Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ I Guess It was in the Cards ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is my first attempt at a long fanfic with everybody staying in character. With one exception, each chapter is narrated by either Yami or Seto Kaiba. I got cold feet and labeled the point of view, but I hope you can tell who's the narrator even without that. Please let me know how that works out.

I used the Prologue to set everything up, tell you where everyone is, etc. The story takes place after Battle City, and assumes that the Ancient Egypt story line from the manga is over. Since it isn't, and I don't have a clue what's going to happen, I just ignored it and made up my own quickie ending so I could get everyone back to Domino, where they belong! I also put Yami and Yugi in two separate bodies, simply because it was easier, as they are going to be in relationships with two different people. I mean, Yugi's really good to his friends, but I think that this would stretch the limits of even his generousity.

MANGA NOTE: I use the manga version of events, where possible, with mentions of the Video Game episodes and Noa's Arc thrown in, simply because they have a lot of the Kaiba brothers and I like them. When necessary, I'll put in a Manga Note explaining plot or character changes, but not here, because this is too long already!

DISCLAIMER: I feel kind of silly saying this, but in case you don't know - I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

PROLOGUE

YAMI'S NARRATIVE

When I was still a spirit in Yugi's puzzle, and still going to High School, I remember his teacher telling us that the ancient Chinese believed that if you saved a person's life, they were yours forever. I supposed that's as good an explanation as any for what followed…

Battle City had ended, as had my attempts to regain my memory. Yami Bakura had been defeated, and six of the seven Millennium Items had been returned. All except my puzzle. The Guardian of Memory had offered me a choice. I could return the seventh piece, regain all my memories and depart to wherever spirits finally go; or I could keep the puzzle for this lifetime and go on to create new memories, accepting that the past was lost forever. Kaiba had once told me, as we walked through the streets of Domino, that he envied me, having a past shrouded in darkness - that he had sealed his past to allow his future to continue. It was one of the few times I can remember him making a personal observation. In the end I made the same choice, and I was content.

Yugi and I were separate now. Anzu had finally had to chose between us. To my relief, she had chosen Yugi. Ever since that duel with Jounouchi which Yugi had fought alone, I think Anzu had started to see the same Yugi I had come to know. Beneath the tenderness, he had a strength that surpassed mine. I knew power in all its forms. Yugi knew people. He could see into their hearts, as if he possessed Pegasus' Millennium Eye, and his judgement of what he saw was more acute and more merciful than mine. I was just glad that Anzu had the sense to realize it.

Now we were all back in Domino. Even Kaiba. He had gone to America at the end of Battle City, to reclaim his dream of creating a Kaiba Land for children, and he had pursued his goal with his usual single minded intensity.

He was even more famous now, but I don't think the media knew what to make of him, either. His duel disk system swept America, Japan's latest gaming import. He installed dueling platforms, and Virtual Reality systems in orphanages, foster care agencies and shelters from Japan to America, cutting into even his soaring profits. Not that it mattered - he fired his Board of Directors yet again, and fought off two hostile takeovers. According to one source, he was trying to buying back all the weapons he had designed for Kaiba Corporation so that he could destroy them. If Gozaburo had sold his soul to the military, he seemed intent on reclaiming it one weapon at a time. It was hard to tell fact from the many rumors that swirled around him. Kaiba gave no interviews.

So we were all back in Domino, but I still had a sense of unfinished business. As he had remarked as he flew off to America, our battle was not yet over.

Then the invitation came. It was vintage Kaiba. A nameless corporate employee had called. Mokuba wanted to see us all before school started, so Kaiba was arranging a pool party for the weekend. Arranging was the right word. Mokuba had greeted us at the door, and dragged us all over the house, laughing and talking the whole time. Kaiba had grunted hello and disappeared, presumably to work in his office.