Godzilla and Mothra Raid Again
Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters and all its characters and settings are the creation of Kazuki Takahashi and the property of Konami.
Warning: the following story contains sex and sex-adjacent activities, bloodshed and violence, the misgendering of a non-binary person who presents as androgynous, recreational drug use, and cursing. This chapter is heavy on the one-sided Fawnshipping (Weevil and Pegasus). It doesn't escalate, but you should take note of it before deciding to continue.
Just to get this out of the way, you will need to read Nothing but the Worm in You before reading this story. Some parts of this fic will only make sense if you have read NbtWiY beforehand. Also, consider this beginning the non-action chapter. Most of the elements in this story's tag list do not appear in this chapter, but believe me, events will escalate from here.
To one who calls herself Cee, for whom I am grateful every day. You light up my fandom life.
Chapter One: The Boys Enjoy the Calm Before the Storm
"No one's ever too old for pizza…or for card games. Wouldn't you agree?"
"Oh, um…yes, sir."
"Please, dear boy, don't call me 'sir.' I'm not elderly, you know, regardless of the silver hair."
Sitting up in his black velvet-backed chair, Weevil could scarcely believe his circumstances. His dream of winning the Duel Monsters championship had come true. Or, at least, he would have found this result unbelievable if he had not spent years practicing and honing his skills, all the while showing no mercy to his opponents. Pegasus never went soft either, and here he was, occasioning the only moment more joyous for Weevil than feeling the trophy in his hands: sitting across from him at a table for two in an Italian restaurant.
He supposed it was inappropriate, but Weevil's heart always beat faster whenever he saw Pegasus on television or in a magazine, and it had since the bug nerd was twelve years old. Once, Weevil had gone so far as to wrangle Pegasus's e-mail address out of a fellow duelist and send the American gentleman a series of typed letters gushing over his creativity and good looks. Those e-mails had included several statements and questions that made Weevil blush as much to write as they did to recall. His personal favorite was "If you could ask me to the junior high prom, would you?"
The experience of having dinner with Pegasus exceeded any school dance. The restaurant lights were down low, and candles lit up the space between the creator of Duel Monsters and his biggest fan. Quiet conversations from other tables produced a reassurance that no one would overhear whatever Pegasus and Weevil said to each other. Between the two of them sat a silver tray bearing a large pizza topped with green olives and feta cheese. The only difference between the man's side of the table and the boy's was the glass of wine beside the former's plate. "You are too young for wine," Pegasus had told him when their water came by to take their drink orders. As though sensing his worshiper's disappointment, Pegasus ordered him grape juice served in a wine glass. By the time the waiter gave them their pizza, Weevil's consciousness swam in a dreamy fog, which shrouded his mind more and more as the evening wore on. No one else in the whole world had ever been treated to dinner by the illustrious, brilliant, devastatingly handsome Maximillion J. Pegasus himself. Even without wine, the experience produced a spinning giddiness.
Mostly, Weevil stuffed his face and listened to Pegasus talk. Nothing Weevil could say would impress his idol, or so he thought. Worse, if he spoke, he knew he would start babbling his true feelings and thereby reveal who had sent those love letters two years ago.
"Before you start the Duelist Kingdom tournament, there are some new rules you should know."
Weevil swallowed his pizza. After washing it down with a swig of juice, he asked, "There are?" That didn't sound too stupid, did it?
"Of course, Weevil boy. You didn't think Duelist Kingdom would be the same as any other Duel Monsters tournament, did you?"
Oh, no, maybe I did sound stupid…
"For your purposes," Pegasus continued, "the most important new rule is the field power bonus."
"Can you tell me more about that?" There, that sounds smarter, right?
"Certainly." Pegasus took a bite of his own slice of pizza, chewed it slowly, and finally swallowed it.
He even eats pizza neatly…he's so elegant.
"Dueling in a certain environment," said Pegasus, "will increase certain monsters' attack points, depending on the monsters' type. You're a skilled technical duelist. I'm sure you'll figure out to use that power to its fullest extent in no time."
Pegasus complimented him! And he complimented Weevil in a way that gave him the edge over the competition! Maybe, just maybe—he could not let his thoughts travel down this path, but they already were.
"That's very sweet. But, despite what my detractors in the gossip magazines might tell you, I never take advantage of children."
What? I didn't say anything like that! How did Pegasus know where Weevil's thoughts had gone?
"You didn't think I knew exactly what was on your mind, Weevil boy? I saw the way you looked at me when you won the trophy. And it means nothing that you try to hide your attraction now: I can see it as plain as day. You're in the throes of an intense infatuation."
