CuteYami: Basically, this is like a response to Tragedyluver's 'Tortured Screams'. May contain Darkshipping, Heartshipping, both or neither later on. But it definately contains lots of gore, violence and swearing.

Chapter 1-Alone
Cries. Screams. It was all the same. The bloody abyss all around him, there was no-one to help him. He was alone, just him and his enemy.

"Come on, you know you love it" the demon cackled.

Another rip of flesh. Another spurt of blood unleashed. Another combined cry and scream of fear and pain. Abandoned. Alone. Dead.

"You know you do".

Rip. Another torn fragment of flash fell, sobs followed. Blood spurted from his mouth. Why? Why had this happened? It hadn't been that long since he had lost his world anyway and now this unbearable torture followed. His eyes were dull and hollow. His voice worn away from his collapsed throat. And this was it. What was once a proud man was reduced to nothing more than a whimpering corpse. His wrists and ankles bound by thick chains, he hung limply from what was now his eternal prison. He glanced up, his heavy head hanging parallel to his shoulders, he could only hang like a pitiful toy - that was what he was, that was what he was doomed to be. Fate had left him to rot like this. Fate had never truly liked him, it had always stuck him in the middle of wars, ever since childhood his life had been falling apart and now he was reduced to this. Zorc was his master, his torturer and he enjoyed every millisecond of his victim's pain. He glanced at the pale bony hands, the flesh may as well have not been there, it was already white and covered in blood stains. He cupped his smaller than usual claw under his victim's chin, lifting the head, matted hair hid away the edges of his head, Zorc grinned, he was now a human-sized being, human-shaped himself. Blood, tears, they ran down the face of the exhausted captive, it pleased Zorc to see him in such a state, it was almost unnatural.

"Say something".

The shredded, torn lips, skin hanging loosely, try blood coating them shut, Zorc growled at the defiance of the boy. His loosely cupped hand tightened around the chin, the boy glared in pain, the bone popped, a deformed cry. Zorc then noted what had happened, he had dislocated the jaw, he popped it back, another groan of pain. This was how it always went. The corpse before him shivered, racked with pain, frozen from the massive amount of blood loss over the past years. Zorc instead slashed at his face, another whimper of pain left the broken lips. He glanced at the water not too far, that was the way he survived, every few days, Zorc would allow him the basic nourishment his body required, even here in the Spirit World where they were. Zorc growled before lifted the container, similar to a bottle which had ones that had once homed fizzy drinks, the water rushed into his demolished throat. Droplets trickled down his chin and dropped onto the floor, it didn't matter, his lips felt wet again, his throat stung from the new substance entering the body, passing the internal wounds. His stomach growled and gurgled, not even he knew, Zorc glanced down at it, the lack of nourishment had led to a collapse, but it hadn't carried out the threat it so often gave. As the chained boy relinquished the water, he gasped for air, he stared at Zorc who stood equal to him, the chains kept him from the ground, he hung a feet or above the ground.

"Should we play our little game?" Zorc suggested.

That damn game. He hated that game. He'd be released and given a head-start, trying to find a way out, but Zorc would always catch him and torture him more. The only things he hadn't gone through were being raped and dying - dying out of existence, their location already where the spirits of the dead would gather. He groaned as his racked throat attempted to muster something, Zorc always loved this, he loved to see this pathetic prisoner try and piece together words. Sometimes they were pleas, sometimes they were threats, but mostly he would call weakly in vain for his best friend. His partner. His 'Aibou'. His 'Hikari'. Zorc moved the blonde hair out of the way of his eyes, blank, dead, cold eyes, void of the sparkle of life they had once had when he was alongside those he loved, dry tear trails found their source there, Zorc wondered what would go through his mind when he could muster the strength to utter a single word.

"Ai...bou..." he whispered. "Yu...gi..."

Zorc sighed, there it was, the useless cry, the silent plea to his partner, the tri-coloured haired boy before him was none other than the reputable spirit that had gained such a high ranking with the above Gods. He was Atem. He was Yami.

