Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Of Cards and Chaos ❯ Return of the Shadow Games ( Chapter 1 )

Title: Of Cards and Chaos

Subtitle: Chapter One -- Return of the Shadow Games

Series: YuGiOu

Author: Dark Light Goddess

Genre: action/adventure/romance

Plot Bunny: When her grade ten class go on an end of year trip to Egypt, Lauren Angel never expected to return home with a puzzle three thousand years old that held an ancient Pharaoh inside. Now, with Seto Kaiba's soul in Pegasus's grasp, she must travel with his little brother Mokuba and her friends to Duellist Kingdom and decide the fate of the world.

Otogi Muse's Disclaimer: Dark-sama does not own YuGiOh! It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi and other people. She only owns the fic, her fragile little mind, her Malik slave, plus myself.

Who's Who:

Yuugi Mutou - Lauren Angel

Katsuya Jounouchi/Joey Wheeler - Cassandra Lovell

Hiroto Honda/Tristan Taylor - Alexandra Smith

Ryou Bakura - Alison Carr

Anzu Mazaki/Tea Gardner - *announcer voice* "Unfortunately" Anzu will not be joining us for this fic

Shizuka Jounouchi/Serenity Wheeler - Dale Lovell [I know he'll kill me for this......]

Mai Kujaku/Mai Valentine - Leesah

Ryouji Otogi/*shudders*Duke Devlin - Matthew Bailey

Rebecca Hopkins - Jakeb Angel [my little nephew]

Shaadi - Jerome [in honour of my dead brother who died when I was 2]

********************

Cassandra Lovell looked at her hand carefully before choosing a card. "Alright, girl, it's time to duel!" She slapped her Celtic Guardian down on the training mat then looked at her brown-eyed friend. "Good move, huh?"

Lauren Angel laughed her trademark evil laugh. "Now, Cass, the Celtic Guardian may be one of my favourites but it is a level two duel monster while you know I have much stronger cards at my disposal." The be-spectacled girl pushed her glasses up her nose, picking a card from her own hand. "This next one's a personal favourite of mine, the reason why my online name is taken from it."

Beside the table, Alexandra Smith snickered. "You're gonna get a beating now, Cass."

"That's right because I play the Magician of Black Chaos!"

Cassie groaned in defeat when it was placed down. "Thanks a lot, L-chan. A card that powerful totally wipes me out." She slumped in her seat before packing up her deck.

"You're totally unbeatable, L-chan!" Alison Carr exclaimed, grabbing her best friend in a hug from behind. She'd always said the slightly larger-built girl was like a huggable teddy.

The tallest of the group only chuckled, packing up her own deck and placing her favourite on top. "You did fine, Cass-chan, you had me down a thousand and ten life-points. A little more practice and you'll be as good as me."

"Alright, class, back to your seats. Break's over," the teacher commanded, clapping her hands. The students did so and she continued. "I'm sure you're all excited about our end of year trip to Egypt, but may I remind you that you need to pay up front for the trip."

Lauren wriggled in excitement in her seat, running a hand through her black w/ red streaks hair. She had become obsessed with ancient Egypt ever since duel monsters had come out in Australia -- rumor had it they were around during the time of the pharaohs as a way to see who would control Egypt -- and was extremely excited when it was announced the grade ten leavers trip would be to Egypt.

'Sugoi,' her mind thought as she dazed dreamily off at the window, zoning out on whatever the teacher was rambling on about. It was English class, but who the hell cared anyway. 'I can't wait for the trip!'

******************** -- a few weeks later -- ********************

She was walking through the darkness along a path of light that seemed to be flooding from a faraway door. No matter how close she got to it, it seemed to be so far away. A counter was off to the side and as it reached three thousand, gold began floating around in shapes that seemed to fit together like a puzzle.........

********************

Brown eyes snapped open, meeting sparkling ones of hazel. Lauren groaned, rubbing her eyes under her glasses as she used her other arm to push her best friend away. Alison plopped down in the seat next to her, grinning from ear to ear.

"Take a look out the window, we're here!" The pale-haired girl looked at her. "You're not exited?"

She shook her head, trying to get the cobwebs of sleep out. "I just had that dream again."