Weevil felt his face growing hot, much as it had when he first saw Pegasus in person but to a degree still greater. He looked down at the red velvet floor and the white tablecloth hem that barely brushed it. The bee was out of its hive. All he could do now was try to salvage some pride.
"Eh-excuse me, but I'm not a child. I'm fourteen."
Pegasus chuckled and then wiped his mouth with a white cloth napkin. "Be that as it may, I have no intention of using you as you desire. I do have isome limits, my boy. Just as you are too young for wine, you are too young for grown men. You have a certain zealous charm, yes…but that is better spent on someone your own age."
Just then, Pegasus stood up, walked behind his chair, and pushed it in.
"Pardon me for a few moments. I'll return soon. I hope you can bear my absence until then."
The creative mastermind left, and Weevil stared down at his cheese- and tomato sauce-smeared plate. Considering the fantasies that he had entertained before and during his personal meeting with Pegasus, some of which required chemically altered states as a pretext for the imaginary events that followed, he wondered if he was lucky that Pegasus had not let him drink wine after all. Evidently, Weevil gave away enough of his feelings when he was sober.
Then he noticed a little white book on the other side of the table. The item must have blended in with the tablecloth. Could this be Pegasus's index of dating contacts? If it was, then would Pegasus read Weevil's mind and jot down his phone number? Whatever it was, it set Weevil's larcenous impulses at edge. He slid off his chair, walked over to the notebook, and snatched it up.
In his own chair, Weevil opened the book. The title page read DUELIST KINGDOM RULEBOOK.
Ooh. Now this is where the action is.
He flipped through the pages, absorbing as much confidential information as he could in the span of a few minutes. Nervous giggles arose from his chest. This was something no one was supposed to do, and here he was, doing it. Anyone who did not take the chance to feel an illicit thrill was a sucker.
His moment of fun ended when he heard the dulcet tones of his dashing hero.
"I do believe that belongs to me. Kindly give it back."
"Oh…right!" Weevil looked over his shoulder and stiffly placed the rulebook in Pegasus's hand. The creator of Duel Monsters walked a few paces to the table's other side and took his seat.
"You needn't have done that. I was going to tell you more of the rules anyway."
"S-sorry, Mister Pegasus." He forced himself to look Pegasus in the eye and found that he was smiling. Weevil allowed himself a smile of his own, even if it looked like an insecure one.
Pegasus took another sip of wine. "Now, what else would you like to know about this tournament?"
"Everything!" There, that should get his mind off my "infatuation."
For the next couple of hours, Pegasus regaled Weevil with not only top-secret Duelist Kingdom rules but stories of his past. His tale of lifelong Funny Bunny fandom resonated with the boy, as did the recounting of the inspiration of various Duel Monsters cards. As the saying went, Pegasus could read a phone book out loud and make it sound fascinating, so it was all too soon when he glanced at his watch.
"Oh, dear, look at the time. It's almost midnight. We should get you home. Come with me."
When the waiter next stopped at their table, Pegasus paid the check and then walked Weevil out to the parking lot. Once the two of them sat down in the back seat and Weevil inhaled the scent of fresh black leather, Pegasus told the driver, "Take us back to my guest's home, if you please."
The car started rolling out of the lot, and Weevil would have looked at the sights of the city passing by if not for the breathtaking man beside him. The car's leather interior provided an addictive enough smell, but Pegasus smelled like wine, cologne, and pizza—something forbidden, something mature, and something comforting.
For the second time that night, Weevil's impulses got the better of him. Narrowing his eyes, he reached over and placed his hand on top of Pegasus's. Even if it only lasted a second or two, he wanted to feel his idol's skin against his.
The contact lasted more than a couple of seconds. In fact, Pegasus kept his hand beneath Weevil's until the car reached the Underwood residence, at which point Weevil knew that he was as red as a ladybug.
Pegasus looked at him then and said, "I know you enjoyed that, Weevil boy. But I must let you know: that was the most intimacy you will share with me."
Before he could stop himself, Weevil said, "It was? Awww…"
"It was an act of gratitude for me to let you indulge yourself. I hate to disappoint my loyal fans, and there are none more loyal than you. But again, I must tell you: you will meet with nothing but heartbreak if you chase after older men at your age. Play with the lads in your own age group, and save the major leagues for a few years later. Then you will reap the rewards that patience brings."
A second passed before Weevil understood what Pegasus implied.
"Wait, you think I'm…gay?"
The man laughed. "Oh, I don't just ithink so. You'll know yourself soon enough, but I won't be there to help you discover that. Why not see about that Raptor boy? He seems like the one for you."
