EDIT: Much love to Cactus Bob who saw a glaring lack of a break that made things confusing. I think I corrected the offending missing break; to be fair though, the original document had it I swears. Thanks again Cactus Bob for all your reviews so fast! :D
Pegasus sat at his cherry-wood desk, signing a check with an absurdly plumed pen. He always appreciated the finer things in life, and he even made paying the electric bill as theatrical as possible at all times.
With a stroke, he signed his curved name, and he pulled his mail-opener to start investigating more of his mail. A good, well-written letter was hard to find these days, but still he searched for an implacably attentive pen-pal. He had sent countless letters to maybe people through the years, even the stoic Kaiba, with the hopes that he could secretly converse with someone just as entertainment. Kaiba's had been "returned to sender" with a "cease and desist" letter attached to it. Oh well, not everyone could take a joke.
This particular letter that he held in his hand was addressed to him in simple calligraphy; not ostentatious, not drudgery. Just simple, clean, and elegant writing. No return address only intensified the mystery.
He opened it up, feeling his heart race slightly with jubilation; surely this is the letter that he's been seeking for all these years?! Perhaps he had found the mind that was up to the task to converse with him upon topics unending?
And then a sigh, for the letter was a disappointment. It simply read,
"Pegasus, your creation will be your undoing. Welcome to your nightmare."
Pegasus scoffed. At least if he was going to get a threatening letter, it should at least rhyme. In fact, he clearly stated this on his fan website: "All flames and hate mail must be in iambic pentameter and rhyme." He thought it was worth a shot to improve the trolls' vocabulary. He did get a lot of hate-mail.
A giggle resounded from the hallway.
Pegasus snapped his head towards the sound and slowly lowered the letter in his hands. He heard a scuffling outside of his study door going down the hallway. Pegasus gripped the letter opener hard in his hand as he stood, walking towards the door. He put his back to the wall and peered out of the door, silently holding the golden letter opener up against his chest.
He heard another giggle around the corner and more shuffling, like something small running away.
Pegasus often hated the fact that he only had one working eye, especially at times like these. His peripheral vision was severely limited, and there was no way once he opened the door and walked out that he was going to be able to see everything that might be out there. Still, he steeled himself and opened the door quickly, trying to observe as much as possible.
Nothing. Just his ostentatiously fabulous furnishings with golden fringe and silk threads. He relaxed slightly only to feel something wrap around his left leg.
It was the Toon Summoned Skull. It was demonic in its presence with yellow, sunken eyes with red cornea and it's undead-looking skin drawn tight across an angular ribcage. The bottom of it resembled a genie tail since the card was most often paired with the card "Toon World" that both allowed it to be special summoned and protected it from attack. The Toon Summoned Skull licked its sharp teeth with its tongue which was dribbling globs of overly exaggerated drool.
Pegasus was both fascinated and repulsed. He shook his leg trying to dislodge the Duel Monster from his leg by shaking it, which only made the Summoned Skull make a whining noise. It did not deter it.
Pegasus then grabbed the monster by his horns to forcibly remove the creature from his leg. He pulled, and even though the Summoned Skull tried to hold on tight, he peeled off with a dramatic suction cup noise.
Pegasus held the monster at full arms-length away from him, slightly disturbed. "Is this some new hologram?" he asked turning the monster this way and that. Suddenly, there was a loud popping noise and Pegasus heard a loud plop fall to the ground in front of him.
He now held the Summoned Skull's head in his hand, detached from his body. The monster's tongue lashed out wildly from his mouth as his eyes rolled back into his head.
Pegasus dropped it, surprised and even more disturbed. He pulled back against the door to his study and watched as the Toon monster's head bounced on the ground, egging on its body in rudely impatient tones.
From the other room entered the Toon Mermaid, bouncing along inside her cartoon shell, and the Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon who flew in behind her. They started to laugh raucously as the Summoned Skull's body slithered around looking for its detached head. The Blue-Eyes screeched and batted at the head with his tail, passing it to the Mermaid. She regarded it for a moment before taking off her own head and placing the Summoned Skull head upon he body.
Pegasus had seen enough and turned around to enter his study and either mix a stiff drink, or try to sober up.
His study was locked.
