Chapter Text
It had been one of the most interesting summer vacations of Peter Parker’s life.
He’d thought everything was over when SHIELD had cornered him. Revealed they knew he was Spiderman. He had been preparing himself for a life as a test subject, some kind of science experiment. Instead he’d been introduced to two kids from Japan and told he’d be training with them.
Apparently SHIELD had been keeping an eye on meta-human minors as well. And while it was agreed they wouldn’t be sent into the field except in cases of emergencies (Not like anyone would be able to stop them). They would be trained in their abilities so they’d be ready to take their place as fully fledged Avengers. (He still wasn’t over that).
Joey Wheeler (apparently the city they were from had a strong immigrant popular, hence the more Western names and appearances) was Thor’s apprentice and Peter could see him fitting in just fine. He was a lot like his teacher, headstrong and quick to anger, but loyal to a fault and with a spirit that wouldn’t let him quit. Once he proven his worth to Harðhugaðr, he gained a more or less Asgardian body in addition to the powers from the hammer itself. Peter had to admit, it was kind of nice being able to help someone adjust to suddenly gaining super strength. He liked being a hero, but it was nice to help in a more quiet way too.
Joey’s best friend, Yugi Mouto, was the one he wasn’t so sure about. Oh, he didn’t doubt his powers. Yugi was summoner, it seemed, and Peter had seen him conjure up everything from little fuzz balls to fully grown dragons. (He’d been. In the same room. As a dragon.) That wasn’t even the extent of his abilities. He had spells that stopped the enemy in their track and could even outfit Joey and himself with magical armor and weapons at a moments notice. (Though he did resent the Insect Armor worked for him. He was an arachnid, thank you very much.)
And it wasn’t that he wasn’t nice. Though he dressed like a punk through and through, with spiked multicolored hair, a collar around his neck along with a thick chain, and a lot of leather, he was a perfectly nice and kind person. Well, actually the problem was that he was too nice. Yugi gave off a feeling kind of like a puppy or a baby panda. Sweet and innocent. Peter didn’t think he’d seen a battle outside his card game he loved so much, and didn’t know how he’d fare once he was in one.
Now it was the first day of school. And what a coincidence, Joey and Yugi were not only attending as exchange students but he had been assigned their guide. MJ had been asked to help Tea Gardner and Harry to help Tristan Taylor.
And if those two didn’t break his mind, nothing did. They knew everything about their friends, and though they weren’t meta-humans themselves, they were still close. There was no secrecy, no paranoia. It really made him rethink not telling MJ and Harry. He missed the closeness he once had with his friends. Maybe it wasn’t too late to get it back.
His thoughts were interrupted by his spider-sense going off. Sadly, he knew what this was and knew he shouldn’t avoid it. Sure enough, Flash Thompson grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. Honestly, Peter was almost bored by bullies now. He’d faced far far scarier things.
The threatening words he was waiting for never came, though, as Flash himself was grabbed from behind.
“Let go of him right now!” Joey growled.
And now Peter felt the panic set it. Joey and Yugi hadn’t really seen the need for secret identities and with his hackles up Joey might blow everything!
Fortunately salvation came in the form of tiny Yugi, who put himself between Flash and his friend. “Joey please, there’s no need for this.” Joey backed off, but didn’t seem happy about it. Yugi then turned to Flash. “I’m sure this is just a big misunderstanding, We should get to know each other better. Let’s play a game.”
With that last sentence Yugi’s voice had taken on a silky quality Peter had never heard before. He felt his spider-sense go off as Joey suddenly grabbed both him and Yugi and started running. Peter was shocked to see the neo-Asgardian looking pale and frightened. And this was a guy who attacked a member of the Wrecking Crew with what he’d thought was an ordinary hammer? What could have scared him so much?
~
This was less than pleasant. Actually it was downright annoying. He, Joey, and Yugi had accidentally stumbled on the kidnapping of one Mokuba Kaiba, younger brother of Seto Kaiba (industrialist, professional gamer, and self appointed pain in Harry and Joey’s rear ends according to them.) And with a gun pointed to the boy’s head, they’d had no choice to comply with the kidnappers, ending up being kidnapped themselves.
The frustrating thing was all of them (except maybe Mokuba) had the power to escape, but couldn’t because they couldn’t let their secret identities leak to the bad guys. Even Mokuba was in the know, his older brother had apparently been a potential recruit for the In-Training Avengers (Or ‘New Millennium’ as they’d dubbed themselves), though he’d turned Fury down. So yes, frustrating.
Though they probably weren’t acting like normal kidnap victims. He was antsy, Mokuba seemed bored, Joey was openly amused (“You got no idea what Moneybags is goin’ ta do to ya, and I’m gonna enjoy watching”), and Yugi just seemed…calm. Passively observing the two armed guards left to watch them until he spotted something. And grinned.
