Hey, guys! It's me, with another new story. I know I said I'd wait till my main story is done, but I wanted to do something for my birthday, which is today; I am officially 16 years old! *cheers* But on to the semi-serious stuff; I was inspired to write this because of Cosmic Kiss's Jaden's Twin Sister. I hope my story will have as much support as hers does.
Thorn: Somehow, I doubt it.
Oh, and before I forget, this pessimist is Thorn; consider her my own sadistic little Yami, okay?
Thorn: *bows and smirks*
Now, on to the story! Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! no matter how hard I wish for it.
Chapter 1: The Puzzle of the Gods
They say that behind every great man or boy, there's an even greater woman or girl; I can attest to that, since my twin wouldn't have made it as far as he has if I hadn't helped him here and there; Oh, I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Tori, Tori Muto; before you ask, yes, the great Yugi Muto is my twin brother. It's not easy being a sibling of a famous duelist like Yugi; our younger sister Cali and I tend to get overlooked because of it. But I'm not here to go on about that; I'm here to tell a story. The story of how my brother, the famous Yugi Muto, the King of Games, became a dueling legend.
Recess time at Domino High; so much fun.*coughsarcasmcough* While the rest of the class headed out the door to play basketball outside, Yugi and I sat at our desks with our games, just like we did every day.
"Hey, Yugi, Tori! Quit playing games by yourselves and come play basketball for once," One of our classmates called, pausing at the classroom doorway. Yugi and I looked up from our latest game, Bluebeard's Attack, just as Yugi found the right switch and sent the little plastic pirate flying from his hiding spot. We shook our heads.
"That's okay," Yugi said.
"Our team would just lose. . ." I added, gently twisting the thin gold chain that my small, gold-colored disk-shaped puzzle pendant dangled from. Our classmate shrugged, then left the room, leaving just Yugi and I there. We sighed together, then began packing up the game on our desks.
"I wish we could play our kind of games with someone," Yugi said, putting the game back in its box.
I nodded my agreement. "Yeah, that would be fun. Cali plays with us every now and then, but it's not the same. We always bring a lot in our bags, but. . ." I trailed off as I stuffed the game back into my black and red backpack, catching sight of my little golden pendant and triggering a thought.
"I know! We can try to finish that today!" I said to Yugi, who brightened and reached into his own backpack.
"The puzzle I always carry around! Great idea, sis!" he said, making me smile. He never failed to cheer me up when he did that. Yugi pulled out a box with hieroglyphics etched into the sides and an Eye of Horus on the front, and placed it on the desk; my pendant actually looked a bit like it: on the front, there was an Eye of Horus, and on the back was a small set of hieroglyphics. My brother's greatest treasure lay inside that box; whenever anyone asked him what was in the box, he always answered with the same riddle:
"It's something that you see, but have never seen before!"
Sadly, no one in class has ever gotten the meaning of the riddle but me; oh well, I suppose they'll get it one day. While I was thinking over the riddle and playing with my pendant, Yugi spaced, which resulted in the school's own future Laurel and Hardy team, aka our personal tormentors, sneaking up on us and snatching my brother's puzzle, and somehow managing to undo the clasp on my necklace, pocketing it as well.
"Hey!" I cried, glaring up at the two jerks standing beside our desks.
"'Something you have seen, but have never seen before'? 'Your greatest treasure'? You win the prize for nuts, Yugi!" Tristan Taylor, a guy with spiky brown hair, taunted with a smirk. If I were a little taller, I swear I'd wipe that smirk right off his face with a few well-placed fists.
"Give them back, Tristan!" Yugi cried, leaping up from his desk and running after the taller teen, who'd moved towards the door of the classroom.
"Joey, pass!" Tristan called, tossing the box and necklace to his blonde-haired friend, Joey Wheeler, the second member of the goon squad.
"Hey, be careful with them!" I snapped, standing up and joining my brother as Joey tossed the box and necklace into the air.
"Jeez, only girls would care so much about a box and a necklace." Joey snorted, leaning against the wall. "Watching you two makes me sick; it really pisses me off! So, y'know, Yugi, Tori. . ." Joey caught the box and necklace easily in his hands and turned to us, "I'm gonna teach you guys how to be tough!"
He smacked his chest with his right hand as he lifted his left-with Yugi's box and my necklace on it-high into the air.
"You two want these back? Then gimmie all you got!" He ordered.
"We hate fighting!" Yugi and I protested loudly.
Joey rubbed his ears and winced. "Ow! Shut up; you two have no guts." He grumbled.
"Anyway, please give them back," Yugi pleaded.
"No way!" Tristan snorted.
"What's in this thing anyway?" Joey asked, looking at the box with curiosity. "I'll take a peek."
Yugi and I paled. "You can look, but don't lose anything! That's really important to me!" Yugi said as we tried not to freak out.
Joey opened the lid of Yugi's box. He snorted and closed the lid with a bored expression on his face. "How dumb. Here, Tristan." He tossed the box and necklace to the brunette when a hand appeared in front of Tristan and quickly caught the airborne box and necklace.
"If you think they're dumb, give them back to Yugi and Tori!" A girl with short brown hair snapped at the guys. This is Tea Gardner; she's been one of our best friends since elementary school. She's a little pushy sometimes, but she's really nice; oh, and never tell him I told you any of this, but I think my big brother has a crush on her.
"Tea! Nice catch!" Yugi said, smiling widely at her.
"Excellent timing, as usual," I greeted her with a nod and smile.
"Joseph, Tristan! What have I told you about picking on other kids?" A voice called from the doorway. We turned to look as Joey and Tristan paled.
