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Epic Music Makes Everything better.
Atem's hand remained raised, stunned into place from shock.
Mana wasn't gone.
She couldn't be.
Flecks of light fluttered like butterfly wings around him. A single speck fell onto his open palm before winking out. He closed his fist, blood seeping between his fingers as nails dug into his palm. He rounded on Yugi.
"What the hell happened?" shouted Atem. "Why was she taken? I thought the items had been changed to close the rifts."
Yugi stared back with that blank expression. The pain in Atem whirled and doubled, staggering him where he flew. Then a laugh cut into the room. Haggard and maniacal.
"I think it's pretty clear what happened," said Duke. The man still lay on the ground, his face toward the heavens as a bloodied grin stretched across it. "You've been betrayed, Pharaoh."
"Shut up!"
Duke laughed again, the sound turning into a strained cough.
"Too scared to hear the truth?" said Duke. "I told you this would happen. I told you that the realities would be better without him. He's shown his true colors as a traitorous mur—"
Yugi shot from above with blinding speed. He grabbed Duke around the throat and with a crunch, smashed him against the wall. Blood spurted out on the stone. The man's life force winked out, and Atem could feel Duke's presence no more.
"You always talked too much," said Yugi.
The portal exploded with light. It erupted up and knocked over what was left of the ceiling. They had failed to stop it. With Mana's sacrifice and the Millenium Rod, the portal was opening Zorc's prison.
Too many things were happening at once. Rose Lover howled, the room shook, and Mahad lay on the floor, still alive but drained of energy. Bubbles of shadow seeped through the walls and floors. Everything they touched disappeared yet… remained there. Left for a realm that wasn't any realm. Just a broken place, one where everything and nothing existed. It all whirled within Atem's soul and jumbled his thoughts.
Light erupted around Duke's body on the wall. It swirled and took the man in exchange for a dark portal.
Yugi placed a foot inside.
"Stay were you are!" Yelled Atem, weak even as he desperately tried to command the Hikari. "Not another step until you tell me what's going on."
Yugi turned his dull eyes to Atem, impatience in every bone of his body.
"That trick won't work twice, Atem." He said. "You wasted your chance."
"YUGI!"
The Hikari disappeared through the portal.
The shadows had swallowed most of the room. They crept over the constantly reforming body of Rose Lover, swallowing her along with her howls. He needed to get out of here. There was only one sure exit, but it too was closing quickly.
Atem shot for Mahad, picking him up before flying for the portal Yuig had walked through. Holding his breath, Atem plunged through the foul magic. He shuddered as he felt the world swallowed around him. Those few seconds lasted for hours as he soul swirled with confusion and pain.
Seto had stopped the portal from swallowing Serenity, but they were not safe yet. Something was wrong with the portal. Rather than closing, it was widening.
Streams of magic tugged at the obelisk as inch by inch until it disappeared. The hairs on Seto's arms stood as he felt the oncoming wave forming before them. The portal was about to unleash its power and destruction upon this place.
Serenity still lay on the floor, hair an auburn tumble splashed across her face as she gasped with each breath. The whiplash from removing a corrupted Ka had momentarily stunned her.
"Get up," said Seto. He tugged the girl to her feet. She obeyed without protest, more corpse than human, but Seto could work with that. He just needed her to move.
Two steps toward the door, he realized Karim wasn't with them. The man was still standing before the portal, his millennium scales raised with power flooding out of him.
"Karim!" shouted Seto. "We need to leave. The portal is open, it's useless to try and close it."
"I can't," said Karim.
Seto was not in the mood for the man's sacrificial nonsense. "Don't try to be a hero and get the hell out of there. It's about to open. The realities are—"
"I can't, Priest Seto. The item is what opened it in the first place."
Karim turned to Seto, and now he could see that the man was already partially gone. The item was nothing but a stick of gold at this point, inch by inch disappearing into the mass of magic.
Seto couldn't accept it. He let go of Serenity, running to Karim's side as he summoned the magic within him.
"There's still time," said Seto. "If I get a hold of your Ka and soul I can pull them back to—"
"It's alright." Karim's face had calmed, become serene as he greeted death. So typical. He would be the one to just give up like this after everything they had gone through.
