Hi everyone, so this is my second fic that I am uploading to the site and I'm pretty excited! This is different from my first fic but is another next generation.

Special Shout out to my Friend Year of the Fox for support and introduction of one of the main characters, you'll meet later on.

Let's follow the journey of Zella Muto, Artemis Kaiba, Gwen Wheeler, and their friends as they follow the same path their parents did years ago!

This first chapter is pretty long for me and I appologize, there was just no way to logically split it up.

Read and Review! Hope you enjoy it :)

-B

P. S. Until the semester is over, posting will be every few days...unless I am inspired other wise ;D

Yugioh: The Next Generation: Return of the Shadows

Hi, the name is Zella Muto. You might not know much about me, but you probably know my father, Yugi Muto. He was the King of Games and an undisputed international champion for well over four years until he retired suddenly after he graduated high school. The press said it was because his longtime rival, Seto Kaiba, in his last tournament duel, defeated him. Others say he wanted to stop while he was still on top. My parents never talk about duel monsters, the very thing that they both loved when they were my age. Surely, after 16 years, they would let something slip, nope not once. It is as if something happened that they do not want to think about.

Chapter 1: 16 Years Later

It was my first day of high school and I was honestly nervous. I had Sage, my twin brother, as always, but that was my identity since I was born. This was my chance to be myself, not half of a set.

We walked in and the hall way fell almost silent, minus lockers shutting and papers crinkling.

"Those are the kids of Yugi Muto, she looks like him minus the spiked hair" and so the whispers continued. I love my black hair, and natural blonde streaks in it, but it was a trademark of my father. I put my head down; this is going to be worse than I expected. I was suddenly grateful for the 9 years of private school I endured. At least at Momentum Academy, no one knew who Yugi Muto was, and thus I could easily blend in. While I was in thought, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped out of reflex.

"High school is a bad place to start and with parents like ours, we need to stick together" It was a girl. Her face looked familiar, but I could not place it.

"Who are you?" I blurted out being frankly rude to the one person who I have made contact with.

"I'm Artemis Kaiba" I looked at her. She was very thin and tall, and had light brown hair that fell past her shoulders and light blue eyes.

"You're Seto Kaiba's daughter?" I looked at her again. That is why she looked familiar; she looks like her father and everyone knows who Seto Kaiba is.

"Yes, also known as the heiress to Kaiba Corp"

"Wow, I bet you get it worse than I did" I said feeling guilty about my feelings of remorse about the comments I heard. Everyone knows about Kaiba Corp and its ever-changing technological advances; not everyone knows about a washed up Duel Monsters Champion.

"It's the opposite. It is hard to make real friends. Not many people are true friends. They're only after the money and reputation that comes with being Artemis Kaiba's friend"

"Oh, that does suck. But, trust me, I could care less about money. I just want to find my place in reality"

"Do you duel? I mean you are the daughter of a past King of Games"

"No we don't. My father never taught us. My parents don't even talk about their times as duelists or high school in general" I may not follow a lot about current rankings but judging by the way she was talking, she was a ranked duelist like her father.

"Gwen Wheeler and Leroy Taylor are in our grade as well"

"Who are they?" I asked and were these names significant?

"Didn't your parents say anything? Gwen is the daughter of your father's best friend Joey Wheeler and Leroy is the son of Tristan Taylor. My father hated the four of them but still told me about his time in high school. He said if I am to be above the rest like him I need to look out for his enemies in my generation. It's kind of funny though. He says that but then he is all about making your own destiny. I never took that to heart. I believe in taking each duel one at a time"

"Four of them?" I asked. Out of all of that, I never got past those three words.

"Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Tea" Artemis clarified my question. My parents were two of the four. If they were such good friends, why don't they see them now?

"Oh" I was trying to figure out a lot, processing the fact that my parents haven't told me anything was starting to hurt.

"Yeah, at least that's what my father said"

"I think we're going to get along just fine Artemis. I'm Zella and my brother Sage walked in with me"

"He's cute. Wait did I say that out loud? Oops" she said blushing.

"You want to hang out at my placed this weekend? I could show you my cards and maybe teach you a few things?" she said changing the subject very quickly.

"That would be great" she disappeared into the crowd and I was alone the rest of the day. I met a few nice girls, but most of them were curious if my dad shared his dueling strategies with me. A few guys whistled. The pink, blue and white uniform of Domino High was a horrible attack on my normal attire. I don't wear skirts so this is horrible. Everyone says I have my mother's looks but this is rather annoying actually. High school in general was going to be a living Hell, I can tell now. Luckily, I will have Artemis there to help me through it.

