Again, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of its spin-offs. The characters are all made and owned by Kazuki Takahashi. If I owned them, then Atem would have had more time to spend with his friends before going into the Afterlife.
Chapter Three: Tests and Shadows
Mana sat at her desk studying. Tomorrow was Exam Day, and she was cramming. This is why Atem tells me I need to take better notes. Jaden's carefree attitude had been rubbing off on her, and she had stopped paying attention in class. She wasn't worried about the field test—she knew how to counter whatever her opponent threw at her. It was the written test she was worried about. How can the professors expect them to know the ability of every single card? There were too many to count. Mana groaned as she tried to study.
A knock on her door gave her a break from freaking out. Mana opened the door to find Syrus with his study materials. "Hey, can I study with you?" he asked. "Jaden's making it impossible to study in our room; I don't think he plans to study at all."
"That sounds like Jaden," Mana answered. "Come on in."
They began quizzing each other with limited success. Mana was never good at remembering information, and Syrus got so nervous he forgot what he already knew. "Maybe Zane's right, and I'm not cut out for this place."
"Don't say that Syrus," Mana chastised him. "You're a good duelist, and you do know your stuff. You just need to calm down and not be so nervous all the time."
"But I always screw up," Syrus insisted. "When I was younger, my brother Zane gave me a Power Bond card. Later I accepted a challenge from the boy who was always bullying me. When I drew Zane's card, I was prepared to win, but Zane interrupted the duel and gave the guy a card to never mention the duel to anyone. Zane told me he never would have given me the card if he knew I'd misuse it like that."
"How would you have misused it?" Mana asked. "Sorry, I'm not familiar with Power Bond."
"Power Bond is a machine fusion spell," Syrus explained. "It doubles the monster's attack points, but at the end of the turn the player takes damage equal to the monsters original attack points. I didn't think about the guy's face-down card, which Zane showed me was Spellbinding Circle. My attack would have failed, and I would have lost the rest of my LifePoints to Power Bond."
"I see," Mana grimaced. "So Zane said you wouldn't be good duelist because of that?"
Syrus nodded. "I haven't been able to play Power Bond since."
"I really want to give Zane a piece of my mind," Mana was ready to charge out and get him. "What does Zane know anyway?"
"He's one of the top students of the school, so he knows what he's talking about," Syrus answered. "The only competition he has is Atem Muto, and Atem's dad is the King of Games himself."
Wait, this is the Zane Atem is friends with? How? He sounds like such a jerk! "I still want to give him a piece of my mind," Mana said. "Brothers aren't supposed to act like that; they're supposed to support you when you need it."
"Yeah, whatever," Syrus turned his attention back to his notes. "Let's keep studying for now."
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The ringing from Mana's PDA filled her room. Groaning, she pressed the button and Atem's voice filled the room. "Hey, Mana, I hope you're already wake and ready for your exams, but knowing you, this is your alarm clock this morning. I just want to wish you luck, and if you are just waking up now, please hurry up. I would rather not run to the Slifer dorm to drag you out of bed. See you later." Mana bolted out of bed and threw on her uniform. Atem knew her too well; she and Syrus had stayed up as late as they could studying before Syrus went back to his room to sleep. The result was her sleeping through her alarm clock.
"Of all the days," she shouted as she ran a brush through her spikey brown hair. She ran to the main building, and Syrus caught up to her quickly. They quizzed each other while they ran until Syrus wiped out because of his shoe laces. Mana helped him to his feet and they ran into the test.
Jaden ended up being fifteen minutes late to the test. Syrus had started nodding off, and Mana was close to joining him. If she wasn't annoyed at him for being so late, Mana would have been grateful for Jaden waking them up. As Syrus and Jaden started to talk, Chazz snapped at them. Mana wanted to reach up and yank him by his pointy hair, but Professor Banner called Jaden to the front before she did. Taking a breath to calm herself down, Mana turned her attention back to her exam. She had to kick Syrus and Jaden a few times to keep them awake, but she ultimately gave up. Nothing was going to keep them awake.
Mana felt pretty confident about her exam. It was definitely not a perfect score, but she was sure she passed with a score to rival Chazz's at least. Anything to annoy the smug Obelisk gave Mana a sense of pleasure.
Everyone ran off when Banner gave the okay to go after the new cards. Mana stayed behind to try to wake her two friends up. She was aided by a Ra Yellow student she and the others had met a couple of times before—Bastion Misawa. He scored the highest on the entrance exam, and Mana didn't doubt he aced the test they just took. Syrus woke with a start. "Oh no. I flunked, didn't I? I'm a complete failure."
"You'd get an A for being melodramatic," Mana said.
"Where'd everyone go?" Jaden asked.
"That's what we're trying to tell you," Bastion said. "The new rare cards arrived today."
"New cards? Why didn't anyone tell us?" Syrus asked.
