Ranko: Magi Magi?

MMMG: What?

Ranko: I'm sad.

MMMG: Why?

Ranko: Because everyone keeps predicting what's going to happen in this story when we haven't even gotten that far yet! I swear, it is either we are really predictable or our readers are really smart.

Yami: Well…

Ranko & MMMG: Shut up, Yami.

Seto: Hmph (smiles)

Ranko: Now there's one more dead puppy in the world.

MMMG: Yugi, why is your Yami such…?

Ranko: An ass? A little bitch? A whiny—?

MMMG: Yeah, that.

Yami: Because Ranko abuses me! Have you never read the Shadow Game series?! … which, can be found on Ranko twin's profile.

Ranko: (sighs) Yugi, take care of him. Now.

Yugi: On it (drags Yami away).

Yami: No! Spare me!

Yugi: It's your fault for shamelessly advertising!

Jou: Well… that happened.

Ranko: Before we get anymore off track, let's answer reviews, shall we?


(For these reviews, Underlined names were answered by Ranko Twin, and Italicized names were answered by MMMG)

YinYang Moon Dragon: Hold up, hold up, hold up! Before we get any further, what kind of cookies and cakes are we talking about hear? But in all seriousness, we love you too! I always appreciate it when I hear that someone enjoys my writing and tells me I am one of their favorite authors, (MMMG: Ahem, you mean "us").

Animesaki: Sound like you like Ranko twin and I. That's good. And what story are you thinking of that had Yami as a Magician of Black Chaos? Hee-hee-hee! Throwing off predictions is what we love to do. Sorry, can't tell you if any of your guesses are correct, Ranko will kill me. (Ranko: Will not!) Okay, she'll hurt me for a week or two. Trust me, I wish I had the money to buy the next season of Yu-gi-oh DVDs as well.

Wordsorcereress: Ten rounds of chocolate and a hot tub?! (Ranko: Me first!) Save some for me! Anyway, glad you're hooked and that you enjoyed the backstory for Yami. Yugi free Yami was cute, -MMMG and Ranko fangirl squeal at the chibi Yugi and Yami- We liked the idea of having Mahad as Yami's teacher to, but we know you're going to hate what happens to him in this chapter. Read on to find out what happens.

Killer-Fangirl: Yeah, people are being prejudice about spellcasters in general for the Duel Monsters. And no, Yami is not Yugi's Ka monster. Yami is his own person, and Yugi changes into a Duel Monster by night, (it's his curse).

Firewing Pegasus: I know, I'm excited for this story! I refuse to give out any spoilers though, so I will not say whether your assumptions are right or not. We shall see, Ishizu, we shall see ;)

Mana's Madness: Ahem, you mean GENIUSES? (MMMG: Ignore her.) Thank you, darling, and I love your new profile picture ;)

Animelover0818: We're not sure about adding music yet. Maybe.

guardian of the aura Aurasoul: I know! It's craziness! I blame Magi Magi for writing it like that! (MMMG: Hey!) Sorry, darling, but how could you? (MMMG: Now you sound like a reviewer Ranko…)

s2Teennovelist: We're topping you? (Ranko: Victory Dance!) Wow, unexpected, but completely welcomed. Except for the dancing. (Ranko: Hey!) Yeah, Yugi and Yami have true love already, even as kids. The prejudice does suck, but we needed some way to get Yami to go fetch Yugi from the dragon guarded tower. And Yami forgetting Yugi? We're going to say that he became so focused on becoming stronger, he forgot about Yugi. Plus he has some amnesia issues that pop up from time to time.


Seto: So… Magi Magi and Ranko made me say this (because Yami and Yugi are doing Ra knows what right now), but, if Ranko or MMMG did not answer your review, it's not because they didn't want to, they were probably just lazy. So, yeah, we'll send you a refund if your review wasn't answered.

Ranko: Seto, they didn't pay to review! … Did they?

MMMG: (shrugs). And Seto, if we didn't answer a review, it was because we weren't sure how to answer, not because we were lazy.

Seto: Whatever. I still say you're lazy.

Jou: That's your opinion. The two authoresses do not own anything that involves Yu-Gi-Oh or Shrek or Shrek the Musical! All three belong to their respected owners/creators.