As I walked out the doors to wait for Sage, he walked by. His hair was short and dark brown and his eyes a similar brown. He was taller but seemed familiar like Artemis did. He caught me staring.

"What are you looking at?" he asked coming beside me to look where he previously stood. It had just finished raining and a rainbow lay just beyond where he stood. What a perfect cover.

"The rainbow, you were kind of in the way though. Thanks for moving" I said playing it off smoothly, I hope.

"Sarcastic and cute. Not bad. I'm Leroy Taylor" he said extending a hand.

"Zella Muto"

"You're Zella?"

"Why? Expecting someone else?"

"No, I just thought you were someone else. You look a lot like a lady from my parents' old scrapbooks"

"Sorry, I'm just boring Zella"

"I didn't mean it that way. I meant it as a compliment. The lady was my parents' friend and from the pictures, she is very pretty"

"Thanks, I guess"

"Zella, can we start over in a less awkward way?" he asked looking very uncomfortable. He must be a player and not used to having a girl not catching on to his charm.

"Sure. Hi I'm Zella"

"Nice to meet you Zella, I'm Leroy, but you can call me Le"

"Some people call me Z, but I don't like it too much" Why am I rambling? He's just another cute guy.

"I won't call you Z then" he said laughing softly. My face had to be scarlet red.

"Thanks. I'll see you around. My brother is waiting and I don't want to miss the bus"

"Until then Zella" he said smiling as I walked away

I got on the bus and Sage looked happy. We only had brief conversation before we got home. When we walked in, our mom was making dinner, she is never home until late on Mondays.

"How was school?" she asked as she stirred something.

"Cool, I met some new people. Including Artemis Kaiba" she stopped stirring.

"Did you say a Kaiba?"

"Yes, why?" She shook her head.

"The name sounds familiar that's all" she lied right to my face.

I went upstairs, sat on my bed, and my eyes found my scrapbook table. It has sat in the corner of my room, untouched for weeks now. If mom worked so hard on mine, she must have some of her own. I crept up to the attic. There had to be fifty boxes of stuff up here. I figured I'd start in the back corner, that's where I'd put something I didn't want my kids to come across by accident.

Sure enough, a box sat secluded with a sheet over it. I picked it up and it must have weighed a ton. I almost dropped it going down the stairs 'stairs, but I made it to my room and opened it. A scrapbook said 'high school will live on forever in our hearts' on it, was right on top. BINGO.

I opened it and there was a picture of Domino high school with 4 people in front of it. My mom, my dad, and two other people.

"Friends until the End: Yugi, Tea, Joey, and Tristan"

I started to flip through the pages.

Duelist Kingdom, Battle City, and the KC Grand Championship. My dad was truly the King of Games. He beat everyone who challenged him, even Seto Kiaba. Why did he stop? Why does she refer to him sometimes as Yami? What's that pyramid looking thing around his neck? Why don't they talk about high school? So many questions are unanswered.

I closed the book and continued into the box. I found some old duel monster cards, common ones. My dad didn't use any of these according to the pictures, they were to cutesy. Then it hit me, this is my mom's deck. My dad would not just leave them lying around at home. They're probably locked up at my great-grandfather's card shop. That's it! Maybe he could shed some light. Or, should I just ask my mom? I put her cards down and continued my search of the box. I found another book.

'WE ALL LOST HIM, NOT JUST ME' there was a picture of my dad on the cover. He looked so confident so serious. But you could see a grin come through his steady persona. I turned the page and saw the gold pyramid thing. It sat in pieces outside a box. Then there was a picture of my dad smiling as he picked up the whole item. The next picture showed my dad with a glowing eye symbol on his head. My dad looked taller. As I flipped on further, I saw my mom and dad together in most of these pictures, it also traced his dueling career. The last few pages showed my mom kissing the more confident sides of my dad.

The last page showed the two sides of my dad dueling, but the more confident one had what looked like a crown on with some outdated costume. The last photo showed the pyramid around their necks shattered and the confident one faded, as if he was disappearing into a lighted door.

"Yami is free now, but no one will miss him more than me. He was my first love..." I wonder if my dad knows about this. This is all so weird, why would my parents truly want to hide their past from me?

Hey Guys, if you haven't read Year of the Fox's: There Has to be More to It, Seto's Silver Ace, and Until He Had It All, you really should! One because there amazing fics and two, the background info will help you understand things in future chapters!

Thanks again for Reading!

-B