"Yug it's your turn."
Joey's voice snapped him out of his daze. He blinked several times, completely blank of his surroundings until he felt the cards in his hands, the stares of his friends and the cool breeze of the outside air drifting in through the open door behind him.
He was dueling Joey on the coffee table, just like the old days before they used Duel Disks and by the look of the board Joey had just finished his move and now it was his turn to draw. Everyone around him was watching him, concern in their eyes as he took his time registering what was happening.
"You okay?" Atem asked him softly beside him. His voice was calm, kind and just as lovely as he knew it to be but there was something still off about him. The warmth in his eyes almost made him want to ignore it but … how could he? It was like looking at a perfect puppet and knowing that inside was something else.
"Y-yeah." He said quietly, turning to look back at his hand.
He knew these cards. Very well. They never let him down even if it had been years since he played. Dark Magician, Dark Burning Magic, Kuriboh, Mirror Force, Swords of Revealing light as well as Marshmacaron, not to mention the Big Shield Gardner, Celtic Guardian and Dark Magician Girl already on his field against Joey's Scapegoats and two face downs.
This was easy but … he didn't feel like playing. There was something much more important to be doing, something he was missing. He didn't have much of a choice though; he could concede the duel and try to figure out what was happening or play as everyone expected of him.
"Come on Yug. You stuck?" Joey asked him.
"I set one card face down and sacrifice Big Shield Gardner and Celtic Guardian to summon my Dark Magician."
"Oh boy." Joey said, clearly unnerved. "Do you want to attack my scape goats though Yug?" He followed up.
"Nope. I'll use Dark Burning Magic first to wipe your board clean and then I'll attack you directly with both of them." Yugi said simply.
Joey checked his face downs but in the end he had nothing to counter with and just like that Yugi won the duel. It was an empty victory though… had he been playing with his real friends he might have felt different but these imposters posing as his friends could never imitate real enjoyment.
"Well you're still the King of Games. I'll beat you eventually." Joey shrugged as he reshuffled his deck.
Yugi said nothing as he packed his own cards up, watching blankly as his hands masterfully shuffled his deck.
"Wanna go again?"
"No thank you. I'm not feeling too great, I think I'll take a walk." Yugi said in a voice he was certain told them he wanted to be alone.
"You want some company?" Atem asked him, standing to come with him regardless of his answer but as Yugi watched him, thinking he paused and waited.
He'd like nothing better than to be alone with Atem right now. He wanted his mind to be put at rest, to feel as if everything was okay, to be convinced that all of this was real but if he was to be alone with Atem then he wanted the real one. Not this … fake.
"No, I think I'll be okay. Keep playing, I'll be back soon." Yugi said, offering a small smile and left.
He half expected to open the door of the shop to a new moment in time but to his surprise he was outside, walking down his street as he expected. It was quiet this late in the afternoon. Most people had gone home from their jobs or school and the only passersby were those walking just as he was. He had a simple goal though: to walk as far away as he could.
He never intended to return immediately. He wanted to know how far he could go before the next moment was upon him and his walk took him across the city, passed areas he would hang with his friends, places he would visit on his days off. He walked through Domino remembering snippets of his time in Battle City, the days he would go to the museum, the days he spent as teens with his friends back when he knew the reality around him was real.
He had almost made it to the docks when he turned the next corner only to find himself back in front of the Kame Game store. His heart sank with a disappointment he never realised he was holding. He wanted so badly for something to be real that the despair he felt now was ironically the most real thing he had felt since waking here. He laughed aloud, almost crying from the insanity of this place and the realisation he was never getting out of here by himself. He needed help but who could he ask? His friends? Atem? The gods? Where even were they? Any of them. He was alone here in this world of lies and empty images.
But as he laughed to the heavens, feeling every inch his heart sank, he became aware of two choices: does he turn around and walk away and just keep walking no matter how many times he ends up here? Or does he go inside and try talking to these fake people he's supposed to know?
