Back to Domino for this chapter! Next chapter will take us back to the group in Egypt, and we'll be staying with them for a bit. After next chapter, we'll finally get to see Rome!

Imhotep's sudden disappearance worried Yugi. He had mentioned something about Ra being at the palace, and that both Kat and Bakura were, as Imhotep had put it, 'incapacitated'...whatever that meant. He also mentioned something about Malik having Ra in a position where he was 'backing down', leading Yugi to believe there had been some sort of fight. The mentioning of two God Ka present didn't dissuade from that notion. Imhotep had appeared concerned at any rate, then suddenly went wide-eyed and vanished without a single word.

"Hey, I'm back!" Imhotep stated from behind, causing Yugi to jump.

Yugi placed a hand over his rapidly beating heart. "Don't do that!" he said a bit more acerbically than intended.

Imhotep shrunk like a scolded child. "Sorry…"

"No...I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say it so harshly," Yugi said in apology. "But seriously, a little warning...or re-appear in front of me instead of behind me."

Imhotep shrunk a bit more. "Sorry…again. I guess I'm so used to Shae being able to sense me and Mkhai just knowing because of the implant, that I forgot that others don't have that same advantage."

"So what happened? Why did you vanish so suddenly?" Yugi questioned. He was more concerned about what had prompted his twin's sudden disappearance in the first place.

Imhotep quickly became very angry. "Ra was going to kill our old man! All because he thought…" he stopped suddenly, closing his eyes and clenching his jaw tightly as if he were trying to reign in his emotions. He took a deep breath, appearing a bit calmer. "He wanted to get rid of Slifer, which our father had summoned."

Yugi paled. Ra...the actual ancient Egyptian god...had tried to kill Atem? All because he had summoned one of the God Ka? He swallowed hard. "W-why?"

Imhotep took another deep breath before finally opening his eyes. "As much as I would like to tell you the exact details...I can't."

"You...can't?"

Imhotep shook his head.

"Are you bound or something?" Yugi questioned, wondering if maybe his twin couldn't speak because of some kind of bargain.

"Something like that..." Imhotep replied, folding his arms and looking away. He appeared distant, as though he were facing some sort of internal conflict.

"Okay, then I won't pry. So I'm assuming that since you've returned, everyone is okay?"

Imhotep nodded. "Yeah. Ra should consider himself lucky though. If it hadn't been for Shae, I would have fed him to the Shadows," he scoffed bitterly.

"Wait, YOU took on Ra?!" Yugi asked in astonishment. He had no idea his twin was that powerful.

Imhotep looked back to his twin, tilting his head. "Uh...yeah? He's just another Godaeshan. I've spent my whole life learning how to fight against other immortals. It wasn't that big of a deal."

"But it was RA!"

"And…?"

"RA...the Sun God...who is supposed to be all-powerful…"

Imhotep still appeared confused. "Do you think a Godaeshan's rank is somehow connected to their level of strength and power?"

"Um…" Yugi wasn't sure how to answer that particular question. It just baffled his mind that his twin was able to take on a GOD.

A smirk formed in the corner of Imhotep's mouth momentarily before he burst into laughter.

Yugi scowled. It wasn't his fault that he didn't know how things like this worked in the immortal world. A sudden bitter thought accompanied that feeling, along with the image of who was at fault. He was shocked at himself for even thinking along those lines, and for even feeling that bitterness. He mentally dismissed the idea, trying to focus on the fact that Atem was okay. He let out a sigh, then began walking without warning towards the exit of the arcade.

Imhotep noticed the sudden change in Yugi's behavior and stopped laughing, then took off after him. "Hey, I didn't mean to laugh at you like that. It's not your fault you don't know these things," he tried to apologize.

The image of who was at fault reappeared in Yugi's head again, causing him to stop. 'It's not her fault. She did what she thought was right,' he tried to reassure himself with his eyes closed. It wasn't helping. Imhotep had made it obvious that he was a bit jealous of Yugi and Atem's bond, but Yugi suddenly realized he was a bit jealous of the bond Imhotep had with Kat. Imhotep knew everything about Atem, while Yugi knew next to nothing about Kat outside of what had been shared by others. To top it off, he suddenly realized that what he knew about Atem was only from when Atem didn't have his memories. He was now a different person. He was now the person Imhotep knew.

