This is based of The Game Plan. Some things may have been taken from it, but that's because it was just too cute to leave out. So, here's the first chapter. Hopefully I set up a good enough back story instead of just jumping right into the plot. Have fun!
It was to be the biggest night of his life. The stars in the night sky were shining, the temperature was mild, and Vegas was alive with fresh night life. This was the night that the most highly anticipated casino/hotel/restaurant that Las Vegas had ever seen was to finally open its doors. Yes, the Star of Egypt was opening its Vegas location; and one of the two owners of the hotel, Atem Sennen, was going to see to its birth.
Atem Sennen was the definition of a player. He grew up rich; so of course, he was spoiled rotten. He received anything he wanted with the snap of his fingers. As spoiled and handsome as he was, he was also a huge womanizer. He knew that his looks could melt women into puddles of goo, and he took advantage of that every chance he got. Atem was a height of 5'6, with spiky tri-colored hair, which added a few more inches. The tips started ruby and then gave away to jet black right down to the roots. Blond bangs framed his face while also shooting streaks into the spikes. His clear Egyptian heritage gave him naturally tan skin. The tuxedo he wore only amplified his naturally good looks.
As Atem gazed down at the crowd through his penthouse window, dollar signs filled his eyes. To him, those people were not just guests, no, they were money trees.
"'Ey, 'Tem! C'mon! I got criminals to catch!" Atem rolled his eyes as he sighed.
"You can wait a few more minutes, Marik." Atem said as he straightened out his bow tie. It was then that a tall, muscular, also Egyptian man walked into the room. He, too, was wearing a tuxedo. He had platinum blonde hair that flowed in a naturally crazy way, just like Atem's did.
"C'mon, let's get this party started!" Atem jumped and turned around, not expecting his old childhood friend to actually enter his room.
"Marik! I'm not ready yet! Get out!" Before Marik could make a nasty comment, a shorter man—though taller than Atem—walked in the room and stood next to Marik. This man had white hair and dark brown eyes; also wearing a tuxedo.
"Marik, I told you not to leave the office without your earpiece!" Marik groaned loudly, making his dismay very apparent.
"Why bother? Your preferred method would be to scream my name all the way from across the casino!" The taller security head always knew how to get on Bakura's nerves.
"MARIK!"
"See, just like that!"
"Marik, it's company policy for you to have your earpiece in; remember, you are technically supposed to be undercover." Atem reminded him. While Atem said this, Bakura took this time to install the tiny earpiece into Marik's big ears.
"Testing … testing … can you hear me?" Bakura asked. Marik rolled his eyes.
"Unfortunately, yeah …" The three stood in silence for a moment before it was suddenly broken.
"MAYDAY!" Bakura yelled into the microphone. Marik screamed in pain before bending over due to the intense sound.
"Good god, Bakura!" Atem and Bakura had a good laugh at Marik's painful expense. "When I'm able to get up, I'm gonna kill you both!"
It was just then that a knock came from the suite door. "Are you about ready yet? It's time to open the doors and start making money." A tall, brunette man with icy blue eyes, wearing a black tuxedo said in a very impatient voice. This was Seto Kaiba. Seto and Atem were cousins; they grew up together and promised their fathers that they would continue the business together.
"Almost. Don't worry; I want that money just as much as you do." Atem said, straightening his bow tie. Seto stood in the doorway to Atem's room, leaning one elbow against it and smirked.
"For the amount it took to build this monster of a business, we better get started if we want to make our goal." Atem shook his head in mild confusion. The mumbo jumbo of money and finances were nothing but a foreign language to him.
Seto was the one that took care of all the money: he kept track of budgets, payroll, and so forth. Atem was the one that dealt with the politics. He was the one that held the press conferences and he was the one that employees went to when they had a dispute. Together, they made the perfect team for a major project such as the hotel/casino/restaurant.
"Just give me five more minutes, Seto." The tall brunette rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.
"Fine, but only five!" He turned around and stared at Bakura and Marik for a second. "Shouldn't you two be going through the crowd to make sure no one gets in that hasn't been invited?" Marik gave a mock solute.
