AN: ok, so here's a new fic, basically it will center on just how much of an imp Yugi will be whiling playing as a matchmaker. and guess who the victims are? as usual, it's Yami and Anzu. now i know in my story, Caught Under The Mistletoe, i use Yami's real name, but i decided that since Yami's real name holds so much power, it would only be used amongst his closest friends. at least in this story.
Disclaimer: i do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, never have and never will. \sits in a corner and cries/
Anzu watched in awe as Yugi and the Pharaoh, now in his own body, battled in duel after duel in Kaiba's latest tournament. And as expected, they were dominating it. And as always, Anzu and Honda were there to cheer them on. Poor Jonouchi had made it to the final four before getting knocked out by Yugi. Typically, Kaiba had gone up against Yami in the semi-finals, and had lost, miserably. Jonouchi had burst out laughing, saying that Kaiba would never learn that he'd never beat Yami.
It was now down to the final match, and it came as no surprise to anyone that it was Yugi and Yami against each other.
"Gah!" Jonouchi moaned, scratching the back of his head in irritation. "I don't even know which one to cheer for."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Honda said, crossing his arms and nodding. "Those two are the best in the whole world. Even Kaiba can't beat 'em!"
"Be quiet, you two!" Anzu broke in. "They're starting." She would never say it aloud, but she was hoping that Yami would win. She didn't want either of the guys to discover that, however. They'd tease her about it till kingdom come!
Yugi and Yami exchanged decks and shuffled them.
Yami smirked. "So, here we are once again." He said.
Yugi snorted. "Not surprising." He replied. "After all, you are the best in the world. Plus you've been training me for years." He noticed that Yami kept sneaking glances at the audience. Following his gaze, Yugi saw that his partner and brother-in-arms was looking over at their only female friend, Anzu.
Quickly putting two and two together, Yugi smirked and raised an eyebrow at Yami. "So… See something interesting?" He drawled, waiting to see his reaction to his words. And he was not disappointed.
Yami snapped his gaze back to Yugi, and flinched at his lighter half's look, completely unable to stop to flush from creeping up his face. 'Aw, shoot!' he mentally moaned. 'Am I really that obvious?'
Yugi must've known exactly what was going through his mind, because his smirk became a wide grin. "Yes, you most definitely are that obvious." He turned and walked away, completely missing the bone-chilling glare that Yami sent him, before whipping around and stalking off to his position.
Down in the audience, Anzu, Honda, and Jonouchi watched the exchange in confusion.
"What was that all about?" Honda asked, raising an eyebrow. "I've never seen those two act like that."
Jonouchi frowned. "I know what you mean. Those two are closer than brothers, and they make a great team." He shook his head. "Even when they're opponents, they're always so respectful."
Yugi and Yami faced each other, waiting for Kaiba's right-hand man to announce the start of the duel.
Roland stepped between the two duellists. Although he wasn't a duelist himself, he could feel the hostility between the two long-time comrades. Clearing his throat, he began the opening ceremonies.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! It's time for the final round and it's Champions Yugi and Yami Motou facing each other. These two brothers have battled their way to the top once again. Who will prevail?" He raised his hand up high. "Let the Championship Duel begin!" Quickly, he scooted off the arena. He'd witnessed more than enough of their duels to know how fierce they could get. And he had no desire to get caught in the crossfire.
"Let's duel!" Yugi and Yami said in unison, drawing their first hands.
"I'll start things off." Yugi said. He drew a card and put it in his hand. "I play a card face-down, and then I place Neo the Magic Swordsman in attack mode." The holograms appeared on the field, and he looked across the field. "Your move."
"Very well." Yami drew his card. "I play the Skilled Dark Magician in attack mode. Next I play this card face-down. And now, Skilled Dark Magician, attack his Magic Swordsman!"
"Not so fast! I activate my face-down card!" Yugi pressed the button on his duel disk. "Negate Attack! This card stops your Magician dead in his tracks." Yugi smirked. "And it forces you to end your battle phase."
Yami growled softly. "Very well. I end my turn."
Jonouchi whistled. "Yugi's been coming up with his own deck and strategies, and I can tell you that they work. When I duelled against him, I had my entire strategy based on his usual deck, but since Yami has that one, I was completely caught off guard."
Honda grinned, nudging him. "That's for sure! He totally mopped the floor with you in five minutes flat!"
Jonouchi growled, and would have punched Honda, but Anzu grabbed both of their ears, making them both yelp in pain.
