Okay, okay this is my first actual fanfic of any kind besides poetry as I'm not good with other people's characters. I tried to make them as in character as possible, so I apologize if I failed. All of their names will be the same as the 4Kids version except for Anzu because Tea reminds me too much of tea. I'm just trying this out for now, so yeah... This is the first chapter and I'd like to know what you all think. If it sucks, feel free to say so but please be nice. I'm new to this.

Rated T because I seriously don't know where I'm going with this.

I warn you now, this is yaoi/shonen ai/slash/whatever... Puppyshipping... Seto and Joey... Yeah. If you don't like it, don't read or comment. Kthx!

The disclaimer states the obvious... that I own nothing in here aside from the plot. Although I wish I owned the characters because they have fluffy hair. X3

Chapter One: Let the Games Begin

Joey Wheeler stopped walking and gazed down the pitch black alleyway. "Hey, Yugi, I think I'm gonna take the short cut to my house if that's okay with you," he muttered in his Brooklyn, New York accent, secretly hoping someone would offer to come with him.

"Oh, okay, Joey. We'll see you tomorrow at school then."

"Uh... yeah," he laughed nervously.

"Bye, Joey!" Anzu called over her shoulder as the three of them continued forward.

"Bye..." the blond muttered inaudibly as he headed into the blackness and away from the city.

It was only about five in the evening, but it seemed like it was night time down these side roads all the time. There were no streetlights, and the buildings were much too high up to really allow any light to shine down. Joey whirled around at the sound of a soft padding behind him. Was he being followed? Suddenly, he found himself wishing he hadn't came down here, or that he had at least dragged Tristan with him.

But it was too late to turn back now!

The teen stopped at what appeared to be an intersection. He knew he was supposed to turn, but which way? Had he really forgotten already? Figuring a left turn would take him back out to the main road, Joey took a right.

After walking for about half of a mile, he came to another turn where he proceeded to take a left, nearly running into – and tripping over – a metal trash can. He guided around it, somehow managing to maintain his balance, and continued down the alley. Was home really this far away?

Turning once more, the boy finally stopped. This definitely wasn't the way home! But just as he turned to go back, someone – three someones actually – stood in his way. When he turned back around, there were three more creepy guys in hooded cloaks.

"Hey, guys, sorry to invade your... little place here, but I really need to get home, so if you'll just let me pass, that'd be really great." He flashed them an uncomfortable smile.

Ignoring his words, the creepy guys advanced until they were blocking all of the exits.

"What do you want?" he demanded, taking a defensive stance to show that he was ready to fight them if that was what they wanted.

The men ignored him, seeing him as no threat, and began to chant strange mysterious words that Joey couldn't manage to understand any of. The ground beneath them began to glow in a blue circular shape, and the blond kid felt himself rising up from the ground. At this point he saw a perfect opportunity to make a crappy joke in his discomfort.

"Hey! Whoa, who turned the gravity off?"

Not seeing his statement as the least bit comical apparently, the black cloaked guys continued with their Satanic chanting.

Just then, someone shot into the alley from somewhere else. He leaped up, taking off from the ground until he was standing between Joey and the hooded spectacles and glanced back over his shoulder.

"Run, Wheeler."

"Kaiba?"

"I said run, damn it! Move!"

Not sure what to think of the scene that was laid out before him, Joey just stood there, staring at the back of Seto's head in confusion. They always fought, so why would he be trying to help him?

"I challenge you to a duel!" the brunette called out to the black robes, flipping out a strange looking version of a duel disk and shuffling his deck of equally as strange looking cards.

The men chuckled, seeing this boy as only an obstacle to getting what they wanted. Seto glanced over his shoulder again.

"What are you? A dumb animal? If I said run, that means run! Go!" the young CEO practically screamed. He was more used to people doing what he said. If Seto said 'jump', everyone else said 'how high?'

Everyone else except Joey that is. Instead, that idiot was still standing there in awe. "But I'll fall!"

"And? We're like a foot above the ground. I'm pretty sure you can make it, Dog."

