The Shiz - This is an extremely dark, Manjyome P.O.V. one-shot. Written the morning after I re-readDescendants of Darkness Vol.2(Arc: The Devil's Trill) and finished when I completed thoroughly reading Death Note Vol. 1. Not that anyone particularly cares, but pfft.

And, for anyone that's wondering, my spell- and grammar-check isn't working until further notice. Sorry, luffs ..

Warnings - Dark themes, character death, spoilers.

Disclaimer - Uh, yeah. Wish me luck on that.

Desperation can drive one so far.

I sold my soul to a demon quite recently.

He came to me in a dream - I had been having these sorts of dreams ever since I had lost that first duel to Juudai. I had been having them, swirling in my head, just faint whispering wishes - I knew that those were not the real thing. They came more frequently to me following my second defeat, but I ignored them; at the moment, I had the backup, the group, the companionship that I thought beating Juudai would give me. But then... Asuka denied me. Claimed that my love for her was hopeless, and she had destroyed me in that duel without a second thought as to whether my feelings were true.

I think she liked Juudai, and that made the dreams become more tangible.

He came to me the night after Juudai's duel against Kagemaru. He was a great beast, and I almost thought he was the great god Seiryu - not that anyone in Japan has really, honestly honored those Gods for a while - come to punish me for some crime that I might have commited. But he could not have been Seiryu, for though he a dragon, so large and magnificant, he spoke in the sneaking tones of a demon born for the underworld, and he offered me things that I did not believe anyone could be so allowed to offer. He said that he would give me my foundest wish, if I agreed to his plans, and I would give him my soul to do as he wished with after my dreams were fulfilled. I was frightened, to tell the truth - he had the long, snaky body that was charcoal black and wings so red that seemed to be dripping blood, and his eyes were so deep brown that I thought that they were the burned ashes of bodies in Hell. He was a great beast, comparable to a leviathon - and I nearly did not accept his offer, so scared was I that he would eat me alive the second that I had agreed.

But I said first, "Even I do not know my greatest wish - why would I trade my soul for something that I don't even know of?" though I knew I was lying. I knew what my greatest wish, as did he, and I had a feeling that I would very well condemn my own soul to the deepest pit of Hell if I could become the winner in this single lifetime, even this very semester in Duel Academia. If I could win her heart and obliterate Juudai, prove how much better I truly was, I would agree to this demon's promise in a heartbeat. If he could guarentee that my wish would come true, then all would be settled between me and this demon.

"You wish to defeat this Yuuki Juudai, the one that has taken away your love, you human - you wish to be the best, to prove to your brothers how much you are really worth to them, do you not?" inquired the demon, but I knew he was sarcastic for he had a grin over his features that was so self-confident I felt as if I must have been looking into a mirror. "I can make you so much better than this Juudai, and you will have what you want - your dominance over him."

"But what about Tenjion-kun?" I demand, for defeating Juudai will get me nowhere if I do not have Asuka's hand.

"Shouldn't you be able to win her heart once you win over Juudai? There would be nothing to envy in him. You would be the envy, the one that would be desirable."

So I agreed to the deal and he imprinted his contract into my very spine. It hurt, and it would hurt forever after that - but I would grin and bare it and I would finally have all that I have longed to have.

I woke up that morning, my spine going through limbo and the contract I had made with the demon so deeply imprinted on my conciousness. I knew that that one dream was real, that I would finally have what I wanted. I quickly got out of my too-small room, and demanded that Juudai give me the duel as I wanted - the pompous little fool suspected nothing, always desiring a fun duel against his friend Manjyome-kun. I did not even bother to correct - soon enough, he would correct himself out of fear from the dominance that I would soon hold so dearly above his cowering body.

I told him of my dream - and of the requirements that would bind my victory over him. It was so precious, so grand to see him scared. He had insisted that we stop now, and go to the church on the furthest reaches of the island and try to pray my soul back from the clutches of that vicious demon, the one he claimed must have "tricked" me into doing that dastardly deed that bound my soul to the deepest circles of Hell. Most people in my position, the ones that realized what they had done in the very light that I had, would have been frightened - sobbing and crying and begging forgiveness from God so they could be rescued. But I was not frightened - if anything, I found myself elated. I cackled at Juudai's one-mindedness, and with no witnesses but God and that demon whose words tricked my soul into his possession, we started out duel.

I can tell you know - it went brilliantly. I crushed him, though he could not count this tale to you and at the moment I cannot be bothered to tell you the details, and he is currently incapable of doing anything, to tell the truth. He is currently residing in the hospital, locked into a coma, but I'm sure that he had the wits scared out of him the entire way through, as short as it had been. I thought that Asuka would have been enthralled - the demon promised me that with Juudai out of the way, there would have been nothing left for her to envy in the Osiris scum known as Juudai.

But no - she was not pleased at all.

She screamed at me, in high-pitched tones, declaring aloud that I must be possessed by some devil from Hell, that I had done a sinful deed. I was scared by all of this, more scared than I had been when I ad been confronted by that demon with the wings of blood and the eyes of Hell's ashes. I was fearful of Tenjion-kun's admonishment - did she not understand? Could she not realize that everything that I had done had been to prove to her my love was true? So it was not pure - I would admit to that. It was mostly lust, the lust I had for her personality, for her ever-shining love, but it was real and lasting and I knew that I would always be by her side if she would stop shoving me away. She had been the first one to discover Juudai - I had not been the one to take him to the infirmary as he happened to need to be taken.

She had thought I was some demon. Me? A demon? Of course not. Possessed? I didn't believe so...

I ran and I ran, frightened of the things that I had done. I had condemned Juudai, though I would not like to admit that even despite the feeling that finally being ontop had given me, I was ashamed of the deed I had committed. Though would be no reassurance in that I had proven myself worthy to be a member of the Manjyome Group - what good does it do one to do such a thing if I had destroyed my only chance with Tenjion-kun in the first place and that such a lively young boy would never awaken because of my deeds. Gods, I wanted to pray for my forgiveness - but that was hopeless, and I did not do things so hopeless. Only one thing could help me atone for my sins, and it was exactly what I was going to do now.

I ran to the furthest reaches of the island, somewhere that no one would get to me before I was dead. I stared off of the very edges of the cliff, my boots sitting at the very edge were the merest startle would push me off onto the dark abyss of the ocean below me. I stared, and then the demon appeared to me once more - the creature pushed its way out of my spine, tearing threw my clothing and the blood poured and poured and somehow I was rooted into place, and there was no way that I could have stayed still had it not been by the grace of God - or the condemnation of a sadistic beast of Hell. His form was more frightening now; I am uncertain on how to describe his massive form, now. He looked exactly the same, now, but his smooth scales had turned into deadly spikes and his eyes were no longer the ashes of burned bodies, but the fire that had destroyed their forms and their very souls within.

He was proud, and he grinned at me with that so familiar grin, and he spoke in the tongue of demons and I understood every word. He spoke of the crimes I had committed, both against Juudai, Askua, my soul, and God himself - and he told me everything that I already knew but it made it so much more final than it had been only mere moments before. The demon told me what I must do now, to make the deal complete - of course. He couldn't take my soul if I was still alive, right?

I was soaking with the demon's blood and my broken spine before I crashed against the rocks below me.

Game over.

Winner: Yuuki Juudai.