Sotachii and the Dark Ring
By Crazy Zera
Chapter 1: Sotachii's Lucky Streak
"I have waited too long for this day to come! The long and tedious hours of working near the one man other than my father that I look up to have finally paid off! With my hard-earned money, I was able to buy the cards I have so wanted. My deck will be undefeatable, and I will be named-."
"Linkin, for the last time, sit down! Your pacing is driving me nuts!"
Linkin Sotachii settled down into the armchair. He grunted quietly as he crossed his arms, slightly wrinkling the sleeves of his ruby red dress shirt. His grey eyes flashed angrily at the silver-haired girl in front of him.
"I am so not looking forward to having you in my class on Monday, Kiichana."
"Live with it, Linkin." Kiichana grabbed three locks of Sotachii's lavender bangs and braided them. "The nice thing is that kids my age will be there!"
"Nice for you, maybe." Sotachii scratched the back of his head, ruffling his spiky silver-white hair. "Taylor and Wanker are childish enough, there need not be more of them!"
"Linkin!"
"Wheeler! That better?"
"It still doesn't change the fact that my older brother is more childish than them." She punched him in the arm and walked off. "Now, go wash that gel out of your hair. It's stupid to go to Industrial Illusions looking like a corporate punk!"
After watching his sister walk off, he sighed. "I happen to like my hair like this. Mr. Crawford hasn't yelled at me yet."
***
"Linkin Sotachii?"
Sotachii woke up instantly and busied himself at the computer. "Sorry, sir. I." He looked back at the grey-haired man behind him. "Mr. Krokei! I'm terribly sorry about dozing off, sir!"
"Mr. Crawford requests your presence for an audience," Krokei said calmly before walking off.
"This is it! I'm fired!" He grabbed the silver jacket that hung on the back of his chair and followed Krokei. After everything my father did to get me this job! Wasted instantly! I'll bet he's waiting in Mr. Crawford's office, ready to kick my ass. He shuddered. No, wait. He'll ground me for life! That's a sure-fire thing he'll do if I lose this job!
A tall man stood at the hall, watching as Sotachii walked up to him. His suit was of the deepest red, with a frilled white dress shirt beneath it. Long pale lavender hair framed a surprisingly youthful face, as well as kept his left eye hidden from view. He stared at the spiky-haired teen with the one visible red-brown eye.
"There you are, Sotachii-boy." The man stepped aside, allowing Sotachii to enter. "I suppose your sister keeping you up all night is the main reason why you were snoozing at your desk."
"Th-that's right, Mr. Crawford, sir. She's supposed to accompany me to classes tomorrow, and she won't let me sleep." Here it comes! "I have no choice but to fire you, Sotachii-boy."
"I." Mr. Crawford paused.
"Please don't fire me, sir! I need this job, or else I'll be grounded for life, and all my cards will be taken away from me!" He fell to his knees. "Please!"
"I'm not going to fire you. You're the best designer we have here!" Mr. Crawford gestured for Sotachii to sit down. "Now, I must ask you. Do you have with you the cards you mentioned earlier?"
Slightly shocked, Sotachii sat down in the smaller of the two wingback chairs and pulled his cards from his jacket pocket. "I'm just learning the game, though. The old man at the game shop says it's a terribly complex game."
"That is correct, Sotachii-boy, but I've designed the game so that it's simple for both children and adults to understand the rules." He held up his hand, into which Krokei placed a deck of cards. "Shall we have a duel?"
"Uh.sure."
***
"I'll play the Dark Magician in attack mode to take out your Archery Girl. That play reduces your life points to zero."
Mr. Crawford smiled. "I am quite impressed, Sotachii-boy. You are only the second duelist to beat me, but the first amateur to beat me."
"Thank you, sir." Sotachii blushed slightly. "And this was the first ever game I've played!" He rose to his feet and bowed slightly. "May I return to my work now?"
"Well, no. I was careful to call you here near the end of your shift, so you wouldn't miss much work."
"Oh."
"Also, the duel wasn't the only bit of business I had requested you for. I wish for you to deliver this message to one of your classmates tomorrow." He handed a neatly folded piece of paper to Sotachii. "It is not urgent, or I would've sent it out to him myself."
"I'll make sure he gets it." Sotachii took the paper and smiled at Mr. Crawford. "Have a nice evening, sir."
"You too, Sotachii-boy. By the way, your sister did a good job at braiding your hair."
"Huh?" His eyes darted to the braided locks of hair. "Err.thanks."
As he walked down the hall, Sotachii resisted the urge to open the note. Still, he looked over it for a name. When he found it, he wasn't pleased.
"Not that arrogant jerk!"
