Obviously, Yu-Gi-Oh! is the property of its respective owner/s. Not me

HEADS UP: Mature themes. Be warned. This is the reason why the story has escalated to rated M

Role Reversal
Chapter 9

"Re-pat..."

He was walking through darkness. Whether he was going north, south, or whatever direction, he didn't know. All he focused on was searching for that familiar voice—one he had known since he was a child—that echoed all around him.

"Over here, Re-pat!"

A bright light shined to his left, bathing his left side in warmth. He turned toward it, one hand shielding his eyes from the glare of the light. With squinting eyes, he watched as a silhouette of a person emerged from the light's center.

The silhouette was skipping towards him, outlining the feminine curves of a petite lady. He could see caramel hued skin, messy brown hair, a sleeveless and short kalasiris* wrapped around the slim body of a friend he had known since the day he learned to walk.

"Mana" He whispered with a smile. Something made his heart flutter, making heat rise to his cheeks. That something grew stronger with every skip his beloved friend took.

Her skipping slowed down to a walk. She stopped upon reaching an arm's length from her friend. With hands behind her back, she leaned forward, olive green eyes focused on her friend's face. "Hi." She said with a cheerful smile.

"Hello" Atemu mumbled, feeling rather embarrassed for reasons he wasn't sure of.

Mana pouted and poked his chest. "You used to be really good in hide and seek." She giggled and withdrew her hand as she stepped back and twirled. "Now, you can't even find me even when I was calling you."

Atemu felt heat rise to his cheeks once more. He looked away, frowning when he noted that they were still surrounded by darkness. "Well. It's so hard to find you considering that it's completely dark here." He reasoned playfully, hiding the discomfort he was feeling. "Where are we anyway?"

Silence...

"Mana?" When he turned to face her, he couldn't stop a gasp from escaping him.

Mana's eyes were red, the whites had turned black. Feeling himself crumble on the inside, he took an involuntary step back when she grinned, revealing rows of sharp teeth. "What's wrong, Re-pat?" She asked dubiously as she advanced, but Atemu knew better.

With every step she took, Atemu took a shaky step back. He was trembling, arms raised in self defense. His breathing came out in harsh gasps that echoed around the nothingness. His irises had shrunk to pinpricks out of fear.

Then he tripped.

He landed on his back. Pushing himself up, he failed to get back on his feet as Mana stood over him. Closing his eyes, 'This is not Mana.' He told himself, repeating it constantly.

"Why are you afraid, Re-pat?" Mana's voice was right in front of him, just inches away. "I'm right here."

Atemu kept his eyes shut as he shook his head. He bit back a whimper when a hand held his face.

"Just relax. You belong to me now."

Atemu suddenly opened his eyes. Mana had disappeared, replaced by a creature, whose very presence he feared, straddling him. He could feel the snout by his ear, brushing against his earlobe. Clawed hands held his face steady. Red eyes and hair glowed amidst the darkness of the realm.

His body was trembling, yet he felt frozen while his heart galloped in his chest. Sutekh had pulled away and was now looking directly at him. He was saying something, but Atemu could barely hear anything. His ears had been dominated by the sound of his panicking heartbeat.

It was then he noticed that the purple shadows appeared, ghosting around the darkness like trapped smoke. His eyes widened. He could feel a familiar dark power.

"Let's play a game..." Sutekh whispered.

"No..." Atemu said as he shook his head. "The Items were destroyed..."

"Oh, but this is the Realm of Nun*, the very source of the Shadow Game's Heka. We need not the Items to have a Shadow Game when its power flows deep in the watery chaos." Sutekh explained malevolently, his statement strengthened by the resounding crash of a dark purple wave around them.

"The rules are simple." He continued. Grabbing a fistful of Atemu's hair, he pulled the Pharaoh to his feet. "If I take you, you lose" He then threw the Pharaoh to the ground. Atemu landed on his left arm and hip. It was then that Atemu realized that he was clothed in garments he had worn when he was pharaoh.

Sutekh was on Atemu like a shot. Atemu bit back a whimper as purple tendrils grabbed his wrists, the cold seeping deep into his skin, muscles, and then seared his bones with that cold, burning sensation. The tendrils held his arms above his head. He could feel that same coldness seeping into his ankles as his legs were spread and held in place.

Sutekh's eyes narrowed. He stroked a faded mark at the junction between Atemu's shoulder and neck. "I have failed to take Heru and Aset*. But I will have you, a cherished warrior of the Netjer"

…

Yugi didn't know how long he had been walking, looking like he was 25 years younger, and surrounded by nothing but darkness. Last thing he remembered was seeing Atemu's frightened face before everything turned black.

