Archive of Our Own

Exhibition matches fucking sucked, in Atem’s not-so-humble opinion. Their only purpose was entertainment, not competition, which meant Duelists would get lazy, show-boaty, and generally annoying. It didn’t add anything to the game overall and just fostered an unhealthy community that championed spectacle over skill. The competitive spirit was much more vital to keeping the game alive. Right now Atem felt like the art of dueling was on life support and the plug needed to be pulled.

It had been almost a full year (a very long, extremely difficult year) since Kaiba dragged him from A’Aru, kicking and screaming by the scruff of his neck. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go back and be with all his friends, far from it! It was more that he was frightened what it would mean. No matter how much Atem had argued with Kaiba after their duel ended in a stalemate, the CEO wasn’t taking no for an answer. Really, Atem could have anticipated that. Once Kaiba set his mind to something there was no shifting it and he had it in his mind that Atem was going to live.

Although this was hardly what Atem would call “living . ” Kaiba initially had offered him a position in Kaiba Corp, something that would test his mind every day, keep him occupied and happy, but Atem heard none of it. He wanted to discover for himself what this new life meant and took off for the Duel Monsters pro circuit and find out.

Leaving Japan had proven more difficult than Atem had anticipated. Not due to any financial or paperwork matters - Kaiba had been sure to set him up for success in that department. But just returning to his friends in the living world, only to leave them again? It weighed heavily on his soul. He told himself it was the right thing to do; if he stayed, he’d go back to living in Yugi’s shadow. But still, the farther he got from Japan, the more his heart ached and ached and ached.  

So he pushed farther, circled the globe once, twice - waiting for the ache to ease.

Now the Pharaoh was sitting in his dressing room in an arena whose name he’d forgotten, in god only knew what country. His flight here had been a red-eye, and his sleep deprived brain fell into autopilot when it came time to exit the plane, collect his meager luggage and find a way to get to a hotel before making his way here. If he needed emergency services, he was fucked six ways from Sunday because he had no blessed idea where “here” was. 

Traveling lost a lot of its thrill once the cities blended together into one amorphous blob of lights and concrete. He was tired, so tired, restlessly tossing this way and that on the too-small couch in his dressing room as he tried and failed to catch a ten minute catnap before his match began, not caring one lick if he wrinkled his outfit in the process. 

Gah. No use. Atem flopped onto his back with a disgruntled sigh, glaring at the freshly painted ceiling (he could tell because the ceiling was crisp white and not baring the telltale brown stains from decades of cigarette smoke). Maybe this was a sign he needed a break from playing card games as a profession. Yes. A break sounded lovely. Perhaps he'd return to Japan. Of course that brought its own host of problems. He didn't have a flat to return to, couldn’t bring himself to ask anyone if he could crash with them. He'd have to start a house hunt sooner than later if he didn't want to blow all his savings staying in a hotel to get settled. But, oh, shit, he didn't have furniture or a bed or anything required to start a life somewhere. Maybe he could buy a mattress and just sleep on the floor for a while, eat 7-Eleven onigiri until he could afford a kitchen set. He shuddered at the thought, then again at what he knew would happen once Yugi found out. His friends would offer housing or money and he didn't want to be a burden to them because he’d been the one who decided to run off. 

And Kaiba . Oh god, Kaiba. The man who’d dragged him from the afterlife, the man who he’d run from. The look on his face if Atem were to come crawling back to him after months of radio silence to ask for help… The man would scoff, turn his nose up at him, hurl an insult or two, and leave the so-called “King of Games” in whatever gutter he'd found him in. 

The sound of the door opening startled Atem out of his stressful spiral. Had he not locked that door? He could have sworn he locked it to prevent this exact thing from happening. As if thinking about him caused him to appear, Atem looked up to see none other than Seto Kaiba and all six-foot- fuck-off of him filling the doorway. Kaiba said nothing, just smirked as Atem’s jaw hit the floor. He closed the door, set his duel disk down next to Atem’s, and started to push the legs sprawled out on the couch.

“Move your scrawny legs and let me sit,” Kaiba teased, patting Atem’s calves.

Atem scrambled to sit up, tucking his legs to his chest and trying not to let a blush creep up his neck. Kaiba’s simple touch sent bolts of electricity through him. “W-what are you doing here?”

Not that he'd been a celibate monk while he was traveling. Far from it, after each duel Atem had found someone to fall into bed with after every tournament simply to find release. He made no bones about men or women or otherwise, sex was sex and sometimes it was the only thing that got him through the horrible tournaments. Everyone wanted to sleep with a champion. But the temporary euphoria of sex after a stressful duel faded faster than he would have liked and left him feeling hollow and distinctly lonely. The whole thing became so routine that the very idea of sex was starting to make his stomach turn.

But Kaiba's simple touch excited him in ways he hadn’t felt in a long time. That superior smirk plastered on his face sent Atem's blood pumping like it did in the good old days. His very presence in the room was electrifying.

“Dueling,” Kaiba answered, gesturing to his duel disk on the low coffee table beside Atem’s. He took up so much of the couch Atem had to believe it was on purpose; the way he threw his arms over the back, how he kicked one leg up stretched out made it look like he owned the place. He probably did. Atem wanted to smack his long leg off the couch (his heel was an inch away from digging into Atem’s hip) but instead he started fiddling with the loose end of one of the leg straps, not meeting the steely blue gaze he could feel tunneling into him. 

“You look miserable.”

Atem scoffed and kept his eyes focused on the strap. “Just tired. I took a red eye to get here.”

“Tired and miserable are two completely different looks. You are miserable. ”

Kaiba had always been disturbingly good at seeing straight through him. Atem chuckled, giving his rival a wire smile. Yeah, he was pretty miserable. The small smile that Kaiba offered back was a sympathetic one. Atem hadn’t even known he was capable of such a look, but it softened all of his features so dramatically that for a moment Atem wasn’t even sure he was looking at the same man. Still ridiculously handsome, still sent Atem’s heart racing, just… different. Of all people, Seto Kaiba would know the difference between miserable and exhausted. 

It didn’t mean Atem was going to let the meager insult slide. He gestured at Kaiba and then himself as he sneered, “Pot, meet kettle.”

Kaiba shook his head, looking amused. “What can I say? I went through all that trouble to bring you home and you ran off. Do you have any idea how hard it was to track you down? You bounced all over the world so quickly I could barely keep up.”

“You’ve been looking for me?” Atem blinked stupidly and tried to will his heart back to a normal pace. The mention of ‘home’ made it skip a few beats. Like there was already a place he belonged. He pointed to his phone sitting on the vanity and ground out, “You could have called that phone you gave me.”

“And where’s the fun in that?” Kaiba grinned that mischievous grin that had heat crawling up Atem’s neck all over again. “Besides, it was only a matter of time before you came back to Japan and Duel Links pinged you. Hence. . .”

Kaiba gestured vaguely at the room but Atem jolted in surprise. How had he not realized he was back in Japan?! Well that was embarrassing enough to flush his cheeks and avert his eyes again. The ceaseless fog that had settled over his brain had to go. How to dispel it was now the question.

“Are you in this exhibition too?” Atem asked.

Kaiba didn’t answer for a long minute. The silence forced Atem’s head back up and he was caught in Kaiba’s critical gaze. Not judging, Atem realized, but concerned. “Atem, it’s sponsored by Kaiba Corp . Do you not know where you are?”

Atem just shrugged noncommittally. “What did Jou always call it? Following the dopamine? Though I suppose I could have paid a little bit more attention.”

“ That depressed, huh?” Kaiba asked with a knowing intonation.

Again, Atem shrugged. “I wanted to find who I was and all I found was loneliness.”

“So stay here.”

Such a simple statement, as though it was the easiest thing in the world, made Atem’s blood boil.

“Where? With what? I have no idea where to begin trying to find a place to live or what the expenses would be. I have no skills other than dueling and that requires me to travel. What’s the point of having a flat somewhere when I’d never be there anyway?”

Kaiba’s annoyed snort almost made Atem see red. “Oh, please. I never expected such a defeatist attitude from you of all people. You’re young and you’re smart, you’d pick up any new job skills you’d need like that.” For emphasis, Kaiba snapped his fingers. “Besides, my offer is still open. That video game I told you about? Can’t get it off the ground without a plethora of skilled duelists plotting out strategies for it. Perfect intersection of skills. But no, you had to go running off on us again. ” 

“You’re not going to take no for an answer, are you?” Atem growled, though only half heartedly.

“Never have, never will,” Kaiba fired back with a cheeky grin. He sat up a little straighter, eyes beaming as he said, “Come on, I like this game. What other dumb excuses do you have for me?”

