Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Yu-Gi-Oh! Lament of the Condemned Souls ❯ The Hope of Better Days ( Chapter 1 )

I would like to say I really wasn’t expecting to upload this so soon, but I say that every time I upload a story. I just can’t seem to wait until I have all the chapters out before I upload it.

I’d like to point out that this story takes place after Atemu was sent to the after life. I haven’t gotten that far in the manga, so please excuse me if I get anything wrong. Also, there’s going to be this count down thing every so often. I got it from the show ‘24'. It’s just counting down how long it’s going to be until the first few paragraphs come to be.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Yu-Gi-Oh! Lament of the Condemned Souls
  Chapter one: The Hope of Better Days 

“When Bakura?” Atemu demanded, blood dripping from the various lacerations on his body. “When will you stop?”

An evil cackle was his response and the white haired menace stepped onto the tablet with one leg, staring down at the once mighty ruler. “You should stop worrying about such trivial things such as that and be more focused on getting out of this predicament alive.”

Atemu forced himself to his feet almost falling down in the process. He was weak and had lost much of his blood. He knew he couldn’t last much longer. “I will defeat you. Know this. Before my time is through you will be defeated!”

Bakura leaned back with an almost shrug, his face showing that he was thoroughly enjoying every minute of the rulers pain. “I’m afraid you’ve got the wrong idea. It is my destiny to defeat you and take everything you have!”

Forcing himself to stand tall, Atemu stared in the face of his opponent. He would not back down to this monster of a human. He could not. “I will not allow you to obtain the seven Millennium Items. It is my duty to protect them from thieves like you.”

Bakura let out an evil laugh that made a shiver go down Atemu’s spine. “Then let the Shadow game begin!”   Thirty-two days : Fourteen hours : Twenty-nine seconds   

The doors opened eliciting a jingle from the bell. A small boy looked up from the counter he was working at and smiled warmly.

“Hey Yugi!” a familiar voice called. A blonde haired teen with rich brown eyes walked toward him with a big grin on his face. Next to him stood another boy with a brown Mohawk and brown eyes.

“Jonouchi! Honda!” Yugi addressed, getting up from his spot and walking over to his friends. “I thought you wouldn’t be back for a while.”

“We couldn’t stay there forever,” Jo said with a smile. “Mom would have kicked us out if we spent another day there.”

“It’s to bad,” Honda stated, face grim. “I would have liked to stay another day with Shizuka.”

Jo smacked his friend. “Like I’m going to allow that!”

Yugi shook his head with laughter. It was summer break and Jo was invited to his mothers house to visit his sister. Honda had jumped at the chance to see her again and sort of invited himself.

“Did you have a good time?” Yugi questioned.

“Yeah, for the most part,” Jo replied. “Of course it wasn’t the same without you. Damn.” He shook his head. “It’s been half a year yet it still seems like yesterday.”

“Yeah,” Yugi said, getting that nostalgic look in his eyes. “I sometimes wonder what would have happened if all that magic stuff hadn’t happened.”

“I’ll tell you what would have happened,” Jo said, eyes narrowing. “Honda wouldn’t be after my little sis!”

“Come on man!” Honda cried. “It’s not like I’m asking her to marry her or something.”

“You better not!”

Yugi giggled as the two struggled to get out of each others head locks. His eyes drifted to a small picture in a nice picture frame. It was all of them happy and care free. Sometimes if he looked hard enough he saw the Egyptian spirit standing behind him smiling his kind smile. But he was gone. Finally at peace in the after life.

It seemed as soon as the whole ordeal was over everyone separated. Anzu got a scholarship to a prestigious dance school in America and left almost at once, sending a letter every once in a while to keep up with them. The two Kaibas started traveling the world and their theme park had already opened up in America and was doing well. As for their white haired friend, Ryou. He had moved as well. Secretly, Yugi thought the boy missed the tomb robber that had lived in the ring for so long. He never got the chance to confirm his suspicions for only one month after the ‘the incident at the Tablet of Memories’, as they called it, he moved again to a different town. Occasionally he would send a letter asking what was going on and telling them he was alright but it had been over a month and a half since his last letter. He was most likely moving on with his life, eager to forget the past.

