From the distance, before they were even close to the capital city, there came a roar.
"Is that...?" Honda's eyes widened, seeing the familiar, three-headed beast battling the...whatever it was that was setting the city ablaze.
"Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Anzu gasped. "Then that must mean-!"
"He's still alive!" Jou cheered.
As they approached the ends of the city limits, however, the cheers died in their throats. Before their very eyes, they saw as the Ultimate Dragon's attacks lessened, and lessened still—hitting wall after wall of shadow that only seemed to grow stronger with each passing second. More and more monsters were born from the darkness with each death, with each human that felt hatred towards the Dark One, and even if the White Dragon was made of human hope, it was still never as great as hate.
Shadows latched-on with a million hooks of darkness, crawling into the cracks between the skin as it infected the pristine light of the White Dragon's scales, and its tail lashed in rage as it twisted its heads back and away from the Dark God's infection, but even that wasn't enough, not when the Dark One already had it in its grasp.
Shadows twisted under its scales, crawling like rot underneath its pure white core, and Yuugi remembered with a dull sort of horror the way that his Mammoth Graveyard had been unable to completely fuse with Kaiba's Ultimate Dragon, causing it to rot until it couldn't even be recognized as a dragon any longer.
The dragon's wings beat furiously against the death that began to set in. It cried in agony from the darkness that was crawling like bugs under its body, necrosis beginning slowly but surely, body going limp against the rot as the dragon began to fall—the ultimate creature of light forced to kneel before the Dark God.
The sun, barely beginning to glimmer against the sky above them, was lost again behind the full moon.
The dragon was pristine light so bright that it was able to hold back down the monstrosity of twisted shadows, but it was still not enough to bring back the sun.
The dragon was made of light, but even a creature that was born of hope could still not hope to battle with power it was born from, but had no hand it making.
The beasts began to feast on the corpse of light even before the creature was dead, millions of shadows swarming like locusts for the meal.
The Dark One, even without turning what could have maybe passed for its head on another plane, reached into the minds of their beasts without effort at all, turning them against their masters. Power began to well in the mouth of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon as it turned on its own master, blazing fire in its jaws, and Jou only had enough time to realize he'd fall to his death even if he tried to move, but he did anyway, jumping from his Red-Eyes, with miles to the city below.
Suddenly, he was falling through darkness, a realm he'd only seen once before as he thought that he'd reached the end—he hoped everyone else got to tell the Pharaoh his name—but he hit the desert floor just moments later, air coming out of his lungs in a huff of surprise as he got to all fours, blinking dully as he looked up to the Pharaoh smiling down at him, red eyes bright with relief.
"Am I dead?" Jou asked, and the Pharaoh laughed, his voice a little high with relief.
"No, no! Not at all!" The Pharaoh clasped Jounouchi warmly on the arm, before Yuugi threw his own arms around the Pharaoh from behind, pressing his face into his shoulder in relief.
"Other Me!" Yuugi cried. "We found you! We—"
"Partner." The Pharaoh said, his voice warm with affection. "You're here..." His eyes shut as he bathed in Yuugi's presence—even if the end came now, his partner was here, and that made everything alright. "Did you find my name?"
"Y-yes!" Yuugi said, jumping up in excitement, though he never stopped touching Yami's arm, as if merely letting go of him would suddenly take him away. "But I can't say it, though Malik can read it—"
"Where is he?" Honda asked, frowning. Moments later, the Dark Magician appeared from a Dark Magic Curtain, carrying a badly-wounded Malik with him.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't get to him before Curse of Dragon attacked." The High Sorcerer said, clear regret on his face. "He's alive, but badly wounded."
"Malik!" Yuugi called, rushing to his side, before he paused, looking back up at Dark Magician. He'd seen this version of the monster before, but never so close...
"That's fine." The Pharaoh assured, approaching the Dark Magician. "Mana can tend to him."
The High Sorcerer nodded, before turning his back to the group, his staff raised high. Yuugi, still amazed by him, followed in wonder.
"You're...my Dark Magician?" He asked in awe, and the High Sorcerer gave him a brief smile that clearly answered for him.
"Yuugi Mutou, it's nice to finally talk to you. You wield my power well. Nothing less than what I expected for my King's incarnation."
Yuugi's eyes widened in wonder, before he shyly looked-away. "Sorry, I mean...I want to talk to you more, I have so many questions, but I have to..."
