Seto stood on the edge of the duel arena in Duelist's Kingdom. He stared long and hard at Yugi's face.
"… And I have to rescue my brother. The difference is I'm willing to risk anything to do it. You know I can stand up here all day Yugi. And I'm certain you won't make any attack for fear that you might knock me off-"
"You're wrong, Kaiba," Yugi replied. His eyes were dark and his expression was furious. "You think you have a read on me like some cheap boardroom executive. I'm sure it's nice to feel like you are the smartest one in the room all the time. Comforting, even." Yugi smirked as he held up his hand like a gun.
"But the truth is, you're not. I have the advantage over you, and nothing is holding me back." He made the gesture of pulling the trigger.
Yugi's Celtic Guardian charged for Kaiba's Blue Eyes Ultimate and struck one of the heads that was decaying and lifeless. Kaiba felt the shockwave effects of the blast push him to teeter at the edge of the area.
He did it, Kaiba thought. He really did it. I underestimated him. Kaiba closed his eyes and allowed himself to fall.
At the last second, he felt someone grab him and pull him back up.
Wheeler had saved his life.
Kaiba woke up with all kinds of curse words on his breath, but immediately the reason for them had disappeared from his mind. He was in a hospital bed in his own infirmary. Dimly he remembered that Yugi had been in his same position just hours ago.
Mokuba cried aloud when he saw his brother was awake. "SETO! Thank goodness, you're awake! This has been happening to duelists across the entire world, and your vitals go all over the charts."
Seto's head lolled around as his eyes fluttered. So weak. So worthless. He ground his teeth in a grimace. "Mokuba, I don't know what is going on. Are you okay?" All he could see was the scared and frightened face of his younger brother.
Unfortunately, the vulnerability in his voice must have shown through because Mokuba looked even more worried. "Seto… what is happening? What are we going to do?" he said quietly.
"I don't know-"
"You ALWAYS know. You ALWAYS know what to do." There were tears welling in his brother's eyes.
But Seto wasn't having it. "Mokuba. I don't even know what the hell is going on. One minute I'm cleaning up spilled coffee in our kitchen, and the next minute I'm here."
Mokuba felt like he had been slapped in the face. Everyone else had been treating him with such guard and care that he had forgotten the strength of his brother. He swallowed and handed Seto his tablet.
"This is all the data we have collected so far," he said, barely keeping his voice even. "This 'condition' is being called the Duel Monsters Plague because it affects high ranking Duelists the most."
Seto clicked through the data. "If that were true, then it would be affecting Yugi and myself the most," he said flatly.
"Seto, you have been unconscious for 10 of the past 12 hours," Mokuba said gently. "And Yugi is missing."
Seto curled his fist in silent rage, but then quickly went back to the data. "And nothing rouses us when we are in that state?"
"No medicines or methods wake you. And according to your brain actvitiy…" Mokuba paused and looked at his brother, almost with guilt.
"What?" Seto said, likely laced with more anger than he meant.
"According to your brain activity, you are having a terrible nightmare."
Seto snorted. "Really."
"Really," Mokuba replied, reaching over to tap some reports on the document. "Whatever is happening when you are out, it's not pleasant. And there are other things too." Mokuba took a deep breath before continuing, almost as if he was trying to brace himself. "There's indicators that this will get worse, and it's slowly killing your body."
Seto paused. "Like Yugi."
"Yes. It's the same thing."
Seto closed his eyes and leaned back against the pillow. So he didn't have a lot of time. That's why Mokuba was so obviously upset and not thinking clearly.
"We also have no idea how long you will be awake-"
"Alright. Working theories? And has our media team started to spin this?"
"Uhm, why?"
"Mokuba," Seto said, "This can't kill Duel Monsters. Our livelihood is based on it. If we don't start spinning, and spinning HARD, no one will ever want to play the game again. Even if it has nothing to do with the game, even the perception will kill it. We can't let that happen."
Mokuba nodded. "So, what, an attack? A coordinated attack on all Duel Monster Duelists? That seems farfetched."
