Contrasting Impressions

LLS

8 August 2011: Edited.

First Impressions

It had been a few years during the death of Sugoroku Mutou, proprietor of the Kame Game Shop. After the old man's passing in his sleep, his grandson had inherited the shop and worked out a merging with the next-door Black Crown on the orders of Sugoroku Mutou's will. Given that this was the King of Games' grandfather and that a nineteen-year-old should not be introduced this early to being chained to a single game shop so early in life, the Black Crown's proprietor and even the CEO of KaibaCorp had agreed with Sugoroku's dying instructions. No matter how crassly worded. Hence, the entire group had worked out an arrangement; Yuugi would do a part-time job at the Game Shop while still continuing with his education. No matter what Yuugi thought of that.

It was thus a very tired Yuugi who stepped through the open doorway of the empty Game Shop that afternoon, tired from yesterday's university lecture. Then the Game King froze. "Oh," he spoke out loud to no one in particular. "Djer, please get the man standing on the roof of the opposite building here. I have a few questions for him. Incapacitate, but not kill him, please."

It was after completing the inventory that Yuugi finally sat down as purple mist sprouted out from nowhere and formed a portal, from which the Dark Magician stepped through, dragging a human male behind him. The man was not very noticeable, save for his red trench coat and the Beretta he kept clutching on even unconscious. "Little master. The man you sought to be questioned." the magician grimly spoke, throwing the man onto the floor as if the man was as light as a bag of feathers.

"Thank you, Djer. Good evening, Mr. Sniper. I do not believe we have met prior to this. I would ask if there was any particular reason for trying to shoot me today, but unfortunately, I do not know your name yet, Mr...?"

"B-Bullseye," the man stuttered, trying not to wince at Djer's staff pointing at him. "God, don't throw me back in there. They broke my limbs! And my bones! My bones are adamantium, they aren't supposed to be broken! It's impossible!"

"Impossible has been defied before in the Shadow Realm," Yuugi answered, sipping his tea. "Tea, Djer?" he motioned to a waiting cup which the Dark Magician accepted one-handed. "Now, where was I? Ah, yes, why where you shooting me? Well, actually, I can think of why, I just have no idea what would warrant the attention of the World's Deadliest Assassin. A bit overkill for a gamer, wouldn't you say?"

Bullseye muttered something about "paying well."

"Now, I do know that even amongst assassins there is such a thing as client confidentiality." Yuugi continued, blissfully ignoring the assassin. "So, I am going to send you to New York City, where you would undoubtedly be incarcerated in the Archimedes Center for Extraordinary Criminals for a minimum of three years, correct? Yes, absolutely. It is that, or..."

"Or?" Bullseye echoed, feeling distinctly afraid of this deceptively innocent yet so terrifying human. Anyone who could control a monster who could break adamantium bones had to be Darth Vader scary.

"You serve your incarceration in the Shadow Realm," Yuugi concluded. "I do know that the resident dragons don't take lightly to strangers..."

What the World's Deadliest Assassin chose should have been obvious.

Doctor Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, sighed as he read the note that came attached to the Bullseye he had found dumped on his doorstep, now sitting in his sitting room, curled up in an armchair, eyes flicking around the room as if watching out for some invisible assassin only he could see:

Dear Doctor Strange:

Attached to this note you will find the man who calls himself 'Bullseye'. Whether this is his actual name or a pseudonym escapes me, but nevertheless I found him with a sniper rifle across my game shop trying to shoot me.

Given that he is still a citizen of America, I have decided to send him to you instead of setting on my own...justice. Please get him incarcerated in the Archimedes Center; I doubt that he would escape if the other option is imprisonment in the Shadow Realm. I do believe that Djer might have threatened him a bit too much, and trust that you could do something about his mental state by the time he has arrived to you via Shadow Realm mail.

Thank you.

Yuugi Mutou.

Strange sighed again. "I am not going to ask what on earth prompted you to try this stunt," he told the gibbering assassin as he reached for the phone. "I'm going to call SHIELD now and if you have a problem with incarceration do say so right now."

Bullseye immediately seemed to recover his bravado. "What do you take me- AHHHHH!"

On reflection, Strange noted that having your own shadow creep up to catch you was perfectly fine to be scared at. "Come again?" he asked.

