Warnings: Pretty dark, carries more than its fair share of violence.
Length: 7,801 words.
Time Period: It's... pretty damn weird. This is set in a total AU, and yet there's canon events happening in an alternate timeline that runs along this one, and then you've got this whole thing where some of the canon events do actually happen in the AU–
Let's just leave it at 'total AU'. Speaking of which, it's the same AU as the other Mari(k)onette oneshots, but set one day before Mari(k)onette: Today Never Ends and two days before Mari(k)onette: Tomorrow Never Comes.
It's not necessary to read them all in order, though it probably helps a little bit. If you wish to read all eight one-shots in the order in which they were written (the order that gives you the best story arc out of it), you can find all of them on my profile - use this order:
Mari(k)onette: Yesterday Never Forgets
Mari(k)onette: Today Never Ends
Mari(k)onette: Tomorrow Never Comes
Mari(k)onette: That Never Happened
Mari(k)onette: Loyalty Never Works
Mari(k)onette: Memory Never Dies
Mari(k)onette: Gambling Never Pays
Mari(k)onette: StopStart, PlayPause
Handicap: 'There are three rules that will apply to all fics this round:
1. I must state what one typical/logical path of the particular ship might be, or a common path if there is one (for instance, Mai is likely to be tortured or lose her memory if the pairing is Illusionshipping)... and then do the exact opposite.
2. All my stories in this round have to take place in one single AU created from a nightmarish combination of the two most crack AU ideas I have written down over the last four rounds. The stories must take place in the same AU, and need to reference each other somehow – the catch is that I currently don't know whether I will get my desired adopt pairings or not, and I can only write two of the fics at any one time (I have to do the first two before I can take on the third, and after that can only take one adopt pairing at a time.) The stories must be able to be read as individual one-shots.
3. The story must be written in an unusual POV and/or tense.'
Feedback: Concrits are always very welcome, but there's no real specifics here. Just enjoy it.
POV Used: First Person Plural Omniscient (Future Tense) –The narrator is a 'we'. They show everyone's thoughts, and the story is in the future tense. First Person Plural Omniscient is one of the rarer narrations one sees – second only to things like Second Person, which was not used only because a certain someone in a previous round beat me to it. I therefore refrained from attempting it in my main fic... though definitely gave in shortly afterwards.
Here's a sentence in a commonly used narration type, Third Person Limited(Past Tense): "Joey thought Kaiba looked awfully nice in that lovely, clean business suit – he was so busy looking that he failed to note the slight warning curl of the CEO's lip."
And here's that sentence in the style of this fic:"We shall catch Joey making eyes at Kaiba – he's thinking that the CEO looked awfully nice in that lovely, clean business suit. Kaiba, of course, will be thinking that Joey's a total dork – we will be able to see it in the slight warning curl of the CEO's lip."
Ship to be Inverted: Shrimpshipping (Ryuuzaki X Haga) is in my mind a very goofy, fluff–ridden pairing, since the two are generally used for comic relief in the anime. You can kind of see them running around together, getting into lots of trouble, and naturally denying that they could be more than friends. At most, it could become a fic where the two bond due to their desire for revenge during DOMA, or go and sulk in corners because they both happen to like the same girl. They're younger than many other YGO characters, after all – unless you pull an 'everyone is an adult' sort of AU, they're pretty unlikely to take drugs, have sex, ect ect ect.
Ergo, this fic will be a sadistic, violent, and twisted horror story. With drink spiking and suicide.
...Yay?
Mari(k)onette: Yesterday Never Forgets
So, the story
begins like this.
-:-
Begin
Like this, it will
begin
Take it in sleep
begin
to poison mind
begin
to control it
begin
before it controls us
begin
it will float before us, soul
pulled from sleep and stolen
away into our realm
where we are in control
though it does not know that
not yet not yet do not tell
-:-
And we will say:
"Hello, dear sister – brother – um...
(Friend, call it friend, humans like that)
Friend.
Are you a boy?
Or are you a girl?"
and it will say:
"Mmmff!"
and we will say:
"That is very nice.
What is your name?"
and it will say;
"MMMMMFFF!"
and it will ask:
(when the gag has been removed)
"Aren't you those two
Kids in school?
Yugi?
Ryou?"
and we will say:
"No.
Yugi and Bakura are but
Our puppets, as their master we take
Their forms when visitors are here.
They are Yami: Yugi and Yami: Bakura now
(the Second and First Puppets)"
We are
Yami."
-:-
And we will
begin
to talk
with it
(and through
gentle conversation
learn that it is he)
about sheep
about stress
about life
about death
over cups of cyanide tea
and arsenic cookies
Begin.
-:-
Someday he will trust us
(not many days
he pines for company)
and he will ask why
he has been brought here
every night
(so much work, having guests)
and we will say
"It is time.
We want to show you a future
And make a bet
on your soul."
and the rise of the
Third Puppet will
Begin.
-:-
For this is the will of the Darkness
that Yami which is us
that is in us
that is in all
that is all consuming.
We have our orders now
the time is right.
We will
Begin.
There will be three at the table, us and him. We will look at him through two sets of eyes, eyes that change colours – on the Second Puppet, crimson flickers to imperial purple, to emerald, to blue, to a mixture of red and violet, while on the First Puppet, azure changes to red, then brown. (1) And we will quietly imagine what he will look like when we have changed him for the better (and he will look spectacular, all that hair sticking out in every direction, that pout transformed into a leering grin by which our enemies will be terrified), and our puppets will smile.
