First impressions are everything, right? Well this first chapter may be a little out of whack. I have a plot all made out, but I have trouble with beginnings. So, here's the story that was voted for the most: the one where Marik uses my little baby, Yugi to get under 'Tem's skin. Okay, a little clarification on Yami and Yugi's relationship. There really is no romance, but it's not father/son either. Yami thinks of Yugi as a priceless antieque that needs to be under lock and key. That's the best way I can describe it. He believes that one scratch can perminantly damage him. Yugi wants to do things for himself, that's the whole teenage rebellion thing going on. So, this is what was voted ... let's see if it's what everyone really wanted ...

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Yugi had a big smile on his face as he came through the door. It was already two-thirty in the morning. He and his friends had stayed out all night, celebrating victory in Seto Kaiba's Battle City Tournament. The small boy lightly closed the front door, not wanting to wake his grandfather or his guardian up. Yugi did not wear the Millennium Puzzle while he was out with his friends. The spirit, Yami, did not like it when Yugi did not wear the puzzle. The puzzle was the only way he was really connected to Yugi. And now with Yami's ability to fully manifest himself on the mortal plain, he was twice as protective. He wanted Yami to think he was asleep before he really went out, so Yugi went to bed about twenty minutes before he actually left. When he was sure that Yami was asleep, or in deep meditation in his soul room, he left the puzzle in his room and closed his side of their shared mind link. As Yugi took a few steps into his house and crept through the living room, all of a sudden, the lamp switched on, causing Yugi to completely drop his guard. Swiftly turning around, there he was: the spirit of an ancient Pharaoh. He say on a reclining chair with his arms and legs both crossed and a pissed off look on his face. The fully manifested spirit's narrow red eyes held years of knowledge and tiredness. They were hidden behind goldenrod bangs.

"Hello, Yugi." The way he spoke, one could just sense that Yami was very upset at this time. Yugi gulped.

"Uh … hi, Yami …" The ghostly Pharaoh made no move. Yugi started fidgeting. He always did that when he was sure that his guardian was upset with him. "Yami … I" ---

"Sit down!" he commanded. Yugi was taken back for a second. Yami had just commanded him … he never commanded Yugi to do anything.

"D-don't tell me what to do …" Yami's brow lowered over his eyes.

"You left. You know you are not allowed to leave without the puzzle!" Yugi flinched.

"Stop yelling at me …" Yami stood up with his arms still folded.

"Do you know how worried I was?! How scared I became when I came to check on you, and all I found was an empty bed?!" Guilt was starting to sink its way into Yugi's stomach.

"I-I don't need your protection all the time … I'm sixteen!"

"That's right, Yugi; you are only sixteen! You don't know how to take care of yourself! You do need my protection!

"I was with my friends …"

"Not when you were walking home you weren't! You're too immature to be walking around on your own!" Yami yelled, hitting all of Yugi's soft spots. (No pun intended) Since the spirit was able to move around on his own, he spent all that time following Yugi around, being way too overprotective.

"I am capable of taking care of myself! I was doing fine before you came, and I'll be fine when you're gone!"

"Like running from bullies and hiding behind allies really proves that you can take care of yourself." Yugi's jaw dropped.

"I lived, didn't I?"

"You wouldn't have … had I not been there." That was the final straw. With surprising might, Yugi ran toward his guardian and shoved him back into the chair. Yami's ectoplasm was boiling. He reached up and slapped Yugi across the face. So stunned, the boy fell back onto the ground as Yami stood up.

"Don't you ever talk back to me like that ever again! I know what's best for you; I'm the one who will protect you!" Tears were flowing down Yugi's face. He felt as if Yami was letting out the real thoughts he had of Yugi, and Yugi felt as if he were being attacked with the world's sharpest spear in the heart, and it was digging deeper.

"I don't want you to protect me! I want you to leave me alone!" In his hysteria, Yugi ran out the door, not even closing it on the way out. Yami chased after him.

"Yugi, come back! COME BACK HERE!" He tried to keep after him, but lost his small light in the darkness.

Yugi ran; he didn't know where, but he ran. He ran and ran until his legs started to hurt. When he could not run anymore, he fell to his knees, crying his eyes out. How could Yami say such things? He knew that the spirit became overly protective when he did not know where Yugi was, but he never said anything so cruel until just now. Yugi had no idea where he was, but that was not important right now. Rain started to fall, and the temperature dropped. Now he was wet and cold. Trying to keep warm, he wrapped his arms around himself. He wanted to go back home, but he could not face Yami yet. He still needed to cool down a bit. (No pun intended here either)

Suddenly, he heard a sound coming from the bushes. At first he thought it was an animal, but none of the local animals made that much noise. "W-who's there?" He tried to sound brave, but to be honest, he was scared out of his wits. Here he was, alone in a dark place, in the rain with no protector and worst of all, no witnesses if something happened to him. "S-show yourself!" Without a second to waste, two very large, dark figures ran out of the bushes and grabbed the small, defenseless boy. Yugi tried to scream, but a gag was pushed so deep into his mouth that he almost choked. One of the dark figures held him from his torso while the other was tying his hands behind his back.

"Shut the hell up, Kid!" The figure holding him said. But Yugi just kept struggling.

"Damn, this kid won't stay still!" The other added.

"Fine, we'll just have to go to Plan 'B'." Something hard bashed into Yugi's skull, almost cracking it; then suddenly, everything went dark.

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Darkness … that was all Yugi could see as he regained consciousness. He had the mother of all headaches right now and just wanted to crawl into his bed and sleep for the next ten years. However … he could not move his hands. They were tied behind his back. And there was a blindfold over his eyes. To say that Yugi was scared would be an understatement. He was flat out petrified. He tried to free himself, but the bonds against him were tightly knotted. Help … He mentally begged. He tried to contact Yami, but remembered that the puzzle was not with him, so the link would be useless. Finally, he heard a door open.

