The Man with Crimson Eyes
The man stands alone in a dark room.
His hair is a mess.
His clothes aren't any better.
It looks as if he had tried to yank his shirt off of him as a portion of his chest is visible.
He breathes deeply, almost as if he had been crying a moment ago.
The man slowly walks towards the long mirror against the wall—a single light lamp above the mirror, the only source of light in the room.
He sees his reflection, and he stares at himself.
He seems repulsed and scared by just seeing his reflection staring back at him.
Quietly he begins to sing.
"It's over now, I know inside no one will ever know. The sorry tale of Yugi Yami, and those who died. No one must ever know. They'd only see the tragedy. They'd not see my intent. The shadow of Yami's evil would forever kill the good that I had meant."
His quiet singing now turns into a soft melody.
"Am I a good man? Am I a mad man? It's such a fine line between a good man and a -"
Suddenly the man's reflection vanishes and in his place is another man.
He looks almost identical to him.
Almost.
This other man is slightly taller and with different clothes.
Though both of them have similar appearances, from their wild hairstyles to face structures, this man's eyes are far from being identical to the other man's eyes.
This man has deep red eyes. Almost as if he was a demon himself.
The red eye man smirks demonically at his victim before he begins to sing sinisterly.
"Do you really think that I would ever let you go? Do you think I'd ever set you free? If you do, I'm sad to say; it simply isn't so. You will never get away from me!"
His victim, Yugi, shakes his head and grabs a handful of his hair. Yugi then begins to yank his hair as if trying to shake the demon out of his head.
"All that you are is a face in the mirror! I close my eyes, and you'll disappear!" Yugi chants.
"I'm what you face when you face in the mirror! Long as you live, I will still be here!" Yami chants back.
"All that you are is the end of a nightmare! All that you are is a dying scream! After tonight, I shall end this demon dream!" Yugi chants again, refusing to show any weakness to Yami.
"This is not a dream, my friend - and it will never end! This one is the nightmare that goes on! Yami is here to stay, no matter what you may pretend - and I'll flourish, long after you're gone!" Yami mocks with a deep smile.
Yugi points his finger at Yami.
He screams, "Soon you will die, and my memory will hide you! You cannot choose but to lose control."
"You can't control me! I live deep inside you! Each day you'll feel me devour your soul!" Yami taunts back.
"I don't need you to survive like you need me! I'll become whole as you dance with death! And I'll rejoice as you breathe your final breath!" Yugi reveals.
Stepping out of the mirror, Yami immediately grabs hold of Yugi, who steps back, trying to avoid the mirror's shattering pieces.
Yami laughs wickedly at Yugi's foolish remark.
"I'll live inside you forever!" Yami replies with a mocking voice.
"No!" Yugi screams as he tries to get away from Yami's grasp.
"With Zorc himself by my side!" Yami reveals with a wide grin.
"No!" Yugi continues to scream as Yami digs his nails into his wrists.
"And I know that, now and forever, they'll never be able to separate Yugi from Yami!" Yami laughs manically.
"Can't you see, it's over now? It's time to die!" Yugi pleads only for Yami to dig his nails deeper into his bleeding wrists.
"No, not I! Only you!" Yami replies with a broad smile; his eyes widened with excitement.
"If I die, you die, too!" Yugi retorts as Yami leans his face to him.
"You'll die in me. I'll be you!" Yami screams diabolically.
"Damn you, Yami! Leave me be!" Yugi spits out before yelping in pain at Yami tightening his grip on his bleeding wrists.
"Can't you see? You are me!" Yami smirks devilishly.
"No - deep inside!" Yugi begins only for Yami to say, "I am you! You are Yami!"
"No - Never!" Yugi yanks his wrists and steps away from the mad man with crimson eyes.
"Yes, forever!" Yami roars.
"Ra damn you, Yami! Take all your evil deeds, and rot in the shadow realm!" Yugi curses as he tries to run away from Yami.
"I'll see you there, Yugi!" Yami calls out before laughing madly.
"Never!" Yugi shouts back, never looking back at the grinning madmen.
"That was quite a show." the white hair woman comments before looking at her husband.
His eyes never leave the stage below them. He studies how everyone claps and the arena lights turn on.
"Not bad," he mutters.
The woman giggles silently at her husband's clueless behavior.
"There you guys are." someone interrupts, making both man and wife turn around to look at them.
Mahad stands next to his wife, Isis.
"We're making our way backstage. Care to join us?" Isis asks.
Seto turns to look at Kisara.