Oh it was a game, was it? Atem shifted until he was sitting cross legged, a little awkward sideways on the couch but he made it work, and his mind turned to a razor’s focus. “I don’t have anywhere to live and I wouldn’t dare to impose on any of my friends for however long it would take to find my own place.”

“Oh, no, what a nightmare; it’s almost like you don’t have a friend who lives in a gigantic mansion and has more rooms than he knows what to do with!” Kaiba even went so far as to dramatically throw a hand to his forehead like a faint woman. 

When he peaked at Atem from under his hand, his eyes were blazing. “Next?”

“What did I just say? I would never think to impose myself–”

“You’re not imposing, I’m offering. There’s a difference. What’s your next lame excuse?” 

Atem narrowed his eyes. This frustrating, annoying, son of a– “There is no difference because it’s still an imposition. I don’t care how much you think your life wouldn’t be affected by my presence, I’m telling you–”

“Then just start dating me now. Then you’re moving in with your boyfriend and not freeloading.”

. . .

What?!

“ Excuse me?! ”

Atem couldn’t help but gape at Kaiba, who had presented the idea of them dating like it was an inevitability. Not that Atem was going to object, per say, but it was the way he said it! Months of physicality had left him craving romance. Why he thought he’d get romance out of Seto “I Don’t Have Feelings Except When I Do” Kaiba was beyond him. There was not going to be any melting into a puddle, no putty in his hands, no heart fluttering or foot popping or stupid giggling. Atem jumped to his feet so suddenly that Kaiba actually jolted. He rounded on the CEO, jamming an angry finger into his chest.

“What kind of person do you think I am?!” Atem shouted indignantly, pressing the finger with each syllable. “Do you honestly think I’d whore my body out for a place to live? The fact that you could even suggest such a thing tells me all I need to know about–”

The only warning Atem got was Kaiba rolling his eyes so violently he briefly thought his eyes would roll right out of his head. Kaiba’s hand shot out, grabbing onto his shoulders and dragging him down until he could sit up and kiss him, shutting him up and stealing all the air from his lungs. Like before, Kaiba’s touch sent sparks cascading across his skin. He couldn’t help the small gasp that left him, nor the moan when Kaiba’s tongue darted into his open mouth. 

Thrilling. Simply thrilling. It was easy enough for Atem to climb into Kaiba’s lap (it was more comfortable to make out with someone without bending over, thank you ) and wrap his arms around his neck. Kaiba’s arms were locked around his torso in a second and he hauled Atem forward until they were chest to chest. This was not the gentle kiss of a new lover; it was all gnashing teeth and battling tongues and scratching nails. Neither wanted to let up an inch. Atem used his position to his advantage, raising himself up enough that Kaiba was forced to tilt his head back to stay locked into their kiss. He brought his hands to either side of Kaiba’s face, forcing him to stay in place while Atem bore down on him, forcing him to drown in Atem’s kiss. 

Usually when Atem forced one of his bedmates into this position, they were putty in his hands and he could make them do whatever he wanted. He really should have known Kaiba wasn’t one to be ordered around. Atem wasn’t expecting Kaiba to break their kiss and start attacking his neck instead. His kisses went everywhere, across his jaw, under his ear, down his jugular, around the edge of the gold band on his neck, each one sending a jolt down Atem’s spine that went straight to his dick. It had been ages since a simple kiss sent him reeling. Atem threw his head back and let out whatever noises had been building in his throat while the pleasure of Kaiba’s kiss washed over him. 

That spurred Kaiba into action. His arms tighten around Atem while he stood. Atem was about to cry out at suddenly being lifted when Kaiba spun them around, Atem’s legs flailing out and knocking the duel disks off the coffee table and onto the floor, and laid Atem down on the couch instead, instantly crawling on top of him and resumed where’d they’d been before. Atem wasted no time, wrapping his legs around Kaiba's waist and dragging him down to grind their hips together. Fists in those perfect brown locks, he slid his tongue along Kaiba’s, the other diving forward into Atem’s mouth as if to claim him for his own. 

Fire erupted between them at the contact. Years of pent up frustration were finally, finally being released. Atem felt like he’d died and gone to paradise again when he felt Kaiba’s hand snake up his shirt. 

Okay, okay. So maybe Kaiba had been right in saying their ending up together was an inevitably, but Atem still didn’t like they way he’d just assumed–

“MR. MUTO! MR. KAIBA! YOU’RE NEEDED IN THE ARENA NOW! ”

The frantic cries of stage management, coupled with relentless pounding on the door, snapped the two back to reality. Kaiba sprung backwards in a way that was very cat-like, blue eyes wide, chest heaving as Atem scrambled to a sitting position. They’d lost track of time; now there was no time to discuss the fact that if they hadn’t been interrupted, they probably would have ended up having sex on that couch. The call of the duel was stronger than anything and they scrambled to right themselves. Kaiba dragged his hands through his hair while Atem attempted to smooth out the wrinkles in his shirt and jacket. There was no saving it; he knew he was going to look disheveled when he laid down for his nap. This, however, was a different kind of messy; at least Kaiba looked just as flustered. 

They each grabbed a duel disk and ran to opposite sides of the arena. Briefly Atem lamented that Kaiba had to roll back the Duel Links disk, he would have loved a chance to use the digital system, but it had proven too volatile and the disks were discontinued, forcing even Seto Kaiba to go back to physical cards. He honestly wondered which felt more intimate with the game, playing physical cards or having the whole thing be in your head. One day he’d get Kaiba to drag the prototype Duel Links disks he knew he’d saved and demand a few rounds. 

Mics were thrown on them by a couple of stressed A2s and they got to their places just as their announcements were ending. The roar of the crowd was nothing compared to the feeling of facing down his greatest rival once again. He felt a shiver run down his spine as their eyes locked, sparks flying. Kaiba’s touch was still so fresh on his skin; his lips could still feel the way Kaiba’s had just caressed and claimed him. Blood pumped so loudly in his ears that he didn't hear the ref call them to start and only drew because he saw Kaiba do so. This was their first duel since A’Aru, Atem was excited, and as he looked down at his cards–

And saw the Blue-Eyes White Dragon staring back at him!

Atem blinked, dumbfounded, the strange-yet-familiar hand, From across the field he saw a similar look of shock on Kaiba’s face. 

They must have accidentally switched duel disks in their mad dash out of the dressing room! 

Which meant, if Atem had Kaiba’s deck, then Kaiba…

“Fuck,” Kaiba whispered to himself. He felt like he was going cross eyed looking at the wall of text on the cards in front of him. 

Well. This was… unexpected.

“Oh noooo,” Atem breathed as he helplessly shuffled the cards around in his hand. Strange-yet-familiar indeed; the only ones he did recognize were Blue-Eyes and Crush Card Virus. It seemed Kaiba had done some restrategizing.

A rare panic seized him: No , he thought. This duel couldn’t happen . They could explain to the ref, switch decks, restart. It would be fine; this was a no-stakes exhibition. The audience would be confused, the press would get a few good headlines, but they could set it all straight and he and Kaiba could fall into a tangle of sweaty limbs and clawing hands in a matter of hours. Well, he sure wanted that. But… did Kaiba?

Atem looked up just in time to see Kaiba pull a pair of light blue reading glasses from his inner coat pocket and slip them onto the end of his nose, perfect brows furrowing in concentration. He was reading Atem’s cards?! And since when did he need glasses?! Not that he didn’t look damn good in them, if not a little… what would Jonouchi say? “DLIF-ish?” 

But, wait - if Kaiba was reading his cards, did that mean he was planning on playing?! The passion for the game that Atem had been missing came back to him in a rush. He knew Kaiba’s strategies inside and out and Kaiba knew his. What would they look like coming from someone with such a different play style? This was too good an opportunity to pass up.

As if feeling the other watching him, Kaiba’s blue, blue eyes lifted from his hand to meet Atem’s. He smirked a wicked, sexy smirk, and the message was clear: I’ll play this if you will.  

Body alight with excitement and arousal from the challenge, Atem returned Kaiba’s grin. You’re on .

So he was going to play. Fine. That was fine. The crowd started murmuring. They were starting to catch on that something was happening - these were the two top duelists in the country, possibly the whole world, and they were just… standing there, looking at their cards as if neither of them knew what they were doing. Even the ref was looking uncomfortable, fiddling with the hem of her shirt as he looked back and forth between the Pharaoh and Seto Kaiba himself , wondering if she needed to make some kind of call.

Well. Best get on with it, then. But Atem shuffled his hand around again, he felt all his new-found confidence go down the drain. He had no blessed idea what to do with these cards. “I think I need a mulligan,” he called out, trying to keep his voice even.

The murmurs coming from the crowd increased, but he shut them out as easily as he would shut a door in the face of an unwanted visitor. 