***
The next morning, Sotachii shoved the piece of paper in his pocket and exited the house without a second thought.
"Linkin, wait up!" Kiichana chased after him. "Did you forget that I have to go with you?"
"I wish you would've."
Kiichana smiled softly. "I'm sure you do, but I know you would've reminded me!"
She's right. I would. He jumped onto his bike and slowly started down the sidewalk.
"Linkin, look out!"
"What in.?" He looked back over his shoulder, but all he could see was a colorful streak. "Holy sheeeeaaaaAAAAHHH!" At the last second, he abandoned his bike and dived into the bushes.
"Bro!" Kiichana pedaled up to him and jumped off her bike. "Are you okay?"
Growling, Sotachii rose to his feet. "That girl is going to kill someone someday."
Several moments later, the two siblings arrived at Domino High School. Sotachii's eyes narrowed as he looked at three teen boys standing near the steps. The tallest of the trio had dark brown hair that seemed to cowlick into a single spike just above his forehead. Beside him was a blonde teen, who was accompanied by a brown-haired girl. The shortest had the most unique hairstyle, but only between him and the other two teens. His hair stood up in black spikes, which were highlighted with a dark pink, and blonde bangs hung down around his face.
"Come on, Kiichana. Just ignore those three." He grabbed for his sister's hand, but she was nowhere near him. "Kiichana?"
"Serenity!" Kiichana ran straight for the girl that stood near the teens.
Sotachii groaned. "Kiichana!" He ran up to the group and grabbed his little sister's hand. "What are you doing?"
"What, yeh didn't know?" The blonde teen placed his hand on the girl's shoulder. "Our sisters knew each other a few years back. Ain't that right, Serenity?"
"Sure is, Joey!" Serenity laughed. "Hey, Kiichana, do you think my brother could beat yours in a duel?"
"Hands down!" Kiichana smiled. "The only thing Linkin's good at is shouting."
"Hey! Kiichana, I thought you were on my side!" Sotachii's eyes narrowed.
"You just got those silly cards on Saturday. What makes you think you'd be good enough to beat someone that's been playing a lot longer than you?"
"Not to mention I beat the infamous Bandit Keith," Joey added. "And Rex Raptor, and Mai Valentine, and the Brothers Paradox with Yugi's help, and-"
Suddenly, his face turned red. "Okay, Wheeler, that's enough! Meet me in class, and have your cards ready!" He turned toward the school and started up the stairs.
Kiichana chased after him. "Hey, bro! Is Yugi really in your class?"
"Yeah, the little twerp's in my class. Why are you asking?"
"I'm thinking of sitting with him. He's quite the cutie!" She blushed slightly. "And I think his hair is cool!"
"What's so cool about it? It looks just like mine!"
"You put too much hair gel in yours! I'm sure you'd look so much better if you keep it gel-free from time to time!"
"It looks awful when there's no gel in it!" He snirked then cleared his throat. "Besides, I can't seem to do a thing with it."
"That's not funny, Linkin!"
***
As soon as Sotachii entered the classroom, he made a sweeping glance. Good. The Goof Troop isn't here yet. Taking another glance, he noticed a brown-haired teenaged boy near the back of the class. His blue eyes were buried in a book that looked as though he wasn't going to put it down.
Sotachii made his way to the back of the class to his usual seat behind the teen. Much to his surprise, however, a black-haired boy was sitting there instead.
"Hey!" He slammed his hand down on the table. "I believe you're in my seat."
The boy looked up. "But."
"Move, pipsqueak!" He grabbed the boy by the collar and lifted him out of the seat. "I sit here for a purpose."
"OW! Let me go!"
"Put my brother down, Sotachii."
Mockingly, Sotachii gasped. "It speaks!"
The teen placed a bookmark in his book and placed it on the desk. "What do you want now?"
As he pulled the note out of his pocket, he cleared his throat. "I have a message for Kaiba-boy," he said, imitating his employer. "Don't worry. I didn't read it. I wanted to read it over your shoulder just to bug ya."
"Hey, Sotachii!" Joey walked through the door, followed by the other two teens and the two girls. "Are you ready to get your keister whupped?"
"Dream on, Wheeler." Sotachii pulled out his deck of cards and turned around in his seat. "The only one getting his rear whomped is you."
"You sound a bit too confident, Linkin," said the short teen. "My grandfather says."
"Who cares what your grandfather says, Yugi? I easily kicked my employer's arse last night in my very first duel, and he says only one other person defeated him."
The third teen shrugged. "Good luck, Joey."
"Thanks, Tristan, but I won't need it against this amateur."
Sotachii growled. "We'll see who the amateur is by the end of this duel! 1000 life points each, so this duel isn't wasting anyone's precious time."
