Yes, I know the thought process of everyone out there- 'You barely have enough time, and you already barely write new chapters for your already EXISTING stories; so why make a new one?'; well, if I was being completely honest, I get bored of writing at points, and so I stop until I get motivational again, and write new material for it.

And the absolute lack of any good Yu-Gi-Oh stories on this site that don't involve Joey x Kaiba, or Yugi x Yami, or some other third gay pairing, gave me motivation to write my OWN- and don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Yaoi or anything, but when I can't find a single damn story that ACTUALLY INVOLVES DUELING, I get a bit pissed off.

And, not gonna lie, I took a bit of inspiration from one of the ONLY good Yu-Gi-Oh stories I found, 'Skin' by Usagi Squared(Very good read- a must have for any decent reader(It's also over 1.8 million words long, so, you know- very long read if you're looking for things to read.).); not ONLY is it not a Yaoi pairing, but it involves dueling(Eventually...!) and is well written, and it ALSO follows through with the actual Manga, and not just the Anime! It's what had me actually go read the Manga in the first place... Word of warning: Absolutely nothing like the Anime... I also laughed my ass off first time I saw Yami- go see for yourself if you want to know what I'm talking about.

ANYWAYS- like I said before, took inspiration from the story, so if you've read it before, you should know what 'Inspiration' I'm talking about. But again, digression- the next chapter for... Whatever I called the Naruto Crossover(I cant be bothered to remember EVERYTHING I write-) will be up this month, already working on it, so stay pumped, worship your Senpai, and enjoy reading!

"And that, is game." I told Carnage as he dropped his cards and sighed. "Dude, how the hell are you so good at this shit- you didn't even have a deck this time when you arrived, and just grabbed a few booster packs and made a deck from their!" I shrugged as I picked up my deck and stood from the table. "I think it's less about how good I am, and more about how terrible you are." "Oi!"

We were both outside of Hueco Mundo, and instead found ourselves resting in a small game shop located in Kyoto City(Inside Gigai's, of course- wouldn't due to have somebody who couldn't see you sitting down in your lap!... Learned my lesson the last time from Kevin Spacey's fat ass.), a plain building with no real aesthetically pleasing traits or interesting background(Grey walls, shelves stocked with assortments of board games, card games, and even a few video games, with a few wooden tables scattered across the front entrance to allow people to sit down and play the games they buy-) playing a little game that's become actually quite popular as of the recent years, and is only increasing in popularity with world wide TOURNAMENTS.

If you're stupid(Like me.) and couldn't figure out what we were playing by now, it's Duel Monsters.

"I am not that bad! In fact, I could have went to regionals if I so chose to… Which I didn't, but only because I didn't want to!" The man across from me huffed and crossed his bare arms across his chest.

We were both inside Gigai's, so our original outfits wouldn't really be suited towards going 'Outside'(A concept most foreign to me, I'll admit.), so we changed them out for something more fitting. Carnage was just wearing a pair of grey sweatpants, sneakers, a black wife beater, and shades(Not that you could really see them because of the hair, but, you know… They're there.), while I opted for an orange long sleeved shirt, baggy black jeans, tennis shoes, and the standard Arrancar jacket over the shirt, but left unzipped.

I also contemplated bringing some form of sunglasses today(The sun was pretty bright up in the sky-), but just decided against it(I already get tack for my hair, I don't need to be wearing a completely white fucking jacket with shades to complete the ensemble of a 'Punk'.). Kind of wish I hadn't, though, as my unruly hair was starting to grow a bit too long and was constantly getting in the way of my eyesight, making me have to blow it out of my face every other minute to ensure it didn't cover up both my eyes.

Damn me and my emo phases and my subsequent hatred for all things barber shop-

… Is that racist of me to say in front of the black, or stereotypical?

Eh, whatever.

"If that's what you have to tell yourself to sleep at night, I won't stop you." I smirked as he fumed and I started to make my way out of the shop. "Anyway, I have to leave- places to do, bitches to go, etc. etc." I waved over my shoulder as he dropped his head onto the table, groaning as I left the shop.

"Almost feel bad for the poor guy- if only he would learn that I can clearly see his hand from the reflection of the window behind him." Of course I couldn't feel too bad for him- I would have actually told him about this each time we dueled if I felt that much for him. Oh well, all's fair in duel monsters and being a jackass." "Hm, indeed." I stopped on the sidewalk, as I turned to see who had answered back at me.

"... Flamboyant, long hair, pretty boy face… Are you here to steal my money, or preach about the fabulousness of the Spice Girls?" "Oh, no, none of that… Well, maybe a little of the latter, but only after I discuss what I came here for." And just what in the hell could Maximillion freaking Pegasus possibly want from a hick like me?" I questioned with my hands in my pocket as I looked at the man who had literally created the game I had just finished playing. "Ah, I would simply love to tell you why I came to you, but this sidewalk is a little too-" Not private? Yeah, yeah, heard it all a thousand times before. Got any specific place in mind then, because it might not actually look like it, but I have shit to do, bitches that need to be told to make sandwiches, all that jazz." "Ha ha, yes, I do a place in mind, if you wouldn't mind following me." "I'd say I do mind, but I think if this really was a mugging, I'm self assured I could take you out in one punch."


"Wait, wait, wait, hold up; you're saying you will custom build me a deck, with cards that I get to CREATE, just because you have been watching over small game shops across the globe, looking for someone to beat this over confident whipper snapper, in a children's card game, and I fit the description for such a job perfectly?" "That about sums it all up, yes." Pegasus nodded and drank from his margarita as we rode on in his(Rather expansive-) limousine.