He will look about himself, suspicious and demanding; we can see his thoughts, he is already wondering what such a bet may bring him if he wins. And we will immediately remind him of the great wealth and power the darkness can grant; we could even crown a new King of Darkness. It shall be very important to keep his thoughts fast and flurried, chaotic and easily influenced; we must be careful.
If we are convincing in our offer, then he will lick dry lips in excitement, lean forwards. "What is the bet?"
We will have the Second Puppet speak now; the voice commands, quietens, and reassures. "It is simple; we will show you a most tragic future. If things are allowed to run their course, a young man will be dead by the end of tomorrow. All we ask is that you stop this from happening – it will be on your head if you do not, but there are of course great rewards if you happen to complete your task."
A pause, during which we will notice that just for once, his last shreds of human compassion are on the same side as his greed, his thirst for power and his clawing grasp on revenge – the last is one we instilled in him some time ago. Though he will not know at this point we that were the ones who truly killed his father, he will still lust for revenge against the one he believes did the deed...
And so it is that he will inevitably nod. "I accept."
Now will be the best time to use the First Puppet; the pale wraith whose words will easily sway and confuse; the master thief of souls and identities and wills alike. And it will speak, thus:
"We have taken the liberty of organizing our narrative into seven sections – for the first, the main character must be introduced. We have named this part the Prologue; we will conjure up images and visions of each scene, to help you understand."
And we will accomplish exactly that; a powerful burst of shadow will allow us to show him what we wish him to see. A powerful method of controlling his thoughts and opinions; for although he does not realize it, we are the ones who will guide him...
And take him in good time.
"Let us begin."
PROLOGUE
Our understanding is that every morning, 'Dinosaur' Ryuuzaki leaps out of bed to the sound of the alarm clock, staggering around woozily; swearing while he tries to find the source of the disturbance and – if he happens to be lucky – actually manages to get to the stage where he fights to turn the machine off. Messy brown lengths of hair fall around the boy's shoulders, the longest just touching the small of his back; one errant bang (accidentally dyed a permanent purple from something he stole) sticks out from under the front of the beanie, so long that it almost touches his nose, and he always wears exactly the same outfit – faded red beanie, yellow shirt, a dark green jacket, and tan trackpants – even in sweltering heat.
Back to the alarm clock – after this most refreshing exercise, Ryuuzaki finds himself slightly invigorated, but mostly annoyed. To emphasize this, he stomps and snarls, yells a bit, get bored of yelling, shrugs, grumbles, and goes to check on his baby snakes. After this, he checks on his lizard – inna – jar collection, makes sure Mister Whiskers the skink is still dead (just in case), and cries over the little pocket of slightly strange–smelling air (the creature has dried up into dust long ago, so the smell is all that is left). The boy then completes his morning with a few bites of toast, before heading off to earn his keep.
Now, Ryuuzaki is not gifted by any means, but he is short enough, ugly enough and clever enough to steal; and that is that. It is simply how he survives in a cruel world. He is in fact a rather honest sort of person – if he did not have to steal to survive, then he likely wouldn't. But the truth is that the locals know all about Ryuuzaki's past, and they avoid him like the plague – and the homesteads hold all sorts of things that no–one ever notices anyway. So, he trots out the door every day, hoping to raid some homestead or other for - well, he doesn't really know. Something he can sell on the black market, an exotic pet he can skin, food from the cupboards he can eat, whatever comes his way, he'll grab. He has always lived in exactly the same place he was born in; a cluttered shack, the roof made of tin and the walls of weatherboard.
But tomorrow morning, things will be different for the young burglar (and he is young, perhaps thirteen or fourteen).
Tomorrow, after the morning tasks have been completed, Ryuuzaki will sit down with a sigh to a normal sized breakfast of–
Cornflakes?
He will look around, startled – it's always toast, he could have sworn, since when did he ever eat cornflakes? And his mind will think: 'What the heck am I doing with myself?'
It should be duly noted that due to his occupation, Ryuuzaki, whilst extremely nimble, has a tendency to become paranoid over the smallest things – tomorrow will be no exception. So he will stop eating altogether, the spoon will clatter to the floor, and worried thoughts will whirl around his mind, sending him down and down into spiralling panic. They shall begin mildly – 'The toaster was RIGHT THERE, where did it go?', 'If these are cornflakes, then where is the box?', so on and so forth – but will quickly escalate into worries such as 'Perhaps it isn't my fault at all! Perhaps someone has broken into my house and– oh, goodness! Could it be the police?' To make matters worse, Ryuuzaki will be unable to get rid of those thoughts; he has never lived a particularly secure life, after all. Within a few minutes, the boy will in fact be gibbering with fear; believing that the evil shadow creatures are going to jump out from inside the pantry and force–feed him cornflakes–
"MUUUUUUMMMYYYYYY!"
Here, we will pause, letting the First Puppet consider him a moment. The joints in its neck will creak a little, as it tilts its head to one side in thought (though it obviously cannot think)."But that is how it always begins, is it not? Something a little wrong, then the message comes..."
And we will see his thoughts turn to his own school, and the First Puppet will smile devilishly. "Yes. Haga will be a new student of your school tomorrow, which will make his death at the end of tomorrow all the more tragic."
