Chapter One the Muted Ego
After the duel between Yugi and Atem
The pharaoh bowed his head to his pale, shorter doppelganger, the little guy had set him free. Absolute freedom meant that he now had no purpose on this earthly plain anymore, the dark powers had been locked away and thanks to the Isthars would never threaten the stability of the world ever again. Seto was still in shock as he stared at the man who had repeatedly humiliated him, how could he lose to such a weakling? Seto thought, he was more embarrassed by this loss than he had been by all the loses he suffered at the nameless pharaoh's hands over 8,000 years.
They had shown how Seto became pharaoh but they had not shown that epic duel between Seto and Atem where he had crawled out from his eternal slumber and decided that he wanted his kingdom back. Surely this moment was when Seto's heart darkened and he had lost faith in humanity and thus the heart of the cards. What everyone was feeling was confusion and yet Marik had a wide smile on his face. This bothered Seto, he only ever saw the man smiling when he was burning Mai alive in that duel which had cost him a large court settlement.
Atem exchanged a puzzled look with Seto, he did not want to depart, he had his own body now and he could finally live like a normal boy with no responsibilities. He had a sizable fortune which meant he could let loose and live like Bruce Wayne without the cape. It seemed weird that the tomb keeper was smiling, they are not supposed to show emotion which probably explained their high suicide rate. He was not going to waste his last moments explaining ancient Egyptian etiquette.
Tea was holding Yugi's hand, good for Yugi he thought. Yugi would tell him for hours how much he liked her. Yugi was now the number one duelist in the world, bigger than him and bigger than Seto. After this Seto would surely get wasted, that little weakling beat the strongest duelist of all time. Seto also wanted to drown out memories of the times over 8,000 years where they had casual sex. Yugi yelled at him last year for using his body to hook up with Seto during the Dartz saga and that time during the Pegasus saga when he was really stressed out about his brother. Kaiba spent the next week screaming "I'm not gay!" Atem responded "Neither am I but you have to admit we're friends now." Kaiba just rolled his eyes and agreed because admitting they were friends was much better than the alternative. After Pegasus he picked up a lot of women and felt secure enough to be an ass again. It was perfectly natural for two men who were friends to have sex here. Seto was into bondage, he was fun.
The pharaoh waved to his friends and walked into the gate. There was a gigantic, glowing light that shined for 30 seconds. After the light faded, the ground started to shake, Yugi and his friends hurried out of the temple which was collapsing around them. Tea looked sad "Tea what's wrong?" Joey asked
"This is the end of all of our adventures." Tea said
"Look on the brightside now we don't have to worry about anyone trying to kill us with a trading card." Joey said
Kaiba saw his Blue Eyes helicopter and he jumped on "At least I will never have to see any of you losers again!" Kaiba said trying to mask his sadness with his mean attitude.
Yugi and his friends managed to find a diner after getting out of the vast dessert. Joey and Tristan ate like pigs while Tea and Yugi discussed their feelings. Joey decided to finally call Mai up. The last time they were together he was a character witness for her lawsuit against Kaiba Corp. Kaiba repeatedly belittled him on the stand making jokes about his IQ.
Kaiba was in his office, he was setting up his Duel Monsters school which the judge ordered so that young duelists would know how to play duel monsters properly. The judge was really mean to Kaiba but what could he expect from a woman. She screamed at him for his utter disregard for human life blah blah blah. Mai only got 100,000 American dollars because that is all Joey filed for, he forgot to put in the sixth zero. Dumbass!
That night Joey and Mai went to a fancy restaurant and Joey actually ate normally. Tristan invited Bakura over and they decided to give their relationship another shot. Last season when Mai was trying to kill Joey, Tristan played the role of jealous boyfriend. He realized that he was in love with Joey and dumped Bakura but after talking with Joey it was clear that it would never happen. Bakura had gotten into artschool because his alter ego was a masterful painter. In Tristan's experimental phase he enjoyed casual sex with both Tea and Bakura. Tea had the body of a ten year boy and it was the next best alternative to a guy. Tea hooked up with all of them accept Yugi.