"But it will get us the sympathy we need. And it's happened before, even if most of it was kept out of the mainstream news. Start drumming up our conspiracy theory contacts. Put our people on damage control.
"Any theories making it into the news?" Seto was trying to sit up at this point, furiously typing notes to his brother.
"I've seen poisoned cards, you are all in a cult and drugged yourselves, and my personal favorite, 'This is what happens when people dedicate themselves to a stupid game.'"
Seto nodded. "Expected. But this is the worst possible climate for the Duel Academy. This will push us back years. We need to change this narrative."
"Seto… I understand what you are saying… but… you could die. Can we focus on fixing this first?"
Seto felt a falling sensation around his ears, and he knew he was about to pass out again. "…Find Yugi… I guarantee this is somehow his fault…"
The tablet in his hands went limp as his body relaxed into sleep once more.
Mokuba quietly picked up the tablet. He squeezed his big brother's hand and nodded. At least now he had a direction.
Atem ran from the field of reeds as the smell of acrid smoke filled the air. He slipped a little on the gravel but caught himself without falling.
What could be causing this, he wondered? Obviously something was terribly wrong. This was the first time he could feel terrible dread since he had arrived in the afterlife and the feeling was not welcome.
Tea's message had said "I wish Yami was here, maybe he could save us." He could almost hear her thinking it. She didn't realize Atem could feel her at that moment, in her thoughts and almost as if he was standing next to her. If he focused on her he could see flashes of things in his mind: A white room, red streaks, a giant room full of people lying on the ground. Were they dead?
As worried as he was, in the back of his mind he knew there might be very little he could do. He was dead. The realm of the living was the place of action.
He made it to the temple only to see Seto, Mahad, and Mana waiting for him.
Atem stopped running as he noticed the looks on their faces. Grim. Sad. Unyielding.
"Something is wrong with Tea and probably Yugi," he started to say. Mahad sighed and closed his eyes. Mana looked away. Seto was the only one who kept looking at Atem. The realization dawned on him.
"You already knew?"
"Yes. This is a hard lesson for you to learn, Atem. But there is nothing you can do."
"Surely there is something-"
"No, Pharaoh," Mahad replied, solemnly.
Mana turned to face him. "Pharaoh, you can send your prayers to the gods and maybe give your friends bursts of wisdom, but we are frozen here. We cannot leave."
"We watched you from here," Seto said. "Every moment, every minute of your torture in the puzzle. We watched you and heard you forget your own name. We've seen you defeated and almost destroyed by your enemies. And we had to sit here in paradise and watch," Seto looked angry, but also maybe a touch of sadness colored his features.
Mahad walked down the young Pharaoh. "But we also watched you triumph, my Pharaoh. We've seen you through impossible odds. Have faith in your friends. They need to move on without you."
Atem sighed as he closed his eyes. He then turned and looked at the distant reeds burning. "Then bear with me, friends. I will need your support, because I don't know how I can just stand here and watch. I can't imagine what you have gone through."
Seto walked down the steps, and put his hand on the shorter Pharaoh's shoulder. "We will gladly help you, Atem. This paradise will want to distract you from this pain. You can let it, or savor the bitter cup before you. But it is not your fault that you can't help them. You deserve this, and in the end, everything is fated."
Atem nodded. "I think I need some time to think," he said as he started to walk away.
"Of course, my Pharaoh," said Mahad, with a small hint of sorrow.
"We will be here if you need us," Mana said. "Always."
"Agrona, how much longer is this going to take? I grow very weary of all of this," King Taranis said as he sat down in plush red chair by the fire. A fire crackled in a fire place, giving off a sickly yellow light.
"My lord, you knew this- things are going so well," Agrona stammered. "How can you say it is taking too long? We have Yugi. It is only a matter of time." She poured a very old bottle of scotch into a glass. Then she held out the glass to her king.
He did not take the glass, and instead looked her angrily. "How can we know this will even work? You have spent an eternity trying to find a good candidate for the ritual, and by the time you find one, he's already been sent off to the afterlife. I trusted you."