He will growl. "My school… is one thing you will not know about."
And we will laugh. "We are Yami. We know everything."
"I–I don't believe you."
"But you will, soon enough."
And we will continue on with our story, and he will listen.
Somewhere around this point, Ryuuzaki will hear a knock on the door. We should note that it will not a particularly loud knock, nor an intrusive sort of sound. No, this knock will seem to consider its existence as a knock rather embarrassing; a little like the punk rocker with twenty–six piercings might look at his ballerina girlfriend. We will hear it as being tentative, depressed, and in general more 'I'm seriously not a knock, please don't answer me' than 'I'm a knock, open up'.
Regardless of the general nature of the knock (and by extension, the rather glaring question posed to us of whether its deliverer happens to be on drugs or not), Ryuuzaki will stiffen, every fibre of his body tensing. The fibre rich cornflakes will also stiffen – in fact, they will tense so much that they will jump into the air, fly off the table, and go all over the floor, taking bowl and milk with boy will make a mental note (in his mental notebook) to blame the demons for that –the knock will come again, slow and quiet –and the teenager will dive under the kitchen table, shaking and praying that it isn't the evil demons come to force–feed him cornflakes.
Shortly after, we and he will become aware of a sing–song voice. Though we will not hear the creak of a door, nor the tell–tale patter of footsteps, the direction of the voice will allow us to realize that the intruder has now crossed the threshold, and come into the shack. And the voice shall become louder and louder, echoing down the hallway – until, although there is again no sound from the door or floor, a shadow will fall. A shadow that shall be made of light – it will make the wood look several shades paler than it had been previously.
"Go on. Stare. They all do…"
We will taste the depression in those tones, rubbing on our tongue like grey chalk, making any living being with a shred of sense want to gag. Even though the voice itself will be dainty and light, and could belong to a fairy, the words will carry this sort of slump, as though the owner has gotten tired of saying them – no, even worse than that: It will sound like the owner has grown tired of speech itself.
"And you know who this is, don't you?"
He will be shaking. "H–how did you know? You're not–"
We will allow the Second Puppet to speak; pulling the strings hidden in the shadows with ease. "Not Duelists, no... But we are Yami. Darkness knows all."
And before he can protest, we will continue on, the First Puppet resuming the narrative.
"Eh?" Ryuuzaki will look up at the sound of the voice, to see his unwelcome visitor hovering in the doorway–
"H–hi..."
–literally.
"EEEEEYYYYAAAAAAH!"
The boy will now pull a chibified expression of fear and run, but the man – woman – whatever gender happens to be under all that ceremonial armour and makeup and long flowing robe, it's really not important – anyway, it will be very fast. As he runs, Ryuuzaki will be certain that the being will keep on appearing right in front of him, which would be annoying, or right next to him, which would be annoying and a bit terrifying, or right behind the poor teen and breathing right down his collar, which would be downright terrifying. Its breath will not be warm and moist, either – it will surely be freezing cold, sending chills down his spine. So, Ryuuzaki will run, and certainty will happen because it is certainty, and the ghost will indeed pursue him in the manner described above.
Only, it won't. Ryuuzaki will think it did, though, and that is exactly why we will be telling the story and not him. Instead, the boy will run in frantic circles around the tiny shack, bouncing off the walls before he will eventually fall to his knees, gasping for breath. Standing over him, the apparition will simply continue to float a few inches off the floor, expression emotionless. Despite its regal appearance, the being will carry itself hunched, golden wings drooping a little. Even the ceremonial wing designs on its golden headdress will be pointing downwards, giving it the appearance of a puppy who has recently been scolded.
"Go on, keep staring. No need to worry that I might have feelings."
The voice will be just as depressed as it had been previously – if there ever was an emo good guy/girl sort of angel, we will decide, this must be it. It certainly is not a human, nor has it ever been– we will know instinctively that it can't be. The face will be too perfect, the fingers too long and slender, the robe folds will fall almost stiffly.
You see, it must be too good to be human.
Screwing up his courage, the boy says in a shaky whisper; "Who are you?"
"Huh, what an original question. I am Horakhty, the Creator God of Light...at least, I was."
"So, your name's Hokey? Karaoke?"
"Harry, call me Harry... or Harriet. No–one can ever get my name right, or my gender. It is fitting, since I cannot get my life right... or my sexuality, come to think of it." A real manila envelope will now come forwards to exist in Ryuuzaki's hand, and 'Harry' will float backwards into non–existence.
Trying desperately to ignore just how many rules of reality have been broken by this point, Ryuuzaki will now open the envelope. He will stare at the letter. "Load of baloney."
And then he shall crumple it in a ball, toss it over his shoulder, and stalk off to get himself some toast. 'Or was it cornflakes?', he will wonder to himself.
Feeling a more than a little confused, he will then attempt to stuff a box of cornflakes into a toaster.
He will swallow, hard. "You... you really know. Then...?"
We will sense that question in his hesitation, and the Second Puppet will yawn, its jaws cracking as they move.
"Yes, we speak the truth. And tomorrow, what we say will unfold today will all unfold."
And the First Puppet will go on thusly:
After a pause, there will be a knock at the door. It shall be loud, and impressive, and flashy in the sense that the door will actually fell apart, torn to pieces in a burst of pure darkness. We have plenty of darkness to spare, so this will not be very difficult.
