Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh GX
Title: In The Family Tradition
Character: Abidos III
Word Count: 453||Status: One-shot
Genre: Angst||Rated: PG-13
Challenge: 31halloween: prompt #2, blood
Summary: [one-shot, 31halloween, prompt #2, blood, Abidos III] Winning is what the Pharaohs of Egypt do. Abidos III is no exception. Well, maybe a small exception.

Winning was in his veins. How could it not be? He was descended from the same family that provided the mysterious Nameless Pharaoh (Abidos could not help but pity his long lost kinsman, cast adrift without anything to tie him to the afterlife) as well as the great Pharaoh Seto who'd rebuilt Egypt! Winning was simply what their family did! No one could argue about this. No one would argue about this.

Day after day he practiced his skills, growing stronger with each victory. Unlike those of the past, he and his priests didn't have access to the Millennium Items, but they didn't need it. Daily practice with the kas they used provided the strength they needed. Each win grew easier. I'm certain they're proud of me! One day he would meet them face to face and hear their praise for his gifts with his own ears.

Full of confidence, he strode through the corridors of the palace intent on facing and defeating his priests yet again. He wished at times he could fight someone who wasn't one of them. He knew all of their strategies and everything they could possibly bring against him. He wanted something more, someone who would give him the sort of true challenge he hadn't felt in too long.

"I can't believe I had to lose again."

Abidos paused; that was one of his priests, wasn't it? He frowned; a loss? He hadn't heard of such, at least not to anyone who wasn't him. He couldn't see whoever it was the priest spoke to; they stood in a room just ahead of him, voices drifting out.

"He's the Pharaoh. What are you going to do?" His High Priest? Abidos couldn't have moved if a Battle Ox strode toward him at that moment. "We have to lose."

"I know." Resignation colored the other priest's voice. "It's almost that time again. Let's go."

Abidos found his feet moments later and hurried back the way he came, not eager to see them now that he knew. He didn't want to believe it, but the words burned in his mind all the same. He was Pharaoh! How could they do this to him? How could they lie to him? How could they throw these fights?

No more. He wouldn't let this happen again. If he couldn't trust his priests, then he couldn't trust anyone. Not anyone here.

Not anyone living.

They found him in his room later that day. There wasn't a wound on him and no trace of poison. Yet Pharaoh Abidos III had breathed his last.

But for a duelist seeking an opponent who could give him a fair and true duel, death was little more than a minor inconvenience.

The End

Note: I originally posted this back in October 2012, but now am reposting these ficlets separately instead of as a collection, in order to have each listed under their proper character and rating.