Paint it Black
By Moonraker One

Author's Note: I really dislike the card-game phase of this manga. So, I decided to re-do the series. It's not a true crossover with DC Comics, although I am borrowing several ideas from it. So, if you aren't familiar with Shazam, or Captain Marvel, read up on those. Also, some of the dialog is taken from volume one of the manga.

CHAPTER ONE

"It's lunch time!" one of the students cheerfully cried out. "Let's play basketball!"

As the crowd of students at a math class at Domino High School hastily filed out of the classroom, each one trying to leave everyone else behind, one particular student sat by himself near the back of the class. Yugi Mutou, a short, quiet young man with only one outright bizarre trait, quietly hoped he would be ignored. Except for having hair consisting of spikes like the spread fingers of a hand, with blonde bangs, no immediate feature struck anyone. He kept mainly to himself because of perceptions of his masculinity; namely, his desire to avoid physical conflict. Right now, his hopes were dashed by a single student holding a basketball and calling out to him.

"Hey, Yugi!" the boy announced. "Quit playing games by yourself and play basketball for once!"

Yugi put his pack on his desk and sheepishly looked at the boy. "That's okay. The team I'm on would only lose." As the last of the students filed out, he began sorting through his backpack, quietly talking to himself. "I wish I could play my kind of game with someone." His hands came upon a familiar puzzle box. "I know! I'll finish that today!" He began sifting through his puzzle box. Unfortunately, the moment he opened the lid, the box lifted away from him.

Hiroto Honda, one of two people he didn't exactly like, sneered as he taunted the short gamer. "Talking to yourself? Creepy!" He looked to his friend Katsuya Jonouchi. "Here! Catch!" He lobbed it over. The bully with the pointy bangs chuckled as Yugi pleaded with him to return it.

"Give that back, Honda!" he shouted as he saw it go clear over his head and into the hands of Jonouchi. "Come on! Be careful with that!"

Jonouchi laughed. "You want this back? Then gimme all you got! Right here!" He patted his chest, tauntingly.

Yugi lunged for the box. "I hate fighting! You know that!"

"I'm gonna teach you how to be a man," Jonouchi shouted back, preparing to open the box.

Yugi took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. "Please give it back."

"What's in that thing, anyway?" Honda thought out loud, hinting for Jonouchi to open it.

"Please don't lose anything if you look!" Yugi begged. "I can't tell you how important it is to me!"

Taking a quick peek inside, the lighter-haired of the two bullies dismissed it with a quick toss to Honda. "How boring," he lamented. "Here, Honda."

Honda reached out to grab it, but fortunately for Yugi, another hand caught it. Both Honda and Jonouchi cringed as they saw a familiar feminine shape sternly approach them. "Mazaki!" they both acknowledged, running away. "Well get you back for this! You just wait!"

"So stupid!" Anzu Mazaki shouted to them as she returned the puzzle box to Yugi. "You know they get big-headed if you don't knock them down a peg or two, Yugi."

Yugi quickly shuffled the box back into his pack. "Wow, Anzu! One word from you and they run!"

She rolled her eyes. "A lot of the guys are like that. I just came in from the basketball court. I thought they were passing to the girls a lot." She leaned in, with an angry look on her face. "Turns out, they were peeking when we made our shots!" She shook her head. "Never play basketball in a skirt."

The young gamer couldn't help but blush at the mental image. "Basketball…" he lazily uttered.

Anzu brought up the box. "So, what is it? It's really important, but what's in the box?"

Yugi pulled it out again. "You promise to keep it a secret, I'll show you." She nodded. Upon opening the box, she marveled at the twinkle of gold. "Pieces of a puzzle, made out of solid gold? Wow. I wonder what it looks like."

He shook his head. "I've been working on it for eight years and I can't seem to figure it out. Apparently, it was found in an ancient Egyptian ruin! I bet it grants your wish if you complete it or something!"

Anzu leaned in. "So, what's your wish?"

Yugi smiled. "I can't tell. That one's also a secret!"

Out in the hallway, Jonouchi and Honda frowned in contempt as they mentally licked their wounds. "Damn, I really hate that chick sometimes," the more-accented Jonouchi thought aloud. "Who does she think she is? Who's calling us bullies?"