“A mull?” Kaiba scoffed, knowing full well how badly his deck could brick with the wrong starting hand. “Only cowards don’t play the hands they're given!”

“Fine!” Atem snapped, refocusing his attention on his - Kaiba’s - cards. “If you don’t mind, I’ll go first!”

Atem drew and breathed a small sigh of relief. He’d drawn King of D, a card that was mildly familiar and one that allowed him to deck search. This would provide a good excuse to see what he was working with. Cards like White Stone of Ancients, Blue-Eyes Alternative Dragon, and Chaos Form were ones he’d never seen in Kaiba’s deck before; he wondered what else was new.

“I’m going to summon King of Dragons, in attack mode!” Atem announced, slapping the card down on the disk. Kaiba’s smirk fell right off his face. 

Satisfied, Atem continued: “By discarding Crush Card Virus from my hand, I get to search for a Flute of Summoning Dragon, Melody of Awakening Dragon, or. . . Dragon Revival Rhapsody and bring it from deck to hand.”

The crowd finally snapped to attention and promptly lost their minds. The diehard fans were the first to figure it out and loudly proclaimed what Kaiba and Atem had known for several minutes now.

“They switched decks!” People were shouting somewhere above their heads. “On accident?” someone else asked, “Is this for show?”

Anxiety returned fresh when Atem started pawing through Kaiba’s deck. He was going for the Flute, but decided he needed to see what these other two cards did. Maybe there was a better choice here. Melody of Awakening Dragon would let him bring two dragons to hand, but he had to discard a card to do it. As he kept pawing through the cards, glancing over descriptions, taking in as much information as he could, possible plays began to form in his head.

“I’m going to bring Melody of Awakening Dragons to my hand,” Atem finally decided, bringing the card to his hand but he didn’t put the deck away just yet. “I’m going to immediately play it and discard the White Stone of Ancients from my hand for cost. That will let me bring two dragons to my hand and I’m going to choose. . .” Oh god, decision time. He could bring the other two Blue-Eyes to his hand, easily, and he supposed that’s what Kaiba was anticipating him to do. Instead he went for, “Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon!” 

Across the field, Kaiba just nodded with a resigned, mildly proud smile.

“Then! Using the Chaos Form ritual card in my hand, I’m going to discard Blue-Eyes Alternative Dragon in order to summon Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon!”

Chaox MAX erupted from the ground. The great dragon roared, but then seemed to think twice as she saw who she was facing. Visible confusion crossed her scally face as she looked down at her master and then behind to see who had summoned her. One large blue eye locked on the Pharaoh and Atem knew, somewhere deep in his bones, that this dragon was unhappy. Letting out a frustrated snort, she stuck her nose in the air, the tip of her tail swishing menacingly.

“That’s my girl,” Kaiba chuckled, gazing at his dragon over the top of his glasses, and did his best to keep the fear off his face. He’d never faced down one of his own creatures before and distinctly disliked it.

“On End Phase,” Atem continued, and Kaiba’s chuckles abruptly stopped. “The White Stone of Ancients in my Graveyard activates, letting me summon a Blue-Eyes monster from my deck. Do you know what I’m going for, Kaiba?”

“I can take a couple guesses,” Kaiba said ruefully. “There is a right answer. Let’s see if you’re duelist enough to figure out what it is.”

“Is the right answer Abyss Dragon? I feel like the right answer is Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon,” Atem teased as he brought out yet another Blue-Eyes incarnation. Each one was more beautiful than the last and Atem was loving it. But this dragon also snorted, turning her head away from Atem. “On special summon I get to search out Polymerization or a ritual spell from deck to hand. Also, because Blue-Eyes Alternative is in the Graveyard and is considered Blue-Eyes White Dragon that way, it triggers Abyss Dragon’s effect and lets me bring another Blue-Eyes White Dragon from deck to hand. I end my turn.”

Grinning like a madman, Atem looked at the three Blue-Eyes in his hand with Polymerization and knew exactly what he was doing next turn. Meanwhile, Kaiba looked like he was going through all five stages of grief. His glasses slipped a little farther down his nose and he sighed.

“I should have let you mull,” Kaiba muttered, clicking his teeth.

Unlike Atem, who had clearly not been paying attention to anything for months, Kaiba had been studying the pharaoh’s duels very closely and knew each and every new card in his deck. That meant that he knew his opening hand was terrible. If he’d let Atem mull, he could have done the same, maybe drawn something playable. But his own damn pride had made him assume that Atem wouldn’t be able to summon the best card in his deck on turn one. He knew Atem had two Blue-Eyes and Poly in his hand - so long as the third Blue-Eyes wasn’t already in his hand, he’d have an extra turn. Using Abyss Dragon as an engine to get Blue-Eyes to hand wasn’t something he’d thought of before, and as irritating as the move was, it was smart. He filed it away for later.

“My draw,” Kaiba growled, praying for something, anything decent . A quick glance and - nope. Not helpful. Not even a little bit. Still, he refused to let it show on his face. The best he could do is bluff his way through the rest of this match and try for better on the next one. He was secretly glad he’d set up this exhibition as best two out of three. 

Adjusting his glasses to make it look like he was considering a serious play, he said, “I set two face down and end my turn.”

Oh, no. Atem knew what kind of trap cards were in his deck and if Kaiba wasn’t throwing up a blocker, that meant there was probably something nasty face down. Tentatively, he drew a card to start his turn. Not that he needed what he drew, he already had everything he needed to annihilate Kaiba. He understood Kaiba’s constant desire to summon big beefy dragons and felt drunk off the power he had on his field.

“I’m going to play Polymerization to fuse the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons in my hand to summon–” A fatal flaw in his plan was suddenly revealed when he realized he only had his extra deck on his belt and not Kaiba’s. “I need Blue-Eyes Ultimate.”

“Yeah, sure, here ,” Kaiba sighed. He pulled the card from his extra deck and tossed it across the field to Atem, who caught it between two fingers as if they’d practiced a million times. In some ways, they had.

The ref’s “ what the fuck,” sent all three of them into a start, watching the exchange with growing confusion. Her voice echoed through the stadium and she jumped, forgetting that she was miced. The crowd shrieked with laughter - that would make headlines tomorrow, if it wasn’t trending already.

“Thank you.” Atem grabbed the card out of the air and cleared his throat. “I summon Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!” Atem arched an eyebrow when Blue-Eyes Ultimate was summoned and Kaiba did nothing. “Response?”

Kaiba shook his head, icy blue eyes fixed on the newly summoned monster as a muscle worked in his lower jaw. “She lands.”

Now it was Blue-Eyes Ultimate’s turn to look confused. She glared at Atem and huffed at Chaos MAX, who seemed to roll her eyes. Even Abyss Dragon shook her head, resigned still but aggravated at their collective fates. The exchange was charming, and the crowd was loving it - but Kaiba still made a mental note to take another look at the Duel Disk server’s code; he’d never seen SolidVision monsters act like this.

Atem shifted his weight from foot to foot as he took in the scene before him: three ornery dragons on the field and two face down cards to contend with. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained! “Blue-Eyes Ultimate, attack your former master directly with Ultimate Burst!”

Blue-Eyes Ultimate did not look pleased with the command. One head turned all the way around, growling fiercely as if daring Atem to order her around again. Atem glared right back and felt rather foolish that he had to assert his dominance over a hologram . Still, this was them and Atem had no doubt they had at least one foot in the Shadow Realm. Finally, Blue-Eyes Ultimate turned her head back around and launched her attack.

“Bad move, Pharaoh!” Kaiba called gleefully. He’d been hoping that Atem would attack with Chaos MAX or even Abyss Dragon first, but he could deal with it. “I’ll take that damage and then discard the Magikuriboh in my hand to summon your old friend the Dark Magician in attack mode!”

The crowd went bananas again when Dark Magician was summoned. He had his usual stern look on his face until he spotted Atem through the legs of the great dragons. The Dark Magician blinked, rubbed his eyes, and then looked over his shoulder. When he saw Kaiba, he glared so hard at the CEO that he might as well have used Thousand Knives on him. When Kaiba just glared right back, Dark Magician rolled his eyes and faced forward. Yup, Kaiba was absolutely checking his coding after this.

“In attack mode? Really, Kaiba?” Atem laughed heartily. “Are you sure you want attack mode when you’re facing down two powerful dragons?!”

“Yeah, because I want to avoid Chaos MAX’s double piercing damage,” Kaiba sneered back. 

“Chaos MAX does double piercing?! ” Atem cried, looking down at the card on his disk. Sure enough, the last sentence stated that she did, in fact, do double piercing to defense position monsters.