"So why do you want me to kick this poor kids ass, again?" "Mm. This must be a stupid question, but have you heard about the Death-T fiasco?" That was a stupid question to ask- if I had actually known what in the hell that was, I'm sure. "For plot convenience, let's go ahead and say I haven't." He sighed and set down his drink once again, having one of the guards sitting in the far back(This thing really was expansive-) refill it for him and then immediately go back out of hearing range. "Death-T, otherwise known as 'Death Theme Park' was a multi-billion yen operation here in Japan, over in Domino City, in the form of 'Kaiba Land', acting as a family friendly gaming center with all of the latest kinds of technologically advanced games and entertainment for the masses; but was, in reality, a death trap waiting to be sprung to murder a specific target in the most grueling ways possible." "... So someone literally spent billions, just to kill one person…?" "You underestimate the deep seeded contempt someone such as Seto Kaiba can hold." "And let's go over why you picked me specifically, again, for this paramount suicide attempt-" The man just sighed as he tried to drink from his cup again, only to blink as he realized he had already downed it beforehand(Yeah, I tend to have that effect on people.). "Let me assure you, I would love nothing more than to do it myself, but I do believe if I tried, I wouldn't even make it past the front door." I whistled appreciatively at that much aggression. "Hot damn, Peg-Boy, what the hell did you do to piss them off that much- it's not like you kidnapped this Seto persons only next of kin, which then forced them to come out of some kind of deep coma they had been in for quite a while, just to deal with your shit and then ended up losing a soul to you in a children's card game, right?"

"... I already know the answer, but I have to inquire anyway; do you read minds?" "No, I'm just a very, very, very good guesser who frequently breaks the fourth wall to google shit." "... Well anyways, any more questions you wish to ask before I send you off on your journey-" Yeesh, already expecting me to say yes; this guy was cocky(Though, to be fair, he did seem intimately familiar with that certain organ of a man-). "Yeah, several actually- first off, you still haven't told me EXACTLY why you picked me, and then, on top of that, if you wanted someone to beat this kid, why not just use the one brat that beat YOU that also apparently has beaten the Seto kid before as well, and then I still don't even know why I'm dueling this punk in the first place!" I waved my hands in the air as I took out a flask from my pocket and started drinking from it. Pegasus just glanced at the flask and then back to my face. "Aren't you a bit too young to be dri-" I cut the man off by holding up a finger and continued to down the drink.

Yeah- he just got Archered.

Not sure if that's a noun or not, but I'm making it one if it wasn't.

"Okay, needed that, now get on with the answers old man, I ain't got all day- I have a date later on." Jill is just so demanding, I couldn't afford to be late(For fear getting blue balls for the rest of all time.). "Of course, I wouldn't want to interrupt the date you have with your hand." "Hey!" "Anywho, to answer your first question, I needed someone as close in age as possible to young Kaiba; it wouldn't do to have some middle aged, fat, American slob champion win, it would just be unsporting… Plus send a few mixed signals to Kaiba when the poor bastard says I sent him over in my stead. And you seem to be the perfect age for this, you're what, 14, 15?" "Give or take a few centuries…" "What was that?" I said yeah, I'm around that age." "Splendid. As for your second question, little Yugi would be a horrid option to send in my place- Seto absolutely DESPISES the chap, and I have a feeling that I'd be better off going myself instead of sending him. No, too many negative feelings between the two would send off the wrong message, and I need to be sure to get through to young Kaiba." "So you send in a random variable that has, at best, a DECENT SKILL in dueling with marginal chances of success in beating one of the TOP PLAYERS IN JAPAN?!" I yelled as I started pulling my hair out.

This guy was fucking stupid, and he was making my brain work far too much for it's extremely small capacities!

"Ah, but I quite like the odds these 'Random Variables' give nowadays. Let's just say I have a hunch you will acquire victory over Seto Kaiba in your duel." "Right." I said, not at all convinced as I pulled another flask from my pocket. "And now, onto the most important question of today; WHY." Pegasus watched me drink silently for a minute before he finally answered. "Believe it or not, me and Kaiba were once on relatively good terms; you might even go so far as to say very close acquaintances. Kaiba Corp and Industrial Illusions were going to go into business together for the duel monsters games, but, ah, well-" "Your silly little tournament happened, and you wanted control of Kaiba Corp but you couldn't target the actual owner at the time, so you went after the family of the owner, so that they'd have to go after you themselves to get them back, at which point they would fail, you dispose of the owner, and the subsequent heir to the proverbial 'Throne', leaving you with almost full ownership of the then headless organization." "I, you, how?!" Pegasus was just staring at me, mouth open, eye wide with shock as he stared at me dumbfounded. "Oh please, what ELSE were you planning on doing with a kid, of all people? The only real value those two could hold was the only thing they probably have left- the corporation they owned. It doesn't take a genius to guess that."

Slowly, but surely, Pegasus's face transformed into a pleased smirk, no doubt thinking to himself that he had, indeed, found a worthy person for the task he had on hand.

Not like I knew what that task even was yet, but hey… Eh, I got nothing else to add.

"Indeed. And while I won't tell you my reasoning behind that, rather selfish, conquest of mine, I will tell you it was what made Kaiba hate me above almost all other beings- not only for trying to the corporation, but also Mokuba, the littlest Kaiba. Which," He sighed here and suddenly looked as old as his hair indicated he should be. "Brings me to why I needed you in the first place; Kaiba… Kaiba has changed- not just from what I have done, but from all that has happened over the years. And that, needs to change."

Change change with change? That's a change(Hate myself for that joke.)

"Alright, I won't initially say you're crazy- but you should probably start explaining before I do." "You see, Kaiba has been forced for nearly over a decade to train under the former owner of Kaiba Corp, Gozaburo Kaiba, to become his heir. And when it finally became too much, Kaiba took reign of the company over Gozaburo, causing an… Unpleasant accident, resulting in Kaiba being the sole person who could take control of Kaiba Corp- and then, if that wasn't enough, a year or so after that, Kaiba has a chance encounter with, you guessed it, Yugi, which was far from pleasant, and so, Kaiba spent months after that raging, plotting, and craving Yugi's death, leading to Death-T being built- where Kaiba then attempted, and subsequently failed, to murder Yugi and his friends, ending up in a coma for the effort. Then, wakes up half a year later, only to find out Mokuba had been kidnapped and now needed to be rescued, so a trip later, Kaiba was at my island, fighting to get to where I and Mokuba were, only to have to risk life and limb, LITERALLY, to hopefully beat Yugi in a duel to get the chance to save Mokuba, leading to an actual VICTORY- which was short lived as I soon, ah, took Kaiba's soul along with his brothers. Which made Kaiba have to get rescued by the one person that's despised more than ME, Yugi."