Joey and the others had taken notice of Yugi's sudden strange behavior as well from where they had wandered off to not far away.

"Yug, what's goin on? You look a bit upset," Joey stated.

"It's nothing. I just realized I have a bunch of work to get caught up on is all. I'll see you tomorrow at school," he said curtly, then started towards the exit again.

Imhotep looked towards his twin in concern. He then turned to Joey and the others. "Thanks for showing me around today and putting up with me. We'll have to plan a day where we can maybe do a bit more. Right now I'm kinda worried about Yugi, so I'm gonna make sure he's okay. See ya around!" he said with a wave to the others before following after his sibling.

"Wait up!" Imhotep called out as he got close to Yugi.

Yugi stopped for a brief second, looked back, then continued on his way.

"I said I was sorry. I really didn't mean to laugh at you. Please...will you just stop!"

Yugi stopped, then looked back at his twin with a bitter scowl. "What?!"

Imhotep halted in his tracks, taken aback by Yugi's sudden harsh tone towards him. "I didn't mean to upset you. It just came out. I'm really, really sorry."

Yugi clenched and unclenched his jaw a few times, debating if he wanted to share what he was thinking and feeling.

"You can hit me if it will make you feel better," Imhotep stated casually, still looking at his twin in concern.

This caught Yugi off-guard. "Why would I…I don't want to hit you…" he said, appearing slightly disturbed that Imhotep would even think along those lines.

"Why not?" Imhotep questioned, appearing confused. "It always makes me feel better. Shae just punches the wall...or whatever is closest. It happened to be Mkhai once. He wasn't too happy that he got hit because I pissed her off. Seriously though, if you're upset with me, you can hit me. Just saying. It won't hurt. I'm pretty sure if I can take one of Shae's hits during training, anything you throw at me will probably just tickle," he said earnestly.

Yugi rubbed his temple. The weird just seemed to keep getting weirder...and for some reason that was normal. He was already starting to miss when the weirdest things to happen to him were the events of Duelist Kingdom and Battle City. He was actually starting to prefer Shadow Games over...whatever insanity he had been drawn into. Why couldn't Imhotep have just left things going at their own pace? Bakura would have been the only one drawn to the park, and Yugi could have kept going about life none the wiser to his family tree. He would have had more time to adjust to the idea that the five-thousand year old spirit that was in his head was actually his father, and that his mother was the daughter of a death god. Maybe then he would have been able to form a proper bond with the two of them. Maybe then he wouldn't suddenly feel so alienated from the one person that he had started to consider his closest friend.

"You know what, you should hit me anyway. I'm certain it will make you feel better, you just don't know it yet."

Yugi groaned irritably. "I don't want to hit you!"

"Then tell me what will make you feel better! I obviously said and did something to upset you, and I want to make up for it!"

"She kept you! Why not both of us?!" Yugi shouted, his heart feeling heavy and exposed. The corners of his eyes glistened as he attempted to hold back his frustration.

Imhotep obviously hadn't expected that, and his face showed it. He hung his head. "That's kinda my fault. She was already having a hard time with me being unable to properly control my magae because I was still too little to even learn how. Mkhai told me that I once accidentally trapped the two of us in the Shadow Realm, and that Shae had to enlist the help of that guy with the Ring to find us. Not long after, I guess they got into an argument about how to keep it from happening again. Supposedly his abilities are similar in nature to my own. She wanted him to stick around and help out, but he told her no because he had his own family to worry about. Then shit happened and he was gone, as well as the Ishtari. She panicked. She didn't know what to do. Honestly, I think if it weren't for my abilities, she might have kept the both of us...or she might have just given us both away. I'm not sure. Either way, she felt it was safer for you to be where the Kemetic pantheon wouldn't look for you. Here in Domino, there are Yokai that she's made alliances with that have helped in creating extra barriers that keep you out of sight of her enemies. Anubis was only able to show up here the other day because she had summoned an obelisk the day prior."