Yugi had reserved a hotel suite for Tea. He was technically a virgin because the men Atem hooked up with did not count because he was not awake at the time. Yugi insisted to Atem that he be knocked out whenever he was bonding with a friend. Yugi turned and saw Tea in her white bathrobe.
"You're so beautiful" Yugi said
"I never thought that you would be the one." Tea said
"I am so in love with you I always have been."
"You are so tall now and sweet."
"It's just going to be you and me forever with no more shadow games."
"Oh well then I guess we should learn a little more about each other." Tea said disappointed it had just hit her that they would never have to save the world again.
"What about your parents, I have never seen them?" Yugi said
"I am an emancipated minor, my dad lives with his real family in the suburbs and my mom does drugs." Tea said
"My mom is a nurse and she works all the time." Yugi said
"Really?"
"Grandpa's shop has a mortgage so my mom has to pay it off or we will lose the house."
"Don't you have money for the shop?"
"It's my money and Grandpa is senile he would just buy something wasteful, Mom tried getting him declared incompetent but it is harder than it looks."
"I am sorry Yugi" Tea said
"You dated Tristan, did anything ever happen?"
Tea looked nervous "No Yugi, I couldn't I was too in love with you."
The lights go off
Three Years Later
The scene switches to a large white building with small windows. The lawn is green and there is a fountain on the property. The building is on an island and seagulls are flying over it. The sign on the building says Institution for the Mentally Ill. Inside the walls a doctor with a beard is listening to classical music. On the top floor there is a gray door on it is a sign that says authorized personnel only.
A pale, skinny man is pacing back and forth, his eyes look tired "I summon the blue eyes white dragon"
Atem's voice says "I summon the Dark Magican."
"Now your gonna lose Yugi, my time has finally come at last."
A nurse puts her keycard in, she is carrying a tray of food.
"Dinner time Mr. Kaiba" the woman says
"Can't you see we're busy."
"Mr. Kaiba if you do not eat your food the doctor has instructed me to tell you that they will force feed you."
Kaiba shoves it in his mouth
"Was that so hard Mr. Kaiba?"
"Losing my company to my Board of Directors as hard, not being able to see Mokuba is hard and this food tastes like cardboard."
"I know it's not the gourmet food that most of our high income patients are used to but this is a state of the art facility. You won't be in here forever."
"The voice never shuts up" Kaiba said
"Where were we?" Kaiba said
"I summon Obelisk the Tormentor."
"Nooo! I lost again." Kaiba said
"If I beat you I know you'll go away and I can get my life back." Kaiba said
"Kaiba do you believe in the heart of the cards?" Atem asked
"You know I do that is one of the reasons why I am in here." Kaiba said
"The world is in very grave danger, I am afraid for my friends Kaiba." Atem said
"You saved the world remember we all did." Kaiba said "Except Joey and whats her name, the one I hooked up with after our duel in the Kaiba Corp tournament after you humiliated me again. Whats her name Tiffany, Taylor."
"Tea"
"Oh right yeah she is so useless and whats his name Tristan, horrible. He had the audacity to ask me out once. Dude I am not gay just because I used to have male sex a lot in ancient Egypt and sometimes I will enjoy the occasional male tryst as a stress reliever I am the CEO of the number one gaming company in the world I have to have sex a lot or I will kill myself like my father." Kaiba said
An old man comes in wearing a lab coat he has Kaiba's chart. The chart says Severe Paranoia, Insomnia, Hallucinations, Delusions of Grandeur, Religious Delusions, Violent Tendencies, Sociopath Tendencies, Sexually Confused.
"Hello Seto, How are we doing today?"
"Better since you took the shackles off."
"Good, have you been talking to the voice again?"
