Disclaimer: I do not own Magic: The Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh, they are the property of their respective owners, however, I do own my character, Arrathir!
Wow, this story's hit the 50-review mark! Thank-you! This was originally supposed to be a one-shot fic, but it has grown into much more.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Dominaria?" asked Arrathir, "The land of Magic?"
"Yes," said Khell "I've been watching you, Arrathir."
"Wait a second," said Arrathir "You mean Magic's real?"
With all that has happened so far, this has got to be real.
"Yes," said Khell "The card game you call 'Magic: The Gathering' is a link to my world. When you battle in your world, you are actually wagering battles, where the creatures are real, the attacks devastating, and the carnage horrible. The outcome of your battles influences the fate my world."
"So, with all the battles I've won with my zombie deck, I've been aiding the Cabal."
"Yes," said Khell "But do not worry, the other races of Dominaria have enough force to keep the spawn of the Pit in check. What you must realize is: Magic is not a game. Every loss depletes our resources, every victory aids us."
"Wait," said Arrathir "You said you were an Avatar, but I don't remember you."
Khell looked embarrassed, "All right," he admitted "I am more of a Mage."
"And what deck do you play with?" asked Arrathir, slapping himself mentally as soon as he'd asked the question.
"Ah, what kind of Spellcaster I am? I specialize in Wurms," said Khell.
"So what are you doing here?" asked Arrathir.
"A spell I attempted to cast backfired and separated me from my world. I found myself here, with all my spells as cards. I wandered around for weeks until I found you by following the radiation of your manna. I've been watching you. I saw your duels, you have some powerful decks, unimaginative maybe, but effective. I had to find you to warn you that a great evil is stirring. I sensed it the moment I entered your world."
"Who is this?" asked Yugi, who had just arrived.
"Oh, Yugi!" said Arrathir "This is Khell, he's a Mage from the world of Magic." Arrathir quickly told Yugi about what had happened.
"A new evil?" asked Yami, who came out in spirit form "It seems Yami Marik has returned. Without the God cards, however, he is powerless. Especially since Marik gave me the Millennium Rod after Battle City."
"Where did you come from?" Khell asked when he saw Yami.
"It's a long story," said Yugi " Why don't we go back to my house to talk."
The others agreed, and they set off for the Kame game shop. When they reached the store, it was almost midnight. The lights were out in the store and the front door was locked. Yugi slipped his key into the lock and opened the door. Yugi walked to the light switch across from the door and flicked it. The lights came on, revealing the body of Solomon Mutou lying on the floor.
"Grandpa!" shouted Yugi, kneeling beside the body.
Khell leaned down and felt the old man's neck. "There's a pulse," he declared "He's only unconscious."
Khell and Yugi carried Solomon to the couch while Arrathir went into the kitchen to grab a wet towel. When he entered the kitchen, he felt a draft. Looking around, he saw back door was open, and the cool night breeze was coming through. Puzzled, Arrathir closed the door, grabbed a dishcloth and soaked it in cool water. He returned to the living room and gave the cloth to Yugi who applied it to his grandfather's forehead.
"Yugi, any idea why the back door would be open?" asked Arrathir.
"The back door's open?" said Yugi.
"Well, it was. I closed it."
Yugi thought for a few second, and suddenly rushed away. His footsteps pounded up the stairs, then Yami shouted something in a strange tongue.
"Yami?" yelled Arrathir over the steady stream of screams coming from upstairs "What's wrong?"
Obtaining no answer, only more words that by their intonation and volume were probably curses, Arrathir sprinted up the stairs and into Yugi's room. The room looked like a pack of Armodons had stampeded through it. All the furniture was overturned, much of it was broken, and the bed's mattress had been slashed open, along with the pillows, whose feathers were scattered around the room. The closet had been emptied and Yugi's clothes lay strewn about the room. There were several holes in the walls that seemed to have been made by smashing Yugi's desk chair against the plaster.
Someone's been looking for something.
Yami was standing in the middle of this mess, cursing. When he saw Arrathir, he calmed down a little.
"What were they searching for?" asked Arrathir.
"They found it," replied Yami "The Millennium Rod is gone. I know who's behind this: Yami Marik. He's back and he's reclaimed his Millennium item."
"So what's the big deal?" asked Arrathir "Some psycho got hold of an ancient Egyptian artifact, big deal!"
"You don't understand!" roared Yami "The Millennium Rod can be used to control the minds of people. Yami Marik wields great power with it!"
"Well said, Pharaoh," said a voice in the doorway.