Yugi's scowl and bitterness faded. "I...had no idea. I thought…"

"You thought...what? That she didn't want you? You have no idea how devastated she was the day you first touched the Puzzle. I think she secretly hoped that it wouldn't call you. And when you completed it, I saw the look in her eyes. She cried, and not from happiness or joy. She was angry with herself for having made the bargain with Anubis. And the first time our old man showed himself...she was enraged. She destroyed the contents of a whole room before collapsing into tears."

Yugi hung his head in shame. Why had he felt the way he did? Why had it bothered him so much?

Imhotep appeared to be lost in deep concentration. "If you don't mind, I have an idea."

"Um...okay?" Yugi puzzled. He wasn't even sure what Imhotep had even been thinking about.

Imhotep reached out and placed a hand on his twin's shoulder, engulfing both in Shadow and transporting them to Yugi's room. "Wait here a minute." He then vanished back into the Shadows alone.

Yugi walked over and plopped down onto his bed. His mind felt exhausted. Several long moments had passed and Imhotep still hadn't returned. Yugi released a heavy sigh then decided it was probably for the best if his twin didn't return for the day, and began pulling books from his school bag. No sooner had he cracked open the first book, Imhotep re-appeared, holding a stack of what appeared to be old photo albums. He dumped the stack onto the foot of Yugi's bed, then began searching through them.

Yugi stared in puzzlement.

"Mkhai chronicles everything. It can get a bit annoying at times, but for the most part he's just always there in the background," Imhotep stated, not even looking up from his searching. "I thought maybe we could go over some of the pictures he's taken and that way you can learn more about Shae. Then at some point I can tell you everything I saw in the Memory Core...if you want to hear about it that is. I have no problem skipping...certain things."

Yugi slowly closed his textbook while still looking at his twin. Imhotep had somehow understood his deeper internal conflict. Did Imhotep feel the same? Or had something similar happened where he could feel his twin's emotions like when Yugi had heard his thoughts?

Imhotep appeared to have found the album he was searching for and plopped down on the bed, then motioned for Yugi to join him. Yugi did so without hesitation.

Imhotep pointed to a picture of two very bald infants with different skin tones in the arms of a very exhausted looking Kat. "Look, it's us! Bet you can't tell who is who," he said sarcastically.

Yugi couldn't help but stifle a laugh. "Are you sure that's us? Those two are missing a certain identifying feature of ours."

"I know, right?!"

Imhotep pointed to another picture, both infants had the faintest hint of blond that had begun to appear on their foreheads. They appeared to be sleeping peacefully with the arm of the tiny elemental wrapped protectively around the two of them as she slept, the one with the lighter skin tone closest to her body. There was another picture next to it that appeared to be taken just a few moments later. A sapphire eye peeked irritably towards the camera. Another photo showed the moment just after that one, with a golden hand covering most of the camera lens.

"I see what you mean by he can get a bit annoying," Yugi laughed in reference to what Imhotep had said about their uncle.

"Yeah, Shae isn't a morning person to begin with, and having a camera shoved in her face less than a week after giving birth to twins probably didn't help her mood."

Imhotep continued to point towards more photos, explaining as best he could the context of each. Yugi smiled and laughed at some of the more entertaining ones, like the photo of Kat chasing a stark naked toddler Imhotep through the palace halls. His heart was filled with emotions he couldn't describe with others, like the photo of Kat laying on her back across Imhotep's bed with her head hanging backwards over the edge while she looked casually towards something off-camera, meanwhile a young Imhotep sat with focused concentration beside her. The controllers in their hands indicated that they were playing some sort of game together. It made him wonder if this was something they could have had together as well? Maybe there was still the possibility? As Imhotep turned the pages through the albums, he could slowly make out the change in demeanor Imhotep had described in their mother.

They had gone through several albums at this point. Each seemed to mark a different year. In the earlier albums, she had appeared...well...motherly. Her eyes were often soft when looking down at her children. He saw the shift immediately though when he suddenly stopped appearing beside Imhotep. Her eyes looked sad for the longest time. He picked up one the albums they had skimmed through earlier, opening it to a random page. There was a photo of his twin proudly showing her a drawing he had made when he was around five. Imhotep explained that the drawing in the photo was of him in Yugi's shadow. The first picture in the grouping showed her reaction of being that of the usual adult, smiling and being curious about the picture. The next she appeared concerned. Then she appeared upset. Little Imhotep's face changed as well. It went from proud, to confused, then to tears with the picture hanging loosely in one hand with his free arm across his eyes. The following photo showed Kat holding Imhotep tightly in an attempt to comfort him, tears of her own streaming down her face.

