Sakakku

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Disclaimer: No, I don't own YuGiOh, and I won't ever own it, so you can stop asking and I'll stop telling. Translation: I'm not going to write it in future chapters.

Pairings: Yes, there will be a bit of romance; mostly fluff. Joey/Mai; fluffy hints of Yugi/Serenity and Shadi/Ishizu. I'll also be messing with Duke/Serenity/Tristan, just because it's funny. Lotsa friendship, too, that you could interpret as love. There will be a sequel in which all bets are off.

Notes: Although this is an AU, it begins in a real scene from an episode. That is, when Yugi and the possessed Joey are dueling… there's one minute left on the clock. Malik is the hikari, Marik is the yami.

To the best of my knowledge, sakakku means false impressions or confusion. Thanks to Dragon's 1 Girl for getting me this information, thanks to Dragon's 1 Girl's friend for giving it to her! Why did I choose this title? Because I believe that I'll be giving my readers a lot of false impressions. And possibly causing a lot of confusion. o.O

This whole story/outline was rewritten twice because it was too close to someone else's. I would say it's extremely different now to anything I've seen. If it's close to something I haven't seen, well, you can't really blame me for that, can you?

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Prologue

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Téa closed her eyes, willing herself not to despair. But what could she do? She was virtually a prisoner, completely helpless, strapped down to a chair and forced to watch two of her best friends duel each other. What's more… Joey wasn't himself. He was being controlled by Malik, and Yugi couldn't help him break free!

Joey laughed a laugh that was not his own. "I'll play the card that will destroy you, Pharaoh," he said in a disembodied voice. "Meteor of Destruction!"

The Joey-who-was-not-Joey lifted his stolen arm high in the air, and the sky opened up. Téa fixed her gaze on it, trying not to stare, but feeling tears blur her vision anyway.

"Joey!" Yugi called to his friend. "Joey, can you hear me?" His only answer was yet another cruel laugh.

"Yugi!" Téa cried in horror. He glanced up to see the direct assault speeding towards him.

"Activate Mystical Ref Panel!" he cried, throwing up his arm to protect from the scorching heat. Abruptly, the card threw its projection out, forcing the attack back. Joey's possessed eyes frowned in sudden disbelief.

"No!" he cried angrily, rearing his head back. But then a thought seemed to strike his controller, and he moved his head forward again. "You wouldn't harm this body," Malik's voice mocked through Joey's mouth.

"Joey," Yugi whispered. "I know you're in there somewhere." He glanced at the clock… five seconds. "I know you'll break through," he whispered. "Mystical Ref Panel! The target of the attack is me!"

Téa cried out, only dimly aware of the shrieks from the others on the dock, as the attack hit Yugi in a swirl of blinding light. She strained against her bindings, trying to peer through the smoke.

Yugi's life-points hit zero and a small box opened up at Joey's feet. Casually, almost as an afterthought, Malik ordered Joey to release himself from the chains. "Unlock yourself and bring the Puzzle to me," he commanded, his voice thick with victory.

Joey obediently unlocked himself, the clock reset at thirty seconds. "Yes, Master Malik," he said in the same disembodied voice.

"Mutt!" Seto Kaiba barked for the first time. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Big brother?" Serenity called out, her voice filled with fear. She reached for her bandages, but Téa stopped her. "Don't, Serenity! Something's wrong with Joey!" Serenity gasped and moved her hands away. "Big brother!" she called again, body shaking with sobs.

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Joey was lost. Voices everywhere… friendly voices, taunting voices… but there were two that stuck out. "Joey, you're in there somewhere," a boy whispered.

And elsewhere… "Bring the Millennium Puzzle to me," the voice said, dripping with greed. "You're my mind-slave and will do as I wish!"

"Joey? Joey!"

He blinked once… twice… on his own!

"YUGI!" he cried. The golden eye that had appeared on his forehead shattered with incredible force. Those on the docks ducked as a fierce wind swept by… and on the wind, a voice filled with anger.

"What? Noooo…"

"Yugi!" Joey cried desperately, looking at the clock. Five seconds. Four. Three.

He did the only thing he could think to do.

Two.

He hurled the Millennium Puzzle with all his strength over to where Yugi probably lay, buried under the smoke.

ONE.

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Malik never found the body of the Pharaoh, or the Millennium Puzzle. In his fury, he called his darker side out - the true Marik, who proceeded to lock his hikari away for the time being. Marik then found Slifer the Sky Dragon lying carelessly on what remained of the dock.

His partner - the spirit of the Millennium Ring, called Bakura - showed up at the site of Yugi's alleged death a few minutes afterwards, challenging Seto Kaiba to a duel. Seto accepted, but was shaken too badly to retain his concentration. It was a rare occurrence that Seto Kaiba lost a duel, and no one really believed it when Marik and Bakura held their three won God Cards aloft in the sky with triumph, while the proud CEO fell to his knees.

Their friends scattered in the days that followed. They traveled in groups of one and two for protection. Most of them were found, although some were allowed to remain free. Others were taken to Egypt, where Marik and Bakura centered their attack on the world.

The world fell quickly without the Pharaoh to defend it. No one believed the threat was really coming until it was too late.

Duel Monsters became a privilege. Only those of high prestige were allowed to retain dueling decks and dueling disks. It also turned into an upper-class hobby; played for sport. The real power lay in Marik and Bakura's hand-picked guards, the Rare Hunters, who practiced the Shadow Realm Summonings. It soon grew that no one could stand against them, and the world turned the way they envisioned it; much like Egypt 5,000 years ago.

A new, dark era had fallen.

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Notes: I hope that went smoothly. Try writing a world takeover in 1000 words or less… () Anyway, I'm going to love working on this fic; it's so different than anything I've done before!