"Because everyone wants the best cards for the field test," Mana explained. "It was a madhouse when everyone left."
"We gotta go get some," Syrus said.
"Well let's get going," Jaden said. "Thanks for the tip, Bastion!"
"What am I? Chopped liver?" Mana asked as she ran after them. She didn't need any cards for her deck, but it couldn't hurt to see what other people were gathering for theirs.
The card shack was deserted when the trio arrived. They went to the girl behind the counter to ask about the cards. "The rare cards are gone, but there are still some regular packs lefts," she said as put a pack on the table.
"You said some, not one," the boys said, disappointed.
"I'm done for," Syrus moaned. "First I slept through my written test, and now I'm going to flunk my field test because I can't upgrade my deck."
"So take the pack, Syrus," Jaden said.
"Really? You'd give me the last pack they have?"
"It's cool."
"But you slept through the written test too. What if. . . What if you fail?"
"No way, Sy," Jaden grinned. "I flunk every now and then, but I never fail."
"Jaden'll be fine, Syrus," Mana added. "He did beat Dr. Crowler and Alexis, and he would have beaten Chazz if they hadn't been interrupted. Besides, they pair students off based on dorms if I remember correctly. So we'll probably be going up against other Slifers for the field test. Have more confidence yourself. You'll do fine."
"Yoo-hoo! Auto Club!" someone called out.
They turned to see a large older woman wearing the same uniform as the counter girl. Her brown hair was pulled in a braid over her shoulder. Glasses framed her friendly eyes. Jaden recognized her and asked, "Oh hey, you work here too?"
"Oh no, I don't work here. I own here. Cool, huh?" she said with a wink.
"That's not cool; that's totally sweet!" Jaden answered. He then explained how he had helped her with her vehicle on his way to the exam, which was why he had been late. The woman then gave Jaden some cards as a thank-you for helping her that morning.
They went to the duel arena for their field tests. Mana was assigned to duel a Slifer guy at the same time Jaden was assigned to duel Chazz. Dr. Crowler made it clear he set the pairing up, and Mana could see he wanted Jaden to lose. That guy really is a sore loser. Mana wanted to call out Crowler on being unfair, but she had her own duel to worry about. The duel started, and Mana quickly locked out her opponent's attacks with her Magician's Valkyrias. With the attacks taken care of, Mana ritual summoned her Magician of Black Chaos to overpower his monsters. The chaos mage quickly brought her victory, and Mana turned her attention to her friend's match.
Chazz had summoned the XYZ-Dragon Cannon to accompany his VW-Tiger Catapult. These cards kind of remind me of Uncle Seto's deck, Mana thought as she watched. She quickly changed her mind when he combined the two massive machines into one giant robot. Her uncle definitely didn't use that monster. The Dragon Catapult Cannon made quick work of Jaden's Sparkman and went in for a direct attack. Jaden was able to protect himself with Burstinatrix, but the battle left him with only a thousand LifePoints. One more attack and it would be over.
Mana breathed a sigh of relief when Jaden turned the duel around with his Winged Kuriboh and new Transcendent Wings. Winged Kuriboh LV10's effect destroyed the Dragon Catapult Cannon and took out most of Chazz's LifePoints. Everything came down to Jaden's last draw.
Elemental Hero Avian. One thousand attack points and Chazz had nothing to stop it. Jaden claimed victory, and Mana ran with the others to congratulate their friend. Mana and Syrus hugged their friend as Chancellor Sheppard promoted Jaden to Ra Yellow. Bastion welcomed him to the Ra dorm, and the crowd cheered.
Later that evening, Mana hung out with Syrus and Chumley. Chumley worked on a roommate ad to fill Jaden's vacancy. Syrus moped at the absence of his friend, and Mana tried unsuccessfully to cheer him up. Mana shrieked when Jaden burst in the room.
"Why are you here?" Syrus asked.
"I wanted to say congrats on passing your field test. Oh, and in case you'd forgotten, I live here."
"What about your promotion?" Mana asked.
"Sure, Ra Yellow is nice with their clean sheets, lack of cockroaches, and those spiffy blazers, but without you guys, it's just not my home."
"Aaaww, Jaden!" Mana and Syrus tackle-hugged Jaden.
"I thought you were gone forever!" Syrus cried. They spent the rest of the night celebrating Jaden's victory and return.
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Atem stood in front of the Abandoned Dorm. It was the first time he'd been there since Atticus's disappearance. Strange things started happening, and Atticus was one the duelists called upon to help look into it. It should have been me. Atem wished he had been chosen instead of Atticus. Maybe then Atticus would still be here.
"What are you doing here?" Atem turned to face the blonde Obelisk Blue student. She held a rose as she glared at him. "This place is forbidden."
"I know that," Atem answered, "and I could ask you the same thing. My friend disappeared here."
"My brother did too," the girl looked sadly at the rose she placed at the entrance. "I come here to wish him peace, wherever he is."