"Ma'am, Yes ma'am!" It was then that everyone else left the suite, leaving Atem to finish his outfit. This was going to be the best night of his life.
The night was going smoothly. Everyone was having fun. As soon as Seto and Atem finished giving their speeches and opened the doors, roars of cheers could be heard from miles away.
Bakura and Marik casually surveyed the area, looking for any suspicious activity, but also interacting with the guests to keep their cover from being blown.
The craps table was hosted by Joey Wheeler, a childhood friend of Atem. Joey really knew how to deal cards. His hands moved in the blink of an eye. Being down on his luck, when Atem offered him a job in Vegas, Joey instantly accepted.
"A'right, ev'rbody in or out?" He was also a fast talker. Guests at his table never had to wait long for their turn. It was good to have him on the team … at least in Atem's eyes.
Seto played some of the games with some VIPs at another table. Every time he rolled the die, the people around him would cheer. Being a child genius, he was able to calculate every angle and formula in order to win every roll.
As for Atem, he found himself at the bar, entertaining at least five girls. Some of them were his own waitresses and some of them were just guests. He did not care how old they were, since they had to be at least eighteen to get in, and at least twenty in order to work even at the restaurant. One of the girls, or maybe even all of them, was going up to his penthouse suite with him that night. He had yet to choose who. One of the girls served him a martini while another massaged his right hand, admiring the gold and jewels adorned his fingers.
"Yes, this was the best idea I've ever had. Tell me this isn't the best place in Vegas." All the girls began praising him as if he were a living god, which only boosted his ego.
It was then that he noticed two people walk up to him, side by side. With a flick of his hand, Atem shooed the girls away. The waitresses went back to work and the other girls went to go woo some other tycoon. Once they were all gone, the young man went over to his new guests. "Ah, Mr. Garner and his lovely daughter, Tea."
Off the record, Atem really did not like the girl. He thought that she was a spoiled, promiscuous brat, but then again, so was he so who was he to speak. The fact was that she was an easy lay. To Atem, that was all she was good for.
Putting those thoughts in the back of his head, Atem put on the façade of a gentleman and kissed Tea's hand when she extended it. He silently sent her a message with his eyes, telling her that he had chosen her to accompany him in his penthouse suite later that night. She easily accepted with a smile and slight nod of her head. Taking a stance, Atem straightened out his blazer before he continued the conversation. "So, what can I do for you this evening?"
The little old man smiled. He just so happened to be the owner of Cesar's Palace that w as just down the street; Atem and Seto's competition. "Well, we just came by to see to your grand opening." Atem smirked. 'Liar'. He could see right through that lie; the old man came here to see how he could improve his own crappy casino. "I think that you are doing well." The smirk then turned into a fake smile.
"Thank you, Dear Sir." The young casino owner snapped his long, tan finger and, as if by magic, a waitress, dressed as Cleopatra, holding a tray of small cocktail glasses, appeared by his side. Atem picked up two glasses and took a sip from one of them. "Please, you must try our exclusive Pharaoh's Ambrosia." He said, handing the extra glass to Tea, smirking. "It's my own creation." While Tea took a sip, her father waved his hand in refusal.
"Oh no, I couldn't possibly. My liver is already weak as it is." He chuckled. Atem did as well, only to be polite. "I will, however, sample your cuisine." With that, the little old man was off.
After he was gone, Atem felt an arm snake around his own. He looked over to see her batting her eyelashes at him. He could also tell that she was a little buzzed due to the pinkness in her eyes and the low amount of liquid in her glass. 'God, this woman is such a slut." However, this could work in his favor.
"Atem, how about we go up to your room for some fun." She trailed a finger down his smooth, angular face. It gave him shivers up and down his spine, and not in the good way. He shrugged his shoulders. Oh well, as long as she stated still later that evening, he could deal with her. He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt fingertips groping his left buttocks.
"L-later; right now, I'm going to make an appearance." Anything to get away from this woman. But before he could make his get-away, Tea slid her arm around his once again.
