*blows dust off computer* Oh, I have this thing, huh? =w=
It's been a while since I've updated! However, I was reading through this chapter's original bit, and I was thinking it sucked.
BAD.
So, I've decided to rewrite this thing! Time to get some use out of my summer, since I'm halfway through, right? (Note: Coming back later after summer is over, I realize now that I'm kind of a jerk for keeping people thinking I'd died for so long. 0w0)
Alright, just so I don't kill anyone with my long boring rants and stuff, I present to you, the revised and edited version of Chapter 1!
*jazz hands*
Obligatory Disclaimer: Despite all the fanfiction I have yet to own YuGiOh. Make no mistake, though, IT WILL BE MINE!...Just as soon as I finish my anime…
Side note: This is sort of my version of a fanfic known as The YuGiOh Project. If you haven't read it yet, go and read it while your mom hasn't caught you reading this under your covers on your iPod Touch yet!
Yugi Moto, a short high school boy with gravity-defying starfish-like tricolored hair sat on his bed in his usual school uniform, thumbing through an unusual deck of cards used for a game called Duel Monsters. Naturally the cards weren't unusual in Yugi's day and age, but that didn't mean there was no such thing as 'unusual' at all.
At the sound of a door opening, the young boy looked up in a start. He paused a moment, then decided it was just his imagination. His mind slowly began to ease back into a hypnotized state of calmly glancing over trading cards until…
CRASH!
SMACK!
BOOM!
Silence.
Trembling, Yugi slowly set his cards down on his bed and stood up. His grandpa had been out for the week on an old archaeological reunion trip, and the spirit of the puzzle that hung on a chain around the boy's neck didn't even have his own body. So who was downstairs?
When people get scared, their brains tend to numb out all possible sense of logic. Yugi, scared out of his wits, decided it would be best to take some sort of defense with him in case there was a robber downstairs. Glancing around the room, he snatched up his math book before creeping out into the hallway.
Yugi tip-toed down the stairs, praying the intruder wasn't armed. He readied the book, preparing to swing, as he peeked around the room he was in. He let out a sigh when no one was there.
THWIP.
Without any knowledge of the sharp twinge in his neck, Yugi Moto fainted.
Seto Kaiba sat at his personal computer in his office, wearing his usual scowl and mentally listing the things he owned. Since he was the CEO of Kaiba Corp, he had to keep track of these sorts of things, including his ego. He typed away at his computer, adding up the money he was making while Mokuba was on the couch, quietly reading one of his favorite childhood books, Thomas the Dragon.
Kaiba sipped a mug of coffee, waiting in silence for 3:00 to come. At three o'clock, he would get his last paycheck of the week from Pegasus, he would get to go to lunch at a fancy restaurant with his brother, and he could actually, finally, get a break. The clock read 2:55. It was just five minutes away…
BWEEOOBWEEOOBWEEOOBWEEOO!
"OH, COME ON!" Kaiba slammed his fists angrily on the desk as Mokuba nearly fell off the couch he was laying on. The intruder alarm just had to ring. HAD to ring now of all times! The thief wasn't going to get very far if Kaiba could help it. They might not even make it out of the building.
The CEO angrily stormed out of his office. He would strangle the character if he had to. They did NOT just take away time from his precious and well-earned vacation!
Fwip.
"OH, FUUUU-" Kaiba fainted before he could finish the curse word.
Mokuba had heard his brother curse (rather loudly) and was now frantically searching for him. If Seto hadn't been able to finish his swear, then things must be bad.
"Seto! Seto! Are you okay?"
"Yeah Mokuba, I'm alright!" The boy heard off to his right, down a rather long hallway that took a sharp turn a few feet down. He took a few paces cautiously in the direction of the voice before he realized that something seemed off. For one, that voice was female.
"Wait a second…"
WHAM.
Mokuba Kaiba crumpled to the floor, with a rather large bump on his head that somewhat resembled a goose egg. The attacking party had no trouble in carefully removing the boy from the scene.
Tea was on fire.
Her feet hammered the arrows in time to the music as words flashed on the small screen. "Good!" "Great!" "Perfect!" She twisted and turned accordingly, wiping sweat from her forehead and taking deep breaths whenever she could. The song was nearly over! So far, so good. Her record had already been broken, and now she was shooting for a new high score of spectacular numbers. The blaring beats were mixed with the cheers of the crowd that had long since gathered nearby to watch the girl dance and Tristan and Joey's constant taunts to nearby dancers. Just a few more steps…
"HECK YEAH!" The teenager laughed along with her two friends and stuck a victorious pose, fists in the air, forming a star with her body. "Top of the world!" She grinned at her score; 900,000. She put her hands on her hips and sighed in an attempt to catch her breath.
"You're really good at that. Can I try?"
"Yeah, sure!" Tea wasn't sure who had asked the question, but it had been someone on her left. It didn't matter; the room was dark anyway. It could have been anyone.