"What was your brother's name?"
"Atticus."
Atem took a step back. Atticus had often talked about his little sister, Alexis. They and Zane often compared stories of what their siblings did and the antics they pulled. Atticus had described Alexis as cheerful and fun-loving, but Atem had a hard time seeing it through the sadness in her hazel eyes. "Then we're here for the same person," he said. "Atticus was one of my best friends."
A silence fell over them as they both felt the emptiness Atticus had left behind.
"Someday, we'll find out what happened to him," Atem broke the silence.
"How?"
"We'll find a way," Atem promised. "My dad helped a five thousand-year-old amnesiac spirit regain his lost memories and find peace in the afterlife. If he can do that, we should be able find out what happened to Atticus."
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"And when I reach for the card in the lake, an arm shoots out and grabs me, pulling me into the water. No! Not the water!" Syrus yells as he finishes his scary story.
"That's it?" Mana asked.
"Come on, water's not so scary," Jaden added.
"Yeah, you're right," Syrus frowned. "Only a chump would be scared of that."
Mana looked to Chumley trembling in the corner. "It was still a good story, Syrus," she said. "Okay, my turn." Mana drew a card from her deck to see how scary of a story she had to tell. She and the guys had decided to have a scary story night in the dining room of the Slifer dorm with no lights except for one candle. They determined the levels of fear by drawing cards from a deck. The higher the level, the scarier the story. She flipped over her Dark Magician Girl.
"Do you always get Dark Magician Girl?" Syrus asked. "It seems you're always playing her."
"Well, she is my favorite," Mana answered, "and in a way, I'm named after her."
"How so?" Jaden asked.
"I guess this'll be my story then. It may seem far-fetched, but it really did happen. Five thousand years ago, in ancient Egypt, shadow magic entered our world when the priest Aknadin, who was the brother of Pharaoh Aknamkanon, forged seven items with the souls of the residents of Kul Elna, the village of thieves. The entire village was wiped out except for one boy named Bakura who survived and grew up seeking revenge on the kingdom who ordered the death of his people.
"Now Aknamkanon had no knowledge of how the Millennium Items were forged; he gave six of the Items to his high priests—Aknadin became the guardian of the Millennium Eye. The seven of them protected Egypt, and times were peaceful. They developed a system of capturing shadow creatures that dwelled in people's hearts, and sealing the creatures in stone tablets. The seven wielders were then able to summon those creatures to fight on their behalf. But Aknamkanon eventually learned the truth of how the Millennium Items were forged, and he prayed to the gods that his son would be spared their wrath.
"When Aknamkanon died and the throne was passed to his son, the sole survivor of Kul Elna crashed the new Pharaoh's coronation. Bakura had robbed Aknamkanon's tomb and attacked the new king with Diabound, his own natural creature, or Ka. The Pharaoh turned Bakura away by summoning Obelisk the Tormentor.
"Bakura fled, and the priests pondered what to do about the new threat to Egypt. The guardian of the Millennium Ring was a close friend of the Pharaoh named Mahad. Mahad was Egypt's most powerful magician, and he knew he had to stop Bakura to protect his king. He lured Bakura to a spellcaster's temple and battled the thief with his Ka, the Illusion Magician. Mahad was unable to defeat Diabound though, and he fused himself with his Ka to become the Dark Magician. The Dark Magician was still not enough to defeat Diabound, and Mahad's soul was sealed in stone, and Bakura obtained the Millennium Ring.
"Mahad had an apprentice who was a childhood friend of the Pharaoh—her name was Mana. She struggled to learn her spells, but it never stopped her from trying. After Mahad died, Mana vowed to become a powerful magician to honor him. She eventually learned to summon her own Ka, the Dark Magician Girl, and she fought alongside the Pharaoh against Bakura and the source of darkness itself, Zorc the Dark One.
"Unfortunately, even the combined forces of Mana, the Pharaoh, and all the priests were not enough to defeat Zorc. One by one each priest was trapped in the Shadow Realm as their Kas were defeated. The Pharaoh had no choice but to make the ultimate sacrifice. He sealed himself and Zorc away with the power of the Items, and used his own name as the key. The cost was the Pharaoh's spirit being sealed away inside the Millennium Puzzle and his memories erased. His name was erased from all the historical records, and he has spent the entire time since alone and trapped inside the Puzzle until someone releases him. And the person who does will unknowingly unleash the Shadow Games again, and Zorc will return to cover the world in the darkness of the Shadow Realm."
"But the Pharaoh will beat that Zorc-guy, right?" Syrus asked. "I mean, the world can't be covered in shadows." He looked around nervously for any shadows that might attack him.
"I don't know, Syrus," Mana grinned. "The Pharaoh couldn't defeat him before, so Zorc could very well do it." She decided to leave out the part where her dad and his friends had already resurrected the Pharaoh and helped him defeat Zorc, or that they found out that the Pharaoh's true name was Atem.