"You know he'll never hear you Pharaoh".

Yugi's eyes snapped open, sweat, panting, fear, he shot up, looking around as though someone had just tried to kill him in his sleep. He looked around, the living room. Darkness. He must have fallen asleep in his world of thoughts. He swung his legs around, his shoes stamping against the ground. His slim fingers dove into his hair, sweat pouring down his face.

"Pharaoh" he muttered.

It had been three full years since the day he had last seen the Pharaoh. The duel had been over, he had been claimed victor and the Pharaoh's spirit had been freed. But judging by these dreams, his freedom was torture. Either that or Yugi's overwhelming regret over sending the Pharaoh away was eating away at him. In the first months after the Pharaoh's leaving, Yugi had been all over the place: screaming, crying, pleading, threatening, hiding, masking it all, suicidal, it had all been in vain. Nothing he had done could have brought back the Pharaoh, no matter how much. In the last two years, he had continued life without his family, his Grandpa also gone on, moved beyond what Yugi had known and into the new world following his best friend. Yugi now lived alone in the game shop in which he had been raised. His friends often offered support, but Yugi denied his need for a social boost. Now nineteen years, Yugi had almost completely shut himself away from the world, hiding in the shadows of the home that he had lived in with his family.
But since the leaving and accepting that the Pharaoh wasn't coming back, Yugi had been through hell, literally. His sleep would take him into strange dreams, nightmares, ones where he would enter hell and seen his yami. Unsure what they meant, he would see the Pharaoh partner chained to the edge of a secluded cave, nothing around as far as he could see. And Zorc would be there, punishing him, torturing him, cutting him open and feeding on his pleasure. Sometimes, he'd try to intervene, but it proved fruitless, even the first time when Zorc had almost broken his identical friend in two, Yugi himself had tried to sacrifice himself, but Zorc just passed through him, slicing open the Pharaoh's abdomen, screams and cries had exploding from the Pharaoh's throat just as the blood exploded from his body. Yugi had seen it with his very eyes, but he could only imagine what the Pharaoh was going through, his internal organs displayed to him, beyond the bones that pierced the torn flesh. At that point, Yugi had woken and thrown up, bile always rose when he had seen these, he had always been left sickened and disturbed. Three years, at least one every few nights, he would see these visions, but what could he do? Even if they were real, he had no way to help the Pharaoh, he was in the Spirit World and Yugi was still living - the only way to save him was a Good Samaritan or for himself to perish. But that could take decades, the Pharaoh's spirit, his soul, his mind could be torn to shreds, utterly destroyed and discarded in the carnage that was his hellish life in the Spirit World. But how had he ended up with Zorc? These were the questions that haunted Yugi in the early hours of the morning when he would awaken.

"Oh Pharaoh, tell me they're just me missing you" he sobbed, his hands pressed over his face, running up and down. "Tell me you're fine and that isn't happening".

He rose from the plush sofa, walking - or rather stumbling as if drunk - tiredly to the phone, he dislodged it from the hook and pressed it against his ear, dialling in the number, this was a common practice now, he just prayed the other wouldn't hate him for it.

"Hello?" the British accent on the other side yawned.

"Ryou, I'm sorry about this" Yugi sobbed.

"Yugi?" Ryou asked. "What's the matter?"

"It was those dreams again" Yugi cried, wiping away the tears from his face, his attempt at trying to sound composed already fallen apart.

"What happened?" Ryou continued.

"It was Zorc again, he was torturing the Pharaoh-I mean Yami" Yuugi muttered shakily. "He kept digging into Yami's body, there was blood everywhere. And screaming. And crying..."

"Yugi?" Ryou repeated.

Yugi cried out desperately, he had never been so scared and alone, before there had always been the Pharaoh watching over him, guiding him. But that was three years ago and since then, Yugi had almost come to terms with life without the Pharaoh around to take care of him.

"Oh Ryou, you have to help me!" Yugi wailed. "I can't stand it! If he's being tortured in the Spirit World - if he's being hurt - I have to know!"