"No"
"Seto we have discussed this if you ignore the voice it is not as prevalent as it is when you talk to it."
"You don't know Yugi"
"Yugi is not here, Yugi is at college"
"What, college how useless I never went to college, I never even went to highschool, at 14 I became the CEO of a major military company."
"We all appreciate you not blowing us all up."
"How is Mokuba?"
"He got C's on his report card but that is because of how worried he is about you."
"I wish that I could talk to him."
"The judge just thought it was a bad idea."
"Stupid bitch"
"Kaiba Corps stock is up 5 percent"
"That is good"
How did it come to this? Seto thought it was not that long ago that he was the most accomplished man in the world. At 14 he took the number one manufacturer of weapons of mass destruction and turned it into a "harmless" card game company making duel disks and devices that have revolutionized the Duel Monsters trading card game. Sure 3,000 duelists worldwide have died from being electrocuted or burned by the system but Duel Monsters is more popular than ever and that is what counts. Whenever a reporter says that Duel Monsters is a greater threat to global stability than nuclear weapons he would just talk about the hundreds of thousands who died from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. He had his Rolling Stone cover hanging on the wall of his office at Kaiba Corp.
The day after Atem crossed over he was in his office having a meeting with the new headmaster of his school when he heard Yugi call his name. It was for a second then it went away. It started happening whenever he was alone. He would be showering and he would hear it crying out for help. Six months ago he was dueling in a big tournament, after he won the voice overwhelmed him. He hallucinated a monster in a volcano and he saw that Marik was trying to free him. Yugi screamed Kaiba. He woke up in the hospital, his greedy board of directors had decided to commit him in order to siege control of Kaiba Corp and that was it. In one outburst his life was ruined. Also there were a few arrests for assault. He punched his exgirlfriend, he pulled a gun on a board member and he threatened to kill himself in his duel with Yugi that time which Joey testified to in Mai's civil trial.
Seto found Joey Wheeler to be the most annoying man he had ever met and yet he would never admit it out loud he was strangely attracted to him. His hair was blond and wavy and he loved the way it hung over his scalp. Joey had the most beautiful body, he was so skinny, his legs were thin but fit. When Kaiba first saw him he thought about giving him a part time job so they could get to know each other. He would be his friend and thus they could have friend sex without it meaning anything. His fantasy was dashed when he heard his voice, it was the most obnoxious voice he had ever heard in his life. It was the male equivalent of Fran Dresser from the Nanny. Why did he talk like that? If he could just learn to talk right he would be the perfect friend. What a waste, if he was born into a better family with more class and culture he would be the perfect catch for any girl or guy.
"Kaiba I won now you have to hear me out"
"I can't even beat my own brain damaged hallucination. Okay I will hear you out."
"That whole duel to get me to cross over, it was a trap arranged by the Isthars to get me out of the way."
"But you sent Marik's evil half to the shadow realm."
"But his other half was evil too."
"What about his sister, the boring one who had the necklace?"
"She is the most evil one of all. She needed us to get rid of evil Marik because he was ruining their evil plans."
"What?"
"The Isthars are devil worshipers"
"What?"
"They want to release the actual devil from the bottomless pit. They want to establish Satan's 1,000 year rule on Earth."
"Can't Jesus do something?"
"Not until after the 1,000 years which is why we have to stop them."
"And I thought our religion sucked."
"Kaiba are you with me?"
"I don't understand what is going on but if you get me out of here I will help you."
Meanwhile at a university that teaches something other than a card game
Yugi looks unrecognizable, he cut his blonde hair and now it is short, it looks normal. He is wearing a baseball cap and a blue sports jacket with a yack on the back. He is smoking a cigarette and talking to some classmates. One is a prettier version of Tea with a black cap and a yellow sleeveless shirt with denim short shorts her name is Raven. Her boyfriend Ted is with them he is tall with dark hair and blue eyes.