He was getting a headache and he could feel his brain beginning to over process. He needed sleep no matter how real this was or wasn't. He hadn't slept in over 24 hours and this trip was getting too real … or rather unreal for him. He crept inside, hoping not to draw attention from the foreign figures that would be his loved ones and once he was in the main house he noted that Joey, Tristan and Bakura were asleep in the living room. They must have stayed the night but then that wasn't a surprise… he hadn't been separated from them since he woke here. Perhaps they were a constant in this place. He didn't see Atem or Tea though… maybe Tea was asleep in his mothers old room and Atem slept in his room. They were together afterall, weren't they?
Fear slivered its way inside his heart then: since Atem had arrived off the plane he didn't remember any intimate moments between them. Sure his friends had been present but he never even spared him a glance, a soft touch of the hands, a cheeky remark… they were friends just as they had been when they were.
Perhaps that was another indication this place wasn't real.
Pushing the uncomfortable thought from his mind he crept upstairs to his bedroom and rested his hand on the door and stopped. Inside he heard … thumping.
And soft moans.
His heart wrenched and a chill took him. Immediately he threw open the door to see to his horror Atem and Tea under the sheets of his own bed. This… was NOT what he wanted. At all.
They scrambled to separate from each other, Tea quickly snatching the blanket to cover herself and Atem used a pillow to cover what he could but it was too late. The damage was done. Real or not, this was not what he wanted.
"Yugi!" They both exclaimed. Yugi stood before them, letting the shock and pain turn to pure anger as his heart tore itself into burning pieces. His tears felt like hot streams of fire but whatever pain he felt was nothing in comparison to that in his chest. He felt as if mind had just shattered like glass. His world was burning and crashing and all he could see before him was his beloved Pharaoh in bed with one of his closest best friends.
"Yugi I'm sorry -" Atem began to lie quickly.
"Never take someone else to your bed huh? Well you weren't wrong." Yugi said angrily before he stormed downstairs, undoubtedly waking anyone left in the house. He heard them call after him and it wasn't until he had made it to the shop floor did he feel a hand take his arm to stop him. Atem stood behind him wearing nothing but jeans and sad eyes… sad, lying eyes. Treacherous eyes.
"I'm sorry we used your bed -"
"THAT'S what you're sorry for?!" Yugi snapped at him sharply. He looked confused and hurt and Yugi hated it. How could he look so hurt after what he's done?
"Yugi-"
"STOP saying my name. How could you Atem? No, don't answer that. I know how. This isn't real. You're not real!" Yugi snapped further. By now his friends were at the top of the stairs, watching in confusion.
"What are you saying Yu-...?" Atem asked, stopping himself short of saying his name one more time.
"You aren't real. None of this is real."
"Yug of course this is real. What's going on?" Joey asked.
"Stay out of this Joey." Yugi snapped at him. "None of it is real. You, you, this house, the party, the plane. Nothing is real here."
"Alright Yugi, maybe you had too much to drink." Tristan said condescendingly.
"Shut up Tristan!"
"Hey Yug - there's no need to get nasty." Joey said.
"You too Joey. Actually no… someone answer me this. Where's the real you? Where are my friends? Where am I?"
"Yugi you're worrying us." Tea said frighteningly.
"Worrying you? Not enough that you wouldn't sleep with my boyfriend!" Yugi snapped at her, shocking all of them… including Atem.
"Boyfriend?" Joey asked.
"Yugi…" Atem began but Yugi held up a hand.
"You didn't know that detail did you?" Yugi asked him coldly. "You're the only real thing here, aren't you?"
He walked away from him, touching his fingers to the glass cabinets, hating how real it felt.
"Yugi we're all real. Everything here is real and you're scaring us." Atem said.
"No. They're the lie. My friends behind you are lies. This room is a lie. This house, this world. None of it is real… except you. But even then, that mask you wear is nothing more than a mask. Who… or what are you?" Yugi asked.
When he didn't answer Yugi balled his fist and smashed the glass cabinet, shattering it to pieces and making Tea scream. His hand hurt immensely, blood poured from the open cuts the glass did not stay in. It felt so real he wondered if at least this was but he didn't care. He was beyond caring at this point.
"Yugi this is real. Please, come up stairs and we can talk about this." Atem said, trying his best to sound convincing.
"I don't want to talk to the mask you're wearing! Who are you?"
"Don't you know?" Atem asked, panicked.
