The Illusion of Death


In the hall to Death-T 4, Yugi was breathing heavily, sweating profusely as he shook. "Yugi," Katsuya said, grabbing the boy's shoulders. "Yug', are you alright?" Please say yes, please say yes, please...

"There's something inside me..." The blond froze as his friend said this, eyes wide as the boy shook his head. "I can't control it..." Ahhhhh..! Not only was that not what he wanted to hear but that sounded very, very creepy...

Anzu watched nervously, looking down and shaking her head. "Yugi... I'm sure... You're just tired from all the strain," she said, as though reassuring herself as well. "It's ok Yugi... It's alright..."

Yugi shook his head, stumbling slightly; it wasn't alright, not at all... "N... There's... Something I haven't told you..." No. No no no no no, there was no way all the horror stories that Mokuba had shared those nights after Kaiba's 'secret' was completely busted were true. They had to... They had to just be nightmares, nightmares that conveniently happened with blackouts Yugi had, each one... "I think," Yugi said, Katsuya realizing just now that each one happened right before a 'game', having pressed the boy for some information on the blackouts days before. "Inside me... There's another me," he said before wincing, holding his head in pain. "I don't know him... I don't know him at all though.."

Damn it... Mokuba's voice had a bad habit of entering his mind with all this crap didn't it? 'The other Yugi... He did... He did...' A really, really bad habit...

He gulped, shaking his head. "Another Yugi... That can't..." That couldn't be possible...

And yet... "Ever since I solved the millennium puzzle," Yugi began, slowly regaining his breath as he stood, "I've had black outs... I... I told you about those Jonouchi-kun... But what I didn't tell you was..." The boy choked, shaking his head as tears began to develop in his eyes. "I was so scared," he said quietly, swallowing as he attempted to right his breathing. "You'd just become my friends... And I thought, if you found out about this other me, that you would leave!" He held his puzzle, almost like a security blanket. "That's why, that's why I was so scared! That's why..."

The boy froze as he felt Katsuya's hand on his shoulder, looking up at the blond. "Yugi," he said, deciding that regardless of truths in this entire mess, whatever he said would never change. "I swear, even if there's another 'Yugi' inside you..." Even if that other Yugi had apparently done some serious crap to Mokuba... Though from what he could tell, that was in self defense. ...Hopefully. "We'll still always be friends, understand?" At Yugi's expression of disbelief, he turned to look at the far end of the hall. "Always!"

Anzu as well nodded, smiling. "Really Yugi... Did you think we'd just up and leave you for something like that..?" Apparently so... Though Katsuya had a feeling that had it been anyone else, the situation wouldn't have quite been the same; really, Yugi probably had a good reason when he thought about it.

Nonetheless, as they ran down the hall, sounds of cheering came over them. And further ahead, a bright light visible at what was probably the exit. "There it is," Katsuya found himself shouting. "The next stage! Lets do this!"

They froze as the three walked out onto the rail-less bridge, looking forwards as a familiar voice greeted them. Katsuya froze- Mokuba was more of a part of this than he'd guessed... "Th... This is..." Well. Shit.

"Death-T 4!" Mokuba laughed as he finished Katsuya's statement for him, walking towards the clear box in the center of the room with a smirk. The box was almost identical in appearance to that of the one Kaiba had faced Yugi's Grandpa in. And if Kaiba's last events had been any clue... "Welcome to my stage, Yugi!" The doors to the cube opened, and he motioned inside. "It's time for us to go head-to-head! Enter the battle box alone, understand!" There wasn't room for more than two anyways... And would Yugi have really needed someone to help win?

Yugi tensed, biting his lip before nodding. Katsuya, in the meantime, clenched his fists with a scowl. Of course it had to be alone... "Yug'," he said as the boy began moving forwards. "I'll be watchin' from outside alrigh'?" It was the best he could do really...

The boy nodded. "Yea... I won't be a coward anymore." Coward- He didn't think he was a coward! Hell if anything he was the coward, the way he'd dragged everyone into this even with fair-warning. Yugi however had taken all of it and, until Honda got stuck back there, held a fairly optimistic view on things. If that was 'cowardice', he'd eat his uniform! "I'm not really alone after all, right," he continued. "I've got you guys!" The blond stood there, before smiling and nodding in response. "All of you," Yugi said as he turned to look at his friend with a smile. "Anzu, Honda-kun, Jonouchi-kun... You all showed me... So now, I have true courage! This time... I won't be afraid!"

