"So Atem has to do some ceremony for dis Crimson Dragon?" Joey asked.

"That's what I remembered. It has to be at the old Ener-D reactor but that's all I know." Yugi said as he held the Silent Magician card he had written on during his duel with Jaden. He then put the card back in his backpack. Out the window of the helicopter was Gandora and Dark Magician Girl flying beside them. They looked just as concerned as he felt.

The helicopter ride seemed too long. Maybe it was because they were trying to be discreet, maybe it was because the island really was that far away from New Domino, but most likely it was because Yugi was still freezing. He had a very thick coat on but the chill seemed to come from inside. He sat as far away from the windows as he could and curled up. In contrast, Joey was leaning heavily on the windows, looking out into the black night.

"It's startin' to snow," Joey said.

"What? Really?" Yugi said as he looked outside. Just as Joey said, small flakes of white were beginning to float by. Both men glanced back to each other with furrowed brows, with Joey rubbing the back of his neck.

"It is gettin' to be winter." Joey shrugged with one shoulder. He then looked out once more and shook his head at the snowflakes. "Hey, pilot! Is dis gonna affect our flight?" Joey tapped on the back of the seat in front of him.

"No, not now at least. We should be able to land in the Satellite just fine." The pilot said. "There is a report of smoke coming from an abandoned tunnel. That's where we're landing. It could be faulty electronics, but it also could be the boy you're looking for."

"Smoke?" Yugi quietly gasped. Joey turned back to Yugi when he heard the little gasp.

"It's gonna be fine Yuge. Dis is Atem we're talkin' about." Joey said.

Yugi looked up to his friend and recognized his voice and expression. That was the look Joey used to take on when the pain of the Pharaoh's passing was becoming too much for Yugi. While Joey was a lot better than before, he still had a long way to go mental-wise. Same for Kaiba. While therapy was helping, they still had quite a journey ahead of them. They did not need to add Yugi's own grief on to it. Yet Yugi knew from Joey himself, he better not bottle up these emotions either. Yugi decided he would figure out something later. For now, he had to focus on the objective in front of him.

"We are about to land." The pilot said.

Both looked out to see the great broken city. The sun had already set and the clouds were blocking any moonlight. The only lights were the occasional flickering street lamps. These cast large shadows, causing the surrounding buildings to morph and turn into looming giants. The helicopter seemed so small in comparison.

"It's so different," Yugi whispered.

"Ya, weird to think dis used to be our stompin' grounds," Joey said, recognizing an old street he used to bike down. The two fell silent, not being able to find the words for their old home. They then looked ahead to see a massive smokestack. It was curling out of a street-wide crevasse, mixing with the falling snow to cover everything in a thin grey powder. There was no one around the fissure, in fact, there seemed to be no one for miles.

"If there's a fire down there, shouldn't there be security to help?" Yugi asked. The pilot shrugged.

"Why? No one cares if this side of the island burns. It's too close to the dead zero around the earthquake's origin point." Yugi looked to Joey. They both knew what they were actually close to was the original Ener-D reactor. The pilot then continued to talk as he landed the helicopter. "There's a curfew so everyone should be in their designated shelters. If some satellite scum got caught over here it's their own fault." Joey's hands balled into fists and it looked like he was about to say something, but Yugi put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

As soon as the pilot opened the side door, the two burst out. The pilot would stay with the copter in case they needed a quick escape and they would look for Atem. The first stop was the crevasse. As Yugi and Joey got closer they noticed a small group near the edge. Three men to be exact. One man helping pull another out of the hole, and a bright red-haired guy sitting dazed by the side. Joey and Yugi immediately ran to help the last man climb out of the hole.

"Thanks. I didn't think I'd get out in time-" The man trailed off once he saw who had just saved him. His other friend also stared slack-jawed at the two dueling champions. The only one not gawking was the red-haired man.

"Dude… hey, Ren!" One of the two nudged the man named Ren with his elbow and that seemed to shake him awake.

"Huh? Oh sh…"

"We can do autographs later. We are lookin' for someone, a teen with his same hair." Joey said, gesturing to Yugi.

"We've seen him! We were actually chasing after him because he… was going into a dangerous tunnel. Right, Ren?" One of the men said as they looked to their companion. Ren stared at Yugi a while longer, then shook his head.

"Ah, sure… Look, I'll be honest with ya, I can't remember how I got here." Ren said while rubbing his head.

"What?!" His two friends yelped.

"You don't remember running all around this gods-forsaken city for that brat!" One yelled, seeming to have forgotten that Yugi was there. Hearing Atem be referred to as brat made Yugi's clench his fists, but he kept his mouth shut.

"I remember the boat and the one-armed man… But that's it." Ren said. Both his friends just about tackled him in frustration, yelling about how he had dragged them into whatever misadventure they had been on.

