Hikari no Yuugi

by Ryuujin Dragon King

An enemy from the past is back, and kidnaps Yugi’s friends! All the Millennium Item bearers work together to save them, but is it enough? 11 – Yami is well again, so the gang is off once more. Contains evil girl kissin evil guy! Yami & Yugi star, not

10. Koimizu

Angel: Just so you know, I have a new email address. Well, actually it's my own email address (kibouhikari@cs.com was Kit's), but Kit's email address, the one we decided to use as our official ff.net sn, has been receiving too much junk mail so we had to switch it. So we've switched our ff.net sn to mine. It's HikaruDayDreamer@cs.com so email me at that if you have any questions/comments.
This is the long-awaited (yeah right, suuuuuuuuure, I know nobody was waiting for it //pouts//) chapter 8 of Hikari no Yuugi. We're finally developing a plot, peoples! Hey, who liked Yugi's and Hikaru-chan's kiss in chap 7? I'm sure all you Yugi/Anzu fans didn't, but I like it! ::giggles:: So obviously I'm putting Yugi and Hikaru together. Who does Bakura get? Heh heh, you'll see! It might not be who you think it is cuz a new character is introduced in book 2 who seems to have a thing for Bakura, but she might really have different motives. Wait, why the heck am I telling you this? I'm showing off, I guess. *cough* Please forgive me. ::blushes::
Okie, now we know for sure that Malik is a guy. So that's resolved. I'm glad for that because I'd already been planning on making him a boy anyway.
I'm listening to a song sung all in African... not sure which language in African, maybe Egyptian? I doubt it though. It's on a tape I have... maybe there's the words in the cover thingy... Morake music? Never heard of it... anyway the song's called I Want to See the Moon and it's on the Lion King II: Return to Pride Rock tape. Got no idea what the words mean. -_-' I adore Disney movies!!!! ^-^
"In da jungle, da might jungle, da lion sleeps tonight!!!!!!!!!" Casia and Kit: SHUT UP!!!
Rebecca is such an annoying little brat. Sorry, but she is! She's got a lot of spunk, though, I'll give her that. BUT HOW DARE SHE BE MEAN TO MY BELOVED YUGI! CRUSH HER YUGI, CRUSH HER! *cough* I'm done. I mean, Yugi did the right thing by conceding the duel, ya know, to teach her respect and all. I'm so proud of him! *wipes away tears*
Eh, now I'm really done.
Disclaimer: I am sooooooooooooo sick of these things...

1. Yami 2. Hikari 3. Millennium Item 4. Yami's Power 5. Hikari's Power 6. Item's Power 7. Color

1. Yugioh 2. Yugi Muto 3. Puzzle 4. Erm... I just call his power the "Power of the Millennium Seal" as in the signature, not the animal 5. Golden Detonation Beam (corny name, I know, and it's not his true power, but... well, you'll see) 6. Sends people to the Shadow Realm, does weird things, activates at Yami's will or Yugi's emotions 7. Yellow

1. Kerihk 2. Ryou Bakura 3. Ring (it should have been the Millennium Dream Catcher ^-^) 4. ESP (aka the Balance) 5. ESP (Balance) and something else... What is it? It's a secret! *mwahaha* 6. Opens portals to the Shadow Realm, can detect other Millennium Items, can combine them (how? you'll see....), and anything else I decide it can do (with author powers!) 7. White (how ironic)

1. Kiara 2. Hikaru Daichi 3. Pendant (not Amulet) 4. Flight/Wind/Light 5. Eh... the light in the night? I dunno what to call Hikaru's power yet... 6. Makes light in darkness, senses when others are in trouble 7. Pink

1. Setsuna 2. Ai Itsuko (her initials spell her name: A.I.!) 3. Mirror 4. Super-strength 5. Also superstrength, sometimes called the "Power of Love" cuz not only does "Ai" mean "love," but she can only use her superstrength when she's fighting for someone she loves 6. Shows other Item Bearers, shows foes, can reverse magic but it is dangerous to use it to get out of another realm cuz you might end up somewhere between the Real World and the Shadow Realm - in other words you're lost 7. Red (in Egypt red signifies evil but Setsuna and Ai are not evil so I'm using it to signify the American way - love)

1. Ahmose 2. Takehiko Midori 3. Sword 4. Fire 5. Flame (how original) 6. Gets you out of sticky situations (I guess), makes the bearer an expert fighter when he uses it 7. Orange

1. Ay 2. Dajan Hada 3. Key 4. Water 5. Eh, water as well 6. Unlocks any lock 7. Light Blue

1. Himoko 2. Misaki Hikawa 3. Spoon 4. Healing 5. Healing (no duh) 6. Stops time 7. Navy

1. Taidu 2. Tali Takada 3. Broach 4. Of neither world, acts as a go-betweener for the... um... fates? 5. Pretty much just a peacemaker 6. Taps into almost inaccessible magic 7. Green

1. Zhur 2. Pegasus J. Crawford 3. Eye 4. Wouldn't you like to know 5. Like I'd tell you 6. Captures people's souls and a lot of other stuff that I don't feel like telling you 7. Shadowy Gray

" " - talking

' ' - thinking

/ - Any Hikari talking to his or her Yami in his or her mind

// - Any Yami talking to his or her Hikari in his or her mind

Hikari No Yuugi
Play of Light

by Angel

Chapter Eight: Koimizu
Tear of Love

"This will be the first time I've had the upperhand, Pharaoh," he said, smirking down at the weak appearance of Yami's small, thin frame. "You don't know how long I've waited for this moment of revenge.

Yami was still in a state of shock, and not anywhere near to recovering. He blinked, but his vision was still blurry. He groped around for the cards the dark man had thrown to the ground, and picked them up gingerly.

The dark man, although very tall and menacing, actually looked rather young, maybe a boy in his late teens. His sharp chin jutted out from below his curling lips, his nose was small and becoming. Thick black hair framed his face, and small, dark eyes pierced through his prey's conscious mind.

Yami's eyes widened, and he coughed in sudden revelation. Even though his sight was limited due to the previous occurrences, his Shadow powers were as accurate as ever, and all his senses pointed to one person, a foe of old. He tried to choke out the name, but the words were caught in his throat, and all that came out was a feeble gasp.

The dark figure gave a sinister laugh and stepped forward. He bent down and put two fingers under Yami's chin, lifting his head to face his. "Let me give you a hand," he said, his voice sweet but dark and evil at the same time. "Yes. I am Jyor-lang." He grinned at the horrified look on Yami's face as the former pharaoh lifted his hand and tried to brush Jyor-lang's fingers off his skin.

"You didn't hear what I said before," Jyor-lang cackled, removing his fingers himself. Then he used both hands to grab Yami's collar and force him to his feet, choking him and holding him up to the point where the tips of his toes brushed the sand. "I told you - it's time to duel. That is, if you're feeling up to it."

"Where's Yugi?" Yami's voice was soft but spiteful, and it sounded like he was stressing to find enough energy to speak. Jyor-lang realized his hostage was shivering; he probably had become frostbitten from being in that river all night long. Not that he minded, it would only make his job easier.

"You mean your little, innocent hikari? Why, he's perfectly safe, for the time being. It's up to you how long he stays that way. Now, no more questions. We're going to duel, right here, right now!"

Yami found himself being dragged against his will towards the closest dueling arena in Duelist Kingdom. He hadn't realized this island had been used for dueling during the tournament; it was so cut off from the rest of the islands.

Finally Jyor-lang found the arena he had selected for their duel, and smirked down at Yami who was still entrapped in his iron grip. The pharaoh was hardly struggling at all. Between frostbite and lack of energy, he would make an easy target. "I see you're having some trouble standing," Jyor-lang observed unsympathetically. "Let me give you a hand with that, too." He forced Yami into the dueling box with his foot. Then he rolled up his left sleeve and Yami saw many thin, black belts coiling up his arm, each with different red buttons attached. He pressed a button on his wrist, and chains sprang out of the box, fastening to Yami's feet and waist. With nowhere to go but up, Yami had to reach deep inside to find the strength to stand and not cut himself on the blunt edges of the shackles.

Jyor-lang took Yami's deck and placed it on the deck zone of the arena. "I hope the accommodations of this arena suit you, because you'll be here for a while - or at least until I win our duel." He laughed maliciously. "What's the matter, Yugioh? Not up for talking? I'm offended. What have I ever done to deserve the cold shoulder from the great pharaoh?"

He stepped up to the other dueling box and both he and Yami were lifted into the arena's boundaries. A Life Point count lit up on their screens, and Jyor-lang laid his deck on the deck zone as well.

"You'll find there are some new rules in this game you've never had before," he said discreetly as he drew seven cards and fanned them out in his hand. "You'll want to draw your cards too, or I'll make the first move mine and diminish your life points without waiting. Now, in order to save your hikari and his friends, you'll have to beat me. But it won't be easy, I assure you. My strategies are instructed to me by Master Pegasus himself. My magic is stronger than more mortal beings', and I think even yours, considering the state you're in. And this, my dear pharaoh, is a Shadow Game. A Shadow Game so strong, so dangerous, that none have come out of it unscathed. But I'm willing to risk it if it means destroying you and your hikari. Then I can go on to the others, until no one stands in Master Pegasus' way. It's as simple as that."

"You're - you're not human," Yami struggled to say, placing both hands on the board to keep himself upright. "You talk of - of killing - like it's some kind of game. It's a horrible thing to do! Horrible! And -" he grimaced and shuddered as a fresh wave of ice sparked through his veins, but tried his hardest to continue on - "and I won't let you win. I could beat you in a duel even in your dreams!"

"As I said, there are some new rules that require more caution on your part," Jyor-lang reminded him, his confident grin never leaving his face. "One wrong move and it's all over, for all of you."

Yami growled. "Let's do it, then," he said reluctantly. This was the first time he had been so hesitant to accept a challenge from an evil duelist such as Jyor-lang, but it wasn't like he had much of a choice. He reached up and tried to wipe the blood and dirt off his cheeks. It was dry and crusty, and didn't chip off easily.

