Chapter 2:

Back to Capmon

5,000 years later, Atem was walking with Yugi and his friends to school, laughing and talking with each other, telling jokes and others things. But Atem wasn't good with jokes.

"Hey how about this one? A dog was sitting at the bar and the tender walks up and says why the long face?" Atem said with a laugh.

"Uhh...It's a horse Pharaoh..." Yugi corrected.

Atem raised a brow. "Why would a horse have a long face?"

The others laughed and tried to explain it to him. "Hey, looks like we got a new girl. Kinda cute," Joey said pointing at a young girl with long pink hair and water colored eyes sitting on the steps, looking a little nervous.

"Who?" Atem wondered gazing on the girl. Oh my…she's pretty…he thought. "Go on and talk to her, Pharaoh!" Tristan urged. "Uh…I…uh…" Atem said turning very red.

"Go on!" Yugi urged shoving him forward. Atem turned red and walked shyly to her. "Uh…hello…" he said nervously.

"Hi," the girl said with a shy smile. "You…you new here?" Atem asked.

"Yeah…I really don't know my way around…" she said shyly.

"Oh! My name is Atem," he said with a bow. "Yuki Komono," the girl smiled holding out her hand. Atem smiled and shook it but out of his politeness, he gave a small kiss on it. "A pleasure to meet you," he smiled.

"Pleasure's mine," she blushed. Atem looked at her more closely. "You..." he started. "Seem familiar. Have we met?"

"I…don't believe we have," Akemi said shyly. "Oh, forgive me. I didn't mean to sound so forward like that," Atem stammered. "No, no, it's okay. It's just that... you're actually the first person I talked to who wasn't a teacher or an administrator here," She blushed again.

Atem turned redder than before. Then the bell rang for everyone to get to class. "Well, looks like school is starting," he spat out nervously. "Um, which class are you in?"

"Oh, um... my schedule hasn't been set yet."

"Well then... why don't you follow the one me and my friends follow. You can even get to know them. How about it?" Atem asked. She smiled. "Thank you very much, Atem. I'd love to."

Atem smiled shyly as he and Yuki went through the doors of the school. "Well, here we are," he smiled opening the door to their homeroom. "Thank you," She responded. "...umm, which class does this room teach?"

"Well, she teaches foreign language, actually. She's actually unique, because she teaches Egyptian instead of German or Spanish."

"Oh, I love Egypt!" Yuki exclaimed. "It's where my family originated."

"I'm from there," Atem smiled giving her a wink. "I can tell. Hold on, let me guess..." She sat there examining him for a second, while he just stared wondering about her. "Hm…you are from Northern Egypt. Cairo, I'm guessing? And your family is a mix of Japanese and Arabic complexion starts from your father, who married your mother from Japan. Right?"

"My gods, you're good at that!" he exclaimed. "How do you know so much?"

"It's a gift I guess," Yuki blushed. "Impressive gift there," came a voice from behind her. She turned to see a tall blonde boy standing over her. "Yuki, this is one of my friends, Joey Wheeler."

"Pleased to meet you, Joey," she said, shaking his hand. "Same here," Joey smiled. "You gotta ask her out, Pharaoh," he whispered in Atem's ear. "Joseph!" he whispered back. Joey shot up. "Sooo, Yuki! You just came here? Are you looking for a boyfriend?" Atem just nudged Joey's hip.

"Uh…well…um…" Yuki said blushing. "Ah, you'll find the right one in time," Joey said, pushing Atem towards Yuki. Now Atem blushed. "But in the meantime, you wanna meet the rest of us? I'm sure Atem would want you to kiss them, I mean him, I mean, want you to meet them!"

"Joey!" Atem growled. Yuki just giggled. "I'd love to meet your friends, guys."

"Alright," Atem smiled taking her hand and leading her to where Tea' and the others were. "This is my brother Yugi. Sure he looks like me but…he's kind of short," he said with a smile. "HEY!" Yugi yelled in embarrassment. Yuki took Yugi's hand. "You're not that short, Yugi," she said. Then she looked up at Téa. "You're taller than me, though. It makes me feel short..." she laughed.