“Will you read the goddamned cards?!” Kaiba screamed in frustration. How was this moron beating him with his own deck without taking the moment to understand it properly?!?!

“I play Duel Monsters, I can’t read, ” Atem joked with a taunting smile. “What I can do is have Chaos MAX attack the Dark Magician with Maximum Blast!”

At the command, Chaos MAX looked ready to turn around and launch her attack at Atem instead. But a few short huffs and growls from the other two dragons had her turning her attack on Kaiba, albeit with great reluctance and a lot of fussing.

“Attacking your own favorite so carelessly? I thought you were better than that,” Kaiba teased, flipping up one of his facedowns. “I guess that means I take better care of your monsters than you do! I activate the trap card Black Illusion! I may still take the damage from your attack but Dark Magician stays in play.” 

“Very well,” Atem growled as he surveyed the field. Abyss Dragon also had 2500 attack points, but there was no point in crashing her and Dark Magician into each other. That would send Magikuriboh back to Kaiba’s hand and he could discard it to re-summon Dark Magician on his next turn. Damn, if Kaiba hadn’t activated Black Illusion, Atem would have had him for game. As it was, he’d have to deal with the fact that Kaiba had 2000 Life Points and one more turn to go. “I end my turn.”

“End your turn?” Kaiba asked, a small smile creeping up his face when Atem nodded. 

He drew before Pharaoh could change his mind. Not only did he forget Abyss Dragon’s End Phase trigger, he’d also severely misplayed his attack step. If Abyss Dragon and Dark Magician battled, Kaiba would have been left wide open for a direct attack from King of D, leaving him with 800 life points instead of 2000. That also would have let him banish Abyss Dragon from the Graveyard to power-up all the dragons on the field by 1000 permanently. 

Oh well. Pharaoh’s mistake. 

Kaiba looked down at the card he drew and couldn’t help the maniacal laugh as he slammed the spell card into the disk. “If I’m going down, then I’m going down swinging. You’re going to give me my fucking dragon back! I play Monster Reborn to retrieve Blue-Eyes Alternative from your Graveyard and resummon her on my side of the field!”

When Blue-Eyes Alternative emerged on Kaiba’s side of the field, she roared, happily swooping into the air to do a backflip before landing behind Kaiba. She settled her chin onto his broad shoulder, effectively nuzzling her master’s head. Malfunction or no, it felt natural for Kaiba to raise a hand to stroke her muzzle affectionately. The three across from him all hung their collective five heads in shame. As interesting as it was to see Kaiba with Dark Magician, Atem had to admit that he looked so powerful with his Blue-Eyes. It stirred the longing he’d felt for the man across the field from him, and he found himself eager to finish this duel so he could finish taking off the other man’s clothes.

“I activate Blue-Eyes Alternative’s effect to destroy Blue-Eyes Ultimate!” Kaiba announced, pointing an accusatory finger at what was once his best creature. 

Blue-Eyes Ultimate didn’t put up a fight as Alternative shot her attack and destroyed the larger dragon. Atem just sneered. So much for Kaiba’s proclamations about taking better care of his creatures.

“With that, I have to end my turn.” Kaiba once again reached for his dragon as she landed behind him and all but curled herself around him protectively. The dragon cast a large shadow around him, the only thing properly visible being the glare off his glasses and the glowing of his eyes. The sight made Atem shudder.

He was confused, but didn’t question Kaiba’s lack of attack. If Kaiba was going to let him go for a turn, then perhaps Atem could do the same. Not without a little pain though. He drew, not even bothering to look at his cards.

“Chaos MAX, attack Blue-Eyes Alternative with Maximum Burst!” Atem commanded. 

He would have liked to leave Kaiba with his dragon, but that destruction effect was too powerful and couldn’t be left on the field. Alternative roared mournfully as she was destroyed and Dark Magician wiped a bead of sweat from his brow.

“I end my turn,” Atem announced with a vicious little smirk. He was playing with his food, rather like how he knew Kaiba would as well if their situations were reversed.

Kaiba just snarled and drew. Nothing. There was nothing he could do! His entire hand was a mismatched jumble of archetypes and he was baffled how he constantly lost to this deck that could brick so easily! He would never in his life admit that just maybe that stupid “Heart of the Cards” that the nerd herd was constantly dithering on about had any power but it honestly seemed the only explanation for how Atem made his deck work.

Maybe he’d have more luck in game two. Kaiba shook his head to signal the end of his turn.

“Nothing? I’m surprised, Kaiba! I expected you to put up a fight!” Atem taunted. “Very well! Chaos MAX, end this duel and attack the Dark Magician with Maximum Burst!”

But Chaos MAX did not open her mouth to charge her attack. Instead she stood on all four legs, lowered her head to Dark Magician’s eye level, and started swishing her tail back and forth. The motion reminded Atem of a cat calculating a jump before they did it. He couldn’t see her eyes, but Kaiba could and he had to hide his smile behind his hand. Her reptilian pupils had been blown so wide that he could barely see the blue and her great maw was cracked into a toothy grin. 

She didn’t blast the Dark Magician out of existence. She leaned down on her elbows and reached one paw out to bat him to one side. Before he could properly regain his balance, her other paw reached out and smacked him back. What a sight it was, watching this dragon play with the magician like he was a ball of yarn. And just when he got properly dizzy from the abuse, she pounced, slamming him into the ground with both paws planted on his torso before she finally blasted him from existence, dropping Kaiba’s life points to zero. 

This. This is what Atem had wanted out of this game for months. Adrenaline was pumping too strongly for him to focus on anything other than Kaiba; they had at least one more match to play. He might have won this round, but was dying to see Kaiba pull something incredible in the next.

Watching Kaiba shuffling his deck felt more intimate than anything they’d done in the dressing room. Atem bit his lip as they drew starting hands. He imagined what it would be like to have those nimble hands hold him as delicately as they were holding his cards...

Or feel their strength as they slammed him against whatever vaguely horizontal surface might be nearby. 

Kaiba threw his head back with laughter at the sight of the cards in his starting hand. Oh, this was going to be good.

“I’ll begin! I’ll start with the field spell Magician Salvation which will let me set Eternal Soul directly from my deck!” Kaiba’s grin threatened to split his face in two when he saw Atem’s soul leave his body. The field rippled and changed with the hologram, creating a large Magician’s circle in the middle of the field that glowed ominously. “Next, by discarding the Dark Magician in my hand, I’ll get to summon the only card in your deck worth summoning, Timaeus the United Dragon!” 

Unlike the other monsters summoned, Timaeus stepped out of his portal and looked perfectly at home on Kaiba’s side of the field. He roared at Atem with so much force the Pharaoh was almost swept off his feet.

“Then I’m going to play the spell card Dark Magical Circle!” Atem’s heart sank. He knew this combo and it did not bode well for him. Kaiba drew the top three cards, signature smirk firmly in place. “I bring Magician’s Combination to my hand and put the other two back on top of my deck.” They hardly mattered. He already had everything in hand to ensure the bane of his existence was going to work for him in this duel.

Atem was already sweating when he drew his card. He knew that board state like the back of his hand and if he didn't draw something incredible, he was going to find himself on the wrong end of a banishment engine. He didn't know Kaiba's revamped deck half as well as he thought he did; he was staring at a hand of useless spell cards and one monster!

“I set and–” Before Atem could even finish his sentence or set his monster in face down defense mode, Kaiba was already moving.

“I activate Eternal Soul!” Kaiba cried with barely contained laughter. “This trap lets me bring back the Dark Magician in my Graveyard and banish your set monster!”

Atem groaned as he watched his (admittedly useless ) set monster get banished. Wearily, he muttered, “Oh I don’t like this, Sam I am. I do not like green eggs and ham.”

“YEAH THIS SUCKS WHEN YOU’RE ON THE RECEIVING END, HUH?!” Kaiba shouted, unable to stop himself. 

“OH GET OVER IT!” Atem shot back as he glared at his empty field. “Just make your pathetic turn!”

“What was it you said to me once? ‘My grandpa's deck has no pathetic cards’?” Kaiba cackled as he drew his next card. He sobered as he pondered the cards in his hand and asked, “Hey do you have Dark Magician the Dragon Knight in your extra deck?”

“Fuck. Yes. Here. Take it, ya heathen,” Atem groaned as he fished his Dragon Knight from his belt and tossed it across the field. 

“Hey, there are children watching this,” Kaiba scolded him, even though he was very well aware of his own f-bomb in the first match. “As you might have guessed, I’m going to use your dragon’s Special Ability to fuse Dark Magician, a Spellcaster, and Timaeus himself to bring forth Dark Magician the Dragon Knight! The only other card in your deck worth summoning.”