"C-Cali! Hey! We were just thinking about going to get you for a two-on-one soccer game!" Tristan said, trying to smile at the dark-haired girl. This is mine and Yugi's younger sister, Cali. She's a year younger than us, and she's friends with Joey and Tristan. Surprising given the fact that they love picking on us, huh? Actually, Cali's the only one who can control those two morons sometimes.
"Bullies who pick on little kids is what's dumb, boys. Now, get out of here; I'll meet you two down at the field in a few minutes, got it?" Cali ordered. The guys scowled at her, but quickly high-tailed it out the classroom door. As soon as they were out of sight, Cali turned to us.
"Sorry, guys. I could've sworn that they were down at the field where I left them." She smiled apologetically at us.
"It's okay, Cal. Thanks for the save." I answered for both of us. Yugi nodded.
"No prob; I better go find those apes before they run into bigger trouble. Laters, guys!" Cali called as she ran out the door, leaving Tea, Yugi, and I alone.
"Here you go. They're special, right?" Tea handed us back our stuff and sat down at the desks as Yugi put the box down and I fastened my necklace back around my neck.
"Thank you, Tea." I said, briefly holding my pendant in my hand, then releasing it.
"Tea, one word from you and Cali and they ran away!" Yugi said, looking at the door in disbelief.
"Their heads swell if you don't knock them down once in a while like Cali does. You guys need to get tougher." Tea answered with a shrug.
"Just like the rest of the guys at this school," I agreed with a nod before glancing at my brother sheepishly. "Well, present company excluded." I added.
"By the way, guys," Tea spoke up, catching our attention. "What are those?"
"That's right, you haven't seen them yet, Tea." Yugi said. He and I paused for a second and exchanged a look, then nodded and turned back to Tea; Cali calls moves like that our 'twinstincts', since we seem to think and act alike most of the time.
"If you promise to keep them secrets, we'll show you." I said.
Tea nodded. "Okay." Yugi opened the lid to his box as I undid my necklace's clasp and set it down on the desk next to the box, which turned out to be full of gold-colored puzzle pieces.
"Wow, they're pretty!" Tea admired them, picking up a few of the puzzle pieces in one hand and gingerly picking up my necklace in the other.
"Sparkling gold," she murmured to herself as she examined them. "Are these pieces of something? All broken up. . ."
"It's a puzzle!" Yugi proclaimed, picking up a set of pieces and holding them up. "I've never finished mine, so I don't know what it looks like. . ." he trailed off, pouting slightly at me. I giggled a little at his face; my brother has a to-die-for puppy dog face, and he knows how to use it. He gets a little mad at me because, out of the both of us, I finished my puzzle first. I liked it so much when it was completed that I put it on a gold chain; yep, you guessed it: my pendant is my puzzle, too! Cool, huh?
"So it's 'something you see, but have never seen before," I added. Yugi began fiddling with a few puzzle pieces as he spoke up again.
"Our family runs a game store, right? We sell unusual games from around the world. Years ago, we found these two way back on a shelf covered with dust. So we took them for ourselves." He looked up, and we smiled at each other.
"These puzzles are mementos of our Grandpa, so we love them even more," I added, taking my necklace back and fastening it back around my neck.
Tea's face softened as she listened to us, then became curious again. I wonder what she was thinking about.
"They say the puzzles were found in an Egyptian ruin," Yugi said, looking down at the box.
"Egypt, huh?" Tea asked with interest. We nodded together.
"See, there's hieroglyphics carved around the box." Yugi pointed out the pictures, which I had always thought were a cool way to record things in ancient times; don't tell anyone, but whenever Yugi and I want to speak to each other during class, we always pass notes written in basic hieroglyphs so the notes can't be read out loud if we get caught. Not a bad idea, huh?
"I bet they say something like this. . .'Whoever solves this puzzle shall be granted one wish. . .' You know what I mean? Like the Dragon Balls," Yugi said with a smile. I fingered my pendant and turned it around to reveal the mini-glyphs on its other side.
"And mine probably say, 'When this puzzle is solved, you may be granted a wish for being clever enough to solve it," I added with a slight smile.
Tea smiled at us cheerfully, like she always did. "You're the only one we've told Tea; don't tell on us, okay?" Yugi asked.
"Yeah, this is a secret," I agreed.
Tea nodded. "I get it, guys! Trust me!" Yugi's mood darkened slightly and he rested his face in his palm for a second as he frowned.
"But this puzzle is major hard. . .I've been working on it for eight years and I've never solved it! It's kind of depressing." He sighed, pouting slightly at me. Sadly, that last little bit of information was no exaggeration; Yugi and I found our puzzles when we were eight years old, but while I'd solved my little pendant puzzle within a year and a half, Yugi hadn't come close to putting his together even halfway, even though Cal and I had tried to help; even Grandpa couldn't put the thing together.
"Don't give up, Yugi! Your heart is in it!" Tea encouraged him.
"Yeah, bro, you can't give up just because of one little problem," I agreed.
My big brother cheered up almost instantly, a wide smile spreading across his face. "Yup, I'll do my best!"
Tea paused for a second, then smiled mischievously at us. ". . .So, what are they? Your wishes?" she asked.
We laughed together and shook our heads. "No way! That is absolutely, positively secret!"
(Cali's P.O.V.)
I walked down the hall with Joey and Tristan in tow, letting the poor boys cool off from my bullying lecture; don't get me wrong, I love those two pains below the belt like they were my own other big brothers, but sometimes they try to get away with things that I don't like them doing, and I like letting that happen even less.
"Cal, you make me mad sometimes," Joey grumbled, walking up beside me with a scowl. I ignored him for a minute.
"Seriously, who's a bully?" Joey asked me.