He was so cold. He knew it was quite possible he had come down with pneumonia because he had been in that freezing river for so long. Back in Egypt the worst disease he had encountered was Malaria, which had kept him bed-ridden for almost an entire year when he was twelve. He had nearly died from it; he remembered waking up when he was finally recovering and finding his little sister bending over him anxiously.

His little sister, Kiara, had been in that river too, as had all the other yamis. They might be sicker than he, and in an even worse position. Yami gritted his teeth and summoned all the strength left in him. He HAD to help them. Somehow, he HAD to.

"I'll go first," Jyor-lang said after each had drawn seven cards from their decks. "I play one card face-down and one monster in attack mode. Go! Two-Headed King Rex!"

A Two-Headed King Rex (1600/1200) appeared holographically in the arena. Both its heads roared loudly, and flapped its huge wings.

Yami scanned his cards quickly. Several of them he didn't recognize, such as Warrior of Fire, Priest of Light, Angel of the Battlefield (a/n: aka, Clara Barton! J/k, -_-'), Golden Spirit of Horus, and Ocean's Servant. Only one of the cards in his hand was one he recognized - a magic card called Card Destruction. He considered using this, as he had no idea if the new cards in his hands were parasitic ones placed in his deck by Jyor-lang.

He examined his options. If he used Card Destruction, he would come across cards he knew well. On the other hand, these new monster cards all had an attack and defense power of 2000. Throwing them away might be a waste. Plus, he might not draw a monster strong enough to beat the Two-Headed King Rex. There was also Jyor-lang's face-down card to consider. Using a trap card might be perilous.

Finally, Yami pulled the Warrior of Fire out of his hand. At least he could destroy the Two-Headed King Rex before Jyor-lang got a shot at his life points. It would be a quick defeat for him if that were the case. And if the Warrior of Fire did anything that brought him to a disadvantage, he could always recall him and play Card Destruction to get rid of the others.

"Warrior of Fire! Attack Mode!" Somehow Yami found the strength in him to yell his moves like he always had. As always, his personality switched from gentle to harsh in an instant. The pain was still there, but a new fire burned within him.

A holographic image of the Warrior of Fire appeared on the arena in front of the Two-Headed King Rex. At first all that showed up was a black and orange armor suit covering a teenage boy's body. A mop of crazily-styled blond hair came next, and then he opened his sky blue eyes.

"Takehiko?!" Yami exclaimed, unbelieving.

The Warrior of Fire, more commonly called Takehiko, looked around wildly, clutching a golden sword recognized to be the Millennium Sword. "Wh-where am I?" he asked, confused and afraid. He turned around and saw Yami. "What's going on up there, Yami?" He faced Jyor-lang again, and caught sight of the dragon.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!"

"Oh, brother!" Jyor-lang sighed. "You'd better be finished, Yami, because I can't take anymore of his screaming. ATTACK, TWO-HEADED KING REX!"

A great fireball emerged from the Two-Headed King Rex's mouth, aimed directly for Takehiko. Before he had time to react, Takehiko was blown away by the force of the assault. A loud scream that died away quickly was all that was left.

Yami gaped, stunned. His cards dropped on the table. "No... no..." was all he could mumble. He looked at the other cards and began to recognize their appearances.

Priest of Light was Bakura. Angel of the Battlefield, Hikaru. Ocean's Servant, Dajan. Golden Spirit of Horus...

... Yugi.

"Yugi."

He stared at Yugi's card for what seemed like a long time. So that's what Jyor-lang had meant by "new rules." He had done a Yami Bakura and trapped all the hikaris' souls in cards (a/n: except for Misaki and Tali, o'course). But not cards that had already been invented, oh no, he had gone and given them each their own, special name and characteristics.

Where was Ai's card? Had she not been captured? These were the questions drifted across Yami's mind as he struggled to make sense of it all.

"How did that happen?" he asked at last, glaring over at Jyor-lang. "How was your Two-Headed King Rex able to beat Takehiko? Takehiko had an attack power of 2000!"

Jyor-lang wagged a finger. "Tut, tut. Amateur. I always have to deal with these stupid questions from lesser beings. You see, I created these cards. I gave each of them their own life points - not attack and defense power, but life points. It takes more than one attack to defeat them. They keep the damage they receive until all their life points are gone. Then they are sent to the graveyard. They are all divided into one of three categories - Warrior, Dream, or Spellcaster."

Yami looked down and saw that Yugi's and Bakura's cards were Spellcasters, Hikaru's was Dream, and Dajan's was Warrior, like Takehiko's had been.

Jyor-lang continued, "They are each weakened by a specific type of monster, like Beast or Dragon or Dinosaur. I decided what their weaknesses are. Takehiko's was Dragon. That's how he was lost so quickly. And when they are destroyed by the type they are weakest against, you lose 400 life points!" Jyor-lang smirked and laughed menacingly. "I told you to be careful, Yugioh, but you were always such a poor listener! Ha ha! Now I'll have some fun!"

His smirk widened as he drew a card and added it to his hand. "The look on your face is priceless, Yami," he chuckled. "Don't tell me you're becoming craven now! Where's that old Pharaoh spirit that used to cause me so much trouble?"

Yami narrowed his eyes at Jyor-lang. 'No time to mourn for Takehiko now,' he thought, feeling too tired even for that. 'I've got to play a card.' He fingered Yugi's card for a moment. 'No,' he thought decidedly. 'I won't use his card. It's too risky. I may be being overprotective, but even so...' Finally he decided on Dajan's card.

"Ocean's Servant! Attack mode, to avenge my fallen Warrior of Fire!"

Dajan appeared on the arena dressed in silver and blue with a long navy cape. His golden Millennium Key stood out against his armor, glittering brightly. A turquoise circlet was fit around his head, and his hands gripped a long sword twice his size. He opened his sea-green eyes, and reacted exactly the same as Takehiko.

"WHAAAAAAAA?!"

"Dajan, calm down!" Yami yelled.

Dajan whirled around, his eyes wet and scared. "What's going on, Yami?! Where am I? What happened? Where are the others? What happened to you? Why am I here? How did I get here? Where's my yami?"

"SLOW DOWN!" Yami cried, covering his ears. This proved to be a bad idea as without the support of his hands, he wobbled a bit, so he was especially glad when Dajan stopped shouting so he could regain his balance. "I'll try my best to answer your questions," he said quietly, "but you're going to have to trust me. Jyor-lang, our opponent, put a spell on you and the other hikaris, turning you into cards. The only way to undo the spell is to defeat him in this duel. Takehiko has already been played and was sent to the graveyard."

Dajan gulped. "Gr-Graveyard?" he stammered fearfully. "But you can get him back, right?"

"Only with your help."

The blue-haired boy suddenly grew determined. "Okay, then," he said, facing the King Rex. "Bring it on."

"I'm not sure what sort of attacks you have," Yami said, frustrated, "but it's probably got something to do with water." He looked over at the boy, eyes burning with the familiar resolve his friends knew so well. "I'm sure that if you reach inside your heart, you'll find your own magic. Close your eyes."

He wasn't sure what Yami was going to ask him to do, but Dajan obliged.

"Now think of everyone and everything that you love. Try to gather enough power from that love to give you your own attack. Love is the strongest power of all."

Images flashed across Dajan's mind. He concentrated on everyone he knew, all his friends, family... He thought of Takehiko, lost in the discard pile. He thought of his yami, who was somewhere far off from Duelist Kingdom. He couldn't let them down.

Suddenly he felt a great warmth spread from his heart to his finger tips and toes. It was like great energy had suddenly surged inside him, giving him strength. Finally he knew he couldn't keep it in any longer, he had to let it all out somehow -

"SERPENT TSUNAMI WAVE!"

A great blast of water shot out of his hands, a blast he didn't know he had in him. It hit the King Rex right on target, forcing him back. The Two-Headed King Rex uttered one last roar, and was gone.

Yami's LP: 1600
Jyor-lang's LP: 1600

"I did it!" Dajan cried, punching the air.

Yami sighed, and almost fell back in exhaustion. "I'm so relieved," he murmured with a slight smile. "Good job, Dajan."

"Yeahah!"

Jyor-lang scowled. "Just because you beat my King Rex doesn't mean you're about to win this duel." He drew another card, and then pulled one from his hand. "I play Anatsu in defense mode!"

Anatsu (1700/1200) lunged into defense position.

"Give it all you got, I'll take it," Dajan threatened smugly, his sword drawn.

"Don't get too confident, Dajan," Yami mumbled, drawing another card. "Jyor-lang's right - one wrong move and it's all over." He glanced at the card and sucked in his breath.

Earth Song was the name of the card - and it was another soul card. It was Ai's.

And it had a special effect...

"Retrieve one creature from your own discard pile and play it in defensive mode."

Yami did a silent victory dance. Even Jyor-lang had to abide by the rules of Ryúnade when creating cards; each had to have its own strength and weakness. That was the Law of World Balance which all creatures obeyed. It was also the law Pegasus was trying to overcome, life and death being part of it, but he hadn't overmastered it yet, so Jyor-lang had to give a good special effect to somebody to keep the balance.

"One card face down, and now... I summon Earth Song in Attack mode!" Yami shouted. Ai's form, foggy at first, showed a dim outline of her body, clothed in tight red pants and shirt and a golden breast plate with shoulder pads extending beyond his arms. Her cape was royal purple and a golden bracelet gleamed at her wrist. Her Millennium Mirror also adorned her clothing. "Her card contains a special effect. I am allowed to bring one monster back from my Graveyard and play it in defense. Be reborn! Warrior of Fire!"

Once more, Takehiko assembled together next to Dajan. This time he was kneeling in defense position. He looked absolutely terrified, but when he caught sight of the gleeful Dajan and bewildered Ai, he calmed down.

"What the heck are we doing here?" Ai said, reverting to her Osaka dialect in her confusion.

"I was just in a graveyard," Takehiko cried, scratching his head. "How am I back in the game?"

Ai looked at him as a bolt of fear shot up her spine. "What game? What's going on?"