Then it clicked. Who else could it be? There was no one else outside of a God that could make him believe this was real. He wanted to grab a piece of glass and attack him, to hurt him until he relinquished this place but he calmly nursed his hand and laughed. He was cracking… he knew it … but he did not care.
"You studied my friends. They came to Egypt to find me and you got to them first. You went through Tea's phone, hurt them first probably, and learned what you could of Atem and with the power of the Jewel you created this… no doubt with a little aid of my own mind. You could have convinced me this was real… had you managed to replicate my bond to my friends but someone as heartless as you could never imitate real love."
Atem's frightened expression changed to one of cold indifference and with a single click the world shimmered to one of pure darkness. They were lit by a single star above them but everything else was pitch black. Even the floor threatened to swallow their legs and what they stood on felt solid but invisible. It went on for eternity but at least he wasn't alone and Atem's form shifted to that of Thomas's.
"You and the Pharaoh huh?" He asked.
"How dare you imitate him." Yugi said darkly.
"The easiest way to strike at someone's heart is to use what's closest to them. That and it was fun while it lasted. I can only wonder if that's what your friend feels like in reality." Thomas shrugged, enflaming Yugi's anger further.
"You'll never get the chance to find out." Yugi seethed.
"Perhaps. If you aren't watching then I care not. Though it appears she was not the closest to your heart after all and it is in fact the King of Egypt. Thats even more pathetic."
Yugi scowled, trying his hardest not to strike him now. Clenching his jaw, squeezing his wrist, anything to control himself.
"To think. You couldn't get the girl, so you found comfort in a 5000 year long dead King. Tell me Yugi… Who pities you more? Me or him? Because it's pretty sad you had to rely on someone who's dead to give you some love but the fact that he gives it to you? He must feel pretty sorry for you. Just makes me wonder who's more pathetic. You or him." Thomas said with a shrug.
That was the last straw. Yugi launched himself onto him but Thomas was quicker, using his palm to punch the air and sending him flying backwards.
He landed heavily on his back, rolling awkwardly onto his stomach and coughing. He looked up to see him but Thomas was nowhere to be seen. Where was he? Where did he go?
He got up onto his knees when suddenly he felt something hard kick him in his ribs and he fell back down, clutching painfully at his sides when he felt another kick to his cheek. He tasted blood, spat it out and felt around his mouth but no teeth were missing. His cheek stung a lot and it hurt to open his eye but he was okay… he needed to recover quickly before -
Another kick, this time to his back. He fell forward, face planting the ground and choking on the air threatening to leave him. He was in so much pain already and all he could do was try to breathe and brace for the next attack.
"Is this all you can offer? You're not nearly as fun as my previous subjects." Thomas sang in an annoyed, bored tone.
"Why don't you take us back and I'll show you how fun I can be." Yugi taunted him as he slowly worked himself to a kneel, wiping the blood from his lips.
"So you can get your boyfriend to help?" Thomas asked, mocking the term boyfriend.
He knelt before him then, grabbing him by the hair and pulling his head back roughly. His scalp stung but he tried not to let it show.
"Although, it does allow me to hurt your lover right before you. That is assuming our buddy Karim hasn't killed the King yet."
"Atem will never fall to the likes of Karim, or you for that matter." Yugi spat.
"You have such faith in someone you just saw fucking your best friend." Thomas grinned.
"Thomas." Yugi said darkly, sparking brief curiosity in the blonde before him. "Go fuck yourself again." He continued, snapping into action by grabbing his arm to keep him in place, following up by launching himself upwards to headbutt into his jaw. Disoriented Yugi then swung him onto the ground, straddling his stomach to punch his cheek. After a quick recovery Thomas rolled Yugi onto his back, grabbing him by his throat to choke him but Yugi was fast and brought his knee up to catch him between the legs. Thomas staggered, losing strength in his efforts enough for Yugi to push him off and create some distance between them.
"That was cheap." Thomas growled.
"No. Using Atem to fuck with my friends was cheap. Bringing me here to mess with my head behind the shadows was cheap." Yugi spat.
"You want to fight in the light? So be it. I want to kill em all anyway. Now I can hear them scream as they watch you die." Thomas said happily. He brought his fingers up and snapped them.