She nods with a small smile.
Seto stands up and helps his wife up before following Mahad and Isis down the hallway.
"Yugi, that was amazing," Anzu says as she lets go of her husband.
"Thank you," Yugi replies with a small smile.
"I wish I could have been up there with you," Anzu adds with a pout making Yugi laugh.
"Now now. Though that would have been amazing, we wouldn't want to annoy the little one." Yugi places his hands on his wife's visible pregnant stomach.
"How's little me?" Yugi asks about his other kid.
Anzu rolls her eyes.
"Yugi, you worry too much."
Yugi blushes.
Anzu chuckles before pecking his forehead.
"He's fine. Your Grandpa stayed with him back home."
Yugi's smile drops a little.
"Bummer that he couldn't come to see his father act."
"Yugi, he's just one." Anzu teases.
"I know, I know. It's just-"
"How was it?" Anzu whispers, interrupting him.
"How was what?" Yugi repeats loudly.
Anzu shushes him.
"Oh, sorry," Yugi whispers.
Looking around to see if they're far away from any close ears, Anzu continues quietly.
"How was it working with him?"
Oh.
"Him." Yugi thinks.
Ever since he could remember, Yugi Mutou has dreamed of adapting the 1886 gothic novel Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde into a Broadway musical. After intense training years and networking with elite people, he had managed to accomplish his dream.
Though the Broadway musical wasn't exactly like the book, it still captured the same gothic tone. Robert Louis Stevenson would approve of it if he were still alive.
The Broadway play was about this man named Yugi, who Yugi Mutou happened to have the same name as, and his grandfather gifted him this ancient puzzle. Unknown to them, the puzzle had been cursed with this wicked spirit sealed inside it for three thousand years. The spirit is named Yami, and he possesses Yugi to fulfill his gruesome deeds. He murders people, but Yugi can't do anything about it as Yami refuses to leave him. Yami lives in Yugi's mind, tormenting him and never letting him live his daily life in peace.
On the opening night of his Broadway play, Yugi played both roles; Yugi and Yami. Though he was great, after a few months of touring around, Yugi's voice began to suffer due to singing in Yami's deep voice.
Perhaps that role wasn't cut off for him.
His wife, Anzu, played the role of Téa Gardner in the musical but had to leave for maternity when they were both expecting their first child.
Yugi also chose to leave to give his voice a rest.
After a few months of break, Yugi returned and decided to look for a Yami actor.
It didn't go as he wished it would. Every stop on their tour, they would have different actors for Yami's role.
That was until they got to Egypt.
Yugi recalled how everyone was buzzing with excitement at who was going to play Yami that night.
"What so great about this guy?" Yugi thought to himself.
He was a tad bit jealous at how everyone was excited for this newbie actor to play the role of Yami. Surely this actor couldn't exceed Yugi's performance when he was Yami.
Never in his life had Yugi been so wrong. The Egyptian actor was everything Yugi hoped for Yami.
His rich baritone voice and physical appearance were a bonus. That night, his performance and delivery as Yami completely broke the world.
Everyone could not shut up about it for a week.
Yugi couldn't blame them. Even he couldn't believe what stellar of an actor this guy was.
When he performed with him, Yugi didn't know if he was genuinely acting or insane.
Yugi would always shiver every time his deep voice boomed across the arena stage. His crimson red eyes and his deep laugh haunted Yugi. He had never seen such color nor heard such a voice in his life.
At the end of the show, Yugi never managed to talk with the actor.
He would quickly bid farewell and leave. He also wasn't a talkative man.
Yugi had noticed how he always seemed in a rush to leave. He was very mysterious, yet that allured him to know who this man was.
The tour dates in Egypt ended, but they had found their Yami. The actor agreed to be their Yami for the rest of the tour.
They had toured around Africa and Europe before concluding where it all began; Broadway, New York.
The excitement never vanished. Everyone always talked about the actor. He was genuinely captivating in both as an actor and as a mystery.
If only he could manage the courage to talk to him and-
"Yugi!"
Yugi gasps.
Anzu looks at him worriedly.
"You left me for a second. Everything alright?"
Yugi nods.
"Uh-yeah. I'm fine."
Anzu stares at him yet doesn't push him.
He's thankful she doesn't.
Suddenly his footsteps echo across the floor tiles.
His entrance is enough to make everyone hush in silence and stare in awe at him.
Atem sighs as he rubs the back of his neck and lifts his head. His expression is unfazed at the number of people gawking at him.
He nods at them before lifting his hand.