"And this is Tea; she's a real good friend to us. Over there is Tristan and Duke," he said pointing to where the two were playing Dungeon Dice Monsters. "And that man in the corner? That's Kaiba, owner of Kaiba corp. He's a real…um…how should I put it…"

"Dark," Yugi said. "I'd have to go with that…" Yuki said shyly. "He looks scary."

"He is NOT!" exclaimed another girl, "He's rich, cool, popular, rich, assertive, and handsome, and did I mention rich?"

"Viv, sit down!" yelled Joey. "You're not in this!" The girl sat down, and stared at Kaiba some more. "Who's that girl?" asked Yuki. "Oh, that's Vivian Wong, the toughest female duelist in the school," explained Joey, "She'll do anything for a man to challenge and beat."

"I see…" Yuki said.

After school, Yuki was walking home alone. "Akemi, wait!" yelled Atem running after her. "Oh, hello, Atem. Were you going this way too?"

"Yes I was," he said, "I'm taking the bus with Yugi and Tristan." Yugi and Tristan waved from behind him. "Hi, Yuki."

"Wanna go with us?"

"Sure…" Yuki smiled.

"Say, uh... Yuki?" Atem asked.

"Yes, Atem?"

"Well... I was wondering, well... Yugi, Tristan, Joey and I were going to see the movie 'Troy' tomorrow, and... um, you want to come?" He stammered. "Love to," She smiled and took Atem by the hand. "And we can all sit in the back where we can see, if you like."

"Sure," Atem smiled taking her hand they both went to their bus and went home. "Well...see you tomorrow?" Yuki asked walking to her house. "Four-o-clock?" he asked. "I'll be there..." she smiled. "... well, bye. It was nice meeting you three!"

"Goodbye, Yuki," Yugi said. "See you tomorrow, kid," Tristan said.

They all said their goodbyes and headed for home. Later that night, Atem and Yugi were getting ready for bed and both went to sleep in their beds.

"Night, Yugi," Atem said tiredly.

"G'night, Pharaoh," Yugi said as he left Atem's room and closed the door. Yugi went over to his own room across the hallway and climbed into bed. He fell asleep within ten minutes. Of course when you stay up on a Friday night eating ice-cream and jumping around with your other self until midnight, you tend to get that tired.

-Dream-

Yugi was sound asleep, when he started dreaming about something: He saw Atem, in his pharaoh outfit, riding on the back of Slifer the sky dragon, blasting attacks at another dragon. The dragon had someone tied to it's neck. A girl, whom he thought might be Kisara, but when he got a closer look at her, she looked even more familiar.

"Yuki!!" he cried.

Yes, it was Yuki! Someone who looked just like her, at least. She was trying to stop the dragon from attacking Slifer. Atem was aiming away from Yuki, trying to weaken the dragon enough for her to bring it down completely. "Pharaoh!" the Yuki look-alike screamed. "No," Atem screamed, "I don't want to take anymore lives!"

"What's going on?" Yugi wondered watching from behind a rock. "Please, my king," she yelled, "I know we have been friends, and I love you closer than any friend I've ever had, but I have to make to return your favor... for all the things you have given me... BY DESTROYING THIS DRAGON!!" Atemu was speechless, "I..."

"Please Pharaoh... call Slifer off... for the fate of Egypt..." Suddenly, Yugi's thoughts fly apart, and he woke up.

-End dream-

"Ahh!!" Yugi screamed sweating like mad. He looked around nervously running a hand through his hair. He lied back down and fell asleep.

The next morning, Yami was the first person up making breakfast. Yugi came down rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Good morning, Yugi," Atem smiled. He was in his pajamas making some bacon. "Want some?"

"Uh... sure, okay," Yugi mumbled. First the ice-cream, now this? "Yugi?" Atem asked as he walked over to the table with both their plates. "Is everything okay?" Yugi looked up. "Hm? Oh, uh, yes. Just a little too much sugar, that's all..." Well, half true, right?