"Shut up, you two!" Dajan scolded. He held out his hands to silence them, then explained, "Ai, we're in a Duel Monsters game. We were turned into cards by the enemy, that Jyor-lang dude. We have to duel and beat him to be returned to our bodies. Takehiko had already been sent to the graveyard, but your card had a special effect and we were able to get him back. So now we have to use our own powers to beat Jyor-lang's monsters.

Ai's hazel gaze caught sight of Anatsu and his knives. She took a step back. "Well, s'all good, but how? How do we attack it?"

"Yami's giving orders," Dajan said. "He says we have to look inside our hearts for our own magic. That's how I was able to beat Jyor-lang's Two-Headed King Rex."

"You beat a Two-Headed King Rex? Wau, Dajan..."
"What I wouldn't give to be a normal kid..."
"Who's turn is it?"
"If you would shut up, Yami'd tell you."
"I'm not doing anything!"

Yami sighed, wondering how much longer the trio was going to go at it. Finally he yelled, "SILENCE!"

The three kids stopped talking immediately, embarrassed.

"That's better," he said, wiping his forehead. "Takehiko, change to offensive mode. I need you to attack Anatsu."

"Nani?!" Takehiko exclaimed, looking totally shocked. "You want me to attack it?! Don't you remember what happened last time a monster and I faced off?! Do you want me to die?!"

"Takehiko, listen to me! You have the strength to defeat Anatsu because it isn't a dragon-type creature! Dragons are your weakness, not warriors! So you are perfectly safe to attack Anatsu." He didn't voice his concern about Jyor-lang's face-down card, but he figured Jyor-lang was probably not going to use it any time soon since he hadn't used it to stop Dajan from destroying his King Rex.

Takehiko looked doubtful, but after glancing at his cousin for some morale, he pulled out his sword and held it out before him.

"Here goes nothing," he said ominously. Taking a deep breath, he lunged forward and with one big stroke of the sword...

"YAAAAAAH!!! SWORD STRIKE ATTACK!"

... Anatsu was felled! Yami, Dajab, and Ai watched joyously as the stricken form of Anatsu sank to the ground as the sword sliced through him. Then, in a mass of glittering light, he disappeared to the Graveyard.

Takehiko's hands were shaking, and his breath was coming in short, tight gasps. Clumsily he turned to face his friends. "Well... I did it," he said breathlessly, a faint smile decorating his pale face.

Dajan and Ai clapped and cheered.

"We knew you could do it!" shouted Dajan, punching the air once more. "Excellent!"
"Astonding! Amazing! Incredible!" Ai cheered. "You were incredible, Dajan!"
"Great job, Takehiko!" Yami congratulated, and he meant it too.

Takehiko blushed and tried not to look too pleased with himself.

"My turn is over," Yami said to Jyor-lang, who was looking very discouraged now that Yami had taught two of his warriors how to control their magic. "Your move."

Jyor-lang snickered a secret laugh he reserved only for opponents he wanted to do physical harm to - opponents he hated more than anything in the world. (A/n: even more than leaving the PC to go to bed, like I have to now. ::boohoo:: but its a school night, so...)

(A/N: YUGI IS SOOOOO BRAVE!!! EVEN IN THE FACE OF FIRE, HE'D RATHER SAVE HIS FRIENDS AND YAMI THAN HIMSELF!!! HE'S SO CUTE AND NAIVE AND COURAGEOUS AND TRUE AND SWEET AND PERFECT AND ANGELIC AND I LOVE LOVE LOVE HIM!!!! But how come Yami told Yugi to call him "Yami" in the first Rebecca episode, but then in the latest episodes I've seen, Yugi vs. Malik controlling Bandit Keith, Yugi goes back to calling him "Spirit"? I like "Yami" better.)

"Fools," Jyor-lang chuckled as he drew a new card. "You have no idea what you're up against." He glanced at the card and smirked. "Perfect. This card face down," he said mysteriously. "Now I have two for you to worry about. And next I play Sorcerer of the Doomed in attack mode! He draws out any light-type monsters in your hand."

"Huh? He cannot! Sorcerer of the Doomed has no special effect!" Yami retorted.

"He does now," Jyor-lang answered confidently, "at least, he will once I play this magic card!" He overturned the card he had just played face-down, and revealed it to be Summoner of Light. "Summoner of Light can only be activated when a Dark-type spellcaster monster is played in attack mode. I can see you've never seen it before... that's because it's a one of a kind card Master Pegasus lent me especially for this duel. Now, I suggest you hand over your light-type monsters or I'll take it by force.

Yami narrowed his eyes. 'That's illegal,' he thought, 'but I'm in no condition to use up any energy to send him to the Shadow Realm as punishment. I'll have to do what he says, but...'

"I don't have any light-type monsters in my hand right now," Yami said, puzzled by Jyor-lang's strategy. He double-checked his hand as Sorcerer of the Doomed (1450/1200) materialized on the arena in front of Ai, who let out a scream of how hideous it was.

"There isn't anything, Jyor-lang," Yami reported to his nemesis.

"Oh, isn't there?" Jyor-lang said calmly. "Sorcerer of the Doomed, show the poor, weak Pharaoh how it's done."

Sorcerer of the Doomed lept up into the air with a high-pitched cackle, his cape flaring out behind him. He waved his scepter and red light burst forth from it, heading straight for Yami.

Yami couldn't breath during the force of the attack from the pressure. He fell forward, but the chains kept him from losing his balance. However, his left foot turned as he tried to protect himself and he felt the pain of the twist shoot up his leg immediately afterwards. He wobbled and teetered to one side, leaning on his good leg. This was not a good day. (a/n: I love torturing people I like! ^-^ I like torturing Seto better, though...)

"Yeeks! Yami, quick, look who Sorcerer of the Doomed summoned from your hand!" Ai shrieked amid the gasps of the two boys.

Yami opened his eyes and looked curiously at the arena. There, dressed in white with silverish-blue trim and a white cloth band around his head, was Ryou Bakura. In his hand was a long silver staff with a lapis lazuli center which was positioned under his chin, for he was on the ground. His Millennium Ring was squashed beneath him.

"I tripped," Bakura groaned, sitting up and rubbing his chin where it had struck the ground. "Momentary clumsiness. It's not a perk for me. Um... where am I?"

Everyone sweatdropped.

After explaining to Bakura why they were there, he seemed to get the gist of things and asked Yami how he was brought out if it was Jyor-lang's turn. To this Yami had no answer, but Jyor-lang did.

"My Sorcerer of the Doomed, combined with the Summoner of Light magic card, is able to draw out any light-type creatures, such as yourself, little Ryou Bakura," Jyor-lang explained in a soft but menacing voice. "I hope you had a nice chat with your friends, because it will be your last! Attack, Sorcerer of the Doomed! Black Scepter of Demise!"

Sorcerer of the Doomed raised his scepter once more, this time aiming for Bakura. The silver-haired boy took a step backwards, trying to keep his cool and block out the desperate screams of Ai and gasps of Dajan and Takehiko. Just as Sorcerer of the Doomed made his attack on Bakura, Yami announced his plan.

"Not so fast, Jyor-lang!" he shouted, flipping over his face-down card. "I'll match your attack with this trap card! Spell-Binding Circle! It paralyzes Sorcerer of the Doomed and deletes 700 of his attack points!"

Spell-Binding Circle stopped the assault and entrapped Sorcerer of the Doomed, now down to 750 attack points, in its iron grip.

"Your attack, though it failed, ends your turn," Yami stated. "Which means I now have a chance to attack. I play Angel of the Battlefield in Attack mode! She has a special effect too - any Spellcaster monsters on the field get 500 bonus attack points for one turn when I decide to put the effect into play!"

Next to Bakura, Angel of the Battlefield, better known as Hikaru, rapidly digitized. Hikaru was dressed in white and pink armor with a golden circlet around her head, a rose-quartz gem hanging from the middle. Golden bracelets decorated her arms, and her boots reached up to her knees. Angel wings were spread out from her back much like Kiara's, and the Millennium Pendant dangled around her neck.

Hikaru looked around, just as confused as the other four had been. Before she could ask where she was or how she'd gotten there, Yami yelled, "Hikaru! Activate your special effect now!"

Hikaru didn't even freeze for a moment after the ring of Yami's voice died away. Instead she twisted around to face Jyor-lang, closed her eyes, and began to chant in an unknown language. White light began to shimmer around her petite body, and her hair flew out from the force. Then the light emerged from her and shot down into Bakura and Sorcerer of the Doomed, both of which were spellcasters, and their attack points went up 500 points. Sorcerer of the Doomed went from 750 to 1250, and Bakura went from 2000 to 2500. Finally the light died away and Hikaru went back to normal. She shook herself, then looked wonderingly at Bakura, whose white and silver-blue armor was shining from the excess power. His eyes blazed with fierce determination and he gripped his staff tightly.

"Ryou! Look deep inside your heart and find the power bestowed upon you! It will be there, like a warm, cheerful friend waiting for you to call it out! Just trust me, and trust yourself!"

Yami yelled this all feeling like it was in vain; the boy didn't seem to be listening. He didn't have time to be surrpised that he had picked up Yugi's new habit of calling Bakura by his first name, because just then Bakura went darting forward and swung his staff at Sorcerer of the Doomed. It knocked Sorcerer of the Doomed's scepter out of his ancient, bony hands and clattered to the arena floor.

"PREPARE FOR FINAL JUDGMENT!" Bakura cried as a great white light formed at the lapis lazuli center of his staff. "STRIKE, CELESTIAL LANCE OF LIGHT!

An arrow of light shot forth from the gem and skewered Sorcerer of the Doomed like a needle going through a quilt. In a split second, Sorcerer of the Doomed was vanquished.

Yami's LP: 1600
Jyor-lang's LP: 0250

The five "monsters" on Yami's side cried out in joy as the life point count lit up, displaying Yami's humongous lead. Yami put on his most confident face and smiled all-too-sweetly at Jyor-lang to remind him of just that.

Jyor-lang's frustration showed on every inch of his body; he was now shaking as badly as Yami had been after coming out of the icy river, but for different reasons.

"Don't get cocky," he snarled disdainfully, eyeing the life point count, "Yugioh, you little child."