A loud series of shouts from the doorway will announce a new character's arrival: "Alright'sch, where'd you go? GESH RIGHT SH'OVER HERE, YA LIDDLE BRASHT!"
It should be duly noted that that is not an accent – it is simply the result of speech defects caused by the shape of the creature's face.
The intruder will now come stomping into the room – if Harry is too perfect to be human, this thing must be the direct opposite. With muscles so massive they will make it hunch over, great ram horns coming out the back of its head, more teeth than anyone will think possible, and huge black wings over each purple–skinned shoulder, this thing will be easily identifiable as inhuman.
And then it shall go even further than inhuman – for there will be a huge extra dragon head that hisses from between the creature's legs, the tail of that dragon coming out behind. Haga will find himself wondering if they are the result of a dragon–riding accident, or... oh, god.
The beast will point commandingly at Ryuuzaki, who shall be frozen with terror – literally, since pure fear shall be wrapping around his limbs. Not even noticing this, the demon shall now begin to bawl out orders. "Raaaash! You! Wheresh yer deksh? Wheresh yer suitcase? Wheresh yer clothes?"
"Um... um..."
"Goddammit, didn't ya know I washcommin' ta pick yer filthy hide up? Whereshyer letter?"
"Erm... uh, about that–"
"Deshtwoyed it. Nysh goin'."
"I–I didn't think that–"
"Nope, all real. I'm yer shauffer. Housh Ghosch fer Slipperfin – Zorc Necrophedes, pleased to meet yer, yabbayabbayabba. Now, go and get YOUR GODDAMN DECK, AND YOUR GODDAMN SUITCASE, AND YOUR GODDAMN CLOTHES! UNDERSTOOD?"
The dragon (if there is a dragon head between the demon's legs) will now spit out a few sparks, and Ryuuzaki will flinch in reply. He will be scared – even though Zorc will not be trying to be scary. The big guy won't realize that he is in fact terrifying for another thirteen years, when a certain depressed angel–thing will tell him exactly that.
"Y–yes! Right away!"
"RIGHT AWAY WHAT?!"
"Right away, SIR!"
Now, there will be a moment of silence. He will shiver, and First Puppet will smirk in reply.
"That is our introduction – this next passage you will be sure to see tomorrow. In fact, you have been written into the prediction here; a cameo, if you like. When this tableau unfolds before your eyes tomorrow, you will know we are telling the truth – we will describe the order of events in great detail, so it will be unable to be simple coincidence…"
SCENE ONE
Ryuuzaki shall be walking down the aisle of an enormous helicopter, with Zorc right behind. The boy will be looking about him in awe – through the windows, it is obvious that there are nine of the things in total, rising off the ground on huge helicopter pads, set in a v–shaped formation – they are in the one right in the centre. They have arrived early – all of the vehicles are to be clearly empty.
"Kazan MI–38. Seats thirty (2)", Ryuuzaki will mutter to himself, absorbing every detail he can about the craft.
"Alright, I'll leave you here. I've gotta hunt down another twenty nine of these little buggers."
Without replying, the teen will now sit in the front passenger seat, and close his eyes, waiting until Zorc has melted away into a wisp of smoke before he will speak thus:
"Wow. Just… wow."
"Coooool!"
The new voice's owner cannot be seen yet, but Ryuuzaki will now snap his eyes open, with a dramatic moan of "Oh Raaaaa, not YOU!"
"What the– Ryuuzaki? Oh, maaaaan! Of all the people..." Rolling his eyes, the newcomer will walk down the aisle with Horakhty/Harry as his guide – tatty green jacket with a black bug crudely stencilled on the back, yellow glasses that clash with his bluey–green hair, and khaki shorts that utterly fail to hide his filthy knees – spots of black against the pale whiteness of his skin. Ryuuzaki shall automatically recoil, attempting to keep the boy from sitting next to him – but the student will simply brush his hand away, sitting down with a vicious smile. Ryuuzaki will glare in unbridled anger at the newcomer, slapping his palm atop the other's;
"Haga! I knew it!"
With a yawn, Haga will simply put his other hand on top of Ryuuzaki's. "Chill. I'm not going to bite."
"Chill? CHILL?!"
Horakhty/Harry will go to sulk outside the craft: "Oh, yes. Everyone cares about each other. And no–one cares about me. Go on, care about each other... don't worry about me or anything..."
The two teens will now begin to talk loudly over the top of Horakhty/Harry's grumblings, and it will be clearly obvious to us that they do not like each other. The specific dialogue passage is lengthy, so we will abbreviate: Ryuuzaki will allude frequently to Haga's losses and shortcomings, whilst repeatedly promoting himself as the son of an unnamed card–game playing expert – he inherited his cards from his father, after all. Haga will initially begin by showing an obvious fear of being compared to Ryuuzaki, but quickly realize that Ryuuzaki is at heart a goof, whose sense of honour and dedication can be used to lead him around with ease. After perhaps a minute of discussion, Haga will have managed to coax Ryuuzaki into teaching the other boy more about cards, promising to help Ryuuzaki with academic homework in return. However, while Ryuuzaki will be honest in his side of the deal, Haga will be secretly planning to double cross Ryuuzaki, though his thoughts will not immediately mention how.
The First Puppet will sneer at him, and we will share its laugh. "Isn't it funny," it will say, without a shred of that trademark compassion it once had, that which we used to trap it with, "that you too manipulated others?"
