Wow. I sure haven't been here for a while. My bad!
Okay, I was poking through my giant pile o' manga (yes, I do have one, actually) and was re-reading the Yu-Gi-Oh mangas...and I got to volumes 9 and 10, which features the game wherein the Puzzle gets smashed.
Now, I know I've already done one of those, but this one is for the manga instead of the anime. (Plus my writing kind of sucked back then) I tried to stay truer to the original series, so I hope you all enjoy it!
Disclaimer: Yugioh not owned here
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"I don't know," Yugi said as he prepared to hook the ends of the chain to the loop of the Puzzle, "It's really thick. Won't it be odd looking?"
It was the only one they had, wasn't it? murmured the now-familiar voice of his other self, And you insisted on using something more sturdy than the cord.
"True," Yugi agreed, turning his attention towards attaching the chain without accidentally damaging the precious Sennen Item in the process.
After some effort, it was done. Yugi hung the Puzzle around his neck, pleased to see that the chain had turned out to be just the right length after all. He still wasn't comfortable with how flashy it ended up looking, but…
"YUGI!"
Grandpa's voice, only slightly muffled from coming from outside, cut into Yugi's thoughts with ease.
"ANZU'S HERE TO PICK YOU UP!"
Yugi's stomach did a quick belly-flop.
"I'll be right down!" Yugi yelled back.
Before heading outside, Yugi paused to check himself in the mirror. And grimaced. The chain DID look ridiculous - just his luck when he was getting to walk to school with Anzu!
I think it looks good on you, aibou!
"Of course you do," Yugi replied, "But really, isn't it flashy?"
Yugi could almost see his other self shake his head. Yugi could definitely detect the wolfish smirk that suddenly bloomed on the other's face.
It's still too subtle, if you ask me, mou hitori no Yugi grinned, You should try wearing some silver chains on your arms to go with it!
"C'mon! You know that's not my style at all!" Yugi exclaimed.
Yugi's face was still red with embarrassment as he charged outside to where Anzu was waiting for him, his other self still merrily teasing him all the way. After all the stress from fighting in Duelist Kingdom, this was a nice change…even if it turned out that Yugi's other self did enjoy indulging in plenty of light-hearted teasing now that they had figured out how to talk to each other.
As her son dodged past her, Yugi's mother shook her head and sighed. Really, her sweet, shy son had finally made many good friends, but he was talking to himself so much lately. Maybe it was just a phase…
…
"Ryuji! You've got some guts messing with my friend right in front of me!"
Yugi settled back to watch. This was a disappointment…Ryuji seemed like a good gamer, and it would have been nice for them to become friends, but he had been completely cruel to Jonouchi. There was no call for that! His other self was just as indignant at their friend's treatment.
"You'll be playing me now, Ryuji," mou hitori no Yugi snapped, "If I win, you'll do one thing I ask you to."
Ryuji shrugged.
"Fine. But if you lose…you get to answer to me."
"Alright."
Ryuji seemed to ooze even more confidence at this challenge. And he'd already been very confident when he'd challenged Jonouchi to the "Cup and Dice" and "Four Aces"…speaking of which…
Are you going to play "Four Aces" with him? Yugi asked.
'Hmm? Why do you ask?' his other self replied.
I don't know why, Yugi hesitantly offered, But something about that game just doesn't seem fair to me…
The look Yugi got from his other self was nothing short of proud.
'Ah, I'm glad you noticed it aibou!'
Huh? You mean…
'Both times, Ryuji set up a shell game against Jonouchi. Those are cheating games, titled in favor of whoever initiates them,' his other self explained, 'For example, "Four Aces" appears to have 50-50 odds, because people are fooled by drawing twice in a row. But once you've drawn the first card, no matter which color, there is only one of that color left in the other three cards.'
So the real odds are…one in three?
'Right!'
Now Yugi felt even angrier. Bad enough that Ryuji was being cruel in victory, but he had set Jonouchi up for this right from the start!
"We'll play "Four Aces"," Ryuji said, scooping up the four cards and beginning to shuffle them.
"You'll add a Joker to that," mou hitori no Yugi interrupted.
This version of the game proceeded quickly. It was color matching again, but the person who picked the Joker automatically lost. As it turned out, that unlucky person was Ryuji. Ryuji demanded a rematch, and drew the Joker in that game as well.
