Yugioh! Labyrinth of Nightmare

by Violetlight

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh! (I wish I did!), but Nomi Ryag is my character, so please don't use her without my permission. Thanks to the episodes "Evil Spirit of the Ring" and "Legendary Heroes" for inspiring this fic!

Chapter 1: Yugi

Hi! My name is Yugi Motou. Sound familiar? Well, I hate to brag, but if you play Duel Monsters, you've probably heard of me. I did win both the Duelist Kingdom and Battle City tournaments, but this story isn't about that. Hey, there are enough stories floating around about my duels. This one is about something very few people know about, a game my friends and I had to play, not with cards, but with our own lives on the line! You're probably not going to believe me when I tell you this, but, I'm telling you anyway. Somebody besides us eight has to know, so this will never happen to anyone else again. Listen carefully to my story of the Labyrinth of Nightmare...

It all started one day after school. Battle City was over, and things were finally getting back to normal...well, as normal as things can get in my weird life. I was sitting on the steps in front of Domino High, waiting for my best friend Joey...geez, what's taking him so long? You've probably heard of Joey Wheeler too. Like I said, he's my best friend, and he's a really good duelist. He came in second at Duelist Kingdom, and made the semi-finals in Battle City, but outside of duelling he tends to get in a lot of trouble. Like that time he stuck a tack on Sensei's chair, or...

"Hey Yugi!"

"Oh, hi Tea." This is Tea Gardener, my oldest friend. Beautiful, isn't she, with that gorgeous brown hair I just want to run my fingers though, her bright blue eyes... hey, don't be getting any ideas! I have to admit, I've had a crush on her ever since I was about 11, and I realized that girls weren't just guys who dressed weird.

"Waiting for Joey again?" Tea guessed. Did I mention she's really smart too? And graceful, and an amazing dancer (I wish she'd dance for me!) and...

"Yugi!"

"Um...yeah. Waiting for Joey, as usual." I answered. I hope Tea didn't notice me blushing. "We were supposed to go back to Grandpa's shop after school, he just got some new cards in. You haven't seen Joey, have you?"

"In detention. Again. With Tristan."

"I should have guessed. What happened this time?"

"Two words: Panty Tank."

"Not again!" I moaned. Since all the girls in our school have to wear really short skirts as part of their school uniform (not that I'm complaining or anything -- Tea looks amazing in her little blue skirt and pink blazer with that cute blue bow, I wonder what it looks like when she takes it off...) um...anyway, Joey and Tristan think it's a lot of fun to grab a ruler and flick up the girls' skirts in this game called "Panty Tank". Now, I like games, a lot, but even I think this one's pretty stupid, and I'm pretty sure all the girls in school agree with me on that one. "Who was the victim this time?" I asked.

"You know that girl with the lavender-coloured hair in our English class?" Tea asked.

Lavender...lavender...that's girlspeak for "purple", isn't it? Oh my god..."Nomi Ryag?! Are they out of their minds?" Tea gave me her famous "don't-be-an-idiot" look. "Okay, okay, don't answer that."

"Hey Yugi, hey Tea. Have you seen my big brother around here?" Serenity Wheeler, Joey's little sister, ran up to us, still dressed in her longer-skirted school uniform from Domino Junior High. Serenity and Joey's girlfriend, Mai Valentine, were supposed to be going with us to the game shop.

"Hi Serenity." I looked around for Mai, spotting her in the parking lot just leaving her blue convertible.

"You might as well sit down and join the Waiting-For-Joey club." Tea said, motioning for Serenity to sit down beside her on the steps.

"Did Joey get in trouble again?" Serenity asked. She and her mother hadn't been living in Domino City for very long, but already she knew the routine.

"Let me guess, Panty Tank again?" Mai complained, taking her seat to the left of Serenity. "I told him not to play that stupid game anymore! I'm going to kill him!"

"Mai, don't do that!" Serenity whined, they realized that Mai was only joking. "Oh, I mean..." I think Serenity has inherited her brother's tendency to miss the obvious sometimes. It must be a Wheeler thing.