There was only three of them left now. Jo, Honda, and him. Of course he couldn’t leave out his grandfather. He had helped them throughout their journey in his own little ways.

“Hey Yugi,” Jo called, snapping Yugi out of his trance. “We’re going to the arcade. Want to come?”

“Sure,” Yugi said, smiling brightly. “Let me just tell my grandfather I’m leaving.” He turned and went into the backroom where his grandfather was laying, a book covering his face. Supposedly he was ordering more items for the shop, but the playboy magazine showed otherwise.

“Erh, Grampa?”

The old man jumped with surprise and the magazine fell on the floor. “Yugi! You scared me.”

“Sorry,” Yugi apologized. “I just wanted to tell you that I’m going out to the arcade with Jo and Honda. Is that alright?”

“Ho, ho, ho,” his grandfather chuckled. “The last thing I want to do is keep my grandson from having fun. Go out and I’ll close up the shop.”

“Thank you!” Yugi cried, hugging his grandfather quickly before running out back into the shop. “Alright, lets go.”

The arcade was packed full of people laughing and having fun. Every once in a while someone would shout and there would be cheering, but that came from the back of the arcade where the DDR machine was. It was almost always packed full of people waiting for their turn to get on.

The three friend, however, had a different idea of fun. They were currently getting ready to go into a dark room. The sign above declared ‘Lazer tag’.

 “You ready?” Honda said, holding his lazer gun up with a grin. “You know how good I am at this.”

“You’re going down!” Jo cried, grinning back. “Ready Yugi?”

Yugi clipped the suite on and smiled with satisfaction. They had to get the kids size in order for it to fit him. It had been an embarrassing ordeal, but it was better than not being able to move under the weight of the larger suit.

“Yup.”

“Lets go!”

The three dispensed into the dark corridors, each going a different direction. No one else was in the battle ground so it would only be the three. Locked in a battle against wits.

“Hey!” Jo cried, ducking behind the wall. “Cheap shot!”

“No it wasn’t!” Honda cried, indignantly. “I got you fair and square!”

There were two beeps as both Honda and Jo were hit. Yugi giggled insanely as he ran off to hide after hitting his two friends. They were so easy to get when they started fighting.

 He made a left, a right, then another left. It was so dark he was having a hard time trying to see. Sometimes he would find a neon sign flashing in the darkness to make sure it wasn’t completely dark.

Taking yet another left, he hid behind a wall that only went half way up. He peeked his head around to see where the other two were. Crouching, he held the gun against his chest his heart pounding loudly in his ears. There was nothing like getting the adrenaline running with a good ol’ game of lazer tag.

“I know you’re here Yugi!” Jo cried, somewhere hidden in the darkness.

There was a beep and Jo cried out again. “Honda! Quit hitting me!”

“If you just weren’t so loud it wouldn’t be so easy to get you!”

Yugi tip toed across the floor, not even bothering on crouching to low. His height allowed him to stay hidden even with the upper half of the wall missing.

He grinned as a sudden idea hit him. All the movie heroes and heroines had done this move. Maybe he could? He shifted so he was leaning on his right side on the ground. Holding the gun, he pushed himself out and shot at his two stunned friend.

One, two, three shots hit their targets before Yugi slid behind another wall. He immediately got up and ran off to another part of the room. ‘Man that was fun!’ he thought excitedly, turning more and more corners.

He stopped when he realized that he had reached a dead end. Turning to go back, he was surprised to see Jo and Honda standing there, guns held up.

“Erh, hi guys,” he said meekly.

“Thought you could surprise us with that cool move of yours!” Jo stated.

“He did surprise us though.”

“Shut up Honda. That’s not the point.” He shook his head. “The point is, it’s time to get even.” He pointed the gun toward Yugi, grinning.