"Will the two of you shut up? We're watching the duel, not you two idiots."
"I summon Hoshiningen in attack mode!" A small yellow, star-shaped creature appeared, and several girls in the audience squealed.
"Aww! It's so cute!" A young girl directly behind Jonouchi screeched, making him flinch and rub his ears, glaring over his shoulder at the girl.
Yugi grinned at his friend's all too obvious wince. "Apparently you know of my creature's special ability. Hoshiningen gives Light monsters a 500 point power boost, while Dark monsters, like your Magician, lose 400 points!" Yugi's Swordsman now had 2200 attack points, while Yami's Magician dropped to 1500. "I'll play two cards face-down," he paused, looking up at Yami, who was bracing himself for Yugi's attack. "and I'll end my turn."
Yami blinked. "What?" He frowned, and tried to fathom Yugi's plan.
'Okay, two cards face-down, and two powered-up Light monsters, and he doesn't attack me? Is he worried about my face-down card?' He glanced at it. 'Or is it some strategy he's never used before?' Yami sighed. 'He's definitely been training on his own.'
"Come on, Yami!" Yugi shouted across the field. "It's your move!" He grinned, delighted that he'd completely thrown his darker half off balance with his new tactic. 'You're never going to figure it out.'
Yami shook his head. "Alright!" He drew his card, and his eyes widened. 'This is-' He looked at Yugi and smirked. With this, he could use that annoying monster's effect against Yugi.
Yugi frowned. 'I don't like that smirk.' He thought, shivering slightly. 'And I have the very disturbing feeling that I'm about to find out why.' To be completely honest, Yami's smirk gave him the creeps. Especially since when he smirked while duelling, it always meant certain doom for whomever he was facing.
Yami smirk broadened at Yugi's obvious discomfort. "I don't like those face-down cards, so I'll just get rid of them," He placed a card in the Magic slot. "by playing this, Giant Trunade!"
A humongous gust of wind picked up and the three face-down cards on the field returned to their owner's hands. Simultaneously, one of the spell counters on the Skilled Dark Magician lit up.
"Oh no!" Yugi groaned. He had to admit, he hadn't seen that one coming. Yami was typically an offensive duellist, not obviously paying attention to any face-down cards. Instead, he simply set up counter spells and traps. But this time, he'd chosen to get rid of the threat first. And at the same time, he'd gained a spell counter for his Magician.
Yugi growled. "Great, just great."
Yami continued his turn. "Next, I summon Magician's Valkyria in attack mode!" He looked across the field. "And since Valkyria is a Light monster, she also gets a power boost from your Hoshiningen." The Magician's Valkyria now had 2100 attack points. "And now, attack, Valkyria! Destroy his Hoshiningen! Mystic Sceptre Blast!" Hoshiningen was destroyed, leaving Yugi with 2900 life points.
"Now that you power boost is gone, your Magic Swordsman drops back to 1700 points, and my Skilled Dark Magician returns to 1900. And I'll use it to destroy your Swordsman!" Yugi's life points dropped to 2700. "I'll end my turn with a card face-down on the field."
"Aw, man!" Honda exclaimed. "Yugi's got no monsters left. I wonder if he has a plan."
"My move!" Yugi drew a card. "I play Pot of Greed! This card lets me draw two additional cards." He drew his cards, and another counter on the Skilled Dark Magician lit up. "What? Why did it light up? You haven't played a magic card."
Yami chuckled. "You're right, I didn't. But you did. My Magician's effect applies to both of us."
Yugi groaned. "I forgot about that." He shrugged. "Oh well. Too late now. Well, one of my cards was the monster Watapon. And since I drew using a magic card, I can special summon it to the field." He placed it on the field. "I'll also play a card face-down, and summon a monster face-down in defence mode. Your move." 'Come on,' he thought. 'Take the bait. You know you want to.'
Yami drew his card, and looked at it. He gazed out at the field, frowning slightly. 'Yugi obviously wants me to attack him. He must be planning to do something to my monsters.' His gaze shifted to his creatures. 'But what?' He grinned a little. 'Alright, Yugi! I'll take your bait.'
"I pay two cards face-down, and next I'll attack your face-down monster with my Skilled Dark Magician!"
Yugi grinned as Yami stared in shock at the small pink creature that appeared.
"I'm sure you recognize this little guy from another duel." He said gleefully.
