A/N: I was playing KH2 today and figured, "Hey, there are SO MANY parallels I can make here…" So I decided to write a fic.

Disclaimer: If I owned KH, KH3 would be out already. If I owned Yuugiou, the series would have an epilogue in which Yuugi and Atem meet again.

Kingdom of Shadows

Written by Fenikkusu

Beta'd by Ahny (Coffee Cat)

Prologue: Awakening

"Aibou." You hear a baritone voice call out to you. For some reason, it feels very familiar. You cannot place who the voice belongs to, but you feel that you can trust it.

"Pharaoh?" The word comes out of your mouth before you can stop it.

"Yes," the voice says. You could swear that the speaker was smiling.

Again, it feels like someone else is controlling your body, and you're trapped in it. "I feel like you're going away for a long time. I don't want you to go!"

A warm chuckle. "That is the intention."

"Why?" you inquire, confused.

"To protect you, little one."

You huff and place your hands on your hips, "I'm not little!"

"But to me, Aibou, you will always be little." The room shakes, causing you to take a step back. "It is time for you to wake up. Your Realm is calling you."

"My wha—" The shadows around you shift again, interrupting you. "No! I want to stay here, with you!" you say in a rush.

"Ah, but you must recall what you were taught. We cannot always obtain what our hearts desire... It is time to reenter the Realm of Light, Aibou." You hear fading footsteps as the owner of the other voice walks away from you.

"No, wait!" However, your plea is in vain as you fall forward into the eternal darkness below.

BRRRRING!

A groan was uttered from beneath star-stitched sheets.

BRRRRRRING!

Yuugi Motou resisted the urge to chuck his alarm clock across the room. Blurry eyes read the numbers on the machine. At the hazy recognition of what time it was, the teen buried his head back under his pillow. It was Sunday, for goodness' sake! Why on earth would it have gone off? (Probably because he left the alarm on the 'on' position… again.) Another sound blasted through the room as Yuugi's hand fumbled on the nightstand. Lady GaGa's "Just Dance" continued to echo along with the alarm clock.

"Ohayou (good morning), Anzu," the thirty-year-old mumbled over the receiver when the wandering hand found the phone. His free hand slammed down on the alarm clock, a satisfying crack following suit.

"Yuugi, you should really start answering me in English. What would have happened if one of your co-workers answered the phone?" was the nagging reply on the other side of the line. "And did I just hear you break your alarm clock?"

At this, Yuugi lifted the blanket off of his head, his tri-colored hair poking through along with a drowsy amethyst eye. Anzu was right, as always.

"Err…"

"I knew it! You're such a mess, Yuugi. Why don't you come with me to the dance studio today?"

Yuugi yawned and pulled the rest of the covers off of himself. "I have work to do today, Anzu. You know that!"

"Work this, work that. You're always working these days! Doesn't Kaiba ever give you a break?"

The man rolled his eyes as he padded over to a window and pulled the blinds up. Light immediately filtered through the room. Yuugi looked down to see cars speeding past and the building across the street reaching skyward.

"Anzu, this is New York City, you know, the city that never sleeps?" Yuugi replied as he stretched. "And besides, this is Kaiba we're talking about! I bet him giving me all this work is payback because I won't give him that championship match. Hold on a sec." The boy reached into his nightstand drawer and pulled out a pair of earphones. He plugged them into the phone. "Can you still hear me?"

"Yeah. I guess you're eating breakfast?" Yuugi affirmed this as he strode into his kitchen, reaching into a nearby pantry. He prepared a bowl of Cocoa Puffs. "How much do you have to do, anyway?"

"Um," the man began as he chewed on his cereal. "I need to start working on the new Duel Disk… Kaiba wants the prototype by Wednesday."

"If you're done by this afternoon, we can hang out at Central Park. Dance practice should be done by then."

"And you said I was working too much," Yuugi said with amusement coating his voice. "Yeah, I'll be there."

"Great! I'll see you then!"

The breeze fluttered past a small figure huddled over a sandbox in Central Park. If one didn't know better, he or she would have mistaken the boy for a college student. (His short stature didn't help him convince the adults that he, in fact, wasn't twenty.) Once someone spotted his tall, tri-colored hair, he or she would immediately know it was the King of Games himself, Yuugi Motou. This could explain why the teen wore a dark gray hoodie and ripped jeans.

He needed to do something while Anzu grabbed the train. It would be half an hour before she got here.

That's him, Riku! I know it is! Yuugi swiveled on his heel, but he found no one. Figuring that it was a figment of his imagination, he shrugged and continued to make his sculpture.

How do you know? This voice was slightly deeper than the other one. Yuugi narrowed his eyes as he stood up again. Where were these voices coming from?

He looks just like Xetam, like how Roxas looks like me! C'mon, it's worth a try! Try what? The boy stood up and looked around wildly. At a gust of wind, he took a step back into something. Yuugi felt a sharp blow to the back of his head before he blacked out.