"That was how she found out I had been sneaking around in your shadow. She was equally concerned that I had been spending so much time in the Shadow Realm, and that I had been following you. She was worried that I might accidentally lead Anubis to you, or that I would become another victim of the Shadows. She began my magae training the very next day. Before that, everything I did was purely instinct," Imhotep said quietly, his gaze cast elsewhere even though he was staring down at the group of photos.

Yugi stared at the pictures. They told him far more than what Imhotep ever could. There was so much emotion in them. What had begun as a normal parent-child interaction, had quickly turned into something that could only happen in their world. The world he was now a part of. Yugi felt bad for internally complaining about having been forcefully drug into this new way of life. It was all his twin had ever known. Little 'normal' things, like Imhotep drawing a picture of the two of them together from the only perspective he knew, was quickly overshadowed by the danger that surrounded it.

He closed the album. "Thanks for showing me these. It really helped a lot," Yugi said with a small smile. His heart was still a bit heavy, but not like it had been. He understood things a bit better than before. He still felt a bit of jealousy and bitterness, but he was able to cast both aside easily.

Imhotep looked over, a bit relieved. "You can keep these here if you want. I don't think anyone will miss them right at the moment."

Yugi shook his head. "No, that's okay. I've seen enough for now. Besides, I know where to find them if I change my mind."

"Okay. Just so you know, there's home videos in the archives too if you ever want to watch any. Quite a few of the old ones too that you have to watch on a projector if you want to see what she was like before we were around."

"Good to know. Maybe I'll take a look at them one day," Yugi said, smiling earnestly. "Are you planning on staying here again, or are you heading home?" he questioned, wondering if Imhotep would be leaving.

Imhotep looked upwards at nothing in particular. "It's kinda nice being out and about. It's a bit much...but I think I can get used to it. However...I think the Tomb Keeper is due to come back later. Not sure how we would work the sleeping arrangement."

"You don't have the same sleep schedule as us, so you can always go watch TV downstairs. I'm certain by the time you're ready for bed, Marik and I will be just getting up for school. Then you can use my bed until I get home from school," Yugi suggested.

"I dunno. I'll think about it. But if you're worried about me leaving right this second, I have no problem sticking around. I can always help with your homework."

"Thanks for that by the way! Really saved me the embarrassment of showing up today without it," Yugi said in reference to the work his twin had done on his behalf.

"Eh, it wasn't that big of a deal. Figured since it was my fault that you had to stick around for our old man's little 'Welcome back', it was the least I could do. Plus sitting around got boring. I thought about leaving...but remembered what I saw back home…" Imhotep commented, scrunching his nose up in mild disgust at the last bit.

"Do I dare ask?"

"I'd prefer it if you didn't. I've seen some messed up shit...but that…" Imhotep shuddered. "I can't believe Shae allowed that of all things. I mean...they really don't like one another. They've never liked one another." Imhotep paused for a moment, appearing to recall something. His face fell at whatever had entered his mind. "Correction, our old man would never willingly admit to what he thought when he saw him."

Yugi's face fell as well, but for a different reason. "I don't want to...but now I gotta…" he groaned, really not wanting to know what Imhotep was talking about, but simultaneously needing to know.

Imhotep groaned at the idea of mentioning what he saw. "Okay, but you didn't hear it from me, got it?"

Yugi nodded.

"You know the pale guy with the Ring?"

"No…" Yugi said in a low tone, quickly picking up on the context of what Imhotep had seen based on his mentioning earlier of 'had a drunken romp with'.

"Yeah."

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding…"

"I don't think even Shae's sick sense of humor could come up with that."

The mental image Yugi conjured up made him facepalm. "How?!"

"A lot of wine was involved."

Yugi gestured in confusion, trying to figure out how the hell drunk Atem and drunk Bakura could even end up in that kind of a position. His mind was beyond baffled. "Wait...what did you mean when you said Atem would never admit to what he 'thought' whenever he saw Bakura?"