"Great show, everyone. I'm bidding farewell from here. See you in the morning."
Anzu studies her husband's serious gaze on him.
It takes all her strength not to turn and look at the man with such a smooth voice.
"Atem-" Yugi begins before someone interrupts.
"So you've been hiding here all along?"
Atem stops walking. A slight smirk appears on his face, but he doesn't turn to look at the person who spoke.
"Took you long enough to find me," Atem replied smoothly.
Seto Kaiba scoffs.
"I knew all along. I was giving you the chance to come back home like a real man. How wrong I was." Seto says with a scowl.
Anzu represses her gasp.
Standing just a few feet away from her and her husband are Seto and Kisara Kaiba. Both actors were legends in the field of acting. They had fallen in love when they got the leading role of Orpheus and Eurydice in the Broadway musical Hadestown.
"Yugi-is that." Anzu begins but Yugi husges her.
"I believe so," Yugi whispers back.
"You don't have anything to say?" Seto presses as he takes a step further, only for Kisara to place a hand on his chest.
She gently shakes her head.
Atem lowers his head.
"What do you wish for me to say?" he asks.
"Why did you suddenly leave?" asks another voice.
Lifting his head, Atem sees the person who just spoke. Mahad is just a few feet in front of him.
Next to him is Isis.
Anzu almost passes out at the other two legends in the room.
Mahad and Isis both were the hit creators of the Broadway musical Hamilton.
Yugi looks conflicted.
What the heck was going on? Did Atem know these people?
Atem sighs again before nodding.
"Fine."
He turns and looks at Seto.
"Perhaps we could move into a more private room?"
Seto nods, and both he and Kisara begin to follow Atem, Mahad, and Isis.
Before leaving altogether, Seto turns and threatens everyone present.
"Not a word to the media about this. I will find out if any of you informed anyone."
Everyone nods grimly at Kaiba's threat.
"I'm going to the restroom. I'll be back." Anzu says.
Yugi nods and accepts her cheek kiss before she walks away from the terrace.
The after-party is in full swing.
Actors, actresses, producers, and everyone else enjoying their last night together.
Yugi smiles.
It was time for him to retake a break.
The next actor could take it from here.
The sound of his shoes caught Yugi's attention.
He quickly turned around to look at Atem entering the terrace area.
Yugi curses silently at the wet area in his shirt. He had spilled some of his champagne when he turned to see Atem.
Atem nodded at Yugi before walking towards the end of the terrace.
He gazed at the New York City skyline.
Yugi stood silently.
"Say something." Yugi pleaded to himself.
He opened his mouth.
He couldn't say anything.
What could he say? This man was so intimidating and so mysterious. There was nothing he could say without making himself sound stupid.
"You're a married man, Yugi. Right?" Atem asked, catching Yugi off guard.
"I-uh-yes, I guess?"
Yugi mentally slapped himself.
Why did he say that? Of course, he was a married man. Great, Atem probably thought of him as a complete idiot.
Atem didn't seem bothered by Yugi's reply. If he did, he sure acted like it didn't.
"I need some advice on something," Atem revealed.
"You want my advice?" Yugi asked instantly.
This man, this mysterious yet perfect man, wanted advice from him?
"Well, yes, that's why I'm asking you," Atem replied with a smile before turning around to face him.
"Uh, okay." Yugi nodded.
Atem chuckled at Yugi's behavior.
"Before touring with you guys, my father arranged a marriage for me with some girl I never met."
Yugi's eyes widened.
"I didn't wish to get married, so I crashed at my best friend's place for a while. One night we had too much alcohol, and we ended up sleeping with each other."
Yugi is in disbelief; after months of never speaking a single word with him or knowing anything about him, he knows more of Atem than he ever did in less than five minutes.
Atem sighs deeply.
"I was ashamed of myself. I- she had always been a special person to me. I was so mad at myself for letting myself get that far with her."
He stays silent.
His hands curled into fists.
"So I did the only thing I could to save our friendship, I ran away. I had already auditioned for the role of Yami before all of this hell. It was perfect timing when you guys offered me the chance to tour with you all."
Yugi stays silent, and Atem looks down at the pavement.
"It was only a matter of time before my past caught up to me. My cousin finally found me, and so did my other best friend. Who so-called happens to be the older brother of who I slept with."
Yugi almost passed out with the amount of rich information Atem had delivered.
Atem groans as he leans against the railing.
"I thought I was saving my friendship when I accepted this offer. She wouldn't have to look at me in disgust nor as an ex-friend if I stayed. After this tour, I would have returned, and we would have picked up our friendship as if nothing ever happened."