"There's no way that happened," Chumley accused from his corner where he still trembled. "Shadow Games can't be real."
"Believe what you want, but Pegasus based Duel Monsters off of the battles between the Pharaoh and Bakura, and my parents named me after Mahad's apprentice." Mana said. "Anyway, I think it's Jaden's turn."
"I don't think your story was really scary, but it was good," Jaden said as he drew a card. "Now I really hope I get a high-level—oh." He flipped over Sinister Serpent.
"You lucked out," Chumley said as he returned to the table now that Mana's story was done.
"You hardly have to scare us at all with that," Syrus added.
"Let's see what you got," Mana urged him on.
"All right, I think I have a story that'll do the trick, but it's also kind of like Mana's in truth; it's a memory," Jaden started. "When I was a little, I used to heard sounds, but only really late at night. I'd think it was a dream, but then I'd hear voices. I'd go check it out, but there'd be nothing there—except my cards."
"And?" everyone asked.
"And that's the end of the story!"
"Oh, come on!" Mana yelled at him. "That's no way to end it!"
"Well want to hear something strange?" Jaden asked. "Lately I've started hearing them again."
"Well, I can believe that," Mana said. "My parents have always told me about shadow creatures and magic; there's supposed to be this whole other realm besides ours and the Shadow Realm. This realm's supposed to be full of spirits like the ones on our cards. Maybe you're hearing those."
Professor Banner's laughing interrupted the conversation. "I want in the fright-fest," he said as he held Pharaoh." Everyone screamed at his arrival. Chumley went back into his corner.
"You just did," Syrus said as Banner laughed.
"We're kind of on the edge of our seats here!" Jaden added.
"Or at least we were!" Mana finished.
"But since you're here now, you might as well draw a card," Syrus said as he got back in his seat. "The tougher it is, the scarier your story has to be!"
"Oh, well, that certainly sounds easy enough. Let's see. . . ." Banner drew a card: Five-Headed Dragon.
"Well I'll go to bed now," Mana and Syrus said at the same time. Knowing Banner, it would be a truly terrifying story, and Mana preferred being able to sleep that night instead of watching out for whatever horrors Banner came up with, especially since she was alone in the room. The guys at least had each other in their dorm.
"What is wrong?" Banner asked. "Don't you want to hear about the Abandoned Dorm at the end of the island?"
Isn't that where Atem said his friend Atticus was last seen? Mana wondered if the two were connected.
"Abandoned Dorm?"
"Yes. No one talks about it, but there was once a dorm for the female Slifer Red and Ra Yellow students located at the edge of the forest. It was shut down after several students mysteriously went missing."
"Where did they all go?" Syrus gulped.
"Well that's the mystery of it. No one knows, but the rumor was that it had something to do with Shadow Games!"
"Thanks! You can stop now!" Chumley shouted from behind a table. His trembling showed he had enough of the scary stories.
"Don't you need really powerful magic to begin a Shadow Game? Or a Millennium Item?" Mana asked. Yugi had told her the Millennium Items were almost always involved in the Shadow Games he played.
"Correct, Mana," Banner answered. "I'm surprised you know about the Millennium Items."
"My parents are really into ancient Egyptian history," Mana said, skirting the fact her dad once held the Millennium Puzzle.
"There's no way Shadow Games can be true," Jaden said. "They're just stories."
"That is what most people say," Banner said. "But I find that most stories generally have to come from somewhere."
"That's what I said," Mana interrupted. "My parents told me the story of the Nameless Pharaoh growing up, and they swore everything surrounding him happened."
Pharaoh meowed, and Banner took it as a cue to leave. Once he was gone, Syrus mentioned he saw a really old building in the forest once, and Mana shared what Chancellor Sheppard said about the girls' dorm being structurally unstable. Jaden immediately decided it was a good idea to go check it out the next night, and he was not taking no for an answer.
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The next night they wandered through the forest looking for the building Syrus saw, and the guys spent a lot of the time teasing each other for the stories the previous night. "Are we sure this is a good idea?" Mana asked. "If Shadow Games really were involved in those students' disappearances, it's probably a good idea to stay away from. We don't have any magic of our own to protect ourselves."
"You really believe those stories, don't you?" Jaden asked.
"Gee what was your first clue?" Mana retorted. "The fact that I know the entire history of them or that I can tell a real Shadow Game from a fake? My parents spent a lot of time dealing with Shadow Games when they were younger, and they would prefer if I could not get wrapped up in one. Plus I really want to be able to sleep tonight and I don't have roommates to tell me the noises are just the tree branches or the wind!"
"Hey, check it out," Jaden's flashlight shown on a rose resting against a gate to an old building. They found the Abandoned Dorm.
"It's probably full of ghosts," Chumley said.