"He shouldn't be too much longer," I said, trying to keep the peace between these impatient girls. "Oh, and Mai, Grandpa said he has that Birdface card you wanted."

"Oh, thank you Yugi!" Mai smiled, forgetting about her now-very late boyfriend.

"Birdface? What does that card do?" Tea asked. Tea doesn't duel too much herself, but I wish she did. Her fairy/spellcaster deck just needs a few little improvements, and it would be first rate!

"Birdface's effect lets me bring one of my Harpie Ladies or Cyber Harpies right out of my deck when it's destroyed in battle." Mai explained. Mai, unlike Tea, is a full-time duelist and her Harpie/Amazon deck is tough to beat. Believe me, I know. Ever since the end of Battle City, when Joey saved Mai's life, rescuing her from the Shadow Realm, Mai and Joey have been going out. I never would have thought they would get together, especially since they used to argue with one another almost constantly at Duelist Kingdom, but then again, I don't know that much about girls. If I did, I wouldn't be such a chicken and would ask Tea out. But what if she said "no", or worse, what if she said "let's just be friends"? What if...

"Yugi?" Serenity snapped me out of my panicking. Maybe I should actually ask Tea out first, then panic.

"Yugi," Serenity asked again. "Take a look at these cards my brother gave me. What do you think?"

Serenity pulled two duel monster cards out of her backpack, a ritual magic card and its matching ritual monster, both with a picture of a belly-dancer type girl with big axe-like blades attached to thick bracelets on her arms. "'Commencement Dance' and 'Performance of Swords', a Earth-elemental, warrior-type ritual monster, attack of 1950, defence 1850." I read. "This is a pretty good monster, Serenity."

"I know, it's my favourite!" Serenity squealed, and hugged her card. "Joey gave it to me, but he doesn't like it because he thinks it's a 'girly' monster."

"Remind me to remind your brother what 'girly monsters' can do." Mai commented.

"Joey said he'll help me pick out some cards to make my own deck with today, and Mai's going to help too!" Serenity excitedly continued.

Looks like we'll have some more competition next tournament. I heard my other half smile in my mind.

Okay, this next part I know you're not going to believe, but it's true, and I'm not crazy or schizophrenic or anything. You see, about nine years ago, I found this strange box at the back of Grandpa's store, which he had found on one of his expeditions to Egypt before I was born. Inside were some weird, golden puzzle pieces. After years of working on it, I managed to solve the puzzle. I found out later that this was no ordinary puzzle; this was one of the legendary Millennium Items, magical Egyptian artifacts that some say will give their owners the power to rule the world! And mine was the most important item of all, the Millennium Puzzle, holder of the soul of an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh! Now you're probably saying, "this kid's got some real issues", but I swear to you that it's true!

The spirit of the Puzzle, that mysterious Pharaoh from so long ago, is named Yami. Well...that's not his real name -- he can't remember what his real name is, or anything else about his past, but I'm going to help him! After all, Yami helps me almost every time I duel, and is a really good friend besides. The least I can do is to help him in return. Anyway, Yami "lives" in the Puzzle, and sometimes, like when I'm duelling, he comes out and we share my body and join our minds, both of us working together to win. It's hard to explain. It's not as weird as it sounds. Unlike the other two people I know of with "Yami Spirits", I stay conscious. I still have control of my brain and my body, I know what's going on, and it's nice to always have a friend with me. Anyway, back to the story...

We sat around for about ten more minutes with still no sign of Joey or Tristan. The girls passed the time by talking, and talking, and talking. Why do girls talk so much? You'd think their mouths would get sore or something from all that yakking. Man, I'm bored.

Hey Yami, you want to take over for a while? I mentally asked. I wanted to go into my Soul Room, the place in my mind where my consciousness goes whenever I let Yami completely take over. There are games in there, something more interesting to do than listen to Mai go on about her new lip gloss at any rate. Yami? Yaaaammiiii! Damn, I guess he's too busy wandering around the gravity-defying stairways of his Soul Room to answer.

