Fan Fiction / Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The Fourth God ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

The Fourth "God"

A Yu-Gi-Oh!/X-Men: Evolution crossover fic.

Written by Rogue Moon

"The history of the Games were said to have started some five thousand years ago in Ancient Egypt.

In those days, the Games were played to predict the future Pharaoh, and to decide his -and others'- fate.

Those black magic-like rituals were called 'Shadow Games.'

And now the Millennium Puzzle has a young man to play the Shadow Games.

Light and Darkness.

A boy with two minds.

He is the Game King.

The Millennium Puzzle is activated…

And the Shadow Games have begun!"

*****

Chapter One

"Oh, come on! Like I'm really going to believe that, Kurt! Get real!" Kitty Pryde, hopeless romantic and genius high school student by day, 'Shadowcat' of the X-men by night or whenever, pushed the fuzzy by nature boy away from herself. She had been happily channel surfing in the living room of the Xavier Institute, when the blue, furry elf had bamfed in next to her and proceeded to read to her an article about myths of ancient Egypt.

Kitty grabbed at the magazine, "Here, give me that! Letsee… Kurt! This was written, like, seventy years ago! And all of it is based on speculations of what certain hieroglyphics might have meant. Emphasis on the 'might.' Now if you don't have any real information to share with me about the research into what Mesmero is trying to do in Egypt, then leave me to channel surf in peace!" She tossed the magazine behind her and settled down to enjoy her view of the surfing contest currently going on in Honolulu.

Kurt quickly retrieved his magazine, "but Kitty! What if it's true? At least in part? It might explain some things. And…Kitty! Please just listen!"

"Listen to what?" Scott Summers, field leader of the X-men, asked as he strolled into the room.

"To what this article says about some myths of Egypt surrounding something called the 'Sennen Set.' I think it might give us some clues as to what Mesmero is trying to 'unlock' with all the keys he's been collecting."

Scott thought for a moment, shrugged and sat down on the couch, "Read away."

Kitty let out an exasperated sigh, "Couldn't this, like, wait? I'm trying to get in some quality babe watching time here! Oh, never mind, it went to commercial. Might as well go ahead."

Kurt smiled triumphantly, "The article says that in ancient Egypt there existed an evil force so powerful, that only a great Pharaoh with mastery over the 'Three Gods of Shadow' and 'The Shadow Games' was able to seal it away. And only at the cost of something greater than his life. The result was the formation of many sets of treasures. (I believe the spider stone is one of them.) But the most prominent and famous is that of the 'Sennen Set.' Seven items within which was sealed the power of the great Pharaoh. Each set of treasure was created and then separated to ensure that the evil force could never again be resurrected and…"

"Okay, Kurt, shut up. Shows back on."

Kurt rolled his eyes at Kitty, grabbed Scott and bamfed them into the kitchen. "Anyway, as I was saying… The Sennen Set consisted of seven items. Only one of which was ever recovered within the tomb of the Pharaoh. It was found by a British Archeologist team. A box filled with its pieces. The Millennium Puzzle. After it was removed, all the members of the team died under mysterious circumstances. And the last one said with his dying breath, 'The Shadow Games.' And that's not all! The box with the puzzle pieces had an inscription that read 'The one who solves me shall gain the knowledge of Darkness. The one who solves me shall inherit the Shadow Games. He will become the Guardian of right and pass judgment on evil.' Also, it's thought that if someone posses even one of the items, they will have the power to shape they world as they like. …Pretty spooky, huh?"

Scott grinned, listening to Kurt get worked up over old myths was just as much fun as watching the cheerleaders practice in short skirts. Okay, not quite as fun, but close. "Sounds interesting all right. But the article mentions seven pieces to this set. What does it say about them?"

Kurt sighed and hung his head, his tail going slightly limp behind him, "That's just it, Scott. While I know this set has something to do with Mesmero, I haven't been able to find anything on the other six items, outside of them being mentioned in this article. And in here there is only speculation on what they might be. Possibly a 'Key,' a 'Ring,' and some sort of 'Eye' are the only ones even mentioned other than the Puzzle. What the last three are, no one outside of the Pharaoh, and his guardian family know. Who his guardian family is, there is no mention."

Scott rested his chin in his hand and screwed up his face in thought, "What you've found so far, I think has merit. If there's another 'Key' out there that Mesmero wants to use to unlock whatever it is he's been trying to unlock, I think we should definitely look into it. Even if it ends up being nothing, at least we've covered it. Have you talked to the Professor?"