Ranko: Please enjoy…

MMMG: Chapter 2!


Chapter 2


"Princess Rebecca!" a royal messenger cried urgency as he ran as fast as he could throughout the castle halls, looking for the young princess, his face flushed red and he was breathing heavily. "Princess Rebecca!"

A maid saw him running down the halls in her direction and stopped, curious as to what be so important. The messenger saw the young woman stop and skidded to a halt in front of her. He bent over, resting his hands on his knees to try and catch his breath. He knew that it was uncivil for a man to act this way in front of a lady, but he was tired!

"Miss, have you seen Princess Rebecca?" he asked, after recovering enough of his breath to speak.

"Yes, she is in the library." she informed him. "Um, if you don't mind my asking, what…?"

But before she could even get out the last of her sentence, the young messenger was sprinting back down the halls. She stared after him, blinking her wide eyes and then knitted her eyebrows together.

"Hmph." she pouted before picking up her skirts and returning to her work.

The royal messenger reached the library and leaned against the great, wide doors for a moment to compose himself. He was about to address the Princess, he could not go in looking so sloppy. He returned his breathing to normal, slicked back his hair to its pristine state, and smoothed out any wrinkles in his clothes.

Then he opened the door and stepped into the library. He saw the young Princess lounging in a very plush chair with her nose in a book. Her glasses were perched on her nose and her long blonde hair was tucked behind her ears. He cleared his throat to gain the Princess's attention.

The Princess looked up, startled, her eyes still in a hazy, dreamlike state; every time she finished reading, it felt as if she were waking up from a dream. She recognized the messenger; she smiled in greeting to him and sat up straighter, marking her book and putting it to the side.

"Hello Tristan, how are you doing today?" she asked politely.

"I am fine, my lady." Tristan blew out a heavy sigh. "But I have an urgent message for you."

"Then tell me this message immediately." Rebecca's eyes became sharper behind her glasses.

"Leon has returned from his journey." Tristan announced.

Rebecca smiled; that was good news. Her childhood friend and advisor, Leon, had gone out on a long journey and they have not heard any word of him since them. Rebecca was of marrying age, according to the Royal Council, and they find it troubling that she has not been courted at least once. They demanded of her that she find a suitable husband to help her run the kingdom, especially since her grandfather had fallen ill recently. As soon as Leon heard of this news, he packed his bags to go on a journey across the kingdom to find a suitable husband for Rebecca. He left two months ago, and he has just now returned.

"That is wonderful news!" Rebecca exclaimed as she rose from her chair and smoothed out her gown, clapping her hands together.

"Yes, Princess Rebecca, but you see…" Tristan gulped nervously and felt his palms begin to sweat.

"What is it?" Rebecca tilted her head curiously and stared at Tristan confusedly.

"Well, you see, my lady, it is not completely good news." Tristan replied tensely.

"What do you mean?" Rebecca asked, a feeling of unease settling in her stomach.

"Well…" Tristan bit his lip as his shoes suddenly became quite interesting.

"Tristan!" Rebecca suddenly snapped out, making the older man jump. "Tell me what is going on!"

"He is hurt, my lady." Tristan replied.

It was then that Rebecca felt like the world had just pulled the rug out from under her feet. Leon… her advisor, her servant, her friend, was injured. In all of her years of knowing the young man, Leon had never gotten wounded besides a paper cut or an accidental prick on a rose thorn.

"What?" Rebecca gasped.

"He returned, my lady, but he was badly injured." Tristan said sympathetically. "He seems to have been attacked by a great beast. I am so sorry, Princess,"

Rebecca lowered her head, her bangs shadowing most of her face. The sight made Tristan feel rather uncomfortable. Rebecca wasn't responding at all.

"Um, Princess?" Tristan asked.

"Take me to him." Rebecca whispered softly.

"What?" Tristan furrowed his eyebrows together, leaning in closer to hear better.

"Take me to him." Rebecca commanded. "Take me to see Leon!"

Tristan jumped back at Rebecca's sudden outburst. But in all honesty he understood, since he would probably have reacted the same way if his lover, Duke, had been badly hurt. Then he smoothed back his hair again and cleared his throat.

