Disclaimer: I do not own Magic: The Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh, they are the property of their respective owners.

All right, a few notes:

First, to you non-Yu-Gi-Oh initiates, here's what's you missed:

Shadi is an Egyptian, possessor of the Millennium Key, which allows him to look into people's souls.

Yami's soul room is where he stays when he's in the Millennium Puzzle.

"Aibou" is a term used by Yami which means "partner".

The Shadow Realm is a gimmick invented by the American producers to rule out character death. In the American anime, the Shadow Realm is a place of endless suffering.

Finally, to clear up some questions about why Yami was so pissed at the end of the last chapter about Arrathir entering his soul room, it's all explained in this chapter.

Hope that cleared up some questions!

One more thing, text in italics will always be Arrathir thinking.

Arrathir backed away from the door as Yugi opened it, looking embarrassed. Arrathir peeked into the room; the other person who he'd seen was gone.

"How much did you hear?" asked Yugi.

"Probably more than I supposed to."

"OK," said Yugi "Come in and I'll explain everything."

Yugi sat down on his bed and began, "A few years ago, my grandpa gave me an old Egyptian puzzle. He said the puzzle granted a wish to whoever solved it. The puzzle was incredibly difficult, but I finally solved it," Yugi held up the necklace for Arrathir to see. "After I solved the puzzle, I began to feel like there was someone with me all the time. Sometimes I'd wake up somewhere and have no idea how I'd gotten there. Eventually, I found out that when I solved the puzzle, I released the spirit of an ancient pharaoh that was trapped in the puzzle. At first, I was afraid of him but after a while I learned that he was there to help me. I call him Yami, but he also goes by Yami Yugi or Yugioh. He was the pharaoh who banished the Shadow Games. He's pretty much my exact opposite. Whenever I'm in danger, he takes over my body and protects me and he usually duels for me since he's got more experience with Duel Monsters then I do."

"So what was that place I visited in my dream? And was he so pissed about it?" asked Arrathir.

"You were in Yami's soul room. It's where he stays when he's in the Millennium Puzzle."

"Wait," said Arrathir "He lives in your puzzle?"

"Yeah, he's a spirit," said Yugi "So anyways, how did you get into his soul room anyways?"

"I have no idea," said Arrathir "I fell asleep and woke up there."

"That's strange. Usually, only I can enter his soul room. Anyways, the reason why he was so angry about it is that the soul is a very private and sacred thing. By trespassing on his soul, you pretty much offended him to the highest degree. The only reason he didn't banish you to the Shadow Realm is because his powers are limited when he's in the puzzle."

"But what is the Shadow Realm?" asked Arrathir.

"The Shadow Realm is a place of great evil," explained Yugi "It's like a never ending nightmare. Imagine your worst fears come to life and you have to live there forever. It's not a pleasant place."

"OK, look, I'm sorry I went into Yami's soul room, but it was a freak accident! I never meant to! Can't I just apologize to him?"

"Well," said Yugi "you can try."

/Yami/

Yes, Yugi?

/Arrathir wants to apologize for trespassing into your soul room./

Aibou, let me talk to him.

/All right, you can take over./

"OK, Arrathir, Yami's gonna talk to you now, so don't freak out." said Yugi.

A blinding light came out of the Millennium Puzzle. It was so bright that Arrathir shielded his eyes against it. When the light faded, Arrathir looked at Yugi. He looked slightly different. He was a little bit taller and he seemed more menacing and his attitude was more aggressive. He looked like an older, braver version of Yugi.

"So, Arrathir," Yami said. His voice was deeper than Yugi's and full of confidence, "You wish to apologize for trespassing into my soul, eh?"

"Yes, you see, I was sleeping and I woke up in there. I have no idea how I got there! I'm really sorry if I offended you."

"Your apology is accepted, but I still wish to duel you to test you."

"Why?" asked Arrathir.

"It was no mean feat to break into my soul room. Only a possessor of a Millennium Item could do so, and you obviously don't possess a Millennium Item, do you?"

"No."

"They how do you explain you gaining entrance to my soul room?"

Arrathir decided to lay his cards on the table, "I come from an alternate universe. A world much like this one, but different. I got here through a cave near Domino City. My guess is that since I am made of a different kind of matter than that which is found in this universe. This may have somehow allowed me to, unintentionally, enter your soul room."

"An alternate universe?" asked Yami "Yes, I have heard of such a thing once. A reality separated from this one, with passages from one to the other. Well, since there is not other explanation for what happened, I am forced to accept this theory, but my challenge still stands! We will duel!"

"Fine by me," said Arrathir.

"You do know the stakes, right?"

"If I win, you forget what I did and if I loose, you look into my soul?"

"That's it."

This guy's weird. I guess I have to battle him. What the heck, I'll do it! He doesn't know my decks, so I can pull a few tricks that'll surprise him. If I loose though, what's this "look into my soul" thing, and why does he want to look into my soul?

"I accept your challenge," said Arrathir.

"Excellent. Now, we need to discuss how we will blend our games together."

"Well, the obvious," said Arrathir "No mana, and I guess instants and sorceries could work like trap cards."

"We'll have to boost your monsters' attack and defence by 500 to make them even with Duel Monsters stats."

