A/N: A bit of light-hearted fun from this veeeeery depressing author! The first chapter is just an introduction so nothing really happens... Oh yeah and there's nothing whatsoever significant about the SSBB characters everyone picks at the start - I was just experimenting with different characters on the game as I wrote. My favourite characters are Ganondorf and Kirby, if anyone's interested!

Anyway, on with the story! I hope you enjoy it! Please read and review~!

The Subspace Duelists

Chapter 1

"Yaaa! Go, pikachu! Thunderbolt!" Tristan yelled, hammering the A button as quickly as he could.

"Whatever," Joey muttered back, tapping the Wii remote with skill. On the television, Ganondorf sent the pikachu flying straight off the screen. "Victory!" he crowed, just before Bowser struck him from behind. "Damn!"

"Sorry, Joey," Ryou grinned, turning Bowser around to face the only other player left – Yugi's character, Peach. "Now it's my turn, Yugi!"

Nobody really knew why Yugi had chosen to play as Princess Peach. Everyone, including Yami, agreed that Yugi would be better suited playing as a hero character like Link or Marth, or even Solid Snake. But still, he had chosen Peach, and so far he had done extremely well against his opposition. Having the three thousand year old spirit of the King of Games living in his mind probably helped, but even Yami himself had admitted that he hadn't a clue how Super Smash Bros. Brawl – or any other video game for that matter – worked.

"Bring it!" Yugi laughed in friendly competition. Joey and Tristan threw down their remotes and settled back to watch the remaining two players battle it out. Ryou's Bowser was already on 70% damage after his earlier struggle against Joey's Ganondorf, whereas Yugi had used his final smash not too long ago and Peach had almost been healed to full health. It was this disadvantage that let Yugi smash Bowser into the sky almost straight away.

"Damn," Ryou said good-naturedly. "Yugi wins again!"

Of course, a voice whispered - sibilant, dark, emotionless - inside Ryou's mind. Yugi can't lose at any game.

The temperature in the room seemed to suddenly drop ten degrees. Ryou couldn't breathe, and for a terrifying heart-stopping moment, it felt as though the air in his lungs had turned to solid ice.

Then as suddenly as it had started, the feeling passed, leaving Ryou shaking in fear. Cautiously he placed one trembling hand on his chest, feeling for the Millennium Ring concealed underneath his clothes. A cold biting energy tore through the thin t-shirt he wore, snapping at his fingers and racing up his arm. His hand jerked away involuntarily, and he couldn't help shuddering.

Luckily, no one seemed to have noticed. They were too busy congratulating Yugi to be watching Ryou, and besides, the spirit spoke only to him. Not a minute went by when he wished it wasn't so.

"Hey, Ryou!" Tristan called. "You want to play again?"

"Umm… yeah, I guess." Ryou picked up his Wii remote from where it had fallen.

"What about you, Téa?" Tristan continued.

"Huh," she replied. "Just because you four are obsessed with that stupid game doesn't mean I want to waste all my life playing it too."

"Aww, come on!" Tristan pleaded. "I'm fed up of losing, I want someone to beat!"

"Oh, thanks, Tristan," Téa snapped, snatching the remote out of his hand.

"How about a team battle?" Yugi interjected, to prevent any more arguments. "You know, me and Téa versus Ryou and Joey."

Téa glanced at Yugi, who winked, gaze flickering down to the Millennium Puzzle hung round his neck. Her eyes widened. He was going to let Yami take over and fight in his place!

Yugi – or was it Yami now? She had no way of telling – pressed his finger to his lips with a grin before turning his attention back to the character selection screen. Téa followed his example, selecting the cute little Yoshi as her character.

The brawl began on Joey's favourite battlefield, the Legend of Zelda Temple stage: Yoshi and Marth against Pokémon Trainer and Meta Knight. Predictably, they had been playing for all of two seconds before Téa turned her character into an egg and sent him flying helplessly off stage. She was saved only by Yami, who threw a bouncer towards her to launch her back onto the stage, putting her back in the game and causing her – not for the first time – to doubt whether Yami was really as bad at video games as he claimed to be.

Of course, it only bought her a handful of extra seconds before Joey's charizard smashed Yoshi into the sky with his golden hammer, but hey – it was the thought that counted. Yami's Marth moved forwards to engage Charizard, and the battle really began to heat up.