Agrona sighed, trying to keep her temper and steady her hand. She wanted to throw the drink in his face. "My love," she said putting the glass on table next to him. "You know this is the only way. We have to trust that this will work. Capturing the heart of the cards and torturing her beyond belief has started us down this path. We have to see it through."
"How do we know he's even watching?" Taranis spat. "How do we know if he can even see the pain and suffering the duelists are going through? He might not even being paying attention from his little paradise."
"He's watching," Agona said exasperatedly. "I guarantee he's watching. And I guarantee he wants to come back and fix this. He might even suspect already that it will be the only way to stop it."
"I'm not so sure." Taranis stood and in a quick movement, grasped her neck with one of his hands, gently squeezing as he looked into her face. "You've changed so much since those days, Agrona," he said, pulling her body closer to his. "You've changed so much since you were in my court and just a lowly… witch," he spat. "Now look at you. A perfect shadow of my dead queen, her very image except for that vulgar color of your hair.
"Do you want me to love you? Is that why you took on her face?"
"My lord," Agrona said quietly, "You seem to forget that I've always looked this way. And I think your memory of her has faded," she challenged.
Taranis let her neck go roughly as he chuckled quietly. "Are we at that point now, witch, that you can say such things to me without trembling?" He sat down again in his chair, picking up the glass and turning the liquid in the glass.
"Should I fear you, my lord? Should I fear the great King Taranis who doubts us now that we are so close to our mission? We are so close to plucking the spirit of the Pharaoh out of his cozy afterlife and sending him to the Shadow Realm, and thereby freeing you."
The king sat and sipped the scotch. He watched the fire consume the wood in there and stared. "Is this what you want, Agrona? Truly? You say you love me, but you know there is no life for us except this one we have. And if you give me what I seek, then we will be separated. Forever."
"My lord… I don't know what you want from me at this moment in time. Your desires are clouded and hidden from me, not like they once were. You are hoping, just like always, that we will find a way to reunite you with your loved ones. With your son, your daughters, your brother, your father-"
"And my wife."
"Yes. And your wife. They were able to go onto the afterlife whereas you were cursed. I cannot help that I love you, and that is why I do what I do for you. That is why I damned myself for you. And yet you mock me. And you question me, still.
"The only way for a spirit to come back from the Egyptian afterlife is that they have to want to. They have to want to come back, and we provide the power, but he has to take it.
"Now we have studied Yugi for years, and the nameless pharaoh that is Atem. We throw to Atem the bridge of life, and he'll take it. He'll use it to come here and save his friends, just like Yugi will provide the lifeline for us to help him get here, and then we will send him to the shadow realm. In the void he leaves in the afterlife, we will use that power, that space to send you to the afterlife instead. Then you can be with your loved ones. Forever." Agrona leaned against a tapestry on the wall and folded her arms around herself.
The king was silent for a moment, his belligerent demeanor melting away. "How long do you think I could live this way? I don't eat, I don't sleep. I'm angry and irritable all the time. How long do you think it would be before I just stop?"
"Your mind is fading my lord. You know this. We have this same conversation at least once a month. It will likely continue to deteriorate and we will continue to have this same argument again, and again, and again," she replied harshly.
She softened. "I myself will pull every ounce of strength I have to help you. But I- I can't if.. If you wish to die now, if you give up now, you will go to the shadow realm. You will be damned. Your soul will be bound in hell, forever." She went to his side and kneeled next to the chair of the arm, looking deeply into his sorrowful face.
"But if we can have it that you switch places with the Pharaoh, it will be him that suffers, not you."
Taranis looked into her eyes and caressed her check, softly. "Was he a good pharaoh?" he asked.
Agrona bit back an angry retort, but said instead, "My lord, he died before he could even be a pharaoh. He's a child. He's not like you."
They sat there like that for a while, Taranis looking at the fire, and Agrona searching her king's face for a sign that he was hearing her, that he loved her, that he wasn't ready to give up yet. "I don't know what I would do without you, Agrona."
"My lord, you are my reason for everything. I know you grow weary. Hold on a little longer."