He will bristle at this comparison; "I will not let it take any more lives."
"Let us hope you win this bet, in that case..."
As soon as they shake hands, exactly eighteen teens will come tumbling onto the helicopter, bundled in by Zorc. After a pause, these nineteen shall quietly find their seats, chatting silently in the background. A minute later, the rumble of an engine will be heard high above them, getting lower and louder – and soon, a tall, thin Egyptian riding a collapsible scooter flies past the craft, waving to the kids as he drives. Landing at the nose of the helicopter, he will then board the vehicle, noting Ryuuzaki and Haga with interest.
Suddenly, screams and arguing will be audible from somewhere outside, and all the students will move to the left side of the craft out of curiosity. They shall point at a cloud of dust rapidly approaching the plane – a sign of some sort of a struggle going on outside.
The demon will then cut this off by yelling "GED'AWAY FROM SHEH WINDOW'SCH, YA KOOKS!" – and the kids will frantically race back to their seats, sitting in a deathly silence. Horakhty/Harry will then enter, guiding another six down the aisle – all are arguing. These six, added to the two non–humans, the driver, and the twenty–one passengers already on the helicopter, make for a grand total of thirty, which means that all seats will now be full.
"Now, watch and listen carefully," the First Puppet will say, "for this is what you will see tomorrow morning. These exact same six, these exact same events – this will convince you that we speak the truth."
The first two of the extra six – EsperRoba, a teen with green hair and pink jumper, and Kokurano, a shorter boy dressed in a gypsy fortune teller's outfit (completed by a metal headband with pentagram emblazoned on it) – will be arguing furiously about the meaning of 'psychic'. Esper will believe it to be ESP, while Kokurano shall argue it to be prophetic:
"I TOLD you, ESP is psychic! I'm a psychic!"
"No way! That is only a method of prediction – a TRUE psychic knows the future! And I am a true psychic!"
"Oh yeah? Well, what's going to happen in the next six seconds?"
"I predict that you will be hit by something fast–moving!"
Kokurano will attempt to punch Esper a moment later – but the smaller boy, accustomed to such bullying, will simply duck; then turn and bury his face into one of the seats with a scream of "MUMMMMYYYYY!". Kokurano will naturally pursue him without hesitation, and soon the two will be kicking and thrashing around in the seats.
You will now be able to see the next pair – a sulking Mokuba, standing back-to-back with a sulking Bones. The only real difference between them will be in their clothes and hair: Mokuba's clothes are clean, Bones's ragged and dirty; and while Mokuba's black hair is long enough to conceal much of his body, Bones's is of medium length, sticking up in spikes around his head.
After a few seconds of their refusal to move, Zorc will growl and poke them from behind, trying to make them sit in two seats next to each other – as soon as this happens, they will both begin to scream and yell, occasionally complaining about each other's screaming in between. Eventually, Bones will turn around and thump Mokuba – just as Mokuba does likewise. They both collapse, and Horakhty/Harry will hoist the stunned boys into their seats. "No–one ever helps me! All this power and command, put to waste! All I have, gon– oh."
S/he will stop this rant as soon as – unlikely as this may sound –Zorc picks up Bones with a slight smile, helping Horakhty/Harry to move the boys into their places. The two will then stare at each other in awkward silence – but after a few long seconds, something will seem to pass between them – and they shall walk down the aisle, sitting at the very back of the helicopter and murmuring quietly to one another.
This action will reveal the final pair: Hanasaki (a blonde haired midget with glasses, currently dressed in a badly–fitting superhero outfit that bears some resemblance to the monster 'Summoned Skull'), and Imori (a stooped teen with a mop of stringy red hair, wild eyes, and a stack of cards in his hands). They will talk calmly to each other, and their improvised conversation will clearly reveal that both have been bullied at their schools, Imori saying that he harnessed the 'Power of Darkness' to ward off the bad guys. As soon as Hanasaki exclaims in reply that he becomes 'Zombyra the Dark' at night, Imori will challenge him to a game of cards to see who is darker. Everyone will then watch in interest, as the two sit down in the middle of the aisle and start playing – when enough suites have been collected, dragons will come out of the cards.
Mokuba, who has come to, will sneer; "Pathetic! The Blue – Eyes could stomp that insect in a heartbeat!"
Ryuuzaki will bristle in reply; "Well, the Red–Eyes could stomp your Blue Eyes just as easily!"
"One does not simply 'stomp' a Blue–Eyes!"
"OH YEAH?"
"OH YEAH!"
This shall escalate into an all–out improvised shouting match between the two, until Imori finally intervenes:
"How many times do I have to say it: THERE IS NO BLUE–EYES WHITE DRAGON OR RED–EYES BLACK DRAGON IN THIS GAME!"
Stunned looks from Ryuuzaki and Mokuba quickly turn accusing, and they will both declare after a pause; "...WHAT?!"
Loud engine noises will then be heard, and the cabin will begin to shake – the helicopter is taking off. Cards go in all directions, Hanasaki and Imori stagger into the last pair of empty seats, and a news report will blare out of the helicopter's radio: "China is experiencing horrible weather, this likes of which has never been seen before..." (3)
Fortunately for all concerned, the flight will pass relatively quietly (they are in Japan, after all) – the troublemakers will all have been either knocked out (as in Kokurano's case) or too intimidated by Zorc's presence to try anything (as in Mokuba's case).