"I'm not sure what 'child' you're talking about," Yami responded just as haughtily.

"Oh, I'm so sure," Jyor-lang hissed. "You are just a child, Yugioh, even if you don't like to believe it. 5000 years, of course, is nothing to sneeze at, but your mind has not grown the way your Millennium Item has. You remain the naive, innocent fool you were at fifteen."

Yami snorted. Naive? Maybe, at some times. But innocent? Him? No way! That was Yugi's job. "I think you're a little confused."

"We will see who the confused one is... now, I believe there is one more soul card in your hand, and that would be soul card of your young hikari. Now things shall really get interesting. It's my turn."

Jyor-lang drew a card from his deck once more. His expression was unreadable. Then his dark eyes flickered up to Yami's. "Yugioh," he stated softly. "Are you ready for this?"

Yami stared blankly back at him. "What do you mean?"

"Are you strong enough for this?"

"... What are you going on about, Jyor-lang?"

"Now you shall see just how much of a naive, innocent child you really are." Jyor-lang chuckled quietly to himself; then, unable to contain himself any longer, he let out a loud, malicious roar. "Prepare yourself for my ultimate creature! TALONS OF SHURILAN!"

A viscous creature with serrated teeth and putrid breath was forming on the arena. Its evil eyes glinted dangerously at the five hikaris it had been created to destroy, and a terrible sense of doom settled in the hearts of the hikaris and Yami. Great arms and legs covered in dark armor emerged next, until the picture of death had been finished.

Yami sucked in his breath, gazing up at the monstrosity. "Talons of Shurilan... so the legends are true..." he stammered out in a hushed voice.

Talons of Shurilan (2100/2050) was like a skyscraper above his opponents, and the symbol of all that is evil. His gaping mouth was his tool of death, along with his razor sharp talons for which he was so named.

Jyor-lang was also staring at the monster with a satisfied look on his face. True, Talons of Shurilan had one 100 more attack power than Yami's soul cards, but there was a little twist he hadn't told the Pharaoh yet, the twist that would prove just how childlike he was.

"I told you this was a Shadow Game, Yugioh," Jyor-lang muttered darkly. "Don't tell me you assumed all I meant was that those hikaris become cards. No, this is a real Shadow Game, with a creature's power based on the will of its master. And with my will, I can summon magic that is not even included in the card game. So first off... I command Talons of Shurilan to attack YOU!"

Yami's amethyst orbs widened in shock and fear. Talons of Shurilan gave a loud roar, flexing his large muscles. Power formed at his mouth, glowing red like his eyes. All at once those eyes widened to their limits and the power shot forth towards Yami. The hikaris yelled that it was illegal to attack the duelist himself while there were still creatures on the field, but Jyor-lang just shouted for them to be silent as the assail crashed down upon Yami.

Yami screamed, feeling the wounds on his face and arms reopen and blood pour out of them in a steady-flowing river. The heat burned his eyes and singed his hair, and he fell upon the foot he had twisted, sinking into the jagged chain around his waist. When it was all over he was lying with his face on the board, gasping for air and moaning pitifully. He gritted his teeth, wincing, then panted heavier as the pain throbbed inside him.

Yami's LP: 0500
Jyor-lang's LP: 0250

"Yami!" "Are you okay?" "What happened?" "Yami!"

The aprehensive shouts of the hikaris brought Yami back to earth from his world of pain. He looked at his cards and saw three of them dissolving. Luckily none of them were Yugi's. He gaped at them, watching Card Destruction and two others evaporate into thin air.

"That attack I commanded Talons of Shurilan to use attacks the duelist directly," Jyor-lang said, stating the obvious. "You lose five hundred points per card that is destroyed through the attack. Since this is a Shadow Game, everything depends on your will. And when the attack fell on you, your will wasn't strong enough to sustain those three cards so they were forced to go to the discard pile. Next time your hikari and the last two cards in your hand will also be gone, and this match will be mine!"

"That is not going to happen!" Yami yelled. "Because I'm playing Yugi's soul card now! I summon Golden Spirit of Horus! Attack mode!

Yami threw Yugi's soul card on to the field. The familiar dazzle of light encircled a certain slot on the field and Yugi appeared. He was dressed in raiment of yellow and gold armor. His shining yellow cape billowed out behind him. Around his head was a brown leather headband (a/n: "Save the Cows" protesters rant outside my window) and the golden bracers from the day at sea formed on his arms. The Millennium Puzzle, of course, hung around his neck.

"Normally only five monsters would be allowed on the field at a time," Yami said, hiding his amazement at Yugi's attire. "However, you yourself said this is a Shadow Game so I can summon as many creatures as I can sustain! You won't be getting rid of my aibyou as long as I'm around!" He looked down at Yugi. "Aibyou..."

Yugi opened his big violet eyes and took in his surroundings. He saw Dajan and Takehiko face-faulting nearby dressed in unusual garments, and Hikaru, Ai and Bakura on his other side laughing nervously, also dressed abnormally. A sense of panic settled in when he noticed Talons of Shurilan before him, and he whirled around to find Yami.

/Yami! What's going on?/ he asked mentally, bewildered.
//It's a duel, aibyou. Our opponent is a minion of Pegasus, a servant of the Shadow Realm. Jyor-lang,// Yami answered. //He's turned you six hikaris into your own Duel Monsters cards. The only way to change you back is to defeat him in a duel, but we're only up by 250 points.//
Yugi shook himself. /We're Duel Monsters? I don't get it!/
//Jyor-lang gave you each 2000 life points to count as attack and defense pints, an elemental power, a weakness, and a special effect. Your element, I believe, is lightning. I do not know what your special effect or weakness is though. You just missed Hikaru using her special effect to increase Bakura's attack power so he could destroy Jyor-lang's Sorcerer of the Doomed.//
/OK... but what's that monster he has out now?/
//That's Talons of Shurilan, a perilous monster and symbol of doom. He was hardly ever summoned in Ancient Egypt; he was thought to just be a legend. Jyor-lang summoned him and is using the magic of the Shadow Realm to make him stronger. I have a feeling this duel will be ending soon... after all, the score is 500 to 250, with us in the lead.//
/One more thing, what happened to you?/
//...//

Yami chose not to answer Yugi's concerned inquiry. Instead, he began to puzzle over how to defeat Talons of Shurilan. He looked at the boys' cards to see what their special effects were.

Golden Spirit of Horus: GDB.

"Well, that doesn't help me," Yami mumbled. "What does GDB stand for?"

Ocean's Servant: Summon any magic or trap card from your deck that you need.

Warrior of Fire: Attack opponent's life points directly, reducing it by 200.

Yami bounced back and forth, trying to decide which special effect to use - Dajan's or Takehiko's. If he used Dajan's, he could summon Trap Hole to diminish Talons of Shurilan. On the other hand, Jyor-lang was already down to 250 life points, so using Takehiko's special effect would practically ensure his victory, as Jyor-lang would drop down to a feeble 50 points. He scowled at the cards, but then realize what he had to do.

"Takehiko, prepare to perform your special effect," he instructed the young warrior.

Takehiko nodded, trembling at the massive size of Talons of Shurilan. "A-Are you sure?" he gulped. He clutched the Millennium Sword and held it straight up to the sky. "'Cause I'm not."

"I'm sure," Yami said. Then he noticed the secretive smirk playing on Jyor-lang's lips and second-guessed himself. "Or maybe... uh... No! Go on, Takehiko, let's see you attack Jyor-lang's life points directly!"

"You got it!" Flames began to disperse from Takehiko's body, and the whole arena radiated with its warmth. He shouted loudly (a/n: aka, Digimon 04's Takuya Kanbara as Agunimon) as flames spit out from his armor, shooting into the air and towards Jyor-lang. Jyor-lang was able to avoid being hit, but his life points took serious damage.

Yami's LP: 0500
Jyor-lang's LP: 0050

All the hikaris cheered once more, punching the air and shouting, "Go! Go! Takehiko! Go! Go! Takehiko!" Dajan and Takehiko slapped high-fives, Ai and Hikaru grabbed hands and jumped up and down crying, "Yay! Yay!" and Yugi and Bakura laughed joyfully, smiling at each other.

While staring at his unstable amount of life points, Jyor-lang winced as he thought about his master's response if he lost. Silently he played one monster face-down in defensemode. He needed a good strategy. He scanned the field for a weak spot to get Yami where it really hurts, and found it in a little girl dressed in white and pink. He had made Yugi's, Bakura's, and Hikaru's weaknesses the same - Dark monsters could destroy them with one attack. Today he'd pick on Hikaru and bring Yami's life points down to 100.

Hikaru and the others were still rejoicing over Takehiko's victory when Jyor-lang ordered Talons of Shurilan to attack. "Say good-bye, Angel of the Battlefield!" he shouted, a mad grin upon his face. Talons of Shuriland quickly advanced upon Hikaru, spread its titanic arms, and gave a roar that boomed across the entire island. Red lightning formed in its mouth, and within seconds it was upon her.

Hikaru screamed as the attack came her way, but her friends were louder.

"Hikaru!" shrieked Ai.
"Look out!" Takehiko cried.
"It's too late!" Dajan sobbed.
"Hikaru!" shouted Yami and Bakura as one.
"HIKARU!"

Yugi was last to make sense of what was happening, but first to take action. Just before the assault reached the small girl, he threw himself in front of it to take her place.

"AAAAAIIIIIIIEEEEE!!!!!!"

Yugi couldn't hear Yami's desperate calls of his name, couldn't make sense of the fearful words his friends were making as the assault was taking effect. When it wore away he dropped to the ground, just barely alive.

"Yugi!" Hikaru sobbed, tears flowing down her face. She grabbed him as he fell and held him close to her, begging him not to leave them. "Yugi, don't go! Please Yugi!"

Her tears were of no avail. Within moments his body began to de-digitize, until all that was left was the Millennium Puzzle, which soon vanished as well.

A great wail rose up from the team, and not just because the score was now 100 to 50. Hikaru cried hardest of all the hikaris; Ai buried herself in Bakura's shoulder. Dajan looked dazed, but Takehiko was shaking with fury.

