Behind The Duelling
AN - Hi guys, this is just a one-off; I just had this idea this minute. I saw a Simpsons Episode, Behind The Laughter, in the style of Behind The Music, and thought it would be really funny if the YuGiOh cast did something similar. Just an idea!
Disclaimer - I do not own YuGiOh, Behind the Music, Behind The Laughter, Pokemon
Voice over: Welcome to Behind The Duelling. Tonight we are looking at the lives of the famous cast of YuGiOh, the cult anime series of this millennium. And just to think that this whole idea started in a basement of a family home in Domino.
Cameras go to Yami, sitting in an old basement
Yami: Well, I was down here watching TV. I had had a fight with my brother and I came down here to sulk. Not many people know that Yugi and I are actually related; he is my annoying younger brother.
Camera shows a photo of Yami and Yugi as kids
Yami: Well, I saw this program, Pokemon, and I thought, 'That is a load of rubbish, I could do better than that!'
Camera goes to Tea, sitting outside a large family home in the country
Tea: Yami approached me with the idea of starting our own TV show, based on a game his friend, Maxamillion Pegasus, had created. Of course I was up for it. I was out of work at the time and needed a new challenge.
Camera shows Pegasus sipping wine next to his swimming pool
Pegasus: Yami told me he wanted to make a show based on my game, Card Monsters. Of course I leapt at the chance, at the time Card Monsters wasn't doing too well. It was just a harmless variation of cards. However Yami thought the game lacked interest so he told me I needed to make it more exciting. So I checked out the yellow pages and found the name of someone who could help.
Camera shows Seto Kaiba leaning on a huge crystal statue of a Blue Eyes White Dragon
Kaiba: Yes, Pegasus came to me. He begged me to help him make his came better. Well, for a start we scraped the name. I came up with the name 'Duel Monsters'.
Camera goes back to Pegasus
Pegasus: Of course I came up with the new name. Kaiba only gave me the technology to make my game better!
Back to Yami
Yami: Pegasus came back to me with the modifications and I was happy with them, so I wrote the script, with the help of my brother Yugi.
Camera goes to Yugi, sitting in a toy room playing with his Dark Magician doll
Yugi: Yami and I wrote us as the main parts, of course. We thought that our likeness in looks could be marketed well. Then we had to begin casting, which was when the problems started. You see Pegasus made a deal with us that he would appear as himself, and so did Seto Kaiba. Yami and I were talked into giving Seto's little brother, Mokuba, a part. However we did have a huge disagreement when it came to one particular part.
Camera shows Bakura sitting in front of a large mansion
Bakura: Yes, well you see Uncle Max did Yami a favour and in return he simply asked that my brother, Ryou, and I could be given a part in the series. Not many people know that Pegasus was my uncle, but you can tell from the hair. Well, Yami actually wanted to do some proper casting rather than just giving his friends the parts. But Ryou and I talked him round and eventually he gave us our parts.
Camera returns to Yami
Yami: Then we held auditions for the other parts. As soon as Mai Valentine walked through the door, we knew that she was perfect for the part.
Mai is shown, sitting in a Café in a busy shopping mall
Mai: Well, I got the part very easily. I was preparing to have to sleep with the director, which is what I normally do. But I just got the part, like that. I was pretty happy, but even happier when I found out who would be playing my love interest.
Camera pans to Joey, who is sitting in an armchair by a warm fire
Joey: Yep, Mai was chuffed when I got the part of her boyfriend, mainly because she had had a crush on me for years. She tries to hide it of course, but I can see through it!
Camera shows Serenity, sitting in a nursery
Serenity: When Joey got the job, he was thrilled. I was with him at the time; I always used to go to his auditions to support him. But somehow I got ushered into this room and before I knew it I was auditioning for the part of Joey's sister. I didn't want to audition, it had all been a mistake, but I realised that I was enjoying myself and I was offered the part, so I took it!
Camera returns to Yami
Yami: It was only by chance that we found Serenity, I'm just glad we managed to find someone so perfect for the role. We also cast another character at the same auditions.
Camera shows Tristan sitting at an office desk wearing a business suit
Tristan: Yes, well I originally auditioned for Joey's part, but apparently I wasn't what they were looking for. I was just leaving when, by chance, Yugi asked me to read another part. I did it and found that it was the role for me. That was a wonderful day!
Camera returns to Yugi
Yugi: By this time we had cast everyone for the main roles. Filming was about to start when one of our characters was taken ill and was found unfit to work. We had to recast but no one met the expected standards. I got really upset about this, and Tea was there to comfort me.
Camera returns to Tea
Tea: Originally I was just going to do the choreography of the duelling scenes and supervise costumes and makeup. I was on the panel of professionals who auditioned the hopefuls for the part of 'the cheerleader'. Yugi got a bit despondent and I comforted him. Yugi thought that they had written the part too tightly, and no one could ever meet their expectations. To prove him wrong I read a few of the lines.
Camera goes back to Yugi
Yugi: Once she had read one line a realised that she was made for that part. It took some persuasion, but I managed to convince her to take the part.
Camera returns to Yami
Yami: Then we REALLY had the entire cast and we could begin filming. The cast gelled really well as friends as well as colleagues, and the standard of work was extremely high. We worked ahead of schedule on set, but then we had to go on location to film the scenes on Pegasus's island.