“Eep!”

Thirty-two days : Nine hours : Fifty-one seconds

Yugi groaned as he bit into his hamburger. “I can’t believe you guys ganged up on me like that.”

“Hey, last time I had to buy hamburgers, remember?” Jo asked, putting ketchup on his bun. “It’s only fair that you pay this time.”

“So that’s what it was all about?” Yugi questioned. “Just to get me to pay for the burgers? Next time you’re paying.”

“Don’t think so,” Jo said.

“We’ll see about that,” Honda smirked.

“Hey! You can’t gang up on me.”

“It’s what you did to me,” Yugi argued. “It seems only fair that we do it to you. Then Honda.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Honda started, but Jo interrupted him.

“Yeah! Lets get Honda next,” Jo stated, drinking some of his pop. “I paid last time. It’s his turn.”

Yugi paused, tilting his head up in thought. “You’re right. It’s been a while since you’ve paid for hamburgers.”

Honda grumbled something about his ‘plan’ backfiring, his eyes slipping upon a newspaper abandoned on the table in front of him. He quickly stood up and snatched the paper then headed back to his seat.

“So what’s going on in the world today?” Yugi asked.

Honda looked through the paper superficially. “Not much. The only thing that’s going on is the festival tomorrow.”

“Oh yeah!” Yugi said excitedly. “I can’t wait. It sounds like so much fun. I’ve already got my mask and kimono. I’m going as a monkey, what you about you?”

Honda and Jo grinned at one another. “We’re going as that big dragon you see in China,” Jo explained. “You know, the one that has one person in the front and another person in the back. That way we can sneak up on people and scare them!”

Yugi laughed. “You guys won’t scare me!”

Jo got a mysterious look. “You’ll never know when we’ll show up. We could be anywhere at any time. Waiting to pounce on you!” He held his arms up as if he was prowling to emphasize what he was saying.

“I don’t think we’ll scare Yugi,” Honda stated. “We told him what we were going to be dressed like. Who knows. We might be the only dragon.”

Jo frowned. “You shouldn’t ruin a mans dream.”

“What kind of a dream is scaring people?”

“A damn good one!”

 Yugi laughed and grabbed the paper Honda had put on the table. It really didn’t look like much was going on. Everything was so normal now. Even though he missed the action and daring quests they had, he enjoyed the simplicity that came back to their lives.

“I’m going to head back to the shop,” Yugi piped up, folding the news paper under his arms. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

Jo blinked and let Honda out of the head lock. “Already? Aw, alright man.”

Honda rubbed the back of his neck. “See you at the festival.”

Yugi nodded and started heading out of the restaurant.

“You’ll never know until we pounce on you!” Jo cried, standing on the bench for greater height.

“Get down idiot!” The last thing Yugi saw before he disappeared outside was Honda yanking Jo down by the shirt.

It didn’t take him that long to reach the store. The ‘closed’ sign was hanging delicately from inside the door but he didn’t head the warning. He grabbed the key and unlocked it.

The bells jingled again and he closed the door, locking it as it had been before. “Grandpa!” he called out, putting the keys back in his pocket. “Grandpa?”

“Ho, ho, ho,” Grandpa’s voice could be heard. “I’m in the house. You’ve got a letter from Anzu.”

“Really?” Yugi’s eyes widened and he dashed into the house where his grandfather was standing, holding the letter. “I got you a newspaper.” He traded the paper in for the letter. “Bye!”

He dashed upstairs and into his room, locking the door behind him. Walking over to the desk, he flipped on the light and opened the letter. It unfolded when he got it out and he smiled when he started reading.

“Dear Yugi,

Everything’s going well over here. Dance school can be hard sometimes, but I’m used to it by now. There’s a bigger opportunity for me to get a job at a hamburger joint because the people over here seem to be obsessed with the stuff. Then again, do I really want to get another job at a hamburger place?

