A/N: Well I'm back, sorry for the long wait. Let's just cut to the chase and add on the chapter. Thank you to Aquagirl007 again for all of her help.
(This part of the story is in Yami's PoV)
Walking down the street, hands in my pockets, my thoughts raced through my mind. A couple of days ago, I went to the museum with Tea. While we were there, a mysterious woman named Ishizu told me that I was a powerful pharaoh in the past, and that I had saved the the world from the "Shadow Games".
I have to enter the Battle City tournament; this is no longer just a game, but the only chance I have of unlocking my memories of my past.
Ishizu also mentioned to me that I may see people connected to my past in this tournament. I still am not quite sure what to make of all of this yet and I don't know what could possibly happen next. I don't feel prepared quite yet to tell Yugi, if he hasn't already found out. I would hate for him to get stuck in the middle of all of this. Suddenly, I bumped into someone, falling to the ground. Looking up I saw that I had bumped into a girl with tan skin, green eyes, and dark hair. I felt a strange feeling come over me: it was if I had bumped into one of my own friends.
"Shit," I swore as I got up. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"No, no. It's perfectly fine," she interrupted. "After all it was only an accident." I smiled.
"Do you need any help?" I asked as I reached my hand out to her.
"Sure." She grabbed my hand and I helped her up off of the ground.
"By the way," she started. "I'm Mana." I was about to introduce myself as "Yami", but I thankfully remembered that I was inhabiting Yugi's body.
"I'm Yugi, nice to meet you."
"Nice name." We started talking about all of the usual stuff I would talk about with my friends. We talked about the tournament, as well. She said she wasn't entering and that she was just sticking around the city to watch all of the experienced duelists. We started walking until we saw Tea, Mai, and Joey.
"Hey, there's Yug'!" Joey said. We quickened our pace and caught up with them.
"Guys, this is Mana. Mana, these are my friends Tea, Mai, and Joey."
"Nice to meet you!" Tea said.
"Anyways, d'you got your deck all ready for the tournament?" Joey asked.
"Of course. Mai what about you?" Mai crossed her arms.
"Well, duh. Who would show up to a tournament without their perfect deck?" I shrugged. We all started chatting about the tournament.
"So you're all duel-"
"There they are!" We all turned to see Za running to us with Ryou not far behind her. "I told you i'd be able to find them!" When they finally reached us, they were out of breath.
"Some greeting to give an old friend." Mai said. Za looked up confused, but she soon realized that Mai was addressing her.
"Oh, hi Mai!" Mai gave her a little wave. Tea nudged me.
"Aren't you going to introduce them to Mana?" Tea whispered.
"Of course! Mana, this is Ryou and Zazunum."
"Hi, are you two duelists as well?"
"Me, no." Za said.
"I am." Ryou said.
"I guess we can't all be duelists, huh?" Mana said with a smile towards Za.
"Oh, uh, yeah." Za said. I guess Za didn't catch the joke. Come to think of it, Joey and Za seem a little unsure about Mana. Well, we'll work on that. We started walking again until Joey stopped us in front of a coffee shop.
"Hey, that guy is dressed just like one of those freaks who stole my Red Eyes!" Joey pointed to a guy in a dark purple cloak in front of the shop with a laptop open.
"What?" Ryou asked.
"Yeah, he must be one of them- what did he say they were called- Rare Hunters!" Joey said.
"Rare Hunters?!" Ishizu warned me about them. I can only imagine what the encounter must've been like for Joey. We all walked over with Joey. Za gasped.
"Joey's Red Eyes," She began. "Joey was right! This guy has his Red Eyes!" Sure enough, just to Joey and Za's claims, the Red Eyes was on the table in front of the Rare Hunter.
"Give me back my Red Eyes!" Joey said. "I'll even duel you for it!"
"I won't duel you, Wheeler. But I will duel Yugi Motou here," The Rare Hunter said. "so how about it? We duel, if you win, you get the card back. I win and I get your rarest card: the Dark Magician!" How does he know my rarest card? I don't really want to offer up my magician, but I'll do it for Joey.
"I accept your challenge."
"Yugi no! Don't risk your card for mine!" Joey protested.
"Joey it's fine. I have to duel for my destiny." Joey nodded.
"Be careful, Yug'! These guys are all snakes!" I smiled at Joey and began my duel with the Rare Hunter. It took me some time, but I realized that he was dueling with an Exodia deck, much like I did before. Now knowing his deck, I can defeat him. The duel took quite some time, as the Rare Hunter was very strong, but I managed to defeat him. I heard my friends congratulate me. I go over to the Rare Hunter to retrieve Joey's card. As I go through the cards, something rubs off on my fingers.
"These cards have been marked." He must have been using some kind of ink to cheat. I grabbed Joey's Card. The Rare Hunter grabbed his head and screamed. A gold eye appeared on his head and a voice that wasn't his own was speaking to me.
"Congratulations on beating my Rare Hunter. However, he is the weakest of my duelists. I've waited for years, but now i'll finally destroy you, Pharaoh!"
"How are you doing that to this guy?" I asked.
"All Millennium Items have powers. Mine has the power of mind control." Could this person be the evil that Ishizu warned me about?
"My name is Marik. Do not forget. Enjoy the game while it lasts." With that, the Rare Hunter fell to the ground, unmoving.
"Here's your card-"
"Keep it."
"But Joey-"
"It's not mine to take. You deserve it. Think of me whenever you play it." I walked back to the group of my friends. Za was still looking at the Rare Hunter. She appeared to be slightly disturbed and in thought.
"Everything okay?" I asked.
"Uh, yeah." She said. She shook her head and smiled to ensure that she was fine. We all walked off, hoping to be ready for anything else that could possibly come our way.
A/N: Well there it is. I hope it was worth the wait! Please review, rate if you would like. Until next chapter.