Both teens shuffled his cards and placed them down for the other to shuffle. "Duel!"
Joey smirked. "I'll play Red-Eyes Black Dragon in attack mode!"
"Nice move, Joey, but that move can easily be countered." Sotachii starts to place cards on the field. "I'll play Judge Man in attack mode, and I'll place a card face down as well."
Overhearing the move, Kaiba looks over Sotachii's shoulder. "I hope you know what you're doing. Judge Man is weaker than that Red-Eyes."
"You got that right, Kaiba!" Joey's grin widens. "Red-Eyes Black Dragon now attacks your Judge Man!"
"And I activate my trap. Reinforcements allows me to raise Judge Man's attack power by 500 points for this turn, which makes him stronger than your Red-Eyes."
"Big deal! It only takes 300 points from my life points!" As he moved the card to his discard pile, he snirked. "I'll still be able to beat an amateur like you!"
Sotachii looks down at the cards in his hand. I'll show Mr. High-And- Mighty who the real amateur is. Smiling slightly, he places a card face down on the field. "I'll play this monster face-down and end my turn."
"Then I'll play my favorite card, Flame Swordsman, to destroy your face- down card!"
"Bad move." Sotachii turns the card face-up. "Your Flame Swordsman can't destroy the Dark Magician, even though it's in defense mode. I'll put him in attack mode for my turn, and take the rest of your life points."
"What the.?" Joey's face blanches. "But.you're a rookie! I had second place in the tournament in the Duelists' Kingdom!"
"You were just lucky." Sotachii turned around. "Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that."
Groaning, Joey moves back to his own seat. "If I had more life points, I could've wiped you out."
"Then we'll duel again tomorrow after school."
"Why not today? Are you too chicken?"
"No. It's just that unlike some blonde second-rate wannabes, I have a job to go to after school."
"You liar!" Kiichana whacked her older brother over the head. "You have Mondays and Saturdays off!"
"Very well, then." Kaiba casually picked up his book. "One dueling arena will be reserved for today at six."
***
"I can't believe that rookie beat Joey!"
"Big deal. Anyone can beat Joey Wheeler!"
"I'll be surprised if he can beat Yugi Mutou!"
News of Sotachii's brief battle against Joey spread quickly through the school, and remained the topic for the rest of the day. Kiichana and Serenity talked about it most.
"I can't believe Linkin won!" Kiichana's eyes grew wide.
Serenity shrugged. "I figured that because Joey was one of the top duelists in that tournament, he would kick your brother's butt!"
"Not that I really want to change the subject, but I really think it was nice of Yugi to give the prize money to Joey to pay for your surgery."
"You really think so?"
"Kiichana!" Sotachii grabbed his little sister's arm. "Come on!" He pulled out a card-shaped object and placed it on the ground. It expanded into a hovering board the size of a normal skateboard. As he stepped onto the board, he noticed that Kiichana was walking in another direction. "Kiichana!"
"I'm getting a ride with Joey! I'll meet you at the arena!"
"Give me a break." Sotachii started slowly down the road, but he didn't get far when his cell phone rang. "Linkin Sotachii."
"Sotachii-boy, could you stop by my office before you go home? I have a gift for you."
"Uh, sure thing, sir." At breakneck speed, he reversed his direction and flew toward the Industrial Illusions building. Mr. Crawford met him at the entrance, wearing the same red suit as the day before.
"And I had only called you half a minute ago. Those hovercards are quite fast." He pulled a neatly wrapped box out from behind his back. "I know you don't work today, but I would like to let you know that I'm going to give you a hard-earned promotion. The determination you put into your work is priceless, so I'm letting you work three days on your original job, and the other two will be spent as secondary manager of Industrial Illusions." Smiling, he placed the box in Sotachii's hands. "Congratulations, Sotachii- boy."
Sotachii opened the box and pulled out its contents. "Wow! This is. I don't know what to say, sir!"
The object looked like the legendary Millennium Ring in detail, but not in color. Instead of a slightly tarnished golden color, it was sleek black with red streaks on it.
"I had bought that on a trip to Africa some time ago, and I thought maybe you would like it. I assume it is supposed to be a wrongly colored replica of the Millennium Ring, but I could be wrong."
"Thank you sir. I should get over to Kaiba Land soon." Sotachii started to leave, but Mr. Crawford grabbed his arm.
"First of all, Sotachii, call me Pegasus. You calling me by my last name has gotten a bit tedious these past few years." He smiled. "Also, I had just had an interesting plan."
***
After hearing Pegasus' plan, Sotachii made his way to Kaiba Land. As he rocketed through the streets, he heard the sound of a miniature engine being revved beyond its limits. He looked toward the noise and saw a violet-haired girl on a moped. She looked up at Sotachii with magenta eyes and smiled.