"... Sounds like a hard knock life-" "Please, refrain from making orphan references in front of Seto when you meet." "No promises." "Ugh- ANYWAY, your job, if you choose to accept it, is to ensure Seto Kaiba knows that, even though the Duelist Kingdom thing kind of, happened, there is still no bad blood between us Kaiba Corp. and Industrial Illusions, nor Seto and me. You are to do so by beating Seto in a duel, using the cards you are to be provided- after you create them, anyway- which will land you Seto's interest, enough to allow you two to converse- even if only for a short while, and, as an extra precaution, I will tell you what I know of Seto's playstyle and deck to ensure you are readily prepared to face off against-" "Yeah, yeah, keep all that malarky to yourself, all I need is the deck, and I'll be sure to go. "... I'll admit that when I picked you up, you didn't seem the type to be arrogant, but I have been wrong before." "It's not arrogance, Peg-Boy, I just don't want to know what I'm up against, makes it more thrilling." "... You're just using this as an excuse to lose better to prove me wrong, aren't you?" "What? No, no no no no no NO!... Yeah, I totally am. But before I go and get this shit over with so I can get the deck and battle this Kaiba kid, anything else you want to say?" "Yes, actually. Here, he seemed to hesitate before apparently just deciding to say 'Fuck it'. "I want to admit, that all of this is just a ruse for the real objective of this duel- you are to still do everything else I told you, and you are to still win, but…" Here, he leaned in and whispered to me what he wanted to say, causing my eyes to droop slightly. "... 'lly?" "Yes- I know it's absurd, but it must be done; for the sake of both Seto, and everyone that chooses to get on the Kaiba's bad sides." "Well, I was just going to fail, but, I suppose I'll give this thing a shot." "Excellent!" Pegasus clapped happily, and suddenly, I was being held down by two of his guards.

"The hell-" "Oh, another thing; Yugi-Boy is no doubt about to be caught up in events far over his head, which also means by example, Seto is going to charge headfirst into said events as well, if only to be proven superior to Yugi, so I just thought 'Oh, what the heck?' and decided to put you in the front row to both witness, and PARTICIPATE in those events as well!" Pegasus exclaimed as he took a handkerchief out of his coat pocket and started to walk towards me.

"Wait, no, NO- I don't want to lose my cherry!" I left out the fact I didn't actually have, a cherry anymore, but still- whatever works to not get raped, em i rite?

"Nonsense, I don't want to partake in your fruit… Well, not TOO much, anyway. Now, this might pinch a bit-"


No, it pinched like a crab using it's pincers on my genital-

After the impromptu torture session, the rich bloke kicked me out of his limousine, telling me he would meet with me in a week's time to go over the cards I would make for my own deck, which he would then craft into actual cards(Being the CEO of the world's main card manufacturer had its perks, apparently-), give me the next day, and then set up a meeting with Kaiba Corp the very next day, in which a 'Representative'(AKA: Me.) of IL2 would meet up with Seto Kaiba to try and smooth things over between the two corporations.

Yeah…

This wasn't going to go well.

I scratched my nose as I walked across the hall to get to the Kaiba Corp's CEO office and checked my pocket to make sure my newly crafted deck(Mmm. Still has that new card smell-) was in there, along with my other… Provisions(I.E. Around a dozen flasks, filled to the brim with different types of alcohol to make this meeting go smoother-), before I finally got to the office.

"Okay, Uxukie, you, can DO THIS!" I hyped myself as I grabbed the knob and opened the door.

Only to come face to chest with the apparent 'Teen' owner of the entire Kaiba Corporation.

You cannot do this, you cannot do this!

No one mentioned this guy was going to be over six feet fucking tall and intimidating as fuck!

Or that 'This guy' was a 'This lady'!

Though, even if I could tell(I've seen enough Animes to know a crossdressing woman when I see one-), with that kind of outfit, not one else would be able to- in fact, the only REAL reason I knew it was a chick was because, even in this Gigai of mine, I still had fairly enhanced senses that could sniff out the pheromones this lady was giving off.

The more you know.

"Can I help you?" I was knocked from my reverie as the(Rather androgynous-) voice of one Seto Kaiba asked me politely(Even though the tone basically said 'What the hell do you want'-) what I was doing. "Oh, yes!" I quickly straightened from my slouched position(God damn it, I still wasn't taller-) as I held out my hand. "I am Mu Setsumei Uxukie, and, seeing as how I have absolutely no other way of saying this, I am the representative of Industrial Illusions, and my boss has asked me to duel you in the 'Duel Monsters' game."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"... I take it this is absolutely nothing like you had planned, isn't it?" "To say the least, yes." "Ah, yeah, kind of figured, but boss man has told me it is imperative we dueled, and seeing as how we both know this whole representative thing is a farce, let's just cut out the middleman and begin what I actually came here to do, yes?" "And just why should I even entertain that thought?" "... Um, because you're lonely and have nothing better to do right now?" "Security-" "Wow, wow, wait, hold up! Hear me out!"

I ran out in front of Kaiba so they(I'm not gonna use pronouns for fear of retaliation against gender equilic people everywhere- not that I'm afraid of what they'll do, I just really don't feel like putting up with their shit.) couldn't get past, and in turn, summon the big, overly stupid muscle heads they call 'Guards' that will no doubt throw me out of the building painfully(And by painfully, I mean break both my legs and then throw me off the roof.). "I wouldn't just come here, willy nilly and all, hoping against hope that you'd accept my proposition without ensuring it would be worth your time beforehand!" "You mean like you just did?" "Exactly- wait, no! I come with an offer!" Quickly fishing around in the pocket NOT filled to the brim with alcohol(Which I knew I would be downing very shortly after this meeting was over-), I found what I was looking for and pulled it out to show right in front of Kaiba's face.