"Call them," Bullseye sounded resigned to his fate.

And that was the first time Dr Strange knew of the existence of Yuugi Mutou, the only shadow mage in existence.

Second Impressions

"So anyway, Doc," Iron Man was going on. "Anyway to break into this...shadow dome?"

The Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, was in Times Square, New York City...and so far, it hasn't been turned into a war-zone.

Hell has officially frozen, Dr Strange decided as he poked the dome of black-purple that had mysteriously enveloped the centre of the Square, to see his own finger coming back at him. He quickly withdrew his hand.

"I do not know of such a magic," Dr Strange admitted to himself. "Has anyone called Mistress Harkness?"

"Even Scarlet Witch's Chaos Magic couldn't break in," Mr Fantastic confirmed, using a Geiger counter to test the dome. "Whatever this is, no gamma radiation is involved. It's like...a complete absence of energy."

"Get to it, bub," Wolverine growled under his mask. "We have twenty people trapped inside. Not counting Spidey."

"I highly doubt he can," a voice piped. Everyone turned to see a short kid with spiky hair of violet and black, with blonde bangs, dressed in mostly leather with numerous belts of steel and leather looped around his waist. "It is, after all, a Shadow Game. The dome will collapse upon the game's conclusion."

"So, all we have to do is..." Iron Man trailed off at the expression on Thor's face.

Anything that could make Thor Odinson, Friendly Neighbourhood Thunder God, wielder of Mjolnir, go pale was something worthy to note. "You," the Thunder God managed to make out.

"Have we met before?" the being asked. "I do not think we have met before, save for Mr Logan over there. Yuugi Mutou, nice to meet you all." he introduced himself.

"Wolverine?" Dr Strange mildly asked the now frozen X-Man.

"Yuugi or Yami?" Wolverine managed to ground out.

"Yami went on to the afterlife. I took over his job from there," Yuugi offhandedly answered. "Now then, what reason do you have to interfere in this Game?"

"This is not a game, young man," Reed Richards sternly answered. "Ben, do escort Mr Mutou off the scene."

"No!" Thor and Wolverine yelled at the same time that Yuugi replied: "It is a game, Mr Richards, much as you say otherwise. With worse consequences than you imagine. The loser of the Shadow Game loses their soul. And once it starts, only the game's starter or I may dissolve it. Excuse me," he said to the orange-rock-skinned Thing before stepping forward towards the dome.

"Someone without experience or ability started this," he stated to none in particular. "Tell me, would you prefer the people inside dead or alive?"

"Alive," all present replied immediately.

Yuugi shrugged. "Very well," before walking into the dome, the black-purple parting to allow him access, smoothly closing up after him.

It seemed an eternity before the dome dissolved into purple mist again, this time revealing an exhausted and battered Spiderman, eighteen unconscious people, and two people being held by a multi-coloured, sigil-laced circle floating in mid-air, struggling.

"No one save the masked one would remember," Yuugi told the stunned superheroes. "These two have tried to misuse the shadows to kill the masked one, though they have no reason to. They are mine to judge, you would agree?"

"Now see here..." Captain America was about to say when Thor shook his head, effectively quieting him. "Take them," the God of Thunder succinctly replied. "I will inform the authorities."

"No problem, bub." Wolverine spoke, much to the surprise of the other X-Men present. "Though, the Prof's throwing a fit."

"He can try," Yuugi dryly replied. "Well, Doctor?" he then turned to the Sorcerer Supreme.

The honestly baffled sorcerer nodded his head. "Take them," he finally replied. "If Thor has no objections, who am I to argue against the will of the gods?"

Yuugi chuckled. "You are human. Humans do it all the time."

Before anyone could reply, the young man had vanished into purple mist, taking the two with him.

"Oww..." Spiderman groaned on the asphalt. "Why does it feel like the Green Goblin hit me over the head? Inside my head?"

Third Impressions

"Charles is throwing a fit," Wolverine told the rest of the team. "He doesn't like the kid much. And when we told him that Yuugi showed up, well...he panicked. Told us all to come back for an evaluation."

"Care to elaborate why?" Steve Rogers a.k.a. Captain America dryly asked, though he was honestly curious. It took a lot to cause Professor Charles Xavier to panic. He'd know.