"How could you... HOW COULD YOU?!" he yelled, enraged. "You will PAY for what you've done, Jyor-lang, you creep!"

Up in the duelist's device, Yami seemed to be in a trance. All at once it hit him, and fresh tears began to flow down his face, messing it up even more. His hikari, the one he had worked so hard to protect, was gone. All because he couldn't think of anything to save him.

Hikaru's small frame was trembling worse than Takehiko's. She heard Takehiko's bold threat, and felt pressure and anger fall against her like someone had pushed a pillow against her face. She stood up from the place where Yugi had fallen.

"You killed him," she said shakily, pure anger and hatred fuming from her voice like none of her friends had ever heard. "You killed my Yugi!" She tore her furious, tearing eyes from the floor and shifted to Jyor-lang. "YOU KILLED HIM!"

With a sudden burst of agility she was in the air, her angel-like wings stretching out behind her. Her face was burning with fierce determination as she came down directly above Talons of Shurilan.

"This is my revenge!" she declared as pink light formed in her hands. She swung her arms above her head and then down again, aiming for Talons of Shurilan. "Take that! WIND OF THE AGES CRASH!"

Her aim was perfect; her attack flawless. It hit Talons of Shurilan dead on. Talons of Shurilan shrieked and smoke billowed from its body, but despite its efforts to stay on earth it was deleted.

With that, Hikaru fell to the ground, only to be caught by Bakura. She opened her lavender eyes and met his deep amber ones. Her lower lip trembled. "R-Ryou... he's gone..." she sobbed. Once more the tears came hard, and she kept mumbling, "He's gone... he's gone... my Yugi, Yugi, Yugi! He can't be gone... my Yugi!"

Bakura set her on the ground, unsure what to do for the grieving girl. He pushed her shaking body against his and cradled her head with his arms. He couldn't think of anything to say to her and she cried into his chest. Perhaps if the circumstances had been different, and Hikaru's emotional outburst of her affection for Yugi hadn't been so clearly revealed, he may have been able to find the words he was searching for to comfort her. Such was not the case, though, and Hikaru was not the only one suffering from heartbreak.

Hikaru's destruction Talons of Shurilan hardly fazed Yami at first; then it slowly dawned on him that his hikari had been avenged. There was no question as to how Hikaru had managed to defeat an opponent like Talons of Shurilan who was more powerful than she. As Jyor-lang had said, this Shadow Game was based on one's will, and Hikaru's strong desire to defeat the monstrosity that had destroyed Yugi had given her excess power and enabled her to bring down a creature like Talons of Shurilan. Yami opened his mouth to congratulate her, but not unlike Ryou, he couldn't bring himself to say anything.

Yami's LP: 0100
Jyor-lang's LP: 0050

Jyor-lang was shaken ever so slightly by the defeat of one of his most powerful creatures. He quickly recovered, however, thinking it had been worth it to destroy his opponent's beloved hikari. Now it was time to wrap things up.

"Snap out of it, Yugioh," he hissed, throwing a pebble across the arena. It landed on Yami's dueling board and caught his attention; he looked up in time to hear Jyor-lang continue, "It's my move now. I play this magic card, Red Medicine. It increases my life points by 500!"

Yami's LP: 0100
Jyor-lang's LP: 0550

The smirk on Jyor-lang's face broadened. "I also play Gearfried the Iron Knight - attack mode!"

With a mighty roar, Gearfried the Iron Knight (1800/1600) materialized on the arena in front of Ai.

Yami looked puzzled. Gearfried's attack power was lower than any of the hikaris'. What was Jyor-lang up to? The only magic card he had on the field was Red Medicine, and even that was now being sent to the discard pile as it had already been used.

"Gearfried, attack Earth Song!" commanded Jyor-lang.

The Iron Knight lifted his blades and charged towards Ai. She shrieked long and loud as the knight came upon her and cut her enormous shoulder pads off her armor. Yami watched her designated life points drop from 2000 to 1800.

Now he understood. Each of the hikaris had an attack and defense power of 2000. The also had their own life points like he did, and when their's ran out they were sent to the graveyard. He would have to be extra cautious so he wouldn't lose any of the others the way he lost Yugi.

Hikaru had stopped crying now. Her face was still tear-stained, but she was on her feet again and it seemed as if her warrior's enthusiasm had returned. She was comforting the shocked Ai, who seemed more surprised that it had only been her shoulder pads that had been destroryed than that she had survived.

"It's my turn again," Yami told Jyor-lang unnecessarily. "Ai. Attack Gearfried now."

Ai looked at Yami in pure terror. "I don't know how!" she wailed. "It's all right for the others - their names tell them what their magic is! But mine is 'Earth Song!' What can I do with that?!"

"Yours is superstrength."

The five remaining hikaris stared at Yami.

"I know it is," continued Yami, "because from what I've seen, you've each been given the element of your yamis. Hikaru, wind and light, like Kiara. Ryou, the Balance, light and dark, like Kerihk. Takehiko, fire, like Ahmose. Dajan, water, like Ay. So naturally, Ai would have Setsuna's superstrength."

The girl whose name meant "love" blinked twice, thinking of Setsuna. All the memories came flooding back to her instantly.

The day she put on the Millennium Mirror and the torture began. The way she and Setsuna used to fight. Setsuna's old desire to collect all the Millennium Items, Setsuna forcing her to duel Hikaru, Setsuna half-scaring the kids in Osaka out of their wits and messing up the whole house before Mother came home...

... But those were the bad memories. Tears pricked Ai's goldenrod eyes as she remembered other instances. The day Pegasus had trapped Ai's spirit in her Millennium Mirror and Setsuna separated from it to save her. The day Setsuna and Kiara had a talk and Setsuna gave up her plight to collect the Millennium Items. The day she and Setsuna had offered a peace treaty, and all the times Setsuna had saved her life and hadn't hung around to be thanked for it.

Ai gripped her Millennium Mirror and closed her eyes tight. 'I used to hate Setsuna for putting me through a lot of things,' she thought, choking back tears. 'I remember one time I was scared she'd pull one of her magic spells on my mother whom I hadn't seen for a long time. That day, I took the Millennium Mirror with me when I left for school. It was raining. I went to the bridge above the churning river... I was going to jump, but a voice called out to me. It was a strange lady with red hair, sparkling brown eyes, and the Millennium Broach. Taidu. I didn't know it then...'

*AI REPLAY MODE*

"Who are you?" Ai asked, gazing at the mysterious lady from her perch on the bridge railing.

"Who are you running away from?" the lady asked, repeating the question she had asked of Ai a few moments beforehand.

Eyes downcast, Ai replied, "I can't tell you who. She's made my life nothing but torture since the day I met her. I have to rid the world of her - now."

"Is that everything?"

"How - how did you know there was more?" a confused, sopping wet and miserable Ai croaked. Rain streaked down her thirteen-year-old face, mixing with her tears. "There isn't anything left for me. My best friend was my father, but he's in Kitakyushu and I'll probably never see him again. After my parents divorced, my mom got even more wrapped up in her job than she had been already. I've been on my own ever since." Her eyes narrowed and her lower lip jutted out. "I've been teased and bullied and I have no real friends. The other girls think I'm uppity because I don't like the things they do. I almost joined a gang once... that was how bad I felt... but then I found this Millennium Mirror and it changed everything. I couldn't join the gang anymore because SHE might come out. That actually... saved me... that gang got sent to jail a short time after for taking part in a robbery. Now though... it won't save me ever again. If you run into my mother, tell her this isn't my fault, life's just been a -"

"Who are you angry at?" the lady interruped knowingly.

"I've just told you."

"You haven't. You've told me who has hurt you, not who you're angry with. My thoughts are, you're more angry with yourself. You think you're worthless and incapable of doing anything of merit. Those that I've met who have hated others turn on those who hurt them and try to get revenge. Those who try to destroy themselves... are the ones who hate themselves rather than others."

Ai was unsure of what to say. She had never felt so down in her life. Slowly she got down off the bridge and looked the lady in the eye.

"Who are you to tell me how to live my life?" she growled menacingly. "I can't take it anymore! I can't live all alone! Everything I love is taken from me, what's the point of going on? Tell me -"

"The point," the woman loudly interrupted again, "is that by destroying yourself, you'll break the hearts of the people you love. Think! Life is bad now, but it can't stay that way. There's a brighter road ahead of you, you just need to wait for it and be willing to take it when it comes. You're giving up if you don't want to live anymore! Life is the most precious gift - don't take it for granted!"

She stooped down and hugged Ai like she had never been hugged before. Trembling, she returned the hug, and broke into tears, sobbing in the woman's chest.

"There are still people who love you," the lady whispered gently. "Believe me. And..." She played with Ai's Millennium Mirror. "And so does She."

Through tearing, blurry eyes, Ai asked the lady how she knew about Setsuna. The redheaded one only smiled and gave Ai one last hug. Then she stood up and turned around.

"I don't want to here of any more attempts like this, Ai Itsuko," she said rather firmly, but kindly all the same. Ai wondered how she knew her name. "So young, so fatalistic... remember, She might be feeling the same as you, but just expresses it differently. Consider your circumstances, and hers. See if you can't find a friend in her... and a life worth living."

She began to walk away, her retreating back glistening with fallen rain.

Ai ran after her, her schoolbag half-swung over her shoulder, her shoes pounding through puddles. "Wait!" she called desperately. "Who are you?"

"My name is Taidu. We will meet again."

With that, she disappeared from time.

*AI REPLAY MODE END* (dun dun dun dunnnnnn.... page 17. Enjoy!)

For the next two yeas after that instance, Ai and Setsuna had learned to... tolerate one another's company. Only now had Ai realized just how much Setsuna meant to her, and what would happen if they were never reunited.

'Setsuna isn't with me now. Who knows where she is? But I know one thing for sure... I've got to win this duel!'

Fire blazing in her bright eyes, Ai stepped towards Gearfried, determination written all over her face. She looked at his emotionless face. 'He doesn't look so scary up close,' she thought. 'Now if only I could attack... attack!'