"Hey! You're the girl that's always trying to kill people!"
"I prefer to be called Megumi, and I don't run over people on purpose," she answered back. "I have an idea. You wanna race?"
"You're on, Megumi." He smirked. "The finish line is Kaiba Land. Loser has to buy a round of kimchi."
"Wow! You're not as bad as you seem!" She started to pull away, revving the tiny engine higher.
Not so fast, girl! Sotachii snapped his feet into a pair of straps on the hovercard and leaned forward. "Bonsai!" He rocketed past the girl, though his increased speed was taking him straight toward a statue of a Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Instantly, he leaned back, but he was only able to slow down enough where the crash did little damage to the statue. The gift Pegasus had given to him flew out of his grip. Someone yelled out in surprise just as he dropped to the ground.
Megumi skidded to a halt beside him. "I guess you win, but it looks like your ride's been totaled. Too bad, because I thought it was cool."
"Sotachii!" Kaiba walked up to the spiky-haired teen. "You're not trying to get yourself killed again, are you?" He reached down and pulled Sotachii to his feet. "I find you to be a bigger idiot than Joey at times. And you wrecked the prototype hovercard I loaned to you!"
"Likewise on the idiot part. Also, I had nothing to do with the destruction of your stupid little card." Sotachii dusted off his jacket. "You're the one that put that statue there in the first place." He turned over a piece of metal with his foot and examined the fuzzy brown monster on the other side. "Gahd. If this had been a real duel, I would've been dragon fodder for that Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon because of that stupid little Kuriboh. If you had given me the Blue-Eyes White Dragon hovercard in the first place like I asked, I wouldn't be looking for some way to wreck it, and this surely wouldn't have happened."
"For the last time, that hovercard is never to leave my office." Kaiba sighed. "The others aren't here yet. You have time to prepare, and maybe come up with a better strategy."
"A better strategy? I kicked Wheeler's butt this morning, and he hardly touched me!" Sotachii picked up his book bag. "Besides, I have a secret weapon coming. Now, where'd that replica Ring go?"
A blue-haired teen walked out from behind the statue. His brown eyes were focused on the Millennium Ring replica in his hands.
"I don't quite understand this. Even though I have the Millennium Ring on, it still manages to appear in front of me. Of course, why would anyone want to paint it?"
"Bakura!" Angered, Sotachii swiped his hand between Bakura's, taking the artifact replica. "It's not the real deal. My boss bought it for me."
"And who's your boss?" Megumi queried.
"None other than the well-known and well-off Pegasus J. Crawford. My dad won't let me work for anyone lower." He glared sideways at Kaiba.
"Very funny, Sotachii."
"Thanks, Kaiba." Wearing his trademark smirk, Sotachii started for the main building. "Now, I believe you owe us some kimchi, Megumi."
"What?" Megumi raised an eyebrow. "You said a round of kimchi!"
"Yeah. For me and whoever wants it."
"You never said that!"
"Oh. I thought you would figure it out on your own." He laughed. "Of course, just be glad that Bakura's three dorky friends aren't here yet. You'd go broke fast."
***
The small group sat in the small cafeteria and waited for Joey and the others to arrive. Bakura went through three bowls of kimchi, all of which Megumi ended up buying.
"I think I'm swiftly going broke anyway." She leaned against the table and sighed. "So, you want me to ref your duel against Joey?"
Sotachii nodded, swallowing a mouthful of kimchi. "Only if you don't mind sharing the referee duties, that is."
"So, who's the other ref?"
"I thought you said you'd be waiting outside for me."
Everyone turned to acknowledge the voice. Pegasus stood just behind Megumi, holding a black jacket over his shoulder. He wore a loose red sleeveless turtleneck, which showed slightly muscular arms, and a pair of black pants. His pale lavender hair was pulled back except for a few locks that still fell in his face.
Sotachii blushed nervously. "Sorry, Pegasus. I.well."
"Forget about it. You keep acting as though I was going to fire you or something."
Shock crossed Megumi's face. "He wasn't joking!"
Smiling, Pegasus pulled up a chair to the table. "So, who is the young man you're dueling with?"
"Joey Wheeler. I already beat him once, and he's challenged me to a rematch in the arena."
"He's probably the one chickening out." Kaiba leaned back slightly in his chair. "I mean, even though you both started with only 1000 life points, you were able to pull off a perfect win. I'll bet he's worried that you'll do even worse damage with 2000 life points."
Joey thinks he's so high and mighty just because he placed second in the dueling tournament. Sotachii sipped calmly on his water. "It's six now. I'll give him five more minutes."