"Not yet. I… didn't want to go alone. I… didn't want him to laugh at me."

"Kurt… He wouldn't do that. And besides, you put some effort into this, I'm sure he'd have the same reaction as me…"

"You really think so?"

"Yeah. Come on! We can go talk to him now."

"Alright… if you say so."

*****

"Get your hands off the remote! Hey! I was watching that!"

Spike leaned back on the couch, "Too bad. I claimed this time slot three weeks ago just so I could watch the Duel Monster tournament. It's the first time Kaiba is allowing his new Duel Disc to be publicly shown. And only for the final match. And besides, it's rumored that the new World Champion will be there."

"I thought last years world tournament was aired publicly. Wasn't he on then?"

"No. He beat the former World Champ in a private match. He then went on to beat the very creator of the game in the Duelist Kingdom tournament. And after that he won again at the Battle City Tournament hosted by Seto Kaiba, the inventor of the Duel Disc system, which is being used for the first time in public during today's tournament. This will be the first time the current World Champ has ever been seen outside of a tournament. The only thing released about him before this has been his name."

Kitty rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, muttering to herself, "At least I'll get to drool over Kaiba, he'll probably be at this thing if his technology is."

"Shh! It' starting!"

Kitty didn't want to admit it, but she had been following Duel Monsters in secret and was extremely curious to see what the World Champion looked like. Some Japanese boy name Yugi Motou. ~I hope he's hot.~ That, and she really wanted to see what kind of technology Kaiba Corp. had been able to think up that could possibly make the game any more interesting than it already was.

The screen fuzzed for a moment as the feed went to a pre-recorded shot of Domino City Square, where the tournament was being hosted this year.

"Welcome to the Tenth Annual Duel Monsters World Tournament! Unfortunately Game fans, the rumors that the Champion of Duelist Kingdom would be competing today are false. Sorry for disappointing you all, but it seems the Duel Monsters Game King is a bit shy. He even insisted that we hide his face during the exclusive interview we had just a few minutes ago. That's right folks, although he won't be participating in this tournament, he will be watching and cheering on his friends and rivals! And now, our exclusive interview just for the game fans state side. Here he is! Yugi Motou!"

The camera panned to the right, revealing a boy whose face was mosaiced out, but still looked no older than thirteen, mostly because of how short he was. His dark red, almost black hair was spiked up, probably using three pounds of gel. Around his neck was a thick black dog collar. His shirt was a half-zip, black tank with a high collar, and around his left upper-arm were two more 'dog-collars.' He wore two belts at his waist, one to hold his dark, dark blue shiny leather pants on, and one more for fashion that hung loosely on his thin hips. He wore knee high black leather army boots and on his wrists were more mini-belts and gold bracelets. A few simple gold rings gave a final touch to complete his look.

Kitty stared in fascination, "That is the World Champion of one of the hardest mental games on the planet? He looks like a punk!"

The interviewer waved to someone behind the camera and a nondescript Japanese man of around thirty stepped into view. "Mr. Takahashi will be the interpreter for our interview.

"Yugi, how about we start off small? Could you tell us your age?"

"15, almost 16."

"15? Really? No offense, but you don't look it."

"I'm short."

"Ha ha, that you are… anyway, our viewers are wondering what kind of deck you use. Rumor has it you have Exodia."

"Well, no, and yes. I used to have Exodia, but a mean spirited player made me loose three of the pieces. Then I re-acquired a full set during the Battle City tournament. The cards are in my deck, but I don't rely on it as a means to win. I don't need it to win."

"Amazing. So what do you rely on? What's your favorite card."

"Well, Black Magician is my favorite. But most of the time, I rely on Kuriboh."

"Pardon? You rely on, who?"

"Kuriboh. He allowed me to win against Mr. Pegasus Crawford at Duelist Kingdom."

"He did? Wow. Kuriboh has to be the weakest card in the game, too. Speaking of Duelist Kingdom. One of the prizes was a cash sum of about three million dollars, U.S. funds. Can you tell us how you've been spending it?"

"Oh, I haven't spent any of it. I gave it all to a friend of mine."

"You… Gave away three million dollars?"

"Yes."

The interviewer was in silent shock and so were Kitty and Spike.

"Three million and he gave it away?" Rogue whispered, completely aghast as she came up from behind the couch and around to the floor in front of the TV. "Kids' got to be some kinda saint."

Kitty and Spike both put their fingers to their mouths, "Shh!"

On screen the interviewer recovered from his state of catatonia and cleared his throat, "Um, why?"