They were just getting up to leave when Ryuji, who had been fuming over his losses, exploded.
"Yugi! Is this some kind of - of shell game!" Ryuji spluttered, gesturing angrily at the scattered cards on the desk. Mou hitori no Yugi paused and turned back slightly, a sly look on his face.
"…Maybe."
"Huh? Shell game?" Jonouchi blinked.
"An unfair game with terrible odds," mou hitori no Yugi explained for the blonde's benefit, "Jonouchi, you lost those games because they were rigged."
"WHAT! That no good dirty cheater! Thinking he's so hot at winning rigged games…"
Mou hitori no boku? Yugi piped up, Was your game a shell game too?
'What do you think it was?'
I'm not sure if it was or not. Also, you never seem to mind cheating as long as the other person does it first.
'If my opponent has an unfair advantage, then I have to even the playing field by having one as well. It's hardly cheating when you do it that way.'
…
First, the Black Crown store had been so crowded that Yugi had gotten completely separated from his Grandpa and friends. That might have been tolerable - even if this DDM game looked so popular that there was no way for him to get anywhere near a pack before they sold out - but just as that helpful clown mascot had helped him get ahead in line, these security guys had dragged him off in seconds, claiming that he'd been stealing!
"There's no way I was shoplifting!" Yugi insisted, "I don't steal!"
"Well, just to be sure, we need to search you," one of the security guys said, "And we'll just hold onto THIS as collateral until you're proven innocent!"
Without any further warning, the security guy yanked the Sennen Puzzle off Yugi's neck by the chain. The annoyance Yugi had been feeling pooling out from the back of his mind spiked with rage in an instant, only for the feeling to fade away to nothing in another.
Before Yugi could fully process this, the other security guy suddenly 'found' packs of DDM in his jacket pocket. There was, of course, no way they could be there, even if Yugi had actually tried to take them without paying - ALL the packs of DDM had been kept behind the counter to keep people from doing just that! Before Yugi could point this obvious fact out, another voice interrupted.
"This is a serious problem," said the voice, "It appears that under that innocent mask is the face of a thief."
This voice belonged to the clown mascot - so much for him being helpful! - who was now holding the Sennen Puzzle.
"I didn't steal anything!" Yugi protested, "Give me back my Puzzle!"
"Little boys who won't say 'sorry' need to learn their lesson the hard way!" the clown sneered, "Take him away!"
This clown was apparently the boss; the security guys dragged Yugi out the door and further away from his Puzzle without hesitation. Struggling proving useless, Yugi tried to focus inward instead. With the Sennen Puzzle gone, switching control to his other self was impossible. But they had already proven that their souls could never truly separate under much harsher conditions than these…
Muffled and out of focus, the feeling of his other self's presence strengthened as Yugi focused on it. The other was as much inside Yugi as he was inside the Puzzle, if not more, and it took only a few brief moments before the frustration and anger Yugi was sensing gave way to surprise, and then confusion and relief.
'Mou hitori no boku? Can you hear me? Are you alright?'
…Hear you…barely…
It seemed that their newly found ability to speak with each other wasn't quite up to this challenge, even if their bond was strong.
Anymore attempts at conversation had to be put on hold, unfortunately; the security guys still hustling Yugi along stopped at a door, opened it, and shoved him through before slamming it shut behind him.
Wincing at the uncomfortable landing on the unpadded floor, Yugi found himself in a dark, windowless room. The only light was coming from a lamp hanging over a wide table. A familiar figure was seated at the far side of the table, clearly waiting for Yugi's arrival.
The whole thing, Yugi realized in a heartbeat, had been a complete set-up.
…
Oh, he was sore.
Sensing the impending loss of the Puzzle, he'd tried to jump for control. It was an emergency, Yugi would have understood - if they had switched in time, the Puzzle's loss would have had no impact on his presence in Yugi's body at all.
Unfortunately, quick as he had been, someone else had been quicker. The experience had been similar to bouncing off a solid wall; unpleasant and painful. Well, he was stuck now, and there was no sense dwelling on it.
Much more worrisome was how, while the bond between their souls was still as strong as ever, his and Yugi's ability to communicate was still new and fragile, and this was straining it terribly.
