Hi, and welcome to this story! The idea of rewriting the anime was actually my first idea, but I soon dropped it when my idea seemed to overused. Then the thought of what would happen if Atem had his own body surfaced and I wrote this!
Quick note, there are three genderbends in this story; Yugi, Joey and Ryou!
So here is the full summary since FanFiction won't let you put too much of one in the box:
Overall Summary: When Yugi Muto was nine, she and her grandfather Solomon saved a ten-year-old Egpytian boy with no memory except for his name, Atem "Yami" Sennen, and an intriguing gold box which held a puzzle. Now six years later, with the Millennium Puzzle sovled, Atem and Yugi try to find out Atem's past. But things are getting in the way, as the pair fight against those that want the power of the Puzzle and the mysterious "Nameless Pharaoh". All the while, feelings that are stronger than friendship grow between them and they must ask themselves: Just how far are they willing to go to keep the other safe?
Duelist Kingdom Summary: After defeating the Duel Monsters world champion, Seto Kaiba, Atem and Yugi are invited to Duelist Kingdom, but nothing is as it seems. Pegasus wants the Millennium Puzzle and has stolen the soul of Yugi's grandfather in order to force the pair to compete. Add in Atem's missing memories and you get a recipe for disaster.
So, there you have it! One thing you guys need to know: The main inspiration for this story is a 'what if' moment I had; what if Solomon Muto hadn't gone to Egypt to get the Millennium Puzzle and instead the Shadows had to release Atem from the Puzzle in order to fulfill his destiny with Yugi?
Okay, so longish AN, but I felt like I needed to explain things really quick. And now, enjoy the Prologue!
Key:
"Talking (Japanese)"
"Talking (Ancient Egyptian)"
Thoughts
Card Names
{Mind-link}
(Dream/Vision/Flashback)
[Timeskip]
"Shadows"
Ancient Egyptian Text
"Phone/Other Electronics"
{Prologue: A New Start}
It was a rainy day. Nine-year-old Yugi Muto stared out the window onto the peaceful city of Domino, Japan while her grandfather handled something downstairs. She'd just lost her parents to a car accident two weeks ago and now was to live with her grandfather until she was of legal age, not that she minded. She loved him and the small game shop he ran.
Her new room was on the second floor, the walls colored light purple with white trimmings, her bed under a skylight and a bookshelf full of her favorite books, most having to do with games and Egypt. Spurn around the floor were a variety of games and other boxes full of belongings that she hadn't put away yet.
"Yugi, are you done unpacking yet?" Solomon Muto, Yugi's grandfather, asked kindly from the doorway.
"Almost Grampa," Yugi responded, picking up another box of clothes. But right as she turned around to start placing the clothes in the closet, her amethyst eyes caught a rather strange sight through the rain; a young boy running when no one with any sense would even be outside.
Without thinking, Yugi put down the box she had in her arms and ran out of the room, down the stairs and out the back door, passing her grandfather at some point. Now in the pouring rain, Yugi searched for the boy she'd seen. She saw him just as he tripped over something and fell down, before being surrounded by a trio of heavy-set guys. Yugi stopped to watch.
"Now that you've stopped trying to run, what are you hidding in that pretty gold box of yours?" one of them asked.
The boy looked up at the man, clutching the gold box close to his chest, and stammered out "I-it's m-my trea-treasure." He sounded so scared and exhausted, but his voice had a slight undertone of anger and confidence, even if Yugi couldn't understand a word he was saying. It was at that moment that Solomon appeared from his shop, concerned about his granddaughter. But when he saw the scene, he immediately grew angry.
"Leave the child alone," he yelled, chasing the big men away with his broom. It was a rather funny sight, a short old man chasing three large men away with a broom, but Yugi didn't focus too much on it. Instead, she ran over to the boy, catching him as he finally collapsed into unconsciousness. With her grandfather's help, the two were able to get the boy on one of the couches in the living room, dried and wrapped in a blanket.
It was only then that Yugi could clearly see the boy. He looked her age, with bronze-tanned skin. Like her, he was a trinette, with a black base and golden bangs. But where her hair ended in amethyst and lay flat against her shoulders, his was tipped crimson and spiked upwards in a star-shape. In his arms, cradled to his chest, was the box he'd protected from those thugs. It was covered in hieroglyphs on all sides and on the front was the Eye of Horus. It was truly a beautiful box, and Yugi could see why the boy would treasure it as he seems to. Curious, Yugi slightly lifted up the lid of the box and saw several golden pieces that seem to make up a puzzle. Right when she closed it, the boy woke up, staring at her with startling crimson eyes that practically glowed with fear.