'And everything still is' he thought. He had no idea how he was walking considering that the solid ground beneath his feet was—like the rest of his surroundings—an endless void of darkness. Occasionally, he could hear voices—broken, blocked, and unclear, spoken as though he was listening to them from underwater.

He heard a scream...

Yugi jumped. The scream echoed around him, making the hairs at the nape of his neck stand on end. Never before had he heard a scream so desperate, so broken, and inhumanely despondent. It brought tears to his eyes and made his heart stop for a while before breaking into a rapid beating.

To make matters worse...

"Mou Hitori No Boku" Yugi whispered desperately. He broke into a run, despite not knowing where the scream came from. 'Please be here...Please be here...' He had as a mantra. He hoped, prayed, and wished that he would find him.

His prayers were answered.

Despite remaining the same, he could tell that the surroundings had changed—it was darker, more sinister. Right before him he could see the familiar multicolored head, lying down. The legs seemed to be pulling at restraints he couldn't see. Most of the Pharaoh was obscured by a creature with red hair sitting atop him, jaws locked on the Pharaoh's neck.

Sensing his presence, the creature atop the Pharaoh turned to face him, momentarily freezing him with its blood red eyes, but he continued to run. His Mou Hitori No Boku needed him.

Sutekh smirked and then Yugi was sent reeling, as though he had hit a wall. He tried to move forward, but found that he couldn't. An invisible force was blocking his way.

With the threat compromised, Sutekh turned back to the frightened Pharaoh. The king's breathing was labored, eyes tightly shut with tears leaking from the sides, and whole body rigid and tense. Despair and fear emanated from of the king in waves and Sutekh reveled in it.

Sutekh's smirk widened into a feral grin. A clawed hand reached out and cupped the Pharaoh's cheek, the thumb rubbing gentle circles on the Pharaoh's smooth skin. After licking his lips, he leaned forward and lapped up the red fluid flowing from the fresh mark at the junction between the Pharaoh's neck and right shoulder, complementing the now faded one on the opposite side. Leaning back, he surveyed the Pharaoh's form hungrily. "You are mine now"

Yugi screamed, slamming his fists on the invisible wall as Sutekh tore Atemu's garments. "Leave him alone!" Yugi yelled, hitting, punching, kicking, pushing, and tackling the invisible wall with all his might. He even tried to will it away, but to no avail.

Someone grabbed him from behind, trying to pull him away. "No!" He yelled out, pulling himself free from whatever force attempting to subdue him as he continued in his attempts to break through the wall.

That very same force—now stronger—grabbed him. This time, it pulled him back and turned him around. He stopped. Dark Magician's grip on his shoulders had slackened. He could see the Dark Magician Girl standing—rather, floating—behind Dark Magician, her hands clasped over her mouth and her eyes wide with tears.

"Our Pharaoh can fight back" The Dark Magician said quickly, his eyes darting from Yugi then to the Pharaoh being ravaged by Sutekh. "This is his Soul Room"

That's when he noticed how the surroundings seem to darken further and thrum with hopelessness. Yugi immediately turned back to the Pharaoh, fighting back a cry of despair upon seeing and hearing his partner scream when Sutekh sank his claws in Atemu's sides and pulled down, leaving five bloody lines.

He knew of only one thing to do.

"Mou Hitori No Boku!" Yugi yelled, banging his fists on the invisible blockade. "Mou Hitori No Boku!"

…

Screams turned into whimpers when Sutekh stopped to admire his handiwork. Blood pooled from the Pharaoh's sides. Atemu's magnificent attire was in tatters, barely clinging to his almost naked form. His entire front was covered in bloody scratches, practically bathing his body in red. Atemu closed his eyes as Sutekh lapped up the blood over his body, his clawed hands groping Atemu in places that made the Pharaoh shiver.

With a pained moan, he turned his head to the side, Failing to see the panicking forms of Mana, Mahado, and Yugi. He shut his eyes tight when he felt sharp fingers circling a very intimate place.

"Mou Hitori No Boku!"

He opened his teary eyes upon hearing Yugi's desperate call. Yugi stood meters before his eyes, hands pressed on the invisible wall, and looking like his teenage self dressed in a blue suit. Mahado and Mana floated beside him, donned as their Ka. He whimpered. He wasn't just going to be defiled by a monster, he was going to be defiled right in front of his three close friends. Such a thought shattered him on the inside.

