Return of the Kings

Chapter 1

Pain ripped through his body, shaking his bones and boiling his blood as the concrete tore at his skin and clothes. Air burned his lungs and darkness threatened to steal his vision away, creeping in from the sides as the world faded and blurred. His muscles screamed in protest, his body begging for him to give in but denied it the luxury. He couldn't give in now...

"Just die Moto! How selfish can you be?!"

Another scream escaped his lips as pain blinded him. Tears melted down his cheeks like streams of hot water and his head threatened to crack open like a melon. He grabbed at his head in a vain attempt to contain the pain but it was within him, erupting like a volcano beneath his skin.

The pain ebbed away as his hands lost their strength and he fell limply as gravity's fingers wrapped around his body and his energy sapped away. He closed his eyes, welcoming the cold relief washing over him and accepting the darkness as it faded to an overwhelmingly bright light.

His energy returned and he found himself somehow standing. His wounds were fresh on him, his body bruised and broken but he wasn't in any pain. He felt nothing, even when he touched the gash on his forehead still wet with blood.

Looking around him he saw an endless void of white. No sky, no floor, no walls...just white space.

"Yugi?"

His heart clenched tightly as the voice sang behind him. Did he imagine it? He must have... unless....

He turned on his heel to see the owner of the voice. The familiar silhouette of the tricoloured god stood not too far off, watching him in stunned awe.

"You..." The word rolled off his lips but as it did his surroundings convulsed and pain erupted through his body once again, gripping him in an immense embrace that caused him to scream again.

When he opened his eyes again he was back in his city, writhing on the concrete as the man stood over him, grinning wildly in delight as Yugi screamed and squirmed in agony.

"Not much more... soon you will die and the world will be saved." The man growled hungrily.

"Why... don't you... just ... do it?" Yugi cried as he clawed at his chest and hair.

"Because what you bring about deserves to be punished." The man said as he kicked Yugi in the ribs violently. He recoiled, groaning as he coughed up blood. It hurt but compared to the torture he'd been enduring it felt almost empty.

Closing his eyes he found himself in the field of white again, huddled over on his hands and knees. His vision came in and out as he gazed at his own hands, turning white from the strain.

"Yugi what is happening?" The man beside him asked gently, in a voice as smooth as silk. He touched his back and shoulder and immediately he felt warm in those places. The rest of his body grew cold and he shuddered. The familiarity with him tore down whatever foundation he had left and he felt himself crumbling from the fear and realisation of where he was and what was happening.

"I- I'm dying." Yugi cried weakly.

"Yugi tell me what is happening, please." Atem urged him. His voice dripped with concern and impatience strong enough to shake him from his stupor.

"I - My colleague... I think... he ... ah... Ah." Yugi stammered with difficulty as he was being pulled away again.

He breathed in fire, choking on the air that felt like razors down his throat. His eyes felt as if they were leaking down his cheeks and his heart felt as if it had been wrung. Pain split his skin, oozing through every pore and threatening to splinter his bones.