Yu-Gi-Oh!

Among the Ashes

By Lucky_Ladybug

Notes: The characters are not mine and the story is! This is part of my post-anime series verse The Pendulum Swings, which is a redemption arc for anime Yami Bakura and the Big Five. This installment, however, throws in quite a new twist. I've been wanting to write it for months, but only now have things come together enough that the plot has really started to take shape.

Chapter One

He was falling.

He didn't know how long or how far or even to where. It was an endless tunnel, a void filled with nothing but darkness and cold. It had started upon his . . . their defeat, and had only continued—on and on, down, down, until he was sure this was what Hell was: falling forever, not fire forever.

And then it stopped.

He fell out of the tunnel and onto the ground, and when he looked up, fully expecting to see darkness all around him, he saw a night sky glistening with stars, led by the moon. He saw street lights and neon signs and lighted homes. It was all so very familiar, and yet it wasn't. Something was off, although he wasn't sure what.

He got up, prepared to start walking, when a familiar and unwelcome person with wild, spiky hair stepped out in his path. "Well, what have we here?" A sneer.

"You!" he snarled.

A laugh. "Are you sure we don't have each other mixed up with someone else?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Annoyance and confusion and anger. "But you shouldn't be here; you're destroyed!"

"You of all people should know that nothing is ever really destroyed."

A sneer of his own. "I'd like to see if I can change that." Advancement. "I did promise I'd be back to kill you."

"I'd like to see you try."

The two villains collided, locking hands as each tried to push back against the other.

"Good!" the second laughed. "At least for your condition. In your state, you can't possibly fight me."

"Oh, can't I?" A dark purple light enveloped them both, and at long last the first emerged from it, magical purple lightning sparking off his body. "I've stolen the knowledge of a portion of your power. Let's see what I can do with it."

He vanished with a raucous laugh that echoed up and down the lonely sidewalk.

"H-HA HA HA!"

xxxx

Téa yawned and stretched as she sat up in bed. It felt good to have a decent sleep, especially after so many things had been going wrong lately. At least Lector and Mokuba were alright after their horrific experience of being abducted by a madman, and those closest to them were recovering now that they had those they loved back. Everything had been proceeding well and good for several weeks now, and although that was always a sign that something would likely go wrong soon, no one wanted to believe it.

Then she opened her eyes and really focused on the room. "What the . . . ?! This isn't my bedroom!" she shrieked. Instead, from its old-fashioned appearance, it looked like a quaint little house in some fantasy quest. She practically flew out the door, only to stop short in disbelief at the sight of Yugi, Atem, Joey, and Tristan asleep at the table in the small and very unfamiliar kitchen. "Guys!" she yelped. "Wake up!"

"Huh?! What?!" Joey started. "How'd I get down here . . . wait a minute!" He sprang upright in utter shock. "This isn't my house!"

"It's not mine either, or any of ours!" Téa exclaimed as everyone started to stir. "Something is really wrong here!"

". . . Oh wow," Yugi gasped, coming awake. "It sure is!" He leaped up and ran to the front door, hauling it open. Outside was a strange meadow that stretched as far as he could see. Bizarre platforms made of large and small bricks were suspended in seeming mid-air. He was so caught up in staring at that, that he almost didn't see the walking mushroom until it was too late. He yelped, falling backwards into the doorway as it continued on its way.

"Uh . . . would I be wrong in saying that looked like something out of a Mario game?" Joey gulped.

"No, because it is!" Tristan shouted. "That was a Goomba!"

". . . Please tell me you're kidding," Téa groaned with a facepalm.

"I'm afraid they're not," Atem said. "Somehow we've landed in a life-size version of a Mario game."

"But who could have done something like this?!" Téa cried.

"The list is long, and will likely grow longer," Atem said. "Right now, I think our best bet is to try to beat the game. Maybe then we'll learn which of our enemies decided to do this."

"Hello?"

They all started as Bakura and Yami Bakura appeared from around the side of the house, Bakura sleepily holding their cat Oreo.

"Hi, guys," Téa sighed. "We've got big trouble."

"Try saying something we don't know," Yami Bakura grumbled. "We woke up in a tree." He reached up, pulling a twig out of his hair.

Oreo meowed in agreement.

"You look like you're still waking up, Bakura," Tristan commented.

"I suppose this is so strange that I can't quite believe I am awake yet," Bakura said.

"It's completely inane," Yami Bakura grunted, "but it's the truth."

"Well, I guess there's worse places we could've ended up," Joey said. "Imagine going to Five Nights at Freddy's Land or something."