"Oh, my friend's sister needed to have an operation so she wouldn't lose her eye sight and the procedure was very expensive. I wasn't in the tournament for the money and didn't need it anyway, so I gave it to my friend so he could pay for his sister's operation."

Logan leaned against the door to the living room, the Japanese catching his attention.

"Wow… why did you enter the tournament, then? If not for the money…?"

"To help someone else. Someone very important to me."

"Oh… um… give me a moment, I have to find my place…

"Ah, yes! Could you tell us about the Duel Disc system being used at this years' tournament? Before this, duels have been being done in large Holo-stadiums."

"The disc is a bit intimidating at first. Mostly because of how realistic the holograms are. You can see them, smell them, hear them breathe. It's truly amazing what Seto has been able to do. He is one of the people I respect the most. And the Duel Discs add so much more reality to the game. It's incredible how many people won't ever play with the Discs after their first time using them."

"We're almost out of time, so I'm going to skip over a bunch of other questions to address an issue that has recently made headlines in the U.S. What do you think of mutants? In general."

Yugi shrugged, "I don't really know. I'd have to meet one first, and I don't believe I have. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a great many duels to cheer Katsuya, Mai and Kaiba through, even if Seto doesn't like it!" With a final wave to the camera, Yugi trotted off through a pair of nearby doors and made his way down to the dueling arena.

"Well how about that?" Rogue smirked and leaned back against the couch, having to wedge her body between the legs of Jean and Bobby, who had joined the group shortly after she had sat down. "Kid's willing to give us a fair chance."

Jean lightly kicked Rogue's shoulder, "Not everyone in the world has mutant-phobia. Kid's got a strange taste in clothes, too."

Kitty giggled, "It looks like he's trying way too hard to go Goth."

On screen, the camera switched to a live feed. "We're here at the Duel Monsters World Championship. The Semi-finals have just ended and the final match between Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jonouchi will begin in a few minutes. If you would like to view the tournament up to this point, we will be showing the footage continuously from 7pm eastern to midnight. This has been a long, exciting and exhausting tournament, folks; and the best part is about to start."

The camera panned to the open floor about ten feet away where the two duelists were getting into position. Kaiba barked something in Japanese to Katsuya. Jou smirked and shot back a laughing retort, making Kaiba give him a death glare. A moment later translators were brought on screen for when the match started.

The living room went quiet as the two opponents cut each others decks, then activated the duel discs.

Kitty tilted her head to one side, "That Katsuya guy is pretty cute."

Spike rolled his eyes, "Don't you ever stop thinking about guys?"

Kitty stuck out her tongue, and on screen the match started.

Kaiba spoke and his translator went to work, "I will win this. As good as you have gotten, I am still better." Kaiba kept speaking long after the translator stopped talking.

In the back of the living room, Logan rolled his eyes and walked up to the back of the couch, "They certainly cut that translation short."

Jean leaned her head back, "What do you mean?"

"I mean they left out a great many insults that punk just gave the blond."

Kitty looked at Logan sideways," You can understand them?"

"Un-huh."

"So translate for us," She ordered, picking up the remote and switching to the Sun channel, which was airing the same thing, only in Japanese, and without the annoying translators.

Logan rolled his eyes again and leaned against the back of the couch, he didn't have anything better to do.

" 'Just shut your trap, Kaiba. Now make your move so I can get on with creaming you .

'As if you could, you whiny little dog. I'll have you down on the ground where you belong by the time I'm done. And by then, you'll be begging for mercy. Mercy I will not give to a sniveling puppy. Now, I'll lay one monster, face down in defense mode, and two other cards face down on the field.

'And I'll play two cards face down as well, Kaiba. And just so's you don't get the idea that you're intimidating me or anything, I'm playing my monster in face up attack mode. I summon the Baby Dragon!' "

The air between the two shimmered and the monster appeared in all it's three dimensional glory. Jaws dropped in the living room of the Xavier Institute. The kind of technology being shown was thought to be years away from realizing. Or rather, it had been. The orange-ish creature was adorable, horrible and completely opaque. In the big stadiums, the monsters were fairly translucent. This technology was simply beautiful.

Logan snorted, "They're wasting that on a card game?"

All the students glared at him and Rogue harrumphed, "Just translate, will you?"

" 'A desperate move already? I thought I'd at least get two turns in before you started to sweat. Guess I shouldn't give puppies the benefit of the doubt. It's my turn now and I think I'll place yet another monster in face down defense mode onto the field.