Chapter 1: Sotachii's Lucky Streak
"I have waited too long for this day to come! The long and tedious hours of working near the one man other than my father that I look up to have finally paid off! With my hard-earned money, I was able to buy the cards I have so wanted. My deck will be undefeatable, and I will be named-."
"Linkin, for the last time, sit down! Your pacing is driving me nuts!"
Linkin Sotachii settled down into the armchair. He grunted quietly as he crossed his arms, slightly wrinkling the sleeves of his ruby red dress shirt. His grey eyes flashed angrily at the silver-haired girl in front of him.
"I am so not looking forward to having you in my class on Monday, Kiichana."
"Live with it, Linkin." Kiichana grabbed three locks of Sotachii's lavender bangs and braided them. "The nice thing is that kids my age will be there!"
"Nice for you, maybe." Sotachii scratched the back of his head, ruffling his spiky silver-white hair. "Taylor and Wanker are childish enough, there need not be more of them!"
"Linkin!"
"Wheeler! That better?"
"It still doesn't change the fact that my older brother is more childish than them." She punched him in the arm and walked off. "Now, go wash that gel out of your hair. It's stupid to go to Industrial Illusions looking like a corporate punk!"
After watching his sister walk off, he sighed. "I happen to like my hair like this. Mr. Crawford hasn't yelled at me yet."
***
"Linkin Sotachii?"
Sotachii woke up instantly and busied himself at the computer. "Sorry, sir. I." He looked back at the grey-haired man behind him. "Mr. Krokei! I'm terribly sorry about dozing off, sir!"
"Mr. Crawford requests your presence for an audience," Krokei said calmly before walking off.
"This is it! I'm fired!" He grabbed the silver jacket that hung on the back of his chair and followed Krokei. After everything my father did to get me this job! Wasted instantly! I'll bet he's waiting in Mr. Crawford's office, ready to kick my ass. He shuddered. No, wait. He'll ground me for life! That's a sure-fire thing he'll do if I lose this job!
A tall man stood at the hall, watching as Sotachii walked up to him. His suit was of the deepest red, with a frilled white dress shirt beneath it. Long pale lavender hair framed a surprisingly youthful face, as well as kept his left eye hidden from view. He stared at the spiky-haired teen with the one visible red-brown eye.
"There you are, Sotachii-boy." The man stepped aside, allowing Sotachii to enter. "I suppose your sister keeping you up all night is the main reason why you were snoozing at your desk."
"Th-that's right, Mr. Crawford, sir. She's supposed to accompany me to classes tomorrow, and she won't let me sleep." Here it comes! "I have no choice but to fire you, Sotachii-boy."
"I." Mr. Crawford paused.
"Please don't fire me, sir! I need this job, or else I'll be grounded for life, and all my cards will be taken away from me!" He fell to his knees. "Please!"
"I'm not going to fire you. You're the best designer we have here!" Mr. Crawford gestured for Sotachii to sit down. "Now, I must ask you. Do you have with you the cards you mentioned earlier?"
Slightly shocked, Sotachii sat down in the smaller of the two wingback chairs and pulled his cards from his jacket pocket. "I'm just learning the game, though. The old man at the game shop says it's a terribly complex game."
"That is correct, Sotachii-boy, but I've designed the game so that it's simple for both children and adults to understand the rules." He held up his hand, into which Krokei placed a deck of cards. "Shall we have a duel?"
"Uh.sure."
***
"I'll play the Dark Magician in attack mode to take out your Archery Girl. That play reduces your life points to zero."
Mr. Crawford smiled. "I am quite impressed, Sotachii-boy. You are only the second duelist to beat me, but the first amateur to beat me."
"Thank you, sir." Sotachii blushed slightly. "And this was the first ever game I've played!" He rose to his feet and bowed slightly. "May I return to my work now?"
"Well, no. I was careful to call you here near the end of your shift, so you wouldn't miss much work."
"Oh."
"Also, the duel wasn't the only bit of business I had requested you for. I wish for you to deliver this message to one of your classmates tomorrow." He handed a neatly folded piece of paper to Sotachii. "It is not urgent, or I would've sent it out to him myself."
"I'll make sure he gets it." Sotachii took the paper and smiled at Mr. Crawford. "Have a nice evening, sir."
"You too, Sotachii-boy. By the way, your sister did a good job at braiding your hair."
"Huh?" His eyes darted to the braided locks of hair. "Err.thanks."
As he walked down the hall, Sotachii resisted the urge to open the note. Still, he looked over it for a name. When he found it, he wasn't pleased.
"Not that arrogant jerk!"
***
The next morning, Sotachii shoved the piece of paper in his pocket and exited the house without a second thought.
