Magi Magi Magician Gal (MMMG): Here is Chapter 2! A big thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed.
Yami: Now that that's out of the way, we're going to say here and now (and repeat multiple times), MMMG won't be doing Death-T. She is going with the English anime intro for Seto Kaiba.
Seto: I'll sue if you do that!
MMMG: I'll split you apart from Joey for the whole '… did it come to this?' series.
Joey: NO!
MMMG: Then tell you boyfriend that you don't argue with the writer.
Yugi: This chapter is based off Yu-Gi-Oh! manga Ch. 2 There is no Season 0 episode.
MMMG: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! and never will. I'm just having fun. Enjoy!
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Lunammoon: A good blast from the past? Hope you enjoy.
Killer-Fangirl: Interesting ideas regarding Téa, and close, but not quite.
Jokul Frosti: Glad you like all the new details. I've found that I've gotten better at adding such things, but sometimes characters speaking does overwhelm me.
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Chapter 2: Lying Eyes
The Monday of the following week, after Yugi and Joey's bruises had mostly healed, the two boys were walking to school from the bus drop off together. They had started doing this last Thursday, and used the time to find out more about each other. They had even met up on Saturday to spend some time at the arcade together, and Yugi had found out something he had not expected, but should not have been surprised to find out.
"Joey, did you see that video you wanted to watch yesterday?" Yugi shyly asked as turned his head to his new friend as they walked.
"Yeah." Joey nodded, but looked irritated. "I squinted, but I couldn't see any of the important stuff. It was censored out."
"Huh?" Yugi's face wrinkled in confusion, and then he blushed as he realized exactly what Joey was talking about. "Oh!"
Yugi had found out that Joey had a variety of very healthy appetites: food and many different types of fun. Athletics, video games, and… sex. Joey had made an offhanded comment about one of the video game characters in the arcade while they ate some pizza, and Yugi had choked on his own spit in surprise. Joey had laughed at the reaction, and teased his new friend with knowledge about his personal plans for the next day, but let the subject drop before Yugi exploded in embarrassment.
"Hey, Yugi, how about I lend it to you some time?" Joey smirked at shorter teen.
"No thanks!" Yugi exclaimed as his blush deepened.
"You are way too innocent." Joey laughed as they enter the schoolyard, but didn't push the subject, and then stopped. "Hey look! There's a TV van parked outside the gates. Wonder why?"
"Maybe there's a celebrity or a super famous model coming to school?" Yugi offered.
"You mean beside Seto Kaiba?" Joey asked, referring to the 16 year old CEO of Kaiba Corp who missed a lot of school but still had the title of top student.
"Yeah." Yugi nodded. "Kaiba had an interview when he first came to Domino High. Maybe we have someone else who's famous coming here."
"That must be it!" Joey exclaimed with a grin and pushed Yugi right up to the van window. "Can you see anything Yugi?"
"No." Yugi replied, his face up smushed against the window. "I think this is a one-way window."
Unbeknownst to the two teenagers, there were several people inside the van. The driver, a cameraman, a TV show director named Lucius, his assistant Fujita, and a tv reporter. The group had been shocked when the blond pushed the shorter boy's face against the window, but Lucius smirked as he pointed at Yugi the small teen wiggling out of Joey's grip.
"That face." Lucius said as the two boys walked away from the van. "I've decided. He'll be the star of my next project."
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Right after the school bell rang to start class for the morning, and all the students were inside, the film crew of 'Survival Morning' began its work. Lucius had a young female reporter, that was dressed in a sexy business suit, standing at the gates of Domino High, and didn't even bother to hide the fact that he was undressing her with his eyes.
"Good morning, everyone!" the female reporter said as she said her lines. "It's time for the morning show, 'Survival Morning'. Today, our camera will get the exclusive scoop. Get ready for a flashback to your school days! Now the school behind me has been reported to a grave issue with bullying…"
"CUT! Wrap it up!" Lucius yelled. "Hey, Assistant Fujita, come over here."
"Yes sir!" Fujita said as he scrambled to his boss.
"I need you to find this school kid and bring him to the basketball court behind the school." Lucius said as he gave his assistant a picture of Yugi.
"Yes sir." Fujita replied and took a look at the photo. "This kid sure looks bullied. He's perfect for this project. The perfect star!"
"You will beat the kid up at the specified place on camera." Lucius explained. "The viewers requested a documentary on violence, so it's sure to boost ratings."
"But is it really alright to film people getting beat up?" Fujita asked.
"You still don't get it, do ya?" Lucius sighed. "How many years have you been in this business Fajita?"
"Half a year." Fajita mumbled.
"From now on, you will be my apprentice." Lucius proclaimed.
"Apprentice?" Fajita gasped, knowing that this could give him an edge in the future.
"And you will now fill the role of a school bully." Lucius smirked. "In front of the camera!"
