Chapter 12

Joey punched the air as his attack was successful and his opponent's life points hit zero. Turning to the crowd he marvelled in their reaction, they cheered and whooped as loud as they could. Looking to his friends he could see them just as excited as he was. But he noticed straight away that only two of his friends had been watching his winning move. Jogging over to the pair, he gave them a questioning look.

"Where have Yugi and Atem gone?"

Tea shook her head, "We're not sure. Atem left right at the beginning of the duel, he told Yugi he'd be right back but he's not come back. Yugi went to have a look for him."

Joey frowned and scanned the slowly dispersing crowd, but he didn't catch any sign of either of them.

"But why would Atem go off somewhere?" He asked eventually.

"I'm not sure but Yugi said he was acting strange and earlier I thought he was looking worried about something."

"Come on, let's catch up with Yugi." Tristan said, "He didn't go that long ago so he must be nearby."

The other two nodded, turning they pushed their way through the crowd. They weren't quite sure where either of the two look-a-likes might have gone but they all kept their eyes peeled for any slight glimpse of them. They didn't catch a glimpse of either of them until they'd found their way back into the square. Joey caught a glimpse of spikey hair and immediately made a beeline for it. With the other two right behind him they found Yugi standing in the corner of the square, he was chewing his thumb as he scanned the crowd.

"Yugi!" Joey called, "Have you found him? What's going on?"

"No, I'm not sure where he went." Yugi replied, not taking his eyes of the vast amount of people in the area. "Something is going on but I don't know what."

"But he was fine before the duel?" Joey asked, "At least he seemed ok?"

"He was but I caught him looking quite concerned about something not too long before we left for your duel." Tea replied, she was also staring around for any sign of the once King.

"He was the same when we made our way to the duel." Yugi added, "He was fine but then he seemed to catch sight of something which concerned him but I'm not sure what. I went back to try and see what he'd seen but nothing, I have no idea what he was looking at. We have to find him and find out what's bothering him."

"Well then let's do that, Tristan and I will go back to the docks and see if he's there." Joey said, "You two head back towards where Yugi duelled this morning in case he went that way.

The other three nodded and the group split. Joey and Tristan raced back towards the docks with the other two heading in the opposite direction. As they walked they kept their eyes searching from left to right, they didn't want to miss anything. Chewing his lip, Yugi stared around. Why did he have an awful feeling about this? For a reason he couldn't quite place, he had an awful feeling something bad had happened. Atem had been worried about that for the past couple of weeks and he'd always said that he had nothing to worry about. What if Atem had been right all this time? He was normally right with these sorts of things except this time no one had believed him. They'd tried to talk him out of it rather then trust his instincts. As they arrived in the part of town where Yugi had duelled, he ran his hand through his hair as he looked around. Tea was asking a couple of people whether they'd seen anything. Returning to his side she looked at him concerned.

"Don't worry Yugi, we'll find him."

"Why do I have an awful feeling about this?" He asked, turning to face her, "I can't shake this feeling that he's taking the fall for us."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because he's mentioned so many times now that he was sure something was going to happen, and he was right. Look what's happened now."

Tea placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Yugi for all we know he's gone back to the game shop. We could call your grandpa to ask?"

Yugi shook his head, "Not yet. We can't tell him until we're sure he's not just wondered off somewhere."

"But Yugi would he really just wonder off, especially during a duel like that?"

Again, Yugi shook his head, "That's the thing Tea. He wouldn't, which is why I'm really worried."

For a moment the pair just looked at each other before heading back towards the square, they took a longer route back trying to think of any place that the once Pharaoh may have gone to. But everywhere they looked they found nothing, nothing to go on and no one to ask. Everyone they asked said they'd never seen him. When they arrived back at the square, they found Joey and Tristan waiting for them. From the looks on their faces it was clear they'd had no luck either. Yugi stared around again hoping against hope that they would see him making his way over to them but alas not. Sighing Yugi led the way back to the only other place he could think that Atem might have gone to.