All Atem could do was scowl as his Legendary Dragon came roaring to life. What a pain in the ass this was going to be. Eternal Soul made any Dark Magician on Kaiba’s field unaffected by card effects. The field spell let him return Dark Magician from the Graveyard to the field if he revealed a spell or trap card that mentioned it (and Atem had many in his deck). Dark Magic Circle made it so whenever a Dark Magician was summoned, Kaiba could banish any card on his field. And The Dragon Knight protected all these cards from being destroyed. Atem loved setting up this engine but now he was regretting ever having heard of the strategy.

“Oh,” Kaiba continued, mocking Atem’s pain as he called out, “you’re also going to take three thousand points to the face WITH DARK ENERGY BURST!”

Atem braced himself when the attack hit, silently cussing out his once-loyal monsters. While the Dark Magician looked distinctly displeased having to launch the attack, the dragon did so with zeal. Every dragon that came under Kaiba’s command did his bidding without question. One day, Atem would study that.

For now, though, he drew for turn and continued to panic. He didn’t have any Blue-Eyes engines in his hand and nothing to search out the great dragon. He was getting aggravated that he had no clue what new monsters Kaiba had added to his extra deck that might help him. He–

“Ref!” Atem called, fishing out his extra deck from his belt. “Give this to him and bring his extra deck to me, please. I can’t take this shit much longer.” 

“Hell no. We’re pausing the duel. Both of you come to the middle!” Oh, now she was going to stop the duel? Atem made a mental note to bully Kaiba into hiring better referees - he expected more from KaibaCorp. 

The holograms flickered out as the two came to the middle of the field. Whispers rippled through the audience. 

“Care to explain?” she demanded when they finally reached the middle. She was doing her best to ignore the lightning sparking between them.

“You’re right, this is easier,” Kaiba said to Atem as he pulled out his extra deck and passed it to him. 

“Less risk of you fumbling my cards this way,” Atem huffed as he shoved his extra deck into Kaiba’s hand and swiped Kaiba’s. 

The poor ref was left stumbling over her words as the men walked back to their places without giving her a passing glance. While he walked, Atem skimmed through the extra deck, hoping that he’d find something to help. 

“CONTINUE!” Kaiba called once they were back at their places. 

On his command, the holograms returned. The ref was still standing in the middle of the field, confused and ready to shout for them to come back when the dragon roared in her ear and knocked her right off her feet.

“Wait, I can do things!” Atem finally cried as he saw the strategy form. “If I’ve read all these correctly–”

“Which you already admitted you can’t do,” Kaiba heckled.

Atem ignored him. “Then that means I can play the field spell Union Hangar!” 

For the first time, Atem lamented the field spell rule change. In the old days, the activation of his field spell would have destroyed Magician’s Salvation and hampered Kaiba’s banish engine. Now, though, each player was allowed to have a field spell. No matter, Atem could still make his move.

“I’m going to activate Union Hangar’s effect to search out a Union Monster from my deck, and I’m going to choose A-Assault Core!” Atem fished the monster out from the deck and summoned it. “Then I activate the second effect of Union Hangar, because a union monster was summoned, I get to immediately equip another union monster from my deck and I’m grabbing B-Buster Drake!” 

Kaiba blanched. Atem had two thirds of a monster that meant bad news for his banish engine. So long as he didn’t–

“Now I’m going to activate the Unauthorized Reactivation spell card to equip my monster with the C-Crush Wyvern in my hand! And now I’ll banish all three to bring forth the ABC Dragon Buster!”

There it is. Kaiba felt his heart sink when he saw the massive machine spawn before Atem. ABC Dragon Buster could banish any card on his field so long as Atem discarded a card first. Well, there goes his engine and perhaps any hope he might have had at winning. He clenched his fist, knuckles whitening. Damn this Pharaoh. Damn this game. Damn everything in creation that prevented Kaiba from getting one, single, solitary, tiny little victor–

“Hold the phone,” Kaiba muttered. Excitement raced through him as he raised his disk, adjusted his glasses, and reexamined the field. The laugh that bubbled from his throat was downright evil. “If you were thinking of banishing any of these, think again, Pharaoh! None of these cards can be targeted!” 

For the umpteenth time, Atem groaned. Of course . All of those cards protected each other. And there was no point in crashing Dragon Buster into Dragon Knight because Kaiba would get back Dark Magician and banish Union Hangar, which Atem still needed. He breathed out slowly through his nose. As always, Kaiba was proving to be a highly challenging opponent.

There was a reason he loved that man.

Wait a second.

“Very well, I end my turn,” Atem said. There were not many options left for him in this duel. “Make your move.”

“I will,” Kaiba sneered, drawing his card but not even bothering to look at it before declaring, “Dragon Knight, attack ABC Dragon Buster with Dark Energy Burst!”

“Not so fast!” Atem cried with joy and mild contempt. “I sacrifice my Dragon Buster to bring back the three creatures that made him in defense mode! Redeclare your attack, Kaiba!”

“You think that’s going to save you?! Destroy B-Buster Drake instead!”

One monster was gone, letting him bring Y-Dragon Head to his hand, and Atem just prayed as he drew for turn. He was bricking hard and with nothing to do, passed his turn once again. Kaiba, on the other hand, was having the time of his life when he destroyed A-Assault Core, which let Atem bring B-Buster Drake back to his hand. Another dead draw, and Atem equipped C-Crush Wyvern with B-Buster Drake. At the very least, it would protect Crush Wyvern for a turn and give him the chance to get another union monster in hand. He was stalling, Kaiba knew it, and it was only a matter of time before Kaiba dealt with the pesky union monsters.

The answer came on Kaiba’s next draw. He cackled, crying, “I summon Artillery Catapult Turtle! Then I’m going to immediately sacrifice it to activate its effect, which lets me bring out Gaia, The Magical Knight! Then–”

“Let me guess,” Atem said ruefully. “You’re going to summon Curse of Dragon, the Cursed Dragon off Gaia and fetch Spiral Fusion from the deck?”

“Let me make my turn, goddamnit! But, yes, that’s what I’m doing!” Kaiba snapped, summoning and searching out exactly the cards Atem had stated. “Now I’m going to activate Spiral Fusion to–”

“To summon Curse of Dragon the Magical Knight Dragon with Curse of Dragon and Gaia. He’ll let you bring Spiral Fusion back to hand and then you’re going to banish Gaia and Curse of Dragon from the Graveyard to summon Gaia the Magical Knight of Dragons.”

“LET ME HAVE THIS! God, you’re a sore loser!” In seconds, Atem was being stared down by three angry monsters. Kaiba, always one to add insult to injury, also used his normal summon to bring out Magikuriboh, because he could. “Now I’m going to activate Gaia’s effect and remove twenty six-hundred attack points from it in order to destroy your B-Buster Drake.”

On his turn, Atem sent Buster Drake to Grave. At least he got Z-Metal Tank out of it, for all the good it would do him without X-Head Cannon. For all the good it would do him when Kaiba could easily resurrect the Dark Magician with Eternal Soul, banish Crush Wyvern, and attack for game!

Every once in a while, Atem had to accept loss. The Ceremonial Duel showed him as much. But still, it was quite something to be facing this particular loss, delivered to him by his own monsters at the hands of his most bitter rival. Kaiba seemed perfectly at home with his deck, the sight causing  something to blossom in his chest. 

Something he hadn’t let himself think about since returning to the land of the living.

“Get ready, Atem, because I’m entering attack step!”

Or maybe he wasn’t going to lose! Maybe Kaiba didn’t know his deck as well as he thought! Some hope bubbled in his chest when Dragon Knight attacked Crush Wyvern. Then Kaiba seemed to remember what Eternal Soul could do and brought back the Dark Magician, who still seemed displeased to see Kaiba as his current wielder. But there were no banish targets; Kaiba wasted his move! Atem would have laughed if he hadn’t taken a combined 7100 points to the face and got pushed back several feet by the blow. Even Magikuriboh had to get his hit in, floating over to gently boop Atem on the nose to deal his 300 points before floating back to the other side.

With a paltry 600 Life Points remaining, Atem had never been happier to see an opponent misplay. Especially after he saw what he drew for his turn.

“Oh, Kaiba, dear, haven’t you learned by now not to give me a chance to recover? Because I just drew the card that will lead to your destruction! I summon the X-Head Cannon I just drew and use Union Hangar to immediately equip it with Y-Dragon Head and Z-Metal Tank! Then I contact fuse them to summon the mighty XYZ Dragon Cannon!”

“Oh fuck me! ” Kaiba groaned.

“Later, darling, later,” Atem said with a cheeky wink. “By discarding three cards from my hand, I get to destroy Magical Knight Dragon, Gaia, and Magikuriboh! Now what were you saying earlier about taking better care of my monster than I do?”