Honda shuffled his hands into his pockets in agreement. "That would be us, she says." He sighed.

Just then, they ran into someone-literally-that they wished they hadn't. It happened to be the statuesque hall monitor Ushio. He literally looked down upon them in contempt. "What were you saying about bullies?"

Honda, sensing Jonouchi about to mouth off, clamped a hand on it and smiled, fearfully. "Uh, nothing! Nothing at all!"

"Bullying is bad," Ushio commanded, storming away.

"Honda, what was that about? I couldn't breathe!" Jonouchi yelled, pulling away.

Honda shivered a bit. "Jonouchi, that was Ushio, the hall monitor! You saw how big he was, do you want to die or something?"

Jonouchi's expression sweetened. "Forget Ushio, take a look at this!" he opened his palm, revealing a central piece of Yugi's puzzle. "If he doesn't have this, he can't finish it!"

"Ha ha, that's great!" Honda laughed as his partner tossed the piece out the window into the swimming pool.

"The way he talks like a girl annoys the hell out of me," Jonouchi replied as the two of them walked away.

Completely unaware of the events transpired, Yugi, upon completion of the school day, exited the campus through the front gate. He had a cheerful smile on his face, because he was determined to complete the puzzle at all costs. "Okay!" he thought out loud, reminding himself. "Today, we complete the puzzle!"

"You're Yugi, aren't you?" a booming voice spoke behind him.

He turned around. "Uh, you're…"

"The hall monitor, Ushio," he replied. "I have a question; are you being bullied by certain members of your classroom?"

Yugi tried to evade. "No! Uh, nothing like that happens to me! Really!" He waved his hands furiously in defiance against the truth. The last thing he wanted was an ogre like this nearby.

"Hold on! Victims often defend their attackers. I've been investigating this!" Ushio shot back. "You can stop worrying. I'll be your bodyguard!"

Yugi tried to dodge the truth. "Well, um, nothing like that happens to me, so, thanks anyway!" He quickly trailed off, hoping to avoid trouble. Unfortunately, he failed to notice the grin on Ushio's face.

The next day saw Yugi nearly fall asleep at his desk. After a late night of attempting to figure out the puzzle, to no avail, he hadn't gotten enough sleep. Somehow, after dragging himself through the day and forcing himself to stay awake, he felt he couldn't give any more and was about to slump over. He let out a yawn. "Yeesh, I'm so tired," he uttered. "I'm not staying up that late again." As he readied himself to leave, a familiar presence approached.

"Yugi, can I have a moment?"

The sight immediately snapped him to attention. "Ushio?" Instinctively, he got up to follow the much larger student. Nervous about the intentions of the hall monitor, he couldn't help but be afraid. "Can I ask where we're going?"

Ushio quickly dismissed any doubt. "Oh, trust me on this one. You'll like it."

They came to a stop outside one of the buildings. Yugi, slightly unease, peered around the tall frame of the hall monitor, and almost tripped in shock. Leaning against the building, were Jonouchi and Honda, both severely beaten. "Honda! Jonouchi! What the hell is going on?"

Weakly, Jonouchi took a breath. "Yugi, you asshole, are you happy now?"

Yugi, his jaw hanging, looked upwards at Ushio. "Ushio, what's this about? This is too much…!"

He sneered. "I'm your bodyguard, remember? I decided to teach them a lesson they won't forget!"

"Jonouchi, are you alright?"

Jonouchi angrily protested. "Don't talk to me!"

Yugi shook his head, defiantly. "I didn't ask him to do this! I hate it when people get hurt!"

Ushio shoved Yugi aside. "I'm not done with them yet!"

At this point, Yugi summoned a great deal more courage than he believed he had, and jumped in the way. "Ushio, please! Just leave them alone!"

This brought laughter. "You're serious? They pick on you every day. This is your chance to get back at them!"

"They weren't picking on me! They were teaching me to be a man!"

At this point, Ushio collared Yugi and physically lifted him off the ground. "Whatever. But remember this, you owe me two hundred thousand yen for bodyguard charges. You'd better pay up!" He let go of the short gamer. "Or else you'll be getting something sharp in return!" For good measure, he proceeded to shove him against a wall and deliver several sharp kicks to the midsection. "I'll be back for the money tomorrow."