"I'm not leaving you," said Seto. "Just help me and we can find a solution."
Karim shook his head, laughing to himself as if it were all a joke. Strips of his face were already gone, taken by the void.
"I told you, did I not? About that prophesy. That I would one day trust you with my life. I didn't tell you all of it. It wasn't just my life I would one day trust you with. But the life of my family." The priest's face finally cracked from emotion. The smile was strained with lines of worry and despair as the last of Karim disappeared into the void. "Take care of them for me…"
He was gone.
Seto bowed his head, fist shaking in rage and grief. He had already lost enough people. He didn't want to carry Karim's life as well. Bastard should have found a way to live.
"I'll take care of them," ground out Seto. "I'll promise you that, but you owe me, even in the next life."
Seto ran back from the portal, the chamber collapsing as power tore it apart. He grabbed hold of the dazed girl and tugged her down the corridor. People and monsters ran in every direction. Joey joined them a moment later, hovering along beside them but for once, he wasn't talking. Then he suddenly stopped, slouching down as he hugged his middle. Seto pulled up short.
"Spirit! Keep moving," said Seto.
"I… don't feel dat great," said Joey. His form was fuzzy. More transparent than usual. His edges blurred like a painting ruined by water.
Serenity suddenly perked up. The whites of her eyes were stark against the grime as he stared at the spirit.
"Joey?" she whispered. "I can see you I… you really were here."
Her hands trembled as fingers splayed out to touch him.
Joey's whole body suddenly flickered like a dying flame. Serenity screeched as she flung her arms out, desperate to hold on to her brother. But her hands passed straight through him as he disappeared.
Serenity yelled her dead brother's name. The grief in that yell chilled Seto's veins. He understood the grief in that cry.
Seto grabbed the still yelling Serenity, now dragging her as she kicked and screamed the whole way. They reached the outside, finally blessedly away from the portal.
But they were not safe. The top of the building exploded.
White light shot into the sky, rattling his soul against hollow bones. Seto gapped as he watched the light merge together with another light shooting up into the sky to bore a hole in the air. A fissure in reality.
By the gods...I've failed you, my Pharaoh, thought Seto. Egypt was lost. The world as they knew was ending.
Blocks of the building descended upon them from the explosion. He called out Blue-eyes to shield them. The monster's wing covered the sky and Seto grunted with each brick that hit his Ka. He huddled Serenity to him, weathering the barrage of pain against body and soul. He could feel so much happening, yet knew it was only a fraction of the true destruction around them. He clung to life and one he had promised to save.
Blue-Eyes let out a cry in anger, fuzzing in and out of reality. No, what was she doing? He couldn't send her back. The bricks were still falling. What was reality doing to the Ka?
"Stand Blue-Eyes!" said Seto. "Kisara, please."
But even those few seconds in reality were too much for The Blue-Eyes White Dragon. The monster disappeared, and rock rained down upon him and Serenity. Seto stumbled before her, throwing out his hands to summon a shield as the stone buried them alive.
Atem stumbled from the portal, his head spinning from the trip. He quickly laid down Mahad and checked his friend's spirit. Good. He was not too corrupted. Knocked out, but alive.
Reassured, Atem raised his eyes.
They were on the landing of a huge staircase. It ascended to a large spacious room outlined by various statues of the gods. Atem recognized the layout and decorations. It was the largest ceremonial room in the city. A room in the temple dedicated to Seth but with one huge difference. The walls and ceiling along with all the other rooms in the building were gone.
Seated on a large hill, the staircase and landing stood alone, jutting up above the city and into the whirling clouds. This high, he could see every detail of the destruction raining upon the city. Several fires had started. The land burned with an orange smoldering hue as smoke dried the air and stung his eye. Seams in reality crisscrossed and split across the sky blurring this world with the others. People flooded the streets as Ka and men went mad from corruption. And that huge army of Ka had finally reached the city. Without any defenses, nothing could stop them from tearing through the streets.