He relished Kaiba’s scowl while his three great creatures were destroyed, leaving him only with Dragon Knight and Dark Magician. XYZ Dragon Cannon could destroy Dark Magician and take a chunk of Kaiba’s life points with it, but Kaiba could then resurrect him and banish the only defense Atem had. Ending his turn, he realized he had a rather good run. No matter what, the end was near. 

Kaiba surveyed the field and did the mental math, coming to the same realization. Still, he cackled gleefully at the sight of his newly-drawn card.

“I could defeat you right now with what I have on the field, but what’s the fun in that?! Come forth, Palladium Oracle Mahad!” 

Despite the outcome he knew was coming, pride swelled in Atem’s chest as one of his best monsters shimmered to life on the field before them. Mahad’s amber eyes widened at the sight of his opponent, losing his fighting stance and his composure all together.

“What?” He blinked several times in obvious confusion, regal head swiveling to look behind him, at Kaiba .  “What?!” He spun to face the two other magicians on the field. “... What .” 

For their credit, the other two monsters shrugged, offering no explanation. Mahad rubbed his temples as if he were getting a headache. “You have got to be kidding me.”

Atem nearly doubled over with laughter when Kaiba’s right eyebrow shot up into his perfect hairline. Then it slowly came back down as his face lost all expression. “I didn’t know he talked,” Kaiba deadpanned to Atem, resigned to the fact that his holograms were glitching beyond his wildest dreams. “I wouldn’t have summoned him if I knew he talked.”

“Heh, yeah ,” Atem chuckled and gave Mahad a quick wink. “Yeah. He’s, ah… opinionated .”

Kaiba mouthed the word ‘opinionated’ as he looked from the newly summoned creature to his duel disk and then up at the sky , as if he’d see one of his prized satellites smoking and on fire from the earth’s surface. Atem snuck his phone from his back pocket and quickly snapped a picture of the usually cool and collection billionaire’s completely bewildered expression to use against him later.

Mahad, oblivious, fell to both knees and bowed low to Atem, pressing his forehead against the turf at their feet. “Pharaoh, I am so sorry,” he groveled. “ This one is not worthy of your deck, not mighty enough to wield your most loyal servants, not courageous and brave and true enough to—”

“SHUT UP, MAHAD!” both duelists shouted. Mahad lifted his head enough to glare at the ground, but bit his tongue. 

“You can think I’m unworthy all you want, but I’m about to win,” Kaiba sneered with a triumphant, bordering on manic, smile. “And I’ll begin by getting rid of your last defense! Dragon Knight, attack XYZ Dragon Cannon with Dark Energy Burst!”

Mahad and the Dark Magician shared a look that spoke of three thousand years of weariness. Neither wanted to land the killing blow.

“I think it’s only appropriate to show this ingrate who’s truly in charge here,” Kaiba began, pointing at Mahad and then the Pharaoh. “Mahad, destroy your former master with Millenium Magic Attack!”

“I’m going to haunt you in your nightmares,” Mahad threatened over his shoulder before turning back to Atem. “Forgive me, Pharaoh.”

“Nothing to forgive,” Atem promised, smiling at his old friend before his attack hit.

The strength of the blast dropped Atem to his knee at the same time his Life Point counter hit zero. Once more the crowd was going absolutely wild but Atem didn’t hear them. He’d lost. To Kaiba.  

Finally.

But it didn’t look like Kaiba wanted any time to savor his victory as he shuffled the deck and prepared for the next match. Atem surged to his feet and also prepared for match three. His fingers seemed to dance to a song only they could hear as he shuffled and reset his duel disk. This was the most excited, the most alive he’d felt since returning from the afterlife. He’d been such a fool for thinking he needed to find a life outside of those he loved - they made living worth it.

Every nerve in Kaiba’s body was alight. It was like he was seeing better, hearing clearer, feeling more than he had since his first loss at the Pharaoh’s hands. He won. He won. The thing he’d been craving for so many years and he’d finally grabbed onto it with both hands and taken it for himself. It stung a little that it hasn’t been with his Blue-Eyes, but a win was a win and he was never going to get down from this high. Even if he lost the next match (which was likely, the balance of the world had to be restored) it wouldn’t take away from what he was feeling. After all, he’d finally beaten the Pharaoh!

This proved what Kaiba knew to be true for so long: the Pharaoh was beatable. What's more, Atem was proving to him that Blue-Eyes was more than a match for these annoying Magicians. It was possible. Kaiba couldn't be happier. He was determined to make sure it happened again. Probably not in the next match, but soon.

Soon.

They drew for the final match; every audience member was on the edge of their seats. This was it. The final game of this insane match up and they were both eager to find out who would come out on top. 

“I’ll go first!” Atem announced, drawing to start before examining his hand. It seemed he was getting the hang of this; finally understood the appeal of summoning the big, beefy dragons turn after turn, why Kaiba had always monologued about power . “I’ll start with setting a card face down. Now I’m going to play a card you’re familiar with, the Melody of Awakening Dragon! By discarding White Stone of Legend for cost, I’ll bring all three Blue-Eyes White Dragons to my hand!” 

Kaiba sucked on his teeth as he watched Atem search through his deck for the dragons. His own starting hand was. . . less than stellar. Depending on what Atem was doing, he was either going to be in big trouble or worse trouble. He just watched helplessly as Atem sent a Blue-Eyes White Dragon from his deck to the Graveyard to summon Dictator of D. 

Wait. If Atem sent a normal Blue-Eyes to grave, then what had he brought to his hand with Melody and the White Stone?

“Using the Greater Polymerization in my hand, I’m going to summon a monster with power beyond imagining! By fusing the two Blue-Eyes and Blue-Eyes Alternative in my hand, I get to call forth a monster without equal! The Blue-Eyes Alternative Ultimate Dragon!”

Blue-Eyes Alternative Ultimate Dragon burst into the field and Kaiba knew he was in trouble. Greater Polymerization made the dragon untargetable and gave it piercing damage against defense position monsters. That dragon also had a destruction effect without equal and Dictator of D meant that any attack Kaiba attempted would be redirected at the dragon. Or, rather, Atem could choose where the attacks would be directed and he would be stupid if he didn’t direct them at the dragon. The only thing that gave him a modicum of peace was that Alternative Ultimate, like her other incarnations, looked irate at being summoned by Atem. One of the three heads was turned to snarl angrily at the Pharaoh. Atem rolled his eyes. It seemed Kaiba’s dragons were just as irritable as their master.

“I end my turn there,” Atem announced with a smirk, drunk off the very thing he’d told Kaiba again and again wasn’t enough to win duels. Oh, how wrong he’d been.

“Very well, I draw!” 

For the first time in a duel, Kaiba found himself wanting to ask for the Heart of the Cards to guide him. Maybe that was the only way this mish-mash mess of a deck could work. It was only for a second, but he felt a pulse go up his arm as he drew. Maybe. . .

When he looked at the card, he felt himself go pale. He didn’t know Atem had that in his deck! But he could make it work. He absolutely could make this work. And this card would finally come under his command.

“I’ll also start my turn with a face down,” Kaiba announced, glee sparkling in his crystalline eyes. “Next, I’ll Activate the spell card Joker’s Straight! By discarding a card, I get to special summon Queen’s Knight and bring King’s Knight from my deck to my hand.” He fetched out King’s Knight and summoned it. “With King’s and Queen’s Knight on the field, I can special summon Jack’s Knight from the deck. I end my turn.”

Atem snorted when he drew. None of the Three Musketeers of Face Cards had a prayer of condentending with Alternative Ultimate, nor her destruction effect. Just as Atem was about to activate it and destroy the three Knights on Kaiba’s field, Kaiba interrupted him.

“I activate the trap card Joker’s Wild!” Kaiba cried as he flipped the card up. “This card lets me copy any Knights of Face Card spell in the deck, so long as I send it to the Graveyard. You were so good at this guessing game last match, let’s see if you can guess what card I’m going for.”

There were a few options, Atem realized, and pondered the possibilities while Kaiba searched. He’d already used Joker’s Straight. Face Card Fusion was an option, but Atem couldn’t think what monster in his Extra deck could help him in this situation. Royal Straight was the same way, but again, he couldn’t think of a card that would help. Kaiba was facing down a huge monster and the Knights of Face weren’t the best archetype to match against a Blue-Eyes Ultimate incarnation.

“No guesses? That’s fine, I doubt you saw this coming,” Kaiba sneered. When he turned the card around, Atem saw his life, death, and rebirth flash before his eyes. “I discard the spell card Thunderspeed Summon! With the three Face Card Knights on the field, I could search out a level ten monster with question mark attack, but the one I want is already in my hand. And thanks to Thunderspeed Summon, I can bring it out now! I tribute my three Knights to summon Slifer! The Sky Dragon!”