"A… Card?" "Ah, but not just ANY card! You see, my boss knows things-things I'd like not to know, most of the time though- but among those things, he happens to know that a certain duelist is in possession of some great and mystical childrens trading card that, apparently, can rip apart the Earth as we know it!... Totally not full of shit there- but anyway, he also knows that certain someone is going to ALSO be going after two OTHER cards, to complete the entire, mythical collection. And all these cards are apparently extremely powerful, and not to be reckoned with and blah blah blah- look, he gave me a surefire way to win against these 'God card' things, and has told me to give you it should you agree to my terms." The man… lady, thing in front of me paused to consider as I continued on. "But, should you lose, you are also to give me an audience to speak to you on behalf of Maximillion Pegasus himself- and don't worry, I was explicitly told not to use the same card I am to give you in our duel."

Well, I was actually explicitly told to utilize the FUCK out of the card, but what Peg-Boy don't know only makes me laugh harder.

She/He seemed about to just call security again to throw me out of the building(This time REALLY from the roof of the building now that I said I come from Pegasus-), but they finally relented. "Alright, I'll duel you- but don't actually expect to win." "Funny, that's the exact same thing I told Pegasus-" I mused, more to myself than She/He over there as I was told to follow as we made it to the elevator and took it up to the last floor(Wasn't a long trip, the office was second to last on the stops in this building-).

"Wow, being rich sure does have it's perks." I spoke as we finally entered the room we would be having our duel in. It was expansive(As was everything else I found myself in recently- must be a rich folk thing.), caked in light blue walls and a glass ceiling to allow the sky to be seen, with a white, seemingly high-tech battleground on the floor of the entire thing(For what purpose, I had no damn.), with bleachers over on the side and a MASSIVE flat screen on the end of the room, apparently there to show what would happen on the battleground at different angles for those in the bleachers to see…

Not that I actually knew what that would BE, but still.

"Seto!" A rather high pitched voice yelled as I turned to see a midget(Or a child- I was never good at guessing between the two. Not since that birthday party… Not my fault the damn midget looked like he wanted a hug from Spongebob-) run towards us from the bleachers. "Mokuba." Seto nodded stiffly as the kid ran up and hugged his older bro- sibling(This was getting real old, real fast.). "Anyway, I don't want you in my presence any longer than you already have been, so lets get this duel over with already." Hmph. Rude. Mokuba just looked confused as he asked why he-she-whatever was dueling me.

"I made a deal with your sibling here, and it just so happens to involve a duel monsters game, and speaking of-" I turned from both of them to scan the entire room, finding no satisfactory place for what we had in mind."So, what; we going to the bleachers to play or something, because I don't see any tables-" I didn't get to speak the rest of my thoughts as a giant metal and plastic toy- thing- slammed into my face, causing me to curse and drop to the ground. "Son of a-" "No, we will be dueling with my new prototype Duel Disks!" She/He finished that sentence off by slipping on her/his disk onto her/his left arm. "... Duel what?" The owner of Kaiba Corp just scoffed and walked over to the far side of the field, as the kid moved over to the bleachers, seemingly eager over the prospect of watching his sibling duel(And no doubt utterly curb stomp the opposition- AKA me.). "It's simple, really- even a dog could use it." "Well excuse me for being worse than a dog, your highness, so you'll have to show me how to utilize it, cupcake." I didn't fail to notice the way Mokuba started to look worried after what I said, or how he looked at the now very stiff looking Kaiba.

So no one was supposed to know, huh?

"Hmph, whatever. This is how you use it-" Had to give this Kaiba kid credit- didn't get fazed too much by that outburst and just moved on. But, as Kaiba finally managed to get even someone like ME to know the basics, I digressed-

"Well then, I guess it's time to DUEL!" I yelled as we both pulled out five cards and the duel started. "Now, I'd usually say ladies first-" This got both of the people in the room to stiffen very uncomfortably(Ha! Paybacks a bitch!). "-But all I see in front of me is a arrogant asshole with an ego the size of Jupiter, so I suppose that'll have to do." They both relaxed slightly at that(Though Mokuba appeared ticked at that little jab-) as Seto drew a card to start her/his turn.

"I guess it's my turn." Seto replied as she/he quickly glanced at the card that was just drawn, before making a move. "Alright, I'll place one card face down in defense mode and then set down a card in my magic zone." To my immense surprise(And delight-), two actual cards appeared on the field, one from where the monster zone should be, and one directly behind it, where the magic and trap cards should be.

"Holy hell- no wonder this company is good and rich." I said out loud as Seto ended her/his turn, and so it was mine. "Uh, draw?" I questioned more than said as I moved my hand to draw from my deck, only to have the card on top all but shoot out at me- but luckily I caught it before it could tip off the deck and fall. "Man, this is gonna take some getting used to." I scratched my head with the arm that had the duel disk as I looked over the cards in my hand. Maaaaaaaaaybe I should have taken that information Pegasus was willing to dish out to me…

"Pfffft, yeah right." I spoke to myself as I grabbed a card and played it. "Well here goes nothing- let's go, Devouring Beast(Two Star, Dark SPIRIT; Effect Monster: 1000/1000)!" I roared as I slammed(Even in Gigai, in retrospect, should probably avoid doing that from now on-) the card in the monster zone, with it soon appearing on the field with it's own roar, startling both the of the Kaiba siblings. "What on Earth- what kind of monster is that?" Kaiba demanded as the mid-sized ape masked Hollow just grunted and stood there, looking stupid(Not like I really expected more from a Devouring Beast-). "Ah, THIS is a new type of monster altogether- it is part of the Spirit category of monsters now! " I declared as I waved my hand in the air. "These new 'Spirits' are one of a kind, and very special- how special you ask? Well, aside from me-" I grinned and pointed to myself with my thumb. "-No one else has them, and besides the people in this room, no one even knows they EXIST, all thanks to Industrial Illusions." Seto just grunted and looked back at my monster, not showing anything, though there was a bit more caution in her/his eyes now over before, no doubt wary of what these things could do, because she/he had no idea what they could do.

"Ah, but enough about MY monster- I want to get to know your monster more intimately!" I grinned and pointed over to the face down monster on Seto's side of the field. "Let's go, you stupid waste of space, SPINE WHIP!" The ape just grunted again, before its spine started to grow, and finally spurt out of it's back, causing both of the Kaiba's to go wide eyed and even Mokuba to go a bit green in the face, as it groped around for it, then finally, as it got a hold of it, it reared it's hand back, causing it to fully rip out of it's back, and sent it flying over to the face down card. "Hmph. A bad play on your end." Seto just watched casually as the spine attempted to rip through the card, but a hand reached out and grabbed it, and threw it back at the user, causing the ape to groan as it's own spine hit it's face.