'I'll lay one more card face down on the field and summon another monster. This one I got I from a friend of mine. His name's Kuriboh. And I think I'll pair him up with another card I got from that same friend. It's a magic card called mul-ti-pli-ca-tion."

Kaiba gave Katsuya a glare that could give Pegasus chills. Then he drew a card and a smirk of complete satisfaction came over his face.

" 'I was right, you weren't able to get this far on your own. You needed little Yugi to help you by giving you yet more charity. First he gives you Time wizard, then he gives you the money from Duelist Kingdom, and now he gives you one of his signature combos. You really are a whimpering dog, begging for scraps. I'll flip over my Lord of Dragon and equip him with the Flute of Summoning Dragon to summon two Blue Eyes White Dragons from my hand to the field in face up attack mode. Then, I'll play Polymerization to bring forth the Ultimate Blue Eyes. It's your turn."

Katsuya didn't look worried in the least and simply drew another card. This pissed Kaiba off even more.

" 'I'll lay a forth card face down on the field, then I'll play a third monster in face down defense mode. Go ahead Kaiba.

'I will draw my card and end my turn.

'I'll play Polymerization myself, and summon the Black Demon Dragon, then equip him with the Dragon Claws, which were placed on the field, and the Dragon treasure. I'll then play the Yami Field card, changing the field to dark and giving my monster a power boost, bringing his attack points up enough to equal your Blue Eyes. Your turn Kaiba.

'I'll flip Sagi, the Dark Clown and place him in attack mode.

'Aw, too bad you can't pull off that Crush card combo you're getting ready to do.

'What? Of course I can!

'I've seen you play that one time too many, and I've come prepared to deal with it. So I'm going to play my trap, the Fissure card! Bye bye Sagi!

'Damn you! I play Pot of Greed, and draw two cards. It's your turn.

'Is that all you got? Heh, you know something, I think I'll play Just Deserts. Take 500 points of direct damage for every monster you got on the field. Aw, your life points are to 1000, while mine are still sitting pretty at 2000. Your turn."

Kaiba drew a card, the look on his face was one of mixed determination, hate, and oddly enough, joy.

" 'I play Rageki. And since this years' tournament allows direct damage if there are no monsters on the field, I wipe out your life points with my Blue Eyes.

'Nice try, but I still had one card face down on the field. It's a trap called Wokobu.

'Guess the puppy lives to get kicked another day. It's your turn.

'I'll play Time Wizard. Go Time Roulette!

Seconds passed and the small student body of the Xavier Institute leaned forward as a group. The Time Wizards' spinner slowed.

Then stopped.

On time warp.

Kaiba looked stricken as his monsters started to decay and turn to dust, " 'You will pay for destroying my Blue Eyes.

'Bring it on Kaiba. I'm at the top of my game and ready for anything you can throw at me!

'Are you so sure of that? After all, it's my turn now. And I play one monster in face down defense mode."

*****

Scott and Kurt headed back upstairs via. the elevator, "Sorry Kurt, it's never been this hard to find the Professor before."

"It's alright. I just wish we knew where he was so I could teleport straight there."

"I wonder where he could be…" Scott slapped his forehead, "I just remembered! He's at school, talking to someone about the student exchange program. Remember! Kitty got picked to go to Japan, and some kid from over there has to come live with us in return!"

"Oh, man. You mean we have to wait? And…Wait. We have to host an exchange student?! For how long?"

"Two months."

"What?!"

"Kitty has to go over there for the last quarter of the school year, and whoever is coming from over there has to stay as long as she does."

"You mean, we'll have to hide who we are… in our own house?! It's hard enough for me to get through a day at school, and now I'll have to watch myself at home?"

"Aw, it won't be that bad. And besides, it's not like the guy will be able to, you know, get into the danger room, or anything."

"Yes, just like 'Arcade' did at our party, you mean?"

"But Professor Xavier will be here, so he'll know if anyone will be trying to enter. We'll be fine, and it's still a couple months away. We'll have stuff figured out by then. Now, since we can't find the Prof., how about we talk to Logan?"

*****

" 'I think you're losing you're edge, Kaiba. Admit it, I've got you on the ropes. Why? 'Cause I'm using everything I've ever learned about Duel Monsters, and I trust in the heart of the cards, just like Yugi's always saying. Can you say the same? I don't think your hearts in this game, Kaiba. Usually you wipe me out right off the bat. What? You too distracted by this puppy dog's eyes? I told you when I was entering that I wasn't going to hold back. I got my pride. I think I'll play one monster face down on the field myself. Now you can go. I've said my piece.

