Another idea was plaguing me so I decided to write it before I lose my train of thought. I know some, if not most of you, have read some of those oh-so-fun fics where our favorite boys become 'chibis' or little adorable kids. Its got a bit of drama and sad stuff, but I'm not gonna drown us all in that stuff. There'll be humor to counter it so no worries.

Here's my take on the usual character-turns-into-a-chibi concept, but a bit more on character development, deep meanings, and all that fun stuff (yay)

Pairings are currently undecided…though it'd likely be the usual YY/Y YB/R and YM/M.

And don't worry about Just Pretend. The next chapter will be up in a few days, maybe the day after tomorrow.

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Prologue

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It was heartbreaking, it really was. Isis thought that now that all of their problems have been resolved, loose ends tied up, and with Malik's redemption, everything would be alright. She thought that now that everyone had decided to fall into a sort of peaceful coexistence with one another, she along with her siblings (adopted and not), would finally be able to leave the past in the past and move on.

Unfortunately, it was not so.

Isis knew Malik was trying his best to get along with Yugi and the others, but there was still that impassable rift. And both parties at either end were having trouble building a bridge.

Yami Malik, with all his scathing comments she'd sometimes here whispered to her brother's ear was not helping matters. The dark entity was only succeeding in making Malik insecure. Yami Malik seemed to have made it his personal mission to make sure Malik would never get back on his feet once again. Said boy was starting to wonder whether he was even worthy of being accepted into the presence of Yugi or the pharaoh.

The former holder of the Millennium Tauk sighed. Well, at least that was all Yami Malik was capable of. In exchange of gaining their own body, all darks have agreed to relinquish their powers (though Yami Malik was reluctant in doing so), it was either that or disappear completely after all.

Knock Knock Knock

The sharp tapping at the door broke through Isis' train of thought.

A second later, Seto Kaiba walked into the room, cold aloof expression in place as usual.

"Seto," Isis stood up, "You came."

Seto merely nodded before walking forward and settling himself on one of the office's visitor's chairs.

The two stared at each other for a moment before Kaiba sighed. "Well?"

She shook himself, "Forgive me, I guess I never expected you to..." she trailed off.

Seto rolled his blue eyes, "Entertain your bold request?"

Isis remained silent, but a smile formed on her lips.

Seto avoided rolling his eyes again and instead scoffed, "Well, it wasn't like you gave me a choice."

She laughed heartily, "The power our little brothers have over us. Sometimes makes you wonder doesn't it?"

His lips only twitched upward but Isis knew that the other totally agreed with her.

"I have to say, it was rather low of you to have Mokuba beg me to help you out."

"Hmm," Isis only nodded, a smile on her face, "Well, if you didn't really want to, I'm sure you could've found some way to avoid it."

Seto scoffed and then a smirk formed on his face, "Well…I admit that I find your plan to…form some kind of happy 'friendshippy' bond between your brother and that psychopath interesting to say the least. And I think I'm in the mood to be entertained on the expense of others so, as they say; Why not?"

Isis smiled, "Well…should we start then?"

"Wait, I was wondering…could we bring Yugi into this too?"

She thought about it for a moment. She couldn't see any disadvantages, and this would be a great opportunity to have everyone to really get to know each other.

"Of course, but I'd like to invite Bakura too…and you'd better find a larger accommodation for those six."

"No problem, the more the merrier..." he grinned. I'm going to tape every second of this damn thing, he thought, something I could watch when I need a good laugh…or blackmail.

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The atmosphere in the room was very tense. And none of its occupants seemed to know how to break the stifling silence between all of them. Finally, one decided to 'test the water' and see if the sharks aren't going to bite.

"Uhm, so…do any of you know why Isis called us here?" Yugi said timidly.

Malik, who'd been close to dozing off, looked up to see everyone's eyes on him.

"I…don't really know…" he said softy.

"Oh, alright then…" Yugi trailed off.

The uncomfortable silence reigned once more.

Malik looked down and cursed himself. Why was he acting so cautious around Yugi? They had settled their conflict right? So why the tense and stiff conversations?

"Hmm," the person beside him said, "You still hate him don't you?"

He snapped his eyes to look at the voice's owner.