It wasn't until everyone, including the injured Jonouchi and Honda left, that Yugi decided to pick himself up and walk home. His grandfather greeted him with a shocked expression for the bruises on his face and arms, but Yugi insisted that it was nothing. He felt worse emotionally than physically, in any case. He placed his pack on the bed and stared at the wall for almost a whole minute, just pondering his fate. He knew he had less than two thousand yen in his coin holder.

He pulled out his puzzle box and began working on it. As he fiddled with the pieces, he kicked himself mentally. What am I doing? he thought. Working on the puzzle at a time like this? He moved one of the pieces into place and attempted to make it fit. It didn't seem to initially work. Eventually, though, something surprising happened; one of the pieces clicked into place. A few minutes of thinking later, and another piece clicked. He hadn't made significant progress in a long time, yet he fit more and more pieces in this evening, despite how bad he felt. That surprised him quite a bit.

Eventually, he made it to the final piece. Proudly smiling, he reached into the box, only one piece away! It was a high.

It was a high that came crashing down a moment later when he found nothing. Frantically, he looked around the room. Searching high and low offered no result. In a blaze of emotion, he even looked under his bed. It showed nothing at all.

"Why now?...!" he asked himself. "It'll never be complete now!"

A voice came from behind him. "What's wrong?" His grandpa, Sugoroku Mutou, quickly brimmed with positive energy when he saw the nearly-complete puzzle on the desk. "Wow! You finished the Millennium Puzzle!"

Yugi sulked. "I wish I could. But there's a piece missing."

Sugoroku tilted his head. "Really? After pouring your heart into this for eight years, you're going to give up now?" He opened his left palm. "Here."

Yugi beamed once he saw the last piece of the Millennium Puzzle in his grandfather's hand. The hug he gave his grandpa was more of a tackle. "Thank you! You found it!"

"No, no. I didn't find it. One of your friends showed up and gave it to me." He remembered something strange. "It wasn't raining, but he was dripping wet. Odd." He smiled and turned aside. "Good night, Yugi."

The young man briefly thought about who might have been the one to deliver the last piece, but ultimately, the urge to complete the puzzle superseded it. His heart began to beat rapidly as he held the puzzle in his hand. I'm…I'm finally going to complete the Millennium Puzzle! He feverishly gripped the piece in his hand, and slid it into the slot, the all-seeing eye symbol facing out. He watched in awe as it began to glow. A beam of golden light traced around the curves of the all-seeing eye like a marker. Once it fully illuminated, it seemed to jump out of the puzzle at him, nearly blinding him to his surroundings. He felt gravitation towards it, as if pulled by an invisible fishing line.

The next sensation was pain… from dropping hard onto a stone floor. Quickly he stood up, taking in his surroundings. Wherever he was looked like an Escher-esque world of doors and staircases, some of which were upside down. It was a labyrinth of stone, and nothing living seemed to be present. He wandered around in a circle for a little bit, confused as to where he'd gone.

"Over here," a deep voice called out. He started walking in the direction of the voice. It led him up a staircase and through a large metal door with the all-seeing eye on it. "Keep going." He walked in, the door shutting behind him.

This new room looked very different. It had the appearance of an ancient Egyptian temple. It was dimly lit by several torches along the wall. Along the left wall, there were hieroglyphs and images. Somehow, the letters rearranged into Japanese characters, spelling, "The Seven Deadly Enemies of Man." Below the images, the letters reorganized themselves to spell out each of the deadly sins; gluttony, pride, envy, lust, sloth, greed, and anger. Beyond that was a far wall, and a brightly lit throne. As he approached, he saw a dark-skinned figure seated on it. This man had hair almost identical to his, save for the blonde hair extending upwards into each spike instead of hanging as bangs. Also, he had a much more mature face.

"Who…who are you?" Yugi asked.

The figure smiled at him. "My name is lost to history, Yugi Mutou, but you can call me the Pharaoh," he began. "Or, if you like, you can call me the 'other you,' as we now share a body."

"Other me?" Yugi shot back. "I just completed the Millennium Puzzle…"

The Pharaoh interrupted him. "Yes. I have waited many centuries for this puzzle to be completed once again. And in doing so, you've won my game and proven yourself worthy of the power."