"Linkin, wait up!" Kiichana chased after him. "Did you forget that I have to go with you?"
"I wish you would've."
Kiichana smiled softly. "I'm sure you do, but I know you would've reminded me!"
She's right. I would. He jumped onto his bike and slowly started down the sidewalk.
"Linkin, look out!"
"What in.?" He looked back over his shoulder, but all he could see was a colorful streak. "Holy sheeeeaaaaAAAAHHH!" At the last second, he abandoned his bike and dived into the bushes.
"Bro!" Kiichana pedaled up to him and jumped off her bike. "Are you okay?"
Growling, Sotachii rose to his feet. "That girl is going to kill someone someday."
Several moments later, the two siblings arrived at Domino High School. Sotachii's eyes narrowed as he looked at three teen boys standing near the steps. The tallest of the trio had dark brown hair that seemed to cowlick into a single spike just above his forehead. Beside him was a blonde teen, who was accompanied by a brown-haired girl. The shortest had the most unique hairstyle, but only between him and the other two teens. His hair stood up in black spikes, which were highlighted with a dark pink, and blonde bangs hung down around his face.
"Come on, Kiichana. Just ignore those three." He grabbed for his sister's hand, but she was nowhere near him. "Kiichana?"
"Serenity!" Kiichana ran straight for the girl that stood near the teens.
Sotachii groaned. "Kiichana!" He ran up to the group and grabbed his little sister's hand. "What are you doing?"
"What, yeh didn't know?" The blonde teen placed his hand on the girl's shoulder. "Our sisters knew each other a few years back. Ain't that right, Serenity?"
"Sure is, Joey!" Serenity laughed. "Hey, Kiichana, do you think my brother could beat yours in a duel?"
"Hands down!" Kiichana smiled. "The only thing Linkin's good at is shouting."
"Hey! Kiichana, I thought you were on my side!" Sotachii's eyes narrowed.
"You just got those silly cards on Saturday. What makes you think you'd be good enough to beat someone that's been playing a lot longer than you?"
"Not to mention I beat the infamous Bandit Keith," Joey added. "And Rex Raptor, and Mai Valentine, and the Brothers Paradox with Yugi's help, and-"
Suddenly, his face turned red. "Okay, Wheeler, that's enough! Meet me in class, and have your cards ready!" He turned toward the school and started up the stairs.
Kiichana chased after him. "Hey, bro! Is Yugi really in your class?"
"Yeah, the little twerp's in my class. Why are you asking?"
"I'm thinking of sitting with him. He's quite the cutie!" She blushed slightly. "And I think his hair is cool!"
"What's so cool about it? It looks just like mine!"
"You put too much hair gel in yours! I'm sure you'd look so much better if you keep it gel-free from time to time!"
"It looks awful when there's no gel in it!" He snirked then cleared his throat. "Besides, I can't seem to do a thing with it."
"That's not funny, Linkin!"
***
As soon as Sotachii entered the classroom, he made a sweeping glance. Good. The Goof Troop isn't here yet. Taking another glance, he noticed a brown-haired teenaged boy near the back of the class. His blue eyes were buried in a book that looked as though he wasn't going to put it down.
Sotachii made his way to the back of the class to his usual seat behind the teen. Much to his surprise, however, a black-haired boy was sitting there instead.
"Hey!" He slammed his hand down on the table. "I believe you're in my seat."
The boy looked up. "But."
"Move, pipsqueak!" He grabbed the boy by the collar and lifted him out of the seat. "I sit here for a purpose."
"OW! Let me go!"
"Put my brother down, Sotachii."
Mockingly, Sotachii gasped. "It speaks!"
The teen placed a bookmark in his book and placed it on the desk. "What do you want now?"
As he pulled the note out of his pocket, he cleared his throat. "I have a message for Kaiba-boy," he said, imitating his employer. "Don't worry. I didn't read it. I wanted to read it over your shoulder just to bug ya."
"Hey, Sotachii!" Joey walked through the door, followed by the other two teens and the two girls. "Are you ready to get your keister whupped?"
"Dream on, Wheeler." Sotachii pulled out his deck of cards and turned around in his seat. "The only one getting his rear whomped is you."
"You sound a bit too confident, Linkin," said the short teen. "My grandfather says."
"Who cares what your grandfather says, Yugi? I easily kicked my employer's arse last night in my very first duel, and he says only one other person defeated him."
The third teen shrugged. "Good luck, Joey."
"Thanks, Tristan, but I won't need it against this amateur."
Sotachii growled. "We'll see who the amateur is by the end of this duel! 1000 life points each, so this duel isn't wasting anyone's precious time."