Just then, the doors behind us swung open and I heard a very familiar voice:

"God damn it! Hey Trist, did'ya know girls could kick dat hard?"

Joey. It's about time.

"I didn't know they could punch that hard either." Tristan complained.

"Hey Yug, sorry we're late," Joey smiled in apology. Both he and Tristan looked pretty beat up, with Joey holding an icepack to his groin, and Tristan rubbing his head, where his left eye had turned an interesting shade of purple. Ouch. This is just one more reason why not to play Panty Tank.

"What happened?" I asked, although I already had a pretty good idea. Nomi isn't one to cross, if her dueling skills are any indication (she beat me!). It looks like Joey and Tristan found that out the hard and painful way.

What? Who beat you! Yugi? Yami suddenly asked. Agh! I hate it when he just pops into my head with no warning like that.

Relax Yami, old news. I was just thinking of my duel against Nomi, that's all.

Oh, that. Yami sighed. I think he's still a little mad that I didn't let him help me in that duel. If that's all... Once again, I felt his presence evaporate from my mind.

"...well...um...and dat's basically what happened. Let's just say me n' Tristan here won't be playing Panty Tank again for awhile." My conversation with Yami caused me to miss most of Joey's "explanation". Really though, I'm not the one he should be explaining himself to.

"Joseph Wheeler! Didn't I tell you not to play that stupid game anymore!" Mai yelled, freaking Joey out.

"Ah! Um...hey Mai. Wow, you look good today! Is dat a new outfit or somethin'?" Joey grovelled.

"Stop trying to suck up, Joey. It's not going to work." Mai snapped, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"Dat ain't what you was saying last night" Joey grinned and quickly kissed Mai on the cheek, who blushed bright red.

"Okay, too much info," Tea complained. I have to agree with her.

"Mai, what do you mean by that?" Serenity asked. I think she's having another Wheeler moment.

"Never mind, Serenity. You're brother's just being a pig." WHAM! "Joey, you moron…!" Okay, that looked like it really hurt. Mai just smacked Joey aside the head with her purse, and she carries a big purse.

"Ow! Geez Mai, I already got hit in da, ow! family jewels! Lay off will ya!" Joey yelled between smacks.

"Serves you right! I'll have you know that that game is an embarrassment to girls everywhere and if I EVER hear of you playing it again..." Mai continued on.

"Thank God I'm single." I muttered to myself. For some odd reason, Tea gave me a dirty look. "What?!"

"You wanna know what, Yugi?" Tristan commented. "Those two look like an old married couple."

"WE DO NOT!" Both Mai and Joey yelled.

"Okay, okay, okay, Mai, sweetie, honey, baby…" Joey begged. Mai looked even more annoyed. "If it bugs ya dat much, I won't play Panty Tank anymore. Okay?"

"You mean it?" Mai asked. She still didn't look convinced.

"Scouts honour." Joey promised.

"But Joey, you were kicked out of Boy Scouts, remember? You called your leader a…" Serenity started.

"Later sis," Joey hissed.

"God damn it Joey!" Mai yelled.

"Look Mai, I really mean it. Really. I wouldn't break a promise to you, you know dat."

"Well...damn it. You got me there." Mai admitted, and put her arms around Joey. "You've never lied to me, you big lug, and I don't think you're going to start now."

"No way." Joey replied, and leaned in to kiss Mai. I looked away. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for both of them, but still...seeing them together, and knowing that I don't have anyone for me can be a little...upsetting at times.

"But," I heard Mai continue after a few minutes. (I don't really want to know how long they were kissing.) I want you to apologize to that poor girl for embarrassing her like that."

"Okay, I will... tomorrow at school."

"Joey!"

"Look, Nomi's not all dat happy with me right now, and she has a tendency to be violent when she's mad, in case ya didn't notice. My poor balls did." Joey tried to explain.