"If Shadow magic really is the cause, I wouldn't doubt it," Mana added.
"Relax, guys, there's nobody here," Jaden insisted.
A twig snapping made everyone scream and jump on the designated brave one—Jaden. He raised his flashlight to reveal a familiar blonde Obelisk student. "Hey, Alexis," Jaden greeted her.
"What are you doing here?" Syrus asked.
"That's funny; I was about to ask you the very same thing," she answered.
"We heard about the Abandoned Dorm and wanted to check it out," Jaden said.
"That's really not a good idea," a tall figure walked up behind Alexis. Mana screamed and hid behind Jaden as the figure stepped in the range of the flashlights. Mana breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was Atem. Wait, why is Atem here? And why is he with Alexis? "Students have disappeared from here you know."
"No way. You look just like Yugi Muto," Jaden said as he shined his flashlight in Atem's eyes.
Atem winced and blocked the light with his hand. "You're not the first person to say that. I get it a lot since Yugi is my dad. My name's Atem."
"Nice to meet you, Atem. I'm Jaden," he pointed to each of his companions as he introduced them. "And this is Syrus, Chumley, and the girl behind me with the death grip is Mana."
Mana realized she was still holding onto Jaden's shoulder from when Atem scared her. Embarrassed, she pulled away and grinned sheepishly at the group. "Sorry, I don't react the best when I'm scared."
"You should be. Students really have gone missing here," Alexis insisted. "Why else would the Academy make this place completely forbidden? If they catch you here, they'll expel you guys."
"So then why are you guys here?" Jaden asked.
"We have our reasons, okay!" Alexis snapped.
"No need to snap; we just came to look around," Jaden shrugged. Mana wondered if anything ever upset Jaden. He wasn't stoic like Atem, but he was always calm and relaxed. "We'll stay out of your guys' way no problem."
"Look it's just that. . ." Alexis struggled to get the words out. "One of the kids who disappeared here was my brother."
"And he was one of my best friends," Atem added before they left.
The four Slifers stood talking at the entrance as they decided what to do. Syrus wanted to go back to the dorm, and Jaden wanted to look around inside. Mana was initially against going into the dorm, but if it could help Atem and Alexis find Atticus, then she was willing to go inside. She, Jaden, and Chumley started heading inside, and the boys teased Syrus about disappearing while he stayed outside. That prompted Syrus to chase after them and tag along.
Outside the dorm, Alexis and Atem spotted the group going inside. "I'll go after them to make sure they'll be okay," Atem said. "I know how to deal with any surprises that may come up."
"Okay, Atem," Alexis agreed. "Just be careful."
He gave her a thumbs-up as he walked toward the door.
Inside the Slifers found the main lobby. Everything was rundown, and the walls were covered in strange writing. Jaden wasn't fazed in the slightest and began thinking of ways to make the dorm move-in ready. Syrus and Chumley stared at him in shock while Mana went to examine the strange writing on the walls.
"What is all the stuff on the walls?" Syrus asked.
"Do you think it has something to do with the Shadow Games?" Chumley added.
"These are the Millennium Items," Mana answered. She touched the depiction of the Millennium Puzzle. A light flashed before her eyes, and Mana no longer saw the walls of the dorm. She saw a man identical to Atem dressed in the garb of a Pharaoh facing down a large black monster with a head coming out of its stomach. Next to the Pharaoh stood a woman with spikey brown hair dressed as a magician and wielding a blue and pink wand. Above both of them were the Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl. The monster attacked, aiming for the Dark Magician. The Dark Magician Girl pushed him out of the way and took the hit. As she was destroyed, the woman dropped to her knees and clutched her heart as if she felt the pain of her Ka. Mana felt the same pain as the Dark Magician Girl was destroyed. The pharaoh caught the woman as she fell, and Mana's vision went black.
When she came to, Mana was staring into the worried eyes of her friends and brother. "What happened?" she asked as she sat up.
"You touch the drawing, and then you just collapsed," Jaden said.
"Are you alright?" Atem asked as he helped her to stand.
"This place definitely has something supernatural going on in it," Mana stated. "What are you doing here?"
A scream interrupted them before Atem could answer her. "That sounded like Alexis," Syrus said. The five of them immediately went to the source of the scream.
They went down to the basement and found all the furniture covered in white tarps. In the center of the room was the card Etoile Cyber—Alexis's. They followed the trail through an underground tunnel with everyone calling for the missing Obelisk student along the way.
The finally found her in the cavern at the end of the tunnel. She was unconscious and lying in a coffin while someone laughed as they called her. Mana looked around for the source of the voice that claimed to have sent Alexis to the Shadow Realm. He finally appeared in the center of the mist and challenged them to a Shadow Game. He was large, taller than even Chumley, and he wore a long black trench coat and a black hat. Just visible under the hat was a silver mask that concealed the top part of his face. On the trench coat was the base of a duel disk with a deck loaded in it.
