Hey, everyone. I am soooooo sorry about this way late update. I have had life get in the way, losing family members, college, moving houses, and then an pandemic. Finally when I was able to write... I had writers block, then there was moments where I had lost interest in writing. I am wanting to write again. I love the support and suggestions that everyone had to offer me, and there are a few ideas that you all have come up with that I will be including in my story. Thank you for that! I am going to TRY to keep up with my stories, however, I am not sure how much I will be able to, so please be patient with me and this story.
Bold means Atem is talking
Underline means Yugi is talking
Italics means Tea is talking
Underline means Yugi is talking
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the Gardner brothers and the plot.
Last Time:
"Man, I don't know how to help her... poor Melody. Barely a day old and yanked away from her parents." Carly went to get her while Atem started asking questions.
"Melody?! That's my daughter's name. What is she doing here?" Atem jumped up and gently took her from a frustrated Carly. Suddenly Melody started to calm down, and started cooing at Atem.
"Hi baby girl. Daddy's here."
"To answer your question Yusei. If we try to escape, or to try to contact the outside world in any way... and the man will take Melody and sell her to be a slave.. or.." Carly couldn't even finish. Atem snapped his head toward Carly.
"They will have to kill me to get to her." Yusei stood up and walked toward Atem.
"It's obvious that they are just using us as bait for Tea and Akiza." Atem looked at him.
"So how do we handle this?" Yusei didn't know how to answer. Atem closed his eyes, then snapped opened.
"What's wrong?" Yusei asked noticing the panicked look in Atem's eyes.
"I can't sense Yugi at all... I can't communicate with him at all."
"What do you mean?" Yusei asked.
"Even though Yugi and I have separated, he and I still have a connection. I called him through the link before we were knocked out, but now it's like that there is a brick wall between us. I can't even feel his emotions." Atem explained as Melody fell asleep. Atem looked down at his daughter. Tea doesn't even know she's missing.
"He said not to try to contact the outside world." Carly mumbled, shifting her weight.
"I had to take a chance." Atem said, gently placing Melody into the baby bed. Atem tried to not pace around the room. He had no idea what to do now. He couldn't reach Yugi. Atem calmed his mind and looked around the room. There was three beds, one bunk bed and one single bed, there was a door on his left, there was a small room by the only door in the room. He assumed that was the bathroom, but that was it. There was nothing else, not even an window.
"Carly," Atem said, getting her and Yusei's attention, "have you been able to leave the room since you have been here?"
"No. The man who brought me here, Sayer, he brings me food. I wasn't sure if I would eat the food, but then one day a man I have never seen before came in one day. He took a bite from each section of the food. He was just trying to show me that the food was safe to eat. Once the food is gone, Sayer comes and collect the food." Carly explained. Atem growled under his breath. Now they really were back into a corner, and he has no idea on how to get out of it.
"Atem?" Yusei asked.
"There is no window, Carly hasn't even been outside of the room, and I can't use my powers. We are bait for our girlfriends-" Atem started to rant, but Carly quickly cut him off.
"You and Akiza are DATING?! Since when?" Carly demanded. Yusei blushed.
"We only got together this morning... I think it was this morning. I don't know how long we have been out." Yusei explained. Atem tried not to flinch. There wasn't even a clock, so they couldn't even keep track of time. Who knows how long they have been out.
"Let's just hope that Tea and Akiza figure out that we are just being used as a trap." Atem said, picking up Melody, handed her off to Yusei to hold while he moved to the baby bed to the other side of the bunk bed. Atem made sure that the bunk bed was in between the door and Melody. Once the bed was moved, Atem picked up Melody and rocked her, then once Atem was confident that she was asleep... and he was ready to let go, he eased her down into his bed.
Tea, Eli, and Kyler walked into an panic hospital. People were running around, and even police were involved.
"What's going on?" Tea asked. Kyler had a bad feeling about what was going on, but he didn't want Tea to hear it from some stranger.
"Stay here, Tea. Eli and I are going to check it out." Kyler told Tea, who nodded and sat down in the waiting room. Kyler and Eli went to talk to the police and the doctors, and Tea watched as they talked for a little bit when Tea's phone rang. She picked up the phone and saw that it was Yugi that was calling.
'Hey Yugi.' Tea greeted.
'Tea. Have you heard from Atem?' Yugi asked in a panic.
'No. Why?' Tea asked.
'I was at school when Atem contacted me through our link. He said something about being attacked. Joey, Tristan, and I ran to Atem's house...' Yugi trailed off. Tea felt her blood go cold.