"Yugi…I heard you cry out last night," Atem said taking a bite of his eggs. "Um... yeah, well... hyperactivity is often followed by temporary migraines and preliminary outbursts before complete emission." Yugi said. Atem just stared at his brother. "Um... what?"

"Oh, you know what I mean."

"No, not really..."

"So, how do you think 'Troy' will be? I hear it's robust!"

"Yugi, is there something you want to tell me?"

"Alright…I had a weird dream last night…" Yugi confessed. At that moment, Atem's cell phone started to ring. "Sorry, Hold on." Yugi breathed out. Man what a relief! Maybe he'd tell him... later.

"Hello?" Atem answered.

"Atem, it's me!" Yuki said on the other end. "Hello, Yuki! How did you get my number?"

"Oh, Tristan gave it to me. Just wanted to see how you and Yugi were doing."

"I'm alright," Atem said nervously unaware that Yugi was watching. "Is Yugi there? Let me talk to him please?" she asked him. Atem handed the phone to Yugi. " Yuki wants to talk to you."

"Okay." Yugi took the phone from Atem and held it to his ear. "Hello, Yuki?"

"Yugi? Hey there! Listen, I need to talk to you about something..."

"What is it?" Yugi asked.

"Well see..." Yuki started, "... I had this dream last night and..."

"Oh? What happened in it?" Yugi asked. "Well, see... it was about Egypt... and Atem ... and I saw our Language teacher there and..." Yugi thought for a moment. Their language teacher? He wondered why... "Okay, go on."

"I was strapped to a ... big black dragon, and I was fighting it... with my mind, almost."

"Oh…keep going," Yugi urged. "And I was yelling at Atem to stop firing at the dragon. And right before he could answer me... I woke up... it was really weird, Yugi. So scary..." She almost seemed to cry.

"Yuki …I had the same dream…" Yugi said.

"…You, you did?"

"Yeah. I don't know what it means."

"Me neither. Well anyways, we all set for the movie?"

"Oh yeah! I'm sure Atem's real excited to see you," Yugi said with a giggle.

"Okay…well, see you guys at four?"

"Yeah. See ya," Yugi said as he hung up. The two boys hung around at home playing Grand Theft Auto on the X-box. Atem glanced at the clock seeing that it was almost three. "Come on, Yugi, we should get ready," Atem said heading upstairs after turning off the game. He put on his leather tank top and blue pants and boots just as the doorbell rang. "Oh, crap!" he cried running downstairs. He opened the door finding Yuki dressed in a white dress with pink cherry blossom leaves all over it and white knee-high socks with black dress shoes and a pink bow in her hair to match. "Hi…" she said shyly.

"Hello," Atem smiled bowing lightly. "Come on, Yugi!! Yuki's here!"

"Can you hold your horses for a second?!" Yugi cried.

"What horses? We don't have any to hold!" Atem called back.

Yuki giggled. "It's an expression."

"Oh."

Yugi came running down dressed like his brother. "Hey! You guys dressed the same!" Yuki cried. Both boys blinked at each other. "Should I go change?" Yugi asked.

"I think it's cute," Yuki smiled. Atem blushed a deep red but offered his arm. "Ready?"

Yuki smiled and took his arm and the group headed over to the theatre. On the way there, Atem stopped a look of anger in his eyes. "Atem? What's wrong?" Yugi asked.

"I thought I sensed something…" he whispered. "Come on."

The reached the theatre seeing Joey and the others ahead of them. "Hey, you two lovebirds!" Joey shouted. Yuki just blushed as the group headed inside the theatre with some snacks and headed up to the top row. "Wow! What a view!!" Yuki smiled.

"Yeah," Atem smiled holding Yuki close. In the middle of the movie, she began to cry when Paris' brother was killed fighting Achilles. "Yuki, what's wrong?" Atem whispered.