"What should we do, Atem?" Mana whispered to her brother.
"One of us should take him on, in case he really does have shadow powers," Atem answered. "Mom and Dad made sure we knew how to handle a Shadow Game since Dad had to deal with so many; they always said to expect anything."
"So which of us should do it?"
While the siblings talked, Jaden continued pushing his belief that Shadow Games weren't real and ended accepting the guy's challenge, believing he was the one responsible for the other students disappearing.
"Jaden, wait," Mana said.
"Let me take him on," Atem insisted.
"Yeah, maybe Atem should do it," Syrus added. "He does have the most experience of us."
"Fine," Jaden relented. "Let's see him live up to the legend."
Atem smirked and activated his duel disk. "I promise I won't disappoint you. It's time to duel!"
The guy started the duel by summoning his Infernalqueen Archfiend (900/1500), granting any of his other Archfiend monsters an extra thousand attack points. Then he played Pandemonium to nullify the cost of his Archfiends. The scenery turned even more terrifying; Mana jumped behind the guys. Atem smirked at her jumpiness.
The coffin holding Alexis closed and disappeared into the scenery. "Hey, what did you do to her?" Jaden asked.
"The same thing I'll do to you should continue to pester and annoy me," the guy answered.
"Leave them out of this," Atem said. "Your opponent is me, and I won't let you lay a finger on them!"
Atem stared at the cards in his hand. I can't be that Archfiend head on, but maybe I can do this. He played two cards face-down and summoned Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1400/1200) in attack mode. The duelist then summoned Terrorking Archfiend (2000/1500), which thanks to his Infernalqueen had three thousand attack points. He ordered the Terrorking to attack the Celtic Guardian, but Atem activated his face-down Sakuretsu Armor to destroy it. Unfortunately, the Terrorking's gambling effect negated the trap, and Atem took 1600 points of damage, and then another 500 when the Infernalqueen attacked.
"At least his monster is safe due to its effect," Mana said. The Obnoxious Celtic Guardian couldn't be destroyed by monsters with more than 1900 attack points.
"Your monster may be safe, but you aren't safe from this," the guy took out some pendant from his coat, and it flashed. Atem thought it looked kind of like his dad's Millennium Puzzle. But that wasn't possible; the Puzzle and other Items were sealed below ground when Pharaoh Atem crossed into the afterlife. "Now the Shadow Games have truly begun!" the duelist shouted. "Don't your LifePoints seem utterly insignificant now that your very life is at risk?"
Part of Atem disappeared. "Atem!" Mana yelled.
"It is the way of the Shadow Games, transcending the game and attacking your body!" the guy bellowed in amusement as black mist filled the area.
This doesn't match what Dad said about Shadow Games. Each one is different, but none of them locked the players in one spot. And the fog isn't thick enough for us to be in the Shadow Realm. Atem glanced around the area for the tell-tale signs of a Shadow Game. Something's not right, and it's definitely not shadow magic.
"It's hard to breathe," Chumley gasped.
"I feel kind of numb," Syrus breathed.
"Treasure the numbness," the guy continued, "for it will not last! Soon you will be drawn into an infinite chasm of eternal darkness where every waking moment will be filled with a gaping—"
"Enough!" Atem interrupted. "Your scare tactics won't work on me!"
"You should be afraid of my Millennium Item!" Another ray of light from the pendant filled the room. "Make your move, because it might be your last.
"Fine, I will," Atem accepted the challenge. "I activate the spell Pot of Greed!" He drew two more cards. "I activate the spell card Lightning Vortex." All of the Archfiend monsters were destroyed, and since neither monster was targeted, their gambling effects could not activate.
"Way to go, Atem!" Jaden yelled.
"Totally lishus!" Chumley added. "If Atem keeps this up, we might actually get out here with Alexis!"
"How daring of you," the opponent said, amused. Then he activated the effect of his Desrook Archfiend to resurrect the Terrorking. Then he used the effect of Pandemonium to add another Desrook from his deck to his hand.
"Good thing I'm not done yet," Atem said. "I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands (1400/1000). Manju's effect lets me add a ritual spell or monster from my deck to my hand. I choose Black Luster Ritual." Atem showed the spell to his opponent. "Now I sacrifice my Manju and my Celtic Guardian to activate Black Luster Ritual!" The ritual altar appeared, and Atem's monsters disappeared into the spell. When the smoke cleared, the Black Luster Soldier (3000/2500) stood before Atem, ready to fight for his master. "Now I activate the spell Monster Reborn to bring back my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian. Go, Black Luster Soldier! Chaos Blade!" The soldier struck down the Terrorking, and the duelist's body vanished with the loss of his LifePoints. At least the rules are applying to both of us. "Now, Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, attack his LifePoints directly." The opponent only had 1600 LifePoints left.