"Hey, Hey! We need to know if Atem's still down dere!" Joey yelled over the fighting group. Yugi narrowed his eyes as he observed the three men.

"Where. Is. Atem?" His simple, quiet, question made the men immediately freeze in place.

"We don't know. Thanks to some… faulty wiring down there a fire started. I personally chased the boy into a tunnel away from the fire. There, he hit his head against a wall and was knocked out. I tried to bring him back to the surface but then…" the man trailed off. "…I…was blown unconscious by, something."

"I just barely found him in time to bring him up here. Atem was nowhere around. This hole was the only way out." The other man added.

"No." Yugi breathed. Joey quickly gripped Yugi's arm.

"He's fine, I know it," Joey said then returned to the men. "I feel like you aren't telling us everything. Now if you don't start talking now, I'll..." Joey continued on into some tirade, but Yugi wasn't listening. His gaze fell far off into the shadow of the city's destroyed buildings. The lack of light made it hard to tell for others, but Yugi was sure. He recognized one of the building's silhouette.

"My grandpa's shop."

Joey stiffened and slowly turned to where Yugi was looking.

"Holy Silfer, you're right," Joey uttered. Away from the coiling smoke was a destroyed street corner, no longer connected to any road. Standing tall as if to defy the rubble around it was the slanted game store.

Yugi's eyes were only on the lost building. The cold he felt earlier got more intense the longer he focused on the shop. He felt his heart start to thump against his chest. His feet then moved without him being conscious of it. He walked past the sitting men without giving a second glance.

"Hey, Yuge… Yugi!" Joey said as he ran after him. Joey then turned to the three men and glared at them. "Don't you move. I still have questions for you." He said as he pointed at his eyes, then pointed to the group with those two same fingers. He quickly caught up to Yugi and pulled out a flashlight from his shorter friend's backpack.

"And I thought you were paranoid for always packin' dese for tournaments." Joey chuckled as he let the light beam fall on the store. Its bright paint had faded leaving a muddied, almost cartoonish shamble of the shop. Its glass windows were long gone, only the destroyed shreds of promotions remained sitting in the front. The wind blew through the empty shop and picked up one the tattered cardboard cutouts. It landed by Yugi's feet. He slowly blinked, as if not believing what was at his feet. Then he picked up the cutout of a yellow, mouse-like creature. His video game's promotion.

"I remember the day I came back to Domino city. I had just released this game and was preparing to move in." Yugi said, staring at the smiling creature for a long while. He then tossed the cardboard behind him. "Come on, let's get back to those men-" The two suddenly heard movement inside the shop. Joey quickly flashed the light through the open window, throwing the beam in every direction. Then the two saw him, he was sitting on the front counter with his legs lazily crossed out in front of him. He was covered in soot and black splotches, but he was gently smiling.

"Atem!" Joey cried out as he vaulted the store window and ran into the shop. Atem grinned and happily accepted Joey's hug. He then turned to Yugi who was still standing dumbstruck outside the shop.

"Yugi." Atem breathed.

"Yugi? Yugi!? Joey's right here ya nimrod!" Joey yelled, with a hint of laughter. Giving a hardy noogie to the teen. Atem chuckled and gently pushed Joey off him.

"Yugi, I…" Atem's grin slowly disappeared as Yugi continued to stare at him, unmoving.

Being unable to find his words, the teen then reached behind the counter he was sitting on and pulled out a flashlight. His light, plus Joey's light helped illuminate the dark store. Inside was completely ruined and scavenged. The once bright and colorful store was now as destroyed and brown as the city around it. Only cardboard promotions and the occasional mouse still lived there. Letting the flashlight cast long, twisting shadows on the wall.

"I'm sorry Yugi. For leaving so abruptly. I know I hurt you. Yugi…I…" Atem tried to say again, but his words died away. The two remained still, staring at each other like the rest of the world didn't exist.

"Why are you here, at this store?" Yugi eventually said. Pulling his gaze away and looking at the ground, letting the shade of his bangs hide his eyes.

"I thought you might come here. I knew the smoke would attract attention and then this shop would bring you." Atem said as he got up from the counter and gestured around.

"Why wait for us? Don't you have to save the world or somethin'?" Joey asked. Atem's smile came back as he turned to Joey.

"I did. Back at the stadium I thought leaving was the only way to save the world, but now I've found another way. A way that allows me to stay."

"Stay?!" Joey gasped. Yugi remained unmoving.

"Yes, that is why I need you guys. Or more specifically Yugi." Atem said. "It can only be done together." He then went to the back of the counter and pulled out his backpack. Inside the bag glittered thanks to the light bouncing off the golden treasures inside. Atem reached in and pulled out the Millennium Puzzle. Seeing this made Joey stumble back, he looked to Yugi for any kind of reaction but found none.