"Charles tried to read his mind, and couldn't. So, after a really long series of events involving a mutant who tried to break into the minds of some students, Charles got into his mind and poked into the memories." Wolverine elaborated. "The kid sicced some magic on Charles. I don't blame Charles, actually; I'd be mad too if I had '99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall' echoing through my head, one rendition for every memory seen."

Steve Rogers was honestly surprised at that. So was Reed Richards.

"And then, before that, I jumped the kid." Wolverine continued. "Before I knew it, he's standing and I'm the one face-down in the dirt. When I first met the kid, there was a sort of...ancient spirit hanging around the kid as a lethally protective guardian. Yami, that was what the spirit went by. I saw him in action; Yami didn't hesitate in trying to kill Sabertooth. Just tried to stop the heart, right there and then."

There was the unspoken agreement between the two veteran soldiers. That, is the cold determination I want on my side.

"What d'you think he would have done to Ben?" Reed Richards, the smartest man on earth, lightly asked, as if they weren't talking about a short young man who scared the beejezus out of battle-hardened veterans.

"He'd have crushed his mind," Wolverine honestly replied. "Left the Thing there drooling without an ounce of sanity. That or summoned a monster I don't want to even think of fighting."

As Wolverine got up and left, Dr Strange could have heard Wolverine mutter sotto vace: "Biggest damn lizard I've ever seen..."

Fourth Impressions

The staff of The Archimedes Center for Extraordinary Criminals (TACFEC, better known as the Tuck n' Fuck in the criminal underworld) were honestly surprised that the Captain America would request to interrogate Bullseye. So was the World's Deadliest Assassin to see one of the toughest superheroes this side of the Atlantic.

"Evening, Bullseye," the Captain greeted as the assassin sat down opposite the steel table. A bare bulb overhead provided little illumination; it was all really clichéd decoration anyway. "I heard from Doctor Strange that you tried to kill a kid. What happened to the man who successfully killed the Sin Cong royal family?"

"Here," Bullseye dully replied. "If I could break out, I would, believe me, but..." Bullseye shrugged. "I have my reasons."

"Hmm. Let's get straight to it," the Captain decided. "What do you know about a Yuugi Mutou? Your last target before you landed here? Hello? Bullseye?"

The assassin with adamantium for bones had turned abruptly pale at the name. "Currently nineteen, coming twenty, though really, he looks more like a middle school student." the assassin monotonously recited. "Pure Japanese by descent, though there's a mutation that runs in the family and gives him hair in three colours; I checked, the grand-dad has the same hair as well. Grand-dad died, he inherited the family game shop, still lives in it. Was warned not to take in head on, so I went for the sniper approach. Didn't work, was found out, caught by a weird guy in magician garb who survived being hit head on and still blasted me. Guy in weird garb then broke all my bones before dragging me to the kid. After that, kid gave me an option to either stay here, or in the Shadow Realm. Given how I couldn't fight back, I chose. He wrote a note, pinned it on me, and sent me through this freaky other dimension full of monsters who tried to eat me the moment I tried to escape, as express delivery to Strange's doorstep."

"So why didn't you escape?" the Captain asked the obvious question.

"The kid gave me three years here. If I tried to escape..." Bullseye, for once, looked like crying. "...the monsters get me. They'll come for me. They break adamantium bones, they'll kill me..."

"So he's magic, then?" Captain America asked.

Bullseye weakly laughed. "I've seen magic before. This one...he's worse. No magic makes you check underneath the bed for monsters."

And that was a disturbing thought.

Fifth Impressions

"So," the soft-spoken vertically challenged King of Games asked the people crowded into his living room. "What brings such illustrious guests into my humble home?"

"A little bit of information-gathering," Captain America answered.

The major superhero organisations had decided to look into this threat by sending over more diplomatic members. The Avengers had sent him and only him, because one look at Thor's reaction and most of the Avengers decided to send the super-soldier with the most chance of survival first. Plus, at least he had a way with kids. The X-Men had sent Wolverine, who was the only familiar face short of Shadowcat whom Yuugi would accept anywhere near, and the only one who conveniently never paid attention to Charles Xavier's instructions to stay far away from Domino City.