"But how are you going to get there?" Ryou asked.

"I don't know. There has to be someway to see Yami" Yugi cried.

"Hang on, I'll come over, maybe we could see if Destiny has some kind of ability to send you there for a while" Ryou suggested.

The line died as Ryou threw the phone down hurriedly, Yugi wiped away the new tears, he couldn't stand to be alone anymore. He had chosen to hidden away from the world, but his shattered heart was beyond the repair that society could offer, he needed the Pharaoh - he need Yami, Atem, whatever he was choosing to call him - back.

"Pharaoh, I beg you. Send me a sign. A real sign that you're alright. Come to me in a dream, don't just hang there" Yugi pleaded, tears rushing down his cheeks, uniting on his chin before falling, falling forever.

It hadn't been long since his friends had noticed the change in what was their sweet innocent Yugi, he'd hide away from them, avoid the phone, disappeared from their homes on the Internet. It was like all trace of him had disappeared along with the Pharaoh that had been so close. Yugi had noted the mask the Pharaoh had worn, one of strength, one of joy that his spirit was able to return to where they believed it to belong. But Yugi had seen the crack in the mask, just before stepping through, when Anzu was pleading with him to stay and how they would miss him, he had hidden his eyes under the bright almost non-existent shadows that been made on his head from his blond bangs. Yugi had known it, Anzu may have known it, Joey may have noticed. Those closest to him, the ones pleading that he stay had all been joined in the knowledge that he had tears in his own eyes during the leaving of the real world. But that departure was supposed to give him peace at last, but that had not been his fate, Yugi;s dreams indicated the entire passing had been a trap, that Zorc had captured the Pharaoh's soul and now used it as the toy he had long to use him as.

A quarter hour passed before the knock that Yugi had longed for arrived, he jumped up and paced slowly to the door, turning the knob and opening it to reveal Ryou standing in the dead darkness of night.

"Yugi, I came over as soon as I could" Ryou muttered.

"I could tell from the way you threw your phone down" Yugi responded, not a hint of gratitude, but not a hint of annoyance.

"You don't understand Yugi. This can't be happening" Ryou sighed as he entered, Yugi closing the door behind him.

"Why not?" Yugi asked.

"Because. The Pharaoh's in the Spirit World, you're not. You're here in the living world" Ryou recapped. "I doubt a message or a vision or anything could get through, imagine the distance".

"Ryou, I'm not here to play about. I need to find a way to get to the Spirit World without killing myself" Yugi mumbled. "But if I must die to save Yami, so be it".

"Yugi" Ryou gasped, turning to Yugi with surprise, staring at Yugi, his hazel eyes wide with shock at such a statement.

"Ryou, it's worth it" Yugi muttered. "Yami would die for me and he nearly did a couple of times. I can't just leave him there, he's saved me and I saved him and he saved me back. It's not keeping score and it's not that I owe him to even things up, he's saved me more than I've saved him. But I owe it to him".

"I don't understand" Ryou whispered.

"Before Yami, I had no friends. I was always alone. He came along and then -bam - I had a life" Yugi claimed. "Our Millennium Items united us and the others and now he's gone, I still have that life, it didn't disappear along with him. But if he's in trouble or in pain, if anything's wrong with him, I have to help him. He gave me my life when I threw it away, now I have to give him back his life. I don't think he was bound for the Spirit World. I think he belonged here more. And this just proves it".

"But Yugi" Ryou exhaled. "You can't help him without dying. It's the only way through to the Spirit World and then you can't come back".

"Maybe not" Yugi chirped.

A smile appeared on his face, at a time like this, it puzzled Ryou. Yugi had grown in depth and secrecy over the past three years, without the Pharaoh to give him a push, he had faded as he had before, but his friends had remained by his side; hoping, waiting for the day that Yugi would return.

"What are you thinking?" Ryou asked.

"Destiny knows a way I can get there. We all know" Yugi choked, holding back the tears of the painful memory.

"What do you mean?" Ryou questioned.

"You know" Yugi muttered, tears sliding down his cheeks again. "The doorway".

