Disclaimer to the FFnet staff and those who might report this to them: I humbly submit that, while this is not a work of fiction in and of itself, I am offering it for readers of my crossover series who may not be familiar with one or more of the involved titles, so that hopefully they may still enjoy my fan fictions rather than skip them over. If there is a serious problem with this or you have a suggestion for how better to handle this, please let me know! I am a very open-minded person and eager to work things out when/if there is conflict. Thank you. DD

Yu-Gi-Oh! – In the 1960's, one could find grand adventure and excitement if one only knew where to look. For an impetuous Japanese gambler by the name of Mutou Sugoroku, that ultimately meant going deep into the sands of Egypt, to the timeless Valley of the Kings.

Over time, more than 60 tombs had been discovered, most of them ransacked of their fabulous wealth. There remained, however, one tomb no graverobber or archaeologist had ever penetrated – The Tomb of the Nameless Pharaoh. All that had been gleaned from extensive study was that he lived sometime in the 18th Dynasty of the New Kingdom, 1,000 years before the birth of Christianity's Jesus. Not even the years of his reign could be pinpointed nor could his father or a son be determined to attempt to place his own time on the throne. His rule was short-lived at best and, for unknown reason, every last trace of his existence had been successfully wiped from the annals of history. All that remained was his impenetrable tomb, on which a British royal archaeologist from the turn of the century had only one comment with his dying breath – "the Shadow Games."

The tomb itself was a work of genius – a lethal maze of supernatural puzzles and games no one had ever survived. It was that challenge that Sugoroku sought, being as yet undefeated. In fact, he had gone so far as to have sworn to himself that the day he ever did lose a game was the day he traded his tuxedo for denim overalls and collected years instead of gambling chips. To date, he had never lost a single game – nor would he lose that night. The reason he gave his two companions was one he had developed over the years –

"Shows what you know," he had replied to the comment that a tux hardly suited one for grave-robbing. "Games are my life. Cards . . . chess . . . I've spent my life in gambling dens and casino cruises and I always treat my opponents with respect." He knew even then that he was preaching to a brick wall for all that his companions believed him, but it was the truth nonetheless. Though it applied to every kind of game whether it involved cards or not, it was a belief he had developed first at the gambling tables and so referred to as "The Heart of the Cards" – a belief he would later pass on to his grandson and in ways he could never have imagined, though it all began that fateful night.

His companions were a pair of grave-robbing brothers he had hired to lead him to the Nameless Pharaoh's Tomb. In return, they got whatever treasure they found within. Sugoroku truly was not interested in the treasure. He would never forget his thoughts that night as he prepared himself for what lay ahead – "I've traveled the world, defeating every opponent at any game I played. There's a legend in the game world of a hidden 'game room' in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. Untold honor awaits the one who conquers the most dangerous tomb in all of history . . . Here is a puzzle that no one has ever solved! A challenge of honor!!" Had he known what his actions that night would mean for his only grandchild, 30 years later, would he have gone through with that challenge? He would always wonder though he could not fully regret, fearing that Fate had been conspiring against him and his grandson all along.

The Lady Luck smiled on him that night all the same, and Sugoroku navigated the labyrinth successfully, though his companion's dark and greedy hearts cost them their lives to the "Shadow Games." There was a chamber beyond, but he did not bother to explore. He had done what he came to do, taking as a token a small box of solid gold within which lay a collection of golden, angular objects – a three-dimensional puzzle of some kind. The only clues were in the hieroglyphics on the sides. One set was a riddle, one that would come back to haunt and to support time and time again – "something that can be shown but not seen." On the front, around the Eye of Horus, read, "The one who solves me shall gain the powers and knowledge of darkness."

Thirty years later, at seven years old, Sugoroku's grandson found the box hidden back in a corner of his grandfather's game shop while playing one day. Having inherited his grandfather's skills and affinity for games and puzzles of all kinds, he claimed the box for his own, determining to solve what his grandfather told him was called the Millennium Puzzle. Sugoroku had tried half-heartedly to keep the Puzzle from the child, but it was the only thing his grandson had ever asked of him and he just did not have the heart really to take it back. Perhaps that was also part of Fate's game. Besides, he felt fairly sure that the boy would never solve the Puzzle.