"I don't think you'd last one hour in a game like that," Tristan said. "At least Mario's pretty harmless."

"I guess that depends on if the Goombas touching you makes you die or not," Yugi said in concern.

Téa cringed, leaping over a Goomba as it waddled past. "Let's get out of here!" She ran out of the house and to the nearest platform, jumping on it. A Flying Koopa immediately sailed over her head and she shrieked.

"There's a lot more to worry about than just the Goombas," Tristan said. "Probably everything else is worse."

". . . Yeah," Joey remembered. "Like the drop-offs. If you don't jump far enough, it's down you go!"

"And the ghosts," Yami Bakura grunted. "Or wait, those aren't until the castle, if we end up having to go there."

"You play Mario?" Tristan blinked. "Somehow I never thought that'd be your game."

"Bakura plays it," Yami Bakura said in irritation. "I play first-person shooters."

"Why am I not surprised?" Tristan sighed, throwing his hands in the air.

"I wonder if this is everybody who's wound up in this world or if our other friends are here too," Yugi said in concern. He walked ahead, keeping to the ground while Téa continued to use the platforms.

"I think I see Kaiba and Mokuba!" Téa called. "They're with the Ishtars."

"Ooh, I hate to think how ticked off Kaiba is," Tristan said.

"At least Serenity's not here," Joey muttered.

"She is," Yami Bakura flatly told him. "When we were in the tree, we saw her in the distance with Duke, David, and Mai."

"Gah!" Joey threw his hands in the air. "Who knows what kind of danger we're in for?!"

"It sounds like almost everybody's in here," Yugi worried. "I wonder if it's the whole city, or just us."

"It looks like whoever is doing this was very choosey about their victims," Atem said. "I'm sure if it was the entire city, we would have encountered more people by now."

"In the past, it was the Big Five throwing us into games," Tristan frowned. "And no one's seen them yet."

"Oh come on, Tristan. You think they're doing it?" Téa frowned back. "Not after all we've been through together for the last few months!"

"I'm just wondering where they are," Tristan said.

"Right here," came Gansley's annoyed voice.

Everyone jumped and turned. The Big Five were just emerging from a stand of trees, all looking varying levels of irritated or outright aggravated.

"We most certainly are not responsible for this, Mr. Taylor," Lector said. "We all woke up here."

Nesbitt flushed in embarrassment. Not only had they all woke up there, someone had dumped them all together. He had woke up using Lector for a pillow, while Crump had sprawled across Gansley and Johnson had been obliviously curled up in the middle of the chaos.

"Guys!"

Everyone turned again. Serenity was calling and waving as she ran out to meet them. The others in her group hurried to catch up.

"Serenity!" Joey exclaimed.

Serenity ran up and hugged him. "I was so worried!"

"What is going on around here?" Mai wondered, looking around in bewilderment.

"We're in a Super Mario Brothers game," Atem said. "I'm sure the only way to determine what's going on is to play and beat it."

"You're serious? . . ." David stared at him. "You're really serious."

Duke twirled a piece of hair. "So what are the rules of this game? Do we use mushroom power-ups?"

"I don't know," Yugi said. "We haven't seen any. So far we just have to knock out the bad guys . . ." He yelped as a Goomba suddenly walked across his path.

Gansley hit it with his cane. "I suppose we also have to find the goalpost."

"I figured all of you would be here."

Everyone started as Seto arrived with his group. They also seemed put-out, although Mokuba was looking around in fascination.

"Well, it's a change from Duel Monsters games anyway," Joey said.

"I don't like this," Ishizu said in concern. "This world seems fairly innocuous, but I'm sure we're not here for a harmless reason."

Téa jumped down from the platform. "Maybe Yami Marik's doing this," she said in concern. "He's done it before. . . ."

"That's very possible," Atem agreed. "Only it seems strange he wouldn't have come out to gloat. He likes to make it clear that he's responsible for the chaos he causes."

"Let's just start walking and see what happens," Yugi encouraged. "Since the goal isn't any of these directions, it must be . . . that way." He pointed in the one direction where he was sure none of them had looked yet.

That seemed reasonable, so everyone followed Yugi down that path, defeating enemies and collecting gold coins along the way. Every now and then one of them discovered a fire or ice flower, which they could hold to blast fire or ice attacks until its power was gone and it wilted.

"Well, this is interesting," Joey mused. "Guess nobody goes giant here or gets the powers to blast stuff with their own body. Not that I'm complaining."

"It's too easy . . . too peaceful," Atem frowned, looking around. "Something isn't right."

