Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh GX
Title: Errors in Judgment: 2-3: Contest
Characters: Yubel, Johan
Word Count: chapter: 4,195||story: 8,673
Genre: Humor, Angst||Rated: PG-13
Feedback: All forms eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Summary: Yubel hasn't had a human body for this long in quite a while. She has to remember to eat, to drink...and what the effects of drinking are.
Johan wished he could beat his fists against something. Yubel's face would've been a good start, but since her face was his face right now, it wasn't the best idea. Not to mention being just this side of impossible.
If he'd had proper legs and control of his own body, he would've paced back and forth right now. Granted, if he'd had any of those, this wouldn't be happening in the first place, since he would have sense enough not to get into a drinking contest with Invader of Darkness!
She wasn't stupid. After a month of enforced contact, he knew Yubel was many things, most of which could be classified under 'batshit insane', but stupid wasn't one of them.
So why was she doing this now? He couldn't pace, not in this endless expanse of nothing that kept him imprisoned, but he went through the mental motions of doing so at least. It gave him something to do when he wasn't straining through the thin thread that bound him to his body, trying to see what she was doing to it. Or to anyone around him.
He would have to look again, he knew. He couldn't just let this pass without looking. Curling up in a corner and pouting wasn't his style. If there was a way to get her to stop, it wouldn't come by ignoring everything she did.
He wasn't all that sure that he could stop her, but he had to try. He turned (though in the vast reach of shadows around him, any direction was as good as any other to concentrate on) and focused his thoughts on that slender line, forcing himself to see through his own eyes.
This was nothing like when he'd had his own body to himself. He couldn't move his head or choose when to blink. He simply sat there, a passenger in his own mind, and watched what Yubel did. She lounged back in her chair, a cup of wine in one hand, savoring the richness of it. He could taste it as well; he'd had a few glasses of wine before in his life (one didn't know Pegasus and get away without experiencing that, after all) but this was on a different level altogether.
He wasn't sure if 'taste' was the right word for this; he couldn't really feel it on his tongue or going down his throat. Like everything else, he didn't really have a tongue or throat right now. But it was close enough.
Regardless, he knew something of the taste, enough to know that it blew everything he'd ever had before away. Rich, deep, full, everything that he'd ever heard of 'wine' being described as. He breathed (needing it or not) and tried to focus more on what was going on around Yubel.
Invader of Darkness sat across from her, his own cup of wine held in his armored hand. He sipped it with evident care and attention to the taste and Johan groaned. At this rate, they'd take forever to get any kind of winner in this drinking contest done. Just my luck. They're the type to enjoy the wine.
He strained his attention around to try to find anything that could help him. He couldn't move his eyes, but he could notice anything in Yubel's range of vision. Above him stretched smoke-stained rafters, with a few burn marks and chipped areas that he suspected marked fights of the past. One side of the tavern held a huge fireplace, bringing light and warmth into the whole room. A staircase rose just on the edge of his vision when Yubel happened to glance around, leading to rooms upstairs. They were probably storage space or space for overnight guests to sleep, he surmised.
His view of the tavern was lost as Yubel turned her attention back to her drinking rival. "Why do you even care how much power I have?" That made Johan curious as well. Though from what he'd seen, knowing who had power and who didn't was basic common sense in this world. If nothing else, you'd know who to stay away from.
"I care because Haou-sama cares." Invader sampled his wine again, finishing this cup down to the dregs and waving for the tavernkeeper to fill it. "If you're willing to serve him, that is."
Johan could feel Yubel's lips twitching, inside and out. He didn't know everything about what was going on with Juudai, but he knew enough to know if it wouldn't have given her away entirely, she would've laughed out loud. As it was, she laughed inside, loudly enough for him to hear her.
"What would it be worth to me?" Yubel asked aloud, raising one eyebrow as she leaned forward, pitching Johan's voice lower than he normally spoke, an edge to it that bespoke power and confidence.