"Yeah, and I can summon creatures for free, except, we'll have to toss out the tribute rule, since Magic doesn't have levels."

"Yes," said Yami "and we'll still play with only five monsters allowed on the field at a time. How many life points should we start out at?"

"10, 000 since all the Magic stats are being boosted by 500, it makes sense."

"All right," said Yami "Now we just need to get you a Duel Disk for your monsters. I'll need to borrow your cards so Seto Kaiba can reprogram a Duel Disk for your cards."

/Yami? Kaiba hates us, remember? How are we going to get him to make a custom Duel Disk/

Relax, Yugi. If we promise Kaiba a duel, he'll do it.

/Can I take over now, Yami/

Sure thing.

There was another brilliant flash from the Millennium Puzzle, and Yugi was back.

"So, first thing in the morning," said Yugi "We call Kaiba and ask him for a custom Duel Disk. Meanwhile, we should get some rest."

"I couldn't agree more," said Arrathir.

Arrathir grabbed his zombie deck from Yugi's desk and headed back downstairs. His head was reeling; knowing that Yugi had an alter-ego and that this ancient spirit wanted to battle with him in a game where the stakes were higher then what he'd ever played for was a little overwhelming. He promptly fell asleep.

The next morning, Arrathir woke up, and for a moment, did not recognize where he was. Then it all came back to him; Duel Monster, Yami, and the challenge. After wolfing down breakfast (toast and breakfast cereal), Yugi phoned Kaiba to ask him about the Duel Disk. Arrathir hung around, listening to Yugi's phone conversation, absent-mindedly shuffling his deck. He could hear Yugi arguing with Kaiba; it seemed Kaiba didn't want to bother with reprogramming a duel disk for a card game other than Duel Monsters. Finally, after Yugi promising him a duel, Kaiba agreed.

At noon, Yugi and Arrathir left to get the Duel Disk. When the reached Kaiba's mansion, Arrathir was stunned, "This guy's freaking rich! How old did you say he was?"

"About 17," said Yugi.

"Geeze, 17 and he's already a billionaire! How did this happen?"

"Long story," said Yugi "Maybe I'll tell it to you sometime."

They passed though the gates and into the house, Kaiba was waiting for them.

"Well, Yugi, I hope your little friend can duel, because he's gonna need it to beat you. Do you have your cards?" he asked.

Arrathir gave him his decks and Kaiba started looking through them. Arrathir tried to get a reading from his face on how he reacted to his cards, but Kaiba's expression remained emotionless.

"Yes," said Kaiba "I can reprogram a Duel Disk to accept these cards. It'll be ready by tomorrow. Don't forget Yugi, you owe me a duel."

"Whenever you want is OK with me," said Yugi.

As they left Kaiba and headed back to Yugi's house, Arrathir asked Yugi "What's the deal with Kaiba? Why does he seem to hate you so much?"

"I beat him in a duel a while ago," said Yugi "His ego was crushed and he became so depressed that he quit Duel Monsters for some time. Now, all he wants is to beat me in a duel so he can reclaim his title of greatest duellist."

"Yugi, if I loose, will you let Shadi look into my soul?"

"Well, you accepted the terms for the duel set by Yami, so I can't do a thing."

"Is it painful?"

"No," said Yugi "In fact, you won't even know it happened. It's instantaneous."

Arrathir didn't sleep very well that night. He kept going over his deck in his head, analyzing his strength and weaknesses, and plotting out combos. He was very nervous, but also very excited. For the first time ever, he was going to see his decks in real life action! He just hoped that Kaiba didn't loose or damage any of his cards.

Morning found Arrathir ready to go. He could hardly wait, and skipped breakfast because he was not feeling very hungry.

It's gonna be OK. You'll do fine. You know your decks; you can work well with them. Just hope for a good hand and do your best.

He watched Yugi eating his cereal and wondered how Yami was feeling. Nervous? Anxious at battling a new kind of monsters?

"Well," said Yugi "Guess it's time to go. Kaiba's meeting us at Kaiba Land with your cards and the Duel Disk."

"Kaiba Land? Does this guy have a huge ego or what?"

"You have no idea," said Yugi.

When they got to Kaiba Land, they picked up the Duel Disk and Arrathir's decks from Kaiba.

"I'll be watching this duel with great interest," he said "Yugi, are you going to let your spirit duel for you?"

"As usual, Kaiba," said Yugi.

They entered the duelling arena, a large field with a platform at each end. Yami took over Yugi's body and placed himself at one of the platforms. Arrathir went over to the other platform, and attached the Duel Disk to his arm. He took out his three decks and debated over which one to use.

Hum, my Elf deck is very good at gaining life, my Zombie deck is good at destroying creatures and brining back creatures from the graveyard, and my artifact deck is good for quick wins, but only if I've got a good hand and if I draw the right cards. I won't use my artifact deck because it's too risky, so Zombies or Elves? Let's go with Zombies. If things get rough, I can destroy his creatures.

He shuffled his deck and placed it in the deck slot. He and Yami powered up their Duel Disks, their life meters clocked up to 10,000, and they both drew their seven-card hand. Everything was ready.

"Let's duel!" said Yami.

To be continued…

Author's note: Sorry if this chapter seemed rushed, but I really wanted to get to the duel!