He turned around to see the Toons staring at him with their wide, intelligent eyes. The Summoned Skull's body slithered up around his ankle and leg, wrapping around his torso and chest. This headless monster started to pull on his head, and for the life of him, he felt it start to come off much to his horror-
Pegasus woke up with his head face-down on his desk. He raised his head up and rubbed it, feeling a small welt where his head had fallen onto the desk. There was a blank piece of paper in his hand which he found odd, so he crumpled it up and conscientiously threw it in the recycling bin next to his desk.
He stood up and pulled out his deck from the top drawer of the desk. He sometimes liked to pull a card to figure out what the day was going to be like based on the card he drew.
He picked up the card and felt horrified.
The card was the Toon Summoned Skull. He put the card down and tried to figure out where that reaction was coming from but he could not figure it out. He put the deck away, deciding that he wasn't going to duel today after all.
Atem walked out of the Nile, relishing the feeling of the warm sand under his wet feet. He used some linen to dry himself off and decided to rest on the bank, letting the sun dry his wet attire as it draped close to his skin. The reeds nearby swayed gently in the breeze and made musical sounds as the wind ran across their hollow stalks. Crickets chirped and locusts whirred loudly in the brush and Atem felt his eyelids grow heavy.
There was the muffled tinkling of metal on metal and the muted sound of footsteps on the bank. Atem cracked an eye open to see the tall Seto standing there with his back to the sun.
"Hello, Seto," Atem said smiling. He closed his eyes again and stretched out in the sand, letting the warm sun splash over him and dry his clothes. "How are you?" he asked.
"I am well, my pharaoh," Seto said in his regal voice. He removed his priest's headdress and let the sun warm his tawny brown hair. He held the headdress and traced with his finger the Uraeus, or rearing serpent on the edge. "I'm not sure that in life I ever had a chance to swim in the Nile river for fun," he said matter-of-factually. "I was always busy with the scribes and taking tests."
"I'm pretty sure you swam in the Nile," Atem said, correcting him.
"I hate to argue with the great Pharaoh Atem, but I don't believe-"
"And I hate to argue with the great Pharaoh Seto, but I know you did. And you had fun. Splashing me in the face when the high priests weren't looking."
Seto sat down next to Atem, regarding him skeptically. "When was this?"
Atem opened his eyes and turned to Seto with indignation. "The beginning of the Sokar festival. I was about 7 years old. We were standing in the Nile at waist-depth to ask blessings on the festival, and I think we were asking for a bountiful harvest when the Nile flooded later that year. It was the first time you were brought along for a high rite due to your brilliant intelligence, and I wanted to say hello since you were the only other person in attendance under the age of forty. I said hello, you splashed my face."
Seto then laughed. "I knew you were the prince, and I did not care at all..."
"No you did not. Definitely a shot to my ego," Atem replied, smiling despite his angry tone.
Seto made a full-bodied laugh. "Well, I apologize my Pharaoh, I had no idea you would take it so personally."
"No need to apologize at all, my Pharaoh. I probably deserved it, if only a little bit," Atem said chuckling. "How was your rule... afterward?"
"I would have to say Egypt was prosperous under my rule," Seto said thoughtfully. "Though there were always problems, and what with the sorry state of the economy you left us in..."
Atem laughed, even though Seto wasn't completely joking. He didn't correct him.
"New challenges arose; other people who wanted to destroy the wealth and power of Egypt and our kingdom. There was also a famine in later years that brought many people to our kingdom from far and wide; bringing new cultures, religions, and diseases into our midst. There were a lot of things that made my rule difficult... but nothing compared to ruling in the shadow of you."
Atem shifted quietly to his side, turning away from Seto. He watched the sun glitter on the river in the distance.
"Even though you only ruled for a short amount of time, you had lasting effects. Some that I could never live up to," Seto said with a touch of bitterness. "I wished I could have been so effective." Atem said nothing, as his violet eyes closed with regret.
"We built many statues to your memory, including an apparently famous tablet," Seto continued, laying down on the bank next to Atem, staring up into the sly of turquoise.
"Yes, I did see this famous tablet... It was very well-made. But thank you for making my short stature immortalized," he replied wryly. But when he heard Seto try to stifle a laugh, he laughed as well.
Atem then sat up, looking at Seto with excited eyes. "Let's play a game."