"It matters not because I have yet another Desrook Archfiend." He discarded his monster to resurrect the Terrorking. Then he sacrificed the Terrorking to summon Skull Archfiend of Lightning (2500/1200). Kind of looks like Dad's Summoned Skull. Atem grimaced. He had a bad feeling about this monster.
The Skull Archfiend attacked the Celtic Guardian, and Atem took 1100 more points of damage. The guy took his pendant out again, and more of Atem's body vanished. He only had 800 LifePoints left. "Gaze into my Millennium Item and feel yourself drift further into the shadows!"
Atem's mind felt hazy, and his legs gave out. Darkness swarmed his vision. "Atem, you must fight it," a voice said. "This is no Shadow Game, only a hypnotic illusion, but the duel is very real. You must keep fighting. I am by your side."
Black Luster Soldier? Atem shook off the effects of the duel and looked to his monster. The black and gold armored monster looked at him and gave a small nod. Atem smiled at his partner. I knew this Shadow Game was a fraud. "Your illusions end here," he said. "My turn!"
Atem drew and summoned Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000) in defense mode. Using Breaker's effect, he destroyed the Pandemonium field spell. With the field spell gone, Atem's opponent would have to pay the toll for his Archfiends' use.
"So what?" The duelist taunted. "I still have this!" He held the pendant up, and it flashed again.
"I don't think so!" Atem tore off his card pendant, a gift from Uncle Seto, and threw it at the light. It embedded itself in the paper mache item. The shadows disappeared, and both duelists appeared whole again.
"You got your body back, Atem!" Syrus shouted.
Atem smirked. "It was never gone. This guy just uses hypnosis to make his opponents think they are playing a Shadow Game. He should learn not to mess with powers he doesn't understand. Especially when he wants to convince others of his validity."
"What about your friend?" the man grinned. "Her soul is imprisoned in a shadow tomb in the deep recesses of the Netherworld! That proves this Millennium Pendant is real! What do you say to that?"
"You really should know who you're dealing with before you try your tricks," Atem countered. "The Item you pretend to wield is no longer called the Millennium Pendant; it became known as the Millennium Puzzle after it was shattered. My name is Atem Muto, and my father, Yugi Muto, was the one who solved the real Millennium Puzzle. That is nothing but a cheap knock-off with no real power. So let Alexis go!"
"For that knock-off comment, you can find her yourself!" the duelist threw a smoke bomb in front of himself.
"You're not getting out here that easy!" Jaden and Mana chased after the guy, and Atem moved forward to stop him too. "Whoa!" A golden eye appeared in the middle of the floor, and thick, dark mist swirled from the center of the eye. The shadows quickly surrounded the two duelists, Jaden, and Mana. Soon the shadows blocked out the rest of their surroundings, including Chumley and Syrus. Atem couldn't even hear their voices anymore. It might not have been a Shadow Game before, but it definitely is now! Atem thought as he readied his duel disk again. He was definitely glad to still have his most trusted monster by his side. (1)
"What is this place?" the duelist asked. "Where am I?"
"Come on, enough with the cheap tricks already," Jaden said.
"It's not a trick, Jaden," Mana said. "We're really in the Shadow Realm."
Slimy black blobs began raining down from the sky toward the humans. The duelist was soon covered by them. Atem's Black Luster Soldier slashed at the ones surrounding him, keeping him from being attacked.
Mana and Jaden tried to back away from the creatures, but they were quickly surrounded. "Stay away!" Mana yelled, and multicolored bubbles began sprouting from her hands. Each time one hit a blob, it vanished. As the bubbles rained, an orb of light sprung out of Jaden's deck and circled around them. It expanded, and in a shower of light formed his trusted Winged Kuriboh. The little furball chased away any spirits closing in on them as the rain of bubbles died out. Mana stumbled, bumping into Jaden. He held her steady as they watched the unfolding events. As the last of the bubbles popped, a figure with long blonde hair dressed in pink and blue appeared in front of them. The Dark Magician Girl blasted away more of the incoming creatures. She and Winged Kuriboh kept the blobs from attacking their masters.
"Thanks," Jaden said to their monsters. He looked to Atem's opponent being consumed by the creatures. "Too bad that guy doesn't have friends like we do."
The mystery duelist's eyes flashed red. "Atem Muto, the shadows pang for a soul. Only one shall survive."
"Seriously? What other tricks does this guy have?" Jaden asked.
"It is no trick," Dark Magician Girl said. "This duel is now a real Shadow Game. Even the winner of this duel may have a hard time escaping this place."
"I will not fail my master," Black Luster Soldier said. Atem realized the voice he heard earlier belonged to his companion. "I will make sure we escape these shadows."
"Win the duel, Atem!" Mana yelled, her head spinning with everything going on around her. Jaden helped her stay up right as she willed Dark Magician Girl the power to protect them.