And the Second Puppet will smile, declaring;
"We will show you now, how it ends if not stopped. The full tale is in six scenes – here are just the final two. The beginning of Scene Five is excruciatingly dull, so we will cut directly to the chase..."
The First Puppet will tilt its pale head to one side once again – an old habit of its previous soul. The grin, however, will be absolutely demonic. "Yes. This is what you must stop."
SCENE FIVE
"I HATE YOU, RYUUZAKI!",Haga will squeal, and Ryuuzaki shall jump back in shock. Tears will be streaming from Haga's eyes, but he will simply brush them away, voice becoming hard. "I hate everything about you – the way you walk, your beanie, your height, everything!" He will now take several deep breaths, before continuing: "I couldn't stand being in the same room with you if I tried! The only reason I put up with you was because I wanted to use you!" He will look up, brandishing Ryuuzaki's failed quiz in the other boy's face. "I gave you all the wrong answers, Ryuuzaki. Deliberately."
Ryuuzaki shall stand still a moment, eyes watering – we will be able to see the disbelief in his frame, in those swallowed sobs. And in his thoughts – Haga really said it, he said it!
Then, he will turn, and run.
Haga will not follow.
He will be stunned, eyes wide – and we will see the first flickers of determination begin to rise in his mind. Those first flickers of defensive righteousness, that desire to take that chance and make everything right, because this is wrong, wrong, WRONG–
The First Puppet will calmly ignore these feelings, continuing instead: "And again, the beginning of Scene Six is... you will not consider it important. It is nothing but talk, after all..."
SCENE SIX
With a howl, Ryuuzaki will force the thin, golden object through his lower torso, then collapse onto the floor. Blood will spurt from the major artery he has managed to impale, and he shall allow himself one last, sick, smile before he goes, saying in a whisper:
"Seppuku..."
He will be dead before help can reach him. There will be a pattering of footsteps on the stair, and–
The Second Puppet will nod curtly as soon as the First Puppet has finished. "That is the end." It will pause, then go on – thoughtfully, as though it could actually think for itself.
"Does it sound familiar, Blaaaarghh? How you manipulated the others, how you've always double crossed and cheated? Made false friends, thought the world your pawn? It should – you were chosen for a reason, Blaaaarghh. We know that you will agree with us in the end."
If only he knew that he would be unable to disagree with us by the end, but he will not. Instead, the First Puppet will simply say; "Yes... If you cannot prevent this future, then for you, there will be no escape at all."
If only he knew that it was all a cruel trick, a trap to break him; again, he will not. Instead, hewill lift his head from the table, a fiery mixture of rage and loss and determination now burning fully in those eyes.
"I will not fail."
"You have one day", the Puppets will say in unison.
"I know."
If only he knew.
And this is how we will address the marionette. We will not reveal those scenes he plays a part in; we will cut Scenes Five and Six, have them suit our desires.
Let him think he can change the future; for that in truth will be the catalyst.
OMITTED: SCENE TWO
Having arrived by Catapult Turtle Capsule at the entrance of the Great Castle of Illusions (mostly – Marik will have ridden his flying scooter alongside the capsule as it is fired off the back of the beast), the group will dawdle. Kokurano and Esper will begin fighting again, both becoming increasingly upset and enamoured with each other – their disputes and arguments shall be more fiery and impassioned than those of Ryuuzaki and Haga. Standing some distance away from the younger students, Marik will watch in worry, looking more than a little confused when suddenly Esper is waaaay too close to Kokurano, who will suddenly grin like a shark and pull the other boy down by the collar. In one brief second, the relationship will have completely inverted – the fact of the matter is, only those two in the whole world can argue just like that, and they will have both reached that conclusion at exactly the same time. (4)
And it will seem that Marik will have reached that same conclusion – for while the others smile sheepishly and back away, the Egyptian will simply stand and watch, looking from the two on the floor to Ryuuzaki and Haga, and back again, a slow smile spreading across his face. He will now see the way to win his bet; or at least he will think he does.
Only when he has seen enough, when that idea has gained enough momentum to convince himself that he is correct, will he turn away from the scene."Wait out here. Your names will be called soon – it's for the Choosing of the Houses. I'm a Prefect, so..."
He strides away, leaving the group with only Zorc and Harry/Horakhty for company.
And their names will be called shortly, the House Prefects lining the long walk down the corridor – Rishid of Giffyball, Ushio of Slipperfin, Kaiba of Crazylore, and Marik of Wuffletuft. Eventually, it will be Haga and Ryuuzaki's turn (due to somewhat strange school protocol, the Choosing of the Houses is always run in pairs). They will walk down the corridor (silently praying that Esper and Kokurano before them won't do anything too embarrassing) – and straight into Marik's leg. As we watch in glee, the Egyptian will whirl on him. "Hey, watch where you're goi–"
And he will stop, his eyes widening – we will observe that he realizes who Ryuuzaki and Haga are, and for some strange reason he already knows something about them. Then, he will race away down the corridor, running into a huge hall with the other two in tow. He will motion for them to stop, before charging over to Pegasus, whispering frantically in the silver–haired man's ear. The principal will frown a moment, but the tanned teen will only plead more desperately... and at last, the elderly man will nod. Marik will then beam and beckon for the two boys, even as the Principal announces to the school:
"Ryuuzaki and Haga... WUFFLETUFT!"