"Ho-how!?" Joey bellowed. He ran up and grabbed the puzzle, fighting for breath as he turned the gold pyramid over in his hands. Atem let him have it as he walked up to the window.

"I need your help. Together we put this puzzle together, and together we have to break it apart." He said.

"Wait, what!? Did miss something?" Joey asked.

"We have to disconnect the pieces. I've tried to on my own but I can't do it. It seems to be put together with something stronger this time." Atem said with a hint of a snarl. "It can only be broken by the last person to put it together." Atem let that hang in the air as he gestured for Joey to throw him the puzzle.

"Dat little stipulation would have been helpful back when we were teens. What's different about the puzzle dis time?" Joey asked. Atem didn't acknowledge his friends and kept his eyes on Yugi. Joey, with his brows furrowed, did as asked and tossed the item over. Atem caught it and held it out to Yugi.

"I know this means… a lot to us. But by doing this I can stay, here, with you. No more problems with Signers and dragons. We can even stop the world from continually calling us back into action. We can just be a normal family." Atem begged. A few more seconds of silence, then Yugi reached out for the puzzle.

"Your hands are ice cold, Atem," Yugi said as he took the puzzle.

"I wasn't exactly dressed for this weather, I was prepared for the lights of the stadium. I even had to swim in the tunnels today." Atem said with a shrug, pulling slightly on his oil covered jacket. Yugi nodded. He began to fiddle with the puzzle and the chain it was attached to.

"Really? It's a miracle you didn't freeze to death. But what's more of a miracle is how you got all dese items. I thought they were in the afterlife." Joey said as he pointed to inside the backpack.

"The Crimson Dragon gave them to me in a dream," Atem explained. Joey waited for more explanation but none came.

"Eh, I guess that's just something I'm gonna have to accept. But I gotta know, why will destroying the Millennium Puzzle help you stay?" Joey asked.

"By breaking this, the other items won't work in the ceremony," Yugi said as he started to step away from the window. Atem's eyes narrowed as Yugi jumped away from his grasp. Yugi then quickly place the puzzle around his neck. He hadn't worn it in over eighteen years, yet it felt like he had never taken it off.

"By breaking this the Crimson Dragon's ceremony won't work and the Earthbound Immortals will be free with no Signers to stop them," Yugi growled. "Get out of there Joey! That isn't Atem!"

Joey's eye widened in surprise and he immediately went into action. He grabbed Atem's backpack and ran for the door with all his might, but the long shadows got to him first. He suddenly tripped with bag flying out of his grasp. While on the ground he felt several cold things slither over him and hold him down. By the window, Atem sighed.

"Tsk. Those epiphanies are getting a little on the annoying side, but they've got one thing wrong. I am very much Atem. I've just been awakened." With that Atem threw off his jacket. In a second, the whites of his eyes turned a dark black with his irises returning to their original blood red hue. Two zagging lines stretched out from the side of his eyes and rested by his ears. Leaving two dark red tattoos in its path. His clothing changed to a black robe and cape combo, all accented by bright violet designs. The patterns reminded Yugi of the South American outlines he had seen during his research of the Immortals, but these had a distinct hieroglyphic twist to them.

"Yugi. Break that puzzle. With it, we can finally be free." Atem asked, nearly ordered. Yugi continued to back up.

"I don't know what the Earthbound Immortals are going to do to the world, but the fact that they are considered as bad a Zorc gives me enough incentive to not trust them. Remember Zorc, Atem? You spent most of your life fighting against him!" Yugi yelled. Atem slowly nodded, glaring at the puzzle around Yugi's neck.

"I remember. I remember how I had to give up my life and my very sanity to fight him, only to then drag you guys in with me. All without a choice." Atem snarled. Yugi took another step back.

"That-that's not even close to what actually… Look, Atem I know you're in-"

"There is no 'Atem I know in there'! I am Atem Muto, I am your brother. I'm just done pretending to be fine with everything." Atem declared. "The other Immortals will be out very soon and I am using them to get my revenge on the world. I am going to do what I was trained for, destroy the enemy. However, this time I am choosing who I fight and why!"

The wind began to pick up, blowing large flecks of snow past the two. The smoke cloud behind them was blown away thanks to the incoming storm. Behind Yugi, Atem could see a group of three men slink into the city. For a moment he paused, but then he put his focus back on Yugi and the Millennium Puzzle.

"You know I can't let you do that Atem. There has to be something inside you that knows this is wrong." Yugi tried. His gaze then shifted to see Joey stand or, be forced to stand thanks to shadow magic. New anger entered Yugi's gaze. Atem noticed this and looked back to Joey.

"Do not worry. I simply didn't want him running away with my bag." Atem said as he grabbed his backpack. The shadows disappeared and Joey ran out of the shop to Yugi's side. "And before you worry about Jaden, I did not get this power from him. I can tell he has already given all that to you." Atem said with a sideways grin.