"The same one you've been having for the past month or so?"

She nodded as they were told to put their seatbelts on and chairs in an upright position. "I want to understand what it means but it's always the same. There's a path of light I'm walking along towards a door in the darkness. There's a counter to the right and when it reaches three thousand, gold pieces appear."

Alison blinked. "Like a puzzle?"

Again, she nodded as they landed in the airport. "I'll find out what it means, even if it kills me."

Alison turned away from her and leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes for a moment. Lauren never noticed the dark look in those hazel orbs. 'Could she be dreaming about the sennen puzzle? No, impossible. The pharaoh couldn't be returning as prophesized. But then again, she is his descendant.' A cold smile made its quirk on her lips as they undid their seatbelts and got up, a flash of gold momentarily rising from beneath her shirt. 'So, pharaoh, we will meet again at long last. I have been waiting the opportunity for millennia to take that puzzle of yours.........' The smile faded and Alison blinked, confused. But not before hearing a voice in her head.

//It seems you'll be helpful to me after all, girl.//

******************** -- a couple of days later -- ********************

"It's so bloody hot!" Alex complained, trying to fan herself down with her cap. She wasn't succeeding.

Lauren only smiled over her ancient Egypt book she had gotten for her birthday last year. "Don't worry, Al -- the pyramid we're going on a tour in is at least ten degrees inside."

"We feel so much better, pharaohess," Cassie teased, feeling a little bit cooler than Alex because she was wearing white. Lauren had earned that nickname because of her knowledge of ancient Egypt, plus the fact that her family was related to the last pharaoh of Egypt.

There was clapping and the entire class turned to the tour guide. "Alright now. This is the tomb of pharaoh Yugiou we'll be treading into. Yugiou was the last recorded pharaoh and the king of games, as his name suggests."

Alison sidled up to her best friend, nobody noticing as her eyes became hard. "Wasn't that your ancestor, L-chan?" 'Soon......'

She nodded as they left the bus and began the journey to the inside of the pyramid, lanterns lit and flashlights at hand. Felicity Keenan -- one of the popular girls moreso than Lauren and her friends -- coughed. "Does this tomb have any......curses?"

The tour guide only laughed heartily. "If it did, little miss, the archeologists would be dead by now." Felicity eeped.

Lauren frowned. "But, sir, don't the important pyramids that are home to the great pharaohs have at least some traps or pitfalls that condemn you to your death?" She grinned ferally, sending a glance to Felicity who only fumed.

The guide shook his head. "Pharaoh Yugiou was buried with only one possession and that was the millennium puzzle, an ancient artifact that only he and certain members of the pharaoh's family could solve. There were six other millennium items created but each were lost during the last dynasty."

//So it's true then. Yugiou, you and I will duel once more and this time I will win.// A wicked smirk curled, but it was too dark for her friends to see the difference since she had begun travelling along the shadowed walls, not far enough from her best friend. She had something planned. Something that had to be done before they reached the central chamber. Or it should be a "he", for what was in control of her body was a "he". Yes, he knew this tomb like the back of his hand, as it had been his own final resting place too, when he had gotten inside to pay "respects" to the pharaoh three thousand years ago and instead ended up inside one of the lost millennium items.

Bakura's smile grew as he travelled silently behind the pharaoh's descendant, who was looking off to the side at some hieroglyphics on the other wall. She would be the first to know his return from the Shadow Realm. Perhaps having a female host wasn't so bad after all. His host was somewhat strong -- he had watched from the depth of the millennium ring around her neck one time when she was angry at her brother and knocked his door down rather violently. That would help with his quest.........

"Hey, Ali-chan, you alright?" Lauren's voice broke him out of his thoughts. "The guide said we're almost to the central chamber and you've been staring at the floor for some fifteen minutes."

"Oh, I'm fine." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Just thinking."

Alex laughed from the back of the small group. "Yeah, I can hear the wheels squeaking in there." She launched herself forward, placing her head around his neck and giving him a noogie. "You gotta stop thinking so much, A-chan, you'll be getting grey hairs before the right age!"

He pushed her away, easily unlocking her arm from around his neck. "I'll take that into consideration, Alexandra." Females were so easily fooled.