Yuki just continued crying. Soon the movie was over. "Wow…that was great!" Akemi said still wiping away her tears. They all walked out of the theater with Atem holding onto Yuki. "Yuki …I…I have something I want to tell you…" he said nervously.

"What is it?" Yuki asked. But before Atem could answer, the puzzle began glowing. "What?" he cried. The group was enveloped in a bright light when it died out, they were gone.

"What the--!" Atem screamed as he and his friends were falling into the abyss. "ATEM!!" Yuki cried. "WHAT IS THIS!?!?"

But before he could reply another bright light shone upon them. Yuki was unconscious on a grassy ground. She opened her eyes to see herself and her friends in the middle of the forest. "Where..?" she asked, yawning and blinking. All of the others opened their eyes and looked around.

"Where are we…?" Yuki asked. She glanced down and saw what looked to be a launcher of some kind on her wrist. Atem sighed sadly. " Yuki, I know this may be a little hard to believe, but..."

"WHY ARE WE IN CAPSULE MONSTERS AGAIN!?!?" yelled Tristan. "Capsule Monsters? You mean the board game?" asked a puzzled Yuki.

"Yes-"

"What's with that armor on you, Atem?" Yuki asked. "Long story, not made short," said Atem, "Right now we need to go find some answers to why the puzzle sent us here."

"Good idea," said Joey, "... but eh, where do we start? The trees?"

Yuki began to look around, unaware that she wandered in another part of the forest, getting herself lost. "Atem? Joey?" she called. She tried walking back the way she came, but she tangled herself even more in the depths of the forest. "Atem! Joey!" she screamed, but no answer. Oh no, I'm lost, she thought. Suddenly, she heard a noise in the bushes. She began shaking with fear. "Atem…where are you…" she whimpered.

Then, all of a sudden, a Great Moth flew out at her from behind the bush. It aimed straight at her and was about to attack. "AAYYYAAAAHH!" She screamed, crouching down and shielding herself. All of a sudden, another monster came out from behind her and struck the Great Moth. Yuki looked up and saw the monster... it was Dark Magician Girl.

"Wow…" she whispered. "Yuki!!" Atem cried. Dark Magician Girl then took Yuki up by her shoulders, and flew her over the trees. Yuki looked up at her. "Thank you for saving me..." she said. The monster smiled, and flew down to where her friends were. She landed on her feet and breathed. "Yuki!" yelled Yugi. "Where did you go?"

"Well, I was saved by..." she turned to look at the mage but... she was gone. The capsule in her launcher started to glow.

"Are you alright?" Atem asked holding her shoulders. "Yeah... just confused about this whole thing, that's all." She hugged Atem. "You'll be okay," Atem assured her. "As long as you stay with us."

Yuki nodded and followed close behind him through the forest. She suddenly saw something flash in her mind, the vision of her dream. "Ah!" she cried holding her head.

"Yuki, are you okay?" Yugi asked worriedly. Yuki only moaned in agony as the dream continued to flash in her mind. "PLEASE, Pharaoh!" She found herself yelling, "STOP SHOOTING!!!..." Just then, the Atem look-alike paused, but finally called of Slifer. Then, she started to grip onto the dragon, and concentrate hard. With a loud scream, her mind flashed white, and she snapped back into reality. "Pharaoh!?!?" she screamed, shooting her eyes open. "Yuki..." Joey spoke. "What are you talking about?"

She looked very scared for a moment looking around. "Yuki? What's wrong?" Atem asked kneeling to her. "I... saw a dragon... and you, and Slifer, and..."

"Slifer?" he asked. "Yuki, what kind of dream were you having?"

"The same kind I had, Atemu," Yugi confessed. Atem turned to him. "Yugi..."

"It's true…I had the same dream…" Yugi said sadly. "Was that what you've been trying to tell me earlier?" Yugi knelt down. "Yes. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but that's also why Yuki and I were talking on the phone... I'm sorry." Atem stood up. "What I'm wondering is why I didn't have the same dream you two did? I mean, I was in both of the dreams, and you two each played a role...why didn't I..."