Joey looked to Yugi with a questioning gaze but Yugi kept his eyes on the backpack.

"The Earthbound Immortals, He's getting his power from them, Yugi!" Joey whispered.

"I know, the new outfit was a pretty good giveaway." Yugi snapped under his breath. Joey flinched at his words. "Sorry, that was harsh. I just… I knew as soon as I saw him, he wasn't my Atem." Yugi then looked back to the bag. "If we could get those items to the reactor, maybe we could somehow start the ritual for the Crimson Dragon…" Yugi whispered. After they got the items Yugi didn't know what they were going to do. He had been receiving so many epiphanies at this point it was less like he was remembering and more like someone was whispering these things to him. However, with Atem standing in front of him in the Dark Signer garb, it was becoming hard for Yugi to even think his own thoughts. He couldn't make out the epiphanies anymore.

As Yugi tried to figure out a plan, he found himself naturally playing with the Millennium Puzzle, feeling its grooves and edges. Eventually, his thumb landed on the Eye of Wadjet. This gave Yugi an idea.

"Atem, I challenge you to a shadow game!" Yugi announced. This made even Atem fall silent as the snow began to flurry around them, all centering around Yugi. Joey gasped and took a tentative step away from the circling wind. He rubbed his eyes but it was no use, he could see duel monsters through the wind. Gandora standing with Dark Magician Girl at her side. Both looking absolutely panicked.

"I accept," Atem said after he was able to collect himself. Yugi recognized the confident expression and stance he took on. In front of him was the original King of Games. "If I win you help me destroy that puzzle."

"Fine, and if I win you leave Atem's body!" Yugi yelled through the wind. Atem rolled his eyes.

"I can't leave, this is my body. The Immortal you are referring to has no control over me. It's only there to keep my body going. If it left, I would die again and my soul would be pulled into the netherworld with it!" Atem said.

This made Yugi pull the puzzle closer to himself. It was too late to take the challenge back. Once a shadow game has been accepted by both parties, there was no stepping out. Yugi inhaled deep and nodded. He would figure out a way, he had always figured out something in the past. The golden Eye of Wadjet appeared once again on his forehead, the wind and snow picked up into an almost deafening roar.

"I assume we are dueling." Atem grinned at his opponent. Yugi saw as Atem started to reach down towards his belt. Yugi then noticed a card pouch that came with Atem's new outfit. Just by looking at it, he felt the darkness radiating from those cards. It was enough to even make the spirits of Gandora and Dark Magician Girl cringe away. Yugi looked around frantically for an idea, he could not quickly make up a game out of nowhere as Atem could. His eyes then rested on the yellow cutout from his game's promotion.

"No, we are not," Yugi said. This made everyone, including the spirits freeze and stare wide-eyed to Yugi. "We are also not dueling here." Yugi then brought his hands up, using the magic he somehow knew how to use. With the flick of his wrist, the whole group was gone. In a blink of an eye, they found themselves floating above a dead land. For miles, it was nothing but completely flattened earth, until it got to a ring of rubble buildings that slowly grew into the city of the Satellite. Right below them was a deep hole about a mile wide. Inside this hole was crisscrossing walkways slightly illuminated by red emergency lights. All led down to a metal monstrosity. It was asleep, for now.

"The original Ener-D reactor." Yugi breathed. Then the group began to fall. Yugi and Atem were able to quickly leap to adjacent pathways. Joey however, did not have the fitness the two had. He fell, flailing past them.

"Joey!" Yugi screamed. Just then Joey was suddenly thrown to the side midair, landing roughly on a lower platform. Yugi turned to see the glowing eye on Atem's forehead. Once it disappeared Atem had to catch his breath, but then he was right back to being the confident pharaoh. Yugi looked back down to see Joey slowly stumbling to his feet. He was gingerly holding his arm, but he gave Yugi one of his famous smiles and a thumbs up.

"How did you do that, Yugi?" Atem asked, not even looking at his friend below. This got Yugi to turn his attention back to the teen.

"What?"

"Teleport. I don't care if you're suddenly learning all this high-level magic. Teleporting is something even out of the Gods range." Atem said. Yugi rubbed the back of his head.

"I noticed that sometimes when a shadow duel happened, the instigator of the duel could take a person to a new location, usually the shadow realm. So, I thought this shadow game could move us…" Yugi said. He then realized who he was explaining this to and shut his mouth.

Atem slowly shook his head and smiled. "Even now you are doing things with magic I could never dream of, and I had all the training." Atem said with an annoyed sigh. "Once this is all over, I really want to talk to you about these epiphanies."

"Well, I learned this directly from my old partner. Shadow games can free a person from an entity controlling them and that's what I plan to do. I also refuse to duel with whatever evil cards you have. So, I choose the game! Reach into that backpack. If you really are Atem, you'll know what you need."