Lauren looked at her friends. "Well, we'd better catch up quickly." She motioned to the fading torchlights and bounded ahead, the others following slightly behind her. She frowned. That was unusual -- normally Alison called them by nicknames, using Japanese suffixes. That was the first time she'd heard her call Alex by her full name since she introduced them two years ago. And Alison didn't think, she acted. Something was up with her best friend and she was determined to find out what it was exactly.

The quartet joined the rest of the class at the end of the hallway in a large room. Bakura's eyes lit up when he saw the millennium puzzle shoved into the wall, still in one piece. 'Perfect, simply perfect. All I have to do now is send these miserable mortals to the graveyard and that will take me one step closer to world domination......'

However, the moment his host's best friend walked into the chamber, images began flashing through her mind. Images of a past long forgotten, of an Egyptian past never told or recorded. Monsters, large ones as real as the summoners, attacking each other. She clutched her head, whimpering slightly before sinking to her knees on the cold stone floor.

Cassandra knelt behind her, gently shaking her by the shoulder. "L-chan? Hey, what's wrong?"

She shook her head wildly, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "Make them stop......please make them stop......" The sixteen-year-old girl began hyperventilating, chocolate orbs dilating behind her glasses. "Yamatte, onegai, yamatte!"

Alex knelt in front, slapping her face lightly. "Wh-what do you mean? Stop what?" She looked at the other girl, confused. Cassandra shook her head, not knowing what to do. The rest of the class stared in shock as a bright light filled the room, coming from her forehead where a golden Ra eye glowed. The millennium puzzle glowed as well and broke away from the wall, floating in the air.

"Yamatte, onegai, YAMATTE!!"

The guide pushed his way to the front of the crowd of students, eyes wide with amazement. "So it comes to pass."

Cassandra looked up and glared at him. "What the HELL is happening to her?! Answer, damnit!"

"The scrolls found in this tomb state that when a descendant of the Pharaoh Yugiou enters the central chamber, they will be given his memories and the millennium puzzle would have found its rightful owner. After a millennia dormant, the Shadow Games will open up again and the fate of the world shall rest in the descendant's hands. I am afraid this is something that cannot be prevented."

The two girls beside her were flung aside by the light that surrounded her grew more forceful and drew the puzzle towards it. A golden flash and her screams stopped. The light died down and her friends gaped at what they saw, even Bakura. She was the same person, only clothed differently and no longer the Lauren Angel they knew.

She wore gold, lots of it, including a thrice-piece layer around her neck as tight a choker. Golden bracelets adorned her arms, two bangles around each ankle, two pieces over her wrists and large, golden hoop earrings replaced the dice ones she had earlier. She was barefoot, her lower body covered in only a golden silk cloth that had gone to her knees and a triangle-shaped piece between, her upper body covered in the same silk only had tassel-like endings surrounding it. The millennium puzzle hung around her neck by a thin rope, falling between her breasts.

Bakura only smirked and stepped forward, arms crossed over his host's own breasts as the millennium ring appeared through the shirt and a transformation of his own clothes took place, being replaced with white beige pants and a tattered white shirt.

"So the pharaoh returns."

"Ali?" Cassandra blinked, backing away from the two.

Harsh hazel eyes looked at her, the smirk growing. "Not Alison. That fool girl is locked away within her soul room. I am......"

"Bakura." Eyes opened, revealing them to be a crimson shade. "One of the most wanted criminals of Egypt." Lauren smiled, tossing some red and black hair over her shoulder. "And someone who wants all the millennium items."

The class only looked on, some confused at what was going on, others in awe and some of the boys drooling. Bakura merely smiled, reaching into his hosts back pocket and pulling out her deck, beginning to shuffle. "I challenge you to a duel, pharaoh. If I win, I get your puzzle."

"Very well then. I accept your terms. But if I win, you'll release my best friend and be banished to the Shadow Realm once again." Lauren raised her hand, her deck appearing.

"Agreed."

END OF CHAPTER ONE

TRANSLATIONS:

Yamatte - girl's way of saying stop

Onegai - please

-chan - suffix normally used around girls