Candyland
Disclaimer- I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or the game Candyland.
Summary- Waiting for the rain to clear during their summer holiday, the Yu-Gi-Oh gang stumbles upon a game remembered from their childhood, Candyland. After deciding to play the game to pass the time, Ryou's millennium ring reacts to something, sending his Yami, Bakura, and his game partner, Mai, deep into the realms of the game. Working their way through the maze of the game board, the pair find that Candyland is not all gumdrops and rainbows as the front of the box perceives. The only way out is to beat the game, but how can they do that when they don't know the rules?
Ch I- Prologue
'Once upon a time, King Kandy, the imperial head bon bon and grand jujube of Candyland, disappeared. It was a bright, sunny morning and to everyone's surprise, the king and his fabulous candy castle simply were no longer where they should be…
"A lost king is so distressing," says Plumpy, the last of the Plumpa Trolls, as he shoves a juicy gingerbread plumb into his mouth. Plumpy is the caretaker of the Gingerbread Plum Trees and his job is to gather up all the ripe plumbs that fall from the tree. But ever since the king's disappearance, Plumpy does more eating than gathering… growing more plump and more glum with every bite of a plumb.
Mr. Mint, the peppermint lumberjack, and keeper of the Royal Peppermint Forest, also thinks the situation is somewhat sticky. Mr. Mint cuts down big red and white peppermint trees into bite size whistles and flutes, creating the sweetest sounding musical instruments ever. "My peppermint piccolos have been rather off-key ever since the king left," says Mr. Mint. "I certainly hope he returns soon."
"And what of my Gumdrop Mountains?" Moans Jolly, the official Gumdrop Mountain greeter. "They just don't glisten and glow the way they used to." Indeed, the pastel colored, sugar crusted range grows paler and paler every day the king's away.
"Oh do cheer up," says the ever hopeful Gramma Nut, who lives in the peanut brittle house. Gramma believes there is a very special little girl and boy that can find the missing king and his castle right at the end of the Candyland path… if they can look hard enough! "But whoever can these very special children be?"
"I know just the twosome to find my father, the missing king," says princess Lolly, of Lollypop Woods, in a voice as light and airy as the fluffiest marshmallow, "They're the Candyland kids… courageous, clever, and ever so determined!"
"They'll never find the king and his castle," Lord Licorice says sourly, "for I have hidden them from sight so all of Candyland will be mine!" His heart is as hard as a rock candy. Always gloomy, ever grim, Lord Licorice lives very much alone, except for a few Bitter Chocolate Bats to keep him company!
"Utter nonsense," Queen Frostine says of Lord Licorice's evil plan. Peacefully adrift on an ice cream float in the Ice Cream Sea, warm hearted Frostine thinks the Candyland kids will surely find the king. "And no matter how many times Lord Licorice plots and plans," she adds, "Candyland will sparkle once again."
"When the kids pass my molasses swamp, the king and his castle will soon be found," oozes Gloppy, the kindly molasses monster who is definitely more "goosome than gruesome…"
All of Candyland is ready to help the Candyland kids find the king. Even the Gingerberead Men from the Cookie Patrol have offered to acts as guides along the path…'
"Oh no."
A smoky-blonde haired adolescent sighed these words as he sat perched on a rich, oak finished pane of an aged window. Wiping clean a bigger streak of the dusty window with the tail of his worn tee-shirt, more adolescents gathered around him, peering out of the semi-clean area he had created.
Thick, rolling grey thunderheads were sluggishly swirling overhead, casting eerie bland shadows over the mountain side where the teens were located. Outside the window of the log cabin they inhabited was a small clearing, the ground of which consisted of dried, crispy pine needles and semi decomposed pinecones that gave an unpleasant crunch when walked over. Beyond the clearing were trees, pine trees that grew so close to each other that one would have mass difficulties trying to walk in a straight line in their shadows for more than six feet without running into another one of the timeless pines.
The taunting clouds were so thick, in fact, that no concentrated ring of light betrayed the location of the precious summer sun through the grey sky. The artificial night masked the afternoon sun in which the group was supposed to take their first trip onto the lake this holiday. The lake would now surely look like a churning mass of inky black death now, drawing the teens and the electricity of lightning to it. Lightning would come; no doubt, these were unmistakably thunder storm clouds.