'Yugi, what happened.' Tea demanded. Tea heard Yugi sigh.
'We found Aknamkanon unconscious, and Atem and Yusei are nowhere to be found. I mean, we looked everywhere. We checked Grandpa's house, your house, and even in Atem's house.' Yugi said. Tea felt her heart stop.
'Did you try contacting Mahad and Mana?' Tea asked.
'They said that they have been at work, and neither Atem or Yusei had shown up. I'm getting worried, Tea. You haven't seen or heard anything, right?' Yugi asked.
'No, I haven't seen or heard from Atem or Yusei. Eli, Kyler, and I are at the hospital to discharge Melody. Though it is weird.' Tea mumbled, looking around.
'What do you mean?' Yugi asked.
'I mean, that there are police officers here and doctors and nurses panicking.' Tea explained. Kyler and Eli walked over to Tea.
'Hold on, Yugi' Tea said. She moved her phone to her shoulder, while Kyler sat down next to Tea.
"Tea, we have a problem." Kyler said, gently.
"Yeah. Atem and Yusei are missing. Aknamkanon was found unconscious, and Atem and Yusei are nowhere to found. I'm starting to get worried, but," Tea said, looking at Kyler in the eye, "that's not what you are talking about, is it?"
"No. We'll find Atem and Yusei, but that is not the problem was talking about. Honey, Melody is missing. That's why there are so many police officers and why the doctors and nurses are running around in panic." Kyler said. Tea looked at Kyler in shock.
"H-How? Wh-What happened?" Tea demanded, while Eli took the phone from Tea and started talking to Yugi.
"No one knows, Tea. One minute, she was there, and the next minute... she was gone. No fingerprints, no security camera capturing her being taken, nothing." Kyler explained. Eli came back and looked at Kyler.
"Melody isn't here. We need to head back home." Eli said, handing Tea her phone back. Kyler nodded. They made their way to the door when Tea's phone dinged. Tea was behind her brothers, so they didn't noticed that she stopped after she checked her phone. There was video of Atem, who was holding Melody, talking to Yusei and another girl, and then another message came in. Tea's eyes widened.
'If you say anything, if you go to the cops, they all die. You and Akiza will come to the Domino Museum at 10:00pm, tonight. Surrender yourselves to us, and we'll let them go. You don't then they become ours, and you will never see them again.'
Tea paled when she read the message, but quickly recovered. She put her phone in her pocket, and hurried after her brothers. Whenever Tea gets nervous, she fiddled with something. As Tea stared out the window, she kept playing with the hair-tie that was on her wrist. She jumped when someone put a hand on her knee. Eli looked at her with a smile.
"It's going to be ok, Tea. We'll find them." he said. Tea gave a smile on her face... Eli was always gullible, so he would buy the smile.
"I know, but it doesn't make this any easier." she said. Eli nodded and turned back to Kyler, while Tea went back to the window.
'Atem. Please hang on... whatever he tells you, it's not true.' Tea thought as she watched as they pass house after house.
Atem just watched the door. He knew that sooner or later that Sayer and that other guy who would come in here. When that happens, Atem was going to use every power that he has to restrain the two for them all to make a break for it. The idea of Atem using his powers... Atem fought the urge to flinch. Atem swore after the whole Orichalcos incident that he wouldn't use dark magic... and his powers are dark magic. However, Atem took a quick moment to look at Carly, he felt a shift when Yusei moves in his sleep, and he looked over to check on his daughter. His daughter. He hadn't dreamed when he was Pharaoh that he would have children. He was young when he took the throne. He hadn't even married, everything was rushed. He didn't even dream of marrying, let alone on having children.(1). Now that he has a new life, and after reuniting with Tea and their other friends... having a life with Tea and raising Melody... and maybe any other child that comes along, doesn't seem like a bad idea. Now, he understood why his father said that being a parent means having your heart on the outside of your body, and a parent will do anything to protect my child. Looking at Melody, he now understood what his father meant by that. Suddenly, the door opened, causing all three teenagers to jump up and turned to the door. There walking into the door was Sayer and Marco.
"Greetings my friends." Marco said. Yusei jumped down, and Carly got onto Atem's bed.
"We are not friends. You are just someone who is obsessed with Akiza, and you are obsessed with Tea." Atem spat, looking at both Sayer and Marco. Sayer didn't say anything, he just glared at Atem. Marco narrowed his eyes at Atem before he closed his eyes and opened it again.