Both teens shuffled his cards and placed them down for the other to shuffle. "Duel!"
Joey smirked. "I'll play Red-Eyes Black Dragon in attack mode!"
"Nice move, Joey, but that move can easily be countered." Sotachii starts to place cards on the field. "I'll play Judge Man in attack mode, and I'll place a card face down as well."
Overhearing the move, Kaiba looks over Sotachii's shoulder. "I hope you know what you're doing. Judge Man is weaker than that Red-Eyes."
"You got that right, Kaiba!" Joey's grin widens. "Red-Eyes Black Dragon now attacks your Judge Man!"
"And I activate my trap. Reinforcements allows me to raise Judge Man's attack power by 500 points for this turn, which makes him stronger than your Red-Eyes."
"Big deal! It only takes 300 points from my life points!" As he moved the card to his discard pile, he snirked. "I'll still be able to beat an amateur like you!"
Sotachii looks down at the cards in his hand. I'll show Mr. High-And- Mighty who the real amateur is. Smiling slightly, he places a card face down on the field. "I'll play this monster face-down and end my turn."
"Then I'll play my favorite card, Flame Swordsman, to destroy your face- down card!"
"Bad move." Sotachii turns the card face-up. "Your Flame Swordsman can't destroy the Dark Magician, even though it's in defense mode. I'll put him in attack mode for my turn, and take the rest of your life points."
"What the.?" Joey's face blanches. "But.you're a rookie! I had second place in the tournament in the Duelists' Kingdom!"
"You were just lucky." Sotachii turned around. "Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that."
Groaning, Joey moves back to his own seat. "If I had more life points, I could've wiped you out."
"Then we'll duel again tomorrow after school."
"Why not today? Are you too chicken?"
"No. It's just that unlike some blonde second-rate wannabes, I have a job to go to after school."
"You liar!" Kiichana whacked her older brother over the head. "You have Mondays and Saturdays off!"
"Very well, then." Kaiba casually picked up his book. "One dueling arena will be reserved for today at six."
***
"I can't believe that rookie beat Joey!"
"Big deal. Anyone can beat Joey Wheeler!"
"I'll be surprised if he can beat Yugi Mutou!"
News of Sotachii's brief battle against Joey spread quickly through the school, and remained the topic for the rest of the day. Kiichana and Serenity talked about it most.
"I can't believe Linkin won!" Kiichana's eyes grew wide.
Serenity shrugged. "I figured that because Joey was one of the top duelists in that tournament, he would kick your brother's butt!"
"Not that I really want to change the subject, but I really think it was nice of Yugi to give the prize money to Joey to pay for your surgery."
"You really think so?"
"Kiichana!" Sotachii grabbed his little sister's arm. "Come on!" He pulled out a card-shaped object and placed it on the ground. It expanded into a hovering board the size of a normal skateboard. As he stepped onto the board, he noticed that Kiichana was walking in another direction. "Kiichana!"
"I'm getting a ride with Joey! I'll meet you at the arena!"
"Give me a break." Sotachii started slowly down the road, but he didn't get far when his cell phone rang. "Linkin Sotachii."
"Sotachii-boy, could you stop by my office before you go home? I have a gift for you."
"Uh, sure thing, sir." At breakneck speed, he reversed his direction and flew toward the Industrial Illusions building. Mr. Crawford met him at the entrance, wearing the same red suit as the day before.
"And I had only called you half a minute ago. Those hovercards are quite fast." He pulled a neatly wrapped box out from behind his back. "I know you don't work today, but I would like to let you know that I'm going to give you a hard-earned promotion. The determination you put into your work is priceless, so I'm letting you work three days on your original job, and the other two will be spent as secondary manager of Industrial Illusions." Smiling, he placed the box in Sotachii's hands. "Congratulations, Sotachii- boy."
Sotachii opened the box and pulled out its contents. "Wow! This is. I don't know what to say, sir!"
The object looked like the legendary Millennium Ring in detail, but not in color. Instead of a slightly tarnished golden color, it was sleek black with red streaks on it.
"I had bought that on a trip to Africa some time ago, and I thought maybe you would like it. I assume it is supposed to be a wrongly colored replica of the Millennium Ring, but I could be wrong."
"Thank you sir. I should get over to Kaiba Land soon." Sotachii started to leave, but Mr. Crawford grabbed his arm.
"First of all, Sotachii, call me Pegasus. You calling me by my last name has gotten a bit tedious these past few years." He smiled. "Also, I had just had an interesting plan."
***
After hearing Pegasus' plan, Sotachii made his way to Kaiba Land. As he rocketed through the streets, he heard the sound of a miniature engine being revved beyond its limits. He looked toward the noise and saw a violet-haired girl on a moped. She looked up at Sotachii with magenta eyes and smiled.