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"What?" Téa asked after listening to Joey. "An idol?"
Téa and Joey had started to become friends through Yugi after what happened the week prior. After Joey lay off on some of his pranks, and Téa stopped accusing him of being up to something nefarious all the time, that is. But there still were some of the occasional squabbles, like the that was one occurring.
"Sure!" Joey grinned. "And the evidence is the TV van parked outside the school. Tell her Yugi!"
"Well… yeah." Yugi stuttered softly. "But if it were true, someone would have seen this idol… right?"
"And I haven't heard anything about an idol." Téa added.
"She's probably disguised." Joey grinned. "But I'm going to get her alone and unmask her."
"Joey, that's…" Yugi paused, not wanting to say anything embarrassing.
"I could make a fortune with a photo of her." Joey smirked as his perverted mind went into overdrive.
"That's a crime!" Téa snapped. "You'd get expelled for doing something like that!"
"There's no penalty for stripping." Joey growled.
"Only in the boy's locker room!" Téa shot back.
Yugi found that he was curious as to what the TV van was doing at the school, but not enough to argue over. For a moment he contemplated interrupting the bickering of his two friends, but eventually decided that he was not going to be the mediator for their tiffs over the little things.
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"Yeah, I know that guy." a student in the hall was speaking to Fujita. "He's Yugi Mutou, a junior in Ms. Chono's homeroom."
"Thanks a lot." Fujita grinned and the student left with a nod.
The male tucked the picture in to his 'borrowed' uniform, the one he got from the locker room. As he stalked down the hallway, Fujita cursed his luck. Somehow, he had to lure Yugi to the basketball courts behind the gym and then beat him up while on camera. And if he didn't, Director Lucius would fire him! As much as Fujita disagreed with beating someone up, even for a TV show, he had no choice.
"Come on, Yugi." Joey said as he dragged his smaller friend from the classroom when the lunch bell rang. "Let's go find that idol!"
"But Joey…" Yugi protested meekly as the two unknowingly passed Fujita, who had zoned in on Yugi's tri-colored hair. "Maybe the TV van is here to cover something else, like test scores."
"Yugi, not you to." Joey groaned and began to angrily stomp down the hallway, alone. "It's not just a dream, Yugi, you have to believe! So I'll just search by myself! Bye."
Yugi was left in a stunned sadness in the middle of the hallway. He supposed that he had said something wrong, something that Joey hadn't wanted to hear. The teenager ducked his head and bit his lip as he wondered if he and the blond teenager would still be friends after this, or if Joey would revert back to acting like a bully towards him.
"Yugi Mutou!" Fujita said.
"Huh?" Yugi turned to see Fujita standing behind him. "Not to be rude, but who are you?"
"My name is Fujita." Fujita introduced himself.
"Nice to meet you." Yugi replied.
"Yugi, I know there is an idol in this school." Fujita said, setting the bait.
"Whoa!" Yugi gasped excitedly. "There really is an idol?"
"Well, duh." Fujita smiled while thinking, feeling relieved and a touch sad that Yugi didn't realize that he was lying, but continued to reel the naïve boy in. "Since the idol and I are pals, I could introduce you. I think you two would get along."
Yugi was starting to get excited at the thought of meeting someone famous, wondering who it could possibly be. Seto Kaiba didn't really count, he had been going to school with Yugi since late middle school, so the novelty had worn off.
"Come on." Fajita said, seeing that he had Yugi snared. "The idol is at the basketball courts behind the gym. But be sure to come alone, they're a bit shy."
"Okay!" Yugi agreed with a big smile.
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"Hurry up!" Lucius snapped to no one who was actually there. "He's late."
The director checked his watch as he sat in the bushes with the cameraman while Fujita was mentally agreeing with the man, and desperately wishing that Yugi would hurry up because his job was on the line. The sound of footsteps reached Fujita's ears, and he turned to see Yugi walk around the corner. Fujita smiled what he hoped was a welcoming look while Yugi walked on over, and Lucius hissed at the cameraman to start rolling.
"You're just in time." Fujita said once Yugi was close enough.
"Where's the idol Fujita?" Yugi asked as he glanced around, not noticing the two men in the bushes.
"Well, the truth is…" Fujita sighed as he leaned in towards Yugi, who was still looking around. "Wait, I hear someone coming."
Fujita's underhanded uppercut caught Yugi completely by surprise. The smaller teen didn't even cry out in pain, he was in too much shock, but that changed quickly as Fujita continued to thrash the younger boy. Yugi curled in on himself, covering his head with his hands as he weakly begged Fujita to stop.
"Great!" Lucius laughed as he stepped out of the bushes. "Now be flashier!"
"There isn't any idol you idiot." Fajita hissed as he grabbed Yugi by the ear and smacked him again. "And there never was!"