'I will play Tremendous Fire, causing 500 points of damage to myself and 1000 points to you. Now you're down to 1000. And I think I'll get ahead of you by using Dian Keto, the Cure Master.

'Aw, man…

'But I'm not done yet, not by far. I flip the monster I placed face down last turn.

'Cyber Jar? Damn.

'You know the rules, puppy.

'Shut up, I'm drawing.

'I special summon two monsters onto the field.

'I'll special summon three.

'I'll play my final magic card of this turn. Reborn the Monster! Arise, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Now, it's your turn

'I'll attack one of your face down monsters with the Swamp Battle Guard. And the other with the Lava Battle Guard.

'You destroy two of my monsters, but there's still the Blue Eyes to worry about.

'Did I say I was done? I got me a card here that will keep your over-grown hydra at bay. It's called Gravity Bind.

'Nice try, but all I have to do is play my Remove Trap and my Blue Eyes can attack your two monsters who are in attack mode. Meaning I can do damage to your life points with his attack. And since you have no cards on the field, you can't play any traps. I win.

'Yep. Guess you do. I still held my own, though. So I'm good. Congratulations.'"

Logan pushed himself up, "Looks like it's over. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find something better to do."

"Thanks!" Kitty called, waving without looking back, her other hand switching the channel back to the English speaking one.

Spike was the next to speak. Well, shout really, as he let out a 'whoop' of triumph. "Did you see that!? The odds of it! And Kaiba! Even after his Blue Eyes was wiped out!"

"Can you believe that technology? It was so realistic! I can't wait to go to Japan!"

Bobby looked sideways at Kitty, "You're going to Japan?"

*****

Yugi ducked under the cordon separating the duelists from the crowd and ran for his best friend, enveloping Katsuya in a tight hug, "That was great, Jou!"

Anzu and Hiroto ran up as well, but came to a stop about a foot away from the two. Yugi was the only one who could really get away with just running up and hugging someone. He was so short and light that he didn't run as high a risk of knocking people over.

Katsuya laughed and hugged his best friend right back, "Thanks Yuug! I didn't win, but that's been the longest I've ever held out against Kaiba. Maybe next time I will win. Thanks again for trading me those cards."

"No problem. The extra Shield and Sword you traded for them will come in handy in future duels and… Oh! Hey Kaiba! Congratulations."

Seto Kaiba crossed his arms and sneered, "Wasn't much of a win. I had been looking forward to beating you. You ready to go, Anzu? I promised Mokuba I wouldn't 'dawdle' after the match and let him run through my virtual world. And you," the teen turned to Katsuya. "If you ever make a comment suggesting I see you in any way more than annoyance, I'll stop what ever I'm doing and pound you into the ground."

Jonouchi half-smiled, "If you can get away with calling me a puppy, then I get to make fun of you. You and Mazaki here will be going to the party Yugi is throwing to celebrate your win, right?"

Anzu linked arms with Seto and leaned against his shoulder, "Wouldn't miss it for the world. Mai's coming, isn't she?"

"Of course she's coming. Can't show up at a party without my girlfriend. How would that look?

"Great! Then, we'll see you guys later! Bye!"

Yugi and company waved at their friend's retreating back as she followed Seto to his private helicopter. Those two getting together had been quite a shock. Yugi had been a bit hurt at the time, as he had had a crush on Anzu since about sixth grade. But seeing how happy she was made him feel better about it, even if he still got a pang of regret now and then. And on the plus side, she seemed to have a calming effect on Kaiba. He was less hostile. Outside of a duel, anyway.

Katsuya held his hands up, 'V' for victory style, "Yeah! I did great! Did you see the look on Kaiba's face when I played that Kuriboh combo on him? Talk about psych tactics! Ha!"

"Katsuya! You did wonderful!" Mai Valyntine hugged Jou from behind, her grip making the boy go blue. Then she released him and turned around, crossing her arms and sticking her nose into the air, "But don't think doing so well will get you off the hook for stomping me in the semi-finals. You're going to have to earn my forgiveness on that."

"But Mai… It was a Duel. You know the saying… All's fair in love and Duel Monsters. You were the one who told me that. And besides, you were trying to do the same to me. I'm just a better Duelist, is all."

"Humph."

"Mai…"

"Yugi, Hiroto, I'll see you later. You're still planning on having a party aren't you, Yugi?"

"Of course he is," Jou answered for his friend.

"Good. Jounochi, come along."

"What? Why do I have to go?"