"This is getting weird," Téa said. Suddenly a loud roar was heard. "Stay back!" Atem yelled. "You all get behind those trees. I'll fend him off."

"Atem..." Yuki said worried. "Just do what he says, Yuki," Said Joey. "The guy is the king of games after all..." Yuki nodded reluctantly and followed her friends. Atem stood his ground the roars getting louder. Then a giant dragon like monster appeared. It was all metal and had dark red eyes. It roared in ferocity as in to strike its prey.

"FIRE CAPSULE!!" he shouted as his Dark Magician fired from his capsule. The Dark Magician stood in front of the monster and prepared to attack. "Dark Magician! Activate duel armor!" Atem shouted as he held his arms wide open. Their forms seemed to merge together for a few seconds, and in a flash of light, Atem was wearing the armor of the Dark Magician. "Wow…" Yuki whispered in awe. "See, he can fuse with any of his monsters he chooses," Yugi explained. "Go get 'em, Atem," Yuki urged.

Atem leaped in the air firing attacks on the creature. The monster roared and whacked him with its spiked tail. He fell over, but quickly regained his strength enough to get back up. He charged towards the monster with a loud "HYAAAAAHH!!" and butted into its chest. When it was down, he flew above it to make the final blow. "Dark Magic Attack!" he screamed, and blasted a fiery beam onto the monster until it decinigrated.

"Wow! You did it!" Yuki cried. Joey helped Atem to his feet but he suddenly gave a loud cry of pain. "Atem!" Téa cried. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," he answered wearily. "I'm fine... but I can't rest now. We need to find our way out of here."

"But where do we start?" asked Yugi. "Well," replied Joey. "How did we find our way out last time?"

"Um... I think you found a map, Joey," said Tristan. Yuki then noticed a patch of red was stained on Atem's clothes where the monster hit him. "Maybe you should rest, Atem…" she said worriedly.

"What do you mean?" Joey asked. "He's bleeding, genius," said Tristan. "Tristan, you're not helping," said Yugi.

"Atem, you're very pale…you should rest," Yuki urged.

"I...can't... I have to..." he fainted in Yuki's arms. "Atem?" Yuki called.

He just sat there silently. Outside, he didn't move a muscle, but inside... he had a vision. "You destiny awaits you, my king," a voice said. Atem saw the same girl from his dream standing in the lotus garden, her hair blowing in the wind. "Who... who are you?" he asked. "A friendly messenger. My pharaoh, you must complete these three tasks before you can escape," the girl said.

"Three tasks? Wait, what tasks?"

The girl smiled as she disappeared... she was just a flower petal now.

"He doesn't look so good…" Yugi said with worry. "We have to get him some help," Yuki said. "Isn't there a hospital ward or something?"

"No, but I have something better that that!" Tea said.

Moments later, her Happy Lover began to heal the once Pharaoh's injury. "I hope it works…" Akemi said holding Atem close as his wound began to heal. "Should we wake him up?" asked Tristan. "I think he needs rest. The fight caused him tension," said Yugi. "Meanwhile, we better go look for some kinda scroll like last time. Yuki, you can stay here with Atem," Yugi said. Yuki looked up. "Good luck, Yugi."

"We won't be too far off," said Téa. "Kiss and make up now," Joey teased. "Joey..." growled Téa. The group left as Yuki kept a close eye on Atem, who started to wake up. "Atem...can you hear me?" Yuki asked.

"Yuki... I had a dream..." Atem said weakly. Yuki held his hand. "My Ra. Was it the same one?"

"No..." he said, gripping her hand. "There was ... a messenger who told me to go through three tasks in order to escape from here."

"What tasks?" Yuki asked.

"I don't know. She turned into a flower before I could ask her anything... she said it was my destiny..."

"What did you want to tell me after we left the theatre?" Yuki asked. "Uh...well...you're very beautiful..." Atem said with a blush. She blushed back. "Well, um... thank you?" she smiled nervously. DAMMIT! he thought. NOW, what did I say?