Something shifted. Atem felt it growing. Power building to a point before exploding upward. A pillar of light, identical to the one sprouting from the center of the city shot into the air. It arced and collided with the first one, further widening the rip in the sky. Further tearing into reality. It could only mean one thing.
Another obelisk had fallen.
Seto, thought Atem. Karim. I sent you to your death.
A third surge of power erupted. To the left, another pillar of light joined the other as oblivion opened above them.
I'm sorry, Isis. Shimon. They too had fallen.
Reality was falling apart. In the face of all the evidence, he couldn't refute it. Yugi had tampered with the items, but not to seal away the portals. He had changed them to open them. They'd fallen for his trap.
Atem could feel it. All the death. All the pain. Gods, it was too much. Every scream, every death, every tear in reality constricted his heart until it stopped beating. His lungs refused to expand.
"Master! Do not fall!"
Light pressed against his lungs. The tender touch of his mother's Ka extended her strength to him. It broke through the paralysis and his lungs suddenly expanded. Sweat trickled down his face. It was all he could do as his vision cleared.
Then he saw something else. A boy at the top of the staircase standing before a fourth and final portal topped at the point of an obelisk.
Atem struggled to his feet, gravity pushing on his shoulders with every step. Wind and sound roared around him, but all he could hear was the soft beating of a single heart. A heart he still prayed could be saved.
With each step on the staircase, memories returned to him.
Mystical Elf speaking in concern: "I haven't heard from his Ka in a while. I think… I think Something is wrong."
Another step.
Yugi's unrestrained anger toward Bakura a few hours ago. He'd been uncharacteristically fierce. Violent.
Another step.
Yugi's soul, torn beyond repair as Atem carried him back from the Valley of The Dead.
Just one more.
Yugi on a calm night, different than this one, happy and full of energy as his legs swung over the edge of Atem's balcony.
"People change all the time, you'd be surprised how quickly... Nothing changes a person as much as power does. It can happen over years, or in an instant."
"You should not trust me, as I don't trust you."
Atem reached the top of the staircase.
"I refuse to believe it."
Yugi turned to face Atem. Blood still coated his hands, grime dulling his hair and staining his cheeks. Only his eyes, rimmed in red with flecks of silver magic shone out against the muted tones of his body and aura. Only they held any light, though the coloring was wrong. They shouldn't have such a red hue.
The Hikari didn't speak. He didn't move, just stood, waiting and watching as Atem took another step. The contrast to his usual bright smiles and bouncing feet made Atem's heart ache. Yugi shouldn't be like this.
"There's no way you've completely fallen," said Atem. "If you had, then you wouldn't have been able to set us all up so easily. To change the millennium items. To hold back until now to betray us. This was calculated. Planned out. For what purpose have you sacrificed so many of those I love?"
"There was no plan," said Yugi and he spoke with no feeling. "I saw an opportunity and I took it. I am as you see me."
"I don't believe it. Not for one second. You said this was the only way to save the realities. You always cared, Yugi. You always hurt yourself for others."
"But what if I'm tired of being the sacrifice?"
Atem stalled.
Yugi tilted his head showing no cheeky smile or… anything. In a falling world riddled with chaos, his face endured without breaking.
"What if I'm tired, Atem?" he said. "What if I'm tired of it all? What if I just want the world to fall so I don't have to babysit it?"
"But—"
"Didn't you hear me?" interrupted Yugi. His hand rose, veins bulging from his tightened fist. "I'm tired, Atem. So tired. I just want it all to end."
The reality of what Atem was seeing finally sunk in. The weight of Yugi's responsibilities had finally broken him. Finally snapped his soul.
But maybe Atem wasn't too late to catch him.
Atem took another step.
"Then put it all on me."
Emotions finally bled into the Hikari's face. They came slowly, growing with each second as eyes widened, lips parted, and fists slackened. Atem took a final step, stopping arm's length from Yugi. He stared down at his friend, his partner, and felt the still raw pain of their severed bond. He should feel angry. Furious for the death of Mana and destruction of his kingdom. But he couldn't muster it. Not before this man. Not for Yugi.
"Put it all on me," said Atem. "And I will take your burdens. Whatever I must sacrifice to save you from this spiral of death you've sucked yourself down."