The teen blinked, before nodding yet again. "Yea!"

And then, Katsuya thought to himself as the boy began to shake slightly, he realized what he'd meant by being a 'coward'. "I," he said as he turned to face the box. "I'm not afraid... Of my other self any more..."

It was as though there was an invisible flash of light, a storm of sorts at that instance alone. "Yu...Yugi..!" His appearance became sharper somehow, more dramatic and fierce. A few strands of his blond hair rose to cling with the rest of his mysteriously gravity-defiant hair, and his eyes gained a regal tone to them. This was...

This was him.

"Jonouchi," the 'other' Yugi said, turning with a fierce and determined stare. "Anzu... I'll definitely win!" As 'Yugi' walked over to face Mokuba in the cube, Katsuya couldn't even think of the kid being wrong. Yea, he got what Mokuba had meant by 'change'. And oh what a change that had been! Really though, he couldn't feel too worried about how Yugi would do from that point on.

The game began. Again, they couldn't hear anything, but as Katsuya moved to get closer, he found himself held back by one of the theme park guards. "Gh! What the..."

The guard behind him smirked, holding a gun rather close to the back of his skull. "How's it goin', newb?" Oh just fine, sitting here with a gun at the back of his head... Yea, he was great.

While Anzu settled for glaring at the guards, Katsuya opted to go with the theory that the glass was only soundproofed on one end. He turned his attention back to the box, where his friend was currently turned towards them with a worried expression. "Yugi," he shouted loudly. "Don' worry about us! Just kick his ass!" While Mokuba visibly deflated a small bit at the comment, Yugi merely nodded, before turning to face Mokuba again. "Now then..." He looked at the guard's through the corner of his eye, coughing nervously. "Soooo... How's it crackin? Think I'll be able t' talk to my boss once this is over?" Or would he get shot in the head for his troubles?

The guard snorted, before shrugging. "Be our guest- we're only here to make sure you twits don't interrupt the match." The other one nodded.

"What he said; like we care what happens after... Provided you make it to the next match when he loses." Such faith they had in their boss. Who had hired these guys again?

Katsuya nodded, before watching the two in the room for an idea of what was going on. Abruptly however, his attention was drawn to the large 'CapMon' board below. "Sheesh," he muttered to himself as monsters appeared on it. It figured that this would be a CapMon battle... As he looked back at the glass, he frowned. Whatever Mokuba had said had Yugi on edge; something told him it had to do with the conditions of 'after the match'.

He swallowed, using all he had to look at the two in the cube rather than the board below. Over the speakers, an announcer called the match start. "CAPSULE MONSTER CHESS," he called, the crowd cheering. "AND THE LOSER WILL GET A PENALTY GAME, 'THE SENSATION OF DEATH'!" The blond gaped as the announcer said this, blood draining from his face. Shit... They seriously announced that kind of thing in front of crowds of kids? At least the other crap was 'private showing', but this..? In front of adults it would have even been bad, right now there were nothing but children in the stands!

Monsters appeared on the board below, Katsuya visibly wincing as he took a quick glance at Yugi's. He didn't know much about the game, but from what Mokuba was always going on about... Those monsters were not a fair match up in the least. Nonetheless, he shouted after his friend, cheering him on with as much faith and confidence as he had for him thus far. "Yug'," he called out, unable to cup his hands for the moment. "Y' gotta win alright! For Honda, and Gramps!" Not to mention for the 'real' Yugi's sake. He swallowed, realizing just what would happen when the match ended. Monsters would appear and just as before the victim would be left to fall into insanity... Maybe, just maybe, while Yugi advanced to face Kaiba, he could break Mokuba out. Break in through the doors, pull him out before it was too late...