The shriek of the god as it entered the field drowned out the roaring of the crowd; wind ripping at hair and clothing, kicking up dust and dirt and debris. No one seemed to mind, however. Atem shared in their joy only for a moment, but dread filled his gut. Kaiba had summoned an Egyptian God. This spelled disaster for Atem and his dragons–

Except Slifer only had 3000 attack points. Atem blinked in confusion and squinted across the field to see Kaiba’s hand. Yup, only three cards. What kind of strategy could Kaiba possibly be cooking up? Ra would have been a much better target, as the life point transfer could have easily put him over Alternative Ultimate and destroyed any hope Atem had. As it was, Atem felt he had very little as Slifer curled his tail protectively around Kaiba. That man and dragons. Yeesh.

Kaiba looked like he was waiting for something, and when it didn’t come, he was very confused. “Oh, are you going to be a brat, too? Why aren’t you using your second mouth against Alternative Ultimate?!”

The strategy slammed into Atem’s brain and he couldn’t help but laugh. “Because Slifer’s second mouth only works when a creature is summoned! It doesn’t work for creatures already on the field!”

Kaiba glowered at him and Atem just wiped a tear from his eye.

“It’s still my turn, so I move to attack!” Atem cried. “Alternative Ultimate! Destroy Slifer the Sky Dragon!”

It was almost a shame. Kaiba had set up to summon Slifer well, but really, he should have chosen better. Alternative Ultimate pounced on Slifer, sinking three sets of razor sharp fangs into his neck. Slifer wailed as it was destroyed, the sound breaking Atem’s heart as the hologram’s body shattered into nothing. Atem also called Dictator to attack as well and watched in satisfaction as Kaiba’s life points spun down to 5300.

“What the fuck ? It was that easy to defeat Slifer this entire time?!” Kaiba cried, remembering exactly how much trouble that dragon gave him in Battle City.

“Only because he’s being wielded by an inferior duelist.” To take the edge off his words, Atem blew a kiss across the field. 

Rage boiled Kaiba’s blood, his fists clenched tight. At least he had a back up plan. He just needed to live long enough to see it through.

“I summon Beta, the Electromagnet Warrior in defense mode,” Kaiba said as he took his turn. He was taking a risk with Alternative Ultimate having piercing damage, but he had to do something. “That brings Gamma the Electromagnet Warrior to hand and I end my turn.”

“What’s that? No big monsters? No attack? Resting on your laurels after one victory, Kaiba?” Atem laughed as he drew for turn. “I–”

“I activate Beta’s Quick Effect!” Kaiba interrupted him. “I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior in defense mode!”

“Another puny monster for me to swat!” Atem scoffed. “Alternative Ultimate! Destroy the two Betas with your special ability!”

Swat may have been too accurate of a term, Atem realized, as Alternative Ultimate’s tail lashed out, smacking into both Betas and destroying them. Atem had Dictator attack directly and ended his turn.

Despite in a (painfully familiar) losing position, Kaiba was thrilled. Atem had been caught up in the special abilities he’d forgotten he’d given his monster piercing damage with Greater Poly. The Pharaoh had unintentionally given him a huge advantage, and Kaiba wasn’t going to let that go to waste. 

“I summon Gamma the Electromagnet Warrior! Now I activate the Field Spell: Magnetic Field!” Kaiba slapped down his field spell, grinning as the field changed and everyone’s hair began to stand on end from the electricity. “Using its effect, I can summon back Beta the Electromagnet Warrior from the Graveyard! And when he’s summoned, I can add another Magnet to hand.”

Kaiba watched Atem’s face carefully. The poor Pharaoh looked confused, but Kaiba knew it wouldn’t stay that way for long. He’d stoke the familiar fire, even if it took pouring gasoline on a single glowing ember.  

“Now I’m going to play the Spell Magnet Induction!” Still no change - Atem was apparently more dense than he looked. Kaiba huffed. “It lets me summon Alpha the Electromagnet Warrior from the deck. It also makes all my Magnets indestructible for the rest of the turn. Now, Alpha, attack Alternative Ultimate!”

Now Atem was truly confused as Alpha crashed into Alternative Ultimate. The great dragon was completely unphased and thanks to the spell, Alpha wasn’t destroyed, but Kaiba still took 2900 points of damage from the battle. It seemed there was no point to that move at all, but Atem knew Kaiba didn’t do anything without thoroughly thinking it through.

That was when he noticed that Alternative Ultimate looked like it had been electrocuted. It was twitching and spasming before it cried out in agony and vanished from the field.

“What?!” Atem cried. There we go.  “What did you do, Kaiba?!”

“Alternative Ultimate got bounced back to your hand, or in this case, the Extra Deck!” Kaiba shouted. “Magnetic Field’s effect means that if a Magnet attacks and the monster it battles isn’t destroyed, it gets returned to the hand! And now that that is taken care of, Beta, destroy his Dictator! Then Gamma, attack directly!”

It was a paltry 1100 life points, but seeing both his monsters destroyed in one turn shook Atem. Kaiba wasn’t resting on his laurels, he was determined to secure a second win in a row. Atem wasn’t going to let that happen. And Kaiba was making it easy having three puny monsters.

“In my second main phase,” Kaiba continued, and Atem felt his blood run cold, “I banish my three Electromagnets to summon Berserkion the Electromagna Warrior! When it’s summoned, I can destroy one card on your field so say goodbye to your facedown!” 

Kaiba banished Beta for cost and Atem watched as his facedown Mirror Force was destroyed. Well that was frustrating. Atem didn’t have many choices as he drew for his turn and knew he was going to have to stall somehow. He didn’t have any combos, but maybe he could summon something to make Kaiba think twice.

“I summon Maiden with Eyes of Blue in attack mode!” 

The Maiden shimmered to life before Atem. Summoned in her usual crouch, she stood up with all the grace of a goddess, tossing her long silver hair in its many braids back from her pale face. Her light blue eyes - so familiar and strange all at once, twinkled with laughter as she smiled at him, raising one small white hand in a wave. He found his left hand, duel disk and all, rising in response before he could stop himself. Quickly he clenched his fingers and lowered it so the disk’s display was at chest level again, hoping he managed to make it appear as though he’d been stretching out a cramp. 

Ridiculous , waving at a hologram. He was… tired, that’s all. . Still, looking her full in the face was different than seeing her stand guard before him; he found himself tense and still and waiting for… something . But as the seconds wore on, it did not come. She continued to smile, blink at him, and wait patiently for the next command. Because she was a hologram, and it was what she was programmed to do .

Kaiba physically shook himself, trying to clear his head, get his game face back on. There were people here, thousands of them, for christsake. 

Atem watched as Kaiba’s entire presence seemed to shift. He took note of the way that lean, muscular frame, as steady and strong as a tower, seemed to lean forward slightly, as if pulled by some unseen force, towards the Maiden. Jealousy clamped hard and cold in his gut even as his heart twinged at the sight of the man before him looking so momentarily vulnerable. This might have been a low blow, but he knew he’d made the right choice. 

“I end my turn,” Atem growled, recapturing Kaiba’s attention. But even having that intense stare focused back on him did little to sooth his unease. He briefly wondered if his red eyes had turned green with jealousy.

Kaiba was silent as he drew for his turn. A second victory was staring him in the face, as was someone else. No, it was just a hologram that kept looking at him like that. Just a hologram. And he had a strong monster on the field. He would wipe her very presence off it in one attack. That was all he had to do.

“Berserkion!” Kaiba cried, flinging his right arm out dramatically to point at the Maiden, to tell him to destroy her… but the words caught in his throat. A vision of another time, another place, another girl leaping before someone she wanted to protect, taking a fatal blow meant for him with a determined smile on her face flashed before him. It lasted for no more than a blink, but it was enough. 

To murmurs of confusion from the crowd above, Kaiba slowly lowered his arm. He took a collective breath, and glared daggers at the man standing behind the woman whose face haunted his dreams.  “I pass turn.”

“You what?” Atem asked, tilting an ear towards him. “I didn’t hear you. Speak up!”

A muscle jumped in Kaiba’s jaw. “You heard me. I passed! Now take your goddamn turn !” 

Pass. Atem scowled and drew a card. Yes, he’d wanted to make Kaiba think twice about attacking by summoning the Maiden, he hadn’t meant for Kaiba to turn into a lily-livered coward . 

Unfortunately for him, he still didn’t have a single card to play and his scowl deepend as he, too, passed his turn.

