Shadows of Friendship: beginning idea

“But Twiliiight...”

“No Spike.” Twilight shook her head as she scoured through her textbooks, glancing over at the little purple dragon, frowning slightly when she noticed he had polished the green spines that ran down his back and tail, “We don’t have time.”

“But it’s White Lightning!” Spike protested, hoping to tempt the purple unicorn filly that had hatched him almost seven years ago, “And he’s showing off his new DuelTech. Don’t you want to see what he’s come up with this time?”

Twilight flinched at the mention of White Lightning’s name, remembering the last time they had met. “I haven’t spoken to him since we got interrupted mid-match and he got into that row with his Sire...”

She trailed off but she didn’t need to say anymore. Spike knew which argument she was talking about. White Lightning had once been a student at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns alongside Twilight, but after that devastating fight he had been withdrawn from the school with a broken horn. It hadn’t been long after that that the first version of DuelTech had come out, opening up the only game Twilight willingly took time out of her busy research schedule to play, to non-unicorns.

“You can go if you want, Spike, but I’ve got important research to do.” Twilight shook her head, taking a deep breath as he did so, not wanting to think about what she had seen that day, “I have to compile this report for Celestia before the Summer Sun Celebration.”

“But you’re supposed to be on holiday.” Spike complained, “You should do something fun.”

“This is fun for me.” Twilight reassured him, chuckling slightly. She was well aware that he was only concerned about her, everyone kept trying to tell her all work and no play made her boring after all. The problem that no one seemed to understand, not even Spike, was that this was fun for her. She enjoyed a good game of Duel Monsters, who didn’t? However researching and reading were her favourite pastimes. Writing an essay like this wasn’t work for her, more a hobby. Especially when it was on such a fascinating subject. “And the Summer Sun Celebration is what I’m looking into, I’m certain there’s something important about this year...”

Spike let out a frustrated sigh as Twilight turned back to her books. “You’re sure it’s okay for me to go?” He asked, waiting a few moments and getting no response before asking, “Twilight?”

“Go. Have fun.” Twilight waved him off, only glancing away for a moment, “If I need you, I’ll come looking.”

“Thanks Twilight.” Spike grinned, pushing the book he thought she was looking for in her direction before racing off to the Grand Plaza where White Lightning was holding his exhibition.

Sneakpeak: - Ennead: For Those We Love: Chapter 4

“Stupid bimbo.” Haga grumbled as he rolled the dice and failed, yet again, to get the right number. His last seven rolls had been the same.

Glancing over at Yugi only irritated him further. She seemed to be having all the luck. Once again she was fitting a piece of her statue into place, the second bulbous eye slipping into place easily, leaving just two legs left to insert into the antlike carapace.

He was sure she had to be cheating. That her calm facade was a mask, hiding a smug smirk as she fiddled her rolls in order to cheat him out of victory. No one’s luck was as good as she was trying to make out hers was.

She glanced over at him, waiting for him to take his turn so she could cheat and put one of the last legs in. He just knew it. Anger bubbled away in side him as he picked his die up. She had no right to test him, to judge him.

Yes, she was technically World Champion at his game but that was only down to sheer dumb luck. She would never have defeated Kaiba if it had not been for the fact she had drawn Exodia out of her deck. Now the cards were his. If he couldn’t have them, no one could. Especially not some jumped up rookie duelist. They were wasted on her.

“Finally.” He grouched as he rolled a one, allowing him to add a leg to his almost limbless statue, anger roiling away under the surface as Yugi turned away to take her own turn.

He considered his options. He was not going to win. That much was becoming obvious. She would have to have an insanely bad run of luck to lose now. She was just too far ahead.

But there was something he could do to stop her winning. Their statues and the parts that went with them were colour coded. His green and hers purple. If he stole one of her leg pieces, she couldn’t finish her statue.

He picked up one of the purple legs, grimacing as he tried to work out how such a wimpy looking girl could lift such heavy parts with such ease. He didn’t think to wonder why the purple leg felt like it weighed a ton as he staggered over to his statue and slid the leg into place.

Out of nowhere a wind started up, pushing him away from the now mismatched statue, making him stumble backwards and trip over one of the eye pieces belonging to his statue, hitting the floor with a yelp.

“Well, that was predictable.” Yugi scowled at him as he rubbed his rear, moving away from her statue and stalking towards him, darkness flaring up around her like flames. “Though I did expect it would happen earlier.”

Haga’s smart-alec comment died in his throat as he stared up at her. This wasn’t the Yugi he had talked to earlier. The innocent looking girl with wide, purple eyes, from earlier was gone. Instead this was a vengeful teenager with sharp red eyes and a scowl, who seemed to control the darkness around them like it was an extension of her.

“You cheated Haga.” She informed him, “And for that you will pay.”

“I...I...” Haga stammered, his hand slipping into the pocket where he had stowed the Exodia cards, “He...Here!” He offered them, “You can have them...”

“It’s a little late for that, Haga.” She snapped at him, glowering, “If you had played by the rules, that would have been enough. Now, however...”