Camera returns to Joey
Joey: We were packed off to this island for two months for filming and we all stayed in a big hotel, shown in the series as Pegasus's castle. Well, you can imagine the sort of things we got up to, all of us living in one place. I think that the most embarrassing thing happened one night in summer!
Camera goes back to Tristan, who is blushing
Tristan: Yeah, well one night after we had just finished filming a particularly difficult scene, Joey, Yami, Yugi and I were walking back up to the hotel. We were alone and it was really hot so we decided to go skinny-dipping in the pool. We didn't mind each other, well you know, because we were such close friends. Anyway, we were all relaxing, lying on our backs in the water and looking up at the stars, when there was this flashing and clicking noise.
Camera goes back to Serenity, who is giggling
Serenity: I shared a room with Tea and we were talking about boys and stuff when we heard all this splashing from below our window. We were on the second floor and our room overlooked the pool. We looked down and you can guess what we saw. I remembered that I happened to have a camera in my room, so of course I took a picture or two!
The picture is shown with black circles covering certain places to hide certain things (if you know what I mean!)
Yami: Yes, yes it was all very funny. I'm being sarcastic by the way. It was embarrassing! It just had to happen didn't it? But we got them back!
Tea
Tea: We should have known that they would seek revenge. We weren't safe on set after that. Sugar in the salt pot, spiders in our costumes, water pistols.the list is endless. Actually we got sick of it after a while, their practical jokes led to tension in the cast. We were so glad when we finished filming the first series and were able to return home.
Voice over: After the first series finished, the cast were given a two- month break before filming would start again. Most of them took this time to spend time apart, going on holiday alone or staying with family. However two members of the cast saw more of each other!
Serenity
Serenity: Well, I had always felt that Yami and I shared a certain bond, we just clicked. We had a few things in common and we enjoyed each other's company. So he invited me to come on holiday with him in his family yacht, cruising around the Greek islands. I accepted, thinking that it would be fun, and I knew that I could spend a month on a boat with Yami, Yugi and their grandpa without being involved in any arguments. But to my surprise I found that it was just myself and Yami on the yacht.
Yami
Yami: I fancied Serenity from the moment she auditioned. It was tough to try to get her alone whilst we were filming, because there was always someone else butting in. So I invited her to come on holiday, and to my delight she accepted. We spent the first two weeks as friends, but after one particular evening we spent together, we knew that we were more than just friends.
Serenity
Serenity: Yes, Yami did manage to seduce me one evening. He served a candlelight dinner on the deck with champagne and strawberries. I think the champagne went to my head that night because, well, one thing led to another really. We were the perfect couple, madly in love and Yami was so affectionate and gentle. You wouldn't think it from talking to him, but he is really sensitive underneath, even more so than Yugi!
Voice over: The cast returned to filming in the September of that year. Everyone immediately noticed that something was up between Yami and Serenity.
(OK, I can't be bothered to say, Camera goes to. every time so now it will just be like a script)
Joey: I found out about Yami and Serenity when I found them kissing back stage. Obviously I gave Yami the big brother talk. He was very nice about it, and said that he would never hurt Serenity in any way. I trusted him, now I wish I hadn't!
Tristan: It was difficult having those two in a relationship, especially for me. I had to do several suggestive scenes with Serenity, which was always hard when I could see Yami frowning at my from behind the camera and I knew that Serenity was always glancing towards him. The other cast members found it hard too.
Tea: As a cast, we had a delicately balanced relationship. If someone was bugging us, we generally mouthed off that person behind their back to get our feelings off our chests and then everything would be fine again. Except Yami used to really rub me up the wrong way, and I would tell Serenity about it. But when they started dating I couldn't talk to her in the same way anymore. That was tough. Their relationship distanced them from the other cast members because they spent so much time together, they forgot about their friends.
Yugi: If ever Yami and Serenity had a little row, Yami would come straight back to me. But as soon as they were back together he would drop me like a hot potato. It hurt; he was my friend more than my brother. Everyone else felt the same, but Yami and Serenity were so happy together that we all just shrugged and accepted it.
Voice over: But only a month into filming Serenity dropped a bombshell.
Serenity: I told everyone in the cast my special news at the same time, because I thought that that would be the best way.
Tea: When Serenity told us that she was pregnant I was so happy for her. I always knew that she would make a great mother.
Serenity: Everyone was really happy for me and were all so supportive. Apart from Yami, and that was unexpected to say the least.
Yami: (sighs) I just thought that it was bad timing. Filming had only just started again and the fans were pushing for the next series to be shown soon. And I didn't want to be a father at such a young age. I was only nineteen at the time, and Serenity was just eighteen. I thought that it would be best if we delayed having children until we were married, if we had them at all! We had been going out for just two and a half months and we were both too young to support children. Besides, it was an accident!
Serenity: I couldn't believe it when he called it "an accident"! How dare he! He even arranged for me to see a private doctor about an abortion. But I could go through with it, it was against my morals. I told Yami that I would be going ahead with the pregnancy, with or without his approval.
Mai: Yami handled that whole situation really poorly. At a time when he should have been standing by Serenity, he broke up with her. If you ask me he just got cold feet at the thought of commitment.
Tristan: The next two months were a bit of a hazard really. We had to rearrange the filming schedule so that we could film all of Serenity's scenes before she began to show that she was pregnant. Yami and Serenity weren't speaking and Joey and Yami ended up in several fistfights because Joey blamed Yami for getting his sister pregnant. That time was tough.
