Chapter 22
There was a roar from the television and they watched as the orange dragon exploded, the duellist behind it shielded his eyes. There were the sounds of cheers around the stadium but also hints of booing. The blond hair duellist lowered his arm as the smoke cleared, a grimace on his face. The camera lingered on him for a moment before the view changed, now they could see the taller brown haired duellist who was smirking at his opponent. As the camera lingered on Seto Kaiba the commentator began asking whether there was a way that Joey Wheeler could get out of this situation. Seated in an armchair the former Pharaoh covered his mouth with one hand, his gaze fixed on the television. Joey was in a tough situation, he had under a thousand life points left whereas Kaiba had just over a thousand. It was a close match but with one of Joey's strongest monsters now gone it would make defeating Kaiba harder, not impossible, but harder. Behind him Solomon appeared from the kitchen holding two mugs, moving to the side of the armchair he held one out for the former Pharaoh, who accepted it, before sitting down on the sofa.
"How's he fairing?"
"He's in a tricky spot." Atem explained, "But if he draws the right cards he might be able to turn this around again but there's not much time. Kaiba needs to draw one more Blue Eyes then he'll undoubtedly summon his Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon then it could be all over."
"But he's still got a chance."
Atem nodded, "There's always a chance."
The camera switched back to Joey, who glared a moment longer at Kaiba before his eyes turned to his deck and he pulled a new card from it. He grinned broadly before looking up.
"It's not over yet rich boy. First, I'll activate Hyper Refresh!"
A green spell card materialised in front of him. The once King absentmindedly nodded, good move.
"Since I currently have no monsters on the field and the combined attack points of your monsters is higher then my life points they double which means I'm still in the game."
Joey's life point counter doubled, taking his life points back over a thousand and slightly higher then Kaiba's. The former Pharaoh sighed in relief, Joey stood more of a fighting chance now.
"Next, I'll play Pot of Greed."
Another magic card appeared in front of Joey.
"I wonder what that card does." Solomon mused.
Atem couldn't help but smile.
"I'm sure we'll all aware by now what this card does." Joey smirked, pulling two new cards from his deck. "I'll place this card face down and summon Blue Flame Swordsman to the field!"
A blue swordsman burst from the card and stood menacingly in front of its master. Hands tightened around the blue flaming sword he held.
"Now, I'll attack with my swordsman! Blue Flame Swordsman attack his Lord of Dragons!"
Atem's grip on his mug tightened as he watched the swordsman race across the field and leap high into the air. The sword swung down and sliced through the opposing monsters, whose master had no way of stopping the attack. The Lord of Dragon vanished, and Kaiba's life point counter fell. Now his life points stood at a mere five hundred. Kaiba's look was one of anger whilst Joey folded his arms triumphantly.
"Your move." Joey said.
The crowd cheered and the camera moved to the crowd. Solomon and the former Pharaoh saw Yugi and the others cheering and clapping at Joey's triumph. A pang of frustration ran through the once King, he should be there with them cheering Joey on but he wasn't. The focus of the camera switched back to Kaiba.
"This is not over Wheeler." He pulled a card from his deck and smirked, "The end is coming for you. For now, I play Vorse Raider!"
A large, sinister looking monster appeared in front of Kaiba.
"Attack!" Kaiba called, "Destroy his swordsman!"
Vorse Raider loomed across the field and easily destroyed Joey's monsters, bringing its master life points back under a thousand. Joey grimaced.
"You activated my swordman's ability with that move." He said, "By sending it to the graveyard I can summon the Flame Swordsman straight from my deck and onto the field."
The orange Swordsman burst into existence in front of Joey so similar to its' predecessor but perhaps more dangerous.
"I'm aware of that Wheeler." Kaiba smirked, "It's all part of my plan. For now, I'll place one card face down and end my turn."
Solomon turned to the former Pharaoh, who still hadn't taken his eyes off the television.
"What do you suppose he's trying to do?"
Atem bit his lip for a moment, "I would suspect he's got most of the cards he needs to summon his ultimate creature. But perhaps if Joey is lucky he can destroy the magic card or delay Kaiba summoning the last Blue Eyes long enough to destroy the others and win the duel."
"This is going to be close." Solomon said slowly.
The Pharaoh didn't answer.
The camera moved back to Joey who seemed to be lost in thought. He pulled a card from his deck but his expression said that it wasn't a card which could help. Joey seemed to take a deep breath and Atem had a horrible feeling he knew why.
"I'll place one card face down on the field and end my turn."
The camera switched to Kaiba just in time to watch the smirk slowly make its way onto his face.
"Then I guess it's time for me to end this." Kaiba said, dramatically pulling a card from his deck and letting out a shout of triumph, "This is it, Wheeler. First, say goodbye to that face down card because I activate my Heavy Storm magic card which destroys all magic and trap cards on your side of the field."
The green magic card appeared in front of Kaiba and from it a huge tornado burst from the card. It grew in size before blasting across the field and shattering the card on Joey's side of the field. Joey had covered his eyes against the wind.