Yami Bakura sat there smirking at him. Malik blinked, and thinking that the other was only trying to get a rise out of him adapted an expression of contempt and said, "What are you talking about?"

The other's smile only widened, "Come on now, tomb keeper. It's not as if it's some big secret. Hell…" he looked at the general direction of Yugi and Yami Yugi who were sitting side by side, "I still hate that son of a bitch, but I guess it's the pharaoh mostly…," he turned back to Malik, "So I guess we're one and the same."

"I don't hate Yug—" Malik started to say but was cut off by his dark half.

"Heh, so why aren't you there with them?" Yami Malik said teasingly, jerking his head at Yugi, Yami Yugi, and Ryou. "Why are you here with us?"

Malik glared at his dark side, said, "Just shut the fuck up," and turned away. He was not in the mood to get into another fight with his other half. He sneaked a glance at the other side of the room. Immediately after arriving, they unconsciously separated into two groups, now that Malik noticed. Good guys and bad guys basically, he thought bitterly. But why indeed was he here with Yami Bakura and Yami Malik, wasn't he one of the good guys now?

"Heh," Yami Bakura scoffed after listening to the short exchange between the other two. He turned to his fellow dark, and in a low voice said, "Well, I can fairly see what a loving relationship you two have."

"Not like you and your host are any better," was Yami Malik's reply.

"At least Ryou doesn't say 'fuck' in front of my face…not that he curses in general…but there's respect there, I can tell."

Yami Malik was about to retort when the sound of the door opening and closing gained his attention, as well as everyone else in the room.

Yami Yugi, at the other side of the table from the two other darks stood up, and in a disbelieving voice said, "Shadi?"

Yami Bakura snorted, "Since when did you use doors?"

Of course, the robed Egyptian was unfazed, merely looking at each person present and then saying in that mysterious voice of his, "So, you're all here. Good."

Ryou blinked and asked in a soft voice, "Erm…what are we suppose to do here, sir?"

Shadi looked at him, causing the white-haired boy to back up a bit. The other's eyes just seemed s unnerving. "Ms. Ishtar asked me for a favor, concerning you boys."

Malik blinked, "My sister?" he took a step forward, a bit cautiously, "Why? What did she ask you to do?"

The other turned his gaze towards him. And Malik couldn't help but recall the first time he met Shadi; just after his father's death, or murder rather. However, Shadi didn't answer his question. The Egyptian spirit only reached for the Millennium Key around his neck and to everyone's shock, rammed it on the forehead of the nearest person; Yugi.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU—" Yami Yugi began to shout. However, in the next second the pharaoh slumped down on the floor, unmoving.

Yami Malik poked him with his foot, and upon hearing the other groan slightly, said, "Damn. He's not dead."

Yami Bakura raised an eyebrow at this and was about to comment when he heard Ryou give a loud shout. He only had the time to turn around and see Shadi and Ryou, the latter having the Millennium Key poking out of his head before feeling something foreign in his mind and slipping into unconsciousness.

Ryou stared cross-eyed at the golden object, and followed soon after.

By now, Malik was getting a bit panicked and was basically clawing at the door(which was of course, locked) and didn't even notice Shadi behind him until he turned around for a quick glance only to be subjected to the Millennium Item's power as well.

The two blonde Egyptians joined the others on the floor not a moment later.

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When Ryou came to, he was greeted with an unfamiliar ceiling, and after sitting up, an unfamiliar room. A second later, the group's encounter with Shadi flitted through his mind. He immediately placed a palm on his forehead and breathed out a sigh of relief when he found no Millennium Key lodged in his brain.

He took a moment to observe his surroundings. It looked like an ordinary room, he had been sleeping on a bed he discovered, but aside from that, and a small cushioned seat at a corner, the room was pretty bare. Even the walls were pure white.

Figuring that he'd get nowhere just sitting there, Ryou climbed off the bed. He noted with relief that he was still wearing his own clothes and proceeded to the door.

As soon as he opened it, an array of familiar voices reached his ears.

Thankfully, the hallway was pretty straightforward. He only had to go straight ahead, towards the only open door to be reunited with Yugi, Malik and the darks.

Yami Bakura was the first to notice his arrival, "There you are, we've been waiting for you, host."