Voice over: But more difficulties were to come in the form of Yugi.
Yugi: I had been having terrible pains in my back, so I went to the doctor. I was told that the excess strain that filming had put on me had caused a malfunction in my spine and I was also suffering from exhaustion. It had also stunted my growth. I was told that I should rest for at least six months or I could be crippled for life.
Tea: We were all shocked by this news that Yugi was so ill. It shook us all up a bit, especially knowing that it had been the tough schedule that had hurt him.
Seto: I felt for the little guy. He always smiled during the hardest days of filming, when most of us, including myself, were so tired and frustrated that we argued often.
Joey: Yami tried to rearrange filming again to film all of Yugi's parts at once, like he did for Serenity. Yugi didn't want to do it; he said that the rigorous filming all at once would be worse than if it were spread out. Eventually Yugi agreed, but he wasn't happy about it.
Tea: We were all on set filming a duelling scene. When ever we had to halt filming to restart Yugi would wrap a blanket around himself and sit down. He was getting paler and paler, but we never realised how seriously ill he really was. He hid everything from us until that final day. (Sobs)
Ryou: What happened that day shook everyone up, especially myself and the girls. Yugi and I had become close friends when we found we had so much in common. For instance we both had bigger brothers who always stole the limelight and took control, which united us.
Bakura: Yugi was standing on his duelling podium when it happened. The doctors said his body finally gave in under the strain. He fainted and fell backwards, except the safety bar didn't hold him and he fell some ten metres to the ground. He just lay there, motionless. We all thought he was dead!
Mai: The ambulance came pretty quickly and Yugi was carted off to hospital. It was lucky that Serenity had finished her filming and was on maternity leave, being seven months pregnant. The shock of seeing that happen could have induced labour for her. A few of us were taken to hospital too, suffering from shock. I think a combination of exhaustions, wracked nerves and tension made us much worse.
Joey: Filming stopped then because the star, Yugi, was unfit to work. The doctors said that he nearly died and would not be able to return to work for a year. Many of the others, particularly Tea and Mokuba, were very weak from all the exertion and the shock of all this finally got to them. No one was able to go back to work.
Yami: I blamed myself for everything. Luckily the fans were very supportive, sending flowers and get well soon cards. But I guess the strain of the results from my decisions cracked me. I just had to get away for a while.
Voice over: Yami left home unannounced less the three days after the accident. No one knew where he went. He left his friends in a time of great need, unemployed, in need of comfort, injured and in labour!
Joey: Serenity went into labour right on time, but of course Yami wasn't around. This really upset her. I think she had always expected that, on the day, Yami would be there for her. But he ran way two months before she went into labour.
Tea: With no way of reaching Yami to tell him that Serenity needed him, Joey and I ended up being with her for the birth. Except Joey wasn't there for long!
Joey: Yeah, I fainted, so what? All the blood and tears and screaming, I just couldn't take it.
Voice over: Serenity was blessed with a baby boy. She named him Yoichi.
Serenity: The first two months after Yoichi's birth were very hard. I had no one to help me to raise him, and I suffered from terrible post-natal depression. Plus I really missed Yami, and Yoichi reminded me of him.
Picture of Yoichi. He had Yami's hair except where Yami's is red Yoichi's hair is ginger. He had brown eyes like Serenity
Yugi: In the end I asked Serenity to move into our family home, where it was just Grandpa and I. I felt that we should take responsibility where Yami had run away. And I enjoyed being Uncle Yugi!
Serenity: Yugi was a great foster father, but I knew that he could never replace the real thing.
Tea: None of us had any idea where Yami was. We didn't even know if he was alive or not. Yugi stood in as the father at Yoichi's christening. I was made Godmother and surprisingly Serenity asked Bakura to be the Godfather.
Bakura: I was startled when Serenity chose me as Godfather. We had been friends on set, but never that close. Joey was hurt too, but I think that he realised that he couldn't really be Uncle Joey and a godparent.
Serenity: Actually I made Bakura a Godfather because I could see that he was about to take the same sort of route that Yami had taken. Having a child to help to take care of helped to ground Bakura and, luckily, he didn't go down the wrong path!
Yugi: I helped to take care of Yoichi whilst my back was healing. It was something less strenuous to do and it kept me occupied. I also felt guilty about what my brother had, or rather hadn't, done so it was my way of redeeming our family name. I never wanted Yoichi to think of me as his actual father though, because that was Yami's role for whenever he returned.
Voice over: Except Yami did not return. Six months after the birth of his son Yami had not even made contact.
Serenity: I was hurt that he didn't even ring to find out if I had had the baby. He would have known that I would have had the baby by then, but he didn't make contact. I began to worry that perhaps something had happened to him.
Yugi: We had had the police searching for him in more than one country, but nothing came of it. Eventually, nearly a year after he went missing we took matters into our own hands.
Voice over: The YuGiOh cast got together and filmed this plea.
Video footage
Yugi: Hi, we are the cast from YuGiOh! As you may have heard our show was halted a year ago for several reasons.
Bakura: After that our friend, Yami, went missing. He has still not returned.
Ryou: This is firstly a plea to everyone out there. If anyone knows where Yami is please tell him that we want him back home with us.
Tea: Or telephone us on the number at the bottom of the screen, just to let us know that he is OK.
Joey: But if you are watching Yami, please get in touch with us. We miss you buddy!
