The City of the Specter, Atem's Palace

[metagame]

The corpse sinks to the floor
Even the brightest gold, even the sharpest blade
Becomes sand, becomes dust

Comments

[privatedomicile]

Hey, shut up, bitch! You coulda mentioned that dumbass card game was gonna send me to zombie land!

[Jesse is ticked off, but he’s also noticing the mood of the group is telling Atem to stop rather than fighting, so he uses his turn to cast Diarama on Mafuyu.]

And lay off Soujuurou and Mafu if you don’t wanna get your bones torn off and shoved up your a—…nose!

[emptyself]

Isn’t that a little much!?

[privatedomicile]

He zapped dead bodies into my brain, Soujuurou!

[emptyself]

Oh, huh. I got eaten by dogs.

[privatedomicile]

Yikes.

[emptyself]

Maybe it had something to do with our fears?

[metagame]

[Atem tanks two more crits and another super effective attack... He wavers, and his skeletal body remains whole.]

You really think you can beat me..?

[He starts to laugh.]

I'd like to see you try! This is my Palace. I am Pharaoh! I am as Sekhmet!

Re-Horakhty, burn them all to ash!

[Atem casts Cosmic Flare!

Cosmic Flare's Heavy Nuclear damage connects on Argenti (14), Soujuurou (10), and Jesse (7), but the last hit goes wide and misses Mafuyu (4) entirely.]

[privatedomicile]

Sekhmet on this, bitch!

[Jesse points his gun at Atem for effect even though he is casting Marakunda.]

[prozaic]

Some of the best tragedies have always been that of a ruler's fall from grace!

[And the stage has already been set-- the people are lacking in resources, and they'll slowly starve. Become mutinous. Soon, rebel and revolt. What a wonderful ending to such a glorious kingdom.

A shame they must cut the timeline short. He waves his hand and casts Bufula (14+2), unmindful of how much more his skin feels cold, how his limbs are slowing. He just rubs feeling into his skin.]

It is so much sweeter, if the ruler is beloved as the divine.

[emptyself]

I thought your name was Atem.

[ soujuurou doesn’t really know what most of that means. but he does figure that atem needs a reality check.

the damage from the attack stings, but soujuurou stays his ground as nagaraja goes for yet another great slice (9+2). ]

[townmusician]

[Ugh. Villain monologues. Cringe.]

Whatever.

[But Haruka is going to cast Diarama on Argenti, because he's helping!]

[cleansewithfire]

[ Sunrise does not actually understand much of what that means, but she figures she may as well hit Atem until he regains his senses.

Which is why she's using Giant Slice (7+2) on him. ]

[beautifulknight]

[ It connects, and it burns like a raging flame, enough for him to need to take a moment himself, beads of sweat sliding down his face.

Thankfully, Haruka is there to heal him right away, taking off some of the edge of the pain, because that sure did hurt pretty bad.

But, it is not really the end just yet. ]

You are Atem. Have you forgotten that?

[ Argenti simply tosses another Psio his way! (5+2=7) ]

[beathollow]

( mafuyu is so sick of atem at his worse than worst. so she wordlessly fires jackpot sad shot at him for light psy damage ( 5+2) )

[metagame]

[He's losing steam with their onslaught...

He stumbles forward, shoulders hunched, and his balled up fists shake in anger.]

You don't understand.

[He jerks his head upward unceremoniously to glare at the group.]

You don't understand!

[He casts Mirror Force on himself. He'll reflect one magic attack this round!]

[strawsandals]

Enlighten us, then! What is there to understand?

[ He'll take a hit. He will break that barrier, even if it means -

Yoon fires Dragon's Claw (19) and gets blasted in the face with the same amount of damage. Ouch. That hurts and he is definitively down and in a lot of pain.

Still, to the others: ]

Go...! The barrier should be down now!

[cleansewithfire]

Mr. Yoon...!

[beathollow]

--YOON?!