"Saggi the Dark Clown." I clicked my tongue as the monster appeared face up now, in it's full glory. "With a defense of 1500, that's a 500 point difference…" "Oh? So the mutt can do math thankfully?" Seto smirked condescendingly as she looked at our life points, only to frown. "Wait-" "What, you think I would be stupid enough to attack an unknown monster with one that only has 1K? Nah. My Devouring Beasts special ability doesn't allow for it- all battle damage involving this card is zero; sadly, that also goes for direct attacks, so he can't do damage, but he's got other tricks up his sleeve." I smiled a smile so full of mischief, it would put the cheshire cat's grin to shame as I put two cards down on the field and ended my turn.

Seto just grunted and drew another card, looking down at it for but a second before she/he played it. "I'll play Pot of Greed to draw another two cards-" And she/he did just that, before moving on with her/his turn. "And then I'll activate Thunder Dragon's special effect; by discarding it to the graveyard, I can bring two MORE Thunder Dragons to my hand from my deck!" Putting the card in the graveyard, the Duel Disk spit out two cards, which she/he proceeded to grab. "And then I'll play Lord of D.!"

The glare she gave me after she spoke told me I shouldn't have laughed at that.

"Which I'll lead into playing The Flute of Summoning Dragon!" Aaaaaaaah, fuck. "And I think you know which two monsters I'm gonna summon." The giant thunder snakes kind of told me in place of her. "And now, I think I'll switch Saggi into attack position, and then ATTACK!" All of her monsters started charging towards the ape(Who looked five seconds away from shitting itself-) and got very close, before I decided to spring my trap. "Activate trap card, Rank Requirement…?" I trailed off awkwardly, not sure how to play the trap. Luckily, the face down decided to pop up just in time, the large hand with light surrounding it looked just about as blasphemous as I felt using the hand of GOD for a card in a children's card game. "As long as this card is face-up on my field, there will be a requirement to kill monsters now!" I spoke as all of Seto's monsters collided with the ape(That looked like it actually had just shit itself now-), only to bounce off soon afterwards, with Seto's eyes widening at the act. "What-" "WIth Rank Requirement on the field, only one star and two star monsters can kill each other; same goes with three star and four star monsters, five star and six star monsters, seven star and eight stars, etc. etc." I explained as the monsters settled back on Seto's side of the field. "They can, however, still fight across 'Ranking'- or, stars, in this case, and they will still take damage based on the attack point differences; but, well, my monster's effect." I sighed as Seto just grumbled and ended her turn.

Only for my monster to screech before dissolving into pixels.

"That- was unpleasant in 3D." I muttered as I rummaged in my ear with my pinky, trying to get hearing back into it as Seto just stared slightly wide eyed at the scene. "What- just happened to your monster?" "Huh- oh, yeah. Devouring Beast is, well, for a lack of a better term, extremely stupid, and never lives long after it's born- er, summoned, so the very next turn after it's summoned, it will go to the graveyard." Soon, there were even more screams and screeches as Seto's monsters exploded into pixels themselves, causing Seto's eyes to widen. "Aaaaaaand it's very, very, lonely, and because he doesn't have a 'Jill' like the rest of us, he also brings along whoever he fighted with him. " I yawned as I drew a card. "But, I digress- let's continue this little exploit of evolution, and I'll start by removing Devouring Beast from play to special summon the next in line of the Evolution track, the Huge Hollow(Three Star, Dark SPIRIT; Effect Monster: 1400/1300) directly from my hand!" I yelled as I played the massive beast.

This time, instead of a relatively small Hollow standing at around 4 feet, this one was more than DOUBLE that height, at around 9 feet in the sky, with a big black body(... I didn't know how to word that better.) and a wide, blank looking mask, not really depicting any animal at all but just there to be a mask as the beast groaned and stood there on the field above the designated card(Not sure if they could physically move away from them, but I was thanking every deity out there that it didn't just immediately walk over to the remaining face down I had and tried eating it like a chip-), looking eerie.

"These cards of yours just keep getting bigger, dumber, and very much uglier- I hope you have something good in that deck of yours, otherwise, you won't last much longer." Rather big talk, coming from the kid with no monsters on the field-

"Yeah, yeah, keep your pants on, I'm working on it; and I'll work on it by ALSO removing from play the card I just played-" As soon as I said that, my monster let out a moan as it suddenly started leaving the field on some sort of spiral. "-To special summon the next in line for evolution from my hand, the Gillian(Four Star, Dark SPIRIT; Effect Monster: 1800/1500)!" Suddenly, an even BIGGER Hollow popped up on the field, easily crossing the 15 foot mark, being a hulking figure of pure muscle, with razor sharp claws, and some kind of canine mask covering it's head, topped off by two waggling dog ears on top. "Man, 3D really DOES bring out the rather ugly aspects of our race." I muttered to myself before I shook my head and continued playing. "But my skillz don't stop there- I'm going to activate Gillian's ability, which allows me to draw a card for every one of the Hollow line of evolution removed from play; which, if you haven't been paying attention, has been two!" I drew two more cards, before grinning at the last one I had drawn. "Oooooooh yes! Alright, let's kick this up a notch with the NEXT line in the evolution, but this time, I'll just be sacrificing my monster to summon this one!" I sent the Gillian to the graveyard as the massive being just stood there and dissolved(Seriously, those things kept getting dumber and dumber with each evolution-) as I soon played the next card. "Alright, shine in the spotlight, Arrancar(Five Star, Dark SPIRIT; Effect Monster: 2100/1900)!"

If the two siblings were expecting some kind of King Kong reject this time, they were sorely mistaken as some unnamed hoomahn figure popped out of the card, wrapped in tight white clothing with it's face covered by some white, bone like helmet.