For the next eight years, though he put his heart and soul into the attempts, Mutou Yugi could not solve the Puzzle, and even his Grandpa finally began to root for him in secret. Yugi did not know what could be "shown but not seen" and could not read the hieroglyphs on the front – he eventually stopped asking when Grandpa refused for years to tell him – but he felt sure that it said something like, "Whoever solves this puzzle will be granted one wish." Whether or not it truly said such a thing did not matter. He knew what his wish was and felt sure that it would be granted if only he could solve the puzzle.

Yugi wished for friends. Even as a first-year in high school, he never had many real friends. He had known Mazaki Anzu since they were in elementary school but even she saw him as something of a "little kid," even at fifteen. One could hardly blame her, either. He was no taller than a middle-schooler, his physical growth severely stunted. Because of it, he was self-conscious and painfully shy, playing alone with his puzzles and games when he was not the subject of cruel bullying by the bigger kids.

Then, one night, he solved the Millennium Puzzle . . .

Yugi went through periods of blackouts in his memory at times, starting the night he solved the Puzzle at last. Just earlier that day, a big thug of a bully had beaten him up for standing up for two others who had harassed him themselves mere hours before. Those two had really only wanted to help toughen him up, teach him to be a man, but the thug was looking for money and willing to go to awful lengths to get it. That night, Yugi solved the Puzzle . . . and remembered no more until morning. No one could tell what had happened to the thug when he was found the next morning in a pile of leaves and garbage, ecstatic over all the money he thought he had. He was taken away to a mental hospital.

Yugi had awakened a spirit residing in the Puzzle, a spirit who responded to injustices it sensed that threatened Yugi or his friends. At first, this spirit only revealed itself in secret, dealing justice to wrongdoers in the form of various games of chance and power – "Shadow Games." Even Yugi remained unaware of the spirit's presence for a long time, nor did the spirit seem much cognizant itself of the other, primary soul residing in the host body. It was an avenging ghost, taking care of the bad guys as necessitated and withdrawing when the matter had been resolved. In time, however, the spirit would come into its own . . .

The primary cast of the series includes Mutou Yugi, 17, third-year high schooler and keeper of the Millennium Puzzle, which holds a power to draw together those around it. He has learned that it is but one of a set of seven Millennium Items – a Scale with the power to weigh a person's soul and expose lies; an ankh-shaped Key which could allow a person to step mentally into another's mind (his/her Soul Room) and even effect changes that can control that one's mind and behavior; a Ring which, among other things, could seal a person's soul into a shaped object; an Eye with the power to see into a person's mind and thoughts; a Torc (type of necklace) which could read visions of the future as well as bring forth memories of the past; and a Rod or Scepter with the power to control a person's memories and mind. Actually, Yugi is on the verge of learning of the Rod's existence, as the Spellfire Saga picks up on the eve of Kaiba Corp's Battle City Duel Monsters Tournament . . .

After solving the Puzzle, Yugi made the friends he so desperately longed for, though it would become a point of minor debate between him and another (the spirit) whether this was because of the Puzzle's power or his own gentle and caring heart. Yugi's closest friends are Jonouchi, Honda, Anzu (known in the dub as Joey, Tristan, and Téa, respectively) and Bakura. By canon, they are all 16 at the start of the tournament, and I am guessing that there is probably a year-and-a-half, at least, from the start of the series up to the "Battle City" story arc, but I have constricted the timeframe down to under a year. They are all 17 at the start of the Spellfire Saga.

Jonouchi Katsuya was more of a street brawler than anything before befriending Yugi – proud, boastful and hot-headed (still is, to an extent). His parents are divorced, his little sister Shizuka taken from him when his mother left, leaving him with his alcoholic, gambling (and probably, I wouldn't be surprised, abusive) father. Jonouchi has special permission from the school to hold part-time jobs to try to pay off his father's debts and keep the collectors at bay (many schools actively forbid their students from working, believing that it detracts from their studies). He still maintains the dream of seeing his fractured family whole again one day.

Honda Hiroto has been Jonouchi's buddy since middle school, often bailing Jou out of a fight when his pride and his mouth gets him in up to his teeth. Steadfast and level-headed, Honda can be the voice of reason of the group - when he isn't picking on and insulting Jonouchi in that way only close male friends can do. On one occasion in the anime, he and Jou get into one of their usual spats, wrestling and hurling insults, and Yugi starts to ask them not to fight, but Anzu says to just let them go at it, that it's their bizarre (read: 'macho') way of showing each other that they care. Yugi just hopes that they don't care for him like that!