With a smile, Pegasus will press a golden beetle into Haga's hand, and a golden label onto Ryuuzaki's beanie. "These have special powers – you will be trained to fight the evil Monsters with these. You be careful with them."
"Monsters?" Haga will tilt his head in curiosity, and Ryuuzaki will shiver in fear, echoing his word:
"M–monsters?"
"Yes, Monsters. There are many different kinds out in the world, tainting it with their evil. Our job is to eliminate or convert enough Monsters every year, in order to keep a balance between good and bad." Pegasus will then hand Ryuuzaki and Haga a thick textbook each. "That's the list."
Haga will blink. "So, uh... What do these gold thingies do?"
"Besides the usual, you mean... Well, the Millennium Beetle gets lost. And stomped on." Pegasus looks at Ryuuzaki with a warm, totally faked smile. "And the Millennium Beanie Label lets you see what other Millennium Beanie Labels can see. But there's only one, so– " He cuts himself off, waving one hand airily; "Anyway. Both those Items are your tickets to the magical art of Duelling! You can call forth your monsters now, perform Spells and Traps – we will have to teach you how to do those things, there are drawbacks to using those – and you'll be out in the world before you know it, knocking those monsters for six! Right, boys?"
They will nod dumbly, taken aback a little by the man's ridiculous enthusiasm. Taking their shoulder, Marik will then lead the duo over to the Wuffletuft table, hand them a few more textbooks, then chatter anxiously at them. Despite their best efforts to sneak away, the Egyptian will have an almost magnetic attraction towards them – he will swoop near-immediately, dragging them back to the table time and time again. There simply will be no way for him to be avoided.
And with that, there will now be no way for that final fate to be avoided.
OMITTED: SCENE THREE
As the Wuffletuft House Prefect, Marik will have enormous power – and all through that day, he will abuse it to make sure that Ryuuzaki and Haga are in all the same classes, always sitting next to each other in every seating plan. He will drop hints that one actually likes the other, and will immediately tell them off if they fight each other. Sometimes, he will even makes them say things against their own will; things they repeat robotically, with glazed looks that in Marik's sick mind equate to lusty stares.
He will seem to be almost desperate for Ryuuzaki and Haga to fall in love – things will come to a head when Marik puts alcohol in Ryuuzaki's drink at dinner time. Drunk and swaying, Ryuuzaki will yell out that he loves Haga, and the other boy will be furious.
OMITTED: SCENE FOUR
And so it will go – Haga will stand with a snarl, leading Ryuuzaki outside the hall. Marik will immediately trail after them, and Haga will whirl and confront the Egyptian in a rage, while Ryuuzaki will sit soberly in a corner.
"I don't know what you're thinking, but I hate Ryuuzaki's guts!"
Marik will step back, his face the very picture of horror. Haga will then go on a huge rant, backing the surprised Egyptian up against the wall.
"I hate that goddamn duelist! It's always 'Ryuuzaki and Haga'; I can't get away with just being myself! He's always overshadowing me – if I've done something, he's done it before I have! And that's way I hate Ryuuzaki, Marik – we could never get along! I don't care what you think, but I'll always backstab that guy! ALWAYS! I mean, look!"He will pull out a piece of paper, waving it angrily. "This is Ryuuzaki's quiz. Read it and weep – he got zero out of twenty today. Why? Because I gave him all the wrong answers!"
Turning on his heel, Haga will then stalk out, Ryuuzaki running after him with a slight dampness around his eyes.
DOCTORED: SCENE FIVE
Now the duo will be alone in the common room. Haga will sigh, looking at Ryuuzaki's failed quiz. "Dude... I lied to Marik, just to get him off our backs."
"Wh–what about the quiz?"
"Well, erm..."
"Liar!"
"I–"
"No! Admit it! You hate me! You hate everything about me! You want to see me fail!"
"I don't want t–"
"SAY IT!"
Haga pauses a long moment, and we will see him wondering if perhaps his admittance will cure Ryuuzaki's bad mood. Not admitting is only making things worse , after all, so perhaps...
"I HATE YOU, RYUUZAKI!",Haga will squeal, and Ryuuzaki shall jump back in shock. Tears stream from Haga's eyes, but he will simply brush them away, voice becoming hard. "I-I hate everything about you – the way you walk, your beanie, your height, everything!" He will now take several deep breaths, before continuing: "I couldn't stand being in the same room with you if I tried! The only reason I put up with you was because I wanted to use you!" He will look up, brandishing Ryuuzaki's failed quiz in the other boy's face. "I gave you all the wrong answers, Ryuuzaki. Deliberately."
Ryuuzaki shall stand still a moment, eyes watering – we will be able to see the disbelief in his frame, in those swallowed sobs. And in his thoughts – Haga really said it, he said it!
Then, he will turn, and run.
Haga will not follow.
Eavesdropping outside the door, Marik will gulp in fear; then he will quietly tail Ryuuzaki up the stairs to his bedroom...
DOCTORED: SCENE SIX
Marik will kneel next to Ryuuzaki in Ryuuzaki and Haga's shared bedroom, his normally tanned face deathly pale. "I–I heard you fighting. But... it's not too late. If you just love him–"
"Huh! You mad or something? I'd rather di–"
"NO!" There will be a crazed glint in Marik's eye, as he raises his arms to the ceiling. "I won't let you die!" And that will be the moment he calls on us, the Millennium Rod raised high over his head – and we will obey him, before we overrun and take him utterly.