"Next I'll summon my Giant Germ to the field but now I'll sacrifice it to summon my final Blue Eyes White Dragon!"
The purple germ had been on the field for a mere moment before it was gone, replaced by a white dragon which loomed large with the other two already on the field. Atem closed his eyes, he knew what was coming now.
"Now, I play polymerization to fuse my three dragons together to form the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
The three white dragons merged, bright light shone everywhere. They briefly saw Joey covering his eyes from the light. But then the light was replaced by an enormous three headed dragon which roared loudly.
"Now attack my ultimate dragon! End this!"
Each of the three dragon heads opened it's mouth wide and bright light burst from it and charged towards Joey's only monster on the field, which was no match. The Flame Swordsman was easily destroyed and was it was Joey's life point counter appeared for the final time as his life points dropped to zero. Joey stood, glaring at Kaiba, his face was a mix of emotion. Atem closed his eyes briefly before opening then again. He'd been so close, it had just come down to the luck of the draw. Beside him Solomon let out a sigh.
"Well, he put up a good fight."
The former Pharaoh made a noise of agreement, putting a hand back in front of his mouth as Joey came back into view. His face was of complete disappointment. Despite this he stood tall as he walked over to Kaiba and shook his hand. As Mokuba declared his brother the winner and began hyping up the Grand Final the camera view switched to Yugi, who smiled in the camera as the crowd around him let out loud cheers.
Beside him Solomon sighed again, placing the mug he'd been holding down on the coffee table.
"I'm sure Joey will be disappointed but I think he fought well."
Atem nodded, "He should be proud, Kaiba is a tough opponent but not unbeatable and Joey came very close to beating him today."
Solomon nodded his agreement before standing, he collected the mug from the former Pharaoh and moved back into the kitchen. Turning his attention back to the television, Atem saw the camera following Yugi as he left the Dome with Joey and the others alongside him. He sighed internally, hating the fact that he wasn't there with them. He should have been there to support Joey but he hadn't. His idiotic actions had meant he'd not been there to support a friend. His gaze travelled away from the television, settling on his broken ankle which was currently resting on the coffee table. It served as a reminder of what he'd done, things he hadn't spoken about when he should have done. Resting a hand under his chin he became lost in his thoughts, he was so lost in them that he didn't realise how much time had past until there was a thumping sound on the sofa beside him. Stirring he looked up and saw Yugi sat rather ungracefully on the sofa next to him. After a couple of moments Yugi looked at him and smiled.
"How's Joey?" Atem asked.
"As you'd expect him to be." Yugi replied, "He's putting on a really good front but deep down he's disappointed."
"He did really well, Kaiba just had the right cards when he needed them."
Yugi nodded in agreement, "Had he not been able to summon his ultimate dragon then Joey might have still been able to beat him."
It was the former Pharaoh's turn to nod in agreement. There was a brief moment of silence before Yugi guessed what the once King was thinking by just looking at the look on his face.
"Joey isn't angry that you weren't there. He understood, they all did. We just want you to heal properly."
If anything, the former Pharaoh look conflicted by that. He glanced up at Yugi then away again, he made to speak but a noise from the kitchen stopped him. Yugi heard the noise as well, he knew his grandfather was in there and judging by Atem's reaction there was something he wanted to say but was reluctant to say it with Grandpa within earshot. Getting to his feet he motioned to his friend to follow him. Atem obliged but refused the help Yugi offered him even though it was clear he really could have done with some help. But, respecting the Pharaoh's pride, Yugi led the way out of the living room and up into his bedroom. He had to fight the urge to help the former King who clearly needed it but was stubbornly refusing any, but this also told Yugi that there was something that was bothering him. It took a little longer then it should have done but they made it into his room. Atem leant against the desk whilst Yugi sat on the bed, watching his friend closely.
"What's on your mind?" He asked, watching the other closely.
A sigh was the response, the once King's grip on the desk tightened slightly.
"I should have been there today, Yugi and the reason I wasn't is completely my own."
"This isn't about Joey is it?" Yugi eyed his friend in concern, "Atem.. we've talked about this, none of what happened was your fault. You didn't ask them to do what they did, that's on them not you."
"But it is."
Yugi frowned. He wasn't entirely sure what had caused the Pharaoh to get like this, but he needed to pull him out of it.
"I hid the fact that I knew who those boys were, I'd met them before."
Yugi just looked at the once King for a moment, he already knew that part of the story. Ross had already told him that when they'd rescued him.
"The boys who… had me, were the same ones that attacked me in the streets weeks ago. I did not remember fully until I saw them the day of yours and Joey's duels. It came back to me then and I should have told you but I knew that they wanted you for reasons at the time I couldn't quite remember but which is now obvious."
"I know."
The once King looked at him. The emotion he was attempting to hide behind his famous schooled expression was breaking free as his walls crumbled.