( oh god she's at his side immediately, snow white casting diarama- is the princess crying?


yes. )

[townmusician]

[yoon what the FUCK]

Hey! Don't do stupid things like that!

[Leave it to the Murder Cult duo!!! Anyways, take the Diarama, Yoon.]

[emptyself]

No, I really don’t. I’m sorry.

[ soujuurou and nagaraja move in tandem towards the pharaoh, but this time it’s not the persona that attacks, but soujuurou, as he goes for a punch to the side of atem’s head (8+5). ]

You just seem very lonely to me.

[beautifulknight]

Don't understand what, exactly?

[ Argenti's words are a bit more brusque here or something (1+5???), but he tried. ]

[prozaic]

I understand quite a bit, actually. [A lot, honestly. Atem told him a lot of things before... He remembers, even if he was, functionally, mentally, almost a different person then.

He remembers.

He lunges at Atem, delivering a Giant Slice to the man with his own weapon, but thanks to the cold slowing him it's not much. (10+5)]

[metagame]

[He doesn't answer Argenti or Yoon, and fails to respond to Shalem... But something Soujuurou says strikes a cord (as he also strikes him to the side of head.)]

I seem lonely..?

[He stumbles and falls on his back.]

I am lonely.

They died because of me... It was all my fault because I wasn't good enough... And then I...

[He lays there a broken king.]

I didn't want to be this way... I want... to be kind... I want to play with my friends...

... Partner...

[Re-Horakhty casts Cosmic Flare and misses everyone! (2 -5, 11 -8, 5 -5, 5 -5)]

Without you I'm...

[metagame]

[As Yoon touches Atem's arms, visions of Atem's memories come to life around everyone.

Through his eyes, they see a young boy, who can practically pass as Atem's twin, with soft eyes and a gentle smile. They're surrounded by a large castle.

"It doesn't matter who you were or where you came from... What matters is that I'm glad you're here! You mean a lot to me... and they all feel the same way!"

Another memory, this time on the rooftop. The boy's face and hands are bandaged. Somehow, everyone knows he suffered from major burns and was recently hospitalized.

"Are you... a king?"

"I don't know. I don't remember where I came from... or even my name..."

The boy's eyes widen.

"I only know that I can exist through you, when you wear the Millennium Puzzle... In the valley of the Kings... There's a stone tablet that can be fitted with the Millennium Puzzle and six other Millennium Items... Maybe if I go there I..."

The boy interrupts Atem and tries to walk away.

"That's enough! Let's not talk about this anymore!"

"But... I want to be with you forever... I don't care if I never find my memories..."

"Me too... Me too... Forever... You can have my memories... So..."

And another memory in Egypt...

"It feels strange... I shared a name with my partner... with Yugi... but things are different now... My name... is Atem..."

The boy, Yugi, responds, "That means... I am me... and you are no one else but you... I feel kinda sad but... It had to be this way... you know?"

The final memory takes place in the very room everyone just fought. Yugi is on his knees, sobbing.

"You did it, Partner. You win."

Yugi continues to cry, unable to answer.

"Stand up.... the winner shouldn't be on his knees. If I were you... I wouldn't cry!"

"I... I'm too weak... I wanted to be strong... like you... that's all..."

"You're not weak... You've always had a power that no one else could beat... The power of kindness... That's what I learned from you."

Atem stares at Fray's open hand. He sees Argenti's welcoming smile. Mafuyu's kind eyes. Shalem break the very sword he turned against his friends. He hears Sunrise's quiet contemplation. Haruka berating him. Soujuurou and Jesse...

He remembers his friends.

He thinks of Yugi.

Tears begin to fall. He has not cried in a very, very long time. Not since he was a small child.]

I...

[The Palace begins to rumble, causing dust and debris to kick up, and the stone tablet which sat in the middle of the room to fall through the floor.]

[beathollow]

( maybe its a little startling that mafuyu's the one to grab for atem- )

We have to go! Come on!