"Thanks. But first, could you do me a favor?" As the audience cleared, Tea could make out a figure standing in the shadows.
"Sure. What can I do for ya?"
"Does this smell like chloroform to you?"
Tea didn't have time to answer before a rag was pressed to her face from behind. Her vision began to haze as a stink filled her nostrils, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Joey and Tristan tied together with a rope. Her mind began to fuzz and she knew she was going to faint. She managed to struggle out a few words before the collapse, just barely.
"Yeah…it does…"
Mai giggled to herself in a rather girly manor. The people in the shops these days were so easy to manipulate. All it took was a wink and she got a huge discount on all the latest trends. Sometimes she thought they were too easy, but then she reminded herself that there was no such thing. She hummed a tune to herself as she cat-walked along the streets. Where to next?
She put an arm over her forehead to block out the brightness of the street lamp and get a good look at the options she had. The nightclub didn't open until about eight…what time was it now? She stole a quick glance at a nearby clock. Seven-thirty. She had half an hour to kill. Should she visit the food court, hit up another shop, or…there were too many options!
On a whim, Mai decided to pop into her usual ice cream shop with the east-to-sway servers. The little bell tinkled as she pushed open the door and was greeted by the murmur of evening conversation-gossip here, rumors there-and the smell of the ever-churning dairy treat that she would be consuming in no more than five minutes, judging by the lack of a line. She began to map out a battle plan.
Okay. Walk in casually and act like it's just another visit. Hit up the worker, and use whatever strategy you need to use to get him to lower the price to at most two dollars. Leave with a wink and a see-ya-later and give 'em a catwalk on the way out. Easy.
She opened her mouth to order when a high-pitched, preppy voice cut her off.
"Hello ma'am! May I take your order? What flavor would you like?"
Wait a second. This wasn't the usual guy! This was-
"-a teenage girl?" Mai muttered to herself in shock. How on Earth would she sway this chic? It wasn't like she was going to…
"Hey, are you Mai Valentine?" The girl asked with a smile.
"Uh…yeah! Yeah, that's me." Mai still didn't know what to say. She wasn't used to not knowing how to socialize. Normally she only had to talk to men in the stores!
"Oh! Good! Brian said you'd want this. He said to give it to you, free of charge!" The girl set on the counter a vanilla ice cream cone; Mai's personal favorite.
"Free…of…charge?" Mai was starting to think she had eaten a really lucky fortune cookie that morning.
"Yep! All yours!" This was too easy! Mai grinned and gladly took the cone. She still had time to waste and at that point was feeling fairly lucky, so she decided to take a seat at one of the small, round tables they had set up along the walls of the petit shop.
She took a long, drawn-out lick of the cold, creamy substance and gazed out the window at the darkening streets. Hm…something tasted different…she yawned and shrugged, taking another lick. No…it was probably just her imagination. Another yawn came, bigger this time, and more drawn-out. Maybe she'd had a long day…yeah…she just needed to go home and take a nap. She tried standing up, but found her legs didn't seem to want to work, so she just sat down and snuggled up in the chair.
Mai looked down at her ice-cream, eyelids growing heavy. She thought she saw something on the cone. Was that…powder? Ah…who cared? The plush cushion on the small chair seemed to be so much cozier now…She slowly drifted off to sleep, not minding the counter girl who walked by Mai's table.
SOMEWHERE IN EGYPT…
"I don't get it Bakura! It's like everyone but you just decided not to show up or something!" Marik whined to his friend, pacing the stone room. Bakura sat slumped in his chair, chin resting on the large stone slab they used for a table at Marik's infamous "Evil Council" meetings.
"I'm not bloody surprised, Marik." Bakura grumbled, only to be ignored.
"I mean, that's just rude! That's not even evil! To sign up for my Council and then just stop coming to the meetings? What's their problem?"
"I know what mine is."
"Those guys better have a really good reason for not coming to my meeting or I will be EXTREMELY ANGRY!"
"Welcome to my world."
"And FURTHERMORE! …Wait a second, do you smell something?"
"The rotting scent of my tolerance as it slowly withers away?"
"No no, I mean other than that. It kinda smells like roses."
"You know, I think for once I can agree with you. Something definitely smells like roses."
"Weird. So as I was…sayagh….." Bakura looked over only to find that Marik had passed out against a wall.
"Oh…perfect…" Bakura grumbled, realizing that he, too, was about to faint. "Isn't this bloody fantastic."
Yugi awoke in total darkness. Wait, hadn't it just been sometime before noon? Had he gone blind? Was there something on his face? He couldn't feel anything. Something very weird was going on here.
"Ugh…Yugi…?"
"Pharaoh?" Okay, that made things worse than before. That voice wasn't in his head, and that meant… "How…do you have your own body?"