"Follow me, Princess." Tristan said softly, leading her out of the library.

Rebecca seemed to be leading him more than he was leading her. She was walking at such a brisk pace, the clink of heels echoing off the walls. Honestly, how did she walk so fast? Especially in heels and a skirt!

When they got to the Infirmary, it was as if they had been waiting for them the entire time. Men and women dressed in white stood around a single bed and it looked as if they had been staring at the door, just waiting for it to open.

Tristan was impressed to see that Rebecca kept her face neutral as she walked closer to the doctors and nurses; everyone was strangely silent as they waited to see Rebecca's reaction to seeing Leon in the state he was in now.

Tristan had seen Leon before. The boy was stark white, his freckles no longer noticeable on his face. Sweat plastered his long, pink hair to the back of his neck and his face. His breathing was heavy with a horrible, long gash that was slashed across his chest. It did not look like any normal beast could cause an injury like that.

Rebecca looked at her friend's pained, unconscious face was she felt her heart ache. She reached out and swept his wet bangs to the side; his whole face was hot with a fever.

"How did it happen?" Rebecca asked, not looking up from Leon's face.

"We are not sure, my lady." one of the doctors replied. "We only know that the injury must have been caused by some Duel Monster."

Rebecca dropped her hand to her side and clenched her fists. She felt a new kind of anger that she had never felt before course through her blood. All of that hate was directed towards Duel Monsters. They hurt her only friend; she would not tolerate it.

"I want all Duel Monsters to be banished from the kingdom." Rebecca said firmly and clearly.

"M-my lady?" Tristan questioned.

"Are you deaf?" Rebecca asked, turning around and staring at him with burning blue eyes. "I want all Duel Monsters to be banished from the kingdom! Drive them out! Spread the word somehow! I want all rare and susceptible Duel Monsters to be arrested and brought to the palace for questioning as well. Understood?"

Tristan stood there, gaping at his future Queen's orders. All of the Duel Monsters were to be banished? Even the pet Kuribohs' and Marshmallons' who had done nothing wrong, except maybe chew on a sock or two like a dog would? Despite his feeling on the order, Tristan knew he had to obey, or he would be subject to the same punishment as the Duel Monsters.

"Yes, my lady." Tristan mumbled as he bowed low at the waist.

Rebecca nodded and turned on her heel, walking past Tristan. She almost made it out the door when Tristan stopped her with a question.

"What about the search for your husband, my lady?" Tristan asked.

Rebecca stood there silent for a moment. She actually had given it a lot of thought and had a plan in case if Leon's search had failed. The princess had heard rumors about a Duel Monster that could see into the future, and it was one of the rarer ones, hence her order for all of the rare and susceptible Duel Monsters to be brought in for questioning.

"The search will continue." Rebecca replied. "Find me the Goddess with the Third Eye."


Usually, once every year, Mahad went to visit his apprentice, Yami, to see how he was doing. It was just an annual check-up, really. Make sure Yami's eating right, getting plenty of rest, hasn't been killed yet (or killed anyone). He considered it his job as Yami's unofficial guardian. He said unofficial because Yami didn't know that Mahad considered himself Yami's guardian.

But Mahad had watched the boy grow up. He saw Yami transition from being a scared little boy who didn't know where he was or who he was, to a self-confident, strong young man. He was there during all of Yami's fails and all of his successes. Mahad taught the boy how to embrace his nature and use his magic efficiently.

He was rather proud of Yami, though he would never tell the boy that. That type of comment would make Yami more egotistical than he already was.

Anyway, every time Mahad traveled to see Yami, he always had to cut through the village that was by Yami's castle. There was really no other way. He always changed his purple armor to purple robes and added a brown outer robe with a hood to hide the purple robes, one of the signs that he was a Duel Monster. Usually he passed through the village quickly, keeping his head down and walked briskly. But this time, something interesting happened this time he was passing through town.

Mahad was stopped by the sound of crying. He peaked up past his hood and sucked in a sharp breath through his nostrils when he saw what it was. There was a long line of Duel Monsters that were all bound together by chains. They were being ushered into a prison cart as if they were cattle. There were so many of them, of all different forms and types. Dragon tamers, magicians, beasts, insects, zombies, and even the Kuribohs and Marshmallons. What was going on? He dared go a little closer to the crowd that had formed around the spectacle.