After saying an awkward goodbye and thank-you, Weevil entered his house and watched Pegasus's car drive off into the night. He then realized that his host never asked about the e-mails.
But long before the events of that night, Weevil had discovered that Pegasus was correct in his reading of his most fervent fan's sexuality. Pegasus was an exception to the rules of his groupie's preferences in terms of age but not in terms of sex. At the age of twelve, when Weevil developed his first crush, it was indeed on Pegasus, but that seemed like an early aberration that would soon give way to socially normative feelings. When Weevil confessed to himself at age thirteen that it was boys and young men who activated his lust, he knew that he could not distract himself with his hobbies. He could, however, avoid admitting his sexuality to anyone else for as long as possible. Remaining closeted was a bad way to satisfy his libido, so every week, when he received his allowance, he bought yaoi doujinshi from an online retailer and waited for it to arrive in a brown paper bag for the next few days. His parents believed him when he said that he had started subscribing to an educational magazine about arthropods.
His attraction to Pegasus made his swift loss at Duelist Kingdom that much worse. He had let his hero down by losing to Yugi Muto. If only Weevil had collected the requisite ten star chips and made it to the duel against Pegasus, he would have demonstrated his ardent fire for this magnificent game as never before, and that gorgeous man would have fallen in love with him right there…and Pegasus had told Weevil, not Yugi, about the secret rules of Duelist Kingdom! Consciously, he knew that it was pointless to expect someone who had sworn that he did nothing sexual with minors to reward him physically for winning this special tournament, but the thought of what might have been haunted Weevil for a long time afterward. Only one other person entered Weevil's list of important people at around this time, and that was, in fact, Rex Raptor, who requested to spend the night in Weevil's suite after Mai Valentine ejected Rex from his…and when Rex walked into Weevil's room, he also walked into his heart, though it took them both a long time to admit it. For whatever reason—Rex claimed that he attributed it to inevitability, as though angels had insisted on it—they always found each other, no matter how much distance separated them. After a series of circumstances too incredible even for most tabloids to print, they eventually declared their love for one another officially and started to cohabit in the same apartment.
This night was a long time after Duelist Kingdom, and Pegasus had divined the future of his groupie's sex life correctly. Now Weevil sat across from Rex at a small table in the Dancing Monkey, the Chinese restaurant closest to their apartment, and the one-time regional Duel Monsters champion swelled up with as much affection as his fourteen-year-old self had with Pegasus. In a way, dinner with Rex surpassed dinner with Pegasus, for while gazing across the table at Rex made Weevil's heart flutter, none of the nervousness that dogged his date with his idol accompanied these vibrations of love.
The restaurant's color scheme of red and gold, accentuated by décor consisting primarily of murals and statues depicting dragons and monkeys, stimulated the warm glow that Weevil felt as he munched on a plate of dumplings and noodles. Rex, meanwhile, consumed a steaming heap of chicken and calamari. Unlike Pegasus, Rex displayed no elegance when he ate, wolfing down his lumps of sauce-spotted meat without appearing to notice the white and pale brown shreds that fell upon his shirt. As he lifted another forkful of noodles into his mouth, Weevil became aware that watching his friend and lover eat as though he had gone hungry for the past three days caused a stirring in his own nether regions. Rex ate in the same way he fucked, and observing the similarity made Weevil twitch with temptation. After too many years of waiting, he learned that there was a prize sweeter than victory, a victory greater than prizes, and it was burrowing into his friend's earth-brown hair.
Finally, their check arrived, and with it came a pair of fortune cookies.
"All right! I love these things," said Rex, who placed his half of the dinner money on the tray.
"Announce it to the whole restaurant, why don't you." Weevil set his own pair of bills on the tray and lifted his cookie from it at the same time as Rex. Then Weevil broke open the cookie and pulled out the slip of paper inside.
"'It's not the man in the fight—it's the fight in the man,'" he read. He crumpled the fortune into his pocket. "What does that even mean?"
"I think the fortune cookie called you a wimp. Did it have any lucky numbers on it?"
"Oh, right!" Weevil dug out the wrinkled slip of paper and unfolded it, whereupon he squinted at the other side of the fortune. "Hmm…8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 56, 64. They skipped 48. What about yours?"
Rex broke his cookie in two and removed the slip from it. "'The only way to win? You gotta risk it all.' Well, your fortune says you're a sissy, but mine says I'll be rewarded for taking chances. And for lucky numbers, there's 4, 8, 12…" He gasped. "No way! My lucky numbers are half of yours!"
