G: Okay everyone. Here is the Prequal to "How it all Began", "The Pharaoh's Return"
Yugi: Yeah a story about me and Yami.
G: a very short story that will not involve anything more that kissing because it will stay T forever.
Yugi: Hey where is Yami?
G: Searching.
Yugi: For what?
G: The key to this room. I locked him out.
Yugi: What!
G: He can't be here until next chapter!
Yugi: but… but…
G: he'll be fine. Anyway, I don't own YuGiOh or the characters. I only own the plot. On with the story.
Chapter 1 – The Plan
Joey's P.O.V.
"I'm worried 'bout them Gramps.' I said, as I watched my best friend walk up the stairs of the Kame Game Shop to get to his room.
"And why would that be Joseph?' asked Solomon Muto, or as everyone called him, Grandpa.
"Ya can't tell me ya haven't noticed," I asked looking at him incredulously.
Grandpa sighed and shook his head, telling e he knew exactly what I was talking about. "I am worried too, Joseph. I am worried too."
Who we were all worried was the three Hikaris, Malik Ishtar, Ryou Bakura, and the king of games himself, Yugi Muto. Each one of them was dealing with their Yami's leaving.
Malik was going crazy, as if to make up for the lack of insanity around now that Marik is gone. Pranks, destruction of property, you name it. Anything that would make him seem nuts without getting him in enough trouble to be taken away. No matter how upset he was, he would never do that to his sister.
Ryou was doing the complete opposite. While Malik was being out there, Ryou's shyness has gone to an extreme. It wasn't even "shy" anymore, it has become reclusive. He rarely came out of his apartment, and when he did, he only came out for a few hours, either to get groceries or to let us know he wasn't dead. Yes he was really she before, but this was just too much.
We've tried to snap the both of them out of it but nothing seems to work. And they aren't even the worst of it. Yugi is. For anyone who didn't know him very well, it would seem like nothing was the matter. To an outsider, he was still the unbelievably peppy kid everyone knew as the king of games. Now is that a bad thing? Well it's not Yugi. If you knew Yugi as long as I have, you could see the sadness and confusion that was constantly in his eyes, like he was sad and he didn't know why. You would see that every time he duels, even though he's amazing as ever, when it's over, he waits to get back to the Game Shop and into his room before either throwing something at his wall or curling in a ball and crying for two hours or both. Going by the smash I heard earlier and the sobs I'm going with both. On top of all that, all of his smiles are at least half fake, if not entirely. I may be his best friends, but losing Yami was like losing a part of himself. Yami was there for him in a way no one else could, and was closer to him than anyone ever was and would ever be again. And our entire group knows it. We also know that that's how it was for Ryou and Malik. Their Yami's were the closest people they had, even if Bakura was a thief and Marik was a suppressed tormented side of Malik.
I really don't know what to do anymore; it's been two months and nothing. I leaned back. That's when the phone rang.
"Hello Kame Game shop, Joey speakin'"
"Hello Joey, it's Ishizu. I have to tell you something. It's about the Pharaoh."
Yugi's POV
I slammed my bedroom door. Another duel, another empty victory. It just wasn't the same without Yami, nothing was. I knew he had to leave but I miss him so much, and I don't really know why. We all know it's like a piece of me is missing but I feel like there's a hole in my chest.
'Erg, why doesn't this get any easier,' I thought, smashing a small white vase I bought at a garage sale against the wall before curling on my bed and crying. That's when I heard the phone ring. Picking up the extension in my room, I was about to say something when I heard Joey.
"Hello Kame Game shop, Joey speakin'"
"Hello Joey, it's Ishizu. I have to tell you something. It's about the Pharaoh."
Normal POV
"What about Yami?" Yugi asked, not caring that he had just given away that he had been listening."
"Yugi. Using the extension in yer room."
"Yeah Joey. Now what's this about Yami?"
"Yes Mr. Muto. As I was about to inform Mr. Wheeler, I have been looking at some different tablets. I think I have found a way to bring the Pharaoh, the Thief, and my brothers Maniac back to our world if they wish of course."
Yugi couldn't believe it. Yami could come back to him. The thought made his heart speed up.
"What do we need to do?"
… … … … … … … …
Normal POV.
The next day, Joey, Yugi, Ryou, who took some convincing to get there (the prospect of getting Bakura back was what finally convinced him), Malik and Ishizu met in the living room behind the game shop. Ishizu explained that before she even called the Muto's, she had made as many preparations as she could. The First thing she did was find all seven millennium items and the ceremonial battle ground where Yami and Yugi had faced each other in the final duel. These were essential elements in the ritual.
"So what else da we need ta do dis thing?" Joey asked.
"We need the people to activate the items, I will be using the necklace," Ishizu said.
Malik nodded, "I'm dealing with the eye. It kind of shot right into my hand when we found it."
"Yugi will obviously have the puzzle," Ishizu said, "and Joey will be using the scales and the key."
Joey was confused, "Why do I have two items?"
"Because Jono, your past life, wielded them both."
"But why?"
Ishizu shrugged, "That we could not find out. All the tablets told us was what Jono looked like, that he held the scales and key, and that he was very close to the Pharaoh and Priest Set. No one knows very much about him. Those tablets were either stolen or destroyed."
"Ok no I know dat those tablets must be wrong, I ain't close to Kaiba at all." Joey said, a bit put off by the fact that he used to be close to Kaiba.
Yugi gave him a look. "Not important right now Joey, can we focus on the reason we are all here.'
Right," Ryou said, speaking for the first time," so I guess I'm the one who will be using the ring." Ishizu nodded.
"That just leaves one item," Yugi said. Then all looked at each other.
"We're in trouble," Joey sighed.
... ... ... ... ...
"Not happening.'
The group had gone to Kaiba Corp., since Kaiba was the only one who could use the millennium rod. You see their problem.
"Come on Moneybags. Help us out here." Joey pleaded, he wasn't happy about it but he would do anything to see Yugi smiling a true, genuine smile again.
"and what's in it for me?"
"Da satisfaction ya brought some sanity inta dis world and make three desperate guys happy again." Joey responded. Kaiba gave him a look.
"Yami will be back Kaiba," Yugi said, "that means you can have a rematch."
That got Kaiba's attention. "Fine, I'll help." Normally he'd avoid magic and all this ancient Egypt stuff as much as possible, but he really wanted that rematch.
G: Ok so that's all for this chapter.
Yugi: I'm still worried about Yami.
G: He's fine. I have all the items.
Yugi: wait WHAT! You took his item.
G: Who do you think helped Malik and Ishizu find them all.
Yugi: BUT YOU LEFT HIM DEFENSLESS!
G: no I didn't, I took everyone else's too. He just has to worry about the traps.
Yugi: TRAPS!
G: Just some obstacles that will make it a little harder to get the key to the room. It's nothing dangerous, just tricky.
Yugi: I don't know.
G: he'll be fine. Anyway please read and review. I'd really appreciate it.