He watched as Yugi crossed his arms, the monsters remaining completely immobile as Mokuba's advanced further. Damn it... What was he thinking, his team was a sitting duck.. Level 1s and 2s against an entire team of 5s! All he was doing was greeting death with wide arms... The blond winced as Mokuba's monster took out two of Yugi's five, before continuing to watch. What the hell was he thinking... There had to be something else here! Anything!

And suddenly, things were even. The crowd froze for a second before shouting with surprise, Katsuya unable to keep a grin off his face at the turnaround. "Yeah! Keep goin' Yugi!" As Yugi's 'mole' fooled Mokuba's monsters into killing each other off, the teen sent one of his after another one of Mokuba's. For a moment, it seemed pointless; it was level 2 against level 5 after all. However, with a loud sound of explosion, both teams were down one monster yet again. "Woah..." Remind him to never ever ever play Capmon with Yugi. Seriously...

The game continued. Yugi's level two monster gained access to an 'evolution' square, becoming a level '5' before striking down the fourth of Mokuba's team. Only one remained; now Yugi had the advantage. Where he and his opponent had been evenly matched, it was now two to one.

It was the final move. It had to be, given that the pair's monsters were now facing each other. For a brief moment, Mokuba's was the one still standing, charging towards Yugi's tiny little 'mole' with a wicked smirk. The moth that Yugi had owned fell to bits behind it, unable to move. However...

'Bigfoot', as Mokuba's last monster was called, crumbled into pieces, Yugi's mole looking around with shock. He'd won. Katsuya turned as the crowd roared, looking up at the guards quickly. "Oi," he said, the guard turning with a blink. "You said when the match was over; if I move, you gonna take back those words an' shoot me?"

The only answer from the guard was a shocked 'Mokuba-sama', as the guns were momentarily brought down. The crowd cheered, questioning loudly who the 'pointy-headed guy' was as Katsuya turned to shout at them on the way to the box. "Morons! He's not 'That Pointy-Headed Guy'... He's my friend, Yugi!" Honestly, show the guy some respect! He turned his attention back to the box, before freezing, the smile dropping cold. Just as Yugi left the box, doors opening for any to enter, Kaiba's face appeared on the screen... And while Mokuba couldn't see it, the game box being underneath the device, it was easy to tell that he was afraid. "K-Kaiba!" He growled, watching as the teen merely smirked in response.

"It took you long enough, Yugi..." The woman continued, both the boy and Katsuya turning a glare to the screen. "I'm sick of waiting... And I'm bored of watching these sideshows..." She laughed, before seemingly fixing Yugi with a cold stare. "Now, take that elevator to the final stage... I'm expecting you."

Yugi nodded, walking towards the elevator as Katsuya continued to watch. The blond shook with rage as for a moment, Kaiba's eyes drifted over him with a flash of cold mirth. Inside the box, Mokuba was shivering, and just now he realized that there was still another screen aimed just so that the kid could see how... Disappointed... His older sister really was. And likely only that. "S-Seto-niisama," he said, somehow managing to cling to the facade of 'brothers' even under all of the pressure. Honestly, Katsuya had to wonder how he did it; if it'd been him, he had a feeling he'd have broken long ago.

She merely turned, eyes looking down on the boy from afar with a cold dead stare to them. "Those pathetic, lingering eyes... Like a dog's," she said, briefly looking at Katsuya again before snorting. "I've felt them on my back for years..." The woman turned her face still further from the boy, continuing. "I've always told you Mokuba... Play with fire, and you'll get burned." Nice lessons to teach an eleven year old really.

All three of them, Katsuya, Yugi, and Mokuba tensed at those words. "Seto-niisama," the boy cried, shaking his head. "Seto-niisama, no, don't..." Oh god... He knew the woman was a bitch but was she actually going to...

"Remember Mokuba? Only the winner can leave the box. The loser faces a penalty game, that's the law of Death-T!" There was a clicking noise as Seto said this, tone cold and dismissive as holograms began to fill the room. Smoke blurred the boy from sight, and the crowd only seemed to cheer at that fact.

The boy shook, and within seconds his screams filled the room. "NO! NO! NOOOO!" Fuck no. Katsuya's grew wider, the teen shaking his head as he stood frozen on the spot for a second. Fuck. NO.