"Hee hee! Looks like fortune has more faith in me!"
"Then why'd your cookie tell you to man up but not me?" Rex huffed. Just because your numbers are bigger doesn't mean you're stronger!"
"Ah, whatever." Weevil slid out of the booth and patted his hip to signal Rex to follow him. "Let's do what we ireally went out for."
"Right!" Rex sprang to his feet. "The creature features are awaitin'!"
As he and Rex exited the Dancing Monkey, Weevil felt the paper fortune rustling in his pocket. He did not look back to see if Rex had left his own fortune on the table.
This night presented the Duel Monsters fanboys with a late-night screening of a double feature of IThe Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and IThem!. The relevance to their interests was too perfect to pass up—Rex and Weevil joked that maybe they had residual psychic powers left over from their time using the haunted artifact they found in Hollywood—and of course they could not resist attending. Despite the dinner they had just eaten, they purchased two large sodas and a tub of buttered popcorn sprinkled with white cheddar and garlic parmesan seasoning.
"Want to sit up front where we can get the closest view, or in the back where we can make out?" Rex asked Weevil once they had entered the theater that screened the double feature.
"Do you even have to ask?"
With one look to the left of the entrance, Rex and Weevil took their seats in the very back row. Before their eyes flashed not previews for coming attractions but clips of stop-motion animated prehistoric wildlife from other movies, most of which lumbered through tropical backgrounds in black and white.
Finally, glorious color burst onto the screen, announcing the arrival of the first half of the double feature. Rex lifted his hand from the tub of popcorn to squeeze Weevil's knee, and they both sat back to take in the reptilian monster action.
Unsurprisingly, Weevil saw that Rex's eyes remained riveted to the movie the whole way through. Perhaps the dinosaur nerd was fantasizing about using a card based on the Rhedosaurus. His friend's distraction provided a perfect opportunity for Weevil to snatch the popcorn bucket onto his own lap. He dug into the still-warm mass of soft, buttered kernels and shoveled some of them into his mouth, his taste buds rolling over in delight at the savory Parmesan dust that coated them. Then he remembered why exactly they had chosen to occupy the back row, and he pressed a few kisses to the side of Rex's face. If that failed to make Rex tear his eyes away from the screen, nothing would get his attention, and, indeed, Rex responded to Weevil's overtures with a smooch on his friend's lips.
When the dinosaur movie ended, the screen flashed an old-fashioned Technicolor screen that blared the title INTERMISSION and a digital timer counting down from fifteen minutes, and the lights came on. All the other patrons left the theater at varying times and speeds, but Rex and Weevil remained seated. The former spoke first.
"Man! That was slower than I hoped…but without it, there'd be no Jurassic Park the movie, Jurassic Park the book, or Jurassic Park the arcade game."
Wait, Jurassic Park was a book first? Weevil cleared his throat "What do you mean, 'Jurassic Park the book'? You can read, Rex?"
"Come on! I'm not that dumb."
"Hee hee. I couldn't resist the urge to needle you."
Rex suddenly laid his hand atop Weevil's. "'Needling' me? You wanna…."
"Right now? Oh, you little devil."
"…That sounds like something my grandma would say. Great, now you've got me thinking about my grandma while I'm horny. I can feel my boner deflating. And fourteen minutes is just long enough for a couple of hot-blooded guys like us, too! Great!"
"No, it isn't," said an epicene voice next to them. "There are other people in this theater at the moment."
Weevil looked to his left to see the Swami Chinmayi, to whom Ishizu Ishtar had introduced him on Manhattan Beach, standing with a jumbo soda cup in one hand and a large bag of popcorn clutched against its chest. At first, Weevil had thought the Swami was female, but he was always unsure. Its appearance here did nothing to clarify the matter, especially since Chinmayi wore its pale peach turban and a saffron garment that straddled the line between a robe and a dress.
"Figures the eunuch would cock-block us!" said Rex with a snort. "Even if you're a guy, you don't have a cock, so you wouldn't know how we feel right now!"
If Rex was being abrasive, then Weevil had every right to join in, he thought.
"What are you doing here, anyway? Did you just show up to keep us from having sex? You meddling busybody!"
"I came here to enjoy these fine films. So did everyone else who is here. I just left to get a refill on my popcorn. Now I have returned. Do not worry: I will not sit beside you. But I do have something to tell you."
"Oh, yeah?" said Rex. "What could be so important that you couldn't wait to tell us some other time?"
"Yeah, we've got another movie coming up in twelve minutes."
The Swami tightened its grip on the popcorn bucket. "Someone from your distant past and something from your recent past will both become extremely important to you next week. So will something completely new to you."