"Not Marshmallon!" Yami groaned. "It just had to be that thing." He rolled his eyes, disgusted with himself. He should have known better. Yugi loved that thing, since it couldn't be destroyed in battle, and often gleefully played it against opponents like Yami, Kaiba, and especially Jonouchi. Since the three of them tended to be offensive duellists, Yugi had developed the nasty habit of using tricks and traps in order to throw them off balance, and then dart in with an effect of something and strike them before they could get their defences back together.
"Oh, yeah, you might want to pay attention." Yugi said. "Because Marshmallon's got another ability. When you attack it when it's face-down, you take 1000 points of damage."
"What?!" Yami cried. He looked down at his duel disk to see his life points drop to 3000. They were now almost equal in points. Yami was ahead by a mere 300 points. He growled. 'Damnit.' He thought. 'I thought I had everything under control.'
"Fine." He said. "I'll just attack your Watapon with my Valkyria." 'Now I just have to figure out how to get rid of that annoying pink blob.'
"It's my move!" Yugi drew a card, and frowned slightly. 'Not quite what I was hoping for, but it'll do for now.' "I play another card face-down, and summon Silent Swordsman in attack mode." He looked across at Yami. "Tell you what?" He said. "How about we make a bet? You know, just to make this more interesting."
Yami raised an eyebrow. "A bet? Hmm." He thought about it for a moment. 'Could be interesting.' "I'm listening."
"If I win, how about-" he thought for a moment about what would really enrage Yami. Looking out at the field, he gazed at the monsters Yami had out. Realizing they were both Spellcaster-type monsters, he grinned as a thought came to mind. "How about you give me your Dark Magician?"
"What?" Yami yelped. "My Dark Magician?! No way!"
Yugi knew he would get pummelled for this later, but with some luck, it would be so worth it. "No? Well, I guess I can always tell a certain someone about your little secret."
Yami frowned, confused. 'My secret? What is he talking about?'
Yugi sighed when it became obvious that Yami was clueless. He meaningfully flicked his eyes over to where their friends, or more specifically, Anzu was sitting. He choked back a laugh when Yami coughed and his face turned red.
Yami coughed when Yugi made his point perfectly clear as he flicked his gaze towards Anzu. 'He wouldn't dare!' Then, barely needing to think about it, he corrected himself. 'Wait. Scratch that. Yes, he most certainly would.' He scowled, glaring at the little imp. "Don't you dare." He growled.
Yugi tilted his head childishly, the very picture of innocence, except for the twinkling eyes. "Don't I dare what? Oh!" He grinned. "You mean tell your-"
"Shut up Yugi!" Yami shouted. "I mean it, don't you dare say it! Not here, not ever. Got it?" 'If he tells Anzu my secret, I'll really be in for it!'
Anzu watched from the audience, confused by this strange turn of events. Yami almost never lost his temper, especially when the target was Yugi. And what was all this talk about Yami's secret? Anzu narrowed her eyes. Something strange was going on with those two, and despite the fact that she normally respected other people's wishes of privacy, she was determined to find out what Yugi and Yami were talking about. That determination was made all the stronger due to the fact that Anzu had seen Yugi glance meaningfully at her when he was taunting Yami about telling "a certain someone" about some secret that Yami was keeping.
Yami tried to keep his temper in check, knowing that if he lost control, it wouldn't just be words, and possibly fists that would be thrown. It would be things like lightening bolts and real monsters, and the gods only knew what else might happen. He couldn't risk Anzu discovering his secret. There was no way to tell how she'd take it. And Yugi was not helping matters at all. Yami forced himself not to look down at Anzu, else he turn even more red in the face.
Yugi had to bite the inside of his cheek in order to refrain from bursting out laughing. He'd glanced down at the audience again, to see their friends' reactions to his words, and Anzu's face was priceless. The curiosity was plain to see, but it was the determination that almost had Yugi cracking up.
Yami glared. 'I have no choice. But I'm not going to let him get away with this!' "Alright, Yugi, I accept your terms, but here's mine. If I win, you agree to keep quiet! Are we clear?"
Yugi hid his grin. 'I knew it. He couldn't refuse my terms, and I already knew he'd say that I have to keep it to myself.' "Alright, I agree. Now, I believe it's your turn, Yami."
Yami narrowed his eyes, and gazed across the field at Yugi's most recent addition to his army. The Silent Swordsman was another of his personal favourites. At the moment it had 1000 attack points, but every turn, it would gain another level, plus an additional 500 attack points. And it was likely that the face-down card would be the magic card, Turn Jump, which would automatically skip ahead three turns, making his Swordsman grow three levels.