"No problem," Atem said as the rest of the cards reappeared on the field. "Let's see, I had just destroyed Pandemonium. Now I get to attack. Go, Black Luster Soldier! Chaos Blade!"
"I don't think so!" the duelist revealed his face-down card. "I activate Negate Attack!"
Atem grimaced. "Fine, I end my turn."
The duelist drew, and then he had to pay the 500 Lifepoint toll for his Skull Archfiend. Only 1100 LifePoints left. He summoned his Desrook Archfiend (1100/1800) and had it destroy Atem's Breaker. Obnoxious Celtic Guardian was still protected by its effect. Atem couldn't chance attacking with it and losing the rest of his LifePoints. The guy placed a card face-down and ended his turn.
Atem drew his card. "You're finished," he said. "I activate the spell card Harpie's Feather Duster. Now all your spell and traps are destroyed." Thanks, Aunt Mai. "Now that your spells and traps are gone, my Black Luster Soldier is free to attack without worry. Go! Destroy his Desrook Archfiend with Chaos Blade!" The Soldier sliced through the monster and wiped out that last of the duelist's LifePoints.
"Way to go, Atem!" Mana called out as Dark Magician Girl continued to fire at the surrounding creatures. Some creatures managed to wiggle between Winged Kuriboh and Dark Magician Girl; Mana blasted them with more bubbles. I have to remember how I'm doing this. Her head started to pound as she did it.
Once the duelist's LifePoints hit zero, the blobs attacked him more until there was nothing left. Part of Atem felt sorry for his opponent, but he had his sister and Jaden to worry about. Black Luster Soldier cut through the Shadows, and the three of them quickly escaped the blob creatures coming towards them. They tumbled in a heap outside the shadow orb in the center of the cavern.
"Are you guys okay?" Syrus asked as he and Chumley ran over to them.
"Never better," Jaden answered.
"Yeah," Mana leaned against Atem. Her head pounded as she looked up to the transparent figures of Black Luster Soldier and Dark Magician Girl.
"You must rest, Mana," the blonde spellcaster said.
"What's wrong?" Atem asked as Mana's eyes fluttered closed.
"She was sending power to Dark Magician Girl during the duel," Black Luster Soldier explained. "It took its toll on her."
Atem looked between the spirits and the others. Jaden looked right at the spirits, but Syrus and Chumley didn't seem to notice them at all. Are Jaden and I the only ones who can see them?
"What happened in there?" Chumley asked as the shadow orb disappeared, shooting sparks as it did so. Everyone took cover as it imploded, and it was gone.
"Awesome!" Jaden said as the rain of sparks ended. "I wonder what he does for an encore!"
"Jaden, that was no trick, and we won't be seeing him again," Atem said. "That was the real Shadow Realm, and he lost the Shadow Game." He saw the phony pendant on the floor with his necklace still embedded in it.
Mana came to and pressed a hand to her head. "Let's not do that again, please," she groaned. Atem helped her to her feet; she was a little unsteady, and she leaned on him for support. They picked up the fake puzzle and examined it. "It looks like it from far away, but up close it's so wrong," she said as Atem removed his pendant and put it back on.
"Yeah," her brother answered. "Let's hope we don't run into others like him."
Atem helped Mana out of the dorm while the other guys carried Alexis. Once they were outside, Alexis finally came around. "Good morning, sleepyhead," Jaden grinned at her.
"Where am I?" she asked, looking at everyone around here. "What are you guys doing here?"
"What kind of a 'thank-you' is that?" Jaden asked. "We here because we had to find the bad guy, win the duel, and rescue the damsel-in-distress!"
"Try Atem had to do it," Mana said. "He's the one who won the duel."
"That's right, that strange man snatched me!" Alexis seemed to remember what happened. Jaden handed her the card she dropped and a picture he had found inside. "My brother!" she exclaimed as she looked at it.
"It's the first trace of him we've found," Atem added.
"Yeah, and we're going to help you guys find him," Jaden said. "After all, you guys can't get locked up in more tombs looking for him on your own!"
"When did I get locked in a tomb?" Atem asked. Mana chuckled at his indignant expression.
The sun started to rise in the distance. "Uh-oh, we got to go!" Syrus said.
"Can you get back to the dorm?" Atem asked Mana.
"I'll be fine."
"We got your back." Jaden and Syrus stood on either side of her and helped her walk back to the dorm. "We'll see you guys later!"
"Be careful, and don't get caught!" Atem yelled to them as they left. He and Alexis headed off toward the Obelisk dorms.
1. I believe the Black Luster Soldier was Atem's Ka in ancient Egypt because he fused with it when he teamed up with Kaiba; similar to how Mahad fused with Illusion Magician. I also wanted to give this version of Atem some distinction from both the Pharaoh and Yugi. So the Dark Magician cards will only be with Mana.
Thank you for reading. Please tell me what you think; I appreciate any feedback on my writing, plot, or just love of Yu-Gi-Oh! in general.