A New Era of Shadow Games

by ChemiCool

Several years have gone by since the Pharaoh's soul was put to rest. However, the Pharaoh along with other's have been revived and given new life. The dawn of a new age of Shadow Games is to fall upon the Earth. Was the Pharaoh brought back to stop the Shadow Games again? Is it true that light cannot exist without casting shadows? How will the heres face this new dark force?

1. Preface

Preface to A New Era of Shadow Games

Hello readers and welcome to the Yu-Gi-Oh! Fanfiction titled A New Era of Shadow Games. Before we get started a few words from the author to assist in understanding this fic!

Firstly, the writing of this fic started before any of the sequels to classic Yu-Gi-Oh! were released. Therefore, it takes none of the canon from any of the other stories. The story opens with a scene that occurs at the end of the classic Yu-Gi-Oh! series and then jumps to the current setting of the story which is several years later amidst Yugi and the gang attending college.

Second, this story attempt to portray the characters as they are in the show. Please, refrain from insisting that Yami Bakura and Yami Marik act like violent serial killers that randomly stab things and carve symbols into random walls for fun. I've seen this comment on a number of firs insisting that these characters "stay in character" when the truth is that there is no precedent in the canon anime to state that they would act in such ways. They are violent sociopaths, but they've never been shown to be randomly violent unless pursuing their own goals. Perhaps in the original manga this was the case as it takes a much more violent tone there. It is also fun to over-play Yugi as a naive child and Joey as incredibly stupid, but this story does not seek to over exaggerate these characteristics.

Thirdly, important character considerations are here:
- Yami Bakura - Referenced only as Bakura is a fusion of the two souls that inhabited the Millennium Ring. He is not Zorc or Thief King Bakura, but a combination of the two as he is depicted in the canon with the two souls fusing to one.
- Yami Marik - Referenced only as Marik while his counter part will be referenced as Malik. He is not an ancient spirit, but the incarnation of Malik's dark side. Those familiar with the anime should be aware of this, but to be clear he is not an ancient spirit.
- Atem/Yami Yugi - Will be referred to by his proper name Atem throughout the fic.
- Yami/Hikari - These terms may be used through out the fic just to break up the repeat of words. Yami is the term referenced to the "dark/ancient" counterparts (i.e. Yami Yugi). Hikari is the term referenced to the "light/modern" counterpart (i.e. Yugi Muto).

Lastly, I will not post a disclaimer with every chapter, but state here that for all chapters of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Fanfiction A New Era of Shadow Games the original canon characters are not in any way owned by myself, nor are any canonical plot devices or references to the original plot line. However, any plot devices and original characters created in this fic are the intellectual property of ChemiCool.

As an aside, I had a lot of trouble naming this fic and as such I'm willing to take suggestions from my readers! If you come up with a name more befitting the story let me know. :)

Enjoy reading this story as I know I enjoyed writing it!