Tristan: We don't hold anything against you Yami. We want you back with us!
Mai: Yami, if you are out there please call us, or just send a letter to tell us that you are all right, we are worried about you.
Seto: It hasn't been the same without you Yami!
Mokuba: Please come home!
Serenity: We have all said our bit Yami, but there is someone here who can't say anything yet. But I know that he would love to see his father. Please Yami, come home if only to see your son, Yoichi! (holds up Yoichi)
End video footage
Voice over: This video plea was aired on every television station around the world. The friends waited anxiously for news about Yami, but no phone calls came. Eventually many of them gave up hope that Yami was even alive, although Serenity never gave up.
Serenity: I knew that he was alive, somewhere. However two weeks went by after the video was first shown and still nothing happened. And then we had other things to worry about.
Bakura: I had put it off for nearly four months, not wanting any new events to distract from the search for Yami. But in the end I realised that life must go on, so I finally asked Tea to marry me!
Tea: We had become really close and when he popped the question I knew that it was what I wanted. He asked me about a month before the plea went out, and we arranged a private wedding to take place six weeks later. We told the rest of the cast after we filmed the plea. We wanted our wedding to be a private affair, without the press banging on the door.
Mai: It was wonderful. We all knew that they were very close but it was still a surprise when we heard that BAKURA asked Tea to marry him. But we were all thrilled.
Voice over: Everything was arranged. The wedding would take place in a small church in Tea's hometown, with a few friends and family present. Mai was a bridesmaid and Ryou was the best man. Serenity declined from being a bridesmaid, as she had a seven-month-old baby to look after. On the day of the wedding a photograph of Yami was placed in the church so that he would be there in spirit.
Tea: Everything went smoothly until the part when the priest asked if anyone knew of any reason why we shouldn't be married. Everything went quiet and I was just breathing a sigh of relief that now nothing could stop us from getting married when there was a cry from the door of the church.
Bakura: Someone shouted 'Yes! I have a reason!' I was terrified. I was about to lose my beloved Tea. But when I turned round we saw that at the door was a strange man.
Tea: He said, 'Yes, I have a reason. This wedding can not continue until I have congratulated my friends on their engagement!'
Serenity: I was sitting near the front but when I turned round I recognised the figure. It was Yami!
Yami: I think everyone was shocked to see me. But I walked up to the altar and shook Bakura's hand, then I kissed Tea on the cheek in congratulations, she looked radiant! Then I turned round and told everyone that I would explain everything later, but first there was a couple to be married. I then sat at the side of the hall and watched as my friends were wed.
Tea: It was wonderful to see Yami again. It made the day perfect. Then Yami stood up at the reception and explained everything.
Yami: I explained that after Yugi's accident I felt so guilty that I ran away. I only meant to go for a week or two to clear my head. I was on a boat with a few fishermen when a terrible storm blew up. The boat was shipwrecked and I was washed ashore. I was lucky, I was the only survivor. But one thing was wrong.
Voice over: A nasty bump on the head left Yami with amnesia. Unable to remember even his name he was taken to a care home where he spent the next seven months. By chance he was watching the television one day when he caught a plea from some friends looking for a man called Yami.
Yami: As soon as I saw them I remembered everything. I wanted to get back. I couldn't believe that I had forgotten Serenity and my child. But the nurses had to run a few tests and I was released twelve days after seeing the video. I flew back home on the fourteenth day, but found that everyone was out. Luckily a neighbour told me where everyone was when I arrived at my house. I rushed down to the church and burst in on the wedding.
Serenity: When he came back it was wonderful. When he first held Yoichi he cried. And I cried. Actually I think Yoichi was the only person who didn't cry, which was amazing! Yami was so sorry that he had missed Yoichi's birth and his first months. He was also sorry about leaving me. I forgave him of course!
Voice over: And so the story ended quite happily there. The cast got back together and finished filming the YuGiOh series and made a film. They all made plenty of money from this and were all able to retire, but they didn't of course!
Tea and Bakura moved to a house in the country in England, and Tea is expecting her first child in the spring. They are very happy together and plan to renew their vows next year.
Ryou is currently a model for a special shampoo for people with troublesome hair. He is also dating his photographer, Mark, and he admitted that he was gay a year ago! (sorry to any Ryou fans!)
Mai and Joey have been going out for two years now, although wedding bells are still a long way away. Mai wants to pursue her career as a fashion designer and, surprisingly, Joey went on to breed dogs!
(Seto: I always knew he was a puppy!)
Seto Kaiba's company went global last year, making him a multimillionaire. When Mokuba joined him as head director he changed the name from Kaiba Corporation to Kaiba Brothers Unlimited.
Tristan went into the film business and currently manages his own company, Tristan Trailers. This move made him a very rich man, but he still finds time to take his friend son an all expenses paid holiday.
Yugi recovered from his injuries, although hid height was affected by it. He now travels to third world countries to add support to different causes, especially those for crippled children.
Serenity and Yami moved in together. Yami took up a job as a psychologist to burnt-out actors, and he teaches from his experiences. Serenity gave birth to their second child later in the year. Her name is Kayla and she is the spitting image of her mother, except she has Yami's eyes.
The cast remains friends to this day, and are planning to make one comeback episode to mark the tenth anniversary of the very first YuGiOh episode. We look forward to seeing it!
AN - That was just a one off, but I quite like the whole story about Yami running away. Do you think it would make a good fanfic on its own? Read and review please!
