bakura almost laughed at their stupidity. "That's because he is!" the thief snapped coldly. "Now shut your traps so he doesn't decide to grill us too!" "But.." started Tea, only to get cut off by a low hiss from Bakura. "Shut the hell up, or I'll make you!" he snarled heatedly. "If we're lucky, we'll get out of this alive!"

Yami felt positively radiant. Power surging through his body, the heat from it making him shiver and he revelled in the preys terrified screams like it was sweet music. They'd been clouded like butterflies in a cocoon where. He smirked, placing a hand distractedly on the puzzle as he watched his prey with nothing short of hunger.

"The rules are simple," he explained almost pleasantly as he walked toward the trapped men. He walked slowly in and out between them, eyeing each one of them with polite curiosity hinged with barely concealed bloodlust.

"I'll ask each of you a riddle. Answer correctly and you shall be released. You are not allowed to help each other and you are only allowed to answer one time. Breaking the rules or answer incorrectly.. well, you'll find out. Those are the rules." he smiled predatorily at them, tongue running over his pale lips. The leader, shallowing his terror, fought against his binds to no avail.

"What the hell are you?!" he screamed, having troubling breathing, the damp cloud sticking to his lungs like glue. He had no idea what was going on, only that the small innocent looking boy had somehow transformed into... whatever the hell the man in front of him was.

Yami's head tilted slightly to one side. The others couldn't see what was happening, but the men's eyes widened in unspoken terror. Yami's shoulders shook with mirth. "Let's begin."

Looking over his prey, Yami's gaze settled on one of the thugs - Bakura vaguely recognised him as the big lump he'd hit with the pipe he'd used to defend himself not ten minutes ago. The young idiot shivered as the Pharaoh walked up to him, towering over him, face clouded in darkness.

"I'm always hungry and must be fed, the finger I touch will soon turn red. What am I?" the riddle sounded clear as water, but all it did was for the man to whimper in terror.

"It's not fair!" somebody bellowed from behind. Yami simply stared at his prey with manic anticipation. "No." he conceded. "It's not. Like you stealing, breaking my puzzle. That wasn't fair either, now was it, little ones?" he breathed, face looming closer to the terrified thug. "Now, your time is up. Answer me!" the effect could not have been bigger had he shouted. The thug whimpered, and when he didn't answer, Yami smirked cockily. "Game over." he breathed softly.

It happened so fast. One minute the teenager was staring at his captor, the next - with a brief scream - he was gone, sucked away by the shadows. Yami turned to the next one, once again smiling almost pleasantly. "Same question. What am I?"

"This is bad, this is bad, this is bad.." Joey repeated like a mantra as they watched Yami walk from thug to thug, asking his riddle. Sometimes he changed it, sometimes it was the same. Some tried to answer, some were too terrified. Joey held no love for any of them, but still. They deserved prison, not this.. torture!

Eyes turning to Bakura who still stood guard over them, he felt his face settle into a frown. "Isn't there anything you can do? I thought you were supposed to be good as this stuff!" Joey hissed at the white-haired thief. Bakura looked at him with a warning in his russet eyes.

"I am, Wheeler! But a shadow game is under the complete control of the one who summons it! The Pharaoh summoned it, he controls it." Bakura bit out, before turning back to watching Yami in speculation. He was fairly sure by now, that they were merely spectators to the execution. The Pharaoh hadn't looked at them once since starting the game, but he wasted no time looked at the ones trapped, teasing them, whispering small terrors to them, his lips almost touching their ears as he walked by them. If they weren't in the game, there was a fairly good chance he could pull them out of there. Feeling the Ring heat up against his chest, he took hold of it absentmindedly.

With Yami's back once again turned to him, Bakura turned to the others, crouching down. "Okay, listen up," he explained in a low voice as small clouds of shadow smoke swirled around him affectionally, causing the others to look vaguely disturbed at the sight.

"I'm fairly sure we aren't in the game, so I should be able to pull us out without his majesty noticing right away. But, speed is of the essence! He brought us in here with him, meaning there could possibly be some sort of meaning behind it."

"Is he going to kill them?" Tea inquired timidly, her voice hollow. Bakura shrugged.