"Well, well, look what I caught!" Yugi gasped. He knew that demonic voice.

"M-Marik!" Suddenly, the blindfold was taken off of him. And there he was; the psychotic darker half of Malik Ishtar. Compared to Yugi, he was gigantic, and in his hand was the ever unpopular Millennium Rod. Marik ran a hand through Yugi's hair, down his cheek, and cupped his chin. "S-stop it!"

"Are you afraid of me, Little Yugi?" If there's one thing everyone knows about Yugi, even just by looking at him, it was that he was a terrible liar. He tried to turn his gaze away from the tall psychopath, but Marik would not let him.

"N-no …" Marik smirked.

"Your eyes say otherwise." He kept running his fingers through Yugi's hair, making the younger boy very nervous.

"Stop touching me!"

"I don't think you're in the position to give orders." Marik walked a few steps away. Yugi noticed that there were two other people in the room, making sure that Yugi did not make a get away.

"What do you want with me, Marik? We already sent you to the Shadow Realm!" Marik whipped around with lightning fast speed.

"On the contrary, Little Yugi; it was the Pharaoh that sent me there, not you. You don't have the capability, or the will to do such a thing." Yugi was still struggling a bit.

"How do you know?" A spooky smirk ran across Marik's face. It gave Yugi chills.

"I know more about you then you think." That spooked Yugi to no end. He knew that Marik was psychotic, but he did not figure him to be the stalker kind of psychotic.

"L-like what?"

"Like there are more ways of defeating the Pharaoh then just by winning a duel." Yugi did not understand.

"What are you getting at?" Marik's smirk just continued to grow.

"Don't you know that you are his greatest weakness?" Yugi gasped.

"That's not true!"

"Oh, but it is! The way he watches your every move, has you on a very short leash, and watches over you all night when you sleep. He thinks of you as fine china that will break without his protection. If you were to even get a scratch, he would lose his mind!" Yugi absentmindedly shook his head.

"No … it's not like that …"

"Face the facts, Little Yugi. You are the one who keeps him sane; and now, you are the one that's going to help me defeat him once and for all."

"Never! I'll never help you!" Marik signaled to the two men at the door to keep Yugi still. He still tried to struggle, but he could not move as much as he could when he was only tied up, not held down. "Stop! Let me go! Let me go!" Marik held up the Millennium Rod and it began to glow. Yugi knew the power it held and shut his eyes tightly.

"You will look into the Eye, Little Yugi!" Yugi continued to struggle against the two men holding him still.

"No … I won't!" Marik placed his hand on the boy's head.

"Yes you WILL!" In a second, he forced Yugi's head to turn so that he was looking into the Eye of the Rod. Yugi accidentally opened his eyes just a crack, but that was enough to catch him in a trance. He suddenly stopped struggling. His eyes became dilated and emotionless with a very sleepy gaze upon them. He continued to look into the Eye as he was instructed. After a few seconds of silence, Marik was sure that he had the small boy right where he wanted him. "Alright, let him go."

"But Boss" ---

"I said let him go!" Marik barked. The two did as instructed, relieving Yugi of the ropes that tied him to the chair. The boy made no move … no move at all. All he did was stare. The longer he stared, the deeper he fell. "You are under my control now, Little Yugi. I am your master now. And you will serve me as my slave." Yugi made no sound and no move. "You will do as I command from now on. I own you now." Yugi still did not move.

"… Yes … Master …" He slowly pronounced in a sleepy, monotone voice. Not robotic, but sleepy.

"Very good, my slave; now, come with me and I shall prepare you for what you will do for me."

"As you … command … Master …" Yugi slowly stood up from the chair he sat in and followed Marik in a slow, drowsy walk.

The next morning came all too quickly. Marik had taken the liberty of making sure that Yugi would not break out of his spell no matter what. "Now, you will go about with your life until I feel it necessary for you to return to me. During that time, you will keep the Pharaoh out of your mind, is that clear, Little One?" Yugi stood there, still with that sleepy look in his eyes.

"… Yes, Master …"

"Good. Now get out of my sight! And remember: the Pharaoh is not to know that you work for me now."

"… Yes, Master …" Yugi slowly walked away, Marik still controlling every move he made. When his newest slave was out of sight, the demonic psycho smirked.

"This is going to be so much fun!"

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Yugi's puppet-like movements led him back to his house. When the hypnotized boy reached his room, Yami suddenly manifested and threw his arms around the small boy, not knowing the little one's current condition.

"Yugi! Thank goodness you're alright! I was so worried about you! Where were you?" Because Yugi could not move on his own, he stood there until he was given another command. Marik's voice echoed in his mind

Tell him you went out for a walk.

"… I went out … for a walk …" Yami thought something was wrong, but he could not figure out what it was. He tried to get a look inside his charge's mind, but for some reason, it was locked.

"Yugi, why won't you let me check you over?"

Tell him you have your reasons.

"… I have my … reasons …"

"Oh, I get it; you're still upset with me. Well, I guess I'll respect your privacy. I do want you to know that I am sorry for … everything … including the slap … I don't know why I did it." Yugi still made no move. Yami was expecting some kind of reaction, maybe a scoff or something, but the boy did nothing.

Say you want to sleep now.

"… I want to sleep now …" Slowly, Yugi made his way to his bed.

"Alright, I'll give you some time to sleep. If you need me, I'll be meditating." The spirit finally disappeared. Marik snickered inside Yugi's mind.

Very good, my little slave. Now, sleep until I tell you to awaken.

"… Yes … Master …" The boy slowly lowered his body into his bed and was fast asleep in seconds.

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End of Chapter