Yugi turned just as the screams started. "Mokuba!" As he did this, he watched Katsuya charge the box, ignoring the shouts of the guards as they drew their weapons. "Tch... Jonouchi!"

His ears were numb to everything. "HELP ME! HELP ME!" Eyes narrowed as he charged forwards, the crowd becoming a dull roar as everything else seemed to move in slow motion. Nothing but screams filled the air as Katsuya ducked through the holographic fog, the sound of a bullet cracking against the glass wall the least of his concerns. "NEE-SAMA! SOMEONE! HELP!" He coughed, making his way through the dense and synthetic fog. 'Solid Vision' right? Same thing from the roller-coaster they were on before this crap happened right? Yea... Kaiba wasn't lying when she said 'solid'. Entering the room, Katsuya saw very soon, just why Mokuba was so afraid.

It was dark. Pitch black in there to create the illusion of endless space and yet, though all of that, he could still make out a gleam of 'light' on an imaginary monster's bloodied teeth. They reached for the boy, who already had another clamping down on his arm with a roar before Katsuya snapped himself out of it. The table was flung aside, and arms wrapped around the screaming, flailing child as he shut his eyes. Mokuba buried his face in the teen's shirt, and the blond did his best to protect him from what never existed. "It'll be alright kid... It'll be alright, hang on!" Shit... He turned, biting his lip as the 'monsters' began to turn on him, their objective now hidden by another being. He couldn't see anything in here, where the hell was the door! "Gh!" Solid vision... Really... Really hurt... "Gh..." Don't scream... Don't scream..! "It... It'll be alrigh' Mokuba jus' hang on..." Damn it, where was that door!

"Jonouchi! Mokuba!" He turned, giving a sigh of relief as a hand came through the 'fog'. "Grab my hand!" Not about to refuse, he did just that, being pulled through and stumbling to the floor of the third 'bridge' with a gasp of air. Idly, he noted that his arm was bleeding; sheesh... Either something was messed up with those holograms, or that thing in science about the brain doing everything was true... Either way he was paying more attention in class from now on damn it.

He looked at Yugi, watching as Mokuba momentarily drew back from the teen and further into his uniform jacket. "Wh-Why.." The boy coughed, shaking with a cold sweat as he looked up at Yugi with wide eyes. "Why did you do that... Why did both of you..." That was the question wasn't it... Not too hard to answer though.

Yugi smiled, turning from where he was about to continue to the elevator. "Mokuba," he said, the confident tone still throwing Katsuya off even now. "I was able to beat you because my friends helped me, each in their own way. I'll leave you to those thoughts..." He turned, before Katsuya stopped him.

The teen had an look of cold determination on his face, looking at Yugi a moment before speaking. "Yug'... You trash he- him, alrigh?" Before the teen could respond, he continued, smirking. "An jus' for me, make a comment on 'is 'estrogen' levels... I'm pretty sure that's the one that'll get a rise from 'm." He needed to pay attention to that science teacher though, he really did.

His friend blinked, raising an eyebrow before nodding regardless of understanding or not. "Alright," he decided. "I'll see you later, Jonouchi." With that, he left, Mokuba staring after him before turning up to Katsuya.

"Y-You... You too... Even though I told you... Even though you knew I was going to..." He shook, face screwed up in confusion as he cried. "I don't get it! Why! Why did you do that!"

The blond shrugged, smiling as he ruffled the kid's hair. "Cause you're a good kid, an' even though you did some extreme shit, yah didn't really know any better..." And if he did, he knew not to do that ever again. Or else. Katsuya sighed, letting the boy wipe his face on his sleeve before continuing. "You were scared righ'? An' yah didn' know who to hate." His voice was soft, knowing- a tone that he'd never used before, save back in 'Death-T 3'. "Somethin' tells me that, if I never met Yug', I'd have done a lot of the same thing's you did... Hell," he added with a harsh laugh, "I pretty much did tha' already!" Save the amusement park of horrors thing. All that aside though...

Mokuba looked up at him in disbelief, before turning away with a bit lip. "But... I tried to kill him..."