AN - Hi guys, this is just a one-off; I just had this idea this minute. I saw a Simpsons Episode, Behind The Laughter, in the style of Behind The Music, and thought it would be really funny if the YuGiOh cast did something similar. Just an idea!
Disclaimer - I do not own YuGiOh, Behind the Music, Behind The Laughter, Pokemon
Voice over: Welcome to Behind The Duelling. Tonight we are looking at the lives of the famous cast of YuGiOh, the cult anime series of this millennium. And just to think that this whole idea started in a basement of a family home in Domino.
Cameras go to Yami, sitting in an old basement
Yami: Well, I was down here watching TV. I had had a fight with my brother and I came down here to sulk. Not many people know that Yugi and I are actually related; he is my annoying younger brother.
Camera shows a photo of Yami and Yugi as kids
Yami: Well, I saw this program, Pokemon, and I thought, 'That is a load of rubbish, I could do better than that!'
Camera goes to Tea, sitting outside a large family home in the country
Tea: Yami approached me with the idea of starting our own TV show, based on a game his friend, Maxamillion Pegasus, had created. Of course I was up for it. I was out of work at the time and needed a new challenge.
Camera shows Pegasus sipping wine next to his swimming pool
Pegasus: Yami told me he wanted to make a show based on my game, Card Monsters. Of course I leapt at the chance, at the time Card Monsters wasn't doing too well. It was just a harmless variation of cards. However Yami thought the game lacked interest so he told me I needed to make it more exciting. So I checked out the yellow pages and found the name of someone who could help.
Camera shows Seto Kaiba leaning on a huge crystal statue of a Blue Eyes White Dragon
Kaiba: Yes, Pegasus came to me. He begged me to help him make his came better. Well, for a start we scraped the name. I came up with the name 'Duel Monsters'.
Camera goes back to Pegasus
Pegasus: Of course I came up with the new name. Kaiba only gave me the technology to make my game better!
Back to Yami
Yami: Pegasus came back to me with the modifications and I was happy with them, so I wrote the script, with the help of my brother Yugi.
Camera goes to Yugi, sitting in a toy room playing with his Dark Magician doll
Yugi: Yami and I wrote us as the main parts, of course. We thought that our likeness in looks could be marketed well. Then we had to begin casting, which was when the problems started. You see Pegasus made a deal with us that he would appear as himself, and so did Seto Kaiba. Yami and I were talked into giving Seto's little brother, Mokuba, a part. However we did have a huge disagreement when it came to one particular part.
Camera shows Bakura sitting in front of a large mansion
Bakura: Yes, well you see Uncle Max did Yami a favour and in return he simply asked that my brother, Ryou, and I could be given a part in the series. Not many people know that Pegasus was my uncle, but you can tell from the hair. Well, Yami actually wanted to do some proper casting rather than just giving his friends the parts. But Ryou and I talked him round and eventually he gave us our parts.
Camera returns to Yami
Yami: Then we held auditions for the other parts. As soon as Mai Valentine walked through the door, we knew that she was perfect for the part.
Mai is shown, sitting in a Café in a busy shopping mall
Mai: Well, I got the part very easily. I was preparing to have to sleep with the director, which is what I normally do. But I just got the part, like that. I was pretty happy, but even happier when I found out who would be playing my love interest.
Camera pans to Joey, who is sitting in an armchair by a warm fire
Joey: Yep, Mai was chuffed when I got the part of her boyfriend, mainly because she had had a crush on me for years. She tries to hide it of course, but I can see through it!
Camera shows Serenity, sitting in a nursery
Serenity: When Joey got the job, he was thrilled. I was with him at the time; I always used to go to his auditions to support him. But somehow I got ushered into this room and before I knew it I was auditioning for the part of Joey's sister. I didn't want to audition, it had all been a mistake, but I realised that I was enjoying myself and I was offered the part, so I took it!
Camera returns to Yami
Yami: It was only by chance that we found Serenity, I'm just glad we managed to find someone so perfect for the role. We also cast another character at the same auditions.
Camera shows Tristan sitting at an office desk wearing a business suit
Tristan: Yes, well I originally auditioned for Joey's part, but apparently I wasn't what they were looking for. I was just leaving when, by chance, Yugi asked me to read another part. I did it and found that it was the role for me. That was a wonderful day!
Camera returns to Yugi
Yugi: By this time we had cast everyone for the main roles. Filming was about to start when one of our characters was taken ill and was found unfit to work. We had to recast but no one met the expected standards. I got really upset about this, and Tea was there to comfort me.
Camera returns to Tea
Tea: Originally I was just going to do the choreography of the duelling scenes and supervise costumes and makeup. I was on the panel of professionals who auditioned the hopefuls for the part of 'the cheerleader'. Yugi got a bit despondent and I comforted him. Yugi thought that they had written the part too tightly, and no one could ever meet their expectations. To prove him wrong I read a few of the lines.
Camera goes back to Yugi
Yugi: Once she had read one line a realised that she was made for that part. It took some persuasion, but I managed to convince her to take the part.
Camera returns to Yami
Yami: Then we REALLY had the entire cast and we could begin filming. The cast gelled really well as friends as well as colleagues, and the standard of work was extremely high. We worked ahead of schedule on set, but then we had to go on location to film the scenes on Pegasus's island.