"Can't we ever just have fun in a game for once?!" Joey ranted.

"I highly doubt that being stuck in a game would ever be fun, Mr. Wheeler," Lector retorted.

Yami Bakura was also highly tense. He growled as he looked around, kicking a Goomba out of his path while staying alert for the boss monster.

"If this is like a Mario game, we have to go in the castle and fight Bowser," Bakura said.

"But I don't even see any castle," Mokuba objected. "It's like the meadow just keeps going on and . . ." He screamed as the ground abruptly dipped and he tumbled down a steep hill, crashing into Koopas and Goombas along the way.

"MOKUBA!" Seto and Marik ran over to the edge, staring, and hurriedly tried to pick their way to the bottom. Everyone else chased after them.

Mokuba groaned and pushed himself to his knees. "Oh wow. . . ."

"Mokuba, are you alright?!" Seto demanded.

"Yeah. . . ." Mokuba looked up with a start at a flagpole next to him. "Hey, I found the goalpost. . . ."

Joey jumped on it, bringing the flag down to them. "And there's the castle," he gulped.

Yugi frowned at it. "Well, guys, let's go inside. . . ."

"There's really a big Bowser in there?" Joey gulped.

"Actually, this is just a small castle," Bakura said. "It probably just leads to the next stage. It's at the end of the third stage when you go into Bowser's castle, if this is like the very earliest Mario games, as it seems to be. . . ."

The group slowly advanced into the castle. As Bakura had predicted, they came out in another meadow stage.

"Look out!" Joey yelped. "It's the flying fish of doom!" He dove to the ground as Cheep-Cheeps flew overhead.

"What on Earth," Gansley growled.

"Don't let them touch you," Bakura warned.

Oreo meowed, reaching up with a clawed paw.

"No, Oreo!" Bakura exclaimed. "Those aren't for eating!"

"It also looks like this level relies a lot on platforms," Yugi realized. "Up ahead, I don't see any ground, just platforms suspended in the sky!"

". . . Okay." Joey stared at Yugi and Gansley. "This . . . might be a problem."

"I don't know if I can make that jump either," Crump scowled.

"Isn't there an alternate route?" Gansley said in frustration.

"It doesn't look like it," Téa moaned.

"Then there must be some kind of power-up to help players jump around," Joey said. "Like . . . oh yeah!" He ran over to a beanstalk. "This way!"

Seto stared at it. "You're kidding."

"Hey, this is great!" Mokuba beamed. "Okay, so whoever's doing this is mixing games, but the beanstalks from Super Mario 2 are awesome! And there's no giants at the top!" He started to climb. "Come on, everybody!"

Gansley still looked doubtful. "Is that thing really going to support all of our weight?"

"It never bends or breaks in the game," Yugi smiled. "I'm sure it was put here for a reason. Let's go up."

"I'll go up last," Téa said, mortified to think of so many guys staring up her skirt. She especially didn't want Crump to be able to. She absently tugged on the hem.

Mai just looked amused, sensing the problem. "Hon, your skirt is so form-fitting, no one's going to be able to see anything," she said, draping an arm around Téa's shoulders. "Let's just go."

Téa flamed red.

Finally everyone was on their way up the beanstalk, ducking every time a flying fish went past. There were several platforms they could reach along the way, but most seemed to have Shy Guys and other Super Mario 2 baddies. Only at the very top was there something else.

"It's a door!" Mokuba scrambled off and ran over to it. "It probably leads to some cool place inside, or maybe to level ground." He waved to everyone else. "Come on!"

"Well, at least someone's enjoying this," Tristan grunted.

"Actually, it is pretty cool," Yugi said. "I'm just worried about who's behind this, because I'm sure they're not doing it so we can have fun and be a part of some of our favorite games."

Mokuba waited for Seto before opening the door. On the other side was what looked like an underground chamber with images of Phantos painted on the walls. "Um . . . uh oh." Mokuba looked back over his shoulder. "We'd better prepare Joey for this. It looks like we've gotta find a key."

Seto grunted. "Nothing's going to prepare Joey for this."

"For what?!" Joey retorted. Then he caught sight of the room through the door. "No . . . no . . . oh no!" he wailed. "Ghost!" He messed up his hair. "I always hated getting keys in this game! The ghost chases you all around until you get the door open! Or until it catches up and touches you!"

"Calm down, Joey," Yugi said kindly. "We'll all be here with you."

"Yeah, and so will the ghost!" Joey wailed.

Mokuba sighed and ran through the door, starting to jump from platform to platform on his way to the bottom. The others hurried after him.