"Uh, Joey, that was us a few years ago," Tristan unhelpfully pointed out. I turned and glared at them, smiling inwardly as they paled slightly. Unfortunately, we were so absorbed in our own little world that we weren't looking where we were going and bumped into someone.
"What the-"I started to say-or curse, depending on how you look at it-as we collided with somebody. When we pulled back to see who had been stupid enough to get in our way, all three of us lost the color in our faces; the guy turned out to be Ushio, a big-as-hell hall monitor that had even the teachers and principal too scared of his height and demeanor to do anything about his scams.
Tristan and I backed up slightly, dragging Joey with us by his jacket collar. I silently prayed that Joey would keep his big fat mouth shut for one single time in his life.
"Nothing! Keep out of this, you-"Joey started to say. Why can't I catch a break every now and then?
Tristan and I quickly clamped our hands over Joey's mouth and shut him up before he'd inevitably say something that we'd all regret later.
"It's nothing, absolutely nothing at all. . ." Tristan said with a phony smile on his face. I nodded my agreement, a just as fake smile on my own face and one of my heels dug into Joey's foot for good measure.
The thug turned around and began walking away, but turned his head to give us a parting shot and glare. "Picking on people is bad," he warned us coolly.
I nodded furiously. "Yes, that is so true!" Tristan and I tightened our grips on Joey's mouth as said moron tried to speak.
I gave Joey my best I-will-kill-you-if-you-ever-do-that-again look and used my special telepathy to send him a message.
"Joseph! Who the hell do you think you're picking a fight with? That's that ogre of a hall monitor, Ushio! He makes all the rules at school! Even the teachers and principal are too scared of him to say anything!"
Once the hallway was clear, Tristan and I let go of Joey, who had almost choked thanks to our deathgrips on his mouth. Tristan looked around quickly.
"Is he gone? He's gone. . ." He sighed to himself, relaxing a little.
Joey gulped in air, then proceeded to cuss us out with said air supply. "You jerks, I couldn't breathe!" he growled at us.
Tristan leaned against the wall briefly to refill his lungs, too. "Man, that was close." He gasped, placing a hand on his chest in relief.
"Ushio! I'm gonna get you someday!" Joey shouted, shaking his fist at the hall Ushio had disappeared down. Meanwhile, Tristan had recovered and joined us again. I sighed in boredom and lightly kicked one of the walls of the hall.
"Man, life is so dull!" I groaned in complaint.
"Oh? I've got something interesting. . ." Joey said, catching mine and Tristan's attention.
"Yeah? What?" I asked for the both of us.
Joey reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of small, gold-colored items. I paused for a second before I recognized them. They were pieces of Yugi and Tori's puzzles! A stab of horror hit me as I thought about what would happen when my sibs noticed pieces of their precious puzzles were missing; they would be so distraught, and they'd be disappointed in me if they knew I knew what had happened to the pieces.
"If they're missing pieces, they can't solve their puzzles!" Joey chuckled.
"Nice, Jo!" Tristan chuckled. That's it, I can't take it anymore.
"Joseph, gimmie those! You know they belong to my sibs," I growled at the blonde. He shook his head and held the pieces over my head, making me try to jump for them. Curse my shortness! Tori and I are a few inches taller than Yugi, but we're all still much shorter than Joseph the wonder boy here.
While I was jumping, Joey took a baseball pitcher's pose and threw the pieces out the nearest open window.
"No!" I gasped in horror. I ran to the window and searched the grounds for a sign of the puzzle pieces. When I looked into the school pool, I felt my blood freeze as I caught a glimpse of gold in the deep end. I whirled around angrily as my blood became twice as hot as before.
"Joey, that's it! I don't care what you say, I'm not coming anywhere near either of you jerks until those puzzle pieces are returned to their owners; namely, my older siblings!" I shouted at them, then spun on my heel and walked away, ignoring their calls of protest and placation. But the thing that none of us saw was the two puzzle pieces' faint golden glows as they sank to the bottom of the pool.
(Tori's P.O.V)
Ah, the end of the school day; I live for this time of day! I hummed cheerfully as Yugi and I walked out of the building toward the gates that everyone else was already rushing through in a hurry to get home and relax.
"Okay, let's get home and finish that puzzle." Yugi said to me as we walked through the gates. I nodded my agreement; but before we had stepped a foot past the gates, a voice stopped us.
"You're Yugi and Tori, aren't you?" It asked. We turned to look at the speaker, and were slightly alarmed when we saw a Hulk of a teen leaning against one of the gateposts.
"I'm Ushio, the hall monitor." He greeted us. "I want to ask you two something. Are you being bullied by certain students in your class?" Yugi and I knew what he was talking about, but honestly, we didn't really care. Point A, bullying had been a way of life for the two of us growing up; we were used to it, and had become thick-skinned as a result. These days, it took a lot to get us upset. And Point 2, if we were being honest with ourselves and each other, we considered Joey and Tristan our friends deep down, no matter how much they annoyed the hell out of us. So, we played dumb.
"Wha? Nothing like that ever happens to us," Yugi said, looking confused.
"Who, us? You must be thinking of some other kids," I agreed. We made moves to go on, but ogre-man's voice stopped us again.
"Hold on! Victims often defend their attackers. I've been investigating!" He straightened up and got closer to us, then clapped our backs so hard that we almost fell over from their force.
"You two can stop worrying. I'll be your bodyguard from now on!" He smiled at us, but I could tell he was hiding something. Yugi and I exchanged glances, then stepped away from Ushio and toward the sidewalk.
"There's really nothing going on, so. . ." Yugi said, trailing off as we turned down the street.
"So we don't need your services. Thanks for the offer, though." I finished over my shoulder. When we were a good number of blocks away, I turned toward Yugi.