Camera returns to Joey
Joey: We were packed off to this island for two months for filming and we all stayed in a big hotel, shown in the series as Pegasus's castle. Well, you can imagine the sort of things we got up to, all of us living in one place. I think that the most embarrassing thing happened one night in summer!
Camera goes back to Tristan, who is blushing
Tristan: Yeah, well one night after we had just finished filming a particularly difficult scene, Joey, Yami, Yugi and I were walking back up to the hotel. We were alone and it was really hot so we decided to go skinny-dipping in the pool. We didn't mind each other, well you know, because we were such close friends. Anyway, we were all relaxing, lying on our backs in the water and looking up at the stars, when there was this flashing and clicking noise.
Camera goes back to Serenity, who is giggling
Serenity: I shared a room with Tea and we were talking about boys and stuff when we heard all this splashing from below our window. We were on the second floor and our room overlooked the pool. We looked down and you can guess what we saw. I remembered that I happened to have a camera in my room, so of course I took a picture or two!
The picture is shown with black circles covering certain places to hide certain things (if you know what I mean!)
Yami: Yes, yes it was all very funny. I'm being sarcastic by the way. It was embarrassing! It just had to happen didn't it? But we got them back!
Tea
Tea: We should have known that they would seek revenge. We weren't safe on set after that. Sugar in the salt pot, spiders in our costumes, water pistols.the list is endless. Actually we got sick of it after a while, their practical jokes led to tension in the cast. We were so glad when we finished filming the first series and were able to return home.
Voice over: After the first series finished, the cast were given a two- month break before filming would start again. Most of them took this time to spend time apart, going on holiday alone or staying with family. However two members of the cast saw more of each other!
Serenity
Serenity: Well, I had always felt that Yami and I shared a certain bond, we just clicked. We had a few things in common and we enjoyed each other's company. So he invited me to come on holiday with him in his family yacht, cruising around the Greek islands. I accepted, thinking that it would be fun, and I knew that I could spend a month on a boat with Yami, Yugi and their grandpa without being involved in any arguments. But to my surprise I found that it was just myself and Yami on the yacht.
Yami
Yami: I fancied Serenity from the moment she auditioned. It was tough to try to get her alone whilst we were filming, because there was always someone else butting in. So I invited her to come on holiday, and to my delight she accepted. We spent the first two weeks as friends, but after one particular evening we spent together, we knew that we were more than just friends.
Serenity
Serenity: Yes, Yami did manage to seduce me one evening. He served a candlelight dinner on the deck with champagne and strawberries. I think the champagne went to my head that night because, well, one thing led to another really. We were the perfect couple, madly in love and Yami was so affectionate and gentle. You wouldn't think it from talking to him, but he is really sensitive underneath, even more so than Yugi!
Voice over: The cast returned to filming in the September of that year. Everyone immediately noticed that something was up between Yami and Serenity.
(OK, I can't be bothered to say, Camera goes to. every time so now it will just be like a script)
Joey: I found out about Yami and Serenity when I found them kissing back stage. Obviously I gave Yami the big brother talk. He was very nice about it, and said that he would never hurt Serenity in any way. I trusted him, now I wish I hadn't!
Tristan: It was difficult having those two in a relationship, especially for me. I had to do several suggestive scenes with Serenity, which was always hard when I could see Yami frowning at my from behind the camera and I knew that Serenity was always glancing towards him. The other cast members found it hard too.
Tea: As a cast, we had a delicately balanced relationship. If someone was bugging us, we generally mouthed off that person behind their back to get our feelings off our chests and then everything would be fine again. Except Yami used to really rub me up the wrong way, and I would tell Serenity about it. But when they started dating I couldn't talk to her in the same way anymore. That was tough. Their relationship distanced them from the other cast members because they spent so much time together, they forgot about their friends.
Yugi: If ever Yami and Serenity had a little row, Yami would come straight back to me. But as soon as they were back together he would drop me like a hot potato. It hurt; he was my friend more than my brother. Everyone else felt the same, but Yami and Serenity were so happy together that we all just shrugged and accepted it.
Voice over: But only a month into filming Serenity dropped a bombshell.
Serenity: I told everyone in the cast my special news at the same time, because I thought that that would be the best way.
Tea: When Serenity told us that she was pregnant I was so happy for her. I always knew that she would make a great mother.
Serenity: Everyone was really happy for me and were all so supportive. Apart from Yami, and that was unexpected to say the least.
Yami: (sighs) I just thought that it was bad timing. Filming had only just started again and the fans were pushing for the next series to be shown soon. And I didn't want to be a father at such a young age. I was only nineteen at the time, and Serenity was just eighteen. I thought that it would be best if we delayed having children until we were married, if we had them at all! We had been going out for just two and a half months and we were both too young to support children. Besides, it was an accident!
Serenity: I couldn't believe it when he called it "an accident"! How dare he! He even arranged for me to see a private doctor about an abortion. But I could go through with it, it was against my morals. I told Yami that I would be going ahead with the pregnancy, with or without his approval.
Mai: Yami handled that whole situation really poorly. At a time when he should have been standing by Serenity, he broke up with her. If you ask me he just got cold feet at the thought of commitment.
Tristan: The next two months were a bit of a hazard really. We had to rearrange the filming schedule so that we could film all of Serenity's scenes before she began to show that she was pregnant. Yami and Serenity weren't speaking and Joey and Yami ended up in several fistfights because Joey blamed Yami for getting his sister pregnant. That time was tough.
