Behind the Scenes

By Anime-2000

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Hey, long time no see, everyone! Anime-2000's back with a new chapter for Behind the Scenes! Also, I changed the rating to K+ due to some violence—not that much, though—and to be safe. Hope that doesn't affect you guys! Enjoy!

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Joey had arrived a little later due to some difficulties… which will not discussed at the moment. He had no idea what had happened or how the bustling convention had turned into a rescue mission, so when he came bursting through the main entrance, hollering, "Joey is in da house!" he was immediately gagged and blinded with Bakura's jacket and carried off by the two white-haired twins to where the Tea and the Egyptian brothers were. Seto Kaiba was there too and had shared his technical knowledge with spotlights and other stage props.

Bakura and Ryou dropped the blonde roughly on the tiled floor. Joey snatched off his head and gave his abductors dirty glares. "What the heck was that all about?"

Tea explained everything, much to everyone's relief. With wide eyes, Joey listened carefully, sitting perfectly still and staring with rapt attention. When she had finished, she concluded with, "Sorry you don't really have a role in this. We didn't think you'd come in so late…" She blushed and smiled sheepishly. "Do you… um… want to help Kaiba with the settings of our little skit?"

His lips drew back in a smile as Joey loudly announced, "If it's to save Yug', I'd even work with Kaiba! Count in me!"

And he was quickly silenced one, unified "shhh!"

But they were grateful for all the help they could get. Not being professional screenwriters, they weren't sure whether their script was perfect or not, but it was the only plan they had. Other than calling the police. But if they did that, they wouldn't have known what would happen. Would Yugi make it out alive after the police came rampaging in with twenty men, startling the convicts?

"All right," Seto said, interlocking his fingers and stretching them out in front of him. He had always wondered what it would've been like if he were a director or a cameraman. On second thought, forget that. His good looks were meant to be in front of the camera, not behind it. "Lights, cameras… action!"

(-)

The lights had gone out a few minutes ago, but those past few moments were filled with dread and anxiety. Yugi was certain his brother and friends would rescue him, but whether they would save him in time or not was a whole different story. He sat on the stage floor, hugging his legs to him with such a grip that he had started to lose feeling in them. The three men who had taken him hostage sat near him in a circle, discussing what to do next. They weren't the sharpest crayons in the box. Not the brightest, either. Maybe he could just sneak away in the dark…

Yugi moved slowly, almost getting to his hands and knees in preparation to run away. He heard a click and felt the metal barrel of a gun against his head. "Where d'you think you're going, runt?"

"How dare you call my light a runt?"

He could recognized that deep, resonant voice anywhere! Yugi looked to his left, expecting to see the spiky-haired silhouette of his older sibling.

But all he saw was a large pile of cardboard boxes that were used to store hundreds of DVDs. Yugi felt a crushing disappointment sink into his heart. Maybe he was doomed.

No, what was he thinking? He was saved! Yugi's spirits soared as said big brother stepped out from behind the wall of cardboard. In the dark, a figure sauntered out from behind the pile of boxes. It was Yugi's taller double.

A beam of light appeared from above and pooled around Yami's feet. His hands were placed in his pockets, his posture was a casual but confident curve, and on his face was his signature smirk that graced Yu-Gi-Oh! merchandise everywhere. Yugi wondered what he was doing; exposing himself right in front of his kidnappers was dangerous.

"Release him," Yami said calmly.

"You hiz bruhder or sumting?" asked the ape-man, standing up. He was standing several feet away from the older boy, but Yami could tell that he was much taller. This was risky, but he had to save his little brother!

Yami shook his head violently and snapped, "No, I'm his dark side, you fool! Uh—" He caught himself before he completely lost his cool. Clearing his throat, he continued, "Now if you don't want to face my wrath, I suggest you let him go!" He punched himself inwardly. This was horrible acting, not something one would expect from him!

The beady-eyed man, who was shaking, whimpered loudly.

"Uh huh," said the thug in charge. "Really, to me you just look like some dumb teenager with a bad hairstyle. And if you're this kid's dark side," he added, grabbed Yugi by the arm and yanking him to his feet, "then shouldn't you be inside his head? 'Cause that's a psychological problem, ain't it?"

Yes, Yami could feel the vein popping on his forehead as he tried to subdue his anger. He leaned forward a little and spat his retaliation, "Yes, well… I'm a spirit and that's my great shadow powers working!" Yami was improvising now. He growled and mentally reminded himself to stick with to his original lines. Jabbing a finger at the three, he challenged them, "Now face me in a Shadow Game!"

The leader snorted. "This should be good. Go get 'im, Mace." He nodded to the biggest of the three. The human gorilla grinned toothily and stepped forward.