They didn't speak as they made their way from the city centre back towards the game shop, which was a fair distance from the city. What could they say? Until they knew one way or the other what exactly was going on they couldn't plan or get ready to tell the former Pharaoh off for scaring them. The Kame Game shop appeared and somehow Yugi seemed to know what they would find inside. Coming to the front door he pushed it open and entered, his friends right behind him. The shop was empty just as he'd expected it to be. He glanced at the newly repaired shelf as he past it a cold stream of dread began flowing through him. He led the way upstairs where he found Grandpa sat in the living room watching the highlights of the tournament on the television. He looked up at the group when they appeared and smiled broadly.

"I didn't expect to see you all so early! I must say you two duelled extremely well today, you must be proud of yourselves."

His smile faltered when the group of teens didn't move, all looking at him with apprehension.

"What is it? What's happened?"

Yugi moved slightly further into the room, his eyes locked with his grandfather's.

"Is Atem here?"

Grandpa didn't reply for a moment, he just looked at each other them in turn. Yugi could see the colour slowly draining from his face.

"What do you mean? He's not with you?"

Slowly, Yugi shook his head, "He was with us at Joey's duel but he said he had to go and would be right back… he never came back. We've looked all over for him but we can't find him."

"We thought he might come back here?" Tea asked, there was a pleading edge to her voice.

"The last time I saw him was when he left with Yugi this morning."

Grandpa put his hands to his temples and rubbed them. The teens all looked at each other. What now? If Atem wasn't here, then where was he? Yugi ran his hand through his hair again as he moved further into the room and began to pace.

"Grandpa he said this might happen. He told us that he thought something bad was coming."

Grandpa nodded, "And we told him not to worry. What do we do now?"

Joey stepped forwards, "We keep looking. That's what he'd do. We'll head back out there," He indicated himself and Tristan, "You guys try and think of anywhere else he might have gone or anything he said that might lead us to him."

Yugi nodded and the pair of them left. Despite the plan he had no intention of hanging around the game shop long. He would do as Joey had said and make a list of anything Atem might have mentioned or places he would go. He wasn't prepared to leave anything to chance this time. He would find his friend before anything happened to him. A small voice in his head said that something had already happened to him. He couldn't help but think that whoever had done this weren't going to be treating the once King fairly. It was at times like these he missed the mind link he once shared with the former King. It would be so helpful right now, he'd be able to communicate with him and find out where he was. He'd also know if anything happened to him the moment it happened. He let out a sigh, somehow he knew this wasn't going to be a repeat of the night Atem had been attacked in the street. This was going to be far worse. But they had to work out where he was as quickly as they could. If only he'd listened to Atem's worries, then he might have been able to stop this from ever happening. Yugi felt his phone ring in his pocket, but when he pulled it out he found it was Mokuba. He couldn't deal with talking about the tournament right now, he knew he was expected somewhere but finding Atem was far more important. He'd deal with the tournament once the Pharaoh was safe. Himself and Tea didn't spend that much longer at the game shop. They thought of a few more places to try searching, relayed some locations to the other two boys before departing themselves. Grandpa stayed behind at the shop in case Atem made his way back there.

The night drew in fast as the group of teens continued their search for their missing friend. There was no way they were going to give up. He had to be somewhere they just had to find him. Despite the light fading and the temperature dropping they did not give up. They searched every part of Domino they could. The night stretched and people vanished off the streets but they still did not stop their search. It was only when the early morning birds began to sing and the morning sun edged it's way slowly into the sky that the group abandoned the search for now and headed back towards the game shop. When Yugi and Tea finally approached the shop they were exhausted, but determined to not get much rest before starting the search again. There was no way they were going to give up on their friend, but they all knew how much he'd hate it if they didn't look after themselves just because they were looking for him. As Tea entered the game shop Yugi, by pure chance, just happened to look down. Lying on the ground of the shop was an envelope, it must have been shoved underneath the door. Frowning he picked it up. There was no writing on the outside of it, no clue as to who it was for but he had an awful feeling this was for him. His hands trembled slightly as he carefully opened the envelope. A small piece of paper was held inside. Pulling it out he read;

'Family or Fame. Your Choice.'