"Go, your duty calls." The Dark Magician said with a nod, and Yuugi rushed back to the group as Mahaad shut his eyes, and embraced the powers of chaos, of light and darkness from the White Dragon and Zorc himself.
Mana was at Malik's side, her hands over the heavy burns on his ribs as Malik began to stir, trying to sit up though the Magician's Apprentice pushed him gently back down.
"You can't get up yet, your heart is still too weak." She said gently, but Malik shook his head.
"No, his name! I have to tell him his name...they can't read it, their foreigners, I can!"
"It's fine, Malik." The Pharaoh went down on his knees at the side of the thief. "I'm here, please, tell me my true name."
Malik's eyes found the Pharaoh's, something again flashing in his eyes, before he grasped onto the Pharaoh's hands. The King leaned down as Malik leaned back up into his ear, his lips shielded from view as he whispered in the ear of the Nameless Pharaoh.
And he nodded.
"What...what do we do now?" Yuugi asked, turning back behind him, eyes on the Dark One. "Do you...have the power to defeat him?"
The Pharaoh's eyes were shut. "No."
"What?" Jou asked, taking a step back. "We can't...we can't defeat him?"
"Not alone." The Pharaoh put his hands on Yuugi's shoulders. "Partner, I need you to call Orisis for me. Malik..." The thief tried to sit up again, a little surprised that the Pharaoh would address him by his first name. "I would be honored if you would call down Ra."
"Sure, sure, you got it, boss." Malik complained as he sat up again, and again was pushed back down by Mana. "But why? The Dark God already defeated the gods."
"When they were called by me." The Pharaoh clasped his hands in front of his face. "But only when I'm alone."
The Pharaoh shut his eyes.
I am the son of Aknamkanon, I am the cousin of Set, and the nephew of Aknadin. I am the incarnation of Ra, I am the power of Horus, I am the sun, I am the light of Kemet that never fails to rise, I am the warmth of my people, I am the love of all of mankind.
You've lost all hope, Nameless Pharaoh. Last time you could never defeat me, you could only seal me away. Blood lapped at his feet, but it could not touch him. He was surrounded in a pool of clear water, the Nile on its freshest dawn, and he could remember it, all of it, everything he'd ever forgotten.
His father, his grandfather, his uncle and his cousin racing with him through the sands, riding on Mahaad's shoulders while they fished from the Nile, the first time Mana had shyly kissed him as a way of greeting him before disappearing in a puff of dark magic. He could remember every moment of studying to be the King, of his father begging for forgiveness from the gods.
His first time sealing the Dark God by sealing his own heart and soul away, his first time dying when he was sixteen years old. He knew why, now. He knew why he had failed to destroy the Dark One, because he had done it all alone. Because he didn't have Yuugi at his side.
"I am not hope, Dark One. I am not the willpower to keep moving forward, I am not the power of humanity, I am not the achievements of men, I am not a man at all, I am Ra, and you have hurt my people long-enough." The Pharaoh said, his voice growing stronger as his friends began to turn to him in confusion. "Hope belongs to humans when we fail them, as I have failed them before. Hope brings humans to the powers of gods, and they remind us of where we belong, at their sides."
His hand found Yuugi's, clasping it tight, and Yuugi's expression broke as he smiled back at his partner, his eyes filling with joyous tears.
Behind him, Malik finally staggered to his feet, balancing himself on Jou and Yuugi as he raised his hand in the air, the Eye of Horus on his head as he tilted his head back into the darkness, the Diadiankh shining with light.
The Winged Divine Dragon of Ra rose from beneath the desert sand, began to stir underneath the golden light of the sun, the sun that was the Pharaoh, the morning and evening star of the world. It rose with a cry of victory, heeding its master's call as Yuugi followed-suit, holding his card in the air while Orisis took form, descending from the sky.
Morning and evening, darkness and light. The beginning and the end.
The Ultimate White Dragon, barely clinging to life as it let out a last, struggling cry—transferring the last of its own life into the sky as it came back to earth with a burst of light. The last god arose from the earth, reaching to the sun, the achievements of men given life in the form of a god, sitting amongst them in the sky.
Men.