"Oh goody! I'll come with you." Atem rolled his eyes. "I just love meeting new people!" Yeah right. The only reason she wanted to hang on him all night was so that she could make sure that he did not pick someone else. What a diva. Aside from her possessiveness, being seen with him would definitely boost her social status. She only cared about herself. Atem felt as if he were staring at himself trapped in a female body.
The grand opening was a complete success. By the time the casino closed, they quadrupled what their estimate would have been. Seto and Atem were in the elevator that lead to their penthouses. Seto was counting on a wad of cash that was in his pocket.
"Five-oh-one, five-oh-two, five-oh-three …" Atem tapped his finger on the railing.
"Seto, do you have to do that in the elevator?" The taller answered without even looking up.
"I wanna make sure that Wheeler didn't cheat me out of anything."
"Joey's not like that. Especially since he values his job."
"Still, my father always said 'everyone is out to get you. Get them before they get you.' It was one of his favorite sayings." He stuffed the wad of cash back into his pocket. Atem sighed and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger.
"Seto, that was not a saying; that was your father passing his paranoia onto you. And it looks like it worked."
"'Tem, you say 'potato', I say 'bite me'." The younger rolled his eyes again.
Finally, their elevator came to the top floor, where the two cousins lived.
Atem had to admit that he did not want to spend forever in this suite. Until he found a real place to live that he actually liked, this was where he stayed. It was comfortable, definitely good for a bachelor in his twenties. Plus, it was free since it was in the hotel; and he was no longer under the watchful eye of his father. Finally moving away from his father was wonderful, but living down the hall from Seto was a drawback. He wanted a house of his own, but had to stay here for a while to see that the hotel and casino ran smoothly. He had looked for houses around Vegas, but none of them lived up to his personal standards.
Atem unlocked the door to the luxurious apartment and opened it. Everything, from the plasma TV to the silverware he used was fancy and expensive. However, there won object in the apartment that was free. "Khufu, I'm home." He called out.
At the sound of his voice, a blond cat with orange stripes across its back and tail began rubbing against his leg.
"Rowr …" it meowed.
Khufu used to be a stray that kept appearing around the rear of the building while the hotel was being constructed. Atem and Seto kept getting complaints of a cat that was stealing the crew's lunch.
One morning, Atem and Seto came by to start on the interior of the hotel when he saw a cat in a humane trap. The crew was discussing whether or not to give it to the pound or to euthanize it. Being a sucker for animals, especially cats, Atem could not stand the thought of killing the innocent little creature. So he took the cat in. Ever since, Khufu made it clear that he had no intention of leaving. Not that Atem wanted him to.
The young tycoon picked up his cat and stroked its fur, causing a purr to emit from the animal's throat. It was nice just having the place to himself with Khufu. The cat was the only one who never gave Atem any lip. That was what he liked. However, that was not to last because at any minute, Tea would come knocking at his door.
He sighed at his choice, but she was the first one he knew was willing to give it up. She was defiantly not his first choice, that was for sure.
Knock, knock
Ah, there she was now.
The next morning, Atem had a hard time getting Tea out of his apartment. Either she was too dim witted to take the hint, or she simply ignored it. Either way, it was annoying as hell to Atem. "Atem, what do you think about Spring for our wedding?" The young man almost nicked his artery as he shaved when he heard that question. A few nights of rough, meaningless sex and she automatically assumed that they were a couple? Let alone engaged? What was wrong with this woman?
"W-what wedding? I never said"— Tea silenced him by kissing him passionately. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she released him.
" 'Temmie-pie," Atem cringed; he hated that nickname, "you're very successful. Don't you think it's time to take a step further?" Atem's world seemed to stop.
"Where the hell did you get the idea that I'm marrying you?" Tea snickered.
"The way you keep coming back to me tells me all I need to know. Besides," she wrapped her arms around his waist and brought her face close to his, "we'll make such pretty babies together." That did it.
Suddenly, Tea was pushed out of the front door. "OUT!" He screamed before slamming the door, not really caring what happened to her afterward.