"Shocked? Sorry, but evolution has to step up at some point- and that very same evolution is going to be your end! Att-" "Not so fast, I activate the trap 'Cloning'!" Across the field, a dark black blob started to form, before finally taking the form of my Arrancar; albeit, in all black instead of white. "Ugh, and here I was hoping I could go home sooner- fine, I'll put a card face down and you can go." Pulling a card out of her/his deck, Seto's eyes widened, before she/he just started to laugh softly, which exploded soon after into an outright cacophony of laughter. "HAHAHA- Yes, YES! I wanted to test this card out against someone like that dark Yugi(The fuck is a Dark Yugi'?), but I suppose you'll be a fine test subject as well, with your new type of cards!" Seto began in a hysteric tone, before she/he started to play. "I'll activate Soul Release! Which will allow me choose 5 cards from either of our graveyards, and send them out of play! And considering there is only 5 monsters in my graveyard, this will be perfect!" Wasn't really sure why she/he wanted to remove from play his own cards, but it no doubt ended with me getting my ass kicked- "And then, I will use Return from the Different Dimension! By sacrificing half my life points-"

Mu: 4000/Seto: 2000

"-I can special summon any amount of monsters removed from play as I want for this turn; but they won't be staying long." Seto grinned darkly as the three Thunder Dragons suddenly vanished and she started cackling madly. "And now, I shall summon the ultimate card in duel monsters; OBELISK THE TORMENTOR!" Ooooooooh, boy.

Kind of wish I had put the card Pegasus gave me in my deck now-

I didn't get to finish my thoughts before a flash of lightning sounded, and I looked up, over the ceiling, only to pale at the giant mass of whatever the hell Obelisk the Tormentor was made out of.

"Hooooooooooooooooooooly shit." I was wide eyed as I stared directly at one of the three actual GODS in this children's card game. "And now, I think I'll attack you and win this duel! Obelisk, OBLITERATE!" Seto laughed and pointed at me in an order to finish this duel.

"..."

"!"

"..."

"!"

"..."

"!...? Why isn't Obelisk doing what he does best- OBLITERATING?!" "What, did you forget? My Rank Requirement is still on the field, and your Obelisk is level 10 while mine is level 5." "But he's OBELISK the TORMENTOR- trap cards, spell cards, OTHER MONSTER CARDS don't effect him!" "Ah, I actually looked into that- so long as it doesn't personally TARGET Obelisk, the effects can still work, like, say, AoE attacks?" Seto just gritted her/his teeth and seethed at the supposed loss of a victory so quickly. "Grrrr, while I can't beat you YET, I can still attack that abomination of a monster- Obelisk, attack!" Obelisk just lifted it's hand, and started descending it onto my Arrancar(Who looked like he was praying to his OWN deities-), crashing through the glass ceiling to streamline towards my monster.

"Oooooooh, this is gonna hu-"

*BOOM*

Mu: 2100/Seto: 2000

"My… Everything hurts." I coughed as I stood back up from being knocked down from the force of that behemoths hand. I looked forward again to see my Arrancar shaking worse than a leaf in the wind, looking directly above it at the monster above the ceiling.

And speaking of…

HOW THE HELL AM I GOING TO BEAT THAT?!

There was no way in hell I could even hope to beat that thing with the cards currently in my hand- I only had enough cards to summon the next evolution, and, depending on my next draw, the seventh evolution- but neither of those could hope to stand a chance against the giant in front of me. In fact- NOTHING in my deck could hope to stand up to that thing!

Except

Well, it was a long shot, but if I got the exact card I needed, I could end the duel in my favor.

"Here's to hoping." I muttered as I took out a flask and quickly downed it in one gulp, before I overheard Seto saying her/his turn was done after setting a card down. "Okay, I'm not much for believing in superstition, but I'll believe in this 'Heart of the Cards' bull shit Pegasus told me about-" I drew a breath and quickly swiped my hand across my deck.

"DRAW!"

Having closed my eyes beforehand, I didn't know immediately what I drew, but opening the eye that was closest to the hand holding the card slightly, I managed to make out what card it was. "That Obelisk is an issue, Seto, I'll admit that; but I've also had issues before with my bowls before." I grinned as Seto looked vaguely astonished I'd even bring something like that UP. "Issues, are meant to PASS-" I yelled as I attempted to play the card I had just drawn. "And I'll pass it up, by getting the home field advantage!... How do I play a field spell?" "Mechanism on the left side." "Ah, thanks." The field around us suddenly shifted to a desert, broken and dead trees spanning across the entirety of it, with an ever present moon in the unchanging night.

"Welcome to the world where the Hollows reside- Hueco Mundo." I spread my arms wide as if showing the grandest thing anyone would have the great pleasure of seeing.

Hueco Mundo was not that sight.

Even to the Hollows that lived in the damn thing.

"So you brought us to a dessert- big deal." Seto scoffed. "Nothing you can have could even HOPE to begin to hold a candle to it." So says you, princess." I snickered as Seto just ground her/his teeth. "And anyways, like all field spells, there are special effects of it; one of them, is that instead of needing the card in my hand to summon it during the evolution, I can now summon it directly from my DECK- another thing, also, is that the cards removed from play in order to special summon that card, is now lowered by one, so-" I started as the Arrancar started disappearing just like the Huge Hollow from before and the 'Clone' along with it soon after. "-I can special summon the SEVENTH evolution now, instead of the sixth!" I took the card from my deck, and summoned it to the field. "Let's go, Proximo Espada(Seven Star, Dark SPIRIT; Effect Monster: 2400/2800)!" On the field, a figure in the same outfit as the Arrancar, but this one was more muscular, had the Arrancar coat open revealing it's pale white skin beneath it, and it's helmet was broken, showing the face this time, scarred and as pale as the rest of its body, with the rest of the helmet covering it's hair from view, taking the shape of an owl's head. "But I'm not done; next I'll activate Instant Gratification!" I played the spell card, the image being of a Hollow on its knees in Hueco Mundo, begging to a shadowed figure much bigger than it for something. "This card will allow me to activate the next step of evolution, without the need to remove from play my newly summoned monster; so now, I summon the PINNACLE of the entirety of the Hollow line of evolution, THE VASTO LORDE(Eight Star, Dark SPIRIT; Effect Monster: 2900/3200)!"