"It's so good to see you." Tea said serenely as she pulled away from Atem's embrace. He smiled at her, at all of them and she couldn't help but feel so excited in his presence. She never in her life thought she'd ever see him again but here he was, right before them in his own body like he was just as alive as they were.
Albeit covered in blood. His white linen was more a wine red than anything, his gold was dulled and his darkened skin was made only darker by the drying and fresh blood coating it. But his eyes - his sparkling, wine red eyes were so young, so brimming with life that she knew he was the same person they'd come to love.
"I'm so relieved you guys are okay. We were so worried. How did you escape? Where were you?" He asked them quickly.
"We were locked in a cellar." Joey said simply.
"Bakura used the Ring to break us free and we came up here." Tristan explained to which Bakura sheepishly smiled, rubbing the back of his hair.
"The Ring… you have the items?" Atem asked them.
"Yes… but the puzzle - it's incomplete." Bakura said. He slipped it out from under his shirt to show Atem but he never touched it. "They tried to take them off us but they wouldn't allow them to touch them without severely injuring them. They allowed us to keep them because it seemed like we couldn't use them."
"I see." Atem said quietly, hovering his hand over the familiar item. "Yugi has the remaining piece. It seems it followed him here."
"Where is Yugi?" Tea asked, hopeful but as Atem withdrew his hand and sheathed his sword she became doubtful.
"I don't know. Thomas took him away… I don't know where. He used the jewel to shift the sands and he fell." Atem explained.
"He fell? Like a collapse?" Bakura asked but Atem shook his head no.
"More like he was taken somewhere else. They haven't returned yet."
Tea touched his shoulder gently, making him look up at her in surprise. "Lets get him back then." She said with a smile. He hesitated, clearly asking how that was possible when he smiled too.
"My Pharaoh." Seto said as he approached. "Karim's men watched his downfall and are surrendering. We await your command."
"Capture them all. No one escapes. Hold them in the cellars until all are accounted for." Atem commanded. Seto bowed and began barking orders as Mahaad and Isis approached them.
"Mahaad see to the villagers. Ensure they're unharmed and all accounted for. Ask your men to take damage reports. Inform them the throne will look after them. Isis … can you see Yugi?" Atem asked her.
"No my King. I'm afraid where he is is dark to me. I can feel he is alive though and fighting hard against the shadows." She said softly. Her gaze landed on them then, questioning but unsurprised.
"Isis, these are my friends. They come from Yugi's world and the reason we are here." Atem said pleasantly. "Guys, this is Isis. She is one of my Sacred Guardians and the protector of the Millenium Necklace."
"Wow, it's nice to meet you." Tea breathed in awe. How much she looked and sounded like Ishizu back home was almost scary. No wonder Ishizu was the protector of the necklace after her.
"It is a great honor to meet those who aided my King in his return to the After Life. I must ask you keep much of your knowledge of your time in secrecy. Many here believe this to be life and not the after life." She said with a polite bow.
"They … what?" Joey asked.
"I'll explain it properly later. If anyone asks you are foreigners who helped me return several years ago." Atem said with a small laugh.
"Ah, gotcha."
'My King, are you injured?" Isis asked him.
Atem looked down to his clothes and winced, chewing his lip thoughtfully.
"Nothing to worry about. Most of this is not mine." He said.
She sighed in relief before something caught her. She gasped and froze, staring blankly before her. They watched in interest when finally she spun on her heel to face the open desert outside of the village.
"What's wrong?" Atem asked her, following her gaze.
"Yugi."
"What about him!?" He asked her, more urgent this time when they heard a ripping sound like the sky above was tearing itself open.
They looked to the source, finding that they were almost right in their assumption. Before them a dark portal ripped open, shimmering and cracking the empty space around it until finally two figures were pushed out of it to roll and tumble in the dry hot sand. As they left the portal it whisked closed like a vacuum sucking it backup and the figures were slow to move.
Atem's heart was in his throat as he watched on, wondering what had just happened. He felt that Yugi had returned but how? Was he okay? Which dark, half buried lump in the sand was him?