"Citizens!" a man who bore the Royal Crest of the kingdom over his left breast stood addressing the crowd with a loud enough voice for everyone to hear him. "It is by Princess Rebecca's royal decree that all Duel Monsters of every kind be turned in and banished from the kingdom. If you are hiding away any Duel Monsters than you will be charged with the same fate."

Worried murmurs traveled throughout the crowd at this news. Most were from the parents who knew that their children would hide the cute little Duel Monsters they had for a pet.

The magician in the crowd felt anger build up inside him. Mahad knew that he needed to calm down or else he would reveal that he was a Duel Monster and be taken away too. He could not just stand there and let this happen, not when his own kind was being taken away in chains like common criminals. His anger slowly built up inside of him, which would fuel his magic. He felt his staff materialize in his hand, ready to cast a spell. He was done for…

"I don't think so!" a new voice called out.

Everyone in the crowd stood stock-still and then looked up where the voice came from. They saw a large, black form with giant, leathery wings; it nearly blocked out the sun. Mahad immediately knew what that was, a dragon. And with every dragon, there was always a Tamer… As if on cue, a human shaped figure rose up to stand on the dragon's back and then jumped down from it. People shielded their eyes as the man dropped from such a large height but he landed gracefully on his feet in front of the announcer.

The man was tall and lean with sleek gear on which was the standard for any dragon tamer. He had shaggy blond hair that fell messily across his face, almost completely covering his unique eyes, which were golden with a glow of red in them. His outfit did not have any sleeves so anyone could see the tattoo of a Red Eyes Black Dragon on his forearm. The tattoo began to pulsate and glow as the man drew the power of the Red Eyes back into his body.

"I will not let you take away these innocent Duel Monsters!" the tamer said and pointed an accusing finger at the announcer.

The announcer stepped down from his small podium with a scowl, and began to advance towards the Tamer, brandishing his sword. This 'boy', this stupid 'Tamer', was biting off more he could chew.

"Oh, so what are you going to do about it?" he asked, waving his sword threateningly.

The tamer grinned mischievously, and the announcer took this as some kind of challenge, so he immediately charged at the blond. Right when he thought he would drive the sword through the tamer's chest, the man jumped into the air and just floated there. The blond grinned down at the other man and waved.

"I'm sorry, was that sword supposed to kill me?" the tamer taunted. "So sorry, but I don't think that I can let that happen."

The dragon tamer ran through the air to the prison cart where the Duel Monsters were and quickly unlatched the lock. Even if he got caught in the process, at least the innocents would go free.

"Okay, get out of here!" the tamer encouraged.

The Duel Monsters jumped out of the cart hurriedly -no longer bound by chains thanks to a small spell by Mahad- and ran as fast as they could away from that area, towards the forest. The announcer growled low in his throat and looked up at the cocky blond man.

"Don't just stand around there!" the announcer barked at the soldiers who were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. "Recapture those Duel Monsters!"

The blond haired man landed gracefully again and as soon as his feet hit the ground, he took off running to the deep recesses of the forest, his dragon following with a roar of triumph. The announcer pulled together all of the soldiers who were not preoccupied.

"Follow that tamer!" the announcer demanded.

The small group of man nodded in understanding and turned to follow their captain.

'This is where I step in,' Mahad thought as he felt his fingers curl around his staff and he quickly stood in front of their path, blocking the men.

"Out of our way!" the captain barked out in rage.

Mahad lowered his hood and smiled kindly at the men, brandishing his staff as he tossed aside his brown outer cloak and changed his robes to his traditional purple armor. The soldiers looked at him in fear as the realized that he was a Dark Magician. Ah, he felt like he was scolding Yami all over again.

"I'm sorry." Mahad apologized with a hint of sarcasm. "I don't think I can let you do that."

And with that, the Magician leapt forward to keep the soldiers occupied while the Duel Monsters, and more specifically that tamer, escaped. Mahad fired magic blasts at the soldiers' feet, not intending to harm them, but to keep them distracted and force them to stay back while his kin fled. Some of the soldiers managed to get around him and ran into the forest. Mahad cursed and then howled in pain.