"Someone like you couldn't possibly understand what happened back then. Don't worry, the young woman that Sayer brought will watch my granddaughter, and Sayer will be talking to Yusei," Marco looked at each one of them before settling on Atem, "but you... you are coming with me."
"She is not your granddaughter, and I'm not going anywhere with you." Atem spat again. Atem felt the Millennium symbol on his forehead. Marco gave a smile, and raised his hand with a small flick of his wrist. Atem fought the cold chill that came from his smile and movement. He had a lot of enemies, that had tried to take over the world, in the past: Pegasus, Marik, Dartz, and finally Bakura... the evil spirit of the Millennium Ring. However, the smile that Marco just gave him... it took the cake.
"You don't have a choice." Marco said. With a wave of his hand, both he and Atem disappeared from the room, and reappeared in the room with a pond. Marco walked over to a table at the side of the room, while he poured a drink. Atem looked around the room, and saw that there was a door behind him. While Marco's back was turned, Atem made his way to the door... discreetly. When he got to the door, he tried to open it, only for it to not open.
"The door is locked. Take a look at the pond." Marco ordered. Atem froze and slowly turned. Marco's back hadn't turned back to him. Atem didn't want to look at the pond, but curiosity got the better of him. Slowly he walked to the pond. When he looked into the pond... he saw Tea talking to Akiza in her room.
"Do you think it's him?" Akiza asked.
"I think so." Tea said.
"We can't tell anyone... can we?" Akiza asked. Tea stayed silent for a little bit.
"I-... I don't want to take the chance, Akiza. I mean, Marco killed my parents... if it is him..." Tea closed her eyes and put her head in her hands.
"Don't worry. Atem and Yusei are smart. They are going to protect each other, and Melody and Carly." Akiza said. Tea blinked as she looked at Akiza.
"We aren't going to tell Jack... are we?" Tea said, nervously. Akiza sighed.
"No. He'll get concerned about her, and go charging head first into trouble... and since Marco killed your parents." Akiza said. Tea nodded in understanding.
"How's Aknamkanon?" Akiza asked.
"Fine. He has a black eye, and a minor concussion. He's more angry than anything. Yusei, his son, and his granddaughter are missing. I think that he feels a little bad that he couldn't protect his son and Yusei." Tea said. Akiza nodded.
"You think that it's a trap?" Akiza asked.
"Yes. It is. But if we want to save our love ones..." Tea trailed off. Akiza nodded. The image zoomed in on the clock 4:30pm.
"What time are they suppose to meet up?" Atem demanded, glaring at Marco, who was busy sipping his drink.
"10:00pm." Marco said, plainly. Marco set the drink down. Atem felt his body tense up. Marco slowly walked towards Atem, who kept walking backwards to put some distance between the two.
"Only... Sayer and I aren't going to be the ones who are going to met them." Marco smiled. He lifted his hand up to Atem's chest as if he was holding his hand out for Atem to grab. (2). Atem felt his body freeze in place... and he couldn't move. Marco walked up to him and placed his palm on Atem's forehead.
"You are." Marco hissed. Atem couldn't help but scream when he felt something enter his head... he just didn't know what, but it hurt. As Atem screamed in pain, Marco just smiled evilly.
Sayer smiled as Marco and Atem vanished.
"ATEM!" Yusei screamed. He turned his head to Sayer when he started laughing.
"He's the least of your problems." Sayer said. Yusei inched back to try to protect Melody and Carly. He had faced off against Sayer before... and that almost didn't end well. It was thanks to Trudge that he and Mina survived.
"It had been at least six months since the Battle with the Dark Signers, why did you wait this long before you made a move?" Yusei asked, trying to by time for... something. Sayer smirked.
"You tried the same thing during that battle too. But...," Sayer smirked and crossed his arms, "I'll humor you."
"..." Yusei didn't do say anything. His guard was still up, he couldn't let his guard down.
"I didn't intervene with Akiza after the battle because I wanted to see how well her powers do without me around. She never even used her powers until that day that you were kidnapped. Now that she is here, she is mastering her powers. Akiza is better off with me, so now that Akiza has been able to experience the outside world. She'll be coming with me. We'll recreate the Arcadia Movement, and we'll rule the world." Sayer said.
"No. I won't let you. Akiza is not that person anymore. I won't let you use her as a pawn, she's not your puppet." Yusei spat. Sayer smiled.
"I'm so glad that you think that. You know," Sayer said, pacing back and forth before stopping right in front of Yusei, "Marco gave a little bit of magic... to do this."