How’s it going over there? Last I heard, you were getting ready for that festival. I think it was supposed to be a week from now. Of course, by the time you get this letter it’ll be either over or the day before. Perhaps?

I’m coming down to see you all soon. There’ll be a break later this week so I can come down and hang out with you guys. I’ve already got the tickets and even a hotel that’s only a block from you game shop! Isn’t that great?

I miss all of you so much. I often find myself going back to those days where we were inseparable and wonder what happened. I guess we just grew up and went on with our lives.

I look forward to seeing you.

Love, Anzu.”

Yugi smiled, noticing a small heart next to her name. He missed her the most of all of them. He used to have the biggest crush on her but it just wasn’t meant to be. They had different goals and ideas. It couldn’t have worked out.

He grabbed a pen to write a letter, but stopped himself. If Anzu was coming here the letter wouldn’t reach her in time.

“I guess I’ll just have to wait,” he mumbled, getting up and laying on his bed. He stared at the ceiling. Subconsciously, his hand went towards his chest were the puzzle used to lay.

He sighed. He missed his other half.(No, his name was Atemu, not ‘other half’) They had finally found out his name and past but he still had to leave. Every once in a while he would try and find that hallway where he first actually saw the spirit but found he couldn’t. It still existed but he couldn’t force himself into the subconscious of his mind anymore. Because that ability had been taken away just as the puzzle and spirit was.

Turning over on his side, he looked out the window a single tear finding its way down his cheek. “Oh, Atemu. I wish you were here. Everyone misses you. I miss you. . .”

------------------------------------------------

&ld quo;Last call for flight 97!” the voice boomed out.

A slender girl with brown hair and bright blue eyes ran up to the counter, gasping for breath. She bent over and breathed deeply, before handing her ticket over to the woman.

The woman smiled graciously and handed the ticket back after ripping off the stud. “Have a nice flight.”

“Thanks,” she said, tucking her hair behind her ears. She tugged at her suitcase and headed down the long hallway that lead to the plane. She wasn’t looking forward to the long flight, but it was worth it to see her friends again.

She was greeted by the flight attendants and ushered on the plane where she stopped for several seconds. She looked at her ticket. “18a.”

Walking past the first class section of the plane, she headed to the back part where she immediately found her seat. Someone was sitting in the seat next to her.

Inwardly she cringed. She always hating sitting next to a stranger on long flights. Normally she wouldn’t mind making a new friend, but long plane rides were much different. And besides, the American sitting next to her was overweight and looked just plain creepy.

She picked her suitcase up with some trouble, and put it in the compartment. She blew a strand of hair out of her eyes as she leaned back, happy that she had managed to get her suitcase in all by herself. Now there was the man to deal with.

He smiled, revealing a large set of yellow teeth. “Is this your seat, ma’am?”

“Erh, yeah.” She watched as the man got up and let her in. She slid into her seat and put on the seat belt. She was a few seats in front of the wing allowing her to look out while they were flying.

“What are you doing in Seattle?”

She snapped out of her daze and looked back at the man who had sat back in his seat. “It’s just the place where I take the connecting flight to Japan.”

“Ah, Japan,” he said. “I take it you’re going home?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Just for a little while.”

“I’m Dan by the way,” He held out his hand.

“Anzu,” she replied, taking the hand and shaking it. “Nice to meet you.”

“Same here,” he grinned again. “It’s going to be a long flight. Mine as well get situated, eh?” He grabbed a magazine and started looking through it.

Anzu watched as the hatch was closed and the hallway move back to give the plane enough room to get out. In the front of the plane a flight attendant stood and she could just barely hear the captain say something about safety procedures.

She didn’t even bother to look up. She had gone on many planes before and new everything by heart. The sun shined through the window blinding her. Reaching up, she covered the window letting the darkness envelope her.

           & nbsp; 

Thirty-two days : Six hours : Twenty-three seconds

I hope it was alright. Please review, telling me what you think. I’d like it if no one flamed me, but I wouldn’t mind taking criticisms. Please review.

Thanks!