"Most likely," he replied casually. "Or maybe traumatise beyond repair. It was something he used to excel in, you know, back in the day" watching the teens shift around in uneasiness, Bakura felt a feral grin split his face."Little Yugi has told you about the Pharaoh and his early days, I trust?" Oh, how Bakura loved it. He had heard stories of the punishments dealt out by Yami before he sadly mellowed somewhat due to Yugi's influence. How sadistic, how ingenious cruel punishments he executed on those who'd slighted the little hikari. The delicious violent tendencies weren't buried too deep. By looking into their pale features, Bakura figured they knew, but still... actually witnessing the slaughter was a whole other matter.

"I don't want Yugi to wake up in here." Tea said lowly, voice determined as she regarded Yugi's still form. "It will be difficult enough to explain Yami's actions to him, but for him to see this.. it'll break his heart!" Angry tears forming in her eyes, Tea's burning gaze settled on Bakura's eerily calm expression, his glinting eyes - he enjoyed this, she realised with a shudder, the punishment, the out-of-control Pharaoh.

She angrily wiped the tears from her eyes "How can he do this to Yugi?" she demanded hotly.

Again, Bakura merely shrugged. "I'm not the right one to ask, girl. Was this performed in my honour, oh how I would savour it.." he replied with a purr, the thrill of a true shadow game making pleasant shivers run through him. He more felt than saw Ryou's disturbed look in his direction. These sweet, young people.. they couldn't understand the thrill. Having been locked away for thousands of years, any emotion was beyond delicious, no matter if it was happiness, terror, joy, disgust, anger.. they devoured it.

A faint groan from the ground saved the thief from explaining the finer details of mental torture.

"Yugi!" Both Tea and Joey exclaimed as the young man came back to the world.

"Ugh, my head.." The duelist groaned, holding his head. "What happened?"

"You screwed up, shrimp." Bakura cut in, earning heated glares from the others and a displeased frown from Ryou. "I fucking told you to not assemble the Puzzle!"

Yugi blinked owlishly at Bakura, and then looked around. "We're.. in the shadow realm?" He asked bewildered. "Why?"

"Yami is… unwell." Tea tried explaining, ignoring Bakura bark of laughter. "What do you remember?"

"He locked me in.. And then I passed out. I don't.." Yugi shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He had, however, piper Bakura's interest. "The Pharaoh locked you in? And yet you are out?" He inquired, eyes growing thoughtful when Yugi nodded. "Yes, when I came back, the door was open. My head is killing me though. Where's Yami?"

When neither answered, Yugi turned to Ryou who shuffled around nervously. "Ryou?"

"We're in a shadow game. Or, we're spectators. When you assembled the Puzzle, Yami's soul was reassembled also. However, the experience has left him a little, mhmm, unhinged?" The gentle youth said kindly. "He is on a murdering rampage." Bakura clarified, causing Yugi's face to morph into horror. "Why?" he stammered, looking at his friends. He could not comprehend the image before him: Yami stalking around the thugs like a predator, the golden eye of Horus twisting his features into something grotesque. "He.. he haven't done this is so long, why is he..?" Yugi tried to get up, but his legs gave out underneath him. Joey caught him before he fell, Yugi's gaze never once leaving the horrific display. "We have to stop him! We have to help him!" he exclaimed, trying to free himself from Joey's powerful grasp. Bakura quickly stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

"Oooh, no you fucking don't. We are lucky enough to not be a part of this shadow game, I will not have you push our luck but trying to appeal to his majesty's better nature." Bakura growled. "Which, in case you haven't noticed, is not present at the moment!"

Bakura continued in a low, urgent voice "However, the fact that you've broken through the lock he put on your soul room makes me think that we can, in fact, get out of here." Bakura's eyes glinted in the faint light. "This time, however, you'll all do exactly as I tell you or by the wrath of Petbe I'll string you up by your bowels by myself!"

Pure bliss.

That was the feeling pulsing through his body, as Yami walked around his captives. Eight of them had already succumbed to the game, their cries of terror and despair fueling his resolution with each step he took. There were five left, each waiting for their punishment. He smiled to himself. It was so easy...