"Power. The chance to rule at his command. What more could you want?" Invader asked, his own eyebrow going up just a little in return.
She wants Juudai. Johan muttered to himself, wishing he could do more than watch. Just like every time he'd wished that, nothing happened. He didn't take his attention away from the conversation, though. He didn't want to miss anything.
Yubel only smiled, a hint of sly tilting of her lips that accented the madness in her orange eyes. "Oh, I don't think you'd believe me if I told you. But I look forward to the day Haou and I can meet in person."
"Haou-sama." Invader corrected, lips turning downward. "He rules this world."
Again her lips twitched the faintest bit upward. "Of course. Haou-sama." If Invader couldn't hear the traces of mockery in her tone, Johan most certainly did.
Why don't they get on with it? Johan stared at the cups as they were filled, drained, and refilled, and neither of the drinkers appeared to so much as be buzzed anymore. Yubel paused, as if listening to him, then beckoned the tavernkeeper over.
"What kind of wine is this?" There was more genuine curiosity in her tone than he'd heard from her in the last few weeks. He couldn't generally read her thoughts unless she directed them toward him or she didn't actively try to hide them, and right now, she was. But something had caught her attention, without a doubt.
The innkeeper wrung out the towel in his hands over and over again, eyes flickering between Yubel and Invader of Darkness. "Sir, I hope there's nothing wrong with the vintage. It's been in storage for some time but it's what Invader-sama always orders when he comes here." As if only just then hearing what came from his mouth, he flinched, eyes jerking toward Invader at once.
"I said, what kind of wine is it, not what was wrong with it." Yubel leaned forward, eyes gleaming from the shadows of the hood. The innkeeper took a step back and swallowed.
"It's been kept in the inn for as long as anyone can remember. I don't recognize the seal on it. It's not from any of the known vineyards and there's a hint of magic about it."
Johan bit back a gasp at the thrill that shot through Yubel, far too strong for her to conceal it from him. She hadn't felt anything like that since she'd once caught a far distant glimpse of Juudai in his new (and revolting) black armor.
"Show it to me." There was no question in her voice of being refused. Her fingers scraped softly across the surface of the table, digging in hard enough to bring up trails of wood. The innkeeper took one glance and hurried away, pale and shivering.
What is it? Johan honestly didn't like talking to Yubel, but from the way she reacted, he had to know what it was. Or what she thought it was, at least. Yubel paid him no attention, however, concealing her every thought from him.
"I take it you've never had this tavern's finest before?" Invader asked, tilting his head back to finish his next cup. "It's rare, or so they tell me. Perhaps only one or two barrels available in this part of the world."
Yubel paid only scant attention to him as she caught a whiff of her own cup once again. "This is my first time here." Her attention focused instead on where the tavernkeeper'd vanished.
"No one else has drunk from that barrel except for me." Invader told Yubel, a smug smirk flickering across his features. Or so Johan thought from what little he could see behind the mask. The tone of voice said much, though. "No one else around here could afford something that old."
Johan wasn't surprised that Yubel said nothing at all, not as the keeper returned, scurrying back to their table with a piece of paper clutched in one hand. "I couldn't take the seal off," he apologized, "but I copied it exactly."
"Of course you couldn't." Yubel murmured, eyes dropping to the paper as the keeper held it out. "None of you could." She took the paper and perhaps only Johan would've noticed the way her hand shook just a small fraction.
The sign on it wasn't one he recognized, but Yubel certainly did. Once again that thrill shot through her, nearly as intensely as the first time. She crumpled the paper, tightening her grip on it until it burst into flame. Johan jumped mentally, then froze when he heard Yubel's voice echoing in the part of the mind they shared.
Royal Delight. This is Royal Delight. Yubel gestured imperiously to the tavernkeeper and as the fragrant aroma of wine filled the air, she breathed in deeply. Memories flickered through, ones she didn't bother hiding from Johan.