"Hey Yugi we are all gonna study for the ethics final with you tonight right? Raven asked
"Of course" Yugi said
"Don't worry Yugi you are smart any law school would be lucky to have you." Ted said
Yugi looks in disbelief at how good his life is, three years ago these two would have beaten him up and sold his puzzle for scraps but ever since the demon exited his body he has been able to start over.
"Hey Yugi Ted and I are going to the beach can you take notes for us in Human Rights class?" Raven asked
"Sure"
"Thanks Yugi you're a great friend, Mai is lucky to have a boyfriend like you."
Yugi went to class and saw that Mai saved him a seat. She was texting throughout the lecture. A lot had changed in the past 3 years and it was for the better Yugi thought.
Mai and Yugi went back to his dorm and read from their textbooks. Yugi could not use any of Atem's teachings on ancient Egyptian history and his version was a lot different from the textbooks. Sometimes he even found himself questioning whether he was actually a pharaoh or a mental patient. Kaiba was in a mental institution locked away from civilized society. He had a restraining order against him. After the pharaoh crossed over Kaiba began harassing Yugi to duel him. This harassment started out as phone calls at 1 am and escalated to stalking. It took a year for Yugi to convince a judge to grant him an order of protection.
Yugi put on Katy Perry's Dark Horse, Mai had left and Yugi was alone. It was a good life. He heard "Yugi" It can't be he thought, he was just studying too hard. He would be happy once he had the results of his law school admittance test. He had a new goal, he was going to be Prime Minister of Japan, Mai was going to help him with his political career, she would get to be the wife of the most powerful man in Japan.
Yugi went to the bathroom and saw Atem's reflection in the mirror. "It's all in my head" Yugi nervously said "It's all in my head"
There was a knock at the door it was Raven and Ted "We brought weed and popcorn."
"Thank God!" Yugi said
"Article Seven of the Geneva Convention states that all "Yugi"
"Yugi stop ignoring me, what did you do to our hair? Who the fuck are they, where are our friends?"
"Yugi you look distracted." Raven said she hands him the bag of weed
"You guys are the best friends ever." Yugi said
"Your doing drugs, how could you. Don't you know how bad drugs are for you? That is it no more Mr. nice guy."
The millennium puzzle falls out of Ted's pocket
Yugi screams "Where did you get that?"
"We found it at the beach. We thought it was treasure."
"We need to get out of here now!" Yugi yelled
"Calm down" Ted said
"You are all in grave danger" Yugi says he starts having a panic attack
The puzzle starts glowing as do Yugi's eyes and his hair changes back to how it used to look
"Yugi your hair looks crazy!" Raven said
"I am not Yugi"
"Who are you then?" Ted asks laughing
A murderous look is in his eyes and he smiles "My name is Atem"
"Okay Atem, do you want another sniff?"
"Mindcrush!" A large blinding light consumes the room. A campus security guard runs in there. "Dude are you okay?"
"Never been better"
Raven and Ted are gone.
"What did you do they were my friends?" Yugi yelled
"They are in the shadow realm. They weren't your real friends if they were making you do drugs and style your hair like that. That is not who you are."
"You idiot!"
"Your real friends miss you, where are they anyway?"
"Joey and Tristan share an apartment with Bakura and Tea is waiting tables somewhere."
"What are you doing here pharaoh? I thought that you crossed over."
"The Isthars tricked me they are trying to use Satan to take over the world."
"So you have to use my body again?"
"It will be like old times, I missed you Yugi."
A feeling of dread overwhelmed Yugi, his whole new life had now been taken away from him in an instant.
"Let's go and get Kaiba out of the insane asylum."
"He is crazy, he stalked m, he became obsessed with me."
"You are over exaggerating Yugi besides Kaiba is our friend."
"Can you at least stop using my body for casual hookups?"
"Come on Yugi"
"At least no more men?"
Atem laughs "That"s a good one Yugi. I missed you friend."