"Yugi?" Tea asked slowly, careful as if afraid to ask.
They slowly approached, cautious until they saw both the figures begin to slowly pick themselves up.
Atem's heart was in his throat as he watched on, wondering what had just happened. He felt that Yugi had returned but how? Was he okay? Which dark, half buried lump in the sand was him?
"Yugi?" Tea asked slowly, careful as if afraid to ask.
They slowly approached, cautious until they saw both the figures begin to slowly pick themselves up.
Atem recognised immediately the small frame of Yugi, struggling to stand. He held his side as if he was injured and panted heavily, shaking the sand from his hair and quickly landing his sights on his opponent, undoubtedly Thomas who stood with more ease.
He was just surprised that finding him was so easy. He never expected them to literally fall out of the sky before them but here they were … although they hadn't noticed them yet and were solely fixed on each other. But Thomas was not in luck now. With them back here Yugi had as much backup as he needed and Atem was quick to order his men to surround Thomas.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Thomas yelled loudly, holding his hand to the sky. In an instant Yugi was screaming, falling to his knees and clutching at his head as if to keep himself together. The sound was unbearable that even Atem's men stopped in fear of causing him more harm. Once they did, Thomas lowered his hand and Yugi's screamed dwindled down to soft whimpering.
"YUGI!" Atem called to him, hoping he would look at him and see him but he never did. He must have been in too much pain.
"Take one step and I will kill him." Thomas warned them.
"What do you want Thomas?!" Atem demanded of him angrily.
"Ahh Pharaoh. You live. That's a shame. I was hoping Karim might prove useful but I suppose I get the pleasure of Regicide instead." Thomas laughed.
"Don't… you dare… touch him." Yugi managed to say as he slowly lifted himself back up.
"Don't worry. While you still draw breath he's not a target of mine." Thomas shrugged.
"Yugi!" Tea called to him and it was now he looked at them and Atem could see in his eyes how distressed he was. His blood boiled and he wanted so much to run to him and protect him but while Thomas held the jewel he couldn't risk it.
"Guys…" Yugi said quietly before the fire in his eyes returned and he faced Thomas, trying to stand tall and defiant against him. "This is between you and me, right? You won't harm them." Yugi declared.
"So long as you still breathe. I don't need to touch them to hurt them. I'm sure your screaming will be enough for the both of us!" Thomas said loudly, swinging his hand unexpectedly in the air. In response to the invisible shock wave Yugi was sent flying backwards into a nearby watchtower, only to hit the large wooden beam and fall straight into the sand with a heavy grunt.
"YUGI!" Atem and his friends screamed in fear for him. They moved to go to him only to stop shortly after, remembering what Thomas could do from afar.
"YUG GET UP! YOU CAN BEAT THIS GUY!" Joey shouted to him.
Yugi tried, slowly pushing himself onto his knees, wobbling slightly but no less standing.
"LISTEN TO YOUR FRIEND YUGI! PUT UP A FIGHT AT LEAST! …. Or Can't you? Against the power of the jewel WHAT CAN YOU DO!" Thomas yelled loudly, laughing maniacly to the heavens above before he swung his hands again, only this time sending a bright beam of white electricity towards Yugi. This could kill him. It was strong, they all knew this and Yugi was already weakened. Yugi…
"No… YUGI!" Atem screamed, instinctively bolting towards him only to come to a screeching stop when something gold raced past him at such alarming speeds he had no idea what just happened.
Gold and white energy collided before Yugi, blinding them all momentarily but he never heard a scream, never heard a collision and never saw Yugi be sent backwards. A powerful explosion of energy erupted before him but he never saw or heard what happened. Sand flew away from him but as the light engulfed him they had no idea what happened to him.
"Yugi…" Atem whispered.
His heart was on the verge of shattering. Was he okay? Was this the moment he would die? Would he lose him forever? He couldn't. Not now. Not like this. He can not lose him.
He thought immediately of the happy smiles Yugi wore, of the kind words he spoke, of the passionate kisses they shared and he couldn't bare the thought of him dying now. He can't lose him.
"YUGI!" He screamed, praying to him that he would answer.
The nothingness that followed was as loud as his heart breaking.
