A/N Thank You all for the wonderful reviews. 0.0 I can't believe people actually like this fic…arigatou!! I was worried people wouldn't like it if I added a new character. Well I'm so happy. I would like to thank all of you! As a reward I'm going to add little scenes at the end of each chapter. They will feature a character in a funny situation. If any of you want to be featured in the funny then just ask in your review and pick a character. I'm sorry but only one person can be featured at a time, unless I'm not too tired and do two or three. I'll try I promise. Anything to keep the fans happy. 0.0 I HAVE FANS!!!!! Oh and to all of you waiting for Yami to show up…I mean really show up, he's in this chapter!!! Once again thank you to Anime Chaser; Silver Ankh; Lissa; Kurby-kitten13 (I'll give you some ideas for items but I'm keeping the Millenium Bells for myself ^.^); Cib; Pheonix; Bronze Eagle; Silversaiyan (your IM inspired me to go and type this up early!) and Nips. You don't know how happy it makes me to hear from you guys. Well on to the fic! Oh yeah…be prepared for a time leap…maybe…

P.S This chapter has a lot of vulgar language and violence. Please don't read if you shouldn't be exposed to stuff like that.

Chapter 3

Puzzle Solved

"Damn it kid! I told you what would happen if you didn't bring me my money. I guess I'll have to kick your ass so you'll remember next time."

Yugi was being held by an extremely muscular boy, well known in his school for bullying anything smaller then him. He gasped as the boy punched him in the stomach and let him fall to the ground. Most of the other kids around took no notice of Yugi's torture because it happened to him everyday. It wasn't that Yugi liked getting beat up, it was just that he wasn't that good of a fighter, not to mention that if everyday at school you get the crap beat out of you and when you go home you wish you were at school getting beat up, well eventually you'll stop fighting back and convince yourself that your sole purpose on earth is to be a human punching bag. Yugi had convinced himself that it was fine for others to beat up on him and that was why he just didn't care anymore.

"What is wrong with you Bruno?" Came a sharp voice that Yugi knew all to well.

Slowly he opened his eyes to see his only friend, Anzu Mazaki standing between him and Bruno. She stared at the boy in anger before turning and looking down at Yugi. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah…" he lied, slowly getting to his feet. In reality his head hurt like he'd been hit by a baseball bat, not to mention he felt ashamed that a girl would stand up for him, but Anzu swore that that was what friends did for each other and Yugi didn't try to talk her out of it.

"So is that how it is Motou?" Bruno snared. "Ya got some little trick sticking up for ya now? Damn, you's a punk?"

"Shut up." Anzu spat, glaring at him.

"Tell your girlfriend to back off. My ma told me never to hit a girl." Bruno said, before smiling at Anzu, showing off his crooked teeth. "Though I'd love to smack that fat ass of yours."

Yugi felt rage build up in him as Bruno grabbed Anzu's wrist. He quickly ran over and grabbed the larger boy's arm, trying to make him let go, but all he managed to do was get pushed back to the floor. Anzu however was no helpless girl. She turned and kicked Bruno hard in the shin causing the boy to let go of her and yell out in pain. Taking the opportunity Anzu turned grabbed Yugi's wrist and bolted outside before Bruno recovered. She didn't stop until they were a block away.

"Yugi why don't you ever stand up for yourself?" she asked after she had caught her breath. "Don't you get tired of getting beat up everyday?"

"Well sure…" he admitted. "But…I don't want to hurt anyone…"

"So you're willing to get beat up every single day?" Anzu asked, slightly annoyed. This wasn't the first time she had confronted Yugi about this, but he could be so stubborn. "You're to nice for your own good, Yugi. What if I hadn't been there to help you? I don't like to see you get hurt, and I really don't like it that you won't even fight back!"

Yugi was about to say something, but a sudden beep made Anzu moan. She looked down with annoyance at the offending watch. "Sorry Yugi, but I have to go home, there's a new episode of Hamtaru coming on and I don't want to miss it, ok?" (I love that cartoon. They're so cute…annoying but cute ^.^)

Yugi smiled. "Sure Anzu. See you tomorrow." Yugi watched as she turned and ran off towards her home before slowly turning to walk to his own home. He felt nervous, but then again he always did when he was going home. A year ago he would have run home, happy to see his mom or his grandfather or even his father, but things had changed. His mom and jiichan were dead and all he had left was his father, who hated him despite all of Yugi's attempts to make him happy.

'I don't know why I'm so worried, dad won't be home until late anyway.' He told himself, trying to calm his nerves. 'At the worst Miaka will be there.'

Miaka was his father's girlfriend or something. Yugi remembered how much he had disliked her in the beginning because he felt she was trying to replace his mom. That is until she had tried to help him by talking with his father about the way he treated Yugi. Well she did try to help but Takachi only told her that he loved her and proposed to her. Of coarse Miaka accepted and soon realized what life was like living with Takachi Motou. She no longer tried to help Yugi, instead she watched as Takachi beat him, secretly happy that it wasn't her. Now they both hit him whenever they felt the need to, which was often since Miaka was still waiting for Takachi to marry her, but the man now seemed uninterested. So now all they did was fight and take their anger out on little Yugi.