Atem scoffed as he stood behind said door with his hands on his hips. "Marriage. What a waste! I have everything I'll ever need right here! He said to himself, holding out his arms. However, he did notice the way his voice echoed and then the silence … not only was it eerie, but it also reminded him of how lonely he was. Sighing, Atem went back to getting ready for the day.
After the morning meeting with Seto, Atem went to the security headquarters, where Bakura and Marik stated that they had caught some suspicious kid—a teenager no older than sixteen—trying to sneak in. The kid had been taken to the interview room, where the two heads of security also used for interrogations. There, Bakura and Marik were already on his case as Atem made his way in.
"Look, Dawg I told'ja I had a 'delivery' ta make." The kid used air-quotes with the word 'delivery', which just made Marik even more suspicious.
"A delivery, huh? Did that delivery involve a trip to the cash desk," He reached under the table, "and swiping the all the cash inside?" The kid scoffed.
"Man, 'dat was just ta pay fo' the 'xpress, know what I'm sayin'?" As the kid leaned back into his chair, Bakura pulled it out from under him, causing the young man to fall and Marik to laugh his ass off.
"What expenses?" The white-haired security head roughly asked.
Before answering, the kid tried to pick himself up. "Hey, wat'sa matta wichu, Dawg? This is po-lice brutality!" Marik pulled the table away from the teenager do that he was left on the floor.
"Don't flatter yourself, Punk; we're just security. So we can do whatever we want." The kid cringed. Bakura could tell that he was about to give them more lip but jumped to the opportunity to speak before the kid could.
"Now, as I said, what expenses? Why here?" Giving an exaggerated exhale, the kid finally gave in.
"Okay, okay. Ms. Banks gave me two-hundred dollars to deliver something to Mr. Sennen."
"Who's Ms. Banks?" The kid mumbled. "What? Can't here you." Marik yelled.
"I said she's my social worker!" Bakura rubbed his chin.
"Where are you from?"
"Boston."
"Why would someone send a teenager all the way across the country to deliver something?" The kid smirked.
"It's something that needs to be taken with great care." Bakura and Marik looked at each other with confused looks.
Behind the two-way mirror, Atem's suspicion began to grow. This kid was beating around the bush. Why would he not tell them what he was delivering? Unless it was something … vital …
After the two heads of security recovered from the seemingly non-believable story they had just heard, they looked at the teenager with hard eyes.
"You expect us to believe that?" Marik's rough voice asked. "That your social worker sent a street kid to deliver something five hundred miles when she could have just mailed it?" The kid started laughing. All the adults, including Atem, were baffled at the sudden ludicrous action.
"Ya cain't mail dis, Dawg; 'less you wanna go ta prison. Ms. Banks just said dat dis 'gift' was left fo' Mr. Sennen. Didn't tell me why, just said ta take it ta dis address." It was then that the kid looked into the two-way mirror, eerily directly at Atem himself, and smirked. "Shoulda been delivered to ya room, Mr. S."
Atem's nerves tightened. He could feel sweat drip down his brow. What had this kid done? Did he plant a bomb in his room? Atem gasped. That was it! There was a bomb in the hotel! He turned to the other security officers. "Evacuate the hotel!" Atem ran out of the Security quarters as fast as he could. "And call the bomb squad!" He yelled over his shoulder.
The guests of the hotel and casino seemed to be baffled as to why they were being escorted out of the building. Some guests were in their pajamas, being woken up from deep sleeps. Then there were some couples that were escorted in nothing but bed sheets. They were not given time to dress.
Atem and Seto thought it was better to keep everyone in the dark until they got to the bottom of the situation. It was also a way of trying to keep the media away.
"Make sure all exits are guarded so the guests don't get back in!" Seto barked. The bomb squad made its way into the hall of the penthouse level. The leader of the squad knelt down in front of Atem's door. He placed his ear against the wooden barrier in case he could hear any ticking. Nothing.