Voice over: But more difficulties were to come in the form of Yugi.
Yugi: I had been having terrible pains in my back, so I went to the doctor. I was told that the excess strain that filming had put on me had caused a malfunction in my spine and I was also suffering from exhaustion. It had also stunted my growth. I was told that I should rest for at least six months or I could be crippled for life.
Tea: We were all shocked by this news that Yugi was so ill. It shook us all up a bit, especially knowing that it had been the tough schedule that had hurt him.
Seto: I felt for the little guy. He always smiled during the hardest days of filming, when most of us, including myself, were so tired and frustrated that we argued often.
Joey: Yami tried to rearrange filming again to film all of Yugi's parts at once, like he did for Serenity. Yugi didn't want to do it; he said that the rigorous filming all at once would be worse than if it were spread out. Eventually Yugi agreed, but he wasn't happy about it.
Tea: We were all on set filming a duelling scene. When ever we had to halt filming to restart Yugi would wrap a blanket around himself and sit down. He was getting paler and paler, but we never realised how seriously ill he really was. He hid everything from us until that final day. (Sobs)
Ryou: What happened that day shook everyone up, especially myself and the girls. Yugi and I had become close friends when we found we had so much in common. For instance we both had bigger brothers who always stole the limelight and took control, which united us.
Bakura: Yugi was standing on his duelling podium when it happened. The doctors said his body finally gave in under the strain. He fainted and fell backwards, except the safety bar didn't hold him and he fell some ten metres to the ground. He just lay there, motionless. We all thought he was dead!
Mai: The ambulance came pretty quickly and Yugi was carted off to hospital. It was lucky that Serenity had finished her filming and was on maternity leave, being seven months pregnant. The shock of seeing that happen could have induced labour for her. A few of us were taken to hospital too, suffering from shock. I think a combination of exhaustions, wracked nerves and tension made us much worse.
Joey: Filming stopped then because the star, Yugi, was unfit to work. The doctors said that he nearly died and would not be able to return to work for a year. Many of the others, particularly Tea and Mokuba, were very weak from all the exertion and the shock of all this finally got to them. No one was able to go back to work.
Yami: I blamed myself for everything. Luckily the fans were very supportive, sending flowers and get well soon cards. But I guess the strain of the results from my decisions cracked me. I just had to get away for a while.
Voice over: Yami left home unannounced less the three days after the accident. No one knew where he went. He left his friends in a time of great need, unemployed, in need of comfort, injured and in labour!
Joey: Serenity went into labour right on time, but of course Yami wasn't around. This really upset her. I think she had always expected that, on the day, Yami would be there for her. But he ran way two months before she went into labour.
Tea: With no way of reaching Yami to tell him that Serenity needed him, Joey and I ended up being with her for the birth. Except Joey wasn't there for long!
Joey: Yeah, I fainted, so what? All the blood and tears and screaming, I just couldn't take it.
Voice over: Serenity was blessed with a baby boy. She named him Yoichi.
Serenity: The first two months after Yoichi's birth were very hard. I had no one to help me to raise him, and I suffered from terrible post-natal depression. Plus I really missed Yami, and Yoichi reminded me of him.
Picture of Yoichi. He had Yami's hair except where Yami's is red Yoichi's hair is ginger. He had brown eyes like Serenity
Yugi: In the end I asked Serenity to move into our family home, where it was just Grandpa and I. I felt that we should take responsibility where Yami had run away. And I enjoyed being Uncle Yugi!
Serenity: Yugi was a great foster father, but I knew that he could never replace the real thing.
Tea: None of us had any idea where Yami was. We didn't even know if he was alive or not. Yugi stood in as the father at Yoichi's christening. I was made Godmother and surprisingly Serenity asked Bakura to be the Godfather.
Bakura: I was startled when Serenity chose me as Godfather. We had been friends on set, but never that close. Joey was hurt too, but I think that he realised that he couldn't really be Uncle Joey and a godparent.
Serenity: Actually I made Bakura a Godfather because I could see that he was about to take the same sort of route that Yami had taken. Having a child to help to take care of helped to ground Bakura and, luckily, he didn't go down the wrong path!
Yugi: I helped to take care of Yoichi whilst my back was healing. It was something less strenuous to do and it kept me occupied. I also felt guilty about what my brother had, or rather hadn't, done so it was my way of redeeming our family name. I never wanted Yoichi to think of me as his actual father though, because that was Yami's role for whenever he returned.
Voice over: Except Yami did not return. Six months after the birth of his son Yami had not even made contact.
Serenity: I was hurt that he didn't even ring to find out if I had had the baby. He would have known that I would have had the baby by then, but he didn't make contact. I began to worry that perhaps something had happened to him.
Yugi: We had had the police searching for him in more than one country, but nothing came of it. Eventually, nearly a year after he went missing we took matters into our own hands.
Voice over: The YuGiOh cast got together and filmed this plea.
Video footage
Yugi: Hi, we are the cast from YuGiOh! As you may have heard our show was halted a year ago for several reasons.
Bakura: After that our friend, Yami, went missing. He has still not returned.
Ryou: This is firstly a plea to everyone out there. If anyone knows where Yami is please tell him that we want him back home with us.
Tea: Or telephone us on the number at the bottom of the screen, just to let us know that he is OK.
Joey: But if you are watching Yami, please get in touch with us. We miss you buddy!
Tristan: We don't hold anything against you Yami. We want you back with us!