"The rules are simple, I'm sure, for you, too," Yami said, eyeing him carefully. He was worried about this guy. Timing was very important, and he could not afford to lose a second; it could mean a dislocated jaw or a shattered bone… Or a concussion… No, no, don't think that. He really needed to stop thinking ahead.

Yugi's 'dark side' pulled out of his hands out from his pocket with a deck of cards clutched in his fingers. He drew a card and showed it to his opponent. "See this?" he asked, pointing to the Big Shield Gardna's attack points. "These are known as attack points, and Big Shield Gardna only has 100. Now, we will both draw cards. Whoever draws the card with the highest attack points wins; the person who draws the lowest is the loser, understand?"

"Yeah," replied Mace, giving him a sinister smile. "Piece 'o cake."

"Good," Yami said and placed the Big Shield Gardna at the bottom of his deck. "I'll go first!" he said and dramatically pulled a card from the top of his deck. After a glance, he smirked and revealed his card. "Ah, Dark Magician Girl! Two thousand attack points!"

Mace scowled and drew a card. His frown deepened. Yami rose on his toes to take a look at the card Mace held in his hands. "Celtic Guardian only has 1400 attack points," he told him, "which means you lose."

Snarling, the bigger man tossed the elvin card aside and was about to lunge at boy. Yugi's eyes widened. "Yami! YAMI, watch out!"

"No!" roared Yami and held the Dark Magician Girl card above his head. "You lost! Now, pay the price!"

A cheerful giggle echoed; the feminine voice was light with humor. "Whoo!" an oddly dressed, golden-haired girl hooted as she fell from above. Her feet smashed right into Mace's head. Everyone froze. Then, the girl hopped off, winked, and twirled behind Yami, laughing the entire time. The large man fell to the floor, knocked completely senseless.

The Dark Magician Girl waved andpeered over Yami's shoulder as the young Duelist confidently demanded, "Who's next?"

'That could not have turned out any better!' Yami thought gleefully, containing his excitement behind a cool composure. Mana played out her part perfectly—receiving no injuries from her fall and makingthe 'Shadow Game'look as realistic as possible. If he hadn't been Yami, he would have turned around and kissed her!

"Uhh… Slim, you go next."

The trembling man stared at the other crook in horror. "Me—me? Rob, you're not serious… Y-you're not gonna let some maniac get me…?"

Rob glared at the poor man. "Slim, you've got two seconds before I make you go."

Slim swallowed and slowly trudged to where the two teenagers stood. Yami and Mana exchanged glances. The same thought crossed both of their minds: This is gonna be a cinch.

"Here, I'll draw first," Yami said and plucked a card from the top of his deck. "Dark Magician—2500 attack points. What about you?"

Closing his eyes, Slim picked a card up tentatively. He opened his eyes hesitantly and started whimpering again. "Gai…Gaia the Fierce… Knight," he moaned, "Only 2300…"

Yami laughed darkly. "Looks like you lose. Dark Magician…!"

To the two criminals, the purple-robed man seemed to have been summoned by the so-called 'dark spirit' as he emerged from the darkness behind him and placed himself between Slim and the Dueling duo. In actuality, Mahaado had been hiding behind the pile of cardboard boxes with Yami. He had simply revealed himself later.

"Go, Dark Magician!" Yami cried as the Dark Magician brandished his green staff threateningly. "Dark Magic Attack!"

Of course, having no magic to attack Slim with because he was an actor, Mahaado did the second most effective thing. He raised his staff high in the air like a club and brought it crashing down on the slightly shorter man's head. Rob gave a surprised grunt as his companion dropped to the floor like a sack of rocks. Yami cringed and gave his tall friend an incredulous grin while Mana squealed, pressing her fists against her mouth. Yugi reacted the same way as she did.

Mahaado walked over to the victorious two, casually twirling his staff with his fingers. When he had stopped at his appointed position with his back against Mana's, the blonde girl hissed, without lowering her hands, "Man, you are heartless, aren't you?"

Yami started talking again, loudly. The two 'magicians' weren't paying attention to what came out of his mouth, but they were willing to bet he was trying to keep the remaining criminal from hearing their conversation. Mahaado tilted his head and closed his eyes, making it appear as if he were in deep contemplation, but his real intention was to have his long, indigo hair hide his face as he whispered back, "You were hazy when you gave me my directions."

"But that was cruel!" Mana sniffed.

"…I believe in my deck! And that is why it never fails me…" declared Yami.

"Well, what'd you expect me to do!"

"I dunno. Let him faint? He looked like he was about to!"

"Hmph, forget it. Hey, there's only one guy left…"

"Every deck has a heart!"

"…We could just end it here and take him down easily!"

"And when you can trust in your monsters…"

"Mahaado, no! That's no fun."

"This is a rescue mission—not a high school drama!"

"NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH THE HEART OF THE CARDS!" finished Yami, shooting both Mana and Mahaado evil glares. They shut up immediately.

The last of the three crooks raised an eyebrow. "So are you done, Kid?"

"Uh…" Yami blinked and then got back into character. "The question is, are you ready?"

"Yeah," said Rob, rubbing his stubbly chin as he walked up to Yami, dragging Yugi along with him. He kicked the bodies of his unconscious lackeys out of his path. "Yeah… But I get to go first this time, got it?" Even Yugi noticed that Yami's face fell when he said that. Rob sneered, "Is that a problem?"

"…" Thrusting his deck forward, Yami said stiffly, "No. No, it's not…" His two friends standing behind him tensed up. This was not part of their plan. But if things turned for the worst, they would be ready to spring into action.

Beads of sweat started forming on Yami's face. This Rob guy had been more intelligent than he had anticipated. With the results of the previous two games, the person who drew first always won. 'Now…' Yami's empty fist tightened. 'Agh, maybe Mahaado was right. We should all just jump him now!' His mind was working furiously, all the cogs and gears moving rapidly.

Rob drew a card, and his sneer grew broader.

And then all the gears in Yami's mind came to a screeching halt. 'Wait a minute.' Come to think of it, he didn't even know the outcomes of the draws. All he was told was what to say when he drew the chosen cards. Mariku had stacked his deck.

Yami picked a card up.

If he had been anyone else, he would've kissed Mariku, too. Both players revealed their cards at the same time.

Rob had drawn the Magician of Black Chaos.

Yami's card was the Blue Eyes White Dragon.

"With 3000, the Blue Eyes White Dragon has 200 more points than the Magician of Black Chaos!" Yami declared, flaunting the dragon card in the face of his brother's kidnapper. "Now it's your turn!"

A large shadow fell over the five of them. Rob turned around and saw a white, snarling dragon towering over him. It bared its teeth, its claws extended as it froze in mid-air pounce. The crook let go of Yugi's arm and screamed.

Until he realized it was made of cardboard.

A man dressed completely in black with magenta bands around his limbs appeared from behind it. Rob recognized the black-haired man as the Magician of Black Chaos from the card. Zeph just grinned. "Hey, look what I found!"

The other four actors burst out laughing. Rob looked around, utterly confused. Yugi's spiky head appeared from behind Yami, and he made a face.

"Congratulations!" the older Kaiba's voice boomed across the hall. "And thank you for participating in our little act!" A spotlight fell around Rob. "Aren't you lucky—any Yu-Gi-Oh! fan here would've traded their left arm for your role!"

"Yu-Yu-Gi-Oh!…?" mumbled the convict, still bewildered.

"Now, let's give our actors and actress a round of applause, eh? Yami—as Yami Yugi, dark spirit of the puzzle!" continued Seto and snidely added, "aka, the slightly bigger one with the bad haircut!"

The aforementioned Yami raised a hand and received the applause of his fellow actors with a modest nod.

"Mahaado and Mana played out the roles of Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl!"

The man in the purple armor just shrugged while the girl laughed and blew out kisses to an invisible audience.

"And the littler one with the bad haircut is little Yugi, who played the role as hostage… without knowing it!"

Yugi blushed, out of shyness and anger at being called little with a bad haircut.

"Zeph, the talented young man who played the Magician of Black Chaos and the Blue Eyes White Dragon, well done!"

Zeph dropped the cardboard dragon and took an overly exaggerated bow.

"And of course, us behind the scenes who did all the special effects, and lighting, and such, me Seto Kaiba—"

"And Joey Wheeler!" declared Joey's voice as he pushed Seto aside.

Mana folded her arms across her chest as she backed away. The others followed her action until the convict was surrounded by a twenty-feet radius of nothing but air. "Rob, Slim, and Mace, right?" she asked the dumbfounded Rob. "We didn't forget about you!"

Every single door in the building slammed open. Men in uniform charged in and filled the twenty-feet radius. "Police! Freeze!"

"In fact, we have a special award for you—a free trip to the nearest jail in town. What a prize, eh?" The lights were back on again, and Tea stood next to Mana with a cell phone in her hand. She had called for the authorities during the middle of the performance.

"Guys!" said Tristan, hurrying to the two girls. He held a video camera in his hands, and he proudly presented it to the blonde. "I got it all down on tape! I think I did pretty good with all of that." He smiled and gloated, "I would make a pretty decent cameraman if I do say so myself!"

Yami chuckled good-naturedly and said, "No kidding." He ruffled Yugi's hair and gave him a thumbs-up. "Things could not have possibly turned out better."

(-)

And strangely enough, copies of that tape sold better over the Internet than the actual, legitimate Yu-Gi-Oh! DVDs.

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Hey, that took too long to write! Whew!

That'd make a pretty good ending, now wouldn't it?