Hey peoples. After I regained the motivation to write, I made a whole bunch of revisions in an attempt to improve my story. Here are the most notable changes:

1. The stupid and useless "Penalty Game" chapter has been deleted and replaced with a short thing about "Duelist Kingdom."

2. A proper story has been written for chapter 4.

3. I deleted that rant I wrote during my fit of frustration, moved "Betrayal" to chapter 14, and wrote a new thing for chapter 13. It just didn't sit right with me to have an entire chapter of nothing but author's notes sitting in the middle of my fic.

4. The name "Otogi" has been replaced with "Ryuji" throughout the entire thing. After rereading the manga, I noticed that the gang calls him Ryuji for some reason.

5. Ryou's lines have been edited/deleted throughout to make him slightly less OOC. Some of Bakura's lines have been edited too, especially at the ends of chapters 8 and 12. The whole point of his plan was to trick Ryou into believing they were friends so that he would continue to wear the Ring, and it wouldn't make sense for Bakura to deny being friends; in fact the opposite is more likely to happen.

6. I wrote a new epilogue. After rereading the manga, I realized that I had completely forgotten that the Thief King already told Atem how the Millennium Items were created. Therefore, a sequel isn't necessary; we can just assume that Atem told everybody about Kul Elna at some point. (I'm can't believe I forgot about that…haha…silly me.)

Also I changed some of Yugi's lines in the last chapter. He's not the type of person to conclusions, and it would be OOC for him to not want to believe what Ryou says about the Spirit.

One peaceful Saturday afternoon, the entire Gang went over to Yugi's house to hang out together. They all sat in a circle on the floor, and everyone listened intently as Atem related everything he had experienced during his time in the Memory World, as well as what he had learned about the Millennium Items from the Thief King and Mahado. Once he was done explaining, everyone reacted accordingly.

"The Millennium Items are like a double-edged sword," Otogi mused.

"You're saying these things are made out of dead people!?" Jounouchi cried out in disgust. "Ugh, I'm never touching one of them again!"

"It's no wonder he turned out the way he did," Anzu said with a touch of sympathy. After learning about the Thief King's backstory, she couldn't help but feel a little bit sorry for him, even if he had been a jerk.

Ryou's eyes began welling up with tears of joy. "So I wasn't wrong. He technically wasn't evil. He was just using the wrong methods to fight for justice."

Afterwards, everyone continued to chat with one another in mostly the same manner as always; they talked about games, tournaments, and the memories they had shared together as a group, the same as they always did. But no matter how much they wanted to deny it, something was different than usual.

In another couple of weeks, they were all going on a trip to Egypt, and it was possible that Atem was going to leave forever. They all tended to avoid talking about it because it would be too sad, but it hung in the air and dampened the mood.

Time was running out, and Ryou knew that this was most likely his last chance to ask the Yugis for a favor. While everyone else was distracted in their conversations with one another, he went up to Atem and shyly made the request: "Hey Yu– I mean Atem. I was wondering if you'd let me see the Millennium Ring one last time. Not to keep, but to hold for like a minute."

Atem took the Ring out of its hiding place and handed it to Ryou.

When Honda noticed what was happening, and he leaned towards Atem and whispered, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Have faith in your friend," Atem whispered back.

Ryou closed his eyes and concentrated on feeling the energy within the Millennium Ring. The familiar force of dark energy was still there…but the Spirit wasn't present. No one was living inside the Ring anymore.

A soft smile appeared on Ryou's face. "Goodbye," he mouthed voicelessly. "I forgive you and goodbye." When he opened up his eyes, tears were welling up behind them again. He finally understood why the Spirit had acted the way he did; it was because fate was cruel. After surviving a genocide and being imprisoned in the Ring for three millennia, it was no wonder he acted so villainously. Ryou hoped with all his heart that Bakura had found peace in the afterlife.

Maybe if you hadn't been possessed by Zorc, I would've been able to become real friends with you, he thought, but he would never know for sure.

"Thank you, Atem," Ryou said as he began to hand the Ring back.

"It's no problem." Atem took the Ring and put it in Yugi's bag.

And now Ryou needed to make a second request, as it was his last chance to do so. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you. Not Yugi, but you specifically," he said to Atem. "You see, I've been telling my father everything I know about the Millennium Items. I hope that's alright?"

"As long as you trust your father with that information, then so do I," Atem said with a smile.

Ryou laughed. "You still trust my judgment? Even after I believed all those lies that the Spirit told me?"

"Yes," Atem nodded firmly.

"Okay, I wasn't expecting that. But thanks." Ryou ducked his head and grinned. "Anyways, there's a favor I'd like to ask from you, if it's not too much trouble."

A few days later, Atem took over Yugi's body after school was over and went over to Ryou's apartment, and they hung about casually in the dining room as they waited for Ryou's father to come home.

When Mr. Bakura did come home, he gasped in amazement when he caught sight of Atem.

"Surprise!" said Ryou. "You said you wanted an interview with Yugi, so here he is!"

"You must be Bakura's father. It's very nice to meet you," Atem said, shaking Mr. Bakura's hand.

Mr. Bakura was in such a state of wonder that he could barely speak. "T-t-the pleasure is all mine. You must be Mutou Yugi."

"Please, call me Atem."

"Yes yes that's right! Ryou told me about you." Mr. Bakura paced the floor, completely consumed with emotion. "Wow. I can't believe I'm talking to an actual Pharaoh. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

"Would you like to know about my past?" Atem said.

"Absolutely! Let me get my laptop. I need to take notes."

Later on, Mr. Bakura would publish a scholarly article on Atem's life as well as the history of Kul Elna. The article didn't contain anything about shadow magic or the existence of supernatural beings, but it would become an important document in archeological history. And thus, the world was finally able to learn about the story of the nameless Pharaoh and the King of Thieves.

The End for real this time.

Bye again –