Yugi shook his head. "What power?"

With a wave of his hand, the Pharaoh showed a three-dimensional image around him. "The power of the Gods themselves." In the image, a dark-skinned man garbed in black robes was shown flying over Egypt. "In Egypt. I grew up under the rule of Teth-Adam, one of the sons of a powerful pharaoh before my father. He had been given great power by the gods, but in misuse of them, was stripped of his power and the guardianship of the Millennium Puzzle in which it was kept was trusted to me. Adam did not like this, and eventually fought me for ownership of the puzzle and the power. I beat him and shattered the puzzle so that only someone who completed it would gain the power."

The image dissipated. "So," Yugi asked, "why don't you remember your name?"

"After splitting the puzzle into pieces," the Pharaoh countered, "I had to give up something in order to do so. My name was that. I doubt I will ever know my true name again. But that isn't the point! Step forth, Yugi Mutou!"

Yugi walked up the steps and stood at the foot of the throne. "What happens now?"

The Pharaoh snapped his finger and a stone tablet emerged to the side of his throne. On it, six letters in English appeared on it. Yugi, even with only a minor knowledge of English, recognized the letters to spell out "SHAZAM."

"This is a magic spell," the Pharaoh replied. "It was trusted to Teth-Adam, and to me. And now, I trust it to you. Each letter represents a god, and in turn, a power."

"Cool," Yugi marveled.

The Pharaoh explained. "The 'S' stands for Shu. Shu grants you stamina. With it, you can endure almost any physical activity. You are self-sustained for an unlimited amount of time, not needing to eat, sleep, or even breathe; you are immortal. The 'H' stands for Heru. Heru grants you swiftness. With it, you can fly through the air, or run on land, moving at many times the speed of sound. The atmosphere and environmental effects do not affect you at all. The first 'A' stands for Amon. Amon grants you strength. With it, there is nary a weight that exists that you could not lift. The 'Z' stands for Zehuti. Zehuti grants you wisdom. All manner of academic knowledge and the ability to speak, read, and understand any language are given to you. In addition, you are given the powers of magic and hypnosis. The second 'A' stands for Aton. Aton grants you power. It is through his power that all of these abilities will come to you. Also, it enhances your existing abilities. The 'M' stands for Mehen. Mehen grants you courage and prevents you from harm."

Yugi was in awe of the statement. "Wow. No wonder this Teth-Adam guy misused it. So, what do I do?"

The Pharaoh looked to the tablet. "Speak the word 'shazam,' and a bolt of lightning will travel from the Millennium Puzzle to your body. This lightning will transform you from your current body into a form representing these powers. If you need to change back, speak the word again. And if you ever need to speak to me again, simply enter this realm in the puzzle."

"Can I try it now?" Yugi asked.

The Pharaoh nodded. "By all means."

Yugi stepped backwards. Closing his eyes, he thought of all that had been said. It was quite a lot of power that the Pharaoh spoke of. Would he be able to handle it? He quickly brushed such thoughts aside, as he realized he needed to try. Loudly as he could, he shouted, "SHAZAM!"

From above the Pharaoh's throne, a lightning bolt struck him square in the chest. He felt like he was going to die as his cells were supercharged with energy he'd never felt before. It was as if his bones were being pulled into longer shapes and his whole body felt like it was burning. This painful sensation lasted only a moment.

Yugi pulled himself to his feet. "Wow. That's a hell of a charge," he uttered. Quickly he clasped his hands over his mouth; his voice was as deep as the Pharaoh's!

"Go look at yourself in the mirror," the Pharaoh instructed, pointing to a mirror behind him and to the right. As Yugi approached the mirror, he almost fell. His much longer legs caught him by surprise. Stepping in front of it, he gasped in amazement. He stood at least six feet three inches tall, and had the physique that body builders dreamed of. His garb was a black, skin-tight bodysuit with a golden lightning bolt symbol on the front, with gold-colored boots and wristbands. His skin was much darker and his face more mature. Also, his ears, previously rounded, were pointed at the end.

"This is amazing!" Yugi shouted. "I'm…I'm huge! And…these muscles! This is phenomenal!"

