Disclaimer: You know, I had a dream I owned Yugioh once.

Author's note: Well! Welcome to the story! Thanks much to all those who reviewed my last few chapters on The Afterlife, which, in case you haven't read it, is the beginning of the plot for this story.

First, thanks to: Aqua girl 007, xMocha and fan person for reviewing the last two chaps of The Afterlife! (xMocha, I like my disclaimer too ;) And thanks to Angel's Riot, for letting me use a certain line in here ^D^

Now I'll bring you up to speed on what's already happened, but I suggest you read The Afterlife. ^o^

Prologue

It all started with a single man who had disintegrated before their very eyes as he spoke to the Pharaoh, shouting and challenging him.

Another man had attacked the Pharaoh, and in the process had been captured and promptly interrogated. He wouldn't say anything.

Hamon, a king in the Afterlife, had turned dark. He crashed the royal wedding and, in the process, revealed his identity to the Pharaoh. Using a black soul dragon, he had battled Slifer the Sky Dragon and lost, but was no where to be found when both Slifer and the Dark Soul fell from the sky.

The man they had captured, a man named Michael, finally spoke up and told them that Hamon wanted the Pharaoh's soul and all other powerful and rare souls. Hamon and his band, the Soul Collectors, wanted to capture the most valuable souls, but for what, he wouldn't say.

He captured souls—that much was clear. But for what purpose?

Did he destroy the souls, harvesting their energy?

When a soul was destroyed, it didn't come back. If Hamon wanted to do this, using this power on every soul he wanted, he had to be stopped at all costs.

Or, did he simply steal the souls and store them somewhere? Still whole, yet captured?

And the real question, why did he want the valuable souls? The men from the band, both the destroyed one and Michael, had said that Hamon wanted to free the dark souls. Hamon himself had said that he wanted a better Afterlife. A better Spirit world. He said it wasn't fair, and he was going to fix it.

But what exactly did that entitle?

How far would he go to get what he wanted?

Atem had a theory, but as of yet, it was still in the early stages of development and as a consequence, it didn't need to be discussed. But he was worried.

His theory had halted abruptly when his people came to him, telling him that spirits everywhere were simply vanishing. They would be walking one moment, and gone the next.

It was as if… as if they had stepped through the veil separating the World of the Living and the Spirit World.

Atem's theory evolved. The wheels in his head turned and churned through all possibilities. He thought to himself: I've already had to save the World of the Living, and now I have to save the Afterlife, too?

Ra!

Couldn't he get a break around here?