As quietly as he could, Yugi crept into the house, slightly surprised not to see Miaka standing there ready to hit him. She hated it when he was late because that meant she'd have to be home with Takachi alone, and that always ended with her getting beat up and him going out to drink.

The only sounds in the house were muffled noises followed by occasional giggles from upstairs. Yugi froze at the door. He didn't remember seeing his father's car outside, so then who was upstairs with Miaka. It didn't take a genius to know what she was doing up there. The moans where enough to figure it out, not to mention that when Miaka had first moved in she had no problem being loud whenever she did…whatever she did with his father. (I am NOT going into detail there. I'm not a henti and I don't even want to think about that teme and his sick little habits…maybe later I'll add some stuff…but not now…nasty! .)

Noiselessly Yugi crept up to his bedroom. He felt it would be best not to get caught wondering about while Miaka was doing…THAT. Not to mention he didn't want some strange guy thinking he could beat up n him too. Yugi could only hope that the guy left before his father got home. For some reason Yugi found himself worried about Miaka. Sure she hit him but Yugi knew the full extent of his father's rage and didn't want to see anyone have to go through that, even if that person was one of his abusers. Yugi sat on his bed and close his eyes, dreading every second he heard noise and knowing his father would be home any minute now. Suddenly his eyes shot open. There was no need for him to drive himself insane, he did have some work to do.

As quietly as humanly possible Yugi withdrew the bag that Jiichan had given him a year ago from under his bed. At the thought of his grandfather Yugi felt tears well up in his eyes but he was determined not to cry. Not when he was so close to completing his grandfather's final wish. The Puzzle. Carefully he slid out a gold box covered in what looked like hieroglyphics or something of that sort. Yugi wasted no time lifting the lid and taking out his most prized possession. It looked like an upside down pyramid covered in the same writing as the box and it was also made of gold though it felt a lot lighter then it looked.

Yugi reached for the last piece which was the shape of some sort of eye, and was about to insert it in it's proper place when a sudden memory made him freeze…

~*~Flashback~*~

A 5-year-old Yugi is sitting before a large puzzle of a beautiful garden. His mother is sitting close by and smiling at her son's work. As a large smile crossed over the boy's face and he motioned to put the last piece into place his mother called out to him.

"Wait Yugi, darling," she said leaning over his shoulder. "Make a wish first."

"Huh?" Yugi asked, looking up at her with those innocent violet eyes. "Why?"

"Well because a puzzle is sort of like a mystery. It begins with a few loose pieces and in the end everything is solved. Understand?" she asked, her own violet eyes shining with happiness.

"Nope." Yugi replied simply.

"Alright then think of it like this. A puzzle is like a calm night sky with no moon or stars. It's incomplete. It has no will or purpose in a sense." She said, her mind thinking about something else. "Hikari cannot survive without yami and vice versa." She whispered.

"Huh? Momma what does hir..hirka? mean?" Yugi asked confused.

For a moment his mother remained silent, deep in thought, but soon she smiled and returned her attention to her son. "Just make your wish, you'll understand when you get older."

"Yes Momma." Yugi said, slightly disappointed. He looked up at his father in a nearby chair reading the paper and at his Jiichan watching TV and smiled happily. He had the perfect wish. "I wish that we could all stay together like this always." He said happily.

Yugi didn't notice his mother's sudden frown because he was to busy showing the now finished puzzle to his father and trying to repeat what his mother had only told him a moment ago, but was failing miserably. Silently Asitire (that's Yugi's mother's name. I know I listed it before but I want to make sure everyone understands) stood and left the room, rushing towards the bathroom. Once there she collapsed to her knees and cried quietly.

"Gomen nasai, Yugi…" she whispered repeatedly between sobs. "Gomen nasai…"

~*~end flashback~*~

Yugi didn't realize he was crying until he suddenly hiccuped. His tears were falling on the still incomplete puzzle.

"You lied mom…" he whispered, a hint of anger in his voice. "Wished don't come true or else things would have stayed that way. You'd still be here…"

For some reason Yugi felt he couldn't put the last piece in and was seriously considering taking the Puzzle apart and throwing it away, but something held him back. He had to finish it, he had promised jiichan. Yugi was determined not to make a wish but one shot unto his head regardless.

'I wish that dad would go back to the way he was before mom died. I wish someone would care, someone would help me. Just one friend. That's all I ask for…someone who loved me no matter what…'

Yugi slowly slipped the 'eye' into its place and stared at the now complete puzzle, which had taken him a year to solve. It seemed to be glowing with a faint light and for no reason at all Yugi slipped the thick rope over his head and was instantly calmed by it's weight and warmth against him.

"Hold on…warmth…" he said just as the Puzzle began to glow.

There was a sudden streak of white light from the puzzle and frightened Yugi crawled back a bit from whatever was forming before him. As the light died down Yugi found himself staring at a copy of himself. Well not exactly a copy. Although this boy had the same styled multi colored hair as he did, this copy had gold streaks that bolted upwards and he looked taller, stronger, darker.