While those two fought a blinding melee beneath the Temple, however, there was one player who didn't seem all that ready to fight. Ryou's Meta Knight stood calm and unmoving on top of one of the stage's crumbling structures, seemingly watching… and waiting. This seemed rather puzzling to Téa, considering Ryou's usual enthusiasm about SSBB – they had all come round to his house to play the game, after all.

A smash token drifted within inches of Meta Knight's face, causing Ryou to act for the first time, executing his character's furious slash combo to smash the shiny ball. Meta Knight began to glow as he absorbed the power to use his final smash. For some reason, though, he still didn't move. Téa and Tristan both expected him to swoop down on the unsuspecting brawlers and unleash his most powerful move to wipe them both out at once. But he didn't. Instead, he waited.

Ryou's face was calm, emotionless. He was usually so animated when playing his favourite video game. A thought flashed through Téa's mind, and she shuddered slightly. What if Ryou had guessed Yugi would switch with Yami? What if he…?

He wouldn't, she told herself. Ryou would never do that. Not after what we've been through together.

And then Ryou turned his head slightly, as though he had heard her thoughts. In the pale, flickering light of the TV screen, the cold half-smile he flashed her looked more like the hungry grin of a demon. Téa looked away, trying to suppress her fear. Surely he wouldn't do anything to them here, now?

Back to the match, Yami had just finished kicking Joey's butt and was now heading up to the surface again to face Bakura's – because Bakura was definitely controlling Ryou now, there was no doubt about that – Meta Knight. A short detour on Marth's part to get a heart recovery item allowed Meta Knight to spring down behind him and unleash that final smash he had been saving.

"What the heck are ya doing?" Joey demanded indignantly of Bakura, as a slash of blue streaked across the screen, sending Marth flying backwards. "He just healed himself to full health! If you had have damaged him a bit first, you would have been able to kill him in one shot with that!"

Bakura ignored this, focusing instead on the swift combat going on between himself and his archrival, the King of Games. Even though for both of them this was their first time playing the game, both of them executed advanced moves with supernatural gaming talent born of their 3,000 year rivalry. They danced around each other, waiting for one wrong move by their opponent. Neither of them got too close, pulling back before either one had the chance to use a powerful finishing move.

Téa couldn't help wondering whether or not Yami had figured out he wasn't up against Ryou any more. Surely Joey or Tristan must have found it strange that Ryou was lasting out so long against Yami. There was one thing about the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle that they all agreed on: Yami was unbeatable at games. The only time he had ever lost was when he had been blackmailed, or his opponent cheated. On the other hand, Téa wouldn't put it past Bakura to have hacked the game. He was the infamous Thief King, and if Yami's gaming skills extended to video games, maybe Bakura's special talents did too.

But Yami wouldn't lose. She knew it.

And sure enough, it was Marth who broke the second smash token and forced Meta Knight off the edge of the map. "Wahoo! I knew you'd beat us, Yugi!" Joey cheered, not fazed by his defeat.

"How on earth did you get so good at this?" Tristan asked in amazement.

It was Yugi who replied, a little shyly, "Well, you know, it's not really that hard…"

Téa cast a hesitant glance at Bakura to see his reaction. All she saw was Ryou, though, looking a bit lost, and she guessed that Bakura had switched back with his host.

"Well done, Yugi," Ryou congratulated him, standing up. "I'll go and get some drinks. Anyone want some Pepsi?"

"I'll help," Téa offered impulsively, getting up off the sofa.

"It's fine, really," Ryou said, without looking at her. "I'll be able to manage them."

"You can't carry five cans on your own," Téa countered, matter-of-factly.

Ryou gave a resigned shrug of his shoulders and headed into the kitchen, and Téa followed. When they were out of earshot, she began, "Ryou –"

"Téa, I'm fine. Look. I'm okay. I'm me."

"You should have told us it was happening again."

Ryou looked down. "I- I didn't want to worry any of you…"

"We can't help you if you don't let us. I'm sure that Yugi or Yami could –"

"There's nothing anybody can do," Ryou interrupted, voice twisted with a sudden dark sarcasm. "Yugi and Yami know that. I'm – we're – going to be like this forever."