"Where's everyone?" he asked trying to sit up. He gave out a cry of pain from the just healed wound on his side.

"Atem, sit if you know what's good for you," she warned him and gently laid him back down. "You're in no condition to walk."

"Yuki, I want to see where the others went. Just for a little bit?"

"They went to try and find a map of some kind…" Yuki said. Atem tried to sit up again, ignoring the pain. "I have to find them…before something happens…" he moaned.

"Nothing will happen, Atem. Just trust them and trust me, okay?"

Atem breathed heavily leaning against a rock wall. He felt a low rumble under him. " Yuki, what are you doing to me?" he asked her. "What?" she asked puzzled. "I didn't do anything."

The rumbling began growing louder and louder even from the wall he was leaning against. He stood his ground aiming his launcher at whatever was coming towards him.

Suddenly a huge worm with many sharp teeth came out from the ground looming over Atem. "...Medusa Worm..." he growled, aiming his launcher higher to it. "F-fire...FIRE...Cap..." he collapsed due to the pain in his wound.

"Atem!!" Yuki cried as the worm was about to attack. "F-...FIRE CAPSULE!" Akemi shouted nervously. Her launcher glowed and fired a capsule as Dark Magician Girl appeared. ""It...It's you...from before," Yuki said in awe.

The monster smiled down at her and fired a blast of magic on the creature. The worm was destroyed. Yuki sighed with relief. "Thank you." She nodded and disappeared back into the capsule.

"Atem!" Yuki cried rushing to his side, unaware that another monster was behind her. "Atem, wake up…" she urged. Shadow Ghoul roared and made to attack them.

"Flame Swordsman, attack!!" a voice shouted. Yuki looked up to find a familiar face. "Joey!!" she cried. The warrior destroyed the shadow ghoul as the others rushed over to Yuki. "What happened to Atem?" Yugi asked worriedly.

"He...I guess he's still weak from before."

"We should let him rest. It's getting dark," Tea' said.

"Any luck finding a map or something?" Yuki asked.

"Nothing yet," Tristan said. Later that night everyone was asleep as Atem slowly stirred hearing someone singing softly. He slowly got up and walked quietly out to the entrance of the cave, finding Yuki sitting there, staring at the moon as she sang. "Don't give up, it's just the weight of the world, when your heart's heavy I, I will lift it for you," she sang. "Don't give up, because you want to be heard, if silence keeps you I, I will break it for you."

He stood silent, listening to her. "Everybody wants to be understood, well I can hear you. Everybody wants to be loved, don't give up, because you are loved," Yuki continued.

Atem smiled as he listened. "Don't give up, it's just the hurt that you hide, when you're lost inside I, I'll be there to find you. Don't give up; because you want to burn bright, if darkness blinds you I, I will shine to guide you. Everybody wants to be understood, well I can hear you. Everybody wants to be loved, don't give up, because you are loved. Don't give up; it's just the weight of the world. Don't give up, everyone needs to be loved. You are loved." she finished.

"That was beautiful."

Yuki jumped seeing Atem behind her. "Atem!! You scared me!" she cried. "Sorry, but I couldn't sleep," he said sitting beside her. "Me neither," she smiled.

"It's so beautiful out here…" Atem said with a smile. "Yeah," Yuki smiled laying her head on his shoulder. Atem looked up at the moon and down at Yuki "You know…you look very beautiful in the moonlight."

Yuki blushed. "Thank you…"

The couple gazed into each other's eyes, the song filling Yuki's mind again. Atem brushed away a hair from her face smiling slightly at her. Yuki took his hand and held it close to her heart. Atem slowly leaned towards and planted a deep kiss on her lips. Yuki deeply kissed him back, closing her eyes and wrapping her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. They broke off moments later staring into each other's eyes.

"Wow…" Atem said sheepishly. Yuki blushed shyly and stood up. "We should get some sleep," she said taking Atem's hand and walking into the cave for the night.