His head was pulsing, and he felt short of breath but even then he could see so clearly. "You, my dear, it's your turn to prove yourself." He purred as he stopped in front of his next victim, looking down at the miserable creature snivelling at his feet. "I am dark, nobody can see me. I am very far, nothing can escape me. What am I?"

A faint whimper sounded from his victim, and then nothing. Yami frowned. "Now, that won't do." You have to speak in order to win.." He crouched down in front of his prey, head slightly tilted. "Do I scare you?" When the youth nodded, tears and mucous disgustingly running down his face, Yami tsk'd. "We can't have that." He stated diplomatically, voice almost kind. He started reaching forward. "If I rid you of your eyes, the problem should be solved.." Oh how deliciously the child paled at his words.

"Yami!" Somebody screamed behind him. "Yami, please stop! You are scaring me!"

He knew the voice, and it caused him to falter. With an angry growl at the interruption, he stood, leaving the sobbing creature at his feet. Turning around, he faced the direction of the desperate yell. However, unlike the sweet screams of his prey, this yell irked him instead of pleasing him.

He sneered, the golden eye flashing in resentment.

"You can't stop this game, little one," he whispered, gazing around the swirling purple shadows. "Where ever you are hiding in my shadows, you cannot stop it."

Lifting one hand in silent command, the shadows parted and exposed the children.. and his little light. Yami froze. Yugi was here? Had he been here the entire time? He had to be if he were talking to him... He couldn't.. stop! "You'll do very well be scared of me.! He snarled, hand coming down to rest beside his side as he regained his posture. "This is my domain. I am in control."

"You are not, Yami." Yugi cried. "This isn't you!" Yami frowned at the words as he regarded the group. They looked scared, but in a different manner than the game contesters. He had a faint memory of them, so very far away... it seemed like one was missing.

A movement in the corner of his eye was the only thing that alerted him of the attack. Swiftly turning around, Yami barely caught a glimpse of the thief before Bakura slammed into his stomach head first, throwing him off his balance, causing the two spirits tumbled away in the shadows.

"Now, Ryou!" Bakura screamed as he with his fists attempted to pacify the snarling Pharaoh by holding him down. Ryou, the Ring in hand, shot a worried look toward the struggling pair before closing his eyes in concentration. A bright golden flash, a panicked look in Yami's eyes and the group were gone. The tortured teens too. The spirits were alone. Yami looked around frantically, before returning his attention to Bakura, his eyes absolute aflame with rage.

"How dare you!" Yami screamed, throwing Bakura off him before stumbling to his feet, staring in the direction of his missing prey. He felt his eyes overflow with emotion, the wetness tumbling down his skin. "You.."

"You are completely fucked, aren't you?" Bakura spit, getting up. "Getting to wound up you can't even keep your barriers in check. I'm disappointed, Pharaoh. Look at yourself, so angry you're crying blood.

Yami, shaking with fury, unconsciously wiped his face with the back of his hand, red smearing all over it. He turned to Bakura, red eyes glowing in the faint light. "You robbed me of my game!" He screamed, hands scratching and ripping Bakura's hair and jacket. The thief kept his ground against the unbalanced feverish attacks with barely an effort as they circled each other.

"Spare me the lecture, it was never a game! You cheated!" Bakura barked back as he blocked a particularly hard punch with his arms, tremors shooting through his body at the impact.

That more than anything seemed to throw Yami off his balance, making him freeze for a moment, which allowed Bakura to get close and once again tackle him to the ground. Arms pinned against the ground, Bakura leaned over the struggling god with a solemn expression.

"Prey so terrified it can't answer, that's no game." the thief whispered in disgust, his lips mere centimetres away from Yami's. "That's slaughter."

The Pharaoh's bloodshot eyes stared up into Bakura's, lips forming words that could not be spoken. Legs kicking out behind him, Bakura knew he had to move fast before Yami managed to gain enough control over his magic to hurt him.

"I'm going to regret this." The thief thought wistfully, though a faint tremor of anticipation ran through him as he brought his fist down with all the force he could muster. Yami's head hammered into the ground, blood erupting from his nose. The angry snarl alerted Bakura to the fact that the punch hadn't had the desired effect. "For fuck's sake, just stay down, you idiot!" Another punch sent Yami into the dirt without trying to get up, and a third closed his eyes.