"Do you want that?" Yugi asks, surprising himself.
"What? My friendship with her?" Atem asks.
Yugi nods.
"Of course I do. She's been my best friend since childhood. I don't want to lose her."
Atem chuckles.
"Though by the news Mahad tells me, I don't think she ever wants to see my face ever again."
Yugi snorts.
Atem sends him a glare.
"You know when a girl says that, they mean the opposite." Yugi begins.
"Not all the time," Atem responds.
"Well, yes, it's true. But in your case, she doesn't mean that." Yugi says.
"How do you know?" Atem asks.
Yugi smiles.
"I'm a married man. I definitely can tell when the man and the girl are hurting."
Atem looks surprised.
"I can sense that both of you are hiding much more of your feelings than you let on. You ran away because you were scared of losing her, not your friendship with her. You're scared of your feelings for her. Worst of all, you ran away without giving her the chance to tell you how she felt after your incident. She has the impression you ran away after using her, thus why she never wants to see you ever again. I bet she's hurting more than you."
Atem is silent. He has a stern expression.
Yugi chuckles.
"My best advice is to call her. If you wait much longer, things will only get worse. Communication is key; I'll tell you that. As for your father, don't worry much about it. He'll come around."
Atem is silent for another minute before nodding.
"Alright, I will."
Yugi nods.
"Good. I believe we have a telephone just down the hallway."
Atem nods and walks away.
He turns and gives Yugi a thumbs up.
"Thank you."
Yugi nods.
As Atem walks out of the terrace, Anzu walks in.
She nods at Atem, and he nods at her.
She gives Yugi a funny look.
"How scary was he?" she asked her husband.
Yugi smiled.
Atem wasn't the cold, dark, and mysterious individual Yugi had conveyed him as.
Yugi doesn't understand why he had ever thought Atem would be like the character he played.
Atem was far from a heartless man.
Atem was a human being.
"Just like me." Yugi thinks.
One ring-
Atem sighs, tapping his foot on the floor.
Two rings-
He closes his eyes and pinches his nose bridge.
Three rings-
"Hello?"
Atem smiles sadly.
"Hello, Mana."
FIN
Note(s):
Artwork on cover is all credited to Siosiri on Tumblr.
The act both Atem and Yugi were doing was from the 1990 musical Jekyll and Hyde. Specifically, the scene they were acting in is called "Confrontation."
The 1990 musical Jekyll and Hyde is about Dr. Jekyll. He is an intelligent scientist who plays with the darker side of science because he wants to bring out his 'second' nature. It causes him to transform himself into Mr. Hyde, who is his alter ego. Mr. Hyde isn't anything from the well-respected and genius Dr. Jekyll. Mr. Hyde is someone who craves blood and murder. In conclusion, the guy has a split personality disorder.
The musical Jekyll and Hyde is based on the 1886 gothic novel Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.
The other musicals mentioned in the story exist.
I made Mahad and Isis the creators of the 2015 musical Hamilton: An American Musical since they're both nerds and this musical revolves around history.
The 2015 musical Hamilton is by the famous Lin-Manuel Miranda. The musical tells the story of Alexander Hamilton, one of America's Founding Fathers.
Instead of making Seto a director or the scriptwriter for a musical, I made him the lead man since I find the idea of Seto singing in front of an audience quite entertaining.
The 2016 musical Hadestown, by Anaïs Mitchell, is inspired by the famous ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Eurydice dies, and Orpheus stops at nothing to get his wife back. He ventures to the Underworld to rescue his lover.
I mean, with the history between Seto and Kisara, this musical fits them. Initially, I was going to use Phantom of the Opera, but then I realized this musical was a much better fit for them.
The scene where Atem gives a thumbs up to Yugi is a reference to the Yu-Gi-Oh! season final, when Atem leaves to the afterlife.
I based Yami off season 0 Yami. You know? How he acted when he was killing his victims/bad guys.
Author's Note:
Hello everyone, as promised, I am back. Though I still have work left to do, it isn't as much as before going on hiatus. Thank you for being patient and for the sweet messages some of you sent me. I was inspired to write this story when I rewatched Yu-Gi-Oh! Season 0. I thought of how different season 0 Yami is compared to Duel Monsters Yami. I rarely see fanfictions with season 0 Yami, so I thought, why not make one about him? Even if he was just a character in the fanfic, hehe. I hope you enjoyed the story, and now you know how much of a broadway musical nerd I am. :)