Vineyards stretched out before them, miles and miles of grapes growing underneath the warm blue sky. This wasn't the first time Yubel or Juudai'd seen fields like this before, but the grapes that produced Royal Delight were in a class all by themselves. Large, juicy, each one perfect beyond the ability of words to describe, succulent when placed in the mouth...
Johan tried to maintain distance from the memory but the strength of it wrapped around him and he was there, just as if he were Yubel...
"Here, your Highness." The vineyard's caretaker offered a slender glass toward the young prince and another to Yubel. "This is from one of our finest years. I'm certain you'll enjoy it."
Each of them sipped and from the look on Juudai's face, this wine put everything he'd ever had to shame. Yubel wondered if she would ever taste anything that would equal this, and knew that there would never be anything that could surpass it. She took careful sips of the wine, wanting it to last as long as possible.
"How can it taste so good?" Juudai asked in between sips of his own glass. Yubel wanted to know the same thing, but Juudai asked before she could.
"Ah, that's a special secret only the royal caretakers here are allowed to know." The caretaker smiled warmly down at the two of them as he poured a glass for King Aodh and offered it to him with a flourish. "But there are stories, you know. One such says that the power of creation itself, the Gentle Darkness, blessed this vineyard at the dawn of time, so that the grapes that grow here would always be the very finest."
Juudai's eyes widened at that and Yubel squeezed his hand to warn him not to say anything. Not everyone knew of the power he'd been born to wield.
"There's another story about Royal Delight as well." The caretaker exchanged a quick look with the king and perhaps only Yubel saw the barest hint of a nod from His Majesty. "So long as the royal line lasts, Royal Delight will exist. Some wine, you know, goes bad with enough time. But not Royal Delight. It will be as fine in ten thousand years as it is now, so long as the line of Kuragari exists."
Johan's breath caught in his throat and he was surprised that his own palms didn't dampen with sweat. A thousand other memories surged into his mind, ones even Yubel hadn't noticed at the time and he wasn't sure if she did now. A spell of some kind wrapped around the barrels of wine, binding it to a bloodline of power...
The way the King looked at her, with tinges of worry and concern in the tightness around his eyes...
The power in the very earth underneath their feet, especially when the caretaker spoke of the 'Gentle Darkness'...
He forced more of his attention on what was going on in the tavern. He could think about all of that some other time, when he really couldthink about it, when he had a better chance of figuring out exactly what it all could mean. Anything that could give him some kind of leverage against Yubel would be useful.
"Is there something unusual about this wine?" Invader of Darkness leaned forward, showing no sign of shock at Yubel having destroyed the paper in her hand. On second thought, Johan wasn't too surprised by that. He'd probably seen more impressive displays of power made by the people who washed Haou's dishes.
"It's much older than I thought it was. I didn't know there was any left of this vintage." Yubel, Johan noticed, was very good at telling the absolute truth while lying through her teeth at the same time.
Invader drained yet another cup of wine. "Then it's exactly what we should have for our contest."
"Oh, yes, indeed." Johan could feel Yubel's smile and shuddered. Invader of Darkness didn't know what he'd gotten himself into. Even without being able to taste the wine on the same level Yubel did, the strength of it filtered through. "I doubt there could be a better vintage in all the world for this."
What are you going to do to him? Johan didn't expect, and didn't get, an answer. He did, however, doubt with all of his heart that Invader of Darkness would make it out of here alive. If nothing else, Yubel never permitted anyone who'd seen her to any degree since taking over his body to live. He knew why; if Juudai found out that he, Johan, were still alive, then whatever he was doing would topple and fall, and Yubel didn't want that.
A thread of her thoughts wound around him. When I'm ready, he will know about you. Not yet, little thief. He wasn't entirely certain, since he'd never been drunk himself, but he thought she sounded a little out there. Just a little.
With nothing else to do, Johan slumped into a corner of his own mind and watched. There was so much more he wanted to do but he couldn't do any of it. Helpless, useless, hopeless...