Arrathir turned and saw a boy, about his age. He was wearing a purple cloak and his tanned face was framed by long white hair whose crazy spikes almost rivalled Yugi's insane hairdo. He wore a lot of jewellery; around his neck were several gold bands, he had large triangular earrings, and lots of bracelets. In his purple eyes, Arrathir saw hatred…and madness. He was holding a golden rod that came to a point at one end. The other end had a large ball on it and from the ball spread two wing-like projections, like large pointed ears. On the ball was the same symbol he's seen in Yami's soul room, the eye…
The eye of Horus…
"Now, Pharaoh, give me the Puzzle, or watch your friend die!" said Yami Marik, aiming the Millennium Rod at Arrathir.
"You know you can only acquire the power of a Millennium item by winning it," said Yami.
"Well, let's go then."
The dark spirit pulled out a Duel Disk and slipped a deck of cards into it.
"You'll never win, not while I have two God cards in my deck," said Yami.
"Well, that's where I see things a little differently," said Yami Marik, with an evil grin.
The eye of Horus appeared on his forehead, and Arrathir's legs became enveloped in darkness. Arrathir screamed as an unbearable pain pulsed through his feet.
"You know the drill, Pharaoh. My lifepoints are bound to your friend. As my lifepoints drop, he passes into the Shadow Realm."
That means if Yami wins, I'm screwed, but if he looses…I'm screwed either way!
Yami glared at Yami Marik. "Don't worry, Arrathir," he said "I won't let him banish you to the Shadow Realm."
"Ready?" asked Yami Marik, sounding bored.
"Battle City rules?" asked Yami.
"If you want."
"Let's duel!"
YAMI: 8000
YAMI MARIK: 8000
"I'll go first," said Yami Marik "I play Executioner Makyura (1600/1200) in defence mode (A/N Remember, they're playing by the Duel Monster rules), and I'll play once card face down. Go."
"I summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior (1400/1700) in attack mode," said Yami "Then I'll play once card face down (Bottomless Trap Hole). Now, Alpha, attack his Executioner!"
The magnet warrior charged Makyura, but as he was about to strike the foul beast down, a giant spiked wheel strapped itself to the body of the warrior.
"I activated my trap card," said Yami Marik "Nightmare Wheel! This card prevents your monster from attacking and deals 500 damage to your lifepoints during my turn!"
Damn! Every turn, Yami's going to loose life, and I'm gonna get closer to the Shadow Realm.
"My turn," said Yami Marik "First, Nightmare Wheel deals 500 damage to you,"
YAMI: 7500
YAMI MARIK: 8000
Arrathir winced in pain as the darkness crept up his leg to his ankles.
"Then…"
Yami Marik was interrupted by a crash as Khell broke through the door, riding a Plated Slagwurm.
"All right, this game's gone on long enough," said Khell "Release him."
Yami Marik was shocked, then he brandished the Rod and fired a purple beam at Khell. The beam bounced off the Slagwurm's hide as if it had been a pebble.
"Fool," said Khell "The Plated Slagwurm can't be the target of spells or abilities an opponent controls!"
Yami Marik snarled at Khell, and then he snapped his fingers, releasing Arrathir from his shackles of darkness.
"We'll meet again, baka," he snarled at Khell.
He grabbed his deck and jumped out the window. The sound of a motorcycle speeding away was heard echoing in the night.
"Thanks, Khell," said Arrathir, who was still amazed to see a Magic creature come to life.
"You have powerful magic," said Yami "To be able to summon monsters into the real world."
"Yeah, yeah," said Khell, as if it was nothing "Who was that freak?"
Yami explained about Yami Marik and what had happened while Arrathir checked his feet. Afterwards, Yugi took over and went back downstairs to check on his grandpa.
"How did you do that?" Arrathir asked Khell, once Yugi had left "Summon a creature to the real world like that?"
"It's how I summon creatures in Dominaria, it seems to work here as well," said Khell "I was coming up to check on you guys, and I saw a bit of what happened. I didn't like that guy, and what he was doing to you wasn't very nice, so I decided to teach him a lesson."
"Can you teach me?" asked Arrathir "To summon creatures into the real world?"
"I don't think so," said Khell "Spellcasters are born, not made."
"Try me."
Khell hesitated, "Why should I teach you?" he asked.
"Because," said Arrathir "If you say there's evil brewing, I'll need to be able to defend myself!"
"All right, I'll try."
To be continued…
Author's note: Well, another chapter done. If anybody has any plot suggestions, I could use 'em (starting to have a serious writer's block). What do you dislike about this story? What do you want to see in it? Review! I promise I'll think about your ideas. Note to Khell, I know you don't have a Plated Slagwurm in your deck; I took a little liberty with that. Oh yeah, 'baka' is the Japanese word for 'fool' or 'idiot', FYI.