Rex stood up. "You cockblocked us to tell us that? Screw it. I'm gonna get a refill on our popcorn." He grabbed the bucket from Weevil's lap and pushed his way past the Swami, whose expression remained unchanged. Weevil watched his friend walk out of the theater and then turned his face back to Chinmayi.
"So, what's this about the person and thing from our past?"
"The person from your past means more to you than he does to Rex, but Rex will recognize him nonetheless. And the thing is something you will wish you could forget, but you must confront it."
Weevil crossed his arms. "Why can't you advice-spewers be clear about anything? Ishizu did the same thing, and it drives me nuts! Just tell me what you mean."
"We who receive premonitions often ask similar questions of those who send them. Visions rarely make their meanings explicit. All I can say is that the man from your past brought you and your friend together. Tell him what I told you when he returns."
The Swami Chinmayi turned its back on Weevil and walked toward the front row, where it took a seat next to the wall. A few minutes later, Rex re-entered the theater, carrying a tub running over with golden buttered popcorn, and seated himself next to Weevil.
Five minutes remained of intermission, according to the movie screen. More people started to file into the theater and return to their chairs.
"What'd the sexless wonder say while I was gone?" said Rex, who then tossed a handful of popcorn into his mouth.
"It said that the guy from our past was more important to me than he was to you, but you'd recognize him anyway. And it said that…we wanted to forget this other thing from our past, but we couldn't, or something like that."
"Sounds kinda intense." Rex paused and munched on some popcorn. "But did it say if it had a cock?"
"No. Did you wanna know?"
"Maybe."
The scattered conversations from other rows formed the only sound either duelist heard for a little while. Intermission would end in three minutes. Finally, Rex slid his hand onto Weevil's lap.
"You know," he whispered, "we could pick up where we left off during the movie…"
An excited gasp arose from Weevil's mouth. He merely nodded, saying nothing else.
When the theater darkened again and the opening credits of Them! rolled across the screen, Weevil, who was now holding the popcorn bucket with one hand, snaked his other hand down Rex's trousers and stroked the bare skin there. After a sharp intake of breath, Rex reached out and grabbed a fistful of popcorn, which he stuffed into his mouth and chewed with audible crunching sounds. Some small whimpers of delight escaped him nonetheless, though Weevil could tell that Rex hardly cared.
Then he pulled his hand away. He could tell that Rex neared his climax.
"Ah," he whispered. "That was great. Now lift up the bucket and let me thank you."
Weevil raised the popcorn tub above his lap, and Rex reached over and unzipped his friend's shorts. What was Rex about to do, respond to Weevil's actions in kind?
Then Rex sank to his knees in front of Weevil, who understood instantly that he had something even better coming.
The night had treated Rex and Weevil nearly perfectly, and in the bedroom of their apartment, they decided to put the crown on their pleasure by utilizing their stash of White Widow and packaged snacks. Cannabis debauches had become weekly occurrences for them. Nothing capped off five days of arcade work or enjoying a double feature like getting high and feasting on greasy, sugary food. Even the Chinese food and popcorn they consumed less than an hour ago did little to stave off the cravings that ensued when they smoked. Privately, Weevil thanked whatever caused Rex to favor this strain as opposed to some of the others, which notoriously made their users hungrier still.
In the wee hours of the morning, they both luxuriated in the cloud of euphoria that surrounded them and their box of mixed miniature doughnuts. Several tiny crumbs dotted the quilts of their two pushed-together beds, but under the spell of the hybrid strain, neither man cared.
Something Weevil cared about did start to interrupt the serenity of his mind, however, and in his uninhibited state, he blurted it out.
"Rex, I've had Pegasus on the mind all night."
His friend coughed. "You were thinking of Pegasus when we were doing it at the movies? Dude, that feels wrong. He's, like, an old man." He pulled a powdered doughnut out of the box and ate the confection in a single bite.
"He's nine years older than you."
"That's still way too old for you. I wouldn't touch Pegasus, and I'm, like, one year older than you."
Then Weevil ran his fingers up the leg of Rex's pajama bottoms. Only at the waistband did he bring his hand to a rest.
"Want me to keep going?"
"Again? After I just sucked you off?" A dopey smile spread across his face. "Heh heh. Sure. Long as you're not thinking about Pegasus."
Sliding his hand beneath Rex's pants for the second time that night, Weevil replied, "No. I'm not gonna think about him. This is 'cause I only wanna think about you."
But Pegasus would regain relevance in Rex and Weevil's life much sooner than they expected.