"I took form here for a reason, Dark One. No matter humanity's ails, no matter their darkness and hate and greed, no matter how I will fall to them in this form, you will not succeed!" His voice grew in strength as all of his lifetimes came to him, the memories of all the Pharaohs before him, of every time he had battled this beast, the serpent that never ceased to haunt him, of his loyal servant who fell to it before but still always managed to get back up again. "Apophis, show yourself! Do not hide any longer in that form!"
The serpent made of night was drawn from the Pharaoh's words as its shadows finally coalesced, hardening into the form of a beast made of slick oil and blackness. The Pharaoh's chin jerked upright, his eyes shining in victory.
You still cannot win, Ra. The serpent hissed in hate, its voice echoing in the ear of every human who lived and will ever win. You have no power in the form of a man, you gave up your life among the gods to become one of them. You will never win.
"That's where you're wrong." The King of Games smiled. "I still have one token I never played in our game, Apophis." His Diadiankh changing into a duel disc, he drew the card on the top of his deck, holding it high above his head, with the rest of his friends. "The Ties of Friendship!"
That was the reason he became human every time a new Pharaoh was born. That was the reason he always lived with them. That was the reason his memories were so important, why he would even give up this form's name. All this time...
It was always the humans he met and loved. Always his friends.
They always reminded him when he forgot his light.
"I am Amun-Ra, Atum-Ra, the creator of the world, the creator of the sun. I am son of Aknamkanon, nephew of Aknadin, cousin of Set. I am Ra-Horakhty, the creator of dawn's first lights that ever spread across the world."
He took a breath, excitement thrumming in his veins.
"I am...Atem!"
Light burst from the gods, blinding and building, brighter than any light had ever come before, or would ever come again. The Ties of Friendship, the card he'd carried with him since he won against Pegasus, merged them together as one—merged them under the light of the Pharaoh, the light of dawn.
The light of King Atem.
The Pharaoh shut his eyes as he was born before them again—Horakhty, the aspect of Ra that was the dawn. The sun was freed from behind the darkness of his oldest foe, bursting through the dark, and he tilted his head back to bask in the glow of dawn, the light that spilled carelessly across the world.
The light engulfed the serpent of darkness, piercing spears stabbing him through his form, dissolving the darkness in the light. He would be back—Atem knew that he would be back—but he was more than ready, he was more than willing to face him again.
Dropping down on one knee, Atem rested himself for a moment, panting softly as he regained his strength. The Egyptian Gods disappeared, and for a moment, everything was still, everything was silent as they all took in what just happened.
"Did...we win?" Jou asked, and Atem smiled up at him, nodding.
"Yes...we did."
The cheers were immediate, and he laughed as he was engulfed in the arms of his friends, more than willing to return. He pressed his face into Yuugi's arm most of all, his presence more than enough for the Pharaoh to need, and he felt spoiled at this point. Jou, Honda, Anzu, all of them...
"So...uhh...that was...something." Malik said hesitantly, still holding onto his side as he got to his feet. "Where...do we go from here?"
Atem got to his feet, before walking to the corpse of Priest Set. Gently, he placed his hand on his shoulder, and the body jumped back to life, his eyes opening as he sat up slowly, staring down at his hands.
"What the hell...?" He asked. "Yuugi, what did you...?"
"Actually, it's Atem now." Jou cut-in, dropping his elbow onto the Pharaoh's side, and said Pharaoh couldn't help but chuckle.
"Indeed. Thank you for your sacrifice, you will forever be remembered for your bravery." Atem said, bowing his head humbly in thanks as Seto blinked.
"I'm talking to you now, Yu—Atem, whatever. I'm not dead."
"You did die." The Pharaoh said with a nod. "In the past. You gave your soul to the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and you died serving Kemet. With you as the last living member of royalty, the world was saved, but Kemet fell. But now..." His smile widened. "With your future soul coming in...your body isn't quite done yet. You still aren't strong-enough to completely fuse your soul like Mahaad, you see."
"So, you cheated." Seto said flatly. "Not very honorable for the King of Games."
"In a way."
"What now?" Anzu asked, coming to stand beside them. "I mean...what do we do now, Atem?" The name still felt strange on her tongue, but nice, warm. Like really coming home to an old friend.
Atem looked-down at the cartouche that Anzu had given-him. From the moment he spoke his name, it was there. Behind him, Yuugi stood, watching him carefully—something warring behind his eyes, and the Pharaoh went to him, kneeling just a little so that he could affix the necklace to him instead, in place of the Puzzle.
Yuugi didn't question it, only touching Atem's forearm while he worked.