The wind picked up, throwing the dead and forgotten needles and pinecones of the trees against the side of the small cabin, each making a small thwap on impact that echoed through the confined space. After the wind came the thunder and pounding of raindrops, each threatening to collapse the cabin as it struck.
"Maybe it'll clear up later," A hopeful female of the group with dusky chocolate bobbed hair and warm azure eyes softly stated, earning doubtful and reproachful looks from her seven companions.
"Sure, Téa, maybe a flock of flying pigs will chase the storm away," A cocky raven haired teen responded, flipping his pony tail off of his shoulder as Téa rolled her eyes at him and sat back down on the overstuffed sofa.
"Now, now, Duke," another one of the group piped in by the other's shoulder, "she's just trying to be positive. Maybe not today, but tomorrow the storm may be clear. It looks like it's moving North." The boy looked up at him with a shrug and went to join Téa at the sofa, his spiky blonde, black, and red hair bouncing with every step he took.
"When has that girl ever said anything not coated in sugar and rainbows?" Another voice interjected, belonging to a tall, broad shouldered male with clean cut brown hair.
As the offended girl jumped up off the sofa with a balled fist, another female came in to defend the first.
"Guys, please! Stop it!" she pleaded, her soft caramel eyes searching for agreement. "This is our summer holiday, we rarely get a trip all together like this, let's not ruin it. Being positive is a very good thing, now instead of bickering; can we please find something else to do?"
The raven and brown haired boys immediately jumped into agreement, nodding and smiling at the small auburn haired girl. "Yes, Serenity."
"I know!" The blonde boy jumped off the window pane and onto the floor enthusiastically, "Let's duel!"
"Joey, I'm not so sure that's such a good idea," a gentle, softly accented voice responded.
"Why not, Ryou?" Joey questioned with a stern look.
"Not everyone here has a deck. Let's do something in which everyone can participate." The white haired, dark eyed boy reasoned.
"Anyone bring a deck of regular cards?" The triple hair colored one asked.
Looking from one person to the next, everyone mumbled a "no" as they looked to the next person expectantly. "Only our duel decks, Yugi," the tall blonde looked defeated, "Let's start looking for something. I call the kitchen!"
The others audibly groaned and spread out to look for something to occupy their time.
After browsing the first few cupboards and stashing a few pre packaged goods in the back pockets of his faded blue jeans, Joey's mind started to drift to his companions. He sure was glad to spend some time with them all, as long as Tristan and Duke kept their distance from his sister. He glared at them for a moment then resumed digging through drawers. It had been a long time since he'd been on a real vacation. The young blonde really couldn't remember the last real getaway he experienced, not counting dueling tournaments. Standing up, Joey looked over the kitchen bar to a tall voluptuous woman with waist length, curly blonde hair. Currently picking through cabinets, she had her back to him and didn't notice his brief stare. He sighed and went back to rummaging. It took quite a lot of convincing to get her to come on this trip with them. He wondered if she'd ever really gone on any sort of holiday with her family or friends, he sadly decided she probably hadn't; since her family ignored her and she really had never had a friend until she met them. Maybe she was uncomfortable with them in this secluded cabin. She wasn't a teenager anymore, long out of high school, but an age difference shouldn't prevent her from feeling at home with the fuzzy bunch of teens. Maybe she just wasn't used to this sort of friendly attention, she always was aloof, and she had barely said a word since they arrived. He made a mental note to remind the others to be especially outgoing around her. She'd warm up to them. "Hey, Mai," he called over to her, "found anything?"
She whipped her head around, her soft blond curls lashing her side as she turned to face Joey. "Nope, you?"
"Nothing," he sighed, turning back to the kitchen. Maybe the others were having better luck.
Behind the dining room table was a small coat closet, usually going overlooked. After searching through the bathroom, an observant Téa spotted the little closet, and made her way over to it. Twisting the handle, she gave the stubborn door a tug and it screeched open on rusted hinges, making her and the other seven in the room cringe and look over with mild interest.
One person could barely fit in the empty closet, and as Téa peered into it, a stale, musty odor met her nose. Scrunching her face in distaste, she took a step onto the floor of the little space, a cloud of dust puffing up from her foot and magnifying the offensive odor. Taking one quick glance around the room, she found all the shelves and coat hooks were empty, except one. On the top shelf she could see a box. It wasn't tall, but it was long. How wide it was, she couldn't tell. Standing on tip-toe, she made a grab for the box. It slipped off the shelf and into her outstretched hand, a sheet of dust spilling off of the top and onto her face. Coughing and sputtering, she backed out of the closet, box in hand.