Mazaki Anzu is a bright, sweet girl with quite a feisty side to her. She's not a fighter in any sense but she won't run, either, keeping up with her male friends rather admirably – even managing to keep them in line at times. Her unwavering belief in her friends is often their strength. She has known Yugi the longest, though to this day she is unaware of the crush he has had on her since elementary school. Instead, she is smitten with another, the "other Yugi." Anzu aspires to move to New York in America one day to study dance.

Bakura Ryou is a recent transfer student to Domino High School, where the others attend – a well-mannered, soft-spoken and caring boy if a bit of a lovable klutz, shy and self-conscious at times, who honestly does not know what to do about the girls who flock around him due to his looks and sweet nature ("I'm not good with girls"), and is a skilled gamer in his own right, including a card game called Duel Monsters. This is not his first transfer, either, as he has been forced to change schools more than once. In the anime, he does not seem to really meet Yugi and friends until they are already on Duelist Kingdom Island but, in the manga, he is by their side the whole time as a full member of their fellowship. In the manga, he loves a tabletop role-playing game called Monster World . . . but every time he has played, his friends wind up in comas. Even though he tells Yugi and the others of this, saying he does not want to lose any more friends and warning them to stay away from him, they think he just needs cheering up and they show up on his doorstep, suggesting they play his game. Bakura tries to warn them off but, then, Dark Bakura takes over.

Bakura's father brought his son a gift from one of his trips to Egypt, not realizing the power and danger of the item. It was the Millennium Ring. Like the Puzzle, the Ring is possessed by an entity – only this one is cruel, evil and, while he does not remember his roots either, he has been awake and quite active for some time. He is a master in wielding the power of his Item and is more than a little knowledgeable about all seven Millennium Items. He is intent on collecting them, too – starting with Yugi's Puzzle.

When Bakura began to warn his new friends to leave, Dark Bakura took over in time to convince them to stick around. Too late, Yugi and the others realized the trap into which they had walked, when their souls were sealed into their own lead character miniatures. Yugi himself was the last to have his soul separated from his body and Dark Bakura thought the game won – until Yugi proved to have two souls! Yami stepped up to the plate, gaming to save all their souls, including Bakura Ryou's when they discovered that there are two souls in his body as well, warring at that point for control. Bakura has since become a close friend of all of them. He still retains the Millennium Ring and it, in turn – unknown to him or the rest of the group – still retains the spirit of the evil thief intent on owning all seven Millennium Items and the untold power they can unlock when brought together.

The last of the core group – though by no means the least! – is the spirit of the Puzzle himself. He is often referred to in the English dub (only in the English, not the Japanese) as Yami Yugi ("Dark" Yugi). Both versions have also named him Yu-Gi-Oh on occasion. Yugi's name literally means "game" and the kanji "oh" is "king," so Game King or King of Games – and Yami has yet to lose a single one he has played, regardless of how close he has come. So has Yugi, for that matter, completely separate from the spirit. Yugi was unaware of the spirit's presence for some time but eventually began to suspect that another "self," a darker aspect of his soul, resided somewhere within him, awakened by the solving of the Puzzle. He came to realize that the blackouts he experienced were probably the "other him" coming out. It was some time before he became fully aware of his "other self," and even longer before the other self was fully cognizant enough to acknowledge him. Not only have they finally discovered one another over time, they have come to realize that the spirit is not just another aspect of Yugi's character and personality but a separate entity altogether, one who retains absolutely no memory of his own history. Still, Yugi has "known" him as "the Other Me" or "My Other Self," and the rest of the gang have called him "the Other Yugi," for so long that the spirit answers to those without thinking about it – he introduces himself by the name "Yugi" if asked, even though he now understands that's not correct.

(And, yes, I will start calling him Yami myself but –"wait . . . for . . . it . . ." ((grin)) )

Another important character in the series, if a minor one, is Mutou Sugoroku, Yugi's grandfather and owner of the Kame ("Turtle") Game Shop, a small store selling all kinds of old-fashioned games and unique toys, as well as some of the hotter products on the market. The word "game" appears in English over the store front, so I guess the Japanese would pronounce that the "kah-may gah-may" shop? ((shrug)) I don't know. I guess he was finally defeated in a game, though, somewhere along the way, since he has indeed traded that tux for a pair of denim overalls, just like he said he would. As grandfather and grandson share the same family name, I'm guessing that Sugoroku is his paternal grandfather, making Yugi's mother Sugoroku's daughter-in-law. Her name is never given in the manga or anime, so I have named her Michiko on my friend Crystal's (Shadowjack2) suggestion in honor of a dear woman she knew from doing ceramics. The Mutou's home occupies the space behind and above the store in the same, small humble building.