Atem raised an eyebrow but did as asked. He rummaged around the bag until his hand fell on his handheld. He pulled it out with a twisted grin on his face. He tossed the bag behind him and open the gaming system.

"We are playing the game I invented. We are Pokémon battling!" Yugi yelled as he pulled out his own device.

With a push of a button the two devices connected. Shadow magic helped bring the already implemented solid vision to life. Six red and white balls appeared by both Atem's and Yugi's side. Each grabbed one and threw it out into the space between their two walkways.

Joey looked up in horror as a familiar dark barrier formed around his best friends. He had thought Yugi was only threatening the shadow game.

"He wouldn't…" Joey breathed.

He had to shield his eyes as the two threw their Poké Balls into the air in front of them. They opened with a bright light to reveal two creatures Joey didn't recognize. While Yugi had tested his game on Joey during the building process, that was the most he had ever seen. When it came time to actually play the game, it only reminded him of his lost friend. Even when Yugi was back Joey found his time taken up by other… activities. The most he knew about the game was that attacks were done at the same time, no taking turns like in Duel Monsters. Each opponent announced their creature's action at the same time, and each creature had only one move per round. No spell or trap cards either, everything was done by the creatures themselves in the one move they had.

Joey yelled in frustration and started running towards the end of his walkway. He had to get to his friends. As he ran, he looked up at the battle. On Atem's side was a lion-like creature with flames in its mane, it had just finished breathing fire on a purple fox on Yugi's side. Even though the fox was complexly engulfed it remained on its two legs. It then released a wave of psychic energy from itself that didn't seem to damage the lion in the least. However, it did make the fox look stronger. Joey gasped when he saw the fire from the lion, blaze its way over to Yugi. It burned him, more than any solid vision would. While Yugi took it in stride, Joey felt his heart stop. This really was a shadow duel. His put his focus back on getting to his friends and now he wasn't stopping for anything.

"Really? A shiny Delphox, first turn?" Atem said with a hint of a chuckle. The fox's programming made the hologram stand taller when it heard its name.

"Why not? It's a magician fox that uses dark magic and it's purple. I couldn't resist." Yugi said with a wincing smile. His studied Atem closely to see any reaction from him. A hint of worry for Yugi's pain or any recognition in Dark Magician's lookalike Pokémon. The Pharaoh remained staunch and uncaring.

"Next turn, Go!" Cried their little handhelds.

"Calm Mind!" Yugi yelled

"Fire Blast!" Atem commanded. It went down the same as last turn, fire blazed through Yugi and his Delphox. Both stumbled back, but both were able to stay standing. The Delphox focused and another strengthening psychic wave shot out of it.

"You can't defend forever Yugi. Don't hold back now, I have been through much more painful shadow games." Atem called.

"I know, just wait!" Yugi shot back. Atem noticed that Yugi wasn't watching him or his Pokémon. Atem was about to turn to see where he was looking when the handheld announced the next round. Atem once again ordered Fire Blast. The flaming ball shot at the still smoking Delphox, but thanks to its now very calm mind it was able to take the attack with only a few hit points left and finally send an attack back.

"Psychic!" Yugi yelled. The fox took a deep breath and seemed to summon all the shadows in the area. It held it all in a pink ball in its arms that slowly grew larger until it was bigger than Atem's lion. The Delphox grinned and release the destructive wave. In one hit the fire lion was destroyed and Atem was sent flying back. He quickly caught into the side railing and pulled himself up. It was less the blast that hurt him and more the cranium splitting headache that was the aftermath. Now he knew what a mind crush felt like.

"Good move." Atem conceded as he got up. Atem gave a surprisingly gentle smile back to Yugi and picked out his next Pokémon. Yugi nodded and reached up to rest his hand on the Millennium Puzzle, trying to keep Atem's gaze only on the puzzle.

While Atem planned Yugi quickly glanced down to the lower walkways. Joey was rushing around trying to find his way to them, he wasn't even looking up. Yugi gritted his teeth and hid his other hand behind his back. Atem's next Pokémon appeared on the battlefield in a golden sarcophagus. For a moment the casket remained still, then it burst forth with shadowy hands and a sharp-toothed grin.

"Cofagrigus, of course." Yugi grinned a clearly fake smile.

"What? You're allowed a Dark Magician fox and I can't have an Egyptian ghost?" Atem bantered back. Yugi kept up his fake smile to hide his worry. This was not going well. That ghost's attacks would be super effective against his already hurt Delphox, and he needed Joey to look up. Yugi used the hand behind his back to pull out his cellphone. He kept it hidden from Atem's view and tried his best to text Joey without looking at his screen.

Joey suddenly felt his phone ring in his pocket. He was going to ignore it but it was Yugi's ringtone. He pulled it out and a crease grew above his brow

"liik yp behund Aren?" Joey called up. Yugi cringed and threw his phone back in his bag before Atem could see. The pharaoh raised an eyebrow and looked down at Joey.