"Finally." Bakura hissed as he nursed his bruised hand. And he watched in satisfaction as the shadows evaporated around them, revealing the sandstone walls of the Pharaoh's soul room.

Standing up and taking a step back, the thief regarded the unconscious Pharaoh with a curious expression. When a few minutes passed and Yami made no indication of waking up.

"Anybody wants a cup of tea?"

Ryou looked over his guests, teapot in his hands, his brown eyes observing the gang of friends in their various state of shock. Joey looked sick, Tea looked terrified and Yugi... Yugi had tears in his eyes and looked like he could break down at any moment. And yet, beneath the sorrow frustration was visible. Ryou knew that look so well, how often hadn't he seen it in his own eyes.

When nobody answered his request he simply filled the cups he'd placed out in front of them. No matter what, a cup of tea always helped.

"Thanks, Ryou." Tea whispered, reaching out for the cup before she leaned back in the armchair she'd occupied. Offering her a smile, he sat down on the sofa next to Yugi.

"Anybody heard from Tristan?" he asked, and both Tea and Joey shook their head. "Not since he texted that he was on his way. The police and ambulance responded quickly. They think it's some sort of drug accident."

Ryou nodded. How could you exactly explain an event such as the one that had just occurred to the authorities? You couldn't. So instead you called them to get help and started spinning the web of lies. He had hoped he'd be done with the lies by now, but not yet.

As on cue, a knock sounded on the door before it opened. Tristan walked into the room, mc helmet in hand and very, very pale. Without question, Ryou poured a cup and handed it to him.

"Thanks," he responded, opting for the floor where he sat down, taking a few sips. Nobody said anything. It had been a couple of hours by now, including the time it took them getting from the crime scene to Ryou's flat. None of them had said much, and Ryou had taken control of the situation. He had plenty of experience to draw on in that regard, he thought bitterly.

It had happened so suddenly. One minute they watched Bakura tackle Yami, the next moment a bright golden light erupted in front of their eyes. Blinking, the gang found themselves back in the abandoned warehouse. At their feet were several unconscious gang members, all looking like they suffered from terrible nightmares.

Shaking his head to clear away the all too vivid memory of the warehouse Ryou looked at Yugi.

"Can you sense him?"

"He's there," Yugi whispered, staring at the Puzzle in his hands. "I think he's still unconscious."

Ryou looked at the Puzzle. His yami was in there too. The Ring felt cold and empty against his chest.

"I don't know what to do," Yugi whispered, caressing the Puzzle with shaking hands. "I thought that part of him was gone, with his memories back and everything."

"Idiot." a new said, causing them all to jump and stare at Ryou. Only it was Bakura who sat the cup down with an impatient movement. "Stupid Ryou, making tea in this situation," he mumbled, mostly to himself but yet he smiled when Ryou voiced his protest.

"Bakura!" Yugi exclaimed. "Is Yami okay?"

Bakura shrugged. "His majesty's still out of it. I don't know when he'll wake up and I figured you fools were most likely spinning all sorts of fairytales out here so.."

"What did you do to him?" asked Joey angrily, which mainly caused Bakura to look at him with one eyebrow raised. "I'm the bad guy? Your-" Bakura pointed at Yugi "precious Pharaoh just straight-up murdered at least five people, and you are worried about what I did to him? Get your priorities straight, pup. I saved your miserable lives."

They all stared at him, and Bakura leaned back, hands fingering absently with the Ring.

"Thank you," Yugi muttered with a small voice. "But, please, why! I can't understand.."

"First of all, you shouldn't have assembled the fucking Puzzle, shrimp! Like I told you beforehand." Bakura shot out, causing Yugi to shrink back. Then the thief surprisingly sighed and ruffled his - Ryou's - hair. "It's not your fault. In a way, it's not even Yami's fault.. okay, listen up." Bakura stood up and paced the room for a bit, eyes on the Puzzle the entire time. He held out the Ring.

