The Return of Atem

Disclaimers: Yu-Gi-Oh characters are owned by Kazuo Takahashi and Toei Animation and are all copied without permission. I have made this story for fun and not profit.

Writer's Note: This is actually an RP I'm currently doing with a really close friend of mine.. I know there's probably a lot of stories like this, but I couldn't help but think about it after seeing 'Dark Side of Dimensions' as well as other things.. I'm still getting used to how to write for the characters, but my friend is thankfully helping me through it so, hopefully they won't be too out of character (Rated for Drama)

Prologue

Atem sat upon his throne, relaxing after his morning duties. His mind occasionally drifted back to what had led him up to this point in his life. It had been because of Yugi and his friends that Atem discovered his real identity and had finally returned to where he truly belonged.

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard footsteps entering the throne room. Atem glanced up, expecting one of his guards but stared in silent shock as he saw something.. Or rather.. Someone he knew shouldn't be walking into the throne room.

Seto Kaiba strode through the doors towards his arch-rival, ready to settle the feud that they've had for so long. After dealing with some other psycho using an Egyptian artifact to nearly destroy the world, he had reverse engineered said artifact to power his Duel Dimension System in order to break the barrier between life and afterlife. Ever since Yugi's other half had disappeared, he slaved over a means to bring him back to settle who was truly the King of Games, even going so far to replicate how they dueled with actual monsters in the ancient days of pyramids and pharaohs. Now he was here in Atem's domain, the moment finally his.

"You know why I'm here." He stated simply, outstretching his arm as his dueling technology activated.

The guards readied to apprehend Seto when Atem held up a hand for them to stand down. The guards reluctantly did as he asked.

Atem remained silent, his hands closing into loose fists as he stood from his throne.

He began to make his way from the dais and silently made his way toward Seto, stopping a foot away from the billionaire as he eyed him warily.

"So you are here to duel." he stated finally. "Even after everything that's happened you are somehow here; a task that shouldn't be possible.. Because of a duel."

"What do you think?" Seto asked sardonically, remaining unyielding in his attitude and his stance.

Atem's brows furrowed as he glared at Seto.

"How did you get here?" Atem glanced from the throne room doors back to Seto.

"How did you get into the afterlife? The last time I had seen you, was the duel against Diva."

He could see bits of black ashes rising off Seto as if he was being burned away.

"You shouldn't have come here, Kaiba.. There's no telling what may happen if you stay here too long."

Atem then began to circle around Seto, his expression becoming a stern frown as he stopped and locked eyes with Seto.

"The act of breaking the barrier to life and death should not be possible.. You should leave."

"Yet here I am. And not until you duel me, 'pharaoh'." Seto snapped harshly. "You left before we could settle our rivalry. We're going to settle this right here, right now, once and for all!"

Atem bristled, his frown deepening into a scowl as he focused more intently on Seto.

"Listen to me, Kaiba.. What you have done is more than reckless! Mortals can not linger in the afterlife! Surely a duel is not worth the risk of your own life!"

"It's my life, pharaoh. I'll decide my life! Now duel me here and now, or concede your crown as the King of Games!"

Seto's shouts echoed throughout the throne room. Atem remained silent until the echoes had faded before he spoke with an odd, almost concerned tone in his voice.

"Kaiba.. You shouldn't think that dueling is the only thing you should dedicate your life to. There are other things that matter more than winning in a duel."

"Why do you think I'm HERE?" Kaiba retorted. "I'm doing this so I CAN move on! So that we can finally put our rivalry to rest! Now shut up and duel me!"

Atem let out a resigned breath as his gaze turned to cold determination.

"Very well.. You have left me no choice.."

Atem raised his arm up, an ancient version of a duel disk extending from his golden bracelet.

"Prepare yourself, Kaiba.. I will not be holding back."

However, just as those words left Atem's mouth, everything started to distort around Seto as he began to be pulled back to reality.

"No!" Seto shouted, grabbing Atem by the arm. "I'm not losing my chance to finally end this!"

"What're you DOING!?" Atem shouted in surprise.

Atem felt a sudden wave of dizziness as everything began melting away around the two of them until everything disappeared into nothingness.

When Seto awoke, his brother Mokuba was beside the pod. He was shouting at him.

"Big Brother! SAY something!" he cried, concern written on his face.

"Mmm...nnnrgh..." Seto groaned, his eyes fluttering open as he said, "Wh..what happened...?"

Mokuba became more concerned.

"The machine started beeping and your vitals were going crazy," said Mokuba. "I tried calling your name but you wouldn't RESPOND and-."

Mokuba stopped as he saw someone in the pod beside his brother.

"No way.." Mokuba muttered, awestruck. "Is.. Is that who I think it is?"

"Huh? Who are you-?" Seto started to say, but paused when he saw the pharaoh in his Egyptian garments. He blinked for a moment in disbelief before glancing forward, seemingly in a state of shell shock before he stood up and walked out.

"Have security take him to a med bay. I have a call to make."

Mokuba nodded and used his cell phone to call someone to help him. Not too long after, a group of the KaibaCorp staff hurried into the room. They helped Mokuba lift Atem, who was completely unconscious out of the pod.

A/N: As you can probably see, I'm back from my long hiatus of not writing anything.. I want to apologize for being silent for so long, but I've been extremely busy with work.. As I mentioned before, this is an RP story with one of my friends so, it'll have to depend on how much we get done when it comes to the story.. I'll do my best to get more up soon..