Imhotep began to fidget with his fingers. "Remember when I told you I saw, uh…certain things in his memories…"

Yugi stared, waiting for Imhotep to continue.

"Well...I might have been able to hear a few of the things he thought too…"

"Such as…?"

"Such as, as much as he found a certain Thief King annoying...he thought...um...that he was kinda...attractive…"

Yugi stared blankly. "Did he just want to have sex with everything that moved or something?!" he questioned irritably. It kinda bothered him to know he had a horny Pharaoh in his head, and was kinda glad that Atem not having his memories apparently helped him refrain from doing certain things while in control of Yugi's body.

"No….he wasn't as bad as Zeus. He at least had standards," Imhotep commented with a chuckle. "He just had a thing for attitudes and well-toned bodies. The Tomb Keeper should consider himself lucky. If Shae hadn't gotten to him first, our old man probably would have considered adding him to the list of broken hearts."

Yugi rolled his eyes and walked back over to his desk, opening his textbook back up. "Why did I bother even asking?"

"Because curiosity got the better of you?" Imhotep commented.

"I think from now on when it comes to Atem, I'll just ignore the part of my brain that wants to know more about him. I still can't believe I walked around this whole time with a horny pervert in my head," Yugi said, still vexed at the idea.

Imhotep shrugged. "Like I said before, it was commonplace in those times. He was Pharaoh. It was well within his right to do whatever he wanted. You can't blame him for being like that when it's how he was raised. He did learn some modesty over the millennia from his other hosts...but deep down, he is what he is."

"It's still a bit gross to think about," Yugi stated, trying to change the focus in his mind from pervert Atem to the equations on the page in front of him.

"Maybe, but he's also our old man. We're supposed to find it gross."

Yugi leaned back in his chair in exasperation, bringing his hands up and covering his face. "How is it you don't seem bothered by any of it though?!"

"Because I've seen it enough times unintentionally that I'm pretty much desensitized to it," Imhotep replied dryly.

Yugi groaned. "Whatever…" He returned to looking at his textbook. "I'm going to try to not think about that kind of stuff and focus on...ugh...derivatives. I don't even know why I need to learn this stuff. When am I ever going to use it?"

"Good question. Honestly, you don't need to get a job after you graduate. We're pretty much set financially for...well…forever. Buuut...if you really wanted to pursue some type of career, depending on what it was, you might need it."

"Well, I had hoped to maybe create and develop a new game someday…" Yugi trailed off.

"Really! That would be awesome! What kind? Online RPG? Fighting? Oh, maybe something like DnD! No, wait...something like WoW, but with Duel Monsters!" Imhotep rambled excitedly.

Yugi couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm not really sure to be honest. There are so many possibilities. I have a few ideas in mind, but nothing really jumps out at the moment. I'm certain in time though, I'll think of something. Until then, all I can do is try to get good grades and graduate High School. Maybe by that time, I'll have something more concrete in mind."

"Sounds like a good idea. I'll be honest, I would love to see you create a game that would give Kaiba a good run. And if you need an alpha tester, just know I'm an excellent candidate...so long as it's not a card game because...well…" Imhotep trailed off, the unsaid already obvious to both.

Yugi's face lit up as an idea...no...the idea came to mind. "What if I don't create a new game? What if I help develop some kind of new technology that allows everyone, even people like you, to be able to play games like Duel Monsters?"

Imhotep's eyes went wide in wonder. "That...would be….awesome…" he said, his mind completely blown away at the thought of being able to actually play games like Duel Monsters without unintentionally cheating. His face lit up in a wicked smile as a new thought entered his mind. "Then we could see who's the real King of Games."

So tired. Need more Monster energy drinks. Rome is on it's way, I promise. That being said, the Rome chapter starts off amazing...but I feel like it floundered partway through. I am trying to see if some of that floundering can be fixed in the following chapter. So far, another strong start...then more fish flopping. I literally come home from work, eat dinner, then open my laptop. Some mornings, I get up early, hit the power button, then do a bit of writing and/or editing, then head off to work. Brain is dead. I am pulling from mush. I am now Ozzy on the Crazy Train.