"Whatcha got there, Téa?" Yugi inquired from the other side of the table.
After coughing a few more times, she looked at the top of the box, little faded characters beamed back at her from a magical and mystical candy paradise. Téa beamed back and chuckled. "Candyland."
"Hey, I remember that game!" Tristan laughed from one of the bedrooms.
"You actually played Candland?" Duke laughed, "That game's for little girls!"
"Oh like you haven't played it!" The brunette retorted.
"I loved that game!" Serenity squealed, ignoring the duo's spat.
"Me too!" Duke agreed, causing Tristan to eyeroll.
"Has anyone found anything else?" Yugi asked. In response, the others shook their heads no or mumbled a faint "Not me."
"Well then, I guess we play Candyland," Yugi shrugged.
"But that'll be boring. Besides, doesn't that game only have four pieces?" Joey whined with a mouthful of a chocolate bar.
"Joey, those were for smores!" Téa scolded, waving the box at him threateningly. "There's eight of us, we can play teams. And I'm sure we can find some way to spice up the game, it sure beats fighting!"
"Ten. There are ten of us," Joey said defiantly.
"Eight bodies," The female growled, "The Yamis would be totally lost anyway, they need the extra help."
"Fine," The blonde grumbled as he took a seat on the floor.
"I call Serenity!" Tristan yelled.
"Oh no you don't!" Duke challenged.
"Serenity is my partner," Joey snarled, silencing the other two. Serenity gave him a thumbs up, and sat down next to her big brother.
"Why don't you two be partners, hm?" Serenity asked sweetly. "You need to learn to work together."
Duke and Tristan glared daggers at each other before reluctantly agreeing to the arrangement.
"Be my partner, Yugi?" Téa asked her shorter friend.
"Sure Téa!" He agreed cheerfully.
Ryou leaned over to Mai, "I guess that leaves you and me," he smiled up at her.
"Guess so," She forced a small smile back, then turned her head back to the game board that was being set up.
The game must have been at least as old as the cabin. Ripped down the center at the crease, the board curled up slightly at the edges, and looked like it needed taping. The cards weren't in much better condition. Browned and frayed, some folded and creased, the musty cards looked more like mini ancient treasure maps than board game cards. To finish off the aged effect, the little plastic gingerbread men pieces were chipped and faded, their plastic faces worn smooth as if they had spent the pastten years being sand blasted rather than in a box in a secluded log cabin.
After carefully shuffling what they called cards, Yugi dispersed the game pieces. The teams had arranged themselves so that one team occupied each edge of the game board, Joey, Tristan, and Duke glared at each other on opposite sides as Téa rolled her eyes at the foolish boys. Three of the pieces were handed out.
Yugi leaned across the board to pass the blue gingerbread piece to Mai and dropped it in her hand. It stung and burned when it hit the tender flesh of her palm like a knife blade boiled in salt water. She yelped and threw the piece to the ground. Puzzled, seven pairs of eyes looked at her questioningly. Ryou put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.
"Mai, are you alright?" He asked softly.
She nodded and leaned down, putting her hands on the floor, his hand still on her shoulder. Her left forefinger brushed the game board as she squeezed her eyes shut, and a stinging, tingling sensation crept from her hand, to her arm, to her chest. Ryou's millennium ring began to glow and shake, the metal arrows dangling from it clinking together as it shook. All eyes were wide as Mai and Ryou's faces went blank for a brief moment, then Mai's eyes rolled to the back of her head and shut as she collapsed on the floor sideways. Ryou blinked several times, shook his head and looked around, confused.
Mai felt herself being sucked from her body and into a black and purple swirling vortex. Trying to scream, she found that no sound would come out. The spinning began to go faster and faster, as the dark fog consumed her in a swirling mass of torment. All she could feel was the breath being crushed from her chest and a squeezing pressure on her shoulder before she struck something hard, and didn't feel anymore.
AN- Ok, this is a really weird idea for a fic, I know. I just spent a lot of time with my baby cousin who wanted to do nothing but play Candyland, so the idea for this fic sort of came to me. The (really long) quote at the beginning of the chapter came, word for word, from the story inside the Candlyland game box, I didn't make it up. Please review and tell me what you think so far. I have some of the next chapter done already, as well as outlines for almost all of the rest of the chapters in this fic, so expect an update soon…if you review…