The 'Pinnacle of evolution' was soon summoned to the field, being much different than all the others before it. It was hoohmanoid, like the most recent classes of evolution, but it's attire and mask were much more reminiscent of the past reincarnations of the evolution. Covered in dirt ridden pants, it held onto no shirt, showing off it's more tanned, scarred physique to everyone, with a mask just like the Devouring Beast covering its head, in the form of an animal- this one being a dragon- with long flowing black hair, also rather dirty in appearance, just like the rest of him.

"I'm not done yet, either, because I'll special summon the sixth evolution, just because I can!" I grinned, as the sixth evolution appeared on the field from my hand. "And this one is called the Elite Fraccion(Six Star, Dark SPIRIT; Effect Monster: 2300/2300)." The(Rather small in comparison to the ones next to it-) hoohmanoid figure popped out of it's card, looking exactly like the Arrancar, but this character was about a foot taller than the five foot Arrancar, and it's helmet was cracked down the middle, with the jagged lines looking like a mouth about to close around the things head, with the rest of the body resembling a fish.

"YOU'LL HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN THAT- NONE OF THOSE WEAK MONSTERS OF YOURS CAN BEAT OBELISK AS THEY ARE!" Seto laughed as she/he looked over my monsters. "Oh- I can do you better alright." As Seto's eyes twitched trying to figure out if I had meant anything else with that statement(Of course I did- but she/he doesn't need to know that.), I decided to play the entirety of the rest of the hand I was dealt. "Well, I have three monsters right here; I don't see why I should waste a perfect opportunity like this, so I'll sacrifice all three of them-" They all disappeared to the graveyard as I summoned my last monster. "-And I will summon the King of MPvP(Not that anyone knew what that was other than me-); The Curandero Maestro(Nine Star, Light SPIRIT; Effect Monster/Union: 3000/4500)!" Not really wanting to have people question why I was my own duel monsters card, I decided to give the monster the vaguest description possible, while still holding true to form.

The monster was covered in a thick white coat, arms forever folded together in what looked like a prayer with the sleeves covering everything from sight, not letting anyone see what really was going on with the arms. The hood was drawn up, covering almost the entire face, except the creepy grin showing the bone white, razor sharp teeth however.

"Behold!" "Hmph. That thing is also too weak to deal with Obelisk- the most it can do is stall for time in defense mode." Seto scowled as I kept grinning. "Ah, Seto-Chan, you really should understand by now there is ALWAYS more to my monsters than I am giving out." My grin turned downright cruel as suddenly, from within my monster's coat, moans and groans could be heard. "You see- my little Curandero Maestro here isn't exactly the best of fighters, as you no doubt could tell. He is much better at doing things like playing defense, healing others- or taking what isn't his." Suddenly, the Maestro's grin broke as his long, black, sickly looking tongue came of his mouth, holding onto something that no one could quite make out, until he practically shoved it into Seto's face. "That's- That's Obelisk's card!" Seto paled as the tongue latched back inside the Maestro's mouth, card and all as the grin was back full force. "But, but you can't take away Obelisk and take control of him- his effect won't allow it!" "Yes, yes, I realize that- though, the Maestro doesn't really seem to, but that's besides the point- I didn't take your Obelisk away, I took his effect away."

The Maestro grinned as he looked above him, looking like he was glowing in a weird light as Obelisk groaned and landed back on the ground, looking rather weak to anyone who looked at him. "And yes, I also realize that even without an effect, Obelisk still outnumbers the Maestro in attack points- however, we are in Hueco Mundo! Here, Curandero Maestro gets home field advantage, in the form of protection from dying in a fight as long as he is in attack mode! And, if he so chooses to attack, he ALSO gains an extra 1000 attack points for attacking someone that isn't the same attribute as he is!" The Maestro just grinned even wider(Not sure how that was possible-) as suddenly his original attack of 3000 bumped up to 4000, same as Obelisks.

"Sadly, your Obelisk doesn't have home field advantage, though, so as soon as he's in a fight with someone as strong as him, he's dead! Maestro, a little music please~" The Maestro just let out a cackle of glee, before he suddenly jumped much higher than should be scientifically possible, landing on Obelisk's head before he pulled out a small, rusty flute. "Hold it!" Seto growled as she suddenly played her face down. "I play the card Shrink! With it's effect, your Maestro's original attack gets halved, which would make its attack now only 2500, too weak to beat Obelisk!" She finished with a smirk, waiting to see its effect happen and for Obelisk to finally obliterate this punk and his crap cards.

Which never happened.

"Yeah- when I said I took away Obelisks effect, I meant Curandero Maestro stole his ability for himself." I scratched my chin as I remembered something though. "Oh yeah- thanks for reminding me of something, though. I still have a face down-" But with a snap of my fingers, the card revealed itself. "I'll play the spell 'Execution'. With this card, I can either equip it to my monster for long term- though, with Obelisk's effect still in effect, I can't necessarily do that; so I'll go short term with it, and just equip it to your Obelisk." The bow and arrow on the card suddenly appeared thanks to the 3D animation, and the arrow shot itself into Obelisks chest, causing a mark to make itself known on Obelisks chest in the form of a massive 'E', and Obelisk groaned as it pierced his hull. And what the hell does that thing do, anyway?!" Seto growled as I pulled out a flask and started drinking from it. "WELL?! WHAT-" I held up a single finger to silence her, as I continued my drinking. After I was done, I sighed and looked over to see Seto fuming. "Pretty much, all it does is make it so that when the targeted monster dies, you take half the original attack points that the monster had as life point damage, on top of whatever damage you would take otherwise." Seto freezed at that.

"Half the attack points, but-" "But Obelisk's attack is 4000, and you only HAVE 2000 life points left? Yes, I know." I pulled out another flask I gave the impatient Maestro the symbol to continue, causing him to bounce up and down on Obelisks head in cheer, before he settled down and raised the flute to his lips, and started playing.

The sound from the flute wasn't nearly as horrible as I expected it to be, though it apparently was torture to Obelisk as he attempted to swat the Hollow off his head, but soon had his hands preoccupied as he started to sink into the ground from a dark portal that had been summoned by the Maestro to swallow the being up.

Didn't help that halfway through, hands started pouring out of the portal to quicken the rate which he got swallowed up, either.