"And my eye." Tristan added.

"You were asking for it too. I want you both to apologize to her, got it?!"

"Alright, alright, geez. I don't know about Joey here, but I've learned my lesson," Tristan replied.

Wow. I've seen some pretty weird things in my life, like an Egyptian dream catcher turning a classmate into a complete and utter psychopath, monster cards coming to life, and a virtual reality princess that looks like a certain ten-year old I know, but Joey and Tristan giving up Panty Tank has got to be the weirdest. I never thought I'd see that day!

"Look, Nomi's probably gone home by now. We'll apologize to her at school, okay?" Joey continued. Just then, the door to the school swung open. "Damn." Joey muttered.

You can probably guess what happened next. Nomi came out, and she gave both Joey and Tristan a look that I thought would burn right through them. This tough little Canadian (she's only 2 inches taller than me), with...what's the word Tea used again? Oh yeah, lavender-coloured hair tied up in a ponytail with long dark brown bangs and even darker brown eyes, had been in our class since before Battle City, but I hardly noticed her until I learned she was a fellow duelist, the hard way. I hate to admit it, but I was defeated once -- only once though -- during the Battle City tournament, and Nomi, with her powerful Dragon deck, was the duelist who beat me. She's not like anyone else I've duelled before; she actually believes in the Heart of the Cards! She'd never call it that, of course, but I can tell she really loves and respects every card in her deck, especially her signature Tri-Horned Dragon. I think she respects me too, maybe even likes me. You know, likes me; we were kind of flirting with each other throughout our duel. If it weren't for Tea… anyway, I consider her a friend.

"Hey Nomi," I began. I then noticed something different about her. Instead of the usual girls' school uniform, Nomi was wearing blue pants and a white shirt with a blue jacket, the exact same as I was wearing. A guy's school uniform. "Um...that's a new look for you."

"Hey Yugi. Yeah, I know. At least it's not pink." Nomi replied. She's always polite to me, but around my other friends, she's a lot shyer than if it's just the two of us, especially around other girls. She didn't just ignore Joey and Tristan, but pretended Mai, Tea, and Serenity didn't exist as well.

"I guess I should thank your two idiot friends," Nomi continued. "Because of them, I don't have to wear that stupid outfit anymore. I really can't stand skirts."

"Hey! Those idiots are right here!" Joey yelled. Nomi continued to ignore him. If there's one thing Joey really can't stand, it's to be ignored. "Hey, I'm talkin' to ya!"

"Joey, apologize now." Mai hissed.

"All right." Joey sighed. "Nomi..." he put his hand on Nomi's shoulder, which she immediately smacked off.

"Hands off, Wheeler, if you don't want them to meet the same fate as your tiny little balls." Nomi growled at him. "Oh, and Mai," she added, "I hope you weren't planning on using those tonight. I do hope it's not an inconvenience."

Mai wasn't very happy with Nomi's sarcastic attitude, but for once, held back her anger. "Look squirt, Joey and Tristan just wanted to apologize for humiliating you…" she started.

Nomi ignored her. "By the way, Yugi? Who won Battle City? Rex and I were watching the quarter finals on satellite, but it stopped televising after that."

Remember Rex Raptor, the dinosaur duelist that Joey beat at Duelist Kingdom? Well, he and Nomi are cousins. You can see the family resemblance, especially with their hair, with Rex's being the reverse of Nomi's, brown with purple bangs. (I will not call another guy's hair lavender!) Rex was the one who taught Nomi to duel when she first moved to Japan from Canada, but now she's obviously a lot better at it than her "Cuz", as she puts it.

"Oh, and nice moves with that cool red dragon! You whipped Bakura's sorry butt!" Nomi added. I'm just glad I didn't have Sypher the Sky Dragon yet when battled her. Nomi's obsession with Dragons combined with the power of a God Card…I don't like where that would go.

"Um, thanks. Actually, I won the tournament, but believe me, it wasn't easy." I answered.