In panic, Ryuuzaki will dart towards the window – but our might will easily pull him back. And then we will be out of control, strangling, suffocating, more and more until–
Suddenly, Marik will gasp in realization, and through sheer force of will rip us away from our victim. The golden Millennium Rod will clatter to the ground, and the shadows will fade from around the other boy. "I–I'm so sorry. Are you oka–"
But the darkness will already have done its work on that weak and pitiful mind – Ryuuzaki will have been driven mad by the mental pain it shall have already inflicted on him. Every part of his body will scream to be put to rest, a final rest, and unable to handle the urge–
With a howl, the dinosaur duelist will force the thin, golden object through his lower torso, then collapse onto the floor. Blood will spurt from the major artery he has managed to impale, and he shall allow himself one last, sick, smile before he goes, saying in a whisper:
"Seppuku..." (5)
He will be dead before help can reach him. There will be a pattering of footsteps on the stair, and Haga will enter, snarling in shock when he sees what has happened.
"No... no..."
Marik will be immobilized in shock, and unable to answer. With a jerk, Haga will pull out the Rod, then force the handle into his rival's stomach. Then, howling in pain and anguish, he will throw himself face first on top of Ryuuzaki, locking lips with him as the teen is impaled.
And Marik – our star performer – will stand, staring blankly into the distance. His soul will have been at last torn apart by grief and a raging hate for us. He will know now that this was all his fault, that he caused this fate by trying to prevent it, that really he was just being used all along...
And so, he shall become the Third Puppet.
Standing with the First and the Second
losing his mind
until he is it
and it is Yami
and Yami like the other two are.
it will join Yami: Bakura (6) and Yami: Yugi
as Yami: Marik
and howl.
And we shall
watch the forming of the Third Puppet
hear the cry of the Third Puppet
feel the breath of the Third Puppet
and laugh.
-:-
Let the rise of the Third Puppet
Begin
1. Yami and Bakura's eyes on the manga covers have been multiple different colours (as have been other character's eyes – Joey even got blue eyes on one cover, XDD). Fun little detail, putting them all in there – yes, Yami has been shown with blue and green eyes before. Just another of my little Easter – Eggs – That – Are – Outside – Easter.
2. Real Kazan MI–38s do indeed seat thirty people, a pretty ridiculous number of people for a helicopter.
3. Kudos if you recognized Imori, Kokurano, and Hanasaki – they are all characters in the original Yugioh manga. The radio announcement following Imori's Dragon Cards game is a sly nod to canon Imori's Dragon Cards game, which if not played to the end would cause great destruction in China, and if played to the end would take the loser's soul (the soul was actually eaten by the jar, too). Kokurano, much like Esper, is another narcissist, and fake fortune predictor to boot – but unlike Esper, he will actually go around and make his predictions come true. In canon, this included chloroforming Anzu, setting fire to a random's house, and attempting to crush Yugi under a bookshelf. Esper only relied on his brothers to predict his opponent's cards – Kokurano is pretty much a souped up Esper, who believes in himself to the point of insanity. Lastly, Hanasaki is obsessed with becoming Zombrya the Dark, to the point where he actively goes running around the city in the middle of the night in the canon, trying to beat people up (his father then pays for thugs to fake injuries when he tries to hit them).
4. There needs to be moar Kokurano ships – he is pretty much about to rape Anzu in the manga canon just before Yami shows up, so shipping for him is slightly more possible than, say, a Yami Marik pairing – and yet there are absolutely no ships on a ship list that includes the glorious Yuumeishipping (Yugi X Marik X Ryou X Yami Yugi X Yami Marik X Yami Bakura) and multiple Bones ships!
There is, in fact, not even one Kokurano – oriented fic in the entirety of the YGO section of FFDotNet. This is clearly a serious problem which must be corrected – so without further ado, and blatantly ignoring the strange looks I'll get for doing this, I give you Esper X Kokurano, a ship with the rather tentative name of Psychicshipping – or Phoneyshipping, that'd be a lil' more specific.
And there you have it: The first ever Kokurano ship.
5.Seppuku: The 'correct' term for what is known to other cultures as 'hari–kiri' – Japanese ritual suicide, traditionally performed by a general throwing himself on his own sword, slitting his stomach.
6. The character many fanfics refer to as 'Ryou' or 'Ryo' is known as 'Bakura' for most of the manga, with the dark side being 'Yami Bakura'. So, Yami: Bakura means that Yami took over Ryou.
In addition, many fanfics also refer to Yami Yugi as 'Yami' – I want to point out that all that word means is 'Dark', so that's why the dark is called 'Yami'. Yami Yugi in this fic is Yami: Yugi, which is kind of sort of not really the same thing.
UAB
Um. Um. Um.
I don't even know what to say about this. I mean, there's Zorc X Horakhty and Esper X Kokurano in the background, there's Marik X Haga X Rex (does that thing even have a name?), there's a double suicide, accidental Nazi references, and so many Easter – Eggs – That – Are – Outside – Easter, it's not even funny. It takes the idea of 'canon references' to what I would consider an extreme, it butchers at least two and at most five characters, it's stupid and scary at the same time, it's... just...
Insanity.
To be precise, it's insanity in seven thousand, two hundred and ninety-one words.