Pretty soon, all that was left was the head, but a swift kick from the Maestro fixed that.

Thought as soon as the portal closed, the large 'E' from before on Obelisk's chest appeared over Kaiba's chest, causing her/him to step back and widen her/his eyes, but that didn't stop the 'E' from suddenly lunging forward, sending Kaiba rolling away on the ground, groaning as the duel simulation ended with the loss of the rest of her life points.

Mu: 2100/Seto: 0000

"Well, that was riveting." I told her/him as I walked over, drinking from a different flask this time. "You… You managed to beat Obelisk- WITHOUT the need of another God card, or even a specific card meant to counter only God cards." Seto settled on her hands and knees, apparently trying to figure out the meaning of life- or the meaning of a children's card games, either one. "Eh, well, there are still counters to God cards that can be used for other purposes as well- but I guess that's besides the point." "BIG BROTHER!" I got pushed to the side as the kid brother came running and stopped next to his brother.

Which reminds me-

"Okay, I have to ask now." I got both of the Kaiba's attentions. "Gender… You aren't one of those crazy anti-feminists that goes around dressing like men to prove a point, are you?" "So… You know?" Seto asked softly as she/he(Really can't wait to get this sorted out-) slowly got up from the floor. "Yeah, wasn't too hard to notice- I have a genetic defect that tampered with my sense of smell, so I can smell the pheromones coming off of you." I lied as I stayed in position, drinking from my flask as Seto Kaiba rolled on up to me.

"I see… And what will it take to keep your silence?" She asked in a tone that said she knew this kind of thing would eventually happen and she knew the precautions that would need to happen to contain it.

AKA Killing me if it truly came down to it.

Because she could normally let a random stranger go away, and if HE tried blabbing, it's just some random man claiming some hocus pocus rumor.

But if it's someone who personally knew MAXIMILLION PEGASUS that went around starting rumors?

People would know it had to hold some merit.

"To keep MY silence? Absolutely jack shit- this ain't none of my business, and I can't exactly do anything with the information that would further any goals I have, so I won't tell if you don't tell." I told her as I removed the duel disk and handed it back to her. She seemed shocked by my reply- too shocked.

Oh joy- she's one of those people that won't let something go without knowing she got exactly what she wanted.

"But, if you REALLY want to do something to reeeeeeally keep my mouth shut, you can read this letter, written by one Maximillion Pegasus… before his supposed death." My tone got sober at that last part.

It was with no small amount of irritation that I soon realized, after a week of no contact between us, that Pegasus was dead- and it took a representative of Industrial Illusions to come to where we were supposed to meet to figure it out.

It sucks, because as a Peacekeeper, I wanted to have been able to stop the death, but it also had nothing to do with the balance of the world of the dead, and as far as I knew, the world of the dead had nothing to do with the death of Pegasus, so there really wasn't anything I could do about it.

Still fucking sucks though-

"Pegasus is, dead?" Oh right, that really isn't public knowledge, yet, is it? "No one but his most loyal servants, his soon-to-be successor, me, and now you guys know, but yes, he is dead." I confirmed as Seto looked down at the envelope I had given her. "You don't look too upset." "He kidnapped my brother, and took his soul along with MINE- of course I'm not going to feel anything after his death." "... He's not that bad of a man, you know." "Tch, I highly doubt it." "Tell me, Seto Kaiba, what would you do if MOKUBA had died?" Seto was taken aback by the random question. "What does that have to do any-" "Tell me, what you would do." She took a second to think on that question, glancing at a nervous Mokuba as she did. "Okay, I won't ask you that right in front of said brother, but would you take ANY possible chance you would get to have him brought back, and do it with your full determination? "Of course." "Oh? Such confidence, and a lack of needed thought into the question, no hesitation to get back the one you love above all else?" "What kind of idiot question is that?" Her voice told me it was a rather stupid one, but I moved on.

"The same kind of stupid question that Pegasus had to ask to get the chance to see his OWN Mokuba again after they died." That got the brat to shut up. "Pegasus had the chance to see his beloved again after she tragically met her end, and he took it- and failed." I unclasped a brand new flask, and started drinking that one as well. "And now he's paid the price for it, as well- but rest assured, I'm going to find whoever decided to do it, and I'm gonna end them in retaliation. Petty? Sure, but I'll rest easier knowing the killer of a decent man isn't out there doing the same to yet another person." I stopped talking at that point and just shook my head. "Ah, but enough about that, you should forgive and forgot, if not for the Pegasus who kidnapped your brother, than for the Pegasus who just wanted to see his wife again." I turned around and started walking towards the door. "Anyway's, this is goodbye- I doubt we'll see each other again, but Japan is a small country, and Kaiba Corp is everywhere." I mused as I made it to the door. "Hey!" I turned around, only to come face to disk with the duel disk I had used earlier.

"Son of a-" "Keep that Duel Disk- also, inside where the deck should be, you'll find a locator card. You'll need both to enter the Battle City Tournament I'll be hosting." I just looked at the duel disk, and then back at Seto. "And you want me in this tournament, becaaaaaaaause-" "Only THREE people have beaten me in a duel before- one of those people is dead, the other is my rival, and the last person is just an idiot, who if I duel again in the tournament, will feel the hurt." I just stared at her for a while. "Wow, only one battle and were rivals? I'm shocked." I grinned at the sound of her groaning and finally just laughed. "Well, that's alright then- this 'Idiot' will just have to show you up one more; this time in front of a group of witnesses!" With one last thumbs up, I took my leave.

As I walked down the hall back to the elevator, I scanned the duel disk in my hand.

"Well, I DID say I needed a vacation, and what better vacation than entering a tournament where nothing could POSSIBLY go wrong?" I looked out the long window expanding across the hall and sighed. "And, if by some miracle, something that shouldn't be possible DID happen, and I somehow find, say, the cause of Pegasus's death? Well-" I grinned as the light flashed on my face for a second, which made my left glisten in the light.

"A good Penalty Game would be in order, then. Mm hm. Mm hm hm. Heh heh, heh heheh heh- HA, HA HA HA- *COUGH*, ah, crap, I need a- *COUGH* Lousinge!"