"But you couldn't withstand it," said Yugi. "It would be too much. And I'm already… I can't be saved."
"You can," said Atem. "I will not surrender you to the gods like this."
Yugi trembled. His face lowered as his body curled in on itself. Then he placed a hand to his heart. Atem could see him cracking. Giving in to the request. He may not be too late.
Yugi muttered something. Atem leaned closer to hear.
"Sorry," said Atem. "I couldn't—"
"You're too easy."
Atem had a fleeting glimpse of shadow magic sharpening around Yugi's hand before the world pitched. He slammed into the ground and down several steps before managing to right himself. He wrenched his cloak aside to clamor back up the steps, mouth open in horror at what he saw.
Yugi's hand had shifted into a long cruel blade and it was piercing straight through Mahad's chest.
The moment lasted forever in Atem's eyes. He saw Mahad's excruciating pain. The cruelty twisted in Yugi's expression. The blood running like rivers down the blade. A blade that had been meant for Atem. This death should have been his. He hadn't heard Mahad approach. Hadn't felt him draw near. And Mahad had pushed Atem aside to take the blow.
Atem's lips mouthed a cry, soundless first, then louder. Issuing out in a loud roar.
Yugi withdrew the blade with a squelch, dropping Mahad to the ground.
Atem sprinted to Mahad's side, healing magic already forming to stem to bleeding and save his soul from falling into this chaotic world. But the second Atem slid into place beside Mahad more magic erupted.
Twelve different circles of hieroglyphics the size of Atem's hand surrounded him. They shone at once, trapping him in a pillar of soft blue. Though the magic was gentle, it didn't waver in its strength. His own magic stalled. His hand froze as time stopped for him at that moment.
Only one person could have conducted magic like this. Magic specific to trapping and stalling the Yami.
Atem struggled to fight it. To burst from the prison and start healing Mahad. He could still save him. He could still stop this! If he could just move!
A rattling reached his ears. Then the sensation of something being lifted from around his neck. Yugi had taken his millennium puzzle. All the vulnerability Yugi had displayed was gone. An ache hit Atem when he realized it had been an act.
There's never been a chance to stop Yugi.
The Hikari walked back toward the portal, puzzle tucked under his arm.
"Stop!" said Atem.
Yugi stopped at the base of the pillar. There had been no power in that command, but Yugi had stopped and Atem could guess why.
Rage had replaced the ache in Atem's heart. Yugi had heard it in Atem's call. All this destruction and why? Because Yugi had fallen? Because Atem hadn't been strong enough to stop Yugi? His friends were dying at the hands of the one that should have saved the world. His anger flew without restraint, the Ka inside him trembling at the turbulent emotions. It affected his magic, rampaged like a storm as his eye color shifted between fiery red and obsidian.
"Was it all a lie?" said Atem. "Did you set all this up from the beginning?"
"I already told you," said Yugi, voice low. "I just saw an opportunity and took it."
Yugi raised the puzzle high over his head. Shadows flared to life around him, aching to take the puzzle and consume its power. Yugi released the puzzle to them and the took it away, consuming the gold inch by inch as their power grew.
"This is the only way to save everyone," he said. "To save myself. This world must dissolve for it all to end. All the pain. All the hurt. It can't exist if reality and life are destroyed. You'll be fine though. You're part God. You can escape to another realm and continue with your existence."
"Yugi… you can't be serious."
Yugi turned to face Atem, now smiling a wide joyful smile that looked sinister in its child-like glee amid all the destruction. Now Atem could see clearly the insanity that had infected his partner. Yugi was gone. Madness had won. He really wished for everyone to die.
Shadows sucked up the Millennium item. It disappeared into the portal as it shrunk to the size of a pin, taking all the sound with it. For a moment, nothing but silence and stillness filled the place. Energy hummed in anticipation. Atem's heart refused to beat. Then it all exploded upward.
Atem's yell was lost in the rush. The last pillar extended upward to the swirling vortex, a final seam ripping free.
Zorc's prison had opened.
Atem could feel the monster. A creature of nothing but darkness and destruction. His own Yami powers shrunk away from such a thing entering this world. For the second it did, the lines would fall, and the realms would cease to be separate.