"Do-" Yusei started to ask before he, like Atem, was surrounded in smoke and was taken to a different room.
"YUSEI!" Carly yelled. Sayer smiled at her.
"Don't worry about him." Sayer said, before he waved his hand and he was gone too. He reappeared in front of Yusei.
"Don't worry, at 10:00pm tonight, the girls will be released into that girl's brothers' custody. We'll have everything we need from them. Now, you need to prepare yourself." Sayer said as he activated his duel disk. Yusei's eyes widened in horror as a fireball came at him. Yusei had managed to dodge the fireball, and he ran to the door and tried to open it... only for it to not open.
"The door is locked. It won't open." Sayer said. Sayer summoned a sword and lunged at Yusei, who dodged it. He saw some boxes around the corners of the room, Yusei looked to see Sayer struggling to remove the sword from the door. Yusei took that time to hide.
"Run, Run. I'll find you. There are very little places that you can hide." Sayer said. Yusei found a box that was open, and he managed to slip inside the box. He closed his box lid, and prayed that someone arrives to help. He knew that there was so little he could do in the mean time... he has no duel disk, or psychic powers to defend himself. There is not anything that he can do except hide. However, that doesn't mean that he had to like it.
Tea sat on the bed, and watched the clock. 9:20pm. It was time to leave. She stood up and checked on Luna, who was fast asleep. Tea saw the bathroom door open, and saw Akiza walking out.
"Is it time?" Akiza asked, softly. Tea nodded. Akiza checked on Luna while Tea quietly opened the door to check and see if anyone was coming. No one was. The two slipped out, and made their way to the stairs.
"Hey, girls." Kyler said, sitting in the living room, causing the two to jump.
"Hi, Ky." Tea smiled. She walked over and kissed Kyler's head.
"Where are you girls going?" Kyler asked. Tea smiled.
"I'm going for a walk to clear my head, and Akiza agreed it wouldn't be a good idea to go alone, so she's coming with me. Which reminds me, do you mind checking on Luna in a little bit?" Tea asked. Kyler looked at Tea for a while.
"Sure, sis. By the way, tomorrow, you're helping Eli and I go through the guest rooms that we boarded up when we moved here." Kyler said, turning back to his book.
"That's right. We have guest rooms. The only ones we use are the ones that Joey, Tristan, Yugi, and Atem uses. I completely forgot we had more." Tea said with a nervous chuckle.
"To be fair, Eli forgot too." Kyler said. Tea discreetly grabbed her purse, but when she heard that, Tea just stopped and looked at her older brother.
"That didn't make me feel better." Tea pouted. Kyler just snorted.
"My intention wasn't to make you feel better, sis. I said, 'to be fair' which is not the same thing." Kyler teased. Tea and Akiza slipped on their shoes.
"We'll be back soon." Tea said.
"Ok, be careful... and don't go far." Kyler warned.
"We'll be fine, Ky. You just worry about Eli trying to sneak into the kitchen... again." Tea said, as she and Akiza left. Tea smiled when she heard her brothers arguing.
"Do you think that they suspect?" Akiza asked.
"I don't know, so we better hurry in case they are." Tea said, rushing off. When the girls were a safe distance away, they started walking. The two basically stayed in silence... they didn't know how this entire situation would go, which made it more nerve racking for them. Finally, they made it to the Domino Museum. Tea managed to slip both her and Akiza inside. Tea walked around the Museum to try and find the person who sent the text message. Tea saw the door that leads down to the basement open.
"Hey, Akiza. Wanna see something cool?" Tea asked. Akiza raised an eyebrow to her.
"Now?" she asked. Tea smiled.
"It would calm our nerves." she replied. Tea lead Akiza down to the basement, where the stone tablet... that the Ishtar family moved back to the Domino Museum. There, in front of the stone table, stood a man with spikey hair. Tea stopped at the base of the stairs with Akiza.
"Atem?" Tea asked, nervously and weakly, taking a step forward. There were only two people... that she knew, that had that type of spikey hair. Slowly, he turned around causing Tea to stop walking. There was something wrong with him. Atem's hair was wilder, the Millennium symbol was on his forehead, the Millennium Puzzle was glowing dimly, but what made Tea stop was the look in his eyes. They were... dark. Tea couldn't describe it. It was like there was darkness in his eyes, which made his eye color darker. (3).
"Well... it took you long enough." he purred. Atem started walking forward, which Tea didn't respond to.
"What did he do to you?" she whispered. Atem stood in front of her.
