Part Three

Yugi was sitting in his room with Atem, when they heard the thumping of footsteps coming up the steps. It was followed by the door swinging open with a bang.

"Ey Yuge! We're here! What's it you.. Wanna.."

Joey trailed off as he froze in place. Behind him, Tristan and Téa urged him forward and as they stepped into the room, they froze as they saw Atem sitting on the bed while Yugi sat in the chair.

Yugi chuckled nervously.

"Um.. H-hey guys.." he muttered, sheepishly.

"Hello, everyone. It is good to see you all again.. Even under these circumstances." Atem greeted with a slight smile on his face.

"A...Atem? Is that really you?" Tristan asked, his face the very image of shock as he cautiously approached the pharaoh.

"Wait, wait, wait, Atem? What're you doin' here?!" Joey asked, running up to his friend and placing his hands on his shoulder. "You're s'posed to be in, like, Egypt Heaven or' somethin', ain't ya?"

"Yeah.. So.. Here's the thing," Yugi said with a nervous laugh. "Kaiba used that Quantum Cube Diva had used and fused it with his dimensional pod and went to duel Atem in the Afterlife.." Yugi explained. "And.. He somehow brought Atem back to our world with him."

"Wait, Kaiba did WHA'?!" Joey all but roared, his eyes glaring daggers as he went to march out the door only to be stopped by Tristan.

"Leggo o' me, Tristan! I'm gonna head to that pr*ck's ivory towah and give dat no-good ******bag a piece o' my mind!" He continued to yell, struggling against his friend's constraints.

Yugi instantly leapt to his feet in a panic.

"Joey, calm DOWN! Kaiba said he didn't do it on purpose! He said he brought Atem back here by accident.""

At that, Joey paused, Tristan letting him go as he calmed down, "Yeah, well...I still don't like it! What was Kaiba even doin' to cause this?!"

"We.. We don't know yet.." Yugi replied, turning away. "All we know is he has people researching what happened."

He then turned to look at Atem as he continued.

"Kaiba said he'd let us know if something comes up."

"No, no, no, no, he was messin' with somethin' that caused this, didn't he?" Joey followed up, stepping right up to Atem and looking him in the eye. "You gotta tell us, Pharaoh. What did Kaiba do to drag you back here?"

Atem was taken by surprise by the sudden advance toward him but recovered quickly.

"He broke the veil of life and death with the use of the Quantum Cube," he responded. "As for how I was brought back here, he had grabbed my arm while he was leaving the afterlife and that is all I know."

Yugi nodded and turned to Joey.

"Kaiba said he was looking for reasons why it happened to begin with.. Atem being brought back I mean.." Yugi stated. "So, as far as we know, Kaiba doesn't know either."

Téa crossed her arms.

"Well, I think it's because he wanted to make sure he could duel Atem even though he should've let things go."

"Agh, that definitely sounds like the Kaiba I know, considerin' he built a huge duelin' tower than blew it up after the tournament was over." Joey stated, shaking his head before placing his hand on Atem's shoulder. "But hey, don't sweat nothin', 'Tem! We're all here for ya and we'll make sure you're right as right as rain til you're back on the flip side! Right, fellas?"

"You bet! You can count on me!" Tristan chimed in, clapping his hand on Atem's other shoulder.

Téa nodded in agreement, placing a hand on Atem's back, Yugi doing the same.

Atem looked up at his friends around him and smiled as he took in what they said.

"Thank you.. All of you."

"We're all in this together." said Yugi.

Atem's smile grew a bit more at this, when he fell a sudden wave of dizziness but shook it off, not wanting to worry his friends any more than they already were.

Yugi however noticed and he frowned.

"Atem..? Are you okay?"

Atem took a moment before he found his voice again.

"I.. I just felt a bit.. F-faint.. I.." Atem trailed off.

"You should get some rest," said Yugi, now concerned.

"Uh-oh. You don't think this has somethin' to do with 'Tem not bein' back in Egypt Heaven with his pals, do ya?" Joey asked worriedly.

Yugi turned to look at him, his face complete concern.

"I.. I don't know.." he muttered.

Yugi raked his fingers through his hair, clearly distressed. It was in that moment Tea seemed to notice for the first time how pale and almost sickly Yugi looked.

"Yugi, are you okay?"

"Huh? O-oh um.. I'll be fine.." Yugi replied, giving a weary smile. "I'm more worried about what's been going on with Atem."

"Yugi.."

Téa trailed off as Yugi gave her a look. Yugi then gave her an assuring smile.

"Really, it's okay." Yugi said. "I-I'll be fine."

Téa wanted to protest but soon let out a sigh.

"Well, I'm any case," she said finally. "We're all here to help whenever you need us. We're in this together."

Yugi smiled a little at this.

"T-thanks.. That really means a lot."

Yugi then stood up rather suddenly.

"Yugi?" asked Atem in surprise. "Are you alright?"

Yugi turned to look at him, giving him a nod with an assuring smile before her turned looked at his friends.

"I.. I think we should let grandpa know what's going on.."

"I think that'd probably be a good idea. We'll follow your lead, Yugi." Tristan stated, Joey nodding in agreement.

Yugi nodded and turned to Atem.

"Um.. I'm not sure if.. I mean.. You know.. You've been through a lot already." Yugi tried to explain. "I just.. I mean.."

Yugi stopped talking as he realized he didn't have a way to continue his thoughts.

It took about an hour or so to explain to Yugi's grandpa what was going on and what Seto had done.

Author's Note: I deeply apologize for taking such a long time to update.. Ive been extremely busy and with it being autumn, I've had to do a lot of yardwork as well as doing work.. In addition, the RP for the story has been extremely slow going and so it may take me a while to continue onward with the story.. In any case, I will try to get more of the story up soon..