"What the heck was that all about?" I asked. He shrugged.
"That guy's weird, though," he added. We laughed a little at that statement, then moved on to different topics as we continued home.
We brightened as we came to the doorstep of the family game shop; we lived above the store, which was called the Kame Game Store, and was run by our grandfather, Solomon, who raised the two of us and Cali since we were little. Sometimes he was as wise as his namesake, but he could be goofy every now and then as well.
"We're home!" we called together as we started to enter the shop.
"Yugi, Tori!" A voice called. We turned, and smiled together as we saw who the voice belonged to.
"Tea, hey!" Yugi greeted her with an even wider smile. I know he likes her; though knowing him, he'll never admit it.
"Hey, Tea. What's up?" I greeted her.
"I thought I'd come over to play," she replied cheerfully.
"Welcome back, you two! Cali got here a little earlier than you did." Grandpa greeted us with a smile. Cali got here before us? Impossible; she usually hangs out with Joey and Tristan until dinnertime. I wonder what happened. . .I was brought back to reality as Tea said to us, "Guys, you said your puzzles were mementos of your grandfather!"
"We meant they were going to be mementos," Yugi explained helpfully while Grandpa put up a fuss about his age. I smiled at the sight. Same old Grandpa! We turned towards the stairs and began walking over to them.
"Tea, let's work on puzzles in my room," Yugi called to her.
"Just soda for us, Grandpa," I added over my shoulder. Tea nodded and followed hesitantly.
"You haven't given up on that puzzle yet, Yugi?" Grandpa asked in amusement.
Yugi sweatdropped. "Who'd give up?" he grumbled quietly. I patted my brother's shoulder sympathetically as a slightly wicked grin spread across Grandpa's face.
"The Millennium Puzzle and Millennium Disk are beyond human understanding! That puzzle is too hard for you, Yugi; it's a miracle that Tori finished hers. And they have all sorts of unsavory rumors attached to them," Grandpa warned us. I rolled my eyes slightly; we'd been hearing variations of this talk for eight years now, ever since we decided to take the Puzzle and Disk from the store's shelves. Beside us, Tea paled a little and eyed Grandpa warily.
"Rumors. . .?" she asked slowly.
Grandpa nodded. "The Millennium Puzzle and Disk were discovered at the beginning of the 20th century. A team of British archaeologists took them out of a tomb of a sibling Pharaoh and Princess's crypt in the Valley of the Kings. However, afterward all those in the team died mysterious deaths. . ." Grandpa paused and glared at us menacingly at us.
"And the last ones said with their dying breaths. . .'the Shadow Games'. . ." He finished, looking pleased with himself. I have to admit, Grandpa always was a great storyteller; he could create a story so realistic, you'd imagine the events really happened however long ago the story took place. Tea stepped away from us slightly, giving the Puzzle and Disk a wide-eyed look.
"Guys, those things are dangerous," she said nervously.
"What are 'Shadow Games'? They sound cool!" Yugi said, looking at his puzzle box with interest. I twisted my Disk's chain with a smile on my face.
"I like the sound of those 'Shadow Games'. . ." I agreed, staring down at my Disk. Grandpa took the box from Yugi and held it so we could see the front side's hieroglyphics. He lightly tapped the writing with a finger.
"They say the hieroglyphs carved into the box say this," he told us. "'The one who solves me shall gain the powers and knowledge of Darkness. . ." I listened with interest. I wonder what mine translate into?
Yugi's eyes lit up in excitement. "It does grant your wish! Now I'm really fired up; I'll finish it no matter what!" he exclaimed. I smiled at him; that's my big brother. He and Tea went up to his room while I lingered on the stairs to talk to Grandpa.
"Grandpa," I said, turning to him. I unclasped my necklace and handed it to him. "What does mine say?" Grandpa studied the hieroglyphs for a minute, then answered.
"These say, 'The one who solves this puzzle will be granted the powers and knowledge of Light to counter the powers of Darkness and bring balance to the world of Shadows.'" I frowned thoughtfully as I took back my necklace and put it on.
Does that mean that it would counteract the powers of Yugi's Puzzle? I wondered as I walked up the stairs and into Yugi's room.
It was really more of a playroom than a bedroom with all of the toys strewn around it; Tea, Yugi, and I talked, played games, and solved plain puzzles for a few hours before Tea had to leave for dinner. Yugi and I went downstairs to eat with Grandpa, then came back up and worked on the Puzzle for a bit.
When 9:00 came, I said goodnight and went to my room next door to get some sleep. I love my room; it has a wooden floor half covered with mini red, white, and gold rugs, a window decorated with a fire colored window seat and white pillows, and has gold colored curtains with red designs embroidered on them. The walls are painted a light orange color and half plastered with anime and music posters, and my bed is white wood and covered with fire colored blankets and gold pillows. What? So I like warm colors; so sue me.
But what I like best about my room is the dozens of books inside it; I have books everywhere: on the walls, on my desk, in bookcases, in various piles on the floor. Grandpa says I have enough books to add a bookstore on to the game shop, which isn't a bad idea. I changed from my school uniform into a deep red tank top and white and gold-striped pajama pants, then crawled under my blankets and turned out my little red desk light. As I fell asleep, I missed seeing the small disk pendant around my neck glow a soft gold.
I tossed and turned in my sleep all night; the setting of my dream unsettling: I was running through a dark stone building, terror rushing through me as I ran, trying to get away as fast as I could. As I turned to look behind me every now and then, I saw the same thing, a stone-like creature with wings and a snake-like tail covered in shadows pursuing me. Every time I saw that creature, I felt the terror in me grow and urged myself to run even faster than before.
