Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh. Nor do I own the characters in this story.

Author's Notes:

The idea of this story came when I lost a duel to a friend in the local tournament a while back. She said that if she could have me as a Yami, we would be unstoppable.

I thought about it and decided that while it could never happen in real life, it would make for a great story. Hopefully, I can do it justice.

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Chapter 1: Intro

Call me Yami!

"I sacrifice my Saggi the Dark Clown to summon the Summoned Skull in attack mode!" the boy Reggie said proudly.

Summoned Skull
Fiend 6 Stars
A: 2500
D: 1500

Tiffany looked back defiantly. "I'm not scared of that card. Do your worst!"

To anyone walking by, this would seem to be your normal average everyday duel of Yu-gi-oh. On one side, you had a young boy with dirty blond hair and thick eye-glasses with freckles scattered all over his face. On the other side was a girl with dark brown hair, blue eyes, and very pale skin. Each one of them wore a Millennium Puzzle necklace, though the girl's puzzle was more real-looking then the boy's. Both of them were facing a large table and clutching a handful of cards.

The only thing that might merit a second glance was the dueling table it's self. It was one of the new Virtual Reality dueling arenas that a few of the elite gaming stores were now using. So if a giant skeleton with bat-like wings that could shoot lightning bolts out of its hands didn't look normal to you, then there might seem to be something out of place. But once you got past that, everything appeared to be normal.

"Alright then," Reggie declared. "Summoned Skull, attack her face-down monster."

The Summoned Skull sent its powerful lightning attack crashing down on Tiffany's hidden monster. She smiled confidently as she reached down to activate her face-down card.

"Wait," I said silently. My voice echoed inside her head as if it had been one of her own thoughts. "He expects you to do that."

Tiffany frowned, unsure where the thought had come from, but she hesitated and looked strait at her opponent. Sure enough, he had his hand on his own face-down card, waiting to counter Tiffany's move.

Tiffany shrugged and let the attack hit. Her Oppressed People card was destroyed. Disappointed, the boy ended his turn.

Oppressed People
1 Star
A: 400
D: 2000

That was my life now: an inner-voice of Yu-gi-oh to a teenage girl. I suppose it could have been worse. I could have been stuck inside a rock or something. There were times when I would have preferred the rock. Rocks didn't smile every time a cute boy walked by. Rocks didn't have to deal with deranged psychopaths. Then again, rocks couldn't duel.

Tiffany drew a card and played it. Her Mystical Space Typhoon caused a small storm to appear on the field. With a bolt of lightning, it destroyed the trap card Reggie had down. She then summoned another monster in defense mode and ended her turn.

Mystical Space Typhoon
Quick Play Spell Card
Destroy 1 spell or trap card on the field.

Reggie drew and attacked again. This time, Tiffany confidently activated her trap card: Magic Cylinders. Summoned Skull's attack was sent back at Reggie. His LP dropped to 1750. He laid a card face-down and ended his turn.

Magic Cylinders
Trap Card
Negate the attack of a monster and damage your opponent's LP equal to the negated monster's attack power.

Tiffany flipped her Magician of Faith to get her Mystical Space Typhoon back. She used it to destroy Reggie's face-down card. Then she used Change of Heart to take control of Summoned Skull and finish off Reggie's LP.

Magician of Faith
Spell Caster 2 Stars
Flip Effect: Return 1 spell card from your grave to your hand.

"Another duelist falls down to the power of the Millennium Puzzle," Tiffany cheered as she danced in place. I almost smiled at her innocent expression of victory.

She meant it as a joke, of course. She didn't really believe in the Shadow Realm or magical powers. At this point, she had no idea that her Millennium Puzzle was the real puzzle or that it actually had real powers.

Or that it had me.

I had been "saved" from the Shadow Realm, a horrible place that I would wish on very few people, and locked away in this puzzle. It was a madman's idea of making the game more real. He had somehow tapped into the Shadow Realm and recreated many aspects from the TV show, such as the puzzle I was trapped inside. I have never really understood why he did it, and I have never completely forgiven him for what he put me through.

I watched through Tiffany's eyes as she packed up her cards and went home. For the ten-millionth time, I toyed with the idea of revealing myself to her. But again, I could not bring myself to do it. If I just stayed hid, no one would know the truth about me. It just seemed easier to leave things as they were.

Tiffany walked into her house with her backpack on her shoulder. Both of her parents were on the couch, watching TV. I could feel a sinking feeling inside of her as she stood behind them waiting for some sort of acknowledgement to her presence.

"I won another tournament today Mom," Tiffany tried hopefully. She held her hands together in front of her and chewed on her lip nervously. It was a habit she had developed before I had known her.

Her mother moved her head slightly. I think it was almost a nod of response, but nothing else followed.

She tried again. "If I win just a few more games, I'll be in the running for the national tournament."

"Be sure to finish your homework before you go to bed dear," her father replied, never taking his eyes off the TV. I wasn't even sure that he had heard her.

I felt the pain in Tiffany's heart as she climbed the stairs. Her parents were always like that. They never seemed to care much about what she did, so long as it didn't affect them.

She shut herself in her room and began to cry. Feeling her sadness didn't help mine either. We were too much alike, Tiffany and I. Both of us were alone.

"I wish I was like Yugi," Tiffany cried softly. "Why won't the puzzle bring me friends?"

In the TV show, when Yugi put the puzzle together, his wish for friends was granted. Those friends stood by him no matter what happened.

I remembered my friends from the Shadow Realm. I could see Zelda gazing back at me as she listened to me with patience. I remembered what it was like training with Neo and Link. Then I remembered Wendy. She looked at me with eyes that rang of friendship, and she smiled at me. Then a blast of white energy exploded from behind, and she was no more.

Loneliness began to overwhelm me, and I cried as well. So many friends were lost. The puzzle had no power to help her get friends in this world. It didn't have the power to help me, either.

We couldn't even help each other, or so I thought.

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Well, that's it. The action will pick up in the next couple of chapters as you have card duels, street fights, and some cool magic-enhanced battles towards the end.

Please R&R!