"I don't know what you mean. Master Marco didn't do anything to me." he said. Tea paled.
"Master?" Tea whispered. Atem smiled. Tea gasped in shock. That smile... it wasn't his usual signature smirk. It was dark... evil.
"Yes, my beloved, master," Atem placed his hand onto her cheek causing her to jump, "oh, I'm not going to hurt you."
"I don't know what Marco is capable of. Where is he? Where's Melody, Yusei, and Carly?" Tea whispered. She was fighting every urge to lean into his hand.
"Melody and Carly are being dropped off at your house as we speak... unharmed. Yusei... well, let's just say that Sayer's with him. Akiza. You and Tea need to come with me." Atem said.
"Marco said that if we came, he would let you go. You, Yusei, Carly, and Melody. When are you two getting released?" Tea demanded. Tea made the best poker face she could. She was relieved that Melody and Carly were ok... if Atem's word was anything to be believed. Tea hoped that Atem wouldn't lie to her in this... form. However, Tea wasn't going to relax until Yusei, Melody, Carly, AND Atem were safe.
"Soon." Atem whispered. Tea stared into his eyes, hoping... praying that her Atem was still inside of him. Only that was a mistake. Atem smirked evilly at her. The Millennium Symbol glowed brighter, and Tea's eyes rolled into the back of her head as she passed out.
"TEA!" Akiza exclaimed as Atem caught her and eased her to the floor. Atem, like out of a horror movie, slowly turned his head to Akiza, who paled. Atem stood up and walked to her.
"Now, now. I'm not going to hurt you. Remember, Yusei is with Sayer. You know Sayer. Would you really leave your beloved boyfriend with the man responsible for Misty's brother's disappearance?" Atem purred. Akiza's eyes widened. No he couldn't... Sayer wouldn't... Yes, he would. Akiza sighed as she lowered her head in submission. Atem smiled to the point you could see his teeth. Atem stopped right in front of Akiza, and lifted her head to meet his gaze. Just like with Tea, Akiza's eyes rolled into the back of her head, as she passed out into Atem's arms, who lowered her to the ground.
"Master. I have the girls." Atem whispered. A dark portal suddenly appeared, and Marco walked out of it.
"Wonderful job. Take Akiza to Sayer, and then take Tea to the looking pond." Marco ordered. Atem bowed and picked up Akiza, and walked into the dark portal. Marco looked down at Tea, who was still out. He knelt down and brushed Tea's hair.
"My darling Rosabelle. You should have chosen me... if you had, your daughter would have been my daughter. It's a pure shame that Tea has to meet your end." Marco mumbled. Atem arrived when Marco stood up. Atem, quietly, picked up Tea and left. Marco looked up and saw the security camera. Marco smiled and walked through the dark portal. Oh yes, he knew that the disgusting urchins that Tea calls brothers will find out what happened when Carly and Melody showed up, but it is going to take some time to find him... and his prisoners, it will be too late.
Dun... Dun... Dun! That's this chapter done. When I started writing, it was supposed to be only a few chapters... however, that didn't happen. I do know that there are a few more chapters to go, and then we'll be done with Bonds Across Time. So, I have a question for my readers... do you want to read Jack's reaction to see Carly... or do you want me to just acknowledge it and not going into detail, and get to Akiza and Tea saving their men?
1.) I don't know if Atem really married in the series... or had children. I had to go onto a research expedition to try the answer. Some people updated Wikipedia saying that Atem married and a child, however, I don't really trust Wikipedia when it comes to giving background information. Anyone can go in and edit the page, and add any information. So in my story, Atem was single and childless. To be fair, from the show... and reading on websites, Atem had became Pharaoh rather quickly, then he had to deal with the return of the Shadow Games... which we AAALLLLL know from the final season of Yu-Gi-Oh! I doubt that he had time to find a wife, and produce a child in that time... and even if he did managed to find a wife, and create an heir... I highly doubt that he had time to meet him/her. THIS IS STRICTLY MY OPINION!
2.) Think what Riku did in the Kingdom Hearts game.
3.) When I thought what Atem would look like for this scene, I thought of Atem/Yami Yugi from Season 0 of Yu-Gi-Oh! If you haven't seen Season 0, then I recommend to look up pictures... maybe in the daylight. I wrote that scene at like... midnight, and I got a little scared when I think about that scene.
I'll try to update the story in a couple days, and please remember to be patient with me and this story. I'm not updating on it as much as I would like, but I am NOT giving up on this story. Please leave NICE comments for me please.
See ya later!