I exited the building quickly and came to a similar stone hall, where I stumbled over something and fell to my knees. As the creature gained on me, I gripped my pendant tightly, praying for someone, anyone, to save me. The creature caught up quickly, and was soon hovering only a few feet away from me and getting even closer by the second. I looked away as it loomed over me. But before it could attack me, a shining white light pierced my vision and forced me to cover my eyes, and a dragon's roar sounded in my ears.
I opened my eyes and stared in wonder at the sight before me: a beautiful white dragon hovered in the air in front of me, the stone creature melting into nothing at its roar. The dragon half-turned to look at me, and I hesitantly reached up to touch its scales as I looked into its deep blue eyes. It nodded slightly to me as it disappeared into the air. A person appeared to my right and held out a hand to me; taking it, I stood and looked at the owner of the hand and, presumably, the white dragon. It was a man, and the only thing I could see of him was his amazingly deep blue eyes, almost an exact match to the white dragon's.
"Are you alright, my Princess?" he asked me softly, his voice deep and his words gentle.
I woke up with a soft gasp, my heart going a mile a minute. I shook my head to clear it, reminding myself that it was just a dream. As I got dressed, I wondered about my dream; it had felt so real that I could still see the white dragon's glow when I closed my eyes.
I dismissed my dream as I went down to eat breakfast; when we were done, Yugi, Cali, and I said our goodbyes to Grandpa and walked to school together, discussing dozens of different topics on the way. I daydreamed about the dragon during my classes, even going as far as sketching it during math class; as I stared at the drawing, I felt like I had seen the dragon somewhere before my dream. The day passed quickly for me and soon recess came again. As the class filed out the door to play basketball outside as usual, Yugi and I pulled out one of our games and began to play.
Yugi yawned often; when I looked at him curiously, he explained, "I stayed up late working on the Puzzle."
I nodded, "Just try not to stay up as late tonight, okay? We've got a few tests tomorrow." He nodded in agreement, and we started playing again. After a few rounds, we heard a voice at the doorway. We turned to look, and Ushio, the guy from yesterday, was standing there.
"Could I have a moment?" he asked us. We exchanged a puzzled look, then followed him out the door; eventually, we wound up behind the school.
"Ushio, what do you want to show us?" Yugi asked for the both of us.
He smirked at us. "Just come with me. I know you two'll like it. . ." he replied. As we turned the final corner, a horrible sight came into view: Joey, Tristan, and Cali lying in a collective heap on the ground, all beaten to a bloody pulp.
"It hurts. . ." Tristan groaned under his breath.
"Joey! Tristan! Cali!" we cried together in horror. "What in the world?"
"I told you guys, I'm your bodyguard! I decided to teach these bullies a lesson," he explained to us. "One they wouldn't forget!"
"Ushio, this is way too much!" I protested as we hurried to their sides.
"Joey, are you okay?" Yugi asked worriedly.
"Tristan? Cali? Speak to us!" I added. Joey glared at us.
"Yugi, Tori. . .you jerks. Are you happy now. . .?" he managed to growl.
"That's not true! Do you really think we'd ask him to do this?" we demanded together. Cali managed to grab his shoulder.
"Don't, Jo. They didn't do anything. . ." she gasped slightly in between her words. Ushio came up behind us and pushed us to the ground.
"Move it, you two. I'm not finished punishing them!" Ushio said, walking up to the three of them and starting to beat the crap out of them. Yugi and I exchanged another brief look and then rushed to step in front of them.
"Stop!" we ordered together. Ushio raised an eyebrow at us.
"Are you two protecting them? You're a couple of strange ones. This is your chance to get them back for everything!" he said.
"We can't do that to our friends!" we protested. Behind us, Joey and Tristan's eyes widened slightly and Cali smiled at our backs.
"You're a couple of real winners. You call them your friends?" Ushio laughed at us. "Are you serious? These are the guys that pick on you every day!"
"They weren't picking on us," I protested.
"They were teaching us how to be tough. . ." Yugi added.
"Whatever. . .but remember, you two still have to pay what you owe!" he said, smirking. Funny; he never mentioned anything like this yesterday. "Bodyguard charges. . .200,000 Yen!"
"What? We don't have that kind of money!" we protested.
"For 200,000 Yen you two can hit these three all you want. You can take out your daily troubles on them. I think it's a good deal. . ." he suggested. We kept our mouths shut, looking at each other out of the corners of our eyes. Neither of us wanted to do something as cruel as Ushio was suggesting, but we knew he wouldn't just walk away and forget about all of us if we declined his offer.
"Don't touch these three anymore!" I commanded, balling my hands up into fists.
"If you're going to hurt someone, hurt us!" Yugi added fiercely.
"You two are beyond strange, you're crazy. . ." he muttered, looking at us. He shrugged. "All right, if you want it that way. . ." He stepped up to us and grabbed the fronts of our shirts, lifting us into the air.
"I'll show you what'll happen if you don't pay up! Normally I hate picking on people. . .but this isn't 'bullying', this is 'warning'!" He lightly tossed us into the air, the hammered us as we came back down. Pain exploded through me in dozens of different places, and I could already feel a few bruises and knots beginning to form.
Alright, I'll level with you guys. Yugi and I swore to never tell anyone else the wishes we made on the Puzzle and Disk when we got them, but I know you guys will keep them safe. They were the same wish, really, "I wish for friends." Friends we could count on. Friends who could count on us, no matter what. Are you all really that surprised? Sure, we had Tea and Cali as friends, but we'd known Tea since preschool, and Cali was our little sister; we loved both of them, but it wouldn't hurt to have other friends besides them. Our little beating is where the 'friends who could count on us, no matter what' came in.