Everything became darker. The despondency of the place grew stronger and it caught Yugi's attention. He turned to the magicians. He could tell that they felt the change as well. Focusing his attention on his Mou Hitori No Boku as he continuously rapped at the invisible wall, "Don't let him do this to you, Mou Hitori No Boku!" He desperately called. "Stand up to him!"

Atemu's whimpers turned to a pained cry when the prowling finger attacked. He struggled to free himself, but the tendrils held him still.

"Mou Hitori No Boku!" Yugi shrieked. Tears streamed down his face. He braced himself when balls of pink light exploded next to him. He turned to see a tearful Dark Magician Girl now being restrained by Dark Magician.

"Only our Pharaoh can break this wall erected by the God of Storms" Dark Magician said urgently. "This is his mind and heart. He has power here. But he must stand strong for him to gain that power!"

Yugi tearfully nodded. He forced himself to look at his Mou Hitori No Boku, despite the pain he felt upon seeing his Other crying and writhing beneath Sutekh. "Mou Hitori No Boku! Please! You must fight back! Be strong and fight back!"

Atemu turned to Yugi, his face locked in pain as another finger joined in the assault. "Aibou..."

"This is your Soul Room! This is just an illusion created by that demon! You can control everything here! Don't let him win!" Yugi shouted.

"He lies." Sutekh whispered in his ear, forcing him to look away from Yugi. "You are weak and helpless. You are mine to do as I please."

"Mou Hitori No Boku!"

"Aibou!" Atemu called back, pushing against Sutekh's grip to look at Yugi. His breathing was fast and hard.

"Don't submit to him Mou Hitori No Boku!"

His face was forced to look into Sutekh's blood red eyes. "You are mine!" Sutekh shrieked.

For some reason, Atemu wasn't so affected by his words. He closed his eyes.

"This is your mind and heart, Mou Hitori No Boku. You have the power to beat him here. And you are not alone"

Yugi's voice echoed, the words bringing forth a surge of confidence, power, and strength to well up inside him. Behind his lids, he could see images of the people he cared for the most standing together, offering him comfort and support. Each one of them gave him courage and power.

"No..." Sutekh growled. The darkness was slowly lifting. Beams of light were piercing through the blackness, disintegrating the shadows it came in contact with.

'Everyone...' Atemu thought. Trembling hands shook his head, forcing his eyes open and therefore making him lose the image of his loved ones, but he knew they were still here. He gazed up into Sutekh's snarling face. The Pharaoh's eyes no longer held fear, pain, and despair. They now burned with his old fiery confidence.

Beams of light burst through the shadows trapping the Pharaoh's limbs. Enraged, Sutekh grabbed the Pharaoh's wrists with both hands but the look in Atemu's eyes didn't change. With a howl, Sutekh prepared to take the Pharaoh. A blast from his left sent him flying, preventing him from doing so.

Sutekh landed on his feet, turning himself into a vicious hippo when he did. He growled upon seeing the Pharaoh's three friends—the female protectively holding the king, her staff glowing and slightly raised while the two males stood between him and Atemu, shielding the pharaoh should he try anything. He opened his mouth and let loose a roar, but instead of attacking, he turned the other way and disappeared in wisps of red smoke.

Yugi watched as the final smokey ribbons of red vanished from the now white realm. As he turned his attention back to Atemu, the white realm faded into a magnificent room reserved only for divine royalty.

Atemu was still breathing hard in Mana's arms. He looked into Mana's smiling face, cheeks slightly flushing. Looking at himself, he was relieved to find that he was healed and clothed in his royal attire as though Sutekh never even touched him.

Yugi smiled, feeling the positive aura seeping into the new room. He knelt beside the Pharaoh and held his hand. "You did good, Mou Hitori No Boku."

The room was suddenly filled with warm light. The rest of Atemu's friends and family had appeared.

Atemu smiled and closed his eyes.

He believed then that everything will truly be alright.

1) Kalasiris – Egyptian dress worn by women.

2) Realm of Nun - The Primordial Waters of Nun. It's nothing but a watery mass of darkness and chaos . This was the beginning until Atum rose and created Shu and Tefnut. (And NO NO NO, this is not my take on the Shadow Realm, where people who lose Shadow Games are sent to. Though I may consider some stuff, I hate 4kids with a passion). Its purpose for my stories is already defined in the story itself.

3) According to my research, Sutekh is bisexual. He tried and failed to rape Heru (Horus) and Aset (Isis)