He thought he heard Yubel laughing at him.
Yubel tipped back another cup of wine, enjoying the feel of the smooth, cool liquid sliding down her throat. Royal Delight, used only for the greatest of occasions at the king's table, a taste she hadn't had in far too long. When had that last time been? They'd celebrated winning the war, the defeat of the invading army.
Prematurely, though. Her thoughts twisted down the dark paths that she walked so easily. The war hadn't ended, it had only changed shape. The leader of the army wasn't who they'd thought it had been and the defeat only masked infiltration.
Her grip tightened on the cup, denting it, and she didn't care. I should've known. Memories she tried not to think about surged through her...
No. She wasn't going to think about that now. Not in this place, not wearing that filthy thief's body! She finished her next cup of wine and the next, putting those memories farther behind her with each cup.
"What are you doing in this area?" She turned her thoughts outward now, focusing on her drinking opponent. Those memories of pain and humiliation were gone now, back into the dark abyss where they belonged. "I thought Haou's forces were west of here."
"They are." Invader replied, swirling his cup and staring into it before taking another drink. "But I wanted another visit while the tavern was still here."
Just as well that she'd chosen today to come here, then. If the thief's hunger had waited one more day, she might well have found a tavern that didn't have Royal Delight at all.
The wine would survive what she meant to do to this place, even if nothing else did.
She glanced for a moment at Invader, noting a few slurs to his speech, and held back a smile. If he hadn't noticed them yet, then he didn't know how drunk he was. Royal Delight wasn't for commoners like him. He might be able to withstand lesser vintages but this would have him flat on his back before much longer.
"I've heard that you're one of Haou's most highly ranked warriors," she murmured, more to keep him talking than out of actually caring to hear what he had to say. Not to mention, hearing about her beloved always made her day brighter.
Invader gestured once more for the tavernkeeper to fill his cup. "That I am. The very highest of his Death Duelists." Pride lit his voice as he tilted the cup back and drained it in a few moments. Yubel's lips twisted; Royal Delight should not be treated like that! "I have a dozen warriors who serve me directly and two dozen battallions underneath them. At Haou-sama's command I've destroyed hundreds of towns and villages and brought down three powerful rebels who thought to rise against him!"
Yubel leaned back in her chair, hood covering most of her face save for a savage smile. "Tell me more."
"Haou-sama relies on me to keep a third of his army in line." Invader declared, head held high. "He couldn't do as much without me as he does."
I highly doubt that. But perhaps her beloved should be made to do without this ever so vital warrior. If it could be done properly, of course. Dueling was an option, one that interested her. Perhaps not today. As much as she wanted to, her own eyes blurred now and then and she wasn't as co-ordinated as she should be. Remaining seated helped, but if she stood up, she knew the world would tilt around her and she'd be hardly able to draw a card, much less duel properly. Filthy thief's useless body. In her own form, she could've drunk twice as much as she had already and wouldn't yet feel anything.
"Who could he rely on if something happened to you?" Yubel asked, more or less to keep the conversation going than any other reason. While Juudai fascinated her for all time, the inner workings of his army meant nothing to her.
Invader traced a small design on the table, his armored fingers digging it deep enough that the tavernkeeper would have trouble getting it out. "My immediate second in command is a treacherous little toad by the name of Guardian Baou." His lip curled behind his mask, just barely visible if Yubel tilted her head the right way. "He would likely be promoted to take my place." He shrugged and finished his cup. "But that won't happen."
Yubel kept a smile from her own lips. "Of course." While Juudai's warriors meant little to nothing to her, the idea of prodding one or more of them to their deaths intrigued her. She would have to see how they could be useful to her. Anything that would help Juudai create Super Fusion and feel her love, not necessarily in that order.
Invader took another drink, his hand shaking just a trifle. Just a little, nothing that most people would notice. Yubel wasn't most people. "How many cups have you had?"
"I lost count." Invader shrugged and glanced at the keeper, who didn't look as if he were any more certain of the count. "But I'm still game for more!"