"Okay, boys. On the count of three, we move. Ready?" The rest of the squad nodded and prepared themselves for the worst. "One … two … THREE!" With a powerful kick, the door slammed open, causing a loud, surprised and scared scream to emit from inside the suite.
The bomb squad halted at seeing a small child run into the master bedroom and hide under the bed. The leader of the squad told the rest of them to search the rest of the suite for anything suspicious while he went to get the child.
The leader entered the room and watched as two little feet pulled themselves under the bed. He sighed before lifting up the thick comforter to see a scared little face looking back at him. This had to be the most adorable child he had ever seen; even cuter than his own kids. "Hey, kid, what are you doing here?" The leader asked. No response was given. Perhaps the kid had not heard him. Just as the bomb squad leader was about to repeat the question, an answer came to him.
"I'm waiting for my daddy." The boy fiddled with his fingers as he said this.
After hearing the answer to his question, the leader seemed dumbfounded as to what to do now.
Meanwhile, down at the casino entrance, Atem paced back and forth while Seto stood with his arms folded and his left foot tapping impatiently. Behind the tall brunette, Marik and Bakura kept hold of the suspicious kid. However, the teenager was not about to make it easy for them.
"Dude, can we wrap dis up? I gotta take a piss like ya wouldn't b'lieve!" Marik harshly tapped the teenage boy on the back of his neck, causing a grunt to emit from him.
"Shut up, Punk!" The taller security head responded. Just then, Seto's phone went off. He turned it on without answering with words, then just as quickly turned it off.
"Well, there was no bomb." At this announcement, Atem, Bakura, Marik, and Joey breathed a sigh of relief. Bakura gave the signal that meant that the rest of the security staff could let the guests back into the hotel and casino. But before they could move, Seto continued his announcement. "However, they said that they did find something that you should probably see for yourself."
Atem raised a brow in curiosity. If there was no bomb, what could the squad have possibly found? He then decided to go see for himself.
When the younger owner of the hotel/casino walked into his apartment, a few squad members were inside. They were all standing around each other, talking quietly amongst themselves. Atem felt as if they were looking at and talking about him as if he were still in high school. Finally, the leader of the squad spotted him. "Ah, Mr. Sennen," The leader walked over to Atem, where the homeowner immediately began his bitching.
"What is going on here? You tell my partner that there's no bomb, but you found something else? What is the meaning of this?" The bomb squad leader kept his cool and did not once flinch under Atem's own interrogation.
"Sir, there's a very good reason for why we've called you up here." By this time, the vein in the young entrepreneur's forehead was almost ready to pop.
"And what, may I ask, is that reason?" The squad leader turned around and pointed.
"That."
Atem looked to where the man pointed and gasped. Sitting on his $750,000 leather couch was a small boy with tri-colored, spiky hair—almost exactly identical to his own, only much shorter and without highlights. The boy's short, blond bangs framed his adorable, round face; the color bringing out the rosiness of his cheeks.
But it was his eyes—his large, adorable, round amethyst eyes opened the boy's soul up to whomever looked into them. For some reason, those beautiful eyes reminded Atem of something very special … but he could not, for the life of him, think of what it was.
The boy was dressed in a small orange t-shirt that was covered by denim overalls. His little legs hung off the edge of the sofa with beat-up tennis shoes on his little feet.
Atem felt mesmerized by this boy. If the boy stood absolutely still, he could almost swear that he was looking at a photograph of himself as a child.
"Sir, sir!" Atem was brought out of his trance by the bomb squad leader.
"W-what?" There was a clear look of concern on the leader's face.
"You haven't said anything in like, two minutes. Are you alright?" Instead of answering, Atem looked back at the boy, who looked up at him as well. A weird swelled up in Atem's stomach as his ruby eyes met with the amethyst of the boy.
"Yes … w-who is that?" With a look that practically screamed 'are you kidding me?' on his face, the squad leader looked at Atem.
"We were hoping you could tell us, Sir." This time it was Atem's turn to give the squad leader the same look that he had just received.
"Why would I know?"