"Hey, wait one damned second!" Joey shouted as he rounded the corner and ran up to them. "You jerk! Just what do you think you're doing?"
"Uh…" Fajita mumbled as he saw the blond run up to the now bruised Yugi.
"Yugi, are you alright?" Joey gaped when he saw his friend's state, and rounded on Fujita. "I'll kill you, you creep! What are you doing to my friend?"
"I… I didn't want to… really…" Fujita stuttered out, his confidence gone and not wanting to get hit by the mad Joey. "The director made me!"
"Director?" Joey asked in disbelief.
"That's enough." Lucius said. "Fujita, I'll take things over from here."
"You." Joey growled. "You made him do this to Yugi."
Lucius just smirked at Joey's anger. Maybe he could get two for the price of one if the blond would start pounding Fujita, and that practically guaranteed triple ratings! But it didn't go that way. Joey turned away from Fujita and knelt next to Yugi, gently scooping the teen up in his arms.
"Yugi, are you okay?" Joey asked.
"I'm… I'm sorry Joey." Yugi gasped out.
"Don't worry about it." Joey shook his head. "I should be sorry, taking off like the way I did."
"CUT!" Lucius shouted. "We don't need to film this teenage drama. It's a waste of film."
"Yes sir." the cameraman said as he cut the filming.
"Well, little Yugi was unlucky enough to be chosen for the role of 'Bullied Child'." Lucius said while picking ear wax out of his ear. "Really unfortunate, just a bad roll of the dice. But thanks to him, we've filled a great episode! The audience will feel so sorry for him. Yugi, you're the hero! The hero of my shows upped ratings, that is."
"I'm going to kill you!" Joey snarled as he grabbed the front of Lucius's shirt.
"Go ahead, hit me." Lucius smirked. "But while you're beating me up, the cameraman will be catching it all on tape."
"What?" Joey asked.
The teen turned to see that the cameraman was pointing his camera at them, but what Joey didn't know, was that the cameraman wasn't filming. Director Lucius hadn't said 'Action!' again. With a smirk on his face, Lucius sharply raised his knee, sharply ramming Joey right in the stomach.
"Joey!" Yugi cried out as his friend fell unconscious from the pain.
"Do you finally get it?" Lucius asked as he laughed. "You can't resist the power of the camera! With it, your faces could be held up to the public's scorn."
Yugi felt tears trickle down his face as he knelt next to Joey, their new friendship had almost been torn apart, and both of them had gotten beaten and bruised because of this man, who just wanted to have a good rating on his TV show. But what worried Yugi most was that he would be recognized as the 'bullied child' on the show, even if his face was censored, because his hair was very unique in color and shape. As the thought left him, pull seemed to come from every cell in Yugi's body, and he blacked out. But his body didn't fall over.
YU-GI-OH!
The Eye of Anubis glowed on Yami's on his forehead as he stood up. Yami had been watching the whole thing, ever since Fujita had landed the first punch, and grew angrier and angrier at the stupid director for the stunt he pulled. He was going to intervene earlier, but Joey showed up, so he held back, and now wish that he hadn't. The director walked to his own fancy car, which he had driven separate from the TV crew, not noticing the change in the teen and the angry glare Yami gave at the car as he followed.
"But don't worry, your faces will be censored out." Lucius said flippantly as he closed the door to his car and drove away.
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That evening, at the local TV studio, Lucius pulled his fancy car into the parking garage. With another chuckle, he headed inside and handed the film over to his production crew, who immediately began to view it. He was praised for putting together a staggering episode, and thanked him profusely for all of his hard work before the production crew left for the evening. Lucius knew the best way to get something done on camera was provide a little bait. With Fujita, all he had to do was offer an 'apprenticeship', and presto, one schoolyard bully.
"Maybe we should kill someone on the camera next time." Lucius mused once he was alone. "That would really up ratings."
"Heh, heh, heh." a soft chuckle came from behind the man
"What the…?" Lucius mumbled as he was brought out of his musings, and he turned to see 'Yugi'.
"I have been waiting for you, Mr. Director." Yami said with a smirk.
"You're that Yugi brat." Lucius growled as he 'recognized' the teen. "It's the middle of the night, so don't tell me you want an actor's fee."
"You have stumbled into the Domain of my Heart and Mind." Yami said, ignoring the man's comment. "You trespassed on my soul, and therefore you must become my opponent in a Shadow Game."
Lucius's eyes narrowed as he wondered what a Shadow Game was. And he also wondered what was up with 'Yugi', because his soft purple eyes had changed to sharp, dark red eyes. Contacts, maybe? Not to mention his personality had also completely changed from timid to confident.
"We'll play using this." Yami said pulling an object out of his pocket. "A simple dice. Since the era of Ancient Egypt, dice have been used to decide men's fate! At the time, they were called 'Astragalos', and were made from the hoof bones of animals. They were crooked and rounded, unlike this modern cube."