"Of course you are." Yubel took her next drink slowly, enjoying the flavor. There would undoubtly come a time when she shared this with Juudai. She refused to let that not happen. "The first one to fall loses, you know."
"I know!" Invader shot a heated glance toward her. "This isn't the first time I've done battle over wine."
"But it will be the first time you lose." Yubel dropped her voice, hand curled around her cup, fitting into the dents there. "I don't lose any battle I'm in."
There was a certain duel...She refused to listen to the thief at the moment. She had much more interesting ways to spend her time.
"If anyone falls, it won't be me. Do you think Haou-sama chose me because I'm weak?" Invader waved a hand at the others in the tavern, none of whom dared to move. "I could kill all of these right now and still be in shape enough to take on an entire town's worth of duelists."
The echo of his words had barely died before one of them spectators started to slip out of his seat and head for the door. Invader pulled a knife from under his armor and threw it toward the would-be escapee, pinning him to the wall through his shirt. "Damn." The Death Duelist peered closer. "I meant to put that between his eyes."
Yubel smiled. "If you can't aim that well, then I would say that I've won." Granted, even if he had killed the fool, she would claim victory. Yubel wasn't one to let petty little annoyances like 'reality' interfere with what she wanted.
Invader seized his cup, refilled only a moment earlier by the increasingly nervous keeper, and lifted it to his lips. "I say when I've won!" He started to drink, his hand shaking even more, until more wine spilled down the sides of his mouth than actually down his throat. Yubel kept on smiling, even as he slammed the empty cup back down and rose staggering to his feet, glaring at the spectator he'd pinned to the wall. "Can you duel?" At least, Yubel thought he said that. His voice wasn't quite the crisp bark it had been when he'd entered the tavern. The three steps he took toward the back wall where the other tried uselessly to pull the knife out from his shirt weren't as firm and unyielding anymore either.
"No! I can't!" The pinned man struggled harder as Invader gripped him around the neck. His pleas for mercy might've continued, if the warrior's grip didn't tighten with every moment. Yubel took a long drink as a certain snapechoed in the silent tavern and the captive faded away into a spray of sparkles and light.
"Too bad. You might've lived longer if you could." Invader turned, far too fast as it turned out, and stumbled over his own feet. Yubel finished the last of her wine and set the cup down.
"If you can't drink anymore, then I win." She could hear some of the other spectators mumbling among themselves, probably wondering if they could make it out the back before either she or Invader killed them as well. She could've told them they couldn't. But why spoil her own fun? She glanced at the tavernkeeper who still hovered a few paces away, wringing a towel between his hands. "Bring me what's left of that barrel."
As the keeper scurried away, Invader tried to get back on his feet. "Who said..." He stumbled again, succeeding only in wrapping his cloak around himself. Yubel doubted anyone who played his card would recognize him as he was now. "I couldn't drink anymore?" He stumbled again, this time landing flat on his face, shaking the building with the force of his fall. "Bring me another cup! This isn't over!"
Yubel strolled over to where he lay, still fighting against his own clothing. "It's over." In all truth, she wasn't feeling that wonderful herself. Her steps were shaky and everything around her danced with each movement she made. But she'd won and that was what mattered. She leaned closer to Invader and murmured into his ear, "But I'll tell you who I am anyway."
She could see him looking up at her, confused, even as she pulled her hood back to reveal her borrowed face. Invader blinked a few times, likely enough seeing more than one face looking back at him. "Haou-sama...spoke of someone like you..." He blinked even more, jerking upward. "Johan Andersen?"
"Not quite." Yubel cupped a hand before her, fire building up into a ball there. "But it will do for the last few seconds of your life." She tilted her head back and smiled at the rest of the tavern occupants. The keeper rolled the barrel up next to her, backing away once it was there. Excellent. Time to end this. "For the last few seconds of all of your lives."
And then she unleashed hell.
To Be Continued