Disclaimer: Once upon a time there was a narrator who took it upon herself to screw up every story she could get her hands on. With complete and utter disregard for the opinions of others, authors and fans alike, she made it her mission to corrupt any good plot line or character development she had the means to. With the help of her tech-savvy computer and her skills of destroying anything she put her mind to, she quickly set to work on annoying the crap out of everybody. These are her stories.

Long ago, an ancient game was played with virtual monsters. These Shadow Games killed many people inexplicably. Thousands of years later, an extremely short boy with freaky hair put a puzzle together, releasing the soul of a very powerful duelist. It's time to Duel!

Papers ruffle. "Crap, not again. My bad, computer. Your stupid uncle mislabels everything."

Billy and Mandy fic, Take 2.

She awoke to the perpetual beeping that had stalked her in her dreams. The harsh, florescent lights overhead blinded her and her eyes fluttered open.

"Where am I?" she choked out as her senses began to return to normal. She turned her head toward the door as a creature in a black robe entered, carrying a scythe. "Grim? You came to see me? That's so sweet of you. I knew you were a keeper." Mandy smiled.

"Uh, yeah. I wasn't comin' in to reap ya soul. I was jus' comin' in to check on ya." He leaned his scythe against the wall and sat on her bed.

"I had an awful dream. I dreamed I wasn't in love with you anymore, and that I wanted to hurt someone. How dreadful! But now that you're here, I think I'll be okay." She took his boney hand and squeezed it affectionately.

"You musta hit yo head real hard, child. You actin' weird. I'll go get a nurse." Grim began to stand.

"No, stay! I need you. Please don't leave me in my time of need." Mandy began to cry.

"No, no! Don't cry. I'll stay right here. Jus' calm down. We don't want da world to explode, now do we?"

"Oh heavens no! The world is so beautiful, I could never directly harm it. It would kill me." Her lip began to tremble again.

"Mandy, I really tink you need a doctor. Ya must have a concussion or sometin'. I neva seen ya dis… girly."

"The only medicine I need is your love, Grim. You can heal me better than any drugs could."

Grim's eyes widened. "Doctor!"

A bearded man in a white lab coat rushed into the room.

"Doctor, she's gone crazy!" Grim declared.

"Is this true, Mandy?" the doctor asked.

"He's being so mean to me," Mandy cried, bursting into tears.

"See? She would neva do dat on a normal day. She musta hit her head."

The doctor shook his head with a small smile. "Grim, my dear boy. She's not insane. She's experiencing the effects of our narrator's style. Our narrator must write her out-of-character. Haven't you realized it yet? This is the way things must be done, to ensure our well-being."

"Rules are rules, Grim," the narrator explained dismissively, "Things must be done as they always have been."

"Narrator?" Mandy asked, her voice breaking on the word.

"Yes, Mandy. I'm right here. Isn't it good to be one of us again?"

"Yes. I mean, no. I mean, I don't know." Mandy flinched and jerked in her bed. "I," her voice began to deepen, "have to get out of here."

"Sedate her. Quickly!" the narrator commanded the doctor.

"No. No!" She squirmed, but the doctor was too fast, and she passed out as soon as she was injected.

"What the – ?" Grim exclaimed.

"There are some things you wouldn't understand, Grim. Go home. We'll call you when she's better." The doctor escorted Grim out the door calmly.

The next morning, Grim woke up in a pink, full bed next to a warm body. He jerked reflexively as the body stirred and wrapped its arms around him. "Morning, sweetheart," she cooed.

"Mandy? Why am I in your bed?"

She giggled groggily. "Because we slept together last night. Are you feeling okay? You seem confused."

"I don't remember gettin' in bed with you last night," he explained.

She shrugged. "It happens. Let's get ready for school. I'm looking forward to that lecture on the tectonics of the planet."

"Uh, sure, Mandy. If dat's what ya want." Grim gladly jumped out of bed and left the room to give Mandy her privacy. When she met him downstairs, Grim noticed a new accessory on her person. "What's dat on ya ankle?" Grim asked.

Mandy glanced down. "Oh, that's my lucky anklet. The doctors gave it to me. It's supposed to keep me stable. And it goes so well with my outfit."

Grim studied the anklet. It was black, bulky, and had a blinking red light that looked quite ominous even to the Reaper. He also noticed a protrusion linking it to her skin. He winced. "I guess it matches yo head band," he offered.

Mandy smiled, causing a puppy down the road to suddenly drop dead. She grabbed his hand enthusiastically, pulling him out the door. "Algebra is going to be swell, don't you think?"

"As long as we pay attention and don't kiss, I'll be da happiest student in da world."

"Oh, Grim, you silly goose!" Mandy giggled, pinching his cheek bone, "We have to kiss at least once a chapter."

"Is dat one a those rules da narrator was talkin' about?"

Mandy twitched at the mention of the narrator. The black anklet blinked thrice, and Mandy's smile returned full-force. "No, sweetie pea. It's just easier to attract fans if we do that. After all, our livelihood is fueled almost entirely by reviews from fans. The other 37% is fueled by our narrator's state of boredom at her job."

"Dis narrator chick sounds like a tool."

Mandy gasped. "Do not speak of the narrator in such a sacrilegious way. She has taken us out of a very dark age."

They joined Billy at the bus stop. Billy had a pocket knife and was picking his nails with it. "Hey, Mandy," he greeted her in a bored, deep voice, "Ready for school?"

"Of course, dear Billy Willy! I am delighted that we may participate in free educational programs. That's why Endsville is the best place in the universe."

"Mod, you're annoying," Billy groaned, pushing off the stop sign poll as the bus pulled to a halt in front of them.

"Oh, William! You have the funniest sense of humor!" Mandy gushed, refusing to relinquish Grim's hand as they sat.

"I wasn't going for funny. I was going for insulting. Can't you go one day without ruining my mood?"

By the time Algebra class rolled around, Grim was so thoroughly confused that he started craving wood varnish.

Mindy leaned across the aisle and whispered to Billy, "The square root of 69 is eight-something, right?"

"I'll give you the exact number to four decimal places for 4 dollars," Billy said.

"But I don't have any money."

"No sweat, Mindy," Mandy said, pulling out $4 and handing it to Billy, "I've got you covered."

"Why don't ya jus' give her da answer yourself, Mandy?" Grim asked.

"Silly Grim!" Mandy giggled, "I can't possibly think about math when I'm busy fantasizing about you."

"Dat's it! I can't take anymore a dis nonsense. Mandy, we aren't in love. You neva liked me, an' ya certainly don't now. If I have ta hear one more compliment about how firm my bones are, I'm gonna open a portal right here 'n send all a ya to da underworld." Grim jumped out of his seat and bolted for the door.

But the kids blocked his exit, led by Puddin. "Where do you think you're going, Bonehead? You can't leave without the narrator's say-so."

"Screw da narrator! I'm da Grim Reaper, and I'm outta here." But before he could tear a hole in the space-time continuum, Billy knocked his scythe out of his hands and used it to slice open his wrists.

"This is a sacrifice for you, Mandy," Billy croaked as his voice began to fade, "Save us from the narrator." With a final choke of breath, he died.

"Billy? No!" Mandy clawed at her anklet, fighting the mind control therein. Grim took his scythe from Billy's bloody grasp and hacked the anklet to pieces.

"Take my hand, Mandy," he ordered, grabbing her and hugging her close, "We're going somewhere the narrator can't control us: the copyright page."

"Grim, don't you dare!" the narrator protested, but they had already escaped.

Please tune to channel 18 for further information.

End Part 3