Ryou looked at his other questioningly, "What's going on?" he said, settling beside Yugi, who looked like he just woke up himself.

He shrugged, "I don't really know myself. Shadi came by earlier, but some of you weren't awake yet. He said he'd come back later."

"We'll just have to wait, I guess…" Yugi said, yawning cutely.

Yami Yugi was visibly seething beside him, muttering, "Oh…Shadi's going to pay for this…what does he think he's playing at?" he turned his furious eyes to Malik, who seemed lost in his own thoughts, "Tomb keeper! Why is your sister doing this?"

Malik didn't back down from the other's glare and bit his tongue to keep himself from giving a sharp retort for being addressed as 'tomb keeper'. It's not like he hated being addressed as such, but the other's voice had this superior tone when he said it that it grated Malik's nerves.

"You've been asking that every minute since we woke up here…and my answer is still; I DON'T KNOW!"

Yami Yugi stared at the other at his outburst. Malik immediately regretted his brief loss of control. The fact that Yami Malik was chuckling not far from him didn't make things any better.

He looked down, and in a voice he personally found pathetic said, "I-I'm sorry…I don't know, pharaoh."

Fortunately, further embarrassment on his part was avoided by to everyone's utter shock, Seto Kaiba's appearance.

Needless to say, Yami Yugi found another person to hate that day, "YOU!" he exclaimed, pointing at the CEO, who merely raised an eyebrow in a dignified expression.

"Yes?" Seto said with a mocking tone, "Anything you feel the need to say?"

Yam Yugi hesitated, "I—"

"Alright then," Seto said in a businesslike way, "I, unfortunately, was assigned to enlighten all of you about Isis' little…project here."

Yugi and Ryou blinked, the former said, "What project?"

Seto smirked, "Apparently," he turned to Malik, "Your sister thinks that you and your dear dark aren't getting along very well…"

Yami Bakura snickered.

"So she came up with a little something that could most probably mend your relationship, at least on an almost peaceful level."

Yami Malik grinned maliciously, "We get along just fine. Right, Lightside?"

"Whatever," was Malik's careless reply.

Seto turned to Ryou and Yugi, "Well…as for you two, I guess you're not as bad as them," he jerked his head at Malik and Yami Malik's direction. It seemed that the two were now trying to outdo each other in the art of cursing. "But Isis said, as I quote, 'There's room for improvement', so I guess you're stuck here as well."

Yugi frowned, "I think me and my other self get along well enough…"

Ryou only looked down guiltily.

Seto smiled and turned back towards the door, "It won't be long now…"he glanced at his watch, "Around twenty seconds, and you'll see what we've planned for you."

And he was gone, the door locking audibly behind him as he left the room.

"What the hell was he talking about?" Yami Bakura said bluntly.

Yugi looked at his watch nervously then looked up at his other self, "Yami…" he said with a tinge of worry.

"I'm sure it's not anything dangerous," he reassured, "Probably something like we see in those game shows at TV…"

Yami Malik raised an eyebrow. Was there anything else the pharaoh thought other than about games?

Malik was cautiously looking around. His sister planned all of this to make him and his dark friendly with each other? Talk about getting a hobby…

Everyone was slightly dreading what Seto had said would be coming, even Yami Bakura and Yami Malik seemed slightly tense. After twenty seconds though…

"…what happened?" Yami Yugi said, voice cutting through the thick silence.

"Eh…nothing, I think…" Malik said warily.

And then, to everyone's surprise, a voice, completely unfamiliar to all of them spoke up, "Are you my mommy?"

All eyes snapped towards it, only to come in contact with a small boy…probably eight to ten years old by the look of it…

A white-haired boy, they registered.

Ryou was nowhere to be found.

Yami Bakura, to whom the child's question was directed to was in complete shock as he stared at the smaller boy. His eyes were wide and his mouth was unhinged as he looked at the smaller one(who surprisingly looked like him) and said, "Ryou?"

The boy blinked at the other's voice and frowned, "You're not my mom. You're a boy," he said.

"Shit," Yami Malik and Malik said in unison.

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Hope you like that. A really like to continue writing this along with Just Pretend but I'd really like your opinions on it first before I consider it as one of my currently updated fics.