Ushio gave us a final kick to the stomach each and let us fall to the ground. I could feel a bruise starting to form on every single part of my body; I swear that even my hair and fingernails were hurting.
"Well, I'll leave it at this. Bring the money tomorrow! Got it? 200,000 Yen!" he said to us, turning to leave.
"Break your promise and that won't be all you get," he warned, pulling something sharp out of his jacket pocket. "I'll teach you two even more pain with this!" He held up a knife, then put it back in his pocket and laughed as he walked away.
That creep Ushio. . .he's the worst of the worst! I thought angrily.
But there's nothing we can do, Yugi thought, cooling me down. He's so big and powerful. . .we couldn't touch him in a hundred years.
Is giving him the money all we can do. . .? I asked Yugi and myself was we got up. We went to help Cali and the guys, but they were too stubborn and did it themselves. We hobbled to the nurse's office for first aid, then went back to class. We thought our problem over countless times during our classes, but as the bell rang we still had no idea what to do. We went home, discouraged.
As we entered the shop, Grandpa greeted us as usual, then put up a big fuss when he was our injuries; Yugi had big bruises all over his face, Cali had a nasty-looking cut from her temple to her cheekbone, and I was sporting one big as hell black eye. After we assured him that we felt fine, he let us go upstairs; Cali went to her room and stayed there, and Yugi went to his room. I joined him after I grabbed a few books and my miniature bank from my room.
We counted up all the money we'd saved up; sadly, the combined total only came to 3,312 Yen, much less than Ushio was demanding. After we finished counting our money, I sat on the bed reading while Yugi sat at his desk working on the Puzzle and muttering to himself while he worked; reading was my way of relieving stress, Yugi's was working on puzzles. I looked up every so often as Yugi worked; it looked like the stress was doing him good because he fitted more puzzle pieces into place than I'd ever seen him fit when he worked on the Puzzle in the past.
"Sis, look!" he called after a while, jolting me back into the real world. Yugi held up an almost complete Millennium Puzzle-the only piece missing was the piece with the Eye of Horus. My eyes widened slightly as a smile spread across my face.
"I knew you could do it!" I praised him with a smile, his answering smile even bigger. He reached into the box for the last piece as I gripped my pendant tightly, my fingers tracing its edge. I frowned slightly as my fingers came to a hole. I looked down at my pendant and gasped in horror. A piece was missing! Yugi cried out the same thing as he found the Puzzle's box completely empty. We quickly ransacked our rooms in the hope that they'd fallen in either of them by accident, even checking Cali's room and enlisting her in our search; no such luck.
In the end we entered Yugi's room again, completely destroyed. We lied on the bed together as we stared at the ceiling.
Now our wish will never come true. . .Yugi and I thought sadly.
We were so caught up in our suffering, we didn't hear or see Grandpa come in. He stopped at the desk to examine the Puzzle in amazement.
"Incredible! Yugi, you finished the Millennium Puzzle!" he exclaimed in wonder. Yugi sat up and shook his head.
"No, Grandpa, I couldn't finish it after all. . ." he murmured.
"Let's see. . ." Grandpa mused, carefully picking up the Puzzle and examining it, then doing the same to the Disk.
"Yugi, you and Tori have poured your hearts into these puzzles for the last eight years. . .both of you should have more faith!" At Grandpa's words, Cali and I sat up, too.
"Huh?" we asked together.
"You wishes will be granted!" he said, putting his hand in his pocket and pulling something out in his fist. When he opened it, our Puzzle pieces were sitting in his palm! Yugi and I leapt off the bed and tag-teamed bear-hugged him, almost knocking him off his feet.
"You found them for us! Thank you!" we cheered together. Grandpa handed the pieces to us and we let go, but he shook his head.
"I wasn't the one who found it," he said. We looked at him curiously.
"A friend of yours came by. . .he asked me to give that to you." Grandpa said, making Cali's eyebrows disappear into her hairline.
"Even though it wasn't raining, he was soaking wet. . ." Cali smiled widely as Grandpa finished speaking. Yugi and I exchanged glances as we looked at our Puzzle pieces.
I wonder who that could have been? I mused. Yugi shrugged slightly.
We'll thank him when we find him, he answered. I nodded in agreement.
(Cali's P.O.V)
I quietly got up and moved to join Grandpa as he exited the room, pausing once to put something in Yugi's schoolbag; neither of them noticed since they were still wondering who had found the pieces for them. We closed the door behind us and began talking as we moved down the hall.
"He told me everything. . .said his name was Joey. . .asked me not to tell them his name." He explained to me.
That idiot, I thought fondly, imagining my blonde friend diving into the pool to recover the puzzle pieces.
"I was worried about your injuries, but," he confessed. "He told me a thug named Ushio is threatening them."
"That's all true," I admitted sadly. I may be the youngest out of the three of us, but I'm also the toughest, and I had always promised myself that I'd look out for my older siblings; that's a switch, huh?
"The money is in Yugi's bag. . ." he said."If that can keep them out of trouble. . ."
"When have they even been in trouble before, though?" I asked. "They're nice, quiet teens, unlike me and the guys. They've only gotten in trouble because someone else did something."
We turned to look back at the door to Yugi's room and smiled; we could hear their excited voices all the way down the hall.
"I'm amazed that they finished the Millennium Puzzle and Disk, but they are my grandchildren. . ." Grandpa trailed off and looked at me apologetically. I shrugged.
"It's all right, Gramps. I know I'm no puzzle wiz like they are," I said. He smiled at me and went on.
"It's written in the Book of the Dead that the one who solves the Puzzle inherits the Shadow Games. He becomes the Guardian of Right and passes judgment on evil. The one who solves the Disk becomes the Guardian of Balance and judges the Guardian of Right's opponents as well as counteracting the Guardian of Right's punishments if they become too terrible," Grandpa trailed off and laughed a little.