The Pharaoh nodded, smiling. "This power has gone from Teth-Adam, to me, and now, in completing the puzzle, I trust it to you. Do with it as you please. And by the way, don't call yourself Yugi in this form. You don't want that kind of attention." He winked. "Bye."

Yugi found himself once more standing in his own room. It was slightly disorienting being much taller and seeing his room in smaller dimensions. Almost immediately, he saw his backpack with an envelope in it. He knew at once it was the money. His grandpa must have put it there. He got an idea. "Hypnosis, huh?" he recalled the Pharaoh as having told him. "That gives me an idea."

At the school grounds, after hours, a familiar hall monitor stepped through the side entrance and into the physical activity area. The powerful Ushio sat down on a sideline bench and waited. He'd been called out by Yugi, and seriously needed to break something. He also hoped he could get the money out of him like he wanted. After a few minutes, a familiar short figure approached. "Ah, Yugi. I see you were smart and decided to bring me the money after all."

"Here it is, Ushio." He reached into the pack and pulled out an envelope. He handed it to the hall monitor. "I've raised it to 400,000 yen."

Ushio tore open the envelope, but instead of money, a strange light flashed from inside and temporarily blinded him. "You bastard! I don't know how you did that, but when I see you, I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"Shazam!" A crackle and boom resounded from the strike of lightning.

Ushio fell backwards. He had been blinded by Yugi and was struggling to see again, when all of a sudden the boy had yelled something. He couldn't see, but it struck him as odd that lightning would strike. He didn't see a single storm cloud in the sky all evening. Wiping his eyes and pushing himself to a standing position, his vision returned. Yugi was nowhere to be seen. However, in his place, was a mountain of a man, with hair strangely similar to Yugi's.

"AH! Who the hell are you?...!" Ushio demanded.

The newly-transformed Yugi folded his arms. "I'm…Yugi's new bodyguard. You can call me…" he thought for a moment of a possible secret identity name, "Adam. And you? You're going to leave Yugi alone."

Ushio back pedaled quite a bit, now quite scared. Not only was this man taller than he, he had massive muscles. He felt like the guy was strangely similar to Yugi, but couldn't place anything. The hair was like his, but this guy had a completely different air about him. "Come on now. He owes me money; I helped prevent him from being bullied."

Yugi grabbed Ushio by the neck and hoisted him above his head. "Now see here, Ushio," he commanded. "You leave Yugi and any of his friends alone. If you mess with any of them again, you'll have to answer to Adam." He dropped him. "I'm watching."

He flew off, leaving the stunned Ushio in the school grounds. He'd contemplated knocking him out, but decided against it. Violence was never much his strong suit. "That worked. I scared Ushio and got my money back," he thought out loud.

As he made it back to his house, he landed inside his room. He picked the Millennium Puzzle off his desk and held it in his hand. If he said the magic word while holding it, there wouldn't have to be a loud bang of lightning. So he transformed back into Yugi quietly and slipped into bed.

The next morning, he walked into the campus with a smile on his face .Even though he had undergone quite a change, even though he'd been entrusted with godly power, he was happier about having scared Ushio into leaving him alone. He caught a brief glimpse of the hall monitor at the opposite end of the hallway, but the man quickly ducked out of sight. Yugi chuckled a bit and celebrated having completed the puzzle.

"Yo, Yugi!"

Yugi looked up at Jonouchi. "How're you doing, Jonouchi?"

Jonouchi smiled. "Thanks for sticking up for me. Friends?"

This brought a wide smile. "Yeah!"

The two of them began to walk to class, when Jonouchi stopped a moment.

"By the way, Yugi, I've been hearing Ushio cower for a while now, so I gotta ask: who's that Adam guy that threatened him? A friend of yours?"

Yugi shrugged. "I guess. I'm surprised he cornered Ushio."

Jonouchi shrugged as well. "Oh well. A friend of yours is ok with me. I'm gonna call him Black Adam."

"Black Adam? Why 'black?'"

Jonouchi looked at Yugi. "Everyone needs a nickname, right? Ushio kept going on about the strange black costume he was wearing. That's where I got it from."

Yugi laughed. "I suppose that makes sense."