Haga started trembling, fear and anger mingling, as he pulled his hand back and stared up at her. The flames that surrounded her were as cold as ice and as they licked around his feet he could feel his toes going numb.

She was a sorceress, there was no other explanation for it. That was how she had been cheating. She had been using her magic to rig the game!

Anger overtook him as the chill continued up his legs and he realised that he had never stood a chance. That she was stood there, looking down on him, judging him.

How dare she? How dare she?!

Well he could get one last shot in before she cast whatever horrible spell she was planning to cast.

“You think you’re so great.” Haga snarled, getting to his feet, “You’re just like everyone else, a lying, cheating cow.” He glowered at her, “You think you’re above everyone else? Just because you can make people see things and create things from nothing?” His expression shifted, to one of a vicious smirk, “Well say goodbye to Exodia.”

He had just enough time to tear the stack of cards in half before the Shadows swarmed him.

Sneakpeak: Ennead: For Those We Love Chapter 2

They weren’t the only ones who were early, there were plenty of Duellists waiting for the boat alongside them. Yugi recognised some of them. Near the front of the queue she could see Insector Haga and Dinosaur Ryuzaki bickering about something. Further back was Kaijiki Ryota, the ocean based Duellist who only really seemed to be interested in big tournaments where there were large amounts of prize money at stake.

The only other female Duellist there spotted her and left her place in the queue to come and talk to her. Jou, who had been babbling in his nervousness about getting caught out and sent away, went silent as the tall, well built and beautiful blonde young woman joined them.

“Mutou Yugi?” Kujaku asked, looking Yugi over.

“T...that’s right.” Yugi nodded, bowing quickly to the woman who had inspired her, currently short, professional Duelling career.

“My name’s Kujaku Mai.” Mai returned the bow briefly, blanking Jou as he tried to introduce himself, “I was hoping you would be here.”

“Oh?” Yugi asked, unable to help but be surprised as she hadn’t thought Kujaku would even know who she was.

“When someone beats the World Champion, I make it my business to find out more about them.” Mai chuckled at her, “Especially when it’s a girl. Of course we’re still in the minority, as you can see.” Mai gestured around to the crowd, “But I’ve noticed there are more girls interested thanks to you. I’m almost jealous.”

“You are?” Yugi asked, confused.

“I’ve been trying to get other women interested in the game for years.” Mai nodded, “We’re smarter than guys after all.”

“Hey!” One of the male Duellists nearby who weren’t entranced by Mai’s appearance protested.

“I...”

“I look forward to seeing you in the finals, Yugi.” Mai cut off what Yugi was going to say as the queue started moving, shooting towards the front of the line where a couple of guys moved to let her back into the place she had abandoned much more willingly than they would have done for anyone else.

Yugi started moving with the line, shaking her head in amusement when she realised Jou hadn’t moved from where he’d been stood when Mai had left.

“Hey Jou, Earth to Jou.” She chuckled, waving a hand in his face, “Line’s moving. Come on.”

“Wha?” Jou did a double take and looked around, before sheepishly following her.

Sneakpeek: Ennead: For Those We Love Chapter 3

“Well...” Yugi sighed as she zipped up her backpack and looked around her room for any last items she might have missed, “I think that’s everything.”

Her voice echoed around the room and no audible reply answered her, but reassurance bounced down the link and she felt ghostly hands on her shoulders, steadying her and easing the nervousness coursing through her.

“Anesan...” Yugi breathed, wishing that they could talk. She knew her older sister could hear her and she could hear the spirit of the Puzzle’s words whenever she wasn’t in control of the body but they still couldn’t exchange words between them. Emotions and gestures, yes, but no words and with less than twelve hours until they reached Duelist Kingdom they needed to come up with some way of beating Pegasus.

There was still time to come up with a plan, but there wouldn’t be for much longer and Yugi was worried. She couldn’t and wouldn’t retract her offer to Jou. He needed to go and needed the money, but she couldn’t help but worry that if they failed, if they couldn’t beat Pegasus, he would continue his rampage against those she cared about.

It didn’t help that they just didn’t know enough to be able to plan properly. Pegasus knew how to use the Millennium Eye’s full powers and had already proved that he could use it’s abilities to read their mind turns in advance. He would know their plans the moment they did, making the upcoming Duel unwinnable. Unless, of course, they could find a way to block his mind reading.

She felt the ghostly hands leave her shoulders and her elder sister’s emotions retreat from her mind, guilt following her back into the Puzzle. Yugi winced, wishing she had been more careful about what she had been thinking. The spirit of the Puzzle felt horrible about letting her pride cost them the Duel against Pegasus in the first place.

“I’m sorry.” Yugi apologised aloud as she snatched up her bag, hoping that the spirit of the Puzzle could hear her, “I didn’t mean to... I know you didn’t mean to... We’ll do this. I know we will.” Silence echoed in her heart, causing her to let out a sigh as she joined Jou in the living room just in time to hear a car horn outside.

“You ready, Yuge?” Jou asked, already heading for the back door where the taxi was be waiting for them.