"Next turn, Go!" Before either of them could finish their thoughts, they had to yell out their next moves. Delphox was faster this time and was able to send off its own fire blast, but the Cofagrigus was able to pull into its coffin body and survive. It still caused the Pokémon to be pushed back into Atem, but once the Pokémon popped back out Delphox had no chance against the shadowy ball the ghost sent its way.

As Atem stood back up, he noticed something odd. Shiny Delphox usually had red eyes, but before it was knocked out he could have sworn it look at him with pleading blue eyes. Atem shook his head. It had to be the snowstorm, or maybe Yugi had programmed his own personal Delphox to have those eyes to look more like Mahad.

Mahad.

For a moment Atem froze, not announcing his next attack. Yugi noticed this and let himself hope for a second.

Another poor soul stuck with your destiny. You will be freeing him too.

Atem announced his next attack with a bestial snarl.

Yugi's next Pokémon was a purple and black dragon with three heads called Hydreigon. Hydreigon was able to take the ghost's next attack easy. In return, it did little damage to Yugi, but he still defended himself. As he covered his face he looked back down. Joey was still staring up with a tilted head. Yugi made eye contact with Joey and quickly glanced to behind Atem. Joey looked that way and noticed Atem's backpack. It was balancing near the edge of the walkway, it was blown back thanks to Delphox's attacks. Joey realized what Yugi wanted and nodded to him. He raced across the walkway as Yugi turned back to Atem. He had to keep Atem's eyes off Joey.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" Yugi called.

"I thought I made that pretty obvious. I finally realized just how little control I had over my life." Atem yelled. "Ever since I've been born it's been one villain or prophecy after another. Even when I thought I could finally rest." Atem's eyes fell on Yugi, for a moment he remembered the bruised and bleeding man that surrendered in their last ceremonial battle. The fear Atem had felt back then. "But to stop a mistake that I didn't even make I was pulled back into all this. What is even worse is that you and all our friends got yanked in too. It never ends Yugi!" Atem shouted with enough raw emotion to make Yugi step back. He then spoke in a much weaker voice. "It never ends…" For a moment Yugi could truly see the five-thousand-years on the Pharaoh's face. Then his anger returned. "I want those in charge to never do what they did to us again!" Atem yelled.

"That's… That's not what happened Atem. We chose to do what we did." Yugi stuttered.

"Did we? Sure, we could have backed out at any moment, but the world would have been destroyed a thousand times over. We truly had no choice but to repeatedly throw ourselves into danger. And not just us. Think of Jaden and others like him. He just wanted to duel, yet he's ended up having to fuse his soul with two separate beings just to keep the world together. We had no choice and we took the damage for these higher beings." Atem then looked out at the Pokémon on the field. They didn't have spirits as duel monsters did, they only ever did their preprogramed movements, even in a shadow game. "We are nothing but game pieces. I am done! I'm taking back what is mine and all of ours. Our lives!"

Atem announced his next attack and Yugi had to think quick. He glanced down to see Joey was in place.

"Earthquake!" Yugi ordered.

Hydreigon nodded and shot towards Cofagrigus. She tackled the sarcophagus Pokémon into Atem's walkway. Then Hydreigon slammed into her enemy with all the power of the earth. Atem was unable to stay on his feet as the entire walkway shook. As Atem waited for the quaking to stop, he questioned something. Hydreigon nodded to Yugi, that wasn't a preprogramed action. In fact, pushing his Pokémon into the walkway and then attacking also wasn't. He looked around frantically until he saw it. As Hydreigon returned to Yugi, a faint outline of a red and black dragon flew out of the Pokémon.

'Ah Gandora, you chose to join the fight even if you weren't summoned.' Atem smiled as he stood up. 'So, the duel spirits can possess these holograms too.' He was about to point out the dragon when he heard a small thump. His turned back to see his bag slipped off the edge. Atem jumped for it but it fell from his grasp. His looked down to see Joey ready to catch it.

"No!" Atem shot his hand out and for a moment the bag started coming back towards him. Then Joey made a wild leap, grabbing it inflight and landing on a walkway lower down. He stopped painfully on his bad arm, but he didn't care. He felt the bag try to pull itself out of his grip but he held on tight. Atem slammed his fist on the ground and stood back up.

"Yes! Good job Joey!" Yugi yelled down. His two duel spirits allowed themselves to be fully seen now that Atem knew about them. They cheered too.

"So, we are allowing other spirits to be part of this game? Fine with me." Atem said in a collected voice. He let a twisted smile stretch across his face. Yugi had seen many serial killer smiles in this life, real and fiction, but Atem's always seemed to beat them all.

Atem sent out his next Pokémon, it was a steel-armored bug called Escavalier. For a moment it looked completely normal, then Yugi made eye contact with it. A shiver jumped down his spine. The same evil power he felt from Atem's cards radiated from Yugi's own creation. Atem then pointed at Joey and the Escavalier blasted towards him.