She pulled her fist behind her and with one swift movement punched Gearfried right in the stomach. Her superstrength was definitely powered-up like Setsuna's, and he was felled instantly.

Yami's LP: 0100
Jyor-lang's LP: 0350

"Yeah!" shrieked Dajan and Takehiko, punching the air. Ai smiled proudly, rubbing her rather sore fist. Bakura and Hikaru were laughing at the antics of Dajan and Takehiko.

"Great job, Ai!" Yami said, trying very hard to be cheerful. He looked at Jyor-lang.

The skies were darkening; Yami prayed it wouldn't begin to rain again. Jyor-lan's was was silhouetted before the gray clouds, his dark eyes shining maliciously. The confident air about him was still hanging in the mist.

Jyor-lang didn't seem to mind his life points once again being lowered. Now, at least, he was in the lead. Master Pegasus would be so pleased, so pleased that he had destroyed the one who could bring about their downfall.

"Fools," he muttered almost inaudibly, "fools, you don't even know what you're up against. You rejoice ove a single, insignificant victory when the real war has already been resolved!"

Ai harrumphed. "Sou desu ka?" she said doubtfully. "How do you mean, coward?"

A low chuckled rippled up Jyor-lang's pale throat and left his thin lips, followed by a longer, more virulent laugh. His hands were shaking in demonic glee, and lightning flashed at the end of his triumphant cry.

"Your end is now!" he exclaimed. "For I have destroyed the one who could bring about Master Pegasus's downfall - Yugi Mutou! With him gone, there is no hope for the rest of you! No hope! The one most essential to the survival of the world, gone! All because of you! You destroyed yourselves! Now you shall be defeated once and for all! Now let the era of Darkness reign!"

Bakura's already pale face paled even more, tinged with gray as he came to understand what Jyor-lang was saying. Hikaru and Ai were shaking, little wails escaping their lips every so often. Takehiko and Dajan were whispering anxiously to each other, and Bakura caught some of their words.

"Yugi? Yugi Mutou -"
"- Essential to the survival of the world -"
" -Then - then - he's the one we should have been -"
"- Protecting, right, but now he's -"
"- In the Graveyard, and gone -"
"- We're doomed if what Jyor-lang says is true!"

Bakura about-faced, his large, fearful eyes expressing a yearning for help. "Yami!" he cried. "What do we do? What do we do? Is what he says true? Tell me it isn't!"

The ancient pharaoh shook his head slowly. "I don't know what he means," he said slowly, softly, "but I... I think it's true... I'm not sure how, but I think so... I can't tell you it isn't true."

Fear turned into exasperation. "Then tell me there's some way to get him back!" he begged.

Yami's eyes narrowed. "There is a way. I'll have to draw for it." He touched his deck, summoning with all his might the Reborn the Monster card to the top of the deck. He flipped the top card over...

... and felt all his hopes smashed. It was the Magical Hats card.

"It's not the card I need!" he wailed. Hikaru dropped to her knees, stunned. Ai followed the suit. Dajan and Takehiko looked frozen in time. Only Bakura retained some hope.

"There must be another way!" he pleaded. "Please Yami, think! You've never lost a duel, and you're not going to lose this one! Please don't blank out now! Yugi might not be here, but we still need you! Come on, you're supposed to be good at this! Start using your head!"

For a moment Yami stared at Bakura's sudden outburst. The usually easy-going kid was displaying an assertiveness the others had never seen. Then his face grew determined again, his mind clearer than ever. He looked at the cards in his hand, and suddenly felt his heart stop out of joyous surprise.

"DAJAN!" he exclaimed, anxiety ringing in every word he said. "You're special effect! Summon one magic card from your deck! Dajan - summon Reborn the Monster!"

"RIGHT!" The blue-haired boy was just as excited as Yami, and wasted no time in casting the spell. "I SUMMON REBORN THE MONSTER! EMERGE!"

The card shot out of Yami's deck and into his hand, a lifeline when it seemed all was lost. "YES!" shouted Yami. Then he subdued himself. 'I musn't let Jyor-lang know,' he thought grimly. 'Look at him, over there, laughing his head off like he's already won. He hasn't heard a word of our conversation even though it was so loud. I intend to keep it that way.'

"I play Reborn the Monster," Yami said out loud, stopping Jyor-lang's consistent laughter. "And I play the monster I summoned face-down in Attack mode."

A card materialized upside-down on the arena. Yugi opened tired violet eyes and looked around through a gap between the card and the ground. "Uh..." he murmured. He caught sight of his friends. "Hey there, guys!" he exclaimed jubilantly, his face lighting up.

The five other hikaris had looks of terror on their faces. As one, they ran over to Yugi, shielding him from view, much as Yugi, Jonouchi, and Honda had done for Anzu in their second ever duel in the Shadow Realm.

"What're you doing?" a befuddled Yugi queried.

"Shh," Takehiko hushed. "You got attack by Talons of Shurilan and got sent to the Graveyard. Hikaru destroyed Talons of Shurilan and Ai beat Gearfried the Iron Knight. Dajan summoned Reborn the Monster to revive you, and now it's Jyor-lang's turn."

"Um... so?" Yugi replied slowly. "Why are you all surrounding me?"

Hikaru started to answer. "Because Jyor-lang said you're -"

Ai and Bakura clamped their hands over her mouth, Bakura shaking his head furiously for her not to speak. She looked at them curiously, but when they removed their hands she said to Yugi, "Uh, no reason. Yami played you face down, we just want to make sure Jyor-lang doesn't see you."

Which didn't answer Yugi's question at all.

Jyor-lang was drawing a card. He read its instructions, then scanned the hikaris he had entrapped. Then he searched his opponents' face. Yami's breathing was ragged and harsh; he looked relieved, tired, and pained all at once. For a guy who was so weak, he was putting up a courageous battle.

A frown won its way to Jyor-lang's lips. He had expected an easy win due to Yami's condition. He knew the Pharaoh hadn't lost his naivety and innocence just because of five thousand years dormant in a Millennium Item, although Yami didn't think so. Jyor-lang had known Yami since the day he had been crowned Pharaoh, and knew the only thing that made him different from his hikari was his knowledge of the forces of the universe and his ability to do magic. In Jyor-lang's opinion, since five thousand years didn't seem to have taken its toll on the ancient king, Yami was still an airheaded seventeen-year-old, same as he had been when he'd been sealed in the Millennium Puzzle.

That innocence was what kept Yami's heart so strong, and badly frustrated Jyor-lang. While in some cases innocence is a downfall, in others it gives them hope and power to do what must be done. Jyor-lang had thought, when Yugi was destroyed, that hope would be diminished, but although he had taken a small lead it was only due to a magic card - Yami could finish him off any time now.

Jyor-lang closed his eyes, thinking hard. His thick black hair blew a little in the rising wind due to the incoming cold front, his hands could feel the chill of the breeze. He didn't have much time left to defeat his foe. It was time to end this duel.

(A/N: And it's only about time! Welcome to page 20!)

"Your defeat is now," he said, returning to his violent tone of voice. "This is another special card, like Summoner of Light. It's called Bonds of Justice!" He threw the card onto the arena. It displayed a picture of a magician being tied to a stretch for torture. "In ancient times some people thought all magicians were evil and tried to destroy them all. This magic card relates to those times and paralyzes every spellcaster-type monster on the field, face down or face up, attack mode or defense!"

Without time to react, Bakura found himself pushed into the air, his arms and legs stretched as far as they could go by four ropes. He tried to pull away, but the bonds were too tight.

"What is this?" he exclaimed, horrified. "I can't move!"

"Neither can I!" responded Yugi's voice. Bakura tried his best to twist his head to see Yugi. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted the boy also tied to a stretch in the same position he was. Both tried to rip themselves from the stretch, but nothing worked.

"What have you done?!" cried Yami as he watched his hikari and Bakura raised into the air by ropes.

"I've already told you," Jyor-lang said with a sigh. "Those two are spellcasters. It didn't matter that one of them was face down, he still got trapped as well. Although I find it hard to believe you managed to revive your hikari. I guess I should have expected it from you, Yugioh."

Hikaru yelled to Yami, "Use a Despell card or something! And quick!"

"I don't have one!" Yami shouted back to her, unable to hide his desperation. "And it's still his turn anyway!"

That was true - Jyor-lang wasn't finished yet. "Next," he began ominously, "I'll play my most powerful monster, even more powerful than Talons of Shurilan. Your defeat is now! Emerge, Beast of Talwar!"

The whole arena shook as the new monstrosity materialized. Slowly but surely it took form, a black figure in shining black armor (a/n: OXYMORON!!!) with a long scythe and glowing eyes. The tool of their destruction, Beast of Talwarn (2400/ 2150) had arrived.

It was huge, almost as large as Talons of Shurilan. It out-matched all of them by 400 attack points. And Yami didn't even have that many life points left.

"My beast is the ultimate weapon of your downfall!" Jyor-lang gloated, his voice carried on the wind and echoing like a rushing wave through their ears. "Let Darkness reign - now! ATTACK, MY BEAST OF TALWAR! DARKNESS SCYTHE DESOLATION!"

'It's over,' Takehiko thought.
'I wish I could've helped a little more,' Ai sobbed.
'It looks like the end!' Dajan shrieked internally.
'I wish I was home, I wish I had never come here,' Hikaru moaned.
'This is all my fault... If I had only been able to interpret my dreams...' Bakura thought regretfully.

Yami's large violet eyes were brimmed with tears, raindrops of innocence pouring in a river down his face. All their efforts had been in vain. What would become of them when the approaching assault took them out?

//It can't end this way.//

Yami hadn't meant for his thoughts to leak through his mental link with Yugi, but leak they had, and Yugi, though terrified, heard them quite clearly.

'Yami's right,' he thought desperately, 'it can't end like this! I've got to think of something - anything! I have to save Jonouchi, Anzu, Honda, Gotoh, Saito, and Takaya! We've got to beat Pegasus or the world will cease to exist! So many people are counting on us... and I refuse to be defeated now! Not when I've finally met someone I really love! NOT WHEN MY YAMI NEEDS ME MOST!