"Ryou…" Téa struggled to find the words she was looking for. "I want to help you. I don't want you to have to suffer with –"

"It's okay. It's really okay." Ryou's looked up at her, and his gaze, once so innocent and pure, held nothing but bitterness. "There are… times, when it's bad, but usually I'm fine. And sometimes, it's like we… were never…" He closed his eyes. "Seriously, Téa. Don't worry about me."

Téa managed a faint smile and nodded. "Tell me if there's anything I can help with."

"Yeah." He turned away and walked over to the fridge. "You can start by taking these to Yugi and Tristan," he added with a grin, tossing her two cans of pop.

Téa caught them with a sad smile and walked back into the living room. Inside, she felt depressed. She knew that everything Ryou had said was just an act. He wasn't fine. He was suffering far more then he ever let on.

They handed out the Pepsi cans. Yugi was the only one who looked around as they walked in; Joey and Tristan were occupied brawling against what looked like a huge pterodactyl. Téa thought she caught a flicker of emotion cross Yugi's face, and she couldn't help wondering whether he had overheard their conversation in the kitchen. She made a mental reminder to talk to Yugi about it later. Even if she didn't know how to help Ryou, Yugi might.

"Boss Battles?" Ryou asked Joey and Tristan lightly, although this time Téa could swear she could sense the slight fakeness of his voice.

"Yeah," Joey replied. "We decided we would do the Boss Battles on two-player mode and take turns to fight each one."

"Fine by me," Ryou agreed and sat down on the sofa beside Yugi.

They fought the battles in turn, even though it seemed that Yugi had to do most of the work. It took about 20 minutes before Joey threw down his remote and Téa leaned back into her chair with satisfaction. "Finally," she sighed. "That seemed to take forever!"

"It's not over yet," Ryou said with a faint grin. "There's still one boss left to fight..."

"Who?" Tristan demanded.

"Tabuu, he's called. I remember from when I had to fight him in the story mode."

"Is he hard?"

"I don't know; it's been ages since I played on The Subspace Emissary mode!"

"Whoever he is," Tristan interrupted, "I bet he's no match for our tag team brawling!" He and Joey shared a quick high-5.

"Uh... sorry to burst your bubble, guys, but actually it's not your turn," Yugi cut in apologetically. "It's actually my turn, to fight with Ryou."

Joey pulled a face. "Fine, but make it quick so I can get back to kicking all your asses!"

Ryou smiled ruefully as he took the remote Tristan handed him. "I'll do my best, Joey."

A great figure appeared on screen, transparent blue, with wings – great rainbow butterfly-wings, shining with every colour the expensive HD television could create. Yugi's character Link leapt straight into action, leaving Ryou's Pit in the dust. "That's odd. I think I'd have remembered if he'd looked as amazing as that before..."

"Maybe he's different for the Boss Battles, who cares?" Joey shouted, almost bouncing up and down with agitation. "Don't just stand there, beat him up!"

"Sure..." Ryou muttered, spinning Pit into position before Tabuu knocked him off the edge with laser beams from his eyes. Both him and Yugi, guessing each other's moves, stood a long way off and used their bows to reduce his life bar from a safe distance. Then Tabuu withdrew from the melee and pulled back beyond their range. "Hang on a minute! Yugi – he's using his ultimate attack!"

Link raised his shield in response to Ryou's shout, and Ryou himself prepared to use Pit's counter shield. However, the triple waves of energy Ryou was expecting didn't come. Tabuu paused, as if waiting for them to make a move. A wave of tension, so unexpected, rolled over those sat in the room. Ryou shuddered. If was as if for that one drawn-out moment, everything was standing still.

A ball of dark energy appeared on the screen, roughly spherical and expanding rapidly. And Ryou knew with certainty that something was wrong, so wrong. This was not supposed to happen. SSBB was a game, just a normal video game for the Nintendo Wii. None of the millions of copies sold worldwide had anything to do with a Shadow Game.

So why was the great ball of shadow expanding out of the screen and into his living room?

Why the instinctive rush of fear, swallowed by the overwhelming emotions of his other self – curiosity, followed by panic and a furious struggle against the void that tried to drag them in?

Why Yami's wide eyes as the Millennium Puzzle reacted with a fierce glow, calling him forth?

And why was this great ball of darkness – of Subspace – drawing them into a world that should only have existed on a TV screen?