Lucius growled, getting impatient with the explanation. He didn't care about the history of the dice, and was getting more and more annoyed at his kid interrupting his life. Maybe Yugi should be the person that was killed on camera, for real, not that anyone would know until it was too late.
"Now, here are the simple rules to this game of fate." Yami continued. "We both roll the dice. After I roll, you do. If you get a lower number, you win. If we roll the same number, you still win. But if I win, you will suffer a Penalty Game."
"That's stupid." Lucius growled. "How am I supposed to win with those odds?"
"Let's begin." Yami replied, ignoring the question.
GAME START!
Yami let the dice fall from his hand, and two males watched it clatter around on the ground. Lucius huffed, still feeling that this was a dumb thing to do. When the dice stopped moving, it was the number …
"Six!" Lucius exclaimed excitedly. "I automatically win! I don't even have to throw the die you brat!"
"You certainly seem lucky." Yami agreed. "But the game is not over yet. You have to throw the dice to win, or you forfeit, and I win."
"Damn, what a stubborn guy." Lucius cursed as he picked up the dice. "You can have it your way! While I'm at it… I'll leave a hole in your face!"
Lucius threw the dice at Yami as hard as he could, and turned to watch the dice bounce around on the floor. The dice fell directly to the floor and landed on the…
"One!" Lucius cheered and laughed. "I rolled a one! I win!"
"Bab ul-zulumat futeh*." Yami smirked, the Eye of Anubis glowing on his forehead. "Now you receive a Penalty Game."
"What?" Lucius asked as he whirled around. "The dice broke!"
There on the floor was the dice, but it had been broken in half. On one piece was the one, but the other piece was the six. Lucius frantically looked around to see what had the cause the dice to break, and saw that Yami had held up the Millennium Puzzle with the bottom point facing towards Lucius. When the director had thrown the die at Yami, it had hit the point, and broke the die in half. Lucius moaned in horror as he realized that he had rolled a 7 and lost the game.
"Penalty Game:" Yami shouted as the golden eye on his forehead engulfed the man. "Censored Vision!"
"AH!" Lucius screamed as his vision changed, making everything look like it had been censored for a TV show. "Everything's been censored?! AAAAAUGH!"
"You twisted the reality in front of the camera to suit your needs." Yami explained as walked over to the editing station. "Therefore, you shall now see the world threw a 'Censor Filter'. Oh, and one more thing."
Yami pick up a cup of coffee that one of the editors had left behind, and poured it on to the film that had been recorded that day, ruining it so that his Hikari wouldn't be shamed in front of the TV world.
GAME OVER!
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The next day, Yugi and Joey were walking to school from the bus drop off again. They had talked over the events of the day prior, and agreed that they would have differences of opinions, but that didn't mean they would automatically hate the other for not agreeing with them, or would end their friendship for such a thing. In fact, Joey had even gone as far as to bring a peace offering with him
"Hey, Yugi." Joey smirked as he pulled a DVD out of his backpack. "I've got the goods."
"What good?" Yugi asked slowly, confused.
"The censored goods." Joey explained.
"No thanks!" Yugi exclaimed as he turned red in embarrassment.
"Suit yourself." Joey smirked as he tossed the DVD up and down in his hand.
"What's this interesting movie?" Téa asked as she caught the DVD on the downfall and skipped into the school building. "Let me borrow it."
"NOOOOOOOOO!" Joey yelled and raced after his female friend. "Give it back Téa!"
"Same old day here at Domino High School." Yugi sighed as he gently traced is fingers over the eye of the puzzle, following.
Yami watch Yugi follow his friends with a smile. He was glad Yugi had friends that wouldn't betray him, but he knew that he would be the one who'd never abandon his light, even if Yugi hadn't wished for such a thing. The pure light and forgiveness within the boy astounded Yami, and he would gladly do what he could to keep that light shining as he gained new friends.
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*Bab ul-zulumat futeh- The Door of Darkness has been opened.
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MMMG: End of Chapter 2. Yes, it was much shorter than Chapter 1. Chapters that don't have a Season 0 Episode are much smaller than those that do, and this Chapter was one of them.
Marik: I like frogs dressed in neon orange tutus!
MMMG: Did you forget to take your sanity pills today?
Marik: Let's kidnap Mokuba and take over Kaiba Corp!
Malik: Please review and tell us what you think while I go deal with my crazy Yami. Likes, dislikes, spelling or grammar issues, or if you have any questions.
Marik: Barium-Cobalt-Einstein-Kool-Aid!
MMMG: One final thing. The name of the TV Director, Lucius, came from the Game Boy Advanced Video Game: 'Yu-Gi-Oh! Dungeon Dice Monsters'.
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Original Word Count: 2,510
Repost Word Count: 3,455
Next Chapter: 05/06/2022