Then the shadows started to take Yugi as well. But he wasn't a sacrifice. It was something different. Something worse.
Yugi had formed a bond with Zorc.
The Hikari completely vanished, his soul shooting toward the open vortex.
The spell around Atem dropped. He immediately fell to Mahad's side, ready to heal his friend. But it was too late. Neither Mahad's soul or Ka were present, swept away by the unstable lines of reality. His body still bled out, headdress fallen and eyes open toward the heavens that tore them apart.
Atem lowered his forehead, pressing it into Mahad's side. His hand trembled as they sought for purchase. His whole soul screamed in agony wondering just, why. Why was this happening? Why must there be so much death?
Why hadn't be been strong enough to save everyone?
His breathing was shallow, the metallic scent of blood stinging his nostrils. Within him, power swirled and fought as he finally allowed himself to feel what had just happened. Feel the severed bond between him and Yugi. The death around him. His own grief at the death of so many of his friends. His anger and frustration continued to run unchecked through his body.
Reality trembled.
Atem lifted his head, tears warping his vision as he spotted something emerging from the vortex. A clawed foot, deep purple and larger than a city block emerged first. It expanded to show expansive calves, black wings and a powerful tail with corruption oozing from its pores. This creature was the source of all corruption. The maker of death. The bringer of destruction.
Zorc's head finally appeared. Long horns framed grotesque line of fangs. Perched on Zorc's head, Atem could just see the outline of Yugi.
The monster immediately shot out a blast of energy from its mouth. The energy tore through the city, the blast so bright it briefly made the darkness look like day. Light remained from the fire left behind as a fourth of the city erupted into flames.
"I have to stop him."
Atem stood up.
All the pure Ka within his heart appeared, transparent and waiting for his command. Mystical Elf drifted closer to him, head bowed in solemnity.
"I'm sorry, Master," said Mystical Elf. "I suspected he was unstable, but I never imagined he would plan something like this…"
"What are you going to do?" asked Black Luster Soldier. The Ka was still only half recovered from before, much of its body missing. "This world is done for, and you're no match for him when he's tied with Zorc. He'll destroy you easily."
"Then I must lift my burdens while strengthening my magic."
It took a moment for what he said the register, but when it did, he felt their resignation. Their acceptance. He hated the thought, but it was the only way to gain enough strength to stop Yugi and Zorc.
Atem held out a hand palm up, thumb pressed again his middle and forefinger. Countless threads suddenly appeared between the fingers, each shimmering a different color. They represented the Ka in his possession. The pure and the corrupted. They were the bond that tied the Ka to him and kept them safe from the corruption that surrounded them. The second Atem broke the connection, so too would their protection. They'd immediately descend into madness and join the mindless throngs of monsters tearing apart the city.
He didn't want to do it like this.
"It's alright."
Mystical Elf was crying, but her head was high as she smiled brightly at him. "It's the only way to stop him."
The other Ka gave their sounds of approval. Roars from dragons, cheers from humanoids. The resolute nod from his own Ka. Atem's heart tightened.
"I'm sorry," said Atem softly, relishing for one more moment in their light. Then he snapped his fingers.
The Ka fled from his soul.
It was as if millions of threads holding Atem to the earth had been cut. His chest expanded, power rushed through him as everything became clearer. He felt as if he could fly. In fact, he might be. Without the souls to weight him down, a gust of wind could blow him away.
The Ka came out in a rush. They filled the air and ran down the hill. The instant they hit the outside, their bodies contorted into grotesque forms. Atem kept his gaze forward to avoid witnessing this.
I will find you all again and cleanse each and every one of you. I promise.
They finished fleeing, leaving Atem with three weights tethering him to the earth.
Atem walked to where the dais ended into a steep drop. Then he summoned the three Ka he still kept.
The three Egyptian Gods appeared before him.
Slyfer, Obelisk, and Ra. Enormous, powerful and partially corrupted, theKa of gods did not immediately fall to corruption. They kept it back. Endured even as the realities fell apart. For they were gods, and thus were unaffected by corruption such as this.