"I think that thug, Ushio, might be the one getting in trouble. . ." He finished with a slight smirk. I smirked a little myself.
Now that I'd pay to see, I thought as I entered my room and went to bed.
(Tori's P.O.V.)
Yugi and I exchanged excited looks, then put the remaining puzzle pieces in their slots together. As we completed the puzzles, I felt energy begin to fill me, giving me power that I'd never dreamed that I'd possess. The energy overwhelmed me, and I collapsed on the bed, blacking out, Yugi doing the same. We missed seeing the Eyes of Horus that appeared on our foreheads brightly glow gold.
-(3rd Person P.O.V, I think)
Midnight at Domino High; no one's around. . .except for that thug Ushio. He stopped in the courtyard and looked around with narrowed eyes.
"I can't believe that Yugi called me out," he muttered to himself. "And to the school at midnight. . ." A flash of gold catches his eye, and he turned to see what it was and got a shock; Yugi sat on top of a set of hurdle blocks nearby, looking different than he'd seen him earlier.
"Thanks for coming, Ushio," Yugi said, smirking.
Ushio recovered quickly. "Well, I gotta hand it to you," he said. "I can tell you're gonna be a good little boy and give me the money like I asked."
He paused slightly. "Don't like that weird costume and that your sister's not here to pay her half. . .but that's okay!"
He held out his hand. "Hand it over now. . .the cash! The money! 200,000 Yen!"
Yugi held up a pile of bills. "It's right here," he said. "And we've raised it to 400,000. . ."
Anybody could see the greedy glint in Ushio's eyes. "400,000!" he grinned widely.
"But this much money; it wouldn't be fun to just hand it over," Yugi said. "So. . .how about you play a game with me?"
"A game?" Ushio asked, puzzled.
Yugi nodded. "Right; but not just any game. . .a Shadow game!" He raised an eyebrow at Ushio. "How about it? If you in, you get more than 200,000 Yen! Not bad, huh?"
"Interesting. . ." Ushio said, smirking.
"We need just one tool to play this game." Yugi pointed at Ushio. "That knife you've got hidden, Ushio!"
Ushio took the knife out of his pocket and placed it on top of the blocks alongside the money. Yugi nodded to himself.
"Okay, everything's prepared!"
"Money and a knife?" Ushio asked. What game can we play with these? He wondered.
"I'll explain the rules!" Yugi said. He placed the money on top of his left hand and picked up the knife with his right, holding it over the bills and his left.
"The players take turns putting the money on top of their hand and stabbing it with the knife," he explained. "The players keep only the money that the knife stabs, and he must always take more than one bill." He put the knife down and put the money next to it as he went on.
"The game continues until the last bill is gone! The challenge is to take as much money as possible. If a player tries to take the money by hand or quit the game, he loses and forfeits all of his money to the opponent." He smirked again.
"Doesn't that sound interesting?" he asked.
"Huh! It's just a test of courage. . ." Ushio laughed slightly. On the inside, he was starting to panic a bit. I-is this really Yugi?
In the shadows of the school, another figure watched. A golden glow illuminated them briefly as they murmured, "The stage has been set; let the judging of the soul begin."
Yugi grinned menacingly. "But if you break the rules, as punishment the penalty game decides your fate!" he warned as they 'Ro-Sham-Bo'ed* to see who went first; Yugi won, and carefully inserted the knife into the bills. He pulled it out as carefully and sighed in relief.
"I didn't even get ten bills," he said as he examined his catch. "I thought I'd put my strength in it, but they're not easy to stab. . ." he took the bills off and handed the knife to Ushio. "Okay, your turn!"
Ushio grabbed the knife and positioned it over the money; he hesitated.
"If you use too much strength you'll stab yourself," Yugi warned. "The point of the game is to control your greed!"
"Shut up!" Ushio snapped, plunging the knife into the bills. When he lifted it, most of the money came with it. He held it up gloatingly as he laughed.
"Look! Over 100,000 Yen! And not a mark on my hand! I should have stabbed harder!" He said.
Yugi took the knife and smiled slightly. "Not bad; but it gets harder to control your strength with each turn," he said, chuckling a little under his breath.
After another few turns, Yugi spoke up again. "There's not a lot of money left; the game is almost over!" he proclaimed.
There's nothing to this game! Ushio thought as he positioned the knife over the money. "The rest of this money is mine!" he said grinning. He relaxed his hand to take aim; but it wouldn't loosen up.
What's wrong with my arm? He thought. I can't relax it; this is bad! He looked down at the money-and his other hand underneath it. My right arm's trying to swing down with all its strength; I'm aiming for the money and my left hand together! He tried in vain to relax is arm, but it wouldn't move an inch.
Yugi smirked knowingly as he watched Ushio struggle. In the Shadow games, a person's true nature is revealed to decide their fate, he thought. Ushio! Your arm is controlled by your greed. You can no longer stop it. What will you do? Will you sacrifice you left hand to get the money, or. . .
Ushio stopped struggling and grinned menacingly. "The answer is simple! There is a way I can take a stab without hurting my left hand and getting all of the money!" He raised the knife and aimed it at Yugi!
"You let me hold this knife! That's why you lose!" he laughed as he expertly tossed it at Yugi. Yugi grinned himself and jumped to dodge the incoming knife. He landed a few feet away and smirked as the other figure, Tori, came out of the shadows.
"Just as we thought; you weren't able to follow the rules after all!" Yugi said. Their foreheads began to glow gold, and an eye appeared in each one.
What the-their foreheads! Those eyes! Ushio thought in surprise.