"It looks like there's two ways down," Yugi said. "One way is this sandpit. But that usually means the key is in the pit." He jumped over to it and started digging.

"Oh great!" Joey moaned. "Then it'll be even harder to get away from the ghost!"

Seto started down the platforms after Mokuba. "Mokuba, come back! The key's probably in the sandpit!"

"I'm looking for the way out, big brother," Mokuba called back. "Then we can just run out as soon as we have the key." He jumped into a large ceramic pot.

Gansley stared down at it. "Please tell me that is not the way out."

The pot wobbled and fell over and Mokuba crawled out. "Nope. . . ."

"It's probably this door." Marik went over to a red door and opened it, revealing a nighttime scene in a jungle area.

"I've got the key!" Yugi called. He started scrambling out of the sandpit.

"And you've got the ghost!" Joey said in horror.

Indeed, Phanto was flying around Yugi, angrily trying to touch him to force him to give up the key.

"Let's pass the key around," Atem suggested. "Then one person won't constantly be in danger from Phanto."

"Great idea!" Yugi tossed it to him. Atem carried it for a while, then threw it to Joey when Phanto got too close. Joey yelped, tossing it between his hands before leaping over the side of the sandpit and jumping down on the platforms. He threw it to Seto, who sent it on to Marik.

Phanto was still chasing them as they all ran through the red door into the jungle scene outside. Marik passed the key to Mokuba, feeling the boy needed a chance to actively help out to boost his self-confidence. "I see the locked door up ahead," he said.

"Right!" Mokuba clutched the key and took it the last part of the journey, unlocking the door with a flourish. The key vanished, along with Phanto.

"Well, now to see what's next," Yugi said.

They all stepped through the door. But to their shock and bewilderment, they were standing in an empty and dark room.

"What is this?!" Lector cried.

A cruel laugh echoed all around them. "Congratulations, my adventurers. I see you already know how to play my game. I am your Game Master."

Yami Bakura went stock-stiff. "What . . . ?! It can't be! He sounds exactly like me!"

"That's impossible!" Joey yelped.

"Impossible? Why, no. Don't you know that there are other dimensions besides yours, Joey? Yes, I am Zorc from another dimension!"

"But you're not Zorc!" Bakura cried. "Not if you're another Yami! You're an Egyptian thief whose loved ones were all abominably massacred!"

"That person ceased to exist long ago. Call me Zorc. In any case, you're all trapped in my life-size game world until further notice!"

"Why are you doing this?!" Yugi demanded.

"I fell out of my dimension upon the Pharaoh's triumph over me and landed here, in yours. I don't know what I'm doing here or why, but right now that doesn't concern me. I took the knowledge from Marik's dark side on how to use Shadow Magic to trap all of you in here even without the power of the Millennium Ring, which I no longer have. Why? I just thought it would be fun! For me, of course. Not you!"

Bakura looked shaken. "He's not like the Yami from this world," he said. "Zorc's defeat shocked him into having an identity crisis. He started realizing who he was again for the first time since Zorc forced his spirit on him."

"Oh, he's having an identity crisis," Yami Bakura retorted. "He still thinks he's Zorc. He can't accept that Zorc has been defeated."

"And what about the me in that world?!" Bakura exclaimed. "Isn't he around to help this Yami find his way?"

"Maybe their relationship is far more splintered than even ours was," Yami Bakura grunted.

"It's hard to imagine it being worse than that," Bakura said matter-of-factly.

"In any case, it's none of your business," the Game Master cackled.

"Considering what you're doing to us, Sir, I would say it's every bit our business," Lector shot back.

"You people aren't even a problem after Kaiba fires you in my world!" said the Game Master. "After I started learning about this place, I found your further explorations into chaos very delightful. And yet now you've joined forces with your enemies?"

"That," Johnson said coolly, "really isn't any of your business."

"It caused me to want to include you in my reign of terror. I wanted to study you. And this other Landlord."

Bakura blinked rapidly. "Landlord?"

"That's what I call my host," the Game Master said. "Clever, don't you think?"

"Bakura!" Atem snarled. "Every game has an ending. We're going to find yours! And once we've beaten your twisted game world, you'll have to set us all free!"

Another wild laugh. "You're certainly welcome to try, Pharaoh! But don't think all you have to do is play something harmless like Super Mario Brothers. My game world is always shifting and changing. I started off with something easy to lull you into a false sense of security, but don't expect it to continue!"

Glowing red eyes briefly flashed in the darkened room, revealing what looked like a restaurant with a stage.

Joey screamed. "It's Five Nights at Freddy's!"