Introduction: This story has been a long time in the making, and perhaps one of my more ambitious ideas. When I saw the very first episode of Sword Art Online, a single question entered my mind. How would Yami Yugi do in a game like SAO? Soon after I asked that question, I remembered the Monster World arc from the original Yu-Gi-Oh! manga and the Season Zero anime. Thus the concept for this story was born. So after several months of refining the idea, I finally sat down and began work on it. And I'm glad I'm finally getting it off the ground.

Just to be clear, this is pretty much an AU to both Yu-Gi-Oh! and Sword Art Online, and has no connection to any previous Yu-Gi-Oh! or SAO story I've done previously. That said, on with the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sword Art Online.


Prologue

It was a late Saturday night at the lab of the game company, Industrial Illusions. While much of the staff had already gone home hours before, Akihiko Kayaba was hard at work putting the final last-minute touches on his creation. Tomorrow was the official launch date of his game, Monster World Online, the first virtual MMORPG based loosely on the old tabletop RPG known as Monster World. The game had a secret though that Kayaba was certain that the public wouldn't like. But he didn't care about that one bit. The world he created was at long last going to come to life.

A sudden knock at his office door forced Kayaba to turn away from his computer and get up. Upon opening the door, Kayaba saw standing on the other side a young man with long white hair. He had on what looked like a school uniform consisting of a buttoned up blue jacket and long blue pants.

"Um, good evening sir." The young man greeted somewhat nervously. "You do remember me, right?"

"You're Ryo Bakura, one of the beta testers for the game." Kayaba replied. "What is it that you want?"

"Well, I just wanted to drop by and thank you for giving me the four extra copies of your new game and the extra NerveGear helmets." Bakura explained. "My friends were just thrilled about getting them."

"Think nothing of it." Kayaba replied as he turned and went back to his computer. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a few things to finish up before the launch of the game."

"Oh, but my business with you is far from done, Kayaba." Bakura responded.

Kayaba noticed that Bakura's voice sounded different from before. He swiveled his chair around and saw that the young man's face seemed different somehow. It was in the eyes mostly. The eyes that were once friendly and cheerful had become somehow murderous. Kayaba also noticed that the young man's jacket was open, revealing a white shirt and a strange golden pendant hanging by a leather string. The pendant was a golden ring with a large triangular piece in the center. On the front of the triangle was a strange eye-like symbol, and hanging down from the bottom half of the ring were five pointed ornaments.

"What is this?" Kayaba asked, somehow sensing that something was wrong.

"I have to admit, I'm a bit envious of you." Bakura continued as he walked further into the office and shut the door behind him. "I've done what you've been planning to do many times before with tabletop RPGs, but I've never done it on such a large scale. This technology of yours is quite impressive."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Kayaba told him.

"Don't play dumb with me, Kayaba. I know that you're planning to trap all the players of Monster World Online inside the game." Bakura revealed.

The color drained from Kayaba's face. "How did you know?"

"Mainly a hunch. One that you've just confirmed for me." Bakura answered. "It occurred to me as my host helped to test your little game that all one would have to do would be to remove the logout option to trap people inside. And from the times my host met you, I was able to figure out that you were the type of man to do just that."

"So just what is it that you want?" Kayaba asked.

"Nothing much." Bakura replied with an evil grin. "I simply want to take over control of this little game of yours."

"I don't know what it is you want with my game, but I'm not handing control of it over to your or anyone." Kayaba told him.

"I didn't say I was giving you a choice." Bakura responded.

Suddenly the eye in the center of Bakura's pendant began to glow with a strange golden light. An instant later the room was filled with a strange purple mist.

"What's going on?" Kayaba asked as he looked around. "What is this?"

"You want to keep control of your game, I'm going to give you a sporting chance." Bakura explained. "I challenge you to a shadow game! And if I win, control of your game goes to me."

"A shadow game?" Kayaba repeated. "What is that?"

Suddenly Bakura threw something at Kayaba that the blonde scientist managed to catch with his hand. The item in question was a pair of ten-sided dice, one red and one blue.

"You know what these are, don't you Kayaba?" Bakura asked. "They're ten-sided dice, the kind used in old tabletop RPGs. I have a pair as well. The rules of this game are simple. We take turns rolling the dice, and the one who rolls the lowest number wins."

"If I win this game of yours, you'll leave?" Kayaba asked.

"Of course." Bakura assured him. "But if you lose, a penalty game awaits."

Fine then. Let's get this over with." Kayaba replied as he let the dice fall from his hand.

The dice rolled on the floor for a few moments before finally stopping in front of Bakura's feet. The red die landed on the number one, while the blue die landed on the number four.

"A fourteen." Kayaba observed. "It seems the odds are in my favor."

"Perhaps, but I still have my roll to make." Bakura pointed out.

With a flick of his wrist, Bakura sent his pair of dice flying into the side of the desk. The dice ricocheted off the desk and clacked against each other before they landed in the center of the floor. Both dice landed on the number zero.

"Well, it seems that I win." Bakura observed. "Penalty Game! Mind Doll!"

Suddenly a ball of blue light flew out of Kayaba's chest and went into his computer. His unconscious slumped out of his chair.

Bakura laughed as he walked over and pushed Kayaba's soulless body to the floor. "That was easy. Now all that's left is to make this game mine. Technology isn't something I'm skilled at, but with the power of my Millennium Ring and place a part of my soul in the computer that controls this game and make it an extension of my being."

With that, a beam of light shot out the center of Bakura's ring and hit the computer. The evil gamer laughed as strange lines of code began to appear on the screen.

"And now the stage has been set for the ultimate RPG!" Bakura declared. "Get ready, Yugi. Once you die in this game, your Millennium Puzzle will be mine!"


Author's Note: I watched the Sword Art Online anime all throughout the development of this story. And as the focus of the series shifted more towards the relationship between Kirito and Asuna, another question entered my mind. How would Kirito and Asuna do against an enemy like Yami Bakura? So in a way this crossover can be thought of as the first arc of SAO with a better villain.

Please review and let me know what you think.