"Because he claims to be your son, Sir." For the second time in less than twenty-four hours, Atem's world stopped spinning. This time, it felt as if he could not breathe either. He looked at the little boy, who just waved innocently at him.
"What? This is a joke! I don't have any kids!" Just then, Seto, Marik, Bakura and Joey entered the apartment, making his way through the squad to join his cousin and the squad leader. Relief filled Atem's eyes as he saw his cousin.
"Guys! Will you please tell them that I don't have any kids." Joey shrugged.
"Well, with your behavior, I'm surprised we're not up to our necks in them—
"JOEY!" Seto stood between Joey and Atem, trying to calm his partner down.
"Okay! What kid?" The leader pointed to the boy again.
"That one." The four looked to where the leader pointed and did a double take. His eyes widened at seeing the spitting image that was clearly his cousin.
"Whoa!" Atem pulled on Seto's sleeve, practically in hysterics now.
"Please tell them that I have no children!" The taller looked back and forth from the little boy to Atem and back again. It was pretty hard to argue.
Growing impatient, the squad leader walked over to the boy and sat beside him on the couch, taking his helmet off. He knew how to handle kids. After all, he had four himself. "What's your name, Kiddo?" The boy seemed shy, but eased a little bit when the man beside him removed his helmet.
"Yugi." It was the cutest little voice. Still had the tone of a toddler, but sounded as if he had a very well developed vocabulary. However, Atem snapped, casing everyone, including Yugi, to jump.
"See! I don't know a 'Yugi'! And I think I would have known if I got anyone pregnant!" It sounded as if he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else.
Suddenly, the boy jumped off of the couch and dug into the little backpack that he had with him. He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Atem.
"This is for you." Atem harshly snatched the piece of paper from Yugi's hand, causing the boy to visibly flinch. Yugi went to go sit back on the couch where the squad leader welcomed him.
The younger businessman quickly scanned over the paper. It was a birth certificate.
Name: Yugioh Hikari Moto
Birthdate: June 6, 2005
Atem gasped. It was the names of the parents that surprised him the most:
Father: Atem Samir Sennen
Mother: Miyuki Amaya Moto
Miyuki
Atem had a sudden flashback, ending when Bakura took Yugi's birth certificate out of his hand. "Hey!"
"Wait, isn't this the name of that girl you married a long time ago!" Atem's eyes suddenly filled with hurt and anger as he looked away.
"Married and divorced … we were … too young and … too different." Without even being told, Seto could tell that the subject of Miyuki was still a fresh wound in Atem's heart. The younger shook his head to rid himself of thoughts of the past. "But that was six years ago! If she had a kid, it's not mine!" As Seto stared into his cousin's eyes, he was not the least bit convinced. He turned to look at the boy on the couch.
"Kid, how old are you?"
"Five."
"Congratulations, Atem." Seto said, turning back to his business counterpart while smirking. Atem clutched his head with his hands, and stomping around in circles. He was starting to get a migraine.
"No! No, no, no! HE'S NOT MINE!"
"Now honestly, Atem, is this the kind of example you want to set for your son?" Bakura and Marik laughed in the background. Atem pointed to all of them.
"Shut up!"
"Oh, come on; there's no denying he's yours. I mean, look at 'im," Marik went over to Yugi and pulled the child to his feet, "he looks like he was pulled out of your ass." Seto and Bakura laughed at Atem's expense again.
"Yeah, 'cause if he's not yours, than you must have been cloned; there's that much of a resemblance!" The four laughed again. That was the final straw. Atem's short fuse had gone out.
"Alright! All of you, OUT! GET OUT!" Still laughing, Atem's four friends and the rest of the bomb squad filed out of his suite. Atem slammed the door behind them. "Oh, I've got a migraine …" He plopped down on the hard leather couch with his hand over his eyes. It was not long before he felt a tap on his shoulder. "WHAT?" He practically yelled. Opening his eyes, Atem saw Yugi staring at him with those large innocent puppy eyes that he just naturally owned.
"Can I go potty?" Atem exhaled loudly and just dropped his head back onto the bed.
End of Chapter