"This was my prison for a very long time, and trust me when I say it was hell. That -" Bakura pointed at the Puzzle. "- was Yami's prison for just as long time. But, unlike my solid prison, his can break. Picture this." holding up his hand Bakura conjured a small ball of black shadows.
"This is Yamis mind, soul, call whatever you want to call it." with a movement of his hand the ball fell apart, the pieces shooting in different directions. "When the Puzzle broke, so did Yami. You cannot imagine, I cannot imagine how it feels to have you very being torn to pieces and stored away." partly enjoying their horrified expressions, he assembled the ball again and it disappeared.
"All the times the Puzzle have shattered completely, Yami has lost every sense of his being, resulting in that murderous nutcase you saw earlier. With his person torn apart, his basic nature rules. And, as you saw, that ain't pretty." he smirked sadistically "Just be grateful MY prison can't break." he snickered as a look of horror briefly crossed all of their faces.

"But, Bakura.." Yugi started only to stop when it was suddenly Ryou who stood in front of him instead of the thief. The white-haired hikari blinked, before turning his gaze to the Puzzle. "He went back in..." he muttered. Gasping, Yugi focused his attention back on the Puzzle, face contorted, his violet eyes closed in concentration. "Yami,"

"let me in. Please, Yami..."

"Hear that?" Bakura asked casually, leaning back in his chair, passively observing the room he and his companion currently occupied. It was a nice room. Windows, plants, silks and spices in the air, comfortable pillows and furniture. The thief had materialised right to where he had left the Pharaoh when the shadows had disappeared. Yami's soul room was a true maze, but not that difficult to navigate once you've accepted its basic premise: that you would never understand it.

Being a thief and thus used to navigate places he had no business being in, finding his way around the Pharaohs most inner sanctum was almost laughable easy. Almost.

"That's the sound of little Yugi wondering how you are. You really should go tell him, postponing it will only add to the shitpile of questions your besties have for you." Bakura added in a pleasant, conversational tone, his bright lilac eyes resting on the other occupant of the room.

Yami had regained consciousness just as Bakura had returned. Not just from his passed out state, his actual mind had returned, leaving in its wake a broken shell of a man. Sitting on a divan, covered in silk and soaked in blood from Bakura's not so delicate treatment, Yami sat with his head between his legs, his entire frame shaking with quiet sobs, the wild hair hiding most of his features.

Bakura said nothing, he merely let the deity cry until there was nothing left in him. How long it took he wouldn't be able to tell, it could've been a few minutes or several days. An eerie silence followed the quiet sobbing and they sat in silence for a bit. Bakura chewed the inside of his cheek as he wondered the predicament of the other. The thief didn't care for the dead teenagers, he cared for their existence about as much as.. he couldn't even think of a substitute. He snickered and stood up, stretching as he approached Yami.

"You fucked up. Okay, great talk." Resting his hands on his hips, Bakura looked around the room again with a bored expression. "You are lucky I found this room. Yugi's never been this deep into your room before, has he? Has never dived so deep into your subconscious…" Bakura's voice of tone shifted, to an almost caring tone. He regarded Yami, whose hands had now left his face and rested in his hair. His features were twisted in agony, tears leaving traces in the blood left on his face. The red eyes were glazed over in pain, the lips firmly pressed together.

"This, what you did, it's a part of who you are, Pharaoh. It's hidden most of the time, I grant you that. But this urge to main, to kill, to torture... it's a natural talent of yours, one you have no control over when it resurfaces." Bakura simple stated arms crossed across his chest. "So there's no reason to get so fucking worked up over it."

Taking a deep, stuttering breath, Yami straightened his back, hands resting on the divan. "I know." He whispered lowly.

"I know."

Bakura simply regarded the god, as Yami kept on repeating that one sentence over and over, a content smile gracing his features, eyes gleaming in the golden light.

Authors notes:

Well, that turned out longer than I thought it would. I do enjoy a psychotic Yami. I have this headcanon that Yami is, in fact, a god in his own right. The pharaohs were, after all, regarded as living gods (a simplified interpretation, I know), so it fits nicely in the YGO universe that gods (besides children's cardgames) exist.

R&R.

Petbe: Egyptian god of revenge. Bakura's kind of god, I think.

Riddles:

I'm always hungry and must be fed, the finger I touch will soon turn red, what am I?

Answer: A fire

I am dark, nobody can see me, I'm very far, nothing can escape me. What am I?

Answer: A black hole