"Oh, no you don't." Yugi then nodded to Gandora who hopped back into Hydreigon's hologram and blocked Escavalier's path. "We still have a battle!"

"Hey, Yuge?" Yugi back looked down to Joey. He stood with the bag open. "What do I do now?"

Yugi rubbed the back of his neck and looked to his spirits. Both girls shrugged. This was as far as their plan to do the ceremony got. They all turned when Atem began chuckling.

"Of course, when you need them most your epiphanies fail you. Just like most things from the Higher Ups." Atem laughed. Yugi looked pleadingly to Dark Magician Girl

"We know less about Afterlife ceremonies then you do." Dark Magician Girl shrugged. Joey listened in and when he heard what Dark Magician Girl said, he snapped his fingers.

"I got it! Keep dat Immortal busy." Joey yelled up as he ran with the bag slung over his shoulder.

Past the walkway was a room that connected to many sets of stairs and broken machinery. While in there, Joey pulled out his phone and dialed a number. Suddenly, he felt a great shake from outside. He turned to see that once again Hydreigon had blocked Atem's creature from getting in. Joey quickly ran from the opening and started racing down, away from the battle.

"Come on, come on! Pick up, you creepy brit-"

"Joey! Is something wrong?" Bakura's voice came through on the other end of the phone.

"A lot of things." A blast once again shook the old building, causing a piece of equipment to fall in Joey's path. He managed to stop himself from tripping and jumped over it. "But dat's not important right now. I need a ceremony! Something by the Crimson Dragon if you could."

"What?!" Marik's voice came over the line too. "What's going on?!"

"Oh good, your dere too. Are you guys anywhere near Bakura's occult books?"

"Ah, yes. We couldn't get a boat ride so we are at our house trying to coordinate with everyone else." Bakura said. Joey could hear pages turning in the background and Marik quietly cursing.

"Find in one of those books something about Crimson Dragon ceremonies that require the Millennium Items," Joey said as he ran across another walkway. He glanced up to see Hydreigon defeated, but Escavalier also going down at the same time.

"Wha-why?! This is not just something I can just look up in the table of contents." Bakura's voice shook.

"Atem's being controlled and the fate of the world is in the balance. Our usual." Joey said. Bakura joined Marik's cursing as more page turning could be heard. As they worked, Joey stopped and looked below him one level. Beside him was a massive tube about the size of his house that continued down past where Joey could see. On the level below was a smashed control panel attached to the tube. As he was looking at it, Joey suddenly felt a tug. He reached into the bag and pulled out the Millennium Ring. Looking at the item that had hurt his friends so much made him want to throw the thing. Then he remembered something.

"Hey, you have some weird connection to the afterlife, right? Thanks to your time with the Thief King?" Joey asked, making sure not to yell this time. He heard a thud in the background, probably a dropped book.

"Why do you ask? While yes, I think I do. It is nothing like Yugi's epiphanies." Bakura explained.

"I feel like the veil between dis life and the next is pretty thin right now. I'm seeing duel spirits and holding the Millennium Items in my hand. Anything you could get from our friends on the other side would be great." Joey said as he put the ring back in the bag. He heard Marik gasp, but Bakura didn't seem surprised. For a long moment, he was quiet. Then he sighed.

"It isn't anything big but, I feel…something. A pull. A small pull, mind you."

"That's better than nothing!" Marik proclaimed.

"What's it pullin' you too?' Joey asked.

"Down. But what's even stranger is that… this pull doesn't seem like it's for me. I know that seems odd... Now I get the problem Yugi had explaining earlier." Bakura said.

Joey exhaled, the walkways he found couldn't go any lower. But there was that smashed control panel below him.

"Let's hope I'm not goin' crazy. Here we go." Joey heaved himself over the railing and fell a good ten feet. He landed with another painful crash.

"Are you ok?!" Bakura yelled through the phone.

"Fine, fine. Feel anythin' different?" Joey croaked. He slowly stood up and gawked at the massive Ener-D reactor.

"Yes actually. It feels like I need to turn on something. Like a light switch or a kettle."

"Ya, dat's gonna be a problem," Joey said as he looked at the ruins of the once great reactor. He then gripped his head with a frustrated growl. "Why was I even thinkin' dis!? Goin' off of feelin's and half made plans! How did we ever save the world in the past?!"

"What's wrong?" Bakura asked.

"I am not gonna turn on the original Ener-D reactor!"

"The original what!?' Kaiba's voice shot through the phone. Joey stared confused at his screen until Bakura sent him a video call request. Joey accepted and a holographic picture of Bakura and Marik sitting in a mess of book by a laptop came into view. On the laptop was a blurry picture of Kaiba.