At the very least, none of them had screwed up diplomatic procedure like the Fantastic Four, who had sent the Human Torch. One wonders if this was meant to be a brilliant diplomatic manoeuvre or plain idiocy. Given Johnny Storm's reputation and easy-going manner, probably the former.

"Mr Storm, please get your feet off my coffee table," their host coldly told the superhero, visibly pissed. Quite understandable, really; Johnny Storm had forgotten to take his shoes, while were really little more than reinforced socks, off when they came indoors.

Although the latter was rapidly becoming to seem more likely...

"Tea?" Yuugi asked, offering his guests cups filled with hot, steaming green tea. "Mr Storm, your feet."

"So, exactly how did you manage to break into that dome?" the slightly intelligence-challenged Torch asked, still oblivious to Yuugi.

Yuugi's eyes narrowed. "Bite Shoes!"

A pair of red high-heels, decked out with teeth and eyes, materialised over the Human Torch's feet and latched on. Hard. "Flip!"

"Ow!" The Human Torch was forced to his feet with the carnivorous shoes, while the other two superheroes rapidly checked their own feet for monster shoes, and ensure that no other diplomatic faux pas had inadvertently started.

"Now, with that settled," the vertically challenged duellist sat opposite the heroes, smiling despite the obvious pain Johnny Storm was expressing, as if he could easily deal with all three heroes. Maybe he could... "What questions do you have?"

And the Turning One-eighty

"Well, glad to see you're awake," the Captain heard the soft voice of Yuugi speak. "I see you've met the Shadow Realm. Congratulations on making it back safely."

Despite the sarcastic tone, the Captain distinctly felt the Shadow mage's relief. "Any after-effects I should watch out for?" he heard his gravelly voice ask.

"Erm...slight nyctophobia is common, followed by nightmares, and estimated reaction to flickering shadows, but other than that, you should be fine." the short gamer assured him. "The effect is more mental than physical, although convulsions in the dark is quite common, but I doubt you would suffer any...as long as you try not to jump me again in he future."

"Believe me, I believe Logan now," he groaned, sitting up in his bed in the Avengers' infirmary. "Can't believe my own shadow jumped up and sent me to a dimension filled with indestructible monsters. No wonder Bullseye's so scared..."

"Not all denizens of the Shadow Realm are bad, you know," Yuugi chided, as a brown ball of fur, much to the surprise of Captain America, hopped over and landed on top of his lap, cuddling into his stomach like a big cat. Upon further examination, the brown fur-ball was revealed to have paws covered in green fur and round, violet eyes just like its master. "This is Kuriboh."

"Kuri!" Said fur-ball exclaimed, leaning into the Captain's touch as Steve Rogers aka Captain America stroked it.

"It's not dangerous...well, unless you hit it," Yuugi continued. "Then it explodes."

Captain America paused mid-stroke. "Quite the deterrent against pet abusers," he remarked, hoping he sounded calm when he was stroking a potential bomb.

"Don't worry, the explosion in question mainly involves hot air and fur." Yuugi replied, still smiling. "You know, if the Avengers subcontract any more work to me instead of Doctor Strange, people are going to wonder why."

"Well, the Doctor himself recommended you." Despite it all, the Captain found himself smiling back. "After all, you're the one who managed to discipline the Human Torch. And Namor, once he met your Bite Shoes. And the Ocean Dragon Lord."

"Not my fault the Sub-Mariner couldn't control Neo Daedalus," Yuugi shrugged, still smiling. "So...until the next crisis?"

Captain America, hero and champion of Mother America and its ideals, found himself saluting as the young duellist left in a burst of purple smoke. Perhaps the man wasn't so scary after all, he thought.

Okay, I confess that what I know about the Marvelverse is strictly limited to movies and Jim Butcher's Spider-man novel 'The Darkest Hours'. Nevertheless, I do hope that you like this.

Yeah, there are numerous references to Vathara's YuGiOh! fics, especially 'Foreign xChange', 'Whistling Past the Graveyard', and 'Opening Moves'. The Bite Shoes reference came from Vathara's 'Roll the Bones'. Highly recommended read; amusing yet fun.

My first time doing a 5+1 fic. Yay!

I did this one as a companion piece to 'Are You Afraid of the Dark?' which belongs with the DC verse Justice League.

Please review!