"These are only seen by those who 'trespass in our souls'," Tori said with a nasty smile on her lips.
"Like those who hurt our friends and try to steal our money!" Yugi added.
"Penalty Game! The Illusion of Avarice!" Yugi commanded, pointing at Ushio. The bully's eyes glowed a brilliant shade of green for a second, then returned to their normal color. He saw bills floating around him everywhere, and jumped around to collect them all, babbling about all of it being his.
"They say money can make your head spin," Yugi said. "Now the only thing in your head is the Illusion of Avarice!"
"The judgment is complete," Tori said as they turned and began walking away. "The soul was judged and penalized, as it should be, Brother."
Yugi nodded. "For as greedy as he is, this might actually be a happy ending for him, Sister." He patted his jacket pocked and smirked. "And we've gotten all our money back."
They disappeared into the shadows, leaving the former bully to his illusion.
(Tori's P.O.V. again)
I woke up in my room with a slight headache and a funny dream lingering in my mind; the most I could remember was someone like Yugi challenging that bully Ushio to a game of some kind, and winning against him, and a woman in Egyptian dress calling out to me. I wonder what it means. . .
I looked at my clock and shook it off; I can think about it later. I better get ready! I scrambled into my uniform and hurriedly brushed my shoulder-length, spiky black hair and blond-tipped red bangs before racing downstairs for breakfast.
Cali and I downed our cereal as Yugi shot into his seat to our left and began vacuuming down his own breakfast; we finished in no time and hurriedly said good-bye to Grandpa before running out the door to get to school on time; luckily, by the time we reached the school, most of the other students were still lingering in the courtyard, so we slowed down, knowing we still had time to spare before class started.
A large group of students standing around one of the trees in the courtyard caught our attention; as we got closer, we saw that they were surrounding Ushio, who was lying in a pile of leaves and garbage, rambling on about it being his money and not sharing it with anyone. I listened with surprise.
Maybe my dream was a little more real than I thought. . .I mused. The three of us exchanged looks and shrugged together before heading inside. Yugi ruffled his hair as he yawned.
"I can't remember what happened after I completed the Millennium Puzzle last night. . ." he sighed. We all stopped in our tracks and paused as we thought over his statement. We looked at the pendant around his neck and grinned widely together.
"The Puzzle!" he exclaimed, holding it in his hands. "That's right! I finally finished the Millennium Puzzle!" he cheered, taking the Puzzle from around his neck and tossing it into the air as Cali and I whooped and cheered.
"That's my big bro!" Cali said, giving him a bear hug and noogie as he caught the Puzzle.
I ruffled Yugi's hair as Cali let go of him. "Knew you could do it," I whispered to him as he placed the Puzzle around his neck once more. I held my Disk in my hand, closing my fist around it.
Our treasures, I thought as we shared a smile. We rounded the corner and were surprised to see Joey leaning against the wall; we winced slightly as we saw Joey's face, covered in bruises and bandages.
"Yo, Yugi, Tori," he greeted us, pausing before acknowledging Cali. "Cali; hey."
She nodded to him with a smile. "Jo. Hi," she said to him.
"How you guys doing?" he asked us casually. I was a little surprised, to say the least. What, no taunts? This is a surprise.
"Good," Yugi answered for all three of us. "And you, Joey?"
"This is nothing," Joey said, tapping one of his bruises nonchalantly. "Happens all the time." He turned to us and smiled.
"Yugi, Tori! If you two can keep treasures, so can I!" he said to us. "Wanna see?" we nodded.
He shook his head and laughed. "You can't! I'll give you guys a hint; it's something you can show, but can't see." We looked at each other and tried to figure out Joey's riddle.
'Something you can show, but can't see'. . .I frowned in concentration. What could it be?
Cali shook her head helplessly. Don't look at me, I'm no Riddler; besides, up 'till now I didn't even know that he was smart enough to make up a riddle.
Yugi sighed. For once, I've got nothing.
Neither do I, I admitted. We turned to Joey for the answer.
"You guys give up?" he asked; we nodded together. "C'mon, it's friendship! Thanks for showing me that we're friends." He told us with a smile. Cali smiled back and walked over to him, giving him a quick noogie before smacking his shoulder.
Yugi and I were stunned, and it took us a few seconds before we could come up with a response. We smiled widely together before answering together.
"Okay!" Joey grinned back for a minute before squirming a little, then running off down the hall, to our surprise.
"Well. . .later! See you guys in class!" he called over his shoulder. Ugh, how can I say such corny stuff? He thought.
In his haste to get going, Joey left one of his shoes behind. Cali sweatdropped as she picked it up. She yelled down the hall in the direction Joey was going, "Hey! Joseph, you moron! You dropped one of your shoes!" She sighed as he came back to us for said shoe.
"I swear, I'm gonna beat the crap out of you if you do that again." Joey paled slightly at her statement, but she winked at us, letting us know she was faking. Yugi and I exchanged looks as the four of us walked to our classroom, joined by Tristan and Tea on the way.
Just another normal day, I thought.
Normal for us, Yugi thought back.
But we had no idea how much our 'normal days' would change after that day. . .
Hey, guys! Glad you could join me down here; I'm sorry for the eye-full, but I didn't want to break this thing up into chapters. I'll update again after my main story's finished(or after I find the episodes online, whichever comes first), so I hope you all will be able to hold off until then.
*Ro-Sham-Bo is just a fancy Japanese or Egyptian way of saying 'Rock-Paper-Scissors', for all of you who don't know; Yami uses it often in the original manga. And for those of you who aren't fluent in Japanese, kame is Japanese for turtle.
Now, thanks to everyone who lasted through this pain in the *** chapter; hope you review, and no flames, please! See you for the next chapter!