His eyes narrowed, but he didn't get a chance to think of a comeback because Seto finally gave up on trying to yell at him. instead, he turned around and shoved him backwards so that he fell from the floating circle. A moment later, the said object and the people in it had vanished.

Without another moment's hesitation, Joey leaped to his feet and fled as far away as possible until he came back out on the main road. He wasn't sure whether he should get help or if he should just go home and pretend it was a dream that had never happened.

But he couldn't. instead he ran home and instantly made a phone call.

"Yuug? It's me, Joey. Call me back as soon as you get this message!"

"Tristan! I have something really important to tell you guys. Call me back soon, okay?"

Anzu was the only one that was home. "Hey, Anzu! I'm so glad you're home. Do you know where Yugi and Tristan are?"

The girl shook her head. "No, why would I? I was just making myself something to eat."

"Damn. Well, I guess you'll do then."

"Gee, thanks."

After a long explanation, the two of them had hunted down Yugi and Tristan and returned to the place where Joey had formerly been just in time to see Seto Kaiba walking away. Like an idiot, Joey ran after him.

"Hey! Hey Kaiba!"

The boy stopped in his tracks, looking back over his shoulder. "What do you want, Wheeler?"

Joey slowed to a stop as he caught up to Seto. "You saved me. How come?"

The other turned now, crossing his arms in his usual stance. "I didn't save anyone. We just happened to be in the same place at the same time, that's all."

"Uh huh," Joey's eyes narrowed, and he flashed the taller boy a smirk. "You so saved me."

"I did not, you stupid mutt. Good bye, Losers. I'll you at school." That said, Seto Kaiba turned on his heel and walked out of the dark alley and back into civilization, Joey staring after him in slightly irritated yet appreciative amusement.

School the next day wasn't the same at all. Every single student was talking about the mysterious bright blue light that had been spotted coming from the alleyway. It was on the news and everything, but no one was sure what it was all about.

No one except for Seto Kaiba who was silently sitting alone like some random emo kid as he nibbled absentmindedly at his lunch. Hesitantly, Joey made his way over and sat down.

"Hey there!"

The brunette lifted his head, eying the other in silence. He raised an eyebrow. "What do you want, Wheeler?"

"Well, I was just sorta wondering if..."

"Are you asking me out...?"

"No!"

"Then spit it out. I haven't got all day, you know."

"Okay okay, so I want to know what that was."

"What what was?" Kaiba inquired innocently, a mischievous shimmer in his eyes.

"The guys with the hoods! The big floating circle thing!"

"Wheeler, what are you talking about? I think you need to get your head examined."

"What? But everyone's talking about it!"

"No... They're talking about a light, you stupid mutt. Where did you get circles and cloaks from?"

"I..." Realizing that he was wasting his time asking Seto Kaiba, Joey shook his head. "Never mind." He got up from his seat and headed back to his usual table.

"Wheeler!" the other boy called.

The blond turned. "What?"

"My corporation after school. Got it?"

A grin broke out on Joey's face. "I got it."

Kaiba bent his wrist, resting his chin on his hand and crossing his long thin legs under the table in his usual manner. "And don't bring your friends."

"Why not?"

"Do you want me to explain it to you or not?"

"Well, yeah, but..."

"No friends."

"Fine, no friends," the other boy finally agreed, returning to his usual table to tell his friends so that they would know where to look in the case that he never came back.

"Why can't we go with you?" Tristan inquired, rather alarmed.

"I don't know," the blond shrugged.

"If you ask me, it sounds like a set up," Yugi muttered.

"Me too," Anzu agreed.

"Why would it be though? Kaiba has no reason to set me up."

"Are you sure about that, Joey?" the only brunette male in their little group asked.

"Yeah, Tristan. He probably just doesn't want you guys messing up his fancy company or something," Joey teased, waving a hand in a snobby way at his companions and turning his head to stick his nose in the air.

They all laughed.

Once school got out that afternoon, the four friends all split up, Joey heading over towards Kaiba Corp. and Yugi, Anzu, and Tristan towards their homes. They said their good byes, turned away from each other, and walked off.