"I told you, you're going to have to earn my forgiveness. And you can start by taking me out shopping. I think we should start with shoes…" Mai wandered off, counting to herself all the things Jou needed to buy her.

Katsuya sighed and hung his head, "I guess I'll see you guys later. MAI! Wait up!"

Hiroto chuckled and started to walk the other way, Yugi at his side. "Man, has she got him whipped. Hey, I hate to leave you alone and all, buddy, but I've got a date with Bakura to get to. That sounded wrong. I don't mean a 'date.' I mean, we set up a time to get together and hang. It's cool, right? 'Cause if you want, I can walk you home."

Yugi smiled up at his friend, "It's alright. I won't be alone. You're forgetting about Yami. Besides, we won't be heading home until about a half hour before the party. Shadi wants to see us. So I'll be fine."

"Great. See you later then. Tell your doppelganger I said hey."

"I will," Yugi said as he waved to the last of his friends. Yami had been out playing the part of 'Yugi Motou, World Duel Monsters Champion' while Yugi had been watching the games without risk of being hounded by a bunch of reporters. Yami had even gone and done an interview with an American reporter.

/Ready to get away?/ The spiky haired boy asked his darker half via their bond.

//Is the match over?//

/Yep./

//Are you off the Duel Grounds yet?//

/No. Give me five minutes, and I'll be at Shadi's apartment./

//Five minutes it is. I'm about ready to mind blast someone.//

/No!/

//Relax. I'm not going to, just ready to. There is a difference. And none of them have done anything to warrant the Penalty Game. Yet.//

Yugi chuckled and picked up his pace; his darker half's emotions rumbling gently through the back of his mind.

Ever since the Battle City tournament, when Yugi started to really unlock the secrets of the Puzzle, Shadi had been teleporting in and teaching Yugi to control his new power. Because of this, the Egyptian now rented an apartment in Domino City. Rent paid for three years courtesy of Ishizu Ishtar, who had as much interest in seeing 'her Pharaoh' re-educated in the ways of magic as Shadi did. Shadi didn't really live there, he just teleported in at pre-set times to give Yugi his lessons. And since the Egyptian no longer had to worry about watching the Scales or protecting the Key- those had been given to Yami to store within the endless maze of the puzzle just a few weeks ago- he had been spending more and more time in Domino.

Both Shadi and Ishizu were trusting in Yugi to fulfill his destiny and save the world from the evil that was prophesized to arise if the Shadow Games were ever played again. Yugi had been participating in the Shadow Games for a little over a year now, ever since he had solved the Millennium Puzzle. Though, he hadn't known it at that time. When he found out about the prophecy, he swore to do whatever he could to help. His philosophy always had been 'why make others suffer when I can do it for them?' He could take being punished and hurt if it meant others, even strangers, wouldn't be.

When he got to the door of Shadi's place, he sent Yami a quick thought. Less than a moment later, he could feel his darker half entering the puzzle. It always felt like his soul was being wrapped up in a warm blanket. He sighed in contentment as, for the moment, he was as close to being complete as he ever could come. Ishizu and Shadi had explained it once, why he and Yami felt that way.

According to them, Yami and Yugi are two halves of one soul. A soul that had been sundered five millennia ago. It was the only way to seal the great evil that had tried to take over the ancient world. According to the legends passed down from father to son in Shadi's family, the Great Pharaoh that saved the world ruled fairly afterwards, but still died younger than he should have. The Puzzle, the mystical item that housed and imprisoned the other half of his soul, ended up being the only item of the Sennen Set to be buried with him. The rest had been taken by Shadi's family for safe-keeping until their proper bearers came to claim them. Or were claimed by them, as in the case of the Puzzle and the Ring.

Yugi felt Yami once again leave the puzzle and opened his eyes to look into the face of his soul.

Yami's lips curved upward and his left hand tucked some of Yugi's bangs behind one ear, "Hello, my hikari."

"Hey. Now you can tell me all about the interviews you had to sit through."

"Oh, you'll hear about them, alright. I can't believe I agreed to that."

Yugi laughed and unlocked Shadi's door with the key he had been given, "You were a king, you should be used to the public eye."

"Egyptian courtesans and ambassadors from other countries were far more polite. And I wasn't as short."

"Hey! What's that got to do with anything?"

Yami smiled and pushed Yugi through the door, closing it behind them, then changed the subject, "Have you told Shadi about our trip to America?"

"No, he has not. And I should like to know why," Shadi answered for himself and sealed the apartment with magic so no one could disturb them.

*****

End Chapter One

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