LE GASPEH! What's this? An ORIGINAL story by Double-F? Yeah, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Don't worry; I'll still update my other stories.
Summary: Yugi is one of the best track runners in his school. During one of his most important meets with the rival high school, however, he is ambushed by a dark force which rips his shadow right from underneath him. Now he must fight to not only get back his shadow, but to save reality itself.
Shadow
Chapter One: Relay Rivalry
The day of the track meet had finally come. As Yugi stretched his legs and began to warm up for the race, he stared through the window at the crowd in the stands. The said crowd wasn't as big as the ones he had seen crowding KaibaLand, but there were enough people to make a roaring cheer if there needed to be. If there was one thing Yugi loved about track meets aside from running, it was the sound of the crowd cheering him on.
Today was the relay race that Yugi had been waiting for. Whoever won this would go to regional match, and Yugi was not about to lose. Three of his friends were participating in his part of the race to help him out: Honda would be starting them off, then Bakura ran after him. Jounouchi would follow up, and Yuugi would last since he was the fastest.
"Ready for the match, Yugi?" Honda asked his friend as he tied his shoes.
Yugi nodded. "I've been practicing all week with Jounouchi in the park. How about you?"
Honda chuckled lightly. "I'm ready enough. Bakura's been practicing too."
Truth be told, Bakura wasn't the fastest of runners, but he was excellent at passing the baton, and that made him one of the more valuable members of the team. Yugi was the fastest (many attributed it to his size, but he insisted it was otherwise) and was good at taking the baton from a previous runner, making him perfect as the last runner.
Bakura entered the room, looking somewhat ridiculous in his running jersey due to his hair style. "I prefer running the hurdles, actually," he said. It was true, he preferred the hurdles heavily, but he never backed down from a relay race.
"There you are," Jounouchi said, grinning mischievously at Bakura. "Where've you been?"
"Held up by traffic," Bakura responded, smiling a bit weakly. "Anyway, our race is in about ten minutes. We should head to our starting for the track soon." At that, he tossed a gold-colored baton to Honda, whom fumbled a bit before he caught it. "We're up against Senet High, guys, so do your best."
The mere mention of the name caused everyone to groan. Senet High was the rival school to Domino High, and while the group of friends didn't care much for the tension between them they knew they'd be ridiculed if they made the school look bad. With a sigh, Yugi stopped jogging in place and began walking toward the field with his friends.
The bright light of the outdoors was a slight contrast to the locker room, but the biggest difference was the crowd. The silence of the indoors and then the loud cheering of a mass of people would make some people's head spin, but for Yugi it was the best thing in the world. As he and his friends took their places, Yugi noticed that something didn't feel quite right. When he looked up he noted that the sky was abnormally cloudy, but other than that the day seemed normal.
"Are you Yugi Mutou?"
Yugi snapped out of his daze to see a young man next to him smiling. He kind of reminded him of Bakura with that hairstyle, but the only difference was that it had been calmed a bit and it was blonde, not silver. His complexion was somewhat tanned, and his overall build was slim and agile, but slightly taller than Yugi. "I heard about you from my teammates. I wanted to wish you good luck."
The kind gesture caused Yugi to smile. "Thanks," he said. "Good luck to you too, um…"
The boy nodded. "I'm Marik Ishtar. Just call me Marik. I'm from Senet High, but don't let that bother you. I know our schools are rivals, but I honestly could care less."
Yugi shook his head, laughing. "I never liked the school rivalry thing either."
Another boy approached the two. "Hey, Marik!" He called. "You about ready to get going? Seto and Ushio are already in their spots; this isn't the best time to visit."
Marik waved. "I know, Otogi. Just wishing Yugi here good luck."
Otogi, a dark-haired emerald-eyed boy jogged up to them. He was a bit slimmer than Marik, but he seemed to resemble Bakura's build a bit more than anything. At first sight he didn't look too friendly, but he shot a grin Yugi's way and instantly calmed the boy's nerves. "Yugi, is it?" he said. "I'm Otogi Ryuuji. Nice to meet you."
Yugi nodded politely. "Nice to meet you too, Otogi. Good luck in the race."
The boy nodded in reply. "Our other two runners are really into the whole rivalry thing, so keep an eye out for them. Seto keeps a cool head but Ushio can be a real jerk."
"I'll be sure to watch my back," Yugi replied. Domino and Senet had once gotten into a huge fight before after a basketball game and a few of the seniors had been arrested. It wasn't uncommon for the schools to get into arguments, but brawls did tend to happen on occasion. Ushio Aihara was well-known for one of them; he had broken someone's nose on several occasions.
With a quick handshake, the runners got to their positions and waited anxiously for the starting horn. The instant it blared off, the starters took off at top speed, batons in hand. Yugi could see Seto Kaiba, the starter for Senet, give Honda an odd look. The batons soon passed to Otogi and Bakura, and then to Jounouchi and Ushio. Yugi chuckled inwardly; Ushio didn't seem that fast with his build. Even so, he readied himself to get on the move. He noticed quickly that Marik had a slight scowl on his face; perhaps even he didn't like Ushio that much.
Jounouchi was fast approaching. Yugi began a slow jog at first to get up to speed as his friend reached him and handed him the baton. Catching it with expertise, Yugi took off running as fast as he could, a wide smile on his face as the wind whistled past his ears. The loud sound of the crowd cheering seemed to push him forward. Marik was not far behind, so Yugi kept up his speed.
Suddenly, Yugi caught something out of the corner of his eye. While running, he swiveled his head around to see. Some sort of black puddle was catching up to him on the track, racing for him faster than he anticipated. Turning back around, Yugi ran faster to avoid the dark enemy as he heard a loud hissing reach his ears. The world around him seemed to grow dark, and the cheering grew softer as the violent hissing filled his ears.
Yugi was no longer running for the finish line. Now he was running for his life.
END CHAPTER ONE!
So...what do you think, people? I kinda yoinked this out of my left ear. I hope it's not bad. Yes, Yami WILL show up, and you won't have to wait long for it.