"Hey! You're the girl that's always trying to kill people!"
"I prefer to be called Megumi, and I don't run over people on purpose," she answered back. "I have an idea. You wanna race?"
"You're on, Megumi." He smirked. "The finish line is Kaiba Land. Loser has to buy a round of kimchi."
"Wow! You're not as bad as you seem!" She started to pull away, revving the tiny engine higher.
Not so fast, girl! Sotachii snapped his feet into a pair of straps on the hovercard and leaned forward. "Bonsai!" He rocketed past the girl, though his increased speed was taking him straight toward a statue of a Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Instantly, he leaned back, but he was only able to slow down enough where the crash did little damage to the statue. The gift Pegasus had given to him flew out of his grip. Someone yelled out in surprise just as he dropped to the ground.
Megumi skidded to a halt beside him. "I guess you win, but it looks like your ride's been totaled. Too bad, because I thought it was cool."
"Sotachii!" Kaiba walked up to the spiky-haired teen. "You're not trying to get yourself killed again, are you?" He reached down and pulled Sotachii to his feet. "I find you to be a bigger idiot than Joey at times. And you wrecked the prototype hovercard I loaned to you!"
"Likewise on the idiot part. Also, I had nothing to do with the destruction of your stupid little card." Sotachii dusted off his jacket. "You're the one that put that statue there in the first place." He turned over a piece of metal with his foot and examined the fuzzy brown monster on the other side. "Gahd. If this had been a real duel, I would've been dragon fodder for that Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon because of that stupid little Kuriboh. If you had given me the Blue-Eyes White Dragon hovercard in the first place like I asked, I wouldn't be looking for some way to wreck it, and this surely wouldn't have happened."
"For the last time, that hovercard is never to leave my office." Kaiba sighed. "The others aren't here yet. You have time to prepare, and maybe come up with a better strategy."
"A better strategy? I kicked Wheeler's butt this morning, and he hardly touched me!" Sotachii picked up his book bag. "Besides, I have a secret weapon coming. Now, where'd that replica Ring go?"
A blue-haired teen walked out from behind the statue. His brown eyes were focused on the Millennium Ring replica in his hands.
"I don't quite understand this. Even though I have the Millennium Ring on, it still manages to appear in front of me. Of course, why would anyone want to paint it?"
"Bakura!" Angered, Sotachii swiped his hand between Bakura's, taking the artifact replica. "It's not the real deal. My boss bought it for me."
"And who's your boss?" Megumi queried.
"None other than the well-known and well-off Pegasus J. Crawford. My dad won't let me work for anyone lower." He glared sideways at Kaiba.
"Very funny, Sotachii."
"Thanks, Kaiba." Wearing his trademark smirk, Sotachii started for the main building. "Now, I believe you owe us some kimchi, Megumi."
"What?" Megumi raised an eyebrow. "You said a round of kimchi!"
"Yeah. For me and whoever wants it."
"You never said that!"
"Oh. I thought you would figure it out on your own." He laughed. "Of course, just be glad that Bakura's three dorky friends aren't here yet. You'd go broke fast."
***
The small group sat in the small cafeteria and waited for Joey and the others to arrive. Bakura went through three bowls of kimchi, all of which Megumi ended up buying.
"I think I'm swiftly going broke anyway." She leaned against the table and sighed. "So, you want me to ref your duel against Joey?"
Sotachii nodded, swallowing a mouthful of kimchi. "Only if you don't mind sharing the referee duties, that is."
"So, who's the other ref?"
"I thought you said you'd be waiting outside for me."
Everyone turned to acknowledge the voice. Pegasus stood just behind Megumi, holding a black jacket over his shoulder. He wore a loose red sleeveless turtleneck, which showed slightly muscular arms, and a pair of black pants. His pale lavender hair was pulled back except for a few locks that still fell in his face.
Sotachii blushed nervously. "Sorry, Pegasus. I.well."
"Forget about it. You keep acting as though I was going to fire you or something."
Shock crossed Megumi's face. "He wasn't joking!"
Smiling, Pegasus pulled up a chair to the table. "So, who is the young man you're dueling with?"
"Joey Wheeler. I already beat him once, and he's challenged me to a rematch in the arena."
"He's probably the one chickening out." Kaiba leaned back slightly in his chair. "I mean, even though you both started with only 1000 life points, you were able to pull off a perfect win. I'll bet he's worried that you'll do even worse damage with 2000 life points."
Joey thinks he's so high and mighty just because he placed second in the dueling tournament. Sotachii sipped calmly on his water. "It's six now. I'll give him five more minutes."