Joey reached his location first seeing as the building was probably the largest in all of the town and pretty much impossible to miss. He walked up to the door but was stopped by a man in sunglasses wearing a suit.

"What are you doing here, Kid?"

Joey backed away cautiously, a look of shock on his face. "Nothing. I'm just here to see Kaiba. Is he here?"

"No, now go on home before you get in trouble."

"Oh, uh, okay..." Suddenly feeling the presence of someone behind him, Joey turned.

Seto Kaiba stepped around his guest, saying "He's with me, Charles," as he stepped through the opened door.

Reluctantly, Joey followed, and the man – Charles? – held the door opened for him as well.

Once seated comfortably in the dimly lit conference room, Kaiba set down his brief case and opened it. He reached inside and fiddled around until he pulled out something that was wrapped in a cloth.

"Never in public will I admit that I have anything to do with you and your loser friends, but I believe there are some things that you do, in fact, have a right to know."

"What? That you're a fag?" the blond teased.

"And you dressed up in a dog costume."

Joey felt his face flush. "Alright, you win again. What's all this about?"

The brunette didn't answer him, but instead lifted the cloth from the strange object. It was nothing but an ordinary disk.

"This is a video game," he muttered.

The other's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, I'm not stupid, Kaiba. I can see that."

"Shut up, Wheeler. I'm not finished yet!" Seto snapped.

Joey obeyed.

"This is an amusing little game that we have created here at Kaiba Corp. It's a normal virtual reality game with twenty levels to beat plus a few more hidden ones. At first it seemed like a harmless children's toy – I even let my baby brother play with it – but we were wrong. After he positively refused to get off of the game for some unknown reason, I knew there was something wrong. Then, Mokuba was gone. He lost all five of his lives and got lost somewhere in the game. I looked, but I could never find him.

"A few days ago, a strange old man showed up. He told me that he could help me and find my brother, so I agreed. He asked for access to the game as well as my computers for twenty four hours tops. I agreed once again. Before his time was up, he finished what he was doing and brought my little brother back to me. I was so happy that Mokuba was back that I didn't think to make sure the old man hadn't screwed anything up.

"When I finally got around to it, there was a timer on the screen with ten seconds left. I didn't have time to do anything, so I just hoped for the best. Once it hit zero, I thought nothing had happened. I found out the next day that he had released my game into the real world. All of the villains, weapons, programs were real, but no one could see them."

"But I saw them!" Joey interrupted.

"Yes, well, if you would let me finish for once!"

"Sorry."

"Jeez. Anyway, no one could see them, but somehow they got access to the right data technology and now a select few can actually see them while others still can't. They're working on it. But now they are able to physically hurt people, kill them even! And only I know how to defeat them, but I can't do it by myself, so as much as I hate to admit it, I need your help."

"Why? Can't you just delete the game or destroy it or something?"

"Have you even been listening? The game is in the real world now. What do you expect me to do? Destroy the planet?"

"I guess you have a point..."

"Wheeler, you've got to help me."

"Why? It was your mistake."

"Because you're the only other person I've met who can see them."

"And? Just because you haven't met more doesn't mean there aren't more."

"If you're going to be like that about it, then just forget it. I'm not begging: that's the dog's job."

Joey felt his face growing warm again. "Fine. I'll help you, but only to prove that I'm not the dog!"

Seto smirked slightly. "We'll just see about that."

"Yeah, okay, I'm leaving," the blond muttered, turning to leave.

"Fine. But I'd like to see you tomorrow too," Kaiba muttered.

Joey spun around in horror. "What?"

The other raised an eyebrow. "Tomorrow. We have to call a truce if we're going to make this work."

"What?" the shorter of the two continued to gaze at the other in shock.

"Wheeler, snap out of it! We have to work together to hunt down the programs and defeat them in a duel."

"A duel? Cool! I didn't know computers played card games."

"Well, these do, and I'm telling you now, Mutt. If you screw up, and they win, I'm going to wring your neck and kill you. These guys aren't easy opponents."

"Then we won't go easy on them!" Joey exclaimed, punching the air.

"Uh huh..." Seto muttered, closing his briefcase. "You're dismissed."