'Please, I need power to block this attack! Whatever kind of magic it is that helped me save Bakura and Hikaru on that island during the storm, I beg you, please help me again! I need to help my friends, and we can't give up, not now, not now! PLEASE!"

Unbeknowst to Yugi, his eyes were filling with tears resembling Yami's clear liquid crystals as Beast of Talwar brought his sword down. His chest felt tight and breathing was hard, but he could no longer feel the pain where his arms and legs were bound by the ropes. It would take a miracle to save the ones he loved.

A single tear rolled off his face, floating gently down. It was a tear of innocence and purity, a tear of love. Love, the greatest magic of all.

It landed softly on the pupil of the eye emblazoned on the Millennium Puzzle's face. All at once the puzzle began to glow bright yellow, as did the bracers on Yugi's arms. He gaped in amazement as the light got brighter and brighter, so bright that the two duelists, the hikaris, and even Yugi were forced to shut their eyes tight as it grew into a big ball of power. It rested on Yugi's chest, as if awaiting its final instructions.

Somehow, Yugi knew what to say. "GOLDEN DETONATION BEAM!"

The shout was barely heard amid the rush of time as Beast of Talwar's attack and Yugi's collided in mid air. Time and space seemed to stand still as the two attacks tried to outdo the other, but in the end it was Yugi's that emerged victorious. The attack flowed flawlessly towards Jyor-lang, shredding Beast of Talwar to pieces and completely destroying the area around Jyor-lang's dueling center. The minion of Pegasus shrieked in agony as he felt the power of love, its unfailing strength uncomparable to anything he had ever felt, even the Shadow he had devoted himself to.

"WHAT? NO!!!" Jyor-lang moaned, a scream heard throughout all of duelist kingdom. The wretched demon dropped to his knees as the dark duel was finally ended, but not in his favor.

Yami's LP: 0100
Jyor-lang's LP: 0000

A terrifically surprised Yami, still trapped in manacles around his waist and ankles, watched the light disperse, leaving an exhausted Yugi on the ground, free from bonds. Bakura too was free, and Hikaru, Ai, Takehiko, and Dajan were each perfectly all right, if anything, stunned. Only Jyor-lang seemed beyond astonishment.

'Yugi's special effect,' it suddenly dawned on Yami. "GDB - Golden Detonation Beam?" There were no instructions to describe the usage of this attack, but somehow Yugi had summoned it anyway and brought Jyor-lang to his defeat!

Yami's knees trembled. He wanted to laugh loudly to rid himself of the many emotions bubbling inside him, a feeling that can be quite frustrating and painful if you can't let it out. He leaned over the dueling center, shaking, and tried to force himself to cry, pushing every last bit of disorder out of him. At last he gave a loud sigh that more closely resembled a moan, and felt the peace return to his system.

His tired gaze met Yugi's. He smiled weakly. "Way to go, aibyou. You sure showed him... thank you."

Yugi grinned and mumbled a response, which soon erupted into a great laugh. As soon as he had started, Hikaru joined in, and the other four couldn't help but giggle as well. Soon they were all in fits of hysterical laughter and bliss.

Once the jubilee had subsided, the six felt everything around go dark, and their bodies falling from the ground. To where, though? They had already been on the ground - had the arena opened up and swallowed them?

At last the sensation of dropping to a bottomless pit left them, and Yugi opened his eyes to see blue sky and trees above him. He sat up, blinked, and checked himself over. He was back in his normal clothes! The others were back to normal too, sitting up, making unappetizing, confused noises, and coming to the realization that they had won!"

Naturaly, it was Takehiko who was the first to state the obvious. "We're back!" he exclaimed jubilantly. "I'm me again! No more cape, no more heavy sword! Just a shirt and a pin!" He rubbed the pin-sized Millennium Sword.

Ai and Hikaru giggled and stretched. Hikaru leapt to her feet and began to do stretches, commenting on how good it felt to be out of that armor.

"I'm glad I'm no longer in a dress!" a contemptuous Bakura grunted.

His friends chuckled in disbelief.

Yami watched the hikaris come back to normal in their own bodies a little ways off from the arena. "I'm glad they're safe..." he murmured. Then he spun around to face Jyor-lang.

"You lost, minion of darkness," he declared. "Although even I didn't expect the duel to end so abruptly. What's done is done, though - now release me from these chains!"

Jyor-lang spat on the ground. "You assume I'm going to play fair like your other little dueling buddies! Another example of your naivety, Yugioh! Free yourself, Pharaoh! Or taste the pain of of death!"

With that, Jyor-lang rammed his hand against a button on his dueling center and took off. He jumped down from his perch and dashed away, shouting curses over his shoulder.

None of our heroes noticed this, however, for the button Jyor-lang had pressed cause fire to spurt out from the arena, aimed straight for Yami. Too exhausted to use any more magic, the pharaoh could only wait for the heat and flames to lick his body and bring a quick end to his life.

His hold quickly caught fire, and the smoke billowed from the flames high into the sky. Yami coughed and tried to wrench his ankles out of the chains, but the manacle around his waist kept him in one spot. He gasped for breath and felt around for a button to free him, but there was none.

"YAMI!" Yugi cried, his hands flinging to his face as he saw the arena smoldering and turning to ashes.

"Get out of there!" Ai urged.

"He can't!" a bewildered Hikaru responded fearfully. "He's chained to the arena!"

Bakura looked on helplessly as he tried to hold Yugi back from running into the blaze of fire.

Takehiko and Dajan exchanged a glance, then Takehiko began rolling up his sleeves. "We'll take care of it," he assured their friends.

Dajan nodded. "Right. Don't panic." He was talking to himself more than to Yugi.

Together the cousins rushed to the arena. Takehiko grabbed the burning railing and climbed up the hot steps. As his element was fire it didn't affect him any more than causing him to sweat. Dajan waited at the bottom, wishing he could use magic like Ay to put out the fire.

Takehiko found Yami trying to push the chain around his waist off him, but was only succeeding in making him more out of breath. Takehiko hooked his arms around Yami's singed body and told him to stop struggling, he would help him through this. Yami was reluctant, but Takehiko's touch was so much like Ahmose's that he gave in.

"All right, Dajan, send her up!" ordered Takehiko.

Dajan nodded again and removed the Millennium Key from the chain around his neck. With swiftness and accuracy he flung it at Takehiko, whose years of playing baseball all payed off when he caught it in mid-air.

The Millennium Key could unlock any lock, so Takehiko jammed it into the keyhole of the first of Yami's bonds. His upper body freed, Yami almost fell backwards, but forced himself to stay where he was to help Takehiko however he could. Takehiko shoved the key into the chain of his left foot, and then his right, freeing his entire body. Through smoke and flame Takehiko gripped the Key with his teeth and lifted Yami's petit body out of the arena and then brought him to safety. He clambered down the steps, trying to be speedy but afraid of dropping the victim or swallowing the Millennium Key. At last he reached the bottom of the steps where Dajan grabbed him and helped him over to the others.

Takehiko placed Yami on the ground and then spit out the Millennium Key.

"Hey! No fair!" Dajan scolded, rushing to his Millennium Item and cleaning it with his shirt.

Takehiko shrugged.

Yami was coughing up a storm next to Yugi. Raspy, almost soundless coughs were emerging from his mouth, and he looked like he was having a hard time breathing. The hikaris winced. The very sound of the cough was painful.

After a few minutes of this, the coughs subsided and Yami's breathing slowly went back to normal. The smell of smoke hung in the air, and the cuts on his face stung from the fire. He kept trying to ignore the pain, but it was unbearable and it took everything he had left in him just to stay awake.

Finally, after an unsuccessful attempt to talk, followed by a coughing fit, Yami let out a gasp and a feeble laugh. He looked around as his sight began to refocus.

The hikaris were sitting in a circle before him. Yugi was right next to him with his arm wrapped around him, worry etched over his face. Hikaru and Ai were anxiously clutching hands and looking back and forth between Yami and the fire. Takehiko was on his other side, head cocked, and Dajan was next to him, returning the Millennium Key to its rightful place around his neck.

Yami locked eyes with Takehiko. "Th - thank you," he managed to stutter out. "Y-You two, Dajan. Thanks for saving me."

"Heck, it was no problem," Takehiko said dismissively. "What're friends for?"

"Yeah, we didn't mind," Dajan responded. "Although Takehiko did most of the work." He looked proudly at his cousin.

"It was nothing," Takehiko said, blushing.

"No, it was something," Yami shook his head. "That was really brave. I commend you for your courage."

"Hey, you were pretty brave up there while we were dueling what's-his-name... Jyor-lang," Ai accused teasingly.

Yami laughed. "You were all great. I'm very proud." He shifted his gaze to Yugi. "Especially you, Yugi. How did you do that?"

Yugi blinked. "I don't know," he said ingeniously. "I just focused on surving and helping me friends, and then I just... did it."

"Well, whatever you did, we owe you our lives," Hikaru commented brightly. She stood up and walked directly in front of Yugi. "That's three times now you've saved me," she said. "Once on the island, once against Talons of Shurilan, and then from Beast of Talwar. Thank you, Yugi."

"No problem," Yugi replied, turning cherry red. "You've saved my life too. You totally got revenge on Talons of Shurilan."

Hikaru took a deep breath. Her cheeks turned pink but her broad smile remained the same. "Yugi, that isn't all yo did. Remember in Duelist Kingdom, when you were dueling to save your grandfather and the Kaibas? Well, I was in Duelist Kingdom too for almost the same reason. Pegasus had captured Keikeru, my big brother, to convince me to come to the tournament. After Pegasus ran from our duel and sent my friends and me far away from the castle, I thought I'd never see Keikeru again. All I knew was, you had beaten all the other finalists in the tournament and you were going to duel Pegasus the next day. My friends were doubtful that you'd win, and even more doubtful that you'd ask Pegasus to free the souls he's captured if you did win. We didn't even know if you knew how bad of a man Pegasus is... but together we believed you'd win and know what the right thing to do was. Somehow I knew you'd come through for everyone, and you did! Keikeru came running up to me minutes after you beat Pegasus. You didn't only save me, Yugi, you saved Keikeru too."