Kaiba Seto is the primary antagonist throughout the series. Who has not heard of the rich kid who wields the immensely powerful Blue-Eyes White Dragon? There were only four copies of its card ever printed and he holds three of them. He was the unrivaled champion of Duel Monsters, the card game that runs through the series, until Mutou Yugi defeated him, not once but twice, and would have taken their third game had he not been forced to forfeit. An orphan adopted by a cruel tyrant of a chess master and mogul of a multi-million-dollar munitions manufacturer, 17-year-old Kaiba has since taken over the corporation and completely overhauled it into a massive gaming company. Its crowning achievement has to have been the holographic simulation technology developed alongside American-based Industrial Illusions' wildly popular trading card game, Duel Monsters (originally named "Magic and Wizards" in the manga – yes, in the manga and anime, the card game is actually an American import! LOL Sorry, I just find that ironic and funny, somehow).

Throughout the English-dub scripting of the series, Kaiba absolutely refuses to acknowledge what is right under his nose but, in the original script and especially in the manga, Kaiba is not nearly so self-blinding – or so condescending to Yugi. I will be keeping far closer to his Japanese character than the arrogant ass FUNimation (edit/not/ FUNimation; it was 4Kids) has made him to be. Although Yugi remains a rival in his eyes, Kaiba really has a great deal of respect for him as a fellow duelist (if the only person he respects). During Battle City, he will also come to realize that there are two fully separate and independent souls who inhabit his rival's body – and he will experience for himself the power of the Millennium Items. By canon, at the end of Battle City, he will reach a sort of equilibrium with Yugi and a peace with himself of which many fans who have only had opportunity to follow the show via Cartoon Network may not be aware. That is the direction I will be following with him and carrying further in the Spellfire Saga.

Kaiba Mokuba is Kaiba Seto's little brother, younger by five years. Again, his character saw something of a makeover going into the anime, especially by the dub scripters. Mokuba loves his older brother with all his heart, but he is not at all blind to Kaiba's faults and is often torn between his loyalty to his brother and the friendship he feels towards Yugi and company, having realized the truth of their personalities and recognized their sincerity some time ago. Still, "Big Brother" comes first and always will. He was a pretty brutish little kid when first encountered in the manga but, as with so many around them, Yugi's compassion and Yami's sense of honor left their indelible marks on him, and he has become an influential voice to Kaiba on their behalf.

As a bit of a side note, the name Kaiba mentioned alone always refers to the older brother, Seto. Mokuba is identified by his given name. The same is also true of Jonouchi and Shizuka.

Jonouchi Shizuka is the comely little sister of Jonouchi Katsuya, two years his junior. She has a congenital condition that she has known from birth would eventually take her eyesight. That time finally came and she sent a video letter to her big brother because she could not see him in person "one last time." Jonouchi entered the Duelist Kingdom Tournament alongside Yugi (two months ago according to my modified timeline) to win the prize money to pay for an operation that could save her sight. Between the two of them, they managed to win that prize money and, at the beginning of "Shards," her operation was just yesterday. She will be able to remove her bandages this weekend and she has decided that the first thing she wants to see is her brother dueling in Battle City. Much to his chagrin, Jou's long-time friend Honda has a terrible crush on her, as will one Otogi Ryuuji.

Otogi Ryuuji (Duke Devlin in the dub) is another character who has come to hover around the group, their friendship having surprised and honored him. Though the same age as the rest of the primary cast, and another classmate of theirs, Otogi is also a business owner of a big-ticket gaming store, inherited from his father, selling all the latest and greatest and even owning a few of Kaiba Corp's holographic Solid Vision dueling arenas. Besides Duel Monsters, his arenas are modified to handle also a game of his own creation, Dungeon Dice Monsters. At first, it was feared that the Black Crown gaming store would put little Kame Game out of business, but Otogi and Grandpa have realized that they market to different, if overlapping crowds, so the Kame is safe. When Battle City was first announced, Otogi was in America promoting DDM but has returned to catch the action firsthand. He will meet up with Honda and a bandaged Shizuka who are on their way from the hospital to find her brother in the midst of the tournament.