He took a breath and read the words again as if they were tell him anymore then they already had. Tearing his eyes away from the note he looked directly at the ceiling and let out a frustrated cry. Someone was always coming after them for one reason or another, but it was not meant to be like this anymore. They'd put all the danger behind them, at least he thought they had. He made his way up the stairs into the living room where his friends and grandfather had heard him and were watching him carefully. Placing the note on the table for them all to read he waited until they'd all read it before speaking.

"Someone has him and they're using him to get to me."

"Who would do this?" Tea asked, she placed a hand over her mouth, "Why does this always happen to Atem?"

"I think he gave himself over in order to protect me." Yugi ground out, a sea of powerful emotions were raging inside him, "Why does he always do this? He could have told me about this and we could of figured it out."

"Because it's who he is Yugi." Grandpa said, still staring at the note, "We all know that he takes his duty of protecting the people he cares about seriously. He'd throw himself off a cliff if it meant keeping us safe."

"Don't be mad at him Yugi." Joey said, moving over to Yugi and placing a hand on his shaking shoulder, "He's done what he thought he had to. Don't get me wrong he shouldn't have done it but like your Gramps said he'd do anything to make sure we're safe. Now, let's return the favour and save him."

Yugi nodded, shaking himself as he calmed down. They were right, Atem had always viewed himself as the protector and had put himself in harm's way for his friends countless times. Letting out a breath he drew up a chair next to his grandfather and they began to try to form a plan. They would get Atem back safely, just like he'd saved them it was their turn to save him.

Far away from the Kame Game Shop in a part of Domino City, which had long since become neglected, stood several large disused factories. They held a menacing look to them thanks to the years of neglect. Thorny bushes weaved in and out of cracked metal walls and patches of rust littered the various structures. Despite the neglected look the factories were still strong and would never reveal their secrets. Which made somewhere like this the perfect place for someone to disappear. The largest of the factories was the most daunting and it was in there that a group of boys had made their hideaway. Inside the factory in the largest of its rooms the three boys sat round a fire they'd lit inside of a barrel, they rubbed their hands together warming themselves against the cold. With the building being mainly made from metal and winter fast approaching the temperature inside was not pleasant. But they had their fire and thick coats to keep them warm. The same could not be said for the other person tied to the wall. A rope was looped around pipes attached to the walls and the ends of the ropes were wrapped tightly around each of his wrists which had been raised slightly over his head. Every time he tried to move his hands to relieve the pressure on his wrists the rope would just cut into his skin further. The former Pharaoh cast his eyes over to the boys around the fire. The fire was too far away from him to do him any good. He'd been deprived of his coat and jumper leaving him in just his t-shirt and trousers. He had so far managed to suppress any shudders he felt from the cold, but he doubted that he'd be able to for much longer. One of the boys spotted him looking, he just smirked in his direction making a point of warming himself up by the fire. The once King didn't react, what was the point? He'd agreed to go with them willingly so making his discomfort from the cold apparent would serve him no purpose.

Casting his eyes upwards he leant back as much as his bindings would allow but when a sharp pain erupted in his lower back he flinched away and kicked himself for forgetting about the broken pipe behind him. That broken pipe had a rather large sharp point to it which, from time to time, when he forgot it was there and leant back, would poke him. Sighing, he refocused his gaze on a high window and watched the morning sunlight slowly start to enter the factory. His thoughts turned to Yugi. Knowing him, he'd noticed his absence hours ago and had probably started searching. At least Yugi was safe, that was what mattered most. He would never let anything like this happen to Yugi ever again, not whilst he drew breath. He wasn't too worried about himself, he'd think of a way out of this eventually. He'd put a stop to all this and then everything would go back to the way it should be. Taking a breath, he relaxed back in his bindings again only for the broken pipe to poke him painfully in the back again. Letting out a huff of annoyance he set his mind to work. The quicker he thought of a way out of this the quicker everything would be over, and he'd get away from this pipe, which if anything was the more pressing issue to him currently.

To my friend in my reviews. It's so nice to see/hear from you again, it has certainly been a long time. I do hope you are enjoying this!