Thoughts about the Puzzlepile AU. And how it might begin.
Yugi knows about AI-tem, and has been avoiding him because he knows it’s not Atem. And he can’t bear to be reminded that a facade exists of the person he misses and wants to be with, but cannot have. Atem is Yugi’s most intimate friend, and AI-tem feels like a cruel joke to him. Yugi misses Atem so desperately, and despite knowing it was his decision to send Atem to the afterlife, he resents himself for doing it, and wasn’t prepared for the empty void inside.
Meanwhile AI-tem observes Yugi from afar via Kaiba’s network. He watches all the old recordings of Battle City and other events from when Yugi and Atem were still together. He doesn’t have all of Atem’s memories, because Kaiba didn’t have access to such intimate knowledge. What he has is surface level. Enough to make a believable pretense, guise. But he isn’t Atem, he doesn’t know what he is. But there is a part of his program that longs and yearns for Yugi. And he’s convinced it’s a remnant of the real Atem.
AI-tem sees how Yugi suffers, and it kills him seeing the way Yugi looks at him with both longing and agony. But Yugi won’t even give him a chance. Not that they could interact physically.
Then one day above Domino city, there is a blinding explosion of light. Kaiba has used his dimension hopping machine to break into the afterlife to see Atem again, (and kidnap him) after the events of DSOD. The entire city of Domino shields their eyes from the light, feels the aftershocks that shake the city.
Hours later, Yugi is walking down the street, headed into the heart of the city to meet his friends when he spots a strange person standing in the road who looks suspiciously like Atem, dressed in ancient Egyptian garb. Albeit not as opulent and rich as Atem would have worn. The man is scared out of the street by a honking car, and darts into an alley. Yugi gives chase, and when he catches up, the man turns to look at him. And it’s himself.
Yugi is staring into a frightened and terrified eqyptian mirror. The ancient Egyptian Yugi speaks to him in an ancient language, frantic and confused. Yugi tries to reach out and touch him, but the Ancient Egyptian Yugi suddenly flees.
Then Yugi hears a scream, and the city is shaken again as a massive green dragon flies overhead. He runs out into the street to see the dragon heading to Kaiba Corp, where it descends on the tower. He knows this dragon, it’s Timaeus (from season 4). He has a suspicion that something has got to be Kaiba’s doing, and starts heading that direction.
Along the way, he bumps into a what he thinks is another mirror of himself, dressed in period British royal clothing. But upon looking up he’s staring into Yami’s face. He’s bewildered at first. The man stares at him with no recognition. And this “Yami” is also terrified just like the ancient Egyptian Yugi had been. Yugi tries to call him Atem, but the man doesn’t respond to the name. He gets that same uncomfortable feeling he gets from AI-tem. That “this isn’t my Atem,” feeling. And instead of staying, he runs from this British royalty Yami.
He continues to stumble upon a few more versions of himself and Atem on his way to Kaiba corp. that feeling of intense dread growing, something is very wrong. At the base of the Kaiba Corp tower he encounters his Atem. Except it isn’t his Atem. This Atem is pale like Yugi is. And looks like Atem used to look when they still shared a body. This odd pale Atem turns to him, and actually looks upon him with recognition and reverence. This pale Atem speaks to him in a voice he’s missed so dearly, calling, “Yugi!”
Yami runs to him to pull him into a hug, the most tightest of embraces. Because the chaos unfolding in the city frightened Yami. And the last thing he remembered was getting separated from his Yugi by a flash of light and energy. So he’s thrilled to see his partner and he pulls this Yugi into a tight hug, and tells him how glad he is that Yugi’s safe.
And Yugi just short circuits. He just can’t. He hasn’t felt Atem’s touch or presence in YEARS. And this pale Atem recognizes him, sees him, looks upon him with love and adoration and reverence. This Atem is embracing him the way he’d always wanted Atem to embrace him.
And that’s when Yami realizes this isn’t his Yugi. Because he can FEEL how thin and fragile this Yugi is, in a way Yami’s Yugi never was. When he pulls away that’s when he sees the tired, defeated, despondent agony that’s wracked this Yugi for years. Because he’s realizing, this Yugi isn’t his Yugi. This Yugi looks weary, and older. Worn down by grief. This Yugi is thin like he hasn’t been feeding himself. This is not the Yugi he had been with just moments before all the chaos. This is a Yugi that spent the last few years without Atem, and dying inside.
But all Yugi can see is the Atem he used to have. The person he wants most.
Even as Kaiba returns to the present day with having kidnapped Yugi’s Atem from the afterlife. Yugi and Yami (pale Atem) enter Kaiba Corp to find Kaiba being loaded on a stretcher, to be taken to the hospital, his little brother fretting over him. And Yugi’s true Atem is standing in the front room bewildered and raging. Screaming at Kaiba for ripping holes in time and space.
Cue all of them being tasked with combing the city to find all the Yugis and Atems that got scattered across Domino.
Anyway, the whole AU is basically most of the puzzepile gently coaxing DSOD Yugi and his Atem to reconcile, reconnect, and rekindle their relationship. And Yugi being absolutely unwilling to let his real Atem get that close, because he just CANNOT experience that heartbreak again. But it ends up starting with Yugi holding Atem at arms length, not allowing himself to get close again, because he knows Atem will have to leave again and he cannot experience that heartbreak a second time.
They start with a series of small moments that build into bigger moments. Slowly the two of them dismantling walls and rekindling the trust and devotion they once had, but with a romantic element to it now
Meanwhile all this is happening, Yugi bonds with all of the other Yugis and Atems, each of them carving a place in his heart. All of their threads of fate intertwining. Because even across time and space their different incarnations and versions are drawn to each other. A bond that defies even the gods.