Kaiba’s muddled thoughts sharpened, and he pushed aside whatever had just happened at the sight of his most treasured but least played monster. Playing the Maiden had been a stalling strategy; Atem didn’t have anything he could do. With only a few Life Points left, Kaiba was looking at a solid victory if only he’d pull his head out of his ass and think .

“I summon Gamma the Magnet Warrior!” Kaiba slapped the card down with a near-manic grin. Yes, this was going to be an easy and decisive victory. “Now, Gamma, attack and destroy the Maiden and end this game!”

“Are you sure about that, Kaiba?” Atem asked with a smirk. “Have you forgotten your own card's effects so quickly? You activated the Maiden’s special ability! When she’s targeted for an attack, she gets switched into defense mode, negates the attack, and also lets me summon a Blue-Eyes from the Graveyard!” 

Kaiba scoffed even as something in his chest twisted painfully. “Fine. Bring back a Blue-Eyes that’s not going to listen to you.”

Atem ignored his jab. “Come back, Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon!”

Kaiba couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes. This was starting to get irritating. While fun at first, he wanted his deck back, wanted his monsters back at his side. The only saving grace was that Blue-Eyes, once again, was pointedly ignoring Atem, sticking her mighty nose in the air and wrapping her tail around her seated form, the picture of stubborn refusal. He was so proud of his dragons; they knew who their master truly was. 

“My turn! I’m going to activate Blue-Eyes Alternative’s effect and use it to destroy your Berserkion!” Atem flung his hand out to command the attack, but Blue-Eyes didn’t move. The only sign of her having heard him was the puff of steam from her nose. Atem’s eyebrow twitched involuntarily. He’d just about had enough of these dragons and their sass. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. Blue-Eyes! Activate your ability and destroy Berserkion!”

Blue-Eyes huffed once more, tilting her head from side to side and grumbling deep in her throat in a way that made it seem like she was mimicking Atem’s command. From across the field, Kaiba lost his composure and doubled over in laughter even as the dragon reached out one large, heavily armored paw and slapped Berserkion out of existence, the motion not unlike a cat swiping a cup off a table. Kaiba’s barely suppressed laughter came out in a snort  that was magnified by his own microphone. The dragon then yawned, lazily scratching her neck with one of her claws. The Maiden had the audacity to giggle , the sound causing Kaiba to snap to attention so fast Atem wondered how he didn’t hurt his neck. 

With another shake of his head (giggling was also part of the Maiden’s programing, he was sure of it. Pegasus liked to make his girls girly )Kaiba drew for his turn. “Fuck,” he hissed. Useless. Now it was his turn to stall. He switched Gamma into defense mode, set a face down and passed. His face down was little more than a bluff but if it worked, it would give him an extra turn. 

His heart sank when Atem threw back his head and laughed his signature you’re so screwed, buddy laugh. Well. So much for bluffing.

“I equip Blue Eyes with the spell card Big Bang Shot!” Atem announced gleefully. “This gives Blue-Eyes an extra four hundred points and the ability to inflict piercing damage. Blue-Eyes!” Atem paused dramatically after calling the dragon’s name. Blue-Eyes, for the record, seemed much more interested in cleaning the space between her claws. “End this match with White Lightning!”

Every pair of eyes in the arena were on the great dragon. Slowly, she lowered the paw she’d been gracefully gnawing at. Was this it? The moment of his defeat? Kaiba held his breath, adjusting his stance to brace himself for the blast of hot wind and mild static shock that would accompany White Lighting… but it didn’t come. His mouth fell open as the dragon - the hologram, the fucking hologram - laid down on the field, tucking her head under one of her mighty wings…

… and began to snore .

The crowd gasped; some of them laughed. Others jeered, feeling they’d been cheated out of the action.  Atem stared at the beast before him, unable to believe what he was seeing. He’d seen these monsters do some strange things over the years, enough to know there was more to their existences than just ones and zeros. But this?   

“For the love of– Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon! ” Atem cried, feeling rather like a parent scolding a toddler. “Attack Kaiba and end this game !”

Blue-Eyes lifted her wind, her head rising from the ground lazily. Yes - this could be it. But then those steely eyes, so similar to those of their true masters, locked on him. A large pink tongue licked her razor sharp fangs in a way that made Atem’s blood run cold. Was he about to be eaten by a hologram? 

Before he could properly unpack the logistics of that possibility, the Maiden waved her arm in a way, turning the beast’s attention away from her next meal. What proceeded was something straight from a dream, or perhaps a strange, forgotten silent film: Blue-Eyes huffing and puffing, the Maiden was sighing a positively exhausted set of sighs as she moved her hands in a form of sign language only the two of them could understand, her eyes dancing in the light of the fading day. 

Atem glanced at Kaiba, and quickly wished he hadn’t. The other man was watching the exchange with such surprise, such uncharacteristically open vulnerability, it made jealousy clamp its cold hand around Atem;s heart yet again. If he never saw the Maiden of the Blue eyes played again, it would be too soon. 

Finally, after a few more minutes of their exchange where the Maiden’s movements became increasingly more urgent, the dragon let out a long, loud, heavily disgruntled sigh before she uncurled her great scaly body and resumed attack position. She stretched her wings to their fullest, shook her head, and let out a roar so loud it shook the stadium all the way down to its support beams. There was frustration and heartbreak in the sound, along with anger and resentment. For a moment, Atem almost felt bad.

Kaiba closed his eyes as the blast hit him, took the heat and pressure and crackling of electricity that made his ears pop on his feet even though the force threatened to send him flying. Atem was not going to get the satisfaction of seeing him on the floor. His life point counter spun down to zero, and balance was restored to the world.

The referee raised her hand, bringing it down in one swinging strike towards Atem’s side of the field. “And the winner is, the Phar-”

“TAKE THEM BACK!” Atem interrupted her, ripping the deck from  from the duel disk like he planned to hurl them at Kaiba. “Take your deck full of petulant cats back before they eat me!”

Chuckling, Kaiba crossed the field, passing the scowling ref like she was nothing but air while he unclasped the duel disk from his forearm. “No, no, no, put the deck back. That’s my duel disk, remember?”

Oh, yeah.  He’d been so focused on the cards, he hadn’t noticed how uncomfortable the disk was until he was finally free of its weight. It had been too big for him, and he must have had to jostle it back into place a few times from the way the space from his shoulder to his elbow ached. Kaiba was rubbing his wrist in a way that told Atem he probably had some friction burns, as Atem’s had been too small for him. 

“You won.” His smile stretched to Cheshire Cat proportions as they exchanged disks, decks, and monsters. It felt amazing to say it out loud.

“I won,” Kaiba echoed with a grin of his own. “Next time, it’ll happen with my own deck.”

“I look forward to it.” A thrill raced down Atem’s spine at the thought. Next time. Of course there would be a next time. There had to be a next time. The two headed for the exit, oblivious to the deafening roar of the crowd, the flashes of lights as media crews pushed past one another to get the shots that would make BREAKING NEWS headlines in just a few hours. 

“You misplayed in game two, you know, when you attacked Crush Wyvern instead of resummoning Dark Magician.”

“ I misplayed?!” Kaiba repeated. “You had no idea what you were doing! You missed timing on almost every effect!”

“At least I didn’t completely misread a god card’s effect!” Atem teased, sticking his tongue out. He was vaguely aware of the cheering, begging crowd hungry for their attention, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Kaiba. 

Kaiba just snorted. “Whatever.”

“No need to be a sore loser, Kaiba.”

“ You are the sore loser here, announcing my plays before I got the chance.”

“Pot, kettle, we have been over this.”

Atem hadn’t even realized they’d made it back to the dressing room until he heard the door close behind him, until the other, bigger, warmer and now significantly sweatier man pushed him back against it with a force that nearly knocked the wind out of his chest. Kaiba’s lips were on his in an instant. He fought back just as viciously as he had on the field, but in this, Kaiba was outpacing him at every turn.

“Now where were we?” Kaiba purred as he lifted Atem into his arms and began to make his way back to the small, uncomfortable couch, now much beloved couch.

Atem couldn’t help but squeal as his feet left the ground. 

Well. He did have a post duel tradition.

~*~

The living room at Kame Games was dead silent. Earlier that day, they’d all gathered around the ancient TV in Grandpa Mutou’s living room, nervous and excited to see their two friends face each other off in the much-anticipated match. Other than Jonoiuchi’s “what the absolute hell, ” and a few gasps from Anzu, no one had been able to usher a single word once the matches had begun. 

Now it was over, it seemed even the newscasters were struggling for what to do or say or show next: the last thing that anyone had seen before a sudden cut to “a word from our sponsors” had been Kaiba, Seto fucking Kaiba, and their beloved Atem walking out of the arena together, talking and laughing like best friends. 

Somehow, Yugi was the first person to compose himself. “What the fuck did we just watch?!”