The last of the secondary characters to be mentioned – though, again, by far not the least – is Kujaku Mai (dub Mai Valentine). Yet again, Mai is someone whose hard shell was cracked by the generosity and sincerity of the core players. Once a sworn loner disillusioned with life in general from a very young age, Mai's only friend was her "Harpy Lady," the central monster card of her Duel Monsters Deck. Then she met fellow Duelists Yugi and Jonouchi, and they have taught her what it is to be wanted and cared for again. Her Dueling skill just about rivals Yugi's and Yami's, and she has a sense of honor they both deeply respect. She and Jonouchi especially have a thing for one another, though it has not developed yet to the point that either is ready to admit to such a crazy thing, let alone act on it.

The "Yu-Gi-Oh!" card game that you and I can go and purchase at any grocery store or game shop actually exists in the series itself, as "Duel Monsters." (No, this is not the same as "Duel Masters" which, while I could be sorely mistaken, I strongly suspect is a rip-off of "Yu-Gi-Oh!", published by the same company that produces "Magic: The Gathering.") As I mentioned, Yugi and Kaiba are masters at the game, as are Jonouchi and Mai. Anzu, Bakura and Otogi are really good, too. Yugi's favorite card is a rare "monster" card called the Dark Magician. Now, to say that he is "Dark" does not mean that he is evil, just refers to the element from which he draws his power, the other five being Earth, Air, Water, Fire, and Light. In the original Japanese, he is called the Black Magician. Yugi (or rather Yami) is very well known for his use of his favored Dark Magician in a Duel.

Something that Yugi and company are slowly learning more and more about is that the card game "Duel Monsters" is a direct recreation, as a collectible trading card game, of the ancient Shadow Games. Of course, some of the cards such as machine-based cards and cartoon-based cards are (obviously) new creations, but the core cards of the game such as Yugi's Dark Magician and Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon were once used in the real duels of old!

Regardless of how fully aware the gang is of the connection their favorite card game has to the Millennium Items, there is a concept in which Yugi believes very strongly – has for some time – and that is the "Heart of the Cards." It's something his grandfather, also a master game player, instilled in him, as I touched on at the beginning. So long as you believe in your cards, they will not let you down. What Yugi – and Yami – do not realize is that they tap into the power of the Shadow Games just a tiny bit when they relies on the Heart of the Cards to see them through an important Duel. Belief in the Heart of the Cards has done such things for them as allowed them to draw exactly the card they need, the only one that can save them, no matter how improbable - even impossible - drawing that very card might have been. Then again, belief is at the heart of any magic ability and spell-casting . . .

Oh, one more thing – with the exception of the concept of the Shadow Realm, I will be sticking closer to the original Japanese material than the American dub. There is no destiny-has-brought-us-together-to-save-the-world-from-utter-destruction talk (heehee – at least not yet!). On the other hand, the original Japanese did not have the Shadow Realm, either. The Shadow Games were games played via the power of a formless Darkness, but the Shadow Realm is a creation of the writers of the dub script. There is an awesome website that summarizes all the episodes and gives great detail (while being respectful to both versions) on the differences between the American and Japanese versions.

In and of itself, Yu-Gi-Oh! is a fabulous storyline that does not nearly get the credit here in America it deserves as something far beyond a little kids' show. I blame FUNimation for that. ((grrr)) (Edit: See below.) I cannot recommend it highly enough if you are not already familiar with the storyline up to or beyond what I have discussed here. Something in the software of this site, fanfiction-net, doesn't like you to put web addresses in the body of text that gets posted in these file sections so I can't post them here (or maybe just haven't figured out how) but if you want some great links, including the one I mentioned above, email me and I'll be happy to share them.

EDIT: Heya! Got an apology to make. I made a wee mistake. I said in the above paragraph that FUNimation edited Yu-Gi-Oh!, and blamed them for some of the complaints I have with the dub version of the series. I know it was done by 4Kids Entertainment, but I was under the impression that 4Kids is a subsidiary or something of FUNimation, so that ultimately it was FUNimation's doing (kinda like anything Touchstone does ultimately goes back to Disney, or something). Recently, I had the opportunity to talk to representatives from FUNimation at Comic-Con International in San Diego (my home town). FUNimation is a distributor as well as production company. They directly produced the uncut Yu-Gi-Oh!'s but were the distributors only of the original edited dub. They are not otherwise associated with 4Kids. So the dub is all on 4Kids Entertainment.

I've added this edit rather than make the correction to my original comments because I wanted to give credit to Pharaonic Wolf for pointing this out to begin with in their review. Thanks, Pharaonic! ((GRIN))