Obelisk stood without moving as he usually did, showing no reaction. Ra was similar, still trapped in that huge spiral of gold light. And Slyfer was still bound by his enormous chains. The serpent Ka opened its second mouth, corruption dripping from its jaws.
"You dare summon us, human-god?" said Slyfer. "Are you so desperate to expedite your end?"
No. His plan was the opposite. His heart was resolute as he turned away from the red serpent to address the other two.
"Obelisk, Ra," said Atem. "A thousand years later, your battle continues. I require your strength to defeat Zorc, the Ka of Seth. Fulfill your duty and help bring balance to the realities."
Nothing. No reaction. The two gods didn't move.
Slyfer started laughing, its belly sliding along the ground and crushing buildings.
"You think you can control us, little demi-god?" said Slyfer. "We will not listen to a child who does not even know how to—"
Ra started glowing.
The ball expanded and shifted as glorious light took form. Light that may have blinded another person assaulted his eyes as Atem witnessed the true form of the Ka emerge from its self-created prison. Ra, a glorious bird of prey emerged like a form carved directly from gold. Its light was warm, comforting and uplifted Atem's heart as its consciousness finally connected properly with Atem.
"I will fulfill my responsibility and bring light to the realities."
The creature conveyed nothing else. It didn't need to. Their bond was now strong, bright with the purifying light of the Sun God's Ka. Atem bowed his head in thanks, reaching now for Obelisk.
The monster was laughing again. Though not in mocking or reproach. It was laughing in delight. It was excited to do battle with Zorc once more. He would follow Atem into battle without hesitation.
All this left was Slyfer. The serpent hissed in displeasure at his two companions' decision.
"I will not take orders from you, Atem, son of Ra," said Slyfer. "I will consume you the second you try."
"I don't plan on giving you any orders," said Atem. He snapped his fingers
All the chains painstakingly made and remade for centuries fell from the Ka. The Gods expanded, their power and Atem's multiplying exponentially as it flooded through them without restraint.
"You made a promise to your previous master, the Hikari," said Atem. "It's time to fulfill that promise. I want your help killing Yugi."
Slyfer hissed, emotions raging through the creature. It was a huge risk. Not a greatly calculated one and if Atem's guess was off, then nothing could save them. Slyfer knew this. He knew Atem had no true power.
"I will not help you."
Slyfer's first mouth opened. Magic gathered there, an enormous ball of light forming with each second. Atem watched the magic condense, unwavering even as the God turned it to him. It held it there for a few moments, then—
Slyfer retracted the attack.
It vanished within its mouth as the creature turned its head to Atem. Its eye, shimmering like an enormous yellow topaz regarded Atem closely. The Pharaoh could see his reflection in that glossy surface. See his ripped cloak, battered body and blood-stained hands. The face that stared back didn't look like his own. It was too hard. Too weathered with age and grief. His crown remained somehow in place, partially covering up the shimmer of the third eye resting on his forehead.
"You do not even flinch at the sight of death," said Slifer. "How dare you suggest such bold request when without us, you have no true power."
The monster laughed. Its sound almost covered the explosions behind them, but it couldn't distract from the smell of flesh burning. They were running out of time. It was time to act or there would be nothing left to save.
"Either you kill Yugi," said Atem. "Or this world is lost, and I'll spend my last breath destroying you instead."
Slyfer snapped at Atem, the wind blowing his clothes about.
"Do not push it human," said Slyfer. "You are lucky my hatred for the Hikari is strong, or I'd chose to kill you for your impudence."
"Once this battle is over, you may try at your convenience."
Slyfer had accepted. Atem could feel the begrudging respect as the Ka chose to fight, but it wasn't for Atem's power or his boldness. It was for the strength of his rage. A rage that Slyfer endorsed.
Ra and Obelisk vanish into his soul, ready to fight.
Atem stepped out into the void, golden wings from Ra expanding from his back and lifting him into the air. Slyfer moved to follow, like a serpent swimming as it took to the sky. Atem had the light of Ra, the strength of obelisk, and the rage of Slyfer as he flew over the sea of flames. It was time to bring this all to an end.