Before, this situation wouldn't have been quite as distressing - this wasn't the first time Yugi had had to play solo to win back his own Puzzle - but they had grown quite comfortable speaking on a regular basis. He could still watch the game, as always, but losing his 'voice' was unbelievably frustrating.
So it was a relief to discover that the straining connection still worked, at least partly.
Yes, I can hear you just barely, he'd replied.
Less than half of that had made it across, but he worked on that during the game until it was smoother. Even with that, the connection actually hurt when it was pulled so taunt. He could feel how the discomfort was unsettling Yugi, distracting him when he needed to concentrate on the game, and fumed. Where had they PUT the blasted Puzzle? If it were any closer…
Something answered that unspoken wish. The strain eased slightly. The Sennen Puzzle was closer now…not in the room unfortunately, but just outside it.
Good enough. Tuning back into the game, he listened as Ryuji related a very interesting tale. So, this was all a product of Ryuji's father's failed attempt to take the Puzzle? A long-kept grudge…such a pity, Ryuji really did have a true gamer's fire in him…but he and Yugi were meant to be each other's second selves.
He had no sympathy for fools who tried to stand in the way of that fact.
Don't give up, no matter what happens!
'I won't! Count on it!'
"Ryuji! I FORBID you to lose to Sugoroku's grandson!"
Someone else had entered the room. The clown - Ryuji's father, and the man behind this entire scheme. He was holding the Sennen Puzzle in his hands, and the strain eased even further with the proximity. That should be a good thing…why did this make him uneasy?
When the man began raving about his son's worthiness to own the Puzzle, Ryuji showed surprising character by insisting that his father stay out of the fight. Unfortunately, the man decided to show his son that he could be of 'help' after all, and set about attempting to pry the Sennen Puzzle apart into its pieces.
No chance for that to work. Even in this state, as long as he kept his will stronger than this man's, the pieces would hold firm. Unfortunately, this one was focused in his rage, and it was harder than it should have been…
'He's not…Mou hitori no boku!'
Aibou, get the Puzzle away from him!
The struggle was intensifying…this was starting to hurt…
'Hold on!'
…Trying…
'Mou hitori no boku!'
…Hurry…
Too late.
"Ngghhh! Take THIS!"
All the festering hatred and vile rage of a ruined man with a twenty-year grudge and nothing left to lose crashed into him from almost every direction. Too much…this was too much…it was -
Gone.
A blinding pain ripped was left of his concentration to shreds as a piece of the Puzzle slid out. He gave an involuntary cry at the shock -
Another piece, removed with ease this time, tore his voice out of his throat.
Then the world shattered, each piece tearing through him. It was a moment of perfect agony…and then there was nothing. Nothing but himself, alone in the cold and the dark.
Couldn't move, couldn't see, couldn't scream…was this death?
There was no way of telling how long he lay there, the vague and uncertain impressions flitting just out of reach the only sense he had of the outside world.
The impressions slowly grew stronger, though…faint hope began stirring as the cold began dissipating, as life began returning to his weakened limbs. The Sennen Puzzle wouldn't let anyone else solve it…so that meant…that had to mean…
The outside world rushed through him for the barest instant that passed between Yugi's completion of the Puzzle and his collapse. The world outside was blistering heat and stinking smoke and unless someone did something, they were definitely both going to die.
He held onto their chain, their bond - still too weak, there was nothing else he could do - and waited.
It was almost a surprise to hear Jonouchi at the other end. Jonouchi was trying desperately to save Yugi, but Yugi wasn't letting go of the Puzzle and the Puzzle was stuck…
…Jonouchi…
Jonouchi heard him.
…
"He held onto it the whole time. He wouldn't let go of the chains…"
…
…
…
(Sorry, my endings haven't gotten any better, unfortunately)
Explanations for the Unaware:
Mou hitori no boku - The other me (what Yugi actually calls the spirit in the Puzzle)
Mou hitori no Yugi - The other Yugi (what other people actually call the spirit in the Puzzle)
Ryuji - Duke Devlin's real (Japanese) name
Anzu - Taya's real (Japanese) name
Jonouchi - Joey's real (Japanese) name
Sennen Puzzle - Millennium Puzzle