The boy was kneeling on one knee and his eyes were closed. Suddenly he began to fall forward and Yugi rushed to catch him but the other roughly pushed him away. He steadied himself and stood towering over Yugi who was still on the floor. He looked around the room and muttered something Yugi couldn't hear. Suddenly the boy's eye fell on Yugi and Yugi cringed. The boy's red eyes were full of anger, Yugi was all too familiar with that look. His father always looked that way before he would beat him.

"Where am I and who are you?" he growled angrily causing Yugi to back away further. "And where are those damn women?"

"I…I…don't know…" Yugi replied suddenly unable to speak.

"Don't lie to me!" the boy yelled. "Speak the truth or else I shall have to punish you."

At the word 'punish' Yugi began to cry and scramble away. 'He's gonna hit me…why is it everyone hates me so much…I must be cursed…' Yugi looked back up at the bot expecting to see him ready to strike out but instead the boy remained where he was, though now he was looking at Yugi strangely. A flash from the puzzle caught the boy's attention and almost at once an eye like the one on the pyramid appeared on his forehead.

"I see…" he said after the 'eye' had vanished. "So you are the owner of the Millennium Puzzle…I understand then…"

There was a sudden sound from downstairs that Yugi recognized and it filled his heart with fear. He looked up at the mysterious boy with worry.

"Please go back." Yugi whispered as the sounds downstairs grew louder. "If my father finds you here…"

"Why should I hide?" the other asked, crossing his arms and frowning.

"Er…I have to explain all of this to first. He doesn't know about the puzzle yet…" Yugi lied. He had no intention of ever letting his father know about the secret treasure from his grandfather, but Yugi didn't want to tell the boy that. He looked up at the other urgently as footsteps could be heard on the stairs, things were about to get very nasty…

"Fine, buy I'll come back as soon as he leaves." The boy said, still frowning.

"Fine…just promise me you'll stay until then…promise? No matter what?" Yugi asked.

The boy only nodded before disappearing back into the puzzle. After Yugi was sure he was gone he rushed over to his closet and closed the door. Inside the darkened closet he closed his eyes and prayed, knowing that hell was about to break loose.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yugioh stood in a darkened room and looked around at his new room. All it contained was a bed, a desk, and a bookshelf. Much less then the pharaoh was use to. He spotted a thick gray door and opened it, realizing that it lead to his hikari's soul room. He was confused to see the walls of this room a murky gray with blue patches here and there. As he pondered over the reasons why the boy seemed to be so frightened, he soon realized that he could hear voices. Yugioh concentrated and realized he was hearing what sounded to be an argument through his hikari's ears. Suddenly Yugioh realized why the boy was so afraid. Yugioh listened to the argument going on and shook his head in disgust.

"You fucking whore!" a male voice yelled. "Fucking some dick while I'm at work. In my fucking bed."

A slap could be heard, followed by something glass breaking.

"Don't come at me with that bullshit, Takachi!" a female screamed. "You knew I was fucking him for the longest time."

"You fucking bitch. Get the fuck out of my house."

"Oh shut the fuck up and remember who the fuck you're talking to." The woman yelled, with confidence. "Don't think I won't tell the police about how you beat up Yugi…"

Yugioh felt the boy's fear escalate at the mention of his name. 'But why would anyone strike their child without need...' he wondered. There was a sudden loud crash followed by the sound of fists hitting flesh multiple times.

"Get the fuck out of here Miaka. Get the f uck out of here before I kick your ass worse then I already have."

The woman coughed. "I don't have to take tour shit anymore, Takachi." She spat. "You think anything you can beat up or control has to follow you but you're wrong. You can't fuck around forever. Someday someone's really gonna fuck you up and then…"

A punch could be heard followed by a loud scream. " Fuck you Takachi. Go to fucking hell…" With that said the front door slammed but from the sounds downstairs it sounded as if the man was destroying every bit of furniture he owned. Suddenly all the sounds stopped and Yugioh could hear heavy footsteps on the stairs and he could sense Yugi's fear rising.

"Surly there was no way this man was going to beat his own child…what sort of demon." He muttered. "There is no way I will stand by and allow him to do that…" He concentrated on leaving the puzzle, but was surprised when he felt his connection with Yugi sever. Though he could still feel the boy, the connection was weakened and strained. He then realized that his hikari had removed the puzzle.

"Yugi…?" he yelled, worried for his other half. "Yugi, where are you?" he yelled, only to be answered by a death like silence.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N I'm not going to do the added part today because it's 1:46 in the morning and I'm both physically and mentally tired. Writing stuff like this is hard…anyway I may not be able to update again until Fri because today (Tuesday) and on Thursday I'm going to the Liberty game at Madison Square garden, but still check because you never know when dealing with me…~.^

Please R&R and I'm sorry about the cliffhanger. Maybe if I get a lot of review it will encourage me to post the next part early…I'm going to bed now…the screen is starting to hurt my eyes…plus is too friggin' hot in here!!!!!!!!! …Good Night and good reading (that sounded sooooo corny…zzz…zzz…night…