"What did you have in mind?" Seto asked, only mildly curious.
"Let's play Duel Monsters- can we do that? I haven't been able to find a deck."
Seto chuckled. "You need only ask the temple for that which you desire, and it will be granted to you. Come, let us ask the temple, and you can teach me. Is it really that much better than our summoning techniques?"
"No, no... I wouldn't say that. It's just... different. There's more of a set strategy in place rather than completely open field."
"Well let us see if the temple will grant you your wish." Seto stood and and held out a hand to his cousin to help him up. The smaller pharaoh was more slight of build than he, but commanded more of a presence with his shrewd violet eyes and unconventional hair. Atem gladly accepted the hand and pulled himself up without much effort.
They walked beside each other on the worn brick path that led to the temple. Even though the city where they now spent their afterlife was sprawling and huge, you never had to walk far to get where you wanted to be. It was just one of those things that you would think that you wanted to be somewhere and after a few minutes of walking you would suddenly be there.
It wasn't a large building, and perhaps it was deceivingly small like many of the temples and pyramids of Egyptian antiquity; there would be labyrinthine corridors below and hidden walls with rooms unnumbered. There were pristine fountains that fed turquoise pools of lily pads and pale pink and peach lotuses. Spiked papyrus plants lined the walkway leading up to the temple, and was also lined with bright, perpetual torches. Without noticing it, the sky had dimmed to a soft twilight in this part of the city, making it more mysterious. Atem did feel more reverent with the flame light flickering against the sandstone and alabaster columns.
Seto led him into an antechamber that had an altar and a large fire-pit with a rousing fire inside. The flame was three times as tall as the smaller pharaoh, and he looked upon it with awe. He had yet to visit this place in his introduction to the afterlife only because, apparently, he lacked for nothing.
Seto donned his headdress again, and pulling his arms to make an "x" across his chest as he knelt before the flames. "Great gods of our people, we come before you seeking the spoils of the afterlife!" he said, his voice reverberating through the room. Atem quickly knelt and bowed his head. Taking a cue from Seto's expecting look, he spoke up.
"Great gods, I beseech thee! Please give us access to the game of Duel Monsters from the time whence I came from with Yugi and Kaiba." Atem wasn't sure if specification was necessary, but he thought perhaps that he should say this in case they tried to send him cards from Jaden's or Yusei's time since he had met them when Paradox had tried to intervene with time.
The flame crackled loudly and then went silent. The silence was almost deafening for a moment, and Atem feared he had misspoke. There was a loud rush of air and the fire turned an electric blue, filling the antechamber with an eerie white light. Atem closed his eyes and tried to shield himself from the sight. But then the rushing stopped.
When Atem opened his eyes, there were two Duel Disks with two decks slightly smoking as if just forged from the flame itself. The smoke ceased and the fire returned to normal.
"It seems the gods have answered your request," Seto said dryly as he rose from his knees. He went to the Duel Disk and picked it up gingerly as if about to bite him. "This is what they use in the future?" he said, scowling slightly.
"Yes, in fact your future half invented this system," Atem replied as he strapped the Duel Disk expertly to his wrist.
"It's not very asethetically... pleasing," Seto said frowning. He followed Atem's example and strapped the Duel Disk to his wrist, slightly surprised at the ergonomics of the device. It was rather well-balanced and comfortable to wear.
Atem chuckled. "Aesthetics are different in the future, and much less gilded in gold," he said, amused. "I think much of this game will come naturally to you as it did to me, but I will play with a handicap if it would suit you better."
"And what do you think I will say to that?"
"Well...I thought I might extend the courtesy."
"And I say curse your courtesy and curse your handicap. I will play like my future half."
"Very well," Atem said with his game voice. He felt the familiar rush of adrenaline and excitement as he went to pull his hand. As he drew his cards, he smiled. "I think you will have to play like your future half, because I believe you have his deck."
Seto again followed Atem's lead and drew five cards to start. "That explains why all of these monsters are unfamiliar." He frowned as he rapidly read the cards, which of course to him were in hieroglyphics.
"Really? I guarantee there will be some that are familiar to you," Atem said with a knowing look. "I'll go first and show you what a master duelist looks like!"
And so, the game began.