"Wh-where am I? Who are you?" he asked. Though Yugi still couldn't understand him, she could recognize that reaction since she'd been much the same after the car accident.
"Calm down," she said softly. "You're in my grandfather's living room."
The boy suddenly stopped all movement, staring at her with wide eyes before finally calming and falling right back to sleep now that he knew that he'd be safe.
It took four days of the boy waking for a few seconds randomly before he woke up for real.
"Where am I?" he asked Yugi, alerting her to the fact that he was awake.
"I still don't understand you," she said turning to look at him. He was sitting up this time, showing that he was slightly stronger. Before, whenever he awoke, he could barely move.
He seemed to slightly understand her and his eyes shut in concentration. "Where am I?" he asked in Japanese.
"My grandfather's living room. We found you four days ago being harassed by three guys. You remember that?" she asked. The boy just looked confused before a shocked and fearful look overcame his face.
"My Puzzle!" he cried, looking frantically for something. Understanding that he was looking for the box, Yugi walked to a cabinet where her grandfather kept some treasured items and opened it. Inside was the gold box on the bottom shelf, right where Solomon had placed it that first night.
"Here," she said, handing it back to him, watching somewhat fondly as he checked that all the pieces were there. "I made sure to clean the box and all the pieces everyday so that they'd be in perfect condition for when you woke up."
Just then, her grandfather entered from the shop, looking tired. But when he saw the boy awake, all tiredness seemed to melt off of his face.
"Glad to see you up, my boy," he said. When the boy looked at him, he continued, "My name's Solomon Muto, that's my granddaughter, Yugi. Can you tell us your name so that we can try to find your parents?" he asked gently.
"My name is Atem Sennen, Mr. Muto," the boy, Atem, said softly.
"Can you remember anything else?" Solomon asked. Atem closed his eyes for a moment before snapping them open, fear once more shining in his crimson eyes.
"I can't remember anything!" he yelled in panic, slipping back into that odd langauge that Yugi couldn't understand.
"Calm down Atem," Yugi said, gripping his shoulders in order to hopefully ground him to something physical.
In the end, it took both Yugi and Solomon close to two hours to finally calm Atem down enough to understand him. The earliest he could remember clearly was waking up in the desert near an entrance to a tunnel with the gold box beside him. He didn't even know how he got to Japan, since he had collasped again afterwards. Solomon concluded that Atem was most likely from Egypt, adding in the fact that he spoke Ancient Egyptian, which was quite unusual.
A month passed as Atem recovered. Solomon had tried everything he could to find his family, but without his memories it was nearly impossible. In the end, it was concluded that Atem was likely an orphan or was abandonded for some reason, and Solomon was granted custody of him. He was given the guest bedroom as his own, just down the hall from Yugi's. At first, he was very cautious around them, but as days became weeks, then months, he learned to trust. He still didn't trust a lot of people with his first name, instead going by his middle name of Yami around everyone, except for those that earn his trust fully.
It took him close to five years to complete his precious Millennium Puzzle, which took the shape of an upside down pyramid. Sometimes, Yugi would help him, as she loved puzzles and games of any sort, but Atem was the one who ultimately solved it. Almost immediately afterwards, he started wearing it around his neck on a peice of rope.
But it was after that that the two learned of something startling; they could hear each other's thoughts and feel the other's emotions. They could even influence each other's emotions to an extent. It helped whenever Yugi would get bullied because Atem was really protective and would defend her.
The two even made their first friends since they met; a tough girl called Josephine "Joey" Wheeler, Joey's friend Tristan Taylor, new girl Ryou Bakura and sweet, but slightly annoying (to Atem, anyway) Téa Gardner.
All in all, Yugi knew that her life was better now than it ever was before. But she still wondered, as did Atem, about the circumstances that brought them together. Atem never did remember anything else about his past but he felt like the Puzzle might just be the key. But after almost a year, the Puzzle still refused to give up what secrets it was hiding (though Atem did end up playing a few Shadow Games with it).
Okay, how was that? I know I left a lot of things out about, but that was the point.
Here's a quick preview at the next chapter:
After defeating Seto Kaiba, Atem is challenged to a Shadow Duel by Pegasus. What game is Pegasus playing and how does Atem fit into it?
Yes, I skipped Heart of the Cards, but it is unneeded to the plot. I'll actually be skipping a lot; the Noah Arc (though I will most likely mention it from time to time), the entire fourth season (unneeded) and the Memory World Arc.
Hope you guys enjoyed it!
~pokedawnheart
12/6/2018