"What?" Ryou asked, "But you'd need the Millennium Items, they're gone".

"Not necessary" Yugi replied confidently, tearing braking as they were thrown from his eyes. "Destiny knows where they are. Ishizu said they had served their purpose, she never said they had been destroyed. Please Ryou. You have to help me, don't make me go through this alone".

Yugi held Ryou's hand, pleading him, staring at him with those large tearful eyes, despite the years that had passed, he could still pull off that innocent look.

"Yugi" Ryou whispered.

"Ryou, please. Help me. Help Yami" Yugi sobbed.

Ryou smiled gently, tears building in his own eyes, he gripped Yugi's hand, Yugi smiled back weakly, Ryou nodded to show his loyalty, after all, he too had lived with a yami inside his mind, he knew the attachment that one got with a Millennium Item, despite the nature of the yami inside.

"I promise Yugi. I won't abandon you" Ryou muttered. "I'll help you. But you know, the others are going to want to help too".

"Yeah, I don't mind how many people help, I just want to see Yami again. To hold him and tell him its going to be alright. To save him from his fate" Yugi choked, more tears sliding down his face, his attempts at holding them back failing like a weak dam.

Ryou pulled Yugi to him, the smaller tri-coloured haired boy was surprised when he found himself against Ryou, the British companion rubbed his hair gently.

"Let it all out Yugi. You need to" Ryou whispered.

Yugi cried out, tears flooding his face, cries evolving into screams of despair, Ryou closed his eyes, his own tears from feeling Yugi's pain slid down his own cheeks, dropping into Yugi's hair and the smaller one wailed in emotional agony.

The Pharaoh also cried out in agony, but not emotional, his agony with everything, Zorc punched his left cheek, his head snapping to the side as the fist collided with him. He sobbed with his head thrown aside, facing the abyss to the side of him. No-one was here, no-one was ever going to be here. He was alone. Doomed to serve this purpose for all eternity, trapped in his hellish fate, stuck were his spirit 'belonged', that was it, he belonged there, to be tortured without even his friends by his side to help him, that made sense. His mental sarcasm would never help though, it was just there, nagging at him from the inside, snapping at him for not trying harder to stay with Yugi, for not telling Yugi he wanted to stay. He could remember the cries of Tristan and Anzu as they begged, pleaded for him to stay. Joey however was able to let him go, Yugi had never been identified with either side. He had wanted Yami to stay, but upon hearing Joey's words, he had allowed Yami to slip away. Tears slipped down his face, following the trickling blood, his fate had been sealed the moment he had allowed Yugi to win. He wished he could see them: Yugi, Anzu, Joey, Destiny, Vicky, Mana. Just have his two lives collide for a moment so he could see them all together, just for one last time before his spirit was shattered and his soul perished. It was true, his soul was dying, when Zorc was done, he'd be nothing more than a emotional corpse, wandering the Spirit World, searching for his heart, his mind, himself. He could imagine the responses to that, Yugi would be devastated, but then again, he was no longer Yugi's problem. Yugi had his own life to worry about. Yami's mind pictured the world, safe, peaceful and happy without him. The gang would carry on as if he had never existed, all happy, his sacrifices would have paid off. Yugi. Joey. Anzu. All happy. All content with their lives.

"Yugi" he muttered.

He could imagine Yugi in Duel Monster tournaments, carrying on the legacy that Yami had created by taking over the young one's body and duelling for him. Now independent he would shine above the rest and defeat the like of Kaiba on his own, happy, loved and at peace. This was what life without Yami was meant to be like, the Pharaoh had only brought trouble into his life. Friends maybe, but trouble more than anything, Yami smiled at the thought of the others happy, whilst he was here, alone, pained, tortured. He didn't matter anymore, he liked the others enough to give up everything for them, but his smile soon faded, wondering if they remembered him at all, tears ran down his face, ones of loneliness, ones of abandonment.

"Yugi" he sobbed one last time before his head fell lower than his shoulder and he allowed the darkness to swallow him.