1
"Thank you for coming here today, all of you," the host announced, spreading his arms, as if to give all of the guests a hug.
The guests were a select group of villains, ready to steal at any moment. All of them had been known as or worked for someone horrible. These people were here to play a game, to have fun. Of course, it would be hard to have fun if you were a thief.
At the far left end of the table sat Marik Ishtar. The teenager had tried to steal three Duel Monsters cards known as the Egyptian God cards. They would've made him Pharaoh, had he obtained them all. He was defeated by a child known as Yugi Muto.
On his right was a girl in a purple hoodie. Her face was covered by her hood, so no one at the table (excepting Marik) knew what she looked like underneath. This girl was one of Marik's Rare Hunters, the group that had helped Marik attempt to steal the Egyptian God cards. She had her hands shaped in a triangle around her Millennium Ring.
The spirit of the Millennium Ring, Thief King Bakura, was behind her. He leaned over and planted a kiss on her cheek before going back up. Back in ancient Egypt, the teenage Thief King had attempted to take over Egypt, and the Pharaoh with it, because to create the Millennium Items (the Millennium Ring was part of this small set of seven) his village was destroyed.
Next to him and the girl was another teenager (because teens can't seem to resist villainy), Seto Kaiba. This rich kid had done many horrible things to the abovementioned Yugi Muto, earning him a spot in the villain's league.
Then, there was the host of the game, of the event that would take place tonight. He was Dartz, the King of Atlantis almost 10,000 years ago. Everyone agreed that he wasn't he type to hold a game like this, but he did so often.
These five villains gathered to these games because they were gathering for the prize: a Duel Monsters card, and a rare one, too. All five of these villains were Duel Monsters players, and all of them hoped to own all of the Egyptian God cards.
To be candid, it seemed that none of them knew what they were playing; they just wanted the card, whatever it was. Those two words -rare card- meant everything to those five.
The Rare Hunter girl seemed to be muttering an incantation, now, in a nonsense language. Marik looked at her like she had lost her mind. Still, if he had any harsh words to say, he had quickly swallowed them.
Keep your mind on the game, Ishtar, he kept telling himself.
Bakura leaned in to give the girl another kiss, then walked over to Marik. He whispered something into Marik's ear, and Marik whispered something back. They were having an entire conversation in whisper, seemingly so that no one knew what they were talking about.
Kaiba kept quiet, and did nothing. He felt awful, himself, now being a villain. What had he done? Dartz wouldn't have invited him here if he hadn't done anything horrible, and he must've done something. But what? It was stressful, the idea.
Dartz looked out at his four guests. Unbeknownst to them, he actually had no idea what the card was, itself. He never seemed to be able to win these games; he only got the prize once, out of almost 250 games that he had held. One time out of five games a week, approximately 12 or 13 games a month, 20 months -over a year- of trying.
The Rare Hunter girl seemed to be getting impatient. She was muttering her incantation faster, and somewhat louder. Even Kaiba, who was staring off in deep space with his thoughts, turned his head to glance for a few seconds, before returned to staring up at the ceiling.
Bakura tapped on the Rare Hunter girl's shoulder. She brought her hands down, and stopped her muttering. Bakura whispered something into her ear, and she stood up to move. Her hands were back around her Ring, and she was muttering her incantation once again. Kaiba really didn't seem to care that she was next to him, as he was lost in thought. Bakura sat in the girl's original chair, next to Marik.
Dartz smiled. It seemed that his guests were getting impatient, for whatever the reason may have been. He was most fascinated by the Rare Hunter girl, muttering her incantations, possibly praying to the gods that she would win this game, and the prize with it. She had the Millennium Ring, which made Dartz sceptical, as a teenage boy was supposed to own the Millennium Ring, not this girl.
Kaiba was no longer staring into deep space, rather, he was staring at Marik. Back when Marik was stealing Egyptian God cards, he was a main target. Marik's older sister, Ishizu, had given Kaiba the Obelisk the Tormentor card: an Egyptian God card. Yugi Muto had another: Slifer the Sky Dragon, but Kaiba was more important at this point, considering he was attending this game, not Yugi.
Marik was looking at Bakura with a look that would make anyone suspicious of foul play. Bakura was looking at him that same way, except he had a clear grin on his face. The scar under his eye made the dead-point look he was giving Marik even more sinister than it already was. Marik truly had nothing to add on to the stare he was giving Bakura, his lavender eyes just made the look less sinister.
The Rare Hunter girl was still muttering her nonsense, her hands forming that triangle shape around the Ring. She didn't seem to be looking at the ground, as she had before, but, rather, up at Dartz. She felt a sinister, dark energy coming from him, making her feel that she needed to be on her guard tonight, more than she had to before.
Dartz stared up at the clock. It was just around 10:00pm. He threw a card in front of everybody, including himself, leaving one face-down, off to the side. He lifted the card in front of him, as did everyone else. The backs of the cards were swirls of brown and gold, with a picture of the Millennium Puzzle (Yugi Muto's Millennium Item) dead in the center.
"The game begins now," Dartz annouced, smiling. He had put a sinister grin on every player's face, now, as they were all competing for the prize.