Mai: Yami, if you are out there please call us, or just send a letter to tell us that you are all right, we are worried about you.
Seto: It hasn't been the same without you Yami!
Mokuba: Please come home!
Serenity: We have all said our bit Yami, but there is someone here who can't say anything yet. But I know that he would love to see his father. Please Yami, come home if only to see your son, Yoichi! (holds up Yoichi)
End video footage
Voice over: This video plea was aired on every television station around the world. The friends waited anxiously for news about Yami, but no phone calls came. Eventually many of them gave up hope that Yami was even alive, although Serenity never gave up.
Serenity: I knew that he was alive, somewhere. However two weeks went by after the video was first shown and still nothing happened. And then we had other things to worry about.
Bakura: I had put it off for nearly four months, not wanting any new events to distract from the search for Yami. But in the end I realised that life must go on, so I finally asked Tea to marry me!
Tea: We had become really close and when he popped the question I knew that it was what I wanted. He asked me about a month before the plea went out, and we arranged a private wedding to take place six weeks later. We told the rest of the cast after we filmed the plea. We wanted our wedding to be a private affair, without the press banging on the door.
Mai: It was wonderful. We all knew that they were very close but it was still a surprise when we heard that BAKURA asked Tea to marry him. But we were all thrilled.
Voice over: Everything was arranged. The wedding would take place in a small church in Tea's hometown, with a few friends and family present. Mai was a bridesmaid and Ryou was the best man. Serenity declined from being a bridesmaid, as she had a seven-month-old baby to look after. On the day of the wedding a photograph of Yami was placed in the church so that he would be there in spirit.
Tea: Everything went smoothly until the part when the priest asked if anyone knew of any reason why we shouldn't be married. Everything went quiet and I was just breathing a sigh of relief that now nothing could stop us from getting married when there was a cry from the door of the church.
Bakura: Someone shouted 'Yes! I have a reason!' I was terrified. I was about to lose my beloved Tea. But when I turned round we saw that at the door was a strange man.
Tea: He said, 'Yes, I have a reason. This wedding can not continue until I have congratulated my friends on their engagement!'
Serenity: I was sitting near the front but when I turned round I recognised the figure. It was Yami!
Yami: I think everyone was shocked to see me. But I walked up to the altar and shook Bakura's hand, then I kissed Tea on the cheek in congratulations, she looked radiant! Then I turned round and told everyone that I would explain everything later, but first there was a couple to be married. I then sat at the side of the hall and watched as my friends were wed.
Tea: It was wonderful to see Yami again. It made the day perfect. Then Yami stood up at the reception and explained everything.
Yami: I explained that after Yugi's accident I felt so guilty that I ran away. I only meant to go for a week or two to clear my head. I was on a boat with a few fishermen when a terrible storm blew up. The boat was shipwrecked and I was washed ashore. I was lucky, I was the only survivor. But one thing was wrong.
Voice over: A nasty bump on the head left Yami with amnesia. Unable to remember even his name he was taken to a care home where he spent the next seven months. By chance he was watching the television one day when he caught a plea from some friends looking for a man called Yami.
Yami: As soon as I saw them I remembered everything. I wanted to get back. I couldn't believe that I had forgotten Serenity and my child. But the nurses had to run a few tests and I was released twelve days after seeing the video. I flew back home on the fourteenth day, but found that everyone was out. Luckily a neighbour told me where everyone was when I arrived at my house. I rushed down to the church and burst in on the wedding.
Serenity: When he came back it was wonderful. When he first held Yoichi he cried. And I cried. Actually I think Yoichi was the only person who didn't cry, which was amazing! Yami was so sorry that he had missed Yoichi's birth and his first months. He was also sorry about leaving me. I forgave him of course!
Voice over: And so the story ended quite happily there. The cast got back together and finished filming the YuGiOh series and made a film. They all made plenty of money from this and were all able to retire, but they didn't of course!
Tea and Bakura moved to a house in the country in England, and Tea is expecting her first child in the spring. They are very happy together and plan to renew their vows next year.
Ryou is currently a model for a special shampoo for people with troublesome hair. He is also dating his photographer, Mark, and he admitted that he was gay a year ago! (sorry to any Ryou fans!)
Mai and Joey have been going out for two years now, although wedding bells are still a long way away. Mai wants to pursue her career as a fashion designer and, surprisingly, Joey went on to breed dogs!
(Seto: I always knew he was a puppy!)
Seto Kaiba's company went global last year, making him a multimillionaire. When Mokuba joined him as head director he changed the name from Kaiba Corporation to Kaiba Brothers Unlimited.
Tristan went into the film business and currently manages his own company, Tristan Trailers. This move made him a very rich man, but he still finds time to take his friend son an all expenses paid holiday.
Yugi recovered from his injuries, although hid height was affected by it. He now travels to third world countries to add support to different causes, especially those for crippled children.
Serenity and Yami moved in together. Yami took up a job as a psychologist to burnt-out actors, and he teaches from his experiences. Serenity gave birth to their second child later in the year. Her name is Kayla and she is the spitting image of her mother, except she has Yami's eyes.
The cast remains friends to this day, and are planning to make one comeback episode to mark the tenth anniversary of the very first YuGiOh episode. We look forward to seeing it!
AN - That was just a one off, but I quite like the whole story about Yami running away. Do you think it would make a good fanfic on its own? Read and review please!