A whip with metal spikes on the end had wrapped into his arm, making him drop his staff in his shock. More whips flew out and wrapped themselves around Mahad's limbs until he fell to the dusty street in defeat. The magician was dragged along to the castle to be held in the dungeons, losing blood, and he couldn't heal himself without his staff.

Mahad had been captured.


The tamer ran through the forest as fast as his legs could carry him while his dragon, the Red Eye Black Dragon that was named Reddoaizu*, flew over the tree tops so he could keep an eye on his tamer. Joey could hear the soldiers behind him, and that only encouraged him to run faster.

Looking over his shoulder, Joey suddenly tripped over a tree root and tumbled down a steep hill. The blond grunted in pain before he crashed into something else. That something fell down with a grunt of pain, telling Joey it was a someone as their legs settled on his back. Joey looked to tell the one he had crashed into he was sorry, but found himself face to face the end of a glowing staff. Wide eyes followed the staff to the hand, and then to the arm, and then to the face, and then to the black boomerang tattoos on the face.

Oh, shit.

The Magician of Black Chaos stood back up as he kept his staff in Joey's face, making the blond shiver in terror. Reddoaizu roared and dove out of the trees, thinking his tamer was in danger. The magician turned his staff to the Red Eye Black Dragon to keep himself from being torn to shreds, and threw a spell, a white circle that attached around the dragon's middle. It was a spell that Yami like to call Spellbinding Circle, holding Reddoaizu still in one place.

"Over here!" one of the soldiers shouted, making the magician turn.

The soldiers ran down the hill and stopped when they saw the Magician of Black Chaos. Joey took advantage of the distraction and scooted over to Reddoaizu, as the white circle faded from around the dragon and the magic flowed back into Yami's staff.

"You there!" the captain called to Yami as he and his men stopped and panted for breath a few meters away. "Magician."

"What?" Yami asked with a frown.

Soldiers never came this close to his home unless someone brought them there. And it looks like it was the blond haired dragon tamer who had done it this time. Whoop-dee-doo.

"By order of Princess Rebecca…" the captain pulled out a scroll to read the edict written on it. "I am authorized to place both you and the dragon tamer under arrest… so you both can be moved to… a designated resettlement facility."

Yami had stalked closer as the man read. Despite his short height, he was very intimidating with his crimson eyes and black tattoos. The eyes narrowed as a smirk appeared on his face.

"Oh really?" Yami asked as he looked behind the captain with a feral grin. "You and what army?"

The captain turned back to see that all of his men were gone. They had run away at the look on Yami's face. Turning back the captain got a face full of glowing staff. With a shriek not appropriate for a captain of the guard, the man turned and fled after his comrades, and received a minor stinging spell to his bottom as he ran.

Yami nodded his head at his work and turn to head back home, ignoring the dragon and the dragon tamer. Mahad's annual visit was due any day, so he had to get ready by making sure that the guest room was prepared and that they both had enough to eat.

But he hadn't counted on having a couple of tag-alongs.


*Reddoaizu- the Japanese Phonetics for Red-Eyes


MMMG: And that's the end of chapter 2.

Ranko: We're evil leaving it there.

MMMG: Yes we are, especially since you're going to be focusing on NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing/Writer's Month) this next month, and won't be writing any of your normal stories again until the end of November to the start of December.

Ranko: Yeah... maybe you could write the chapters and I'll beta read them or something.

MMMG: We'll work it out.

Seto: My three Blue Eyes White Dragon cards says they can't.

MMMG: You mean these Blue Eyes White Dragon cards? -hold up the BEWD cards and the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon fusion monster card-

Seto: How did you get those?

MMMG: Wal-Mart had some awesome booster packs.

Seto: Get back here! -chases MMMG out of the room-

Joey: Go MMMG! Keep those cards away!

Ranko: Guess it's up to us to finish Joey.

Joey: Okay. Please review! Let us know what you liked/disliked, if you spotted any spelling/grammar errors, or you just have a question that you want answered.

Ranko: Until next time.

MMMG: -calls as she runs passed the room door- Bye!