“Excuse me, Guard-san. I can’t help but notice you’re bored. There’s a deck of card in here. Why don’t we play a game?"
There is was. That silky tone from the day he’d said nearly the same thing to Flash. Peter flicked his eyes to Joey. He hadn’t gone pale like he had before, instead there was determined look in his eyes. However, he had reached over and began comforting Mokuba, who had gone from indifferent to terrified.
"Right, distract us so you can escape,” One of the guards snorted.
“If it makes you feel better, we can take turns. One of you can play me, while the other keeps his weapon trained on us. After all, we’re completely unarmed.”
“What the hell, he’s right. And I’m so bored I might fall asleep.” one of the guards sat down next to him. “If his tries anything, just shoot his friend in an artery and me him watch him bleed out. Old Maid good with you?”
“That’s fine,” Yugi purred. “And while you’re free to stop us from escaping, I just ask that no one interfere with the game, on either side.”
“Joker’s the Maid.” The guards said, shuffling the deck. They each drew their hands and discarded their pairs.
“Game Start,” Yugi announced, still in that strange voice.
And Peter’s spider-sense, which had been going off low key since the guys with the guns were there, started SCREAMING.
But there was no threat, no danger he could see. Just the two of them playing a card game. Though did Yugi seem…taller? Broader shoulders? Peter was still trying to find the source of the alarm a few rounds into the game when the guard pulled the Joker from Yugi’s hand. And screamed bloody murder.
Before their eyes he seemed to age, lines deepening of his face. “What’s…what’s happening to me?!” he croaked
“I forgot to mention, this isn’t a normal game of Old Maid. This is a Yami no Game, also known as a Shadow Game. For each round we hold the Maid in our hand, we age two years. I believe I’m up to twenty four myself. Alas, It’s seems which I’m still growing, I’m never going to be very tall.” Yugi shook his head sadly. “Of course pulling the Maid causes an addition penalty of ten years.”
The Guard who declined to play aimed the gun as Yugi’s head. “Fix this, now!”
“Once the game’s started it has to be played out.” Yugi explained. “The winner gets their youth back. The loser remains at a vernerable age. I wouldn’t recommend shooting at me. Interrupting the game or cheating invokes a serious penalty.”
“So does this mean it’s hero-time?” Peter whispered to Joey. Apparently being low-key had just gone out the window. He was not looking forward to explaining this to Fury.
“No!” Joey hissed. “Trust me, ya don’t want to interfere with the game. Don’t worry about Fury. Yugi knows what he’s doing”
Peter gulped at the seriousness in Joey’s voice and followed his lead. He watched as the Guard grew older and older as Yugi never failed to avoid the Maid. Soon he was down to two cards, gripped in time-withered hands. He was shaking, any moment now the kid was going to make his last pair and he would lose and…
Suddenly the Guard started laughing, a gravely sound due to his advanced age. He raised one of the cards up. “You see this? This one’s the maid. And you’re going to pull it. You’re going to let me win or my partner’s going to blow both your friends heads off.”
"That’s cheating,” Yugi said calmly.
“You think we care?” The partner snarled. “Someone’s gonna die here, and newsflash, it’s gonna be at least one of you kids.”
“I warned you about cheating.” Yugo said with a grin, as a golden eye of Wdjat appearing on his forehead. “You’ve both earned the penalty.”
The partner tried to fire, but dropped the gun, no longer able to hold it in his fragile, arthritic fingers. The playing guard crumpled to the ground, two card (The Joker and the Ace of Diamonds) fluttering away as they both withered away to just bones then dust.
“Your kind always cheats,” Yugi denounced as he returned to his proper age. “And in the Shadows that’s not allowed.” He then turned to them, his face normal and cheerful. “Let’s get out of here. I’m sure Seto will want to know you’re safe.”
Mokuba nodded enthusiastically. “Big Brother will be worried.” He scurried out, Yugi close behind him.
Joey tried to follow, but Peter grabbed his arm. “You knew he was going to kill them.” he accused. “That’s why you knew Fury wasn’t going to get upset about our identities being leaked.”
Joey sighed. “Not exactly. The Shadow Games don’t always kill. But they can leave ya mad, unconscious, or discredited. Anyway you dice it, not a threat. And he was right. Their kind always cheats.” He sighed. “Look, that’s the reason Yug prefers his summoning to the Yami no Games. It seems harsh, but..we were witnesses. We weren’t going to walk out alive, if they had their say. An’ I don’t know if I’m bulletproof. But Mokuba definitely ain’t. We don’t take chances where our friends are concerned.”
Joey walked out and Peter followed him, one thing now perfectly clear. He had faced super villains. Trained with the Hulk. Looked Nick Fury in the eye.
And he was sure he would never meet a person more terrifying than Yugi Mouto.