"…oh. Um…congratulations, eh! You're a great duelist Yugi. I wish I could have seen the rest of the finals. Damn, now I owe Rex a Mad Sword Beast. I thought for sure I had that Sky Dragon nailed. Oh well…"

"Nomi," I interrupted her. "It's not very nice for you to ignore Joey and Mai." I'm wondering though, who did she bet would win? Probably not Joey, so that leaves Marik and Kaiba…

"Well it wasn't very nice what Joey and Tristan did to me!" Nomi snapped back.

"Look, we're sorry, okay?" Tristan started.

"Sorry doesn't cut it! But…I can think of a little something that would make it up to me." Nomi smirked.

"What is it?" Joey asked, crossing his arms.

"How about a little Duel?" Nomi proposed. "Battle City rules. If you win, Joey, your stupid game's ancient history, but if I win, you have to suffer an equivalent humiliation: wearing your doggy costume to school for a week!"

"Whhaaa! How'd you know about dat?!" Joey yelled.

"Come on, Wheeler. Your defeat against Duke Devlin is famous. You're just lucky Yugi saved your sorry butt that time, but then again, that's apparently how you get out of all your messes. That and by dumb luck, and I mean dumb."

"I didn't see you at da Battle City Finals." Joey retaliated. He has a point.

"Only because I was two minutes too late!" Nomi snapped back, and pulled something out of her pocket: six Battle City locator cards. "I won six locator cards! I deserved to be on that blimp, and if finalist number 8, whoever that was, didn't sign in exactly two minutes before I didI would have been! I won against both Yugi and Se… Kaiba in Battle City and you're nothing compared to them!"

Wow, she beat Kaiba too? I had heard some rumours flying around during Battle City about a Blue Eyes White Dragon and Tri-Horned Dragon battle, but to actually defeat Kaiba?! Now I'm even more impressed! And I thought she was a great duelist before…I have to admit, though, I wasn't exactly concentrating as hard as usual during our duel. It's just that I've never seen a duelist like her before…

Nomi is a talented duelist, but she's not impossible to beat. Like all oif your opponents, she has her strengths and her weaknesses.

I know, Yami. I just can't stop thinking of her. I mean, she's not at all like Tea or Serenity; she'd never be satisfied cheering anyone else on when she could be duelling herself. In that respect, she's more like Mai, but her personality, as well as her duelling style, is completely different. I don't think Nomi would be caught dead talking about girl stuff like makeup. I'm just not sure what to think of her.

She's an honourable opponent who really enjoys the game, Yugi, and even I find it gratifying to challenge someone just for fun. I think Nomi's truly a valuable friend.

I think you're right.

Anyway, now that I think about it, it sounded like Nomi was about to call Kaiba "Seto", but nobody calls him by his first name but Mokuba…that's it! She must have bet Kaiba would win in the finals. If I know Kaiba, he wouldn't have given her an easy victory at any rate. Maybe her duel against him was more challenging to her than our duel. She must had thought that Kaiba had a better chance at winning the final than me because of that. I think I heard Yami make a rude noise at that thought.

"Dat's it!" Joey yelled. "I gotta admit, Yug's a better duelist than me, but I'm definitely better than dat stuck-up Blimp Boy, and I'm better than you too!"

"We'll see about that."

"And hows about we makes things a little more interestin'? I'm puttin' up my Red Eyes, you put up your Tri-Horn. Deal?"

Nomi thought about that. "I don't want to risk my favourite card, but Rex would do anything to get his Red Eyes back…ah hell, it won't be too hard to beat this loser! Okay Wheeler, you have yourself a deal." Nomi and Joey both whipped out their duel disks, their decks ready, and stood out in front of the steps.

"Go Joey!" Mai, Serenity and Tea yelled.

"Yeah! Kick her butt!" shouted Tristan

"Good luck, to both of you!" I called. This is going to be an interesting game – both Nomi and Joey are excellent duelists; I'm really not sure who will come out on top, but I know that both will fight their hardest.

It's time to duel!