Chapter One: The Dream (or was it?)

"Yugi? Yugi, please wake up."

Yugi slowly opened his eyes and found the Pharaoh's spirit gazing down upon him. "Pharaoh? What's wrong?"

"Just look around."

Yugi suddenly realized that he wasn't in his room-in fact, he didn't appear to be anywhere. He and the Pharaoh were surrounded entirely by darkness, except for three other familiar figures sleeping nearby, one of whom muttered, "Hey! Dat's my pizza! Hands off!"

Yugi bolted up and ran over to the pink-clad figure. "Téa? Téa, wake up!"

Téa slowly opened her eyes, and as she did, the spirit of the Pharaoh vanished. "Yugi? What are you doing in my hou-" She also bolted upwards. "Wha-where are we?" she cried, her blue eyes filled with terror as they glanced around the darkness.

"I don't know, but Joey and Tristan are here with us. C'mon, help me wake them up."

Téa nodded and ran over to the brunette, while Yugi went over to the blond. "Tristan? Tristan, get up now!" Téa yelled into the brunette's ear.

Tristan also bolted upwards. "Huh? Wha? Who- Oh man, where the heck are we?!"

"We're not sure."

"We?" Tristan turned and saw Yugi shaking Joey by the shoulders.

"Joey? Joey, wake up!"

"Not now, Yug…I've gotta have one of dose banana splits…"

"JOEY, WAKE UP!!" cried the three awakened teens in unison.

Joey jumped three feet into the air and right out of his sleep. "Ouch! Geez, what's wit da yell- Oh man, please don't tell me we're in de Shadow Realm or sometin' like dat."

Not at all, a voice said from the darkness.

The four looked around and realized suddenly that a small bright light was gleaming above them. The bright light widened and became almost blinding, forcing the four to shield their eyes against it. Within the light, they could just make out three shadowy figures standing before them.

"Who-who are you?" Yugi asked.

You have no need to fear us, the same voice replied, strangely sounding as though it was coming from inside of their heads. We have not brought you here so that we may harm you.

Yugi heard the Pharaoh's spirit murmur in his mind, I believe they are telling the truth, Yugi. I don't sense any evil coming from them.

Knowing the Pharaoh had the ability to sense evil forces, Yugi turned to his friends. "I think we can trust them, guys."

"You sure, man?" Joey asked, surprised by Yugi's almost immediate trust in the strange beings. Tristan and Téa looked similarly shocked.

Yugi nodded. "Yes, I'm sure."

Téa glanced up at the three figures. "Who are you three? And where are we, exactly?"

A different voice now spoke. "Who we are isn't important at the moment. As for your location, you are in a Dimension which we have temporarily created so that we may speak to you."

"What in de world do you guys want wit us?" Joey asked.

We need your assistance in dealing with a slight problem that has occurred in your world, the first voice said. A problem of the balance between reality and fantasy.

"Aw, geez, more magic insanity?" Joey moaned, slapping a hand to his forehead.

Let us explain, please. Your world is supposed to have a set balance between the real and the unreal, one which is supposed to be manageable enough so that the heroes and heroines of your dimension will be able to keep the magic at bay. However, tonight we have discovered that the balance is tipping in fantasy's favor, thereby making the magic much more powerful, and more possible to be discovered. Discovery of the magic could lead to chaos in your dimension, since it has not been accustomed to magic for thousands of years now.

"But what's that have to do with us?" Tristan asked.

You teens-especially you two, keeper of the Millennium Puzzle and spirit of the nameless Pharaoh-have been exposed to far more magic than any other member of your Dimension. You would be the only ones able to accept that it is existent. Therefore, we want you to become the defenders of the Dimension who protect it from any kind of supernatural evil and, at the same time, ensure the magic stays secret.

"Waaait a second-how de heck are we supposed to protect our Dimension or whatever from magic if we don't even have any ourselves?" Joey asked. "Except maybe Yug and the Pharaoh…"

We shall give it to you.

The four teens stared at the figures. "You could actually do that?" Yugi asked in awe.

Of course, as long as you use it for what we want you to use it for.

"Give us a minute, please," Yugi said. He turned to his friends. "What do you think, guys?"

"I dunno…" Joey's voice trailed off. "I'm not quite sure I wanna get involved wit even more magic insanity dan we already have…"

"Yeah, neither am I," Tristan said.

"I think we should," Téa said.

The three guys looked at her in shock. "HUH? You want us to do dis?" Joey yelled.

"Um, Téa, aren't you supposed to be the sensible one here?" Tristan asked.

"I know all of this seems crazy, but those three are right-we have had a lot of exposure to magic, probably more than anyone our world, and who else could they find who would be able to deal with it and accept it? Plus, we've also dealt with evil beings before…"

"But dat was different! It was wit cards!" Joey cried.

"Téa's right, though, Joey," Yugi said. "If we're the only ones who can deal with magic, then we should accept this offer."

"And besides," Téa grinned, "since when have you been one who wouldn't accept a challenge?"

Joey's eyes narrowed. "Hey! I don't ever back down from a challenge! Fine, I accept dis too, even if it is nuts!"

The three looked at Tristan. "Well…it's insane, but if we're really the only ones who could do it...then I'm in too."

As am I, the Pharaoh said to Yugi. If there's more evil approaching, then I want to be sure that it's stopped immediately.

Yugi nodded, then turned back to the three shadowy figures. "We'll do it."

Excellent.

Then, suddenly, four orbs appeared from out of the white light. The four orbs glowed with different lights, one blue, one green, one orange, and one pink.

The orbs hovered over the stunned teens for a second, then shot towards them. Before any one of them could react, the blue one passed into Yugi, the green into Joey, the orange into Tristan, and the pink into Téa.

Yugi felt a strange warmth pass through him as the orb entered his body. The warmth spread all throughout him, creating a strange sort of powerful, wonderful feeling. He closed his eyes and swore he could feel his body hovering over the ground.

Thank you for doing this, Yugi heard the first voice say. Goodbye, and good luck to all of you…



Yugi bolted upwards. He found himself still lying in his bed, the Millennium Puzzle clutched tightly to his chest. He looked around, seeing absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.

The Pharaoh's spirit appeared, sitting at the foot of Yugi's bed. "Yugi, are you all right?" he asked.

Yugi nodded. "You saw all of that, didn't you?"

The Pharaoh nodded.

"So…it was all just a dream?"

"I suppose so."

"What a strange dream to have…ah, well…" Yugi slowly climbed out of bed. "I should get ready for school."

The Pharaoh's spirit vanished. Yugi placed the puzzle around his necked and, yawning, walked out of his bedroom.

He didn't notice that as he pulled his bedroom door shut, blue sparkles came off from his hand and fell onto the doorknob.