"Yugi!? Is that you? Where are you?"
"Tea! You're here too?"
"Nyeh…okay, someone is going to be hurt very badly for this and it better not be me!"
"Joey!"
"Tea? Nyeh, this isn't good. I'm stuck here with you."
"Thanks, friend. Glad to know you care."
"Don't even try, Tea. Men just don't get us ladies."
"Mai!?"
"That's my name. Don't wear it out."
"But…if you're here too…how many of us are here?" Yugi squeaked.
"MONEY! Ah…wha-?"
"Okay. Kaiba's here."
"No, really Wheeler? I didn't notice."
"Big brother!"
"And my life gets worse."
"Okay, okay, hang on. So far we've found me, Pharaoh, Tea, Mai, Joey, Kaiba, and Mokuba. Is there anyone else?"
"I AM NOT A KITTY!"
Yugi stared in the direction of the rather random outburst. "B-Bakura?"
"Oh great. I'm stuck in a dark room with my mortal enemies. As if my life wasn't bad enough."
"Oh be quiet Ba-ku-ra, at least YOU didn't hit your head on a stone slab as you fainted! Do you KNOW how much that hurts?"
"Okay…" Yugi tried again. "Me, Pharaoh, Tea, Joey, Mai, Kaiba, Mokuba, Marik, Bakura…there can't be many others, right?"
"TRISTAN'S HERE PEOPLE! YO' LIVES JUST GOT BETTER!"
"And apparently Tristan. That's everyone, right?"
"Ugh, this is totally not cool."
"Oh great. DUKE'S here too. Nyeh, why does life have it out for me!"
"Big brother!"
"Sis, ya sound like Mokuba!"
"OKAY! One last time! Me, Pharaoh, Tea, Joey, Mai, Kaiba, Mokuba, Marik, Bakura, Tristan, Duke, and Serenity. PLEASE tell me that's everybody!"
"Erm, Yugi, I'm here too."
"I'm not even going to bother repeating all that. Let's just say that Ryou's here too."
"Yes, that's very clever little Yugi. You've all been gathered here for a very specific reason in which I will now explain to you in painstaking and unnecessary detail." The voice of a young girl filled the room as a small circle of dim light appeared, providing enough visual to show exactly that: A young girl.
She was fairly short; she had to be only a few inches taller than Yugi, with golden-blonde hair that fell in a wavy pattern to her upper back. Her eyes were a blueish-green color, and the whole getup looked somewhat familiar. Not just her looks; but the entire setup. Kidnapped, only a select few, mysterious blonde girl…where had Yugi seen this before? The girl wore a black cloak from the neck down, reminding the boy somewhat of Marik's old minions. But if Marik was here…
"Who are you?" Yugi asked, his voice shakier than he planned.
"Ah, good question. Know your enemy. However, over the next month, I do not plan to be your enemy, but your…acquaintance. For you see, I am the one who brought you all here. You can call me Lizard, or Liz, if you wish. And over the next month you will be my- hey, wait a second, you aren't the Soul Eater cast!" Her mysterious air was replaced with a disappointed one as she surveyed the group she had put so much effort into kidnapping.
"You just now noticed this?" The Pharaoh cocked an eyebrow at the girl, genuinely curious about her mental status.
"I can't believe this! I must have mixed up my checklists! Aurgh, I did it again!" Lizard pulled a clipboard from under the cloak and glanced it over. "Oh, of course. I mixed up my "Already-Been-Done's and my To-Do's again! I hate it when I do that!" Only then did she seem to take full notice of the others in the room. Liz sighed and turned on heel with a swish of the cloak, walking out of the dim circle momentarily. The sound of a lazy smack was heard-like she had just slapped a wall. The room was flooded with light.
Yugi blinked for a moment, letting his eyes adjust to the brightness, before taking a quick glance around where he was. He was shocked to see he was actually in a rather normal-looking living room. It was huge, but other than that it had a basic sofa, a few other chairs, a loveseat, a coffeetable, fireplace, and…was that a chocolate fountain? He looked down and saw he'd been napping on normal carpet. Had that been there before?
"Make yourselves at home, peeps." Lizard, now fully visible, sighed from a doorframe that led down a hall. "If you'll excuse me," she rubbed her temples with her fingertips like someone who had a headache often would, "I have a lot of paperwork to do."
Sooo~? How waaaaaas it~? I kinda like this new version. Over 2,500 words? Yeah, I think I'll keep it. The worst thing that could happen right now is a monitor crash where it deletes the document, but that's why I'm posting straightaway. I'm so sorry about the hiatus; I went through a really bad writer's block thing and I just had NO IDEA what to do. But, I'm bursting with ideas now, so I can promise that it won't be NEARLY as long a wait for me to get the second chapter up. Anyway, it's past midnight right now, so I should be getting to bed!
You'll hear from me soon! Until then, ciao~!