"But ya didn', right? An' yah won't do it again, not when y' really know what those words mean now..." At those words, Mokuba fell silent. How could he be so forgiving... How could he even say those things after all that had happened. "'Sides," he said with a soft smirk. "We live in the same house, it'd be pretty bad if I never forgave yah... You're like th' brother I never had right now, yah know? Plus..." He grinned. "Someone's gonna have tah knock some sense intah yer so-called 'brother' when Yug's done with 'm." A lot of sense. And it would involve one or two right hooks to the face.

The boy stared, unsure of what to say. Should he laugh..? Should he cry..? A piece of paper caught his eye, and with a jolt, he realized he'd dropped the picture he carried around since his sister's 'extra lessons'. "Oh..."

Katsuya looked at the image, blinking at the scene of Mokuba and his older sister playing chess at the orphanage. An honest, innocent smile was on the girl's face. One that betrayed any actions that she'd done that day, any resentment she'd developed. It... It couldn't be Kaiba though, right? "Is that..."

He nodded, looking over as Yugi entered the elevator and disappeared behind the doors. "K-Katsuya," he said, the teen jumping slightly as the boy used his first name. "Do you think... Yugi can..." He swallowed, still shivering from the events inside the box. "Even though the last time we played, he..." Locked you in a CapMon capsule? Well...

The blond nodded, standing up as he helped Mokuba to do the same. "Definitely," he said, leaving the unasked question answered in the same way. "If any one can," he continued with a determined gaze. "He will."

As they came to this conclusion, Katsuya pulled out a phone, one of the guards he'd left behind suddenly checking himself over with shock. "What the," he said from across the pair. "My phone's gone!" Yea, and so was their security pass. Take that.

Katsuya began dialing the hospital, pausing a moment before he looked down to Mokuba. "Listen... Anzu an' I are gonna watch Yugi, make sure he does alright... But..."

He blinked, before his eyes widened in realization. "Death-T 3..." He nodded, frowning lightly before answering the silent question. "He's fine; the blocks stop falling after the door is sealed off. I'll go get him, understand!" Taking the nod from the teen as a 'yes', he fled, disappearing into the very elevator he'd entered the room in. Wow... He'd say it again, the kids had balls. A fewseconds after his own sister tried killing/maiming him, and he was already working at fixing things.

Now then, he thought as one of the guards came over to pull he and Anzu back up to Death-T 5. To find out how Yugi's grandpa is doing...

"Hanasaki," he said as the phone picked up, the young friend of Yugi's answering the hospital phone. "Any change?"


No matter how he looked at it from the crowds at the fifth level, the boy's answer from the other end was anything but good. Katsuya clicked the phone off in agitation, roughly handing it back to the guard he'd taken it from. This was not good... Not good at all.

Anzu looked at Katsuya worriedly. "How is he," she asked, still holding Tristan's now snoring baby nephew. "Will he... Will he be alright..?" No. No he wouldn't. His surgery was going to be hell, and so far the man showed no signs of improving.

He shook his head, frowning. Better not give out those specifics though. "I don't know," he lied, head bowed. "I tried Honda's cell too, but there's no answer... So I'll have to hope that Mokuba was right about the blocks..." As Anzu looked at him in confusion, he growled. "Damn it... We can't do anything more than watch Yugi's fight for now..."

The woman nodded, turning as the elevator doors opened and they stepped out to a space just behind the crowd. "Right..." Quick to accept that. Granted, there were guns against their backs again so really that was understandable. Maybe he should have asked Mokuba to do something about that before the kid left; but really, Honda took priority there.

Shouts filled the stadium, Katsuya watching as Kaiba and Yugi both walked into what appeared to be a domed arena. And a few seconds later, as the crowd went truly wild...

The final match had begun.


AN: Solid Vision! NOW FOR USE IN TORTURE CHAMBERS.

You know, for a guy who didn't want anything to do with military devices, Kaiba did an awful good job at making something that could easily be turned into one. Because when they say solid vision... THEY MEAN IT. And it's possible too; you use light in the right way, it actually will become solid. Granted... We are years and years away from THIS kind of solid tech... But hey, one word.

Lasers.

And to think, this crap all happened because Kaiba lost once. Talk about driving the future.

I feel like I killed the end of this chapter. ... Oh