"Nothing." Atem assured her, dropping completely to his knees so he could hug his partner again, Yuugi doing the same. Even if he didn't share the same body as Yuugi anymore, he could still feel Yuugi's grief—their time was coming to an end, they didn't have to say it out loud to know it. "Until the next Pharaoh emerges in your time, Apophis is sealed in my spell."
"So...we're done?" Jou's voice rose hopefully. "We can all just hang-out now? I'm pretty sure that there's a tournament in America that we can—"
"No." Yuugi said, his face hidden in Atem's shoulder. "He's done. Other—Atem—he's done on this world. He's ready to move-on."
The small group was shocked into silence, and the King didn't reply, letting them know it was true.
"Just a little longer..." Yuugi pleaded, though he knew it was in vain. The King nodded.
"I still have some business in Kemet left to do."
"So, you're running-away, huh?" Seto asked, his voice hard, but Atem smiled, looking-over his kingdom with a soft chuckle on his lips.
"You know that's not true. I've been here for three millennia. If anything, I ran away from everyone else."
"That's no excuse. You still haven't finished dueling me." Seto gruffed, folding his arms. The Pharaoh gave him a soft look, turning to him.
"You and I both know we'll never finish dueling." He assured. "Not as long as the sun is still in the sky. But we have to take...a break for a little while. I need to re-load my deck. But in...about a hundred years or so, when you've finished re-working your strategies, I'll be ready to face you again."
Seto scoffed. "As if I need to re-tune my strategies to beat you."
Atem laughed. "Then I need to." His fingers lingered over the Millennium Pendant. "I have to beat Yuugi to pass into the afterlife. I'll be waiting for you there, after you're ready to become a part of my court again, for eternity."
"A part of your court? I intend to rule it."
The King shook his head with a chuckle, before he removed the Pendant from his neck, and put it around Seto's neck. The billionaire jumped for a moment, then frowned.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"When Yuugi needs help—and he will—I want you to help him." The Pharaoh said. "I am going to become him now, like you're going to become Set. Your duty is always to remind him that he is light." The Pharaoh bowed his head graciously. "Like you reminded me, Pharaoh Set."
Kaiba, for once, didn't have anything to say—and Atem wasn't certain if it was because High Priest Set was so surprised, or because Kaiba was. But either way, Atem began to turn. "You're the new Pharaoh in the modern day, now. I trust you'll know what to do when the Dark God returns."
"So, you actually are running away." Seto snapped, and Atem laughed, before someone else approached them.
"Pharaoh?" Malik asked, giving a brief bow to Atem. His side was bandaged neatly, thankfully, as he got back to his feet.
"Yes?" Atem asked, his voice warm.
"I...want to apologize for everything Akef has done." Malik shut his eyes. "And for everything I have done as well."
"It's no worries." Atem said, touching his arm. "You did what you thought was right."
Malik let out a sigh of relief, and Atem grabbed both his shoulders. "Actually, I have an important task for you.
The former thief blinked. "Huh?"
"I want you to be the first of your kind." Atem said, voice growing stronger. "Not in the dark, in the light. I want you to protect the world from darkness, should light ever be sealed again. Use the power inside of you, Malik. You were given Ra so that you could protect the Pharaoh, and everyone in the world."
Malik slowly nodded, confused, his mind utterly boggled at the task being given to him. Something was suddenly thrown at him, and he blinked, jumping, as he caught the Millennium Rod.
"You can't do it without the strongest Millennium Item." Seto said firmly. "But I guess if you use it, then your weak power can be enough."
Atem chuckled, beginning to turn. "My memories end here. Protect the world, I went through a lot to save it." Atem's eyes sparkled in laughter as he leapt from the balcony, Seto snorting as he followed, phasing out of his past self's body, leaving only Priest Set and Malik behind.
"That...just happened." Malik finally said, turning the Millennium Rod in his hands.
A/N:
Canon Divergent Notes:
- The Pharaoh is Ra in human form. So, Atem is too.
- Horahkty is also an aspect of Ra that is dawn.
- Later on, Ra and Horus merged, so what Atem is referencing is the eternal rivalry between Set and Horus.
- Remember when Atem became Black Luster Soldier and still survived? That's what I'm pulling from with Seto cheating death. I'm assuming only Mahaad (and Kisara) were strong-enough to completely merge with their Ka.