'Although,' Yami thought to himself. 'Knowing Yugi, it's probably a trap. After all, traps are his specialty.'
Yugi watched him from across the arena. 'Hmm. Looks like I managed to stump him.' He looked down at the hologram of the face-down card. 'Well, it's not like he knows that I'm bluffing.' His gaze flicked over to his monsters. 'He can't destroy my Marshmallon in battle, so if he wants to get to my life points, he's going to have to use a magic card, which would give him the final spell counter, or a special effect. So that means, if he does choose to attack, he'll come after my Swordsman.'
He looked back at his best friend, who was looking at the cards in his hand. 'Still, knowing Yami, he'll attack anyways, just to see if I am bluffing. And that's where my face-down comes into play. If he attacks, I'll activate my face-down, forcing his monsters to come to a stand-still. Although,' he forced himself not to grimace. 'It will give him the last spell-counter he needs to summon him.'
Yami gazed at his cards. Something told him that attacking would be a bad idea. Just the fact that Yugi had laid a face-down card and then made that bet with him all pointed to an attack disaster. And besides, he wanted to summon his oldest friend and most trusted creature.
He drew a card, and grinned slightly. 'And this card can help me do it.'
Yugi stared. 'Uh-oh. Yami just grinned. Now I'm in for it!'
"Oh Yugi." Yami called. "I'm sure you know what happens when my Skilled Dark Magician has three spell counters, am I right?"
Yugi stepped back in shock. "What? Oh no! That means you can summon him!"
"That's right!" Yami said. "And after activating this I can!" He revealed the card he just drew. "Look familiar?" He asked teasingly.
Yugi squinted across the field, and his eyes widened. "Pot of Greed! The same card I played!"
"Correct! It allows me to draw two more cards now." The third counter lit up. "And now I sacrifice my Skilled Dark Magician in order to summon my Dark Magician!" A whirl of smoke surrounded the Skilled Magician, and when it cleared, the Dark Magician was in its place.
Yugi stared across the field, two words resonating through his mind. 'I'm doomed.'
"Next, instead of waiting for your face-down to be sprung by my attack, I'll destroy it with this! My Heavy Storm magic card. It destroys all magic and traps currently on the field."
Yugi watched in horror as his Nightmare Steel Cage was destroyed. "Ah." Yami said, raising an eyebrow. "So you were planning on stopping my monsters from attacking until you could level up your Swordsman, huh? Well, too bad. It's still my move and since I summoned my Dark Magician using a special effect, I can summon another monster, so I sacrifice my Magician's Valkyria in order to summon Dark Magician Girl!"
Yugi forced himself to calm down. 'Okay, so he'll attack your Swordsman. It's not the end of the duel. He can only take up to 1500 life points. And he can't destroy Marshmallon, so-'
Yami's grin widened. "You're probably thinking that since your Marshmallon can't be destroyed in battle, you must be safe from a double attack, right?" Yugi's eyes snapped up and stared at Yami, confused by his words. "Well, normally yes, you would be. But not after I activate this." He placed the card in the slot. "My Fairy's Meteor Crush card! And I equip it to my Dark Magician Girl!"
"Oh no!" Yugi cried. "That means-"
"That I can take the difference between my Dark Magician Girl's attack points and your Marshmallon's defence points and take them directly from your life points! Dark Magician Girl, attack his Marshmallon with Dark Burning attack!"
Yugi watched in horror as his life points dropped from 2700 to 1200.
"And now to finish you off! Dark Magician, attack his Silent Swordsman with your Dark Magic Attack!"
"No!" Yugi watched helplessly as his Swordsman was destroyed, taking with it the last of his life points. The force of the attack blasted him backwards and he ended up landing a short ways away sprawled on his back.
Roland stepped up. "And Yami Motou wins the match, and is still the King of Games."
Yami walked across the field and helped Yugi to his feet. "A deal's a deal, right? So no telling!" He glared at his friend.
Yugi sighed and held his hands up in defeat. "Alright. I'll keep quiet." He grinned slightly. 'For now.' He thought to himself.
AN: I'm not sure of Roland's Japanese name, so I just used his English one.
since Yugi and Yami shared a body at one point, they are really close, and they even look alike, so I have the two of them claim brotherhood, which is why Roland says "brothers" when referring to them. Yami is obviously the elder (seeing as he's over 5000 years old), while Yugi is the younger.
and one more thing, i'm not really sure if you can use Nightmare Steel Cage as a block for attacks, but i felt like using it, so whatever.