This is my first Yugioh fanfic, so please, suggestions are welcome!
Chapter 1 - The Tail
On Yugi's birthday, he walked home from school with Joey, Tristan, and Tea. When he got into the house, it was bedecked with streamers and balloons. "Happy birthday, Yugi!" His friends and grandfather cried. His grandfather led him to a big cake and instructed him to blow out the candles. Yugi did so, and they all sat down and had huge slices of cake with a lot of frosting. He drank some water, and immediately realized how thirsty he was. He drank some more, and then felt pain. It was so much he immediately collapsed and passed out.
"Yugi!" Tea cried, concerned.
"Oh, no. It's started." Grandpa said.
"What's started?" Joey asked.
Ignoring Joey's question, Grandpa grabbed some salt and went upstairs. The friends heard him turn the faucet in the bathtub on. Grandpa mixed the salt in with the water. He walked back downstairs and instructed Tristan to carry Yugi upstairs in to put him into the tub. Tristan did as he requested, and put Yugi, fully clothed, into the slowly filling tub. Tea and Joey followed him.
"So what has started?" Tea asked Grandpa.
"You'll see." was the reply she got. The tub filled all the way, and Yugi's head was above the water, breathing shallowly. His face was white. Grandpa gently placed his head under the water, and the color immediately returned to his face.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Joey yelled, yanking Grandpa from Yugi.
"I'm doing what has to be done. This has to happen." He replied. Seeing the shocked faces in front of him, he said, "He isn't going to die. But he will if he stays above water at all in the next 5 minutes." Deciding to trust his word, they held Yugi under the water for the designated time. During that time, Yugi visibly relaxed, but his legs twitched. "Hold them still." Grandpa instructed Joey. Joey did so, and Yugi's legs ceased to twitch. After the 5 minutes had passed, Grandpa said softly, "You can let go now."
Letting go of Yugi, Tea wiped her hands on a towel. "So what is going on, huh? First he just collapses, then you tell us nothing about it. But you seem to know about this. So why is Yugi fine underwater? He should have drowned an-and…" Tea stopped, scared to say what she about to say. "But he's fine. Well, except for being unconscious."
"I can't tell you what is going on. You'll see soon enough." Grandpa stubbornly replied.
"Guys? What's going on?" came a voice from the tub.
"Yugi!" Tea, Joey, and Tristan exclaimed, rushing to the tub. They looked over at Yugi, who looked confused at being in the tub, never mind underwater.
"The last thing I remember is the party. I was drinking water, and I got so thirsty, and then I felt pain and collapsed." Yugi said.
"Grandpa's been acting weird. He brought you up here and put you underwater, and he hasn't told us anything." Joey said, angry. "He made us hold you there for a while, and then your legs started twitching, and I had to hold them still."
"Speaking of my legs, they're really itchy." Yugi sat up, getting his head out of the water. He scratched at his legs, but then went back underwater. "I couldn't breathe." He gasped. "What's going on, Grandpa?"
"Just know that it was meant to be, Yugi. Also, during the transformation, you can only breathe underwater." Grandpa said as Yugi lost control of his legs.
"What are you doing, Yugi?" Tea asked, alarmed as Yugi's legs moved together.
"I'm not doing anything!" He said, "The legs are just moving by themselves." His legs grew scales, and they flattened out. His feet became flat, and widened near the ankle. His clothes melted into his legs. When it finished, he was left with a purple, scaly tail. It was the same color as his eyes, and it was shimmering. "I-I-Grandpa, why did this happen?"
"You were destined to become this, Yugi. It runs in the family." Grandpa responded.
"Does this mean you are a-a merman, too?" Tea asked, stuttering.
"Yes. We can go back and forth between legs and a tail. We can breathe underwater in either form, though. When we turn a certain age, which is different for each person, we gain our tail and powers." Grandpa said solemnly.
"Powers?" Tristan asked, glancing at a shocked Yugi.
"They are different for each person. I can control water, but that is pretty common. Some rarer powers are telepathy, or even rarer, gaining another form. Some have multiple powers, but those are 1 in a million." Grandpa answered. "But the powers are discovered at different times after the first transformation. It can be a minute to a week before you discover your powers, Yugi."
"So how do you go back to legs?" Yugi asked. "Because I would like to get out of the tub."
"You just focus on having legs instead of a tail, and voila! Legs!" Grandpa said, excited that he gets to teach Yugi something.
"Okay…" Yugi said, and then closed his eyes. He concentrated on having legs, and he felt his tail become legs. He opened his eyes, and saw legs in the tub instead of a tail. Thankfully, he had kept his pants on during the transformation. He sat up, and got out of the tub.
"Yugi… You're completely dry." Tea said.
"I am?" Yugi looked down. He was, in fact, dry, but his grandfather looked at him in amazement. "What?" Yugi asked defensively.
"That's a sign that… Oh my. They're so rare." Grandpa whispered. He walked out of the room and into his room, and shut the door. Yugi's friends looked at him silently.
"Let's go to the park and walk around. We can talk about it there, and get used to the idea." Yugi suggested.
"Okay." Joey and Tristan said. Tea just looked at Yugi.
"Why are you glowing?" She asked. Yugi was starting to glow brighter and brighter.
"I don't know!" He said, panicked. He vanished, and his friends looked at where he was, shocked, and then Joey bolted to Grandpa's door.
"Open up! Yugi just disappeared, and you might know something about it!" The door flew open to reveal an anxious Grandpa.
"Were you talking about a location?" He asked, deadly serious.
"We were talking about going to the park." Joey said. Grandpa ran downstairs and out the door.
"Follow me!" He called over his shoulder. "I know where Yugi is!"