Mai pressed her hand against her forehead as she waited for her opponent to finish his turn. Her head felt like it was about to split in two, but still she was sweeping the floor with this amateur that had won the lottery to play her at the Duelist convention. He was a tall, skinny teenager with short, navy hair, and very unimpressive clothing, at least by Mai's standards. Tiny beads of sweat formed from stress on her forehead, but still she dueled on. She needed only one more card to finish the game and this loud-mouthed kid's lifepoints.
"And I play 'Swords of Revealing Light!'" he cried setting the card down on his Disk.
Mai could have killed him. This flipped up her face down "Harpie Lady" that was in defense mode waiting for her dragon to accompany her on the field next turn. It didn't matter so much to her that he now knew her strategy as much as she had to wait three turns to end this damned duel.
Once "Harpie Lady" was flipped, however, she felt this creeping panic slide down her spine and into her back once the monster's hologram appeared on the field. The monster's back was to her, but something about the maroon/magenta hair and those sharp talons...
A shock of pain ran through her body and she swayed on her feet, catching herself right before she fell down and off the dueling platform. Some onlookers gasped and called out to her if she was alright, and she waved them off with a look of pure determination on her face. As she went to draw her card for her turn she swallowed back bile that had surged to the back of her throat.
She looked at her opponent. Did she see a smile tugging at his lips?
He knew she was struggling and wouldn't last three turns.
Mai pulled all of her remaining strength into pulling a card, and sure enough, it was the right one. "And this is why... I am the expert... not you," she said with ragged breath.
She held up the card she had drawn, "Heavy Storm." "This card destroys all spell and trap cards on the field," she announced much to the awe of the assembled crowd. "This card destroys 'Swords of Revealing Light' and allows me to attack in the same turn. Thank you for flipping..."
She was about to say "Harpie Lady" but something stopped her. Aside from the coursing pain she had in her head, the rising fear she began to feel only increased. Her knees shook with pain. Oddly her shoulder hurt, and she felt the odd sensation of her hands being wet. But she looked at them and there was nothing wrong with them. "Thank you for flipping my card... and now attack!"
Her opponent looked surprised and absolutely pissed. She couldn't help but smile, even as she was doubled-over from the blinding pain in her head. His sharp hazel eyes flicked at her with disgust.
Then he placed his hand over his deck, ending the duel with surrender and stealing a complete victory from her. It was such a bad sportsmanship move to end the duel right before the final attack was called, and the crowd was not pleased. Mai knew she had done the same thing at Duelist's Kingdom, and the coincidence was not lost on her. Still, without a final word, the duelist opponent had stepped down from the stage and walked out the convention without saying even looking back.
Mai stumbled from the stage and was aided by some very helpful young men who helped her get to the information desk where a very stressed young man looked at her with distraught.
"Not you too! What is happening?!" he cried, looking like he was about to pull his hair out.
"What do... you mean?" she said, using a hand to lean against the registration table.
The attendant waved his arms, indicating the entire convention. "Every duelist we asked to participate starts dueling and then comes down with some kind of sickness. Headaches? Chills? Weird hallucinations?"
Mai blinked and nodded despite her head hurting like hell.
"If it's the food or something in the hotel, I promise we will sue like crazy," he said. "This is monstrous."
She waved him off and said, "My next event is a Q&A this afternoon, so I'm going to go lie down until then, okay?"
He nodded emphatically and then looked like he stressed out again. "This is a nightmare! First Yugi Moto doesn't show up, and now everyone is sick! I can't possibly refund everyone."
Mai stopped and stared at the man with shock. "Yugi... never showed up?"
"Didn't call or anything!"
Mai cradled her head in her hand and pulled out her phone to try and call Joey, but she passed out before she could complete the call.
AN: Thank you to all my readers! If it's not too much trouble can you just shoot me a little note that you like where it is going? Pwease? I figured out how to hyperlink so that you can check out the awesome writers that are reviewing my stuff, so that it's a love-fest all around. :D
YinYangWriter: Thank you for your review! The nightmare stuff is new to me, with the horror/suspense. Trying it out. I'm glad you're sticking with it! :)
Nightshade Malachai: Thank you! Maybe someday I'll find the time ;) And thanks for telling me you like it, it means a lot.
reaper711: I hope you enjoyed this last chapter! :)
Next update will be a few days- but we'll get to see more of the villains! :D