"I already knew that. The day we found you it was one of the boys who came to find us. He told us everything. But that still doesn't make any of this your fault, they were after me and my title. You protected me like you always have. Put yourself at risk like you've always done, just like you did when you were Pharaoh. Back then people came at you for your title, and you protected everyone just as you have now."
"But –"
"No buts Pharaoh. You know when you're in the spotlight that you get attention and not all of it is good, I think I understand that now more then ever."
A mixture of emotions crossed the former Pharaoh's face. He turned away from Yugi, who knew that this was an attempt to get control over himself again. Although this might be slightly difficult as the once King rarely let his guard down like this.
"Please don't think that I did this because I did not think you could handle this. I just could not allow you to go through… that. Not after… not after those times."
Yugi nodded; he knew what Atem was referring too.
"You don't need to explain Atem I understand completely. You'd never let anything happen to any of us no matter how much damage you do to yourself. It's who you are, don't apologise for that."
There was a pause. Yugi watched his friend closely while the once King still refused to look round. The paused stretched on longer, as he watched his friend he was pretty sure he saw a slight tremble run through his whole form. He was obviously attempting to pull himself together but for the moment whatever emotion he was battling was winning. Atem was famous for bottling his emotions up but there was only so much anyone could take before that bottle smashed and it appeared his feeling of guilt for not being there for Joey had done just that.
Yugi continued to watch quietly as the former Pharaoh wrapped his bandaged left hand around his right, covering the deep red cut which encircled the wrist. He massaged it absentmindedly; he'd still not turned around. Yugi had to fight the urge to move over and place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Knowing the Pharaoh as he did, he knew that that move was exactly what he wouldn't appreciate at this moment despite how clearly he needed some form of reassurance. Instead, he sat patiently and waited. A few long moments passed before Atem finally looked round, except he still did not look at Yugi, his gaze locked on his hands. From the look in his eye Yugi knew what he was thinking about. Atem may have regained his composure but Yugi could still read his body language to know his thoughts or at least make an educated guess.
"Was it really bad?"
Atem stilled, becoming aware of his actions. His gaze moved away from his hands and moved to the ceiling briefly as he took a breath. He didn't need to ask what Yugi was referring too.
"I've had worse before," He replied, his voice low, "I just…" An exasperated breath escaped him, "For some reason I can't clear my mind of it."
Yugi gave him a sympathetic smile even though he'd still not met his gaze.
"You'll get there. It takes time and you've been through more then anyone ever should. Give yourself time and just remember we're all right here for you."
He heard the once King let out a steadying breath, his whole composure seemed to relax. As though this was something he'd been wanting to get off his chest for a while. For a moment he looked at the floor before finally looking at Yugi and smiling slightly. He looked tired, like someone who'd been to hell and back again, which he had. Yugi knew it would take him sometime to truly put everything that had happened behind him. He couldn't blame him for struggling, after everything he'd been through over his many, many years there was only so much a person could take. But the once King was resilient, he would bounce back, he just needed time.
"I'm sorry about this morning." Atem said, suddenly breaking the silence.
Yugi blinked, slightly confused. "This morning?"
Atem looked at him, "The stairs, I didn't mean to… well…"
As he trailed off Yugi made a dismissing noise, "Oh that, don't even worry about it. It's not your fault you fell, I'm just glad you're alright."
"I will be."
"If you want to talk more about… you know… then you can. Just… just let me know if you do."
The once King smiled slightly and nodded before pushing away from the desk. He took a second to find his balance before limping to the door, placing a hand on the door frame for support.
"Thank you, Yugi." He said, turning to look at him, "I don't deserve your support through this, but I am very grateful for it."
"Atem, we've talked about this. You know you can't say that."
Another small smile, "Sorry…" A pause, "I think I'll go rest awhile. I... well…"
He looked at Yugi, appealing to him to understand what he was talking about without having to say it. Yugi, knowing exactly what he was trying to say, nodded.
"Go, I'll wake you later."
Atem smiled again at him before disappearing towards his bedroom. Yugi watched him go, a look of sympathy on his face. Sighing he busied himself with clearing his desk, something which he probably did not need to do but in that moment, he needed to be busy. He knew that Atem would be alright, he was just dealing with so many different things. He knew how much he wanted everything to return to normal and therefore people would stop worrying about him, something which he didn't particularly like. But at the same time anyone who'd been through all that needed time to process, to travel down the road of conflicting emotions and thoughts. After a couple of minutes, he left his newly immaculate desk to join his grandfather downstairs. He paused for a moment at the top of the stairs, casting his eyes behind him to the closed door of the former King's room. Time was the greatest healer, that's all that was needed here, Atem just needed time. But also, the final duel of the tournament would be coming in the next few days so that would, hopefully, provide a helpful distraction. Nodding reassuringly to himself he turned away from the closed door and headed downstairs to join his grandfather.
My friends, I must admit I found writing that duel very difficult, I won't pretend I'm any good at the writing them as during my research for this chapter I got a little confused with the cards but I did my best! We are rapidly approaching the end of the story, only two chapters remain I do hope you've enjoyed the story so far and enjoy the final two chapters.