Yugi's mouth was slightly open. He hadn't known about Hikaru's brother, but he had apparently saved more lives than he had thought!

Hikaru's eyes were full of mischief. "I made a vow that day, that I'd track down Yugi Muto and thank him for what he's done. I promised I'd thank him so much he'd die from it! So..."

She grabbed Yugi and hugged him tight. Yugi's face turned bright red as a result of Hikaru's warm hug and the fact that she was cutting off his air supply.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Yugi!" the petit girl panted in one breath. "I was too shy until now to tell you about my vow, but I tracked you down and now you're going to die of thanks!"

Yugi laughed as Hikaru squealed more thanks. Finally she released him and turned to Yami.

"And you - you helped him too, you beat Pegasus and saved Keikeru," she wheezed before throwing herself around Yami too.

"Uh..." Yami found himself wondering what was wrong with this hikari, she was way too much like her yami, Kiara, the queen of emotional outbursts! "You're... welcome?"

The others laughed heartily. Yugi sniggered when he realized Yami was blushing too. It was over.

~*~

"Now what?" asked Takehiko.

Dajan looked at the sky. It was dark as night now, even though it was only mid-morning. "It's going to pour," he said. "We should find cover."

Hikaru released Yami and looked to the river. "But what about Kiara?" she asked wistfully. "I want to find her..."

"We all want to find our yamis," Bakura replied, "but I think Dajan is right. It's going to rain really hard. We'll have to search for them when the storm passes."

Ai and Hikaru reluctantly agreed, and the group trudged to a patch of trees for shelter. Just then, the rain began to come down, lightly at first, but speedily growing.

"Trees are dangerous to be near when there's a storm," Ai stated.

"Only when there's lightning," Takehiko answered. The group sank to their knees.

Yami looked between a gap in the trees. He hurt all over, from the cuts on his face to the sores on his ankles and hips from the chains. Plus, he was so tired...

"Yami?"

Yami barely heard Yugi's voice before he toppled on his side and laid on the ground, motionless.

"Yami!"

Yugi crawled to his alter-ego's side and gently shook him. "He's... passed out," he said at last. Takehiko and Dajan affirmed this, and Bakura smiled softly.

"Let him rest," he said gently. "He deserves it, after all he's been through today."

The peaceful figure of Yami comforted the kids, knowing someone would always be there when they needed him, no matter how bad he felt.


Angel: I am soooooooooooo sorry it took me so long to update! Sowwy sowwy sowwy sowwy! But lately I'v been reading fanfics rather than writing them. "The Sickness" by Padfoot is an excellent fic for Yugi and Yami lovers! I love that fanfic so much, I read parts of it three times! Plus, the author doesn't swear or make inappropriate things happen! BLISS! AHH, THE TASTE OF PERFECTION!

Joey: Shut up. When do we [himself, Tea, Tristan, Naoko, Tetsuya, and Ryoku] get back in the story?

Angel: Um... ::twiddles thumbs::

Joey: WELL???

Angel: ::in a small voice:: ... Chapter 15?

Joey: EEEUUUURRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!

Tea: We don't want to wait so long! YOU'RE ONLY ON CHAPTER EIGHT!

Tristan: Technically, it's chapter nine, because she just finished chapter eight.

(Marching band comes in and plays a victory march.)

Hikaru: Let's here it for Yugi! Hip! Hip! Hooray!

Yugi: ::blushes::

Yami: You're making me act pathetic.

Angel: But you and Yugi are so cute when you're pathetic!

Bakura: You're making me a sissy. Well, you WERE. Today Yami was the one that fainted, not me! ::smiles happily::

Yami: Rub it in, Bakura.

Angel: Don't worry, Bakura! You get to do more fainting later on! (Bakura: ::looks horrified::) Next chap stars the other yamis, the Kaibas, the Fujishimas, Misaki, and Tali! Oh wait, Joey-tachi are in that chapter, but they're unconsious and have no lines.

Joey-tachi: -_-'

Angel: WHEEE!!! Shonen Jump came! The Yu-Gi-Oh! manga is sweeeeeeeeeeeeet! Figuratively speaking, of course. KAWAII YUGI! JONOUCHI IS HOT, HONDA IS COOL, ANZU IS AWESOME, AND YAMI IS WAY PAST COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Although the animation isn't so hot in the first six novels. But it's still totally awesome! Of course, I'm only buring SJ for YGO. I think I'll like Shaman King and Naruto when it comes out too, but they haven't yet so I don't know. I wish I could read Hikaru no Go instead of Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, Sandland, or Yuu Yuu Hakusho (don't like any of those). Oh well. Who thinks I should sign up for Nakayoshi?

Girls: We do!

Angel: I'll hafta seen what manga will be in that anthology... it'll probably be good though. I love shoujo manga! Shonen is good too, except when the people are murdering each other... dat's so sad!!!!! *cries*

From the Desk of Katsuya Jonouchi:

Ryúnade - the place where the duel monsters are from
aibyou - pet, what the yamis call the hikaris (dunno if the hikaris call the yamis "aibyou," but sometimes they will in this fic)
Wow, there isn't anything else this time!!! It's a miracle!

Joey: Phew!

CHARACTER OF THE DAY: (this info is based on my unposted fanfic about Yami's past!!!)

Today's Character of the Day is Pharaoh Yugioh, age 5017. Yugioh, nicknamed Yami, was the son of of Pharaoh Ramses III (well, in my opinion) and Queen Nefertari. He and his younger sister Kiara were the only children of Ramses's favorite wife, Nefertari, because she died of malaria when Yami was five years old, at the age of twenty. Yami had never planned on one day becoming pharaoh, because his numerous half-brothers all wanted the job, and he knew he'd rather just be himself than rule all Egypt, which back then extended from the Sinai Peninsula to Algeria (I think that's right). While in Egypt he befriended Kerihk, a servant boy, Semaret, apprentice to the high priest, and Jono and Tyren, warriors-in-training. Of course, little Kiara wanted to help him pull pranks on everyone in the castle too, but the boys would never let her (typical brothers). When he was eight, he was attacked by evil minions of Grand Vizier Zhur (at the time they didn't know he was responsible for it) and Yami hit his head and lost a chunk of his memory. He could no longer remember his mother or Kerihk. At the age of ten, he met Rise, a dancer who was looking for a job in the palace so she could dance and learn the ways of magic as well. He befriended her and soon his father announced their engagement, which neither of the two friends were all that happy about. When Kiara turned nine, Yami was suddenly stricken with a bad case of malaria like his mother and was in a coma for an entire year. Everyone else gave up on him, and the pharaoh was ready to bury him alive to put him out of his pain, but Princess Kiara hadn't given up and convinced the Pharaoh to give him until her tenth birthday. With help from Kerihk, Kiara met Himoko, a young healer, who gave her a potion to make Yami well. On her birthday, Yami woke up feeling much better, but had a hard time believing he had turned eleven and slept right through it.

Thanks to Himoko's potion, not only did Yami get well again, but he also remembered Kerihk and Nefertari! He befriened Kerihk once more, and also Sahure, Kerihk's new friend. As time went on, he noticed how corrupted Egypt was becoming, and wanted to do something to change it. He told his guardian, Datran the Dark Magician, that he knew the exact remedy for Egypt's needs - a little love. And who better to share love and light than his sister Kiara? Yami knew, if he became pharaoh, his sister would be queen and save Egypt. Yami won the duel against his half-brothers and was proclaimed the crown prince, but his half-brother Pentaware and his mother, Queen Teye, plotted to murder both Yami and the king to make Pentaware king (that part is true, except for Yami being the crown prince, I got it out of a book about Egypt). Teye and Pentaware were executed for attempted murder. Only a little while later, however, Pharaoh Ramses passed away and Yami became pharaoh. He and Kiara wedded (which isn't a sick thing, peeps, cuz back then the pharaoh had to marry his sister because she was the only one worthy to be with the son of the gods; after her he could have as many wives as he wanted) and went on a journey to stop the evil Zhur. Their Shadow Gamer companions were loyal till the end. A few of them died before the journey was over, including Princess Kiara, and Sahure turned bad for a while, until Kerihk was killed protecting Yami. Then he turned spy and helped Yami seal the evil powers in the Millennium Items. Even Semaret, who seemed to have turned evil, eventually returned to the good side to keep the world at peace. Alas, his efforts brought his downfall even though he defeated the evil. Yami and all the other Shadow Gamers were sealed in Millennium Items. He was seventeen years old.

5000 years later, a boy named Yugi Muto would awaken the ancient pharaoh. They became close friends and work together to defeat the evil as it returns to plague the world. All the Shadow Gamers are reunited and ready to take on whatever monster Pegasus/Zhur throws at them!

Yami spent 5000 years dormant in the Millennium Puzzle, but neither his mind nor body grew at all while he slept. He still looks and acts like he had at seventeen, and even though most people wouldn't believe it as of yet, he is awfully naive and innocent. It runs in the family, though - Kiara is an airhead as well. Yami never thinks about himself and it is this purity in him that makes everyone who knows him love him or hate him, depending on their views. Even Seto Kaiba, Kerihk, and Sahure will one day come to adore this teenager with the strongest heart of them all. Yami is the King of Games, so watch out, Darkness, he's going to light the way for the world to achieve a lasting peace! (I obviously adore Yami!!!)

Next time: Chapter Nine, Sennen Sugiru (as told by Seto Kaiba): Well, we couldn't find our way back to the others, so we decided to keep searching. We came to a place looking much like Toonworld and foolishly entered. There we found the unconsious bodies of the captives, but were unable to free them. After all, we still need to worry about our own freakin' behinds! Then we joined up with Yugi Muto's group and I can't believe how soft I'm going around that sleeping Yami... he just looks really cute and innocent while he's sleeping (no shonen ai, folks, you should know that by now!)... ACK! I can't think that about my arch enemy! Meanwhile, the other yamis are rediscovering the past... if Kerihk and Ay can ever stop fighting, that is. Kiara has quite a strong influence over guys...

TBC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(PS: Reviews would certainly inspire me... *hint hint*)