“As I’ll ever be.” Yugi nodded, following him out the door, turning off the lights and locking up as she did so. “Have you got everything ? Deck? Wallet? Keys?” She asked as she slipped into the taxi to the docks.

“Everything bar the kitchen sink.” Jou confirmed, “And I would have packed that too if it would have fitted in the bag.”

For Those We Love: Chapter 3 Intro

“Well...” Yugi sighed as she zipped up her backpack and looked around her room for any last items she might have missed, “I think that’s everything.”

Her voice echoed around the room and no audible reply answered her, but reassurance bounced down the link and she felt ghostly hands on her shoulders, steadying her and easing the nervousness coursing through her.

“Anesan...” Yugi breathed, wishing that they could talk. She knew her older sister could hear her and she could hear the spirit of the Puzzle’s words whenever she wasn’t in control of the body but they still couldn’t exchange words between them. Emotions and gestures, yes, but no words and with less than twelve hours until they reached Duelist Kingdom they needed to come up with some way of beating Pegasus.

There was still time to come up with a plan, but there wouldn’t be for much longer and Yugi was worried. She couldn’t and wouldn’t retract her offer to Jou. He needed to go and needed the money, but she couldn’t help but worry that if they failed, if they couldn’t beat Pegasus, he would continue his rampage against those she cared about.

It didn’t help that they just didn’t know enough to be able to plan properly. Pegasus knew how to use the Millennium Eye’s full powers and had already proved that he could use it’s abilities to read their mind turns in advance. He would know their plans the moment they did, making the upcoming Duel unwinnable. Unless, of course, they could find a way to block his mind reading.

She felt the ghostly hands leave her shoulders and her elder sister’s emotions retreat from her mind, guilt following her back into the Puzzle. Yugi winced, wishing she had been more careful about what she had been thinking. The spirit of the Puzzle felt horrible about letting her pride cost them the Duel against Pegasus in the first place.

Awesome 'Ennead: For Those We Love' Fanart

This was done by Jack3Dragon for Ennead: For Those We Love

It's awesome and I love it

Sneak Peek - Ennead: For Those We Love: Chapter 2

Bakura paused as she stepped through the classroom door and looked over at her group of friends, who were gathered around a travel video player, chatting to the screen.

“Good morning?” She questioned, curious as Yugi looked up and nodded to her, then slumped back into her seat, while the others all gave her smiles that looked rather false. “What did my other self do now?” She asked as she moved over to the group.

“It wasn’t her fault.” She jumped a mile as the video player answered her, causing her to move around to see the screen. Yugi’s grandfather was on it, waving merrily at her, “Good morning, Bakura-chan.”

“G...Good morning, Mutou-san?” It was more a question and she glanced around at the others, noting Yugi had seemed to sink further into her chair. “Is he really...?”

“Yeah.” Jou nodded, his tone angry and his movement sharp. “Some prick with a Millennium Item challenged Yuge, cheated all the way through and sealed Ojiisan’s soul into the tape when she lost.”

Bakura could feel her other self shift at the back of her mind at Jou’s words and mentally grimaced. She was well aware of how close her other self had come to total victory just a couple of months ago. It was only the fact the she had sacrificed herself to halt the final blow that had saved her friends.

It had only been a miracle that had saved her life and the life of her Other Self, but they had been dead, at least temporarily, and while she was willing to do it again if she needed to, the spirit of the Ring had made it clear that she had no intention of dying again. Not for a long time at least.

This meant that, for the time being, Yugi’s Puzzle was firmly off the radar. Any other Items however were still fair game and Bakura couldn’t really bring herself to object considering that most other item holders seemed to be obnoxious prats.

“Can you get him out?” She asked, remembering how Yugi no Oneesan, the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle had seemed to have no difficulty in helping her free those trapped in the game pieces from her Monster World set.

“No.” Yugi shook her head, seeming calm, though Bakura could see it was just a mask. She couldn’t help but wonder if the others could see the dejection hidden underneath. “Anesan tried. We just ended up with a headache for our troubles.”

‘Of course they did.’ Bakura flinched as the voice of her other self echoed in her head, still not used to being able to hear the thoughts of the spirit of the Ring and mostly wishing she still couldn’t, ‘The Penalty was set against them. They will have to fulfil the ‘out’ clause before they will be able to free him.’

“Could we do it?” Bakura asked the voice, startling them both. “Could we free Yugi’s Grandfather?”

‘I don’t know,’ The voice replied after a moment of thought, sounding amused for some reason, ‘And quite frankly I don’t care to try. The Pharaoh got herself into this mess and she can get herself...’

The Other Bakura paused, retuning into the conversation at the table in time to see Jou rolling his text book into a cone shape, pointing it at the Puzzle and yelling, “Hey Oneesan! If you can hear me in there, cheer up!” at the top of his lungs.

“Jonouchi!” Anzu shoved him away as Yugi tried to get some hearing back. “Seriously! I don’t think that’ll help.”

It had a little though, Bakura could see, as Yugi smiled for a moment, some of the despondency lifting a little in the face of her friend’s lunacy.