"We did say we were coordinating with everyone." Marik nervously smiled.

"WHY ARE YOU AT THE OLD ENER-D REATOR?!" Kaiba roared. Joey cringed away from the phone. "I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM IT AT ALL COSTS!"

"Atem was heading here to finish whatever ceremony he had to do. On the way, he got possessed and now we have to finish the ceremony… I think? I just know the new evil Atem was tryin' to stop the ceremony from happenin' by destroyin' dese." Joey said as he pulled the Millennium Items into view. The group fell silent as they stared at the glittering pieces of their past.

"…And that involves turning on the reactor that destroyed everything?!" Kaiba barked after collecting himself.

"Hey! It was Bakura's weird feelin's plan. And listenin' to him was the best I could think of." Joey groaned as he leaned against the side of the broken panel. "I just- I don't know. I'm tired, hurt, and Yugi's shadow duelin' with someone up dere dat looks like Atem but I'm pretty sure is not. I'm not exactly in the right mindset."

"Shadow dueling?!" Everyone gasped.

"Where are Atem and Yugi?" Kaiba asked. Joey was about to point the phone at the battle raging above him when a warbled voice came from the control panel.

"Hello, Mr. Kaiba." Joey froze. He slowly looked down to see that his elbow had been leaning on a still somewhat intact button. "This unit is currently sleeping. Working at 0.0001% power. What would you like to do, sir?"

Joey turned back to the phone. Thanks to the multiple levels of cameras, Kaiba's face was completely pixelated. Joey couldn't see a single detail on him. He could tell though by Marik's and Bakura's faces, it wasn't good.

"Do you still have that feeling of yours Bakura?" Kaiba said. Bakura jumped and turned to the laptop.

"Pardon?"

"Do, You. Still. Have. That. Feeling. From. The. Afterlife?" Seto said condescendingly slow.

"Err, it's definitely a feeling. I don't know if it comes from the afterlife, however. But now that I focus on it, it is one of the strongest feelings I've ever had. It's like someone whispering to me. They're repeating the turn it on feeling and now… One, I think? Yes, they are repeating one." That did not reassure anyone. For a few moments longer everyone remained silent. Then Seto sighed.

"Well, if another Zero Reverse happens, you'll be happy to know it was because Bakura heard whispering in his head." Kaiba said. "Ener-D boot up to one percent. Password: Kisara."

"Wait! Shouldn't we talk about this-!" Joey yelped but it was cut off by the roar of the machine.

Sparks went off around Joey as what was left of reactor sprang to life. He turned to see mechanics in the large tube start to move. Inside were massive metal arms the size of cars that seemed to rotate around one axis. At first he was worried those would start moving, but instead smaller arms below them began to turn. As they got faster and faster, the ends of the arms began to glow in a rainbow of colors. The rubble around Joey began to violently shake as the spinning got so quick that all he could see was multicolored light. Debris started to rain down as he ran for safety.

Up top both Yugi and Atem had to grab onto their guard rails as their walkway began to vibrate.

"He wouldn't!" Atem yelled. Yugi looked to where Atem was staring. Below them, a multitude of colors radiated from a large glass tube.

"What did you do Joey?" Yugi whispered. The shaking got more intense, enough for Yugi's walkway to break off its support and start falling.

"Yugi!" Atem cried. Yugi jumped away from the walkway but there was nowhere for him to go. As he began to fall, the green and white swordsmen Pokémon called Gallade that Yugi had summoned jumped to his aid. It grabbed him and threw him towards Atem's walkway. Atem reached out and grabbed Yugi's arms, barely catching him in time. Yugi quickly scrambled up the guardrail and held onto Atem as the trembling was reaching its panicle. The Gallade came to the two and grabbed onto both of them. Gandora and Dark Magician Girl right by his side.

"Dis was probably our worst idea ever!" Joey yelled into the phone. He was curled up with the backpack of items, his back to the reactor, praying to not be blown away. The metal monstrosity continued to roar as it grew in speed. Joey could tell voices were coming from his phone but the noise was too much to hear over. What was worst was there was an intense heat coming from the reactor as it reached its pinnacle. Joey prepared for it to explode, covering his head. Then it all stopped.

"1% test complete. Ener-D reactor working at 0.2% efficiency. Needs 13,785,834 checks and fixes. I apologize, Mr. Kaiba, the reactor is not ready. Please review with the engineers." A small electronic voice sang out. Joey slowly opened his eyes and looked around.

"Nope, you're not dead yet honey." Came a female voice. Joey's entire body froze, yet he felt like every one of his cells did a backflip. He slowly turned to see a group of five people silhouetted by the slowing colors of the reactor. The female that spoke sauntered up to Joey, bent down and kissed him full on the lips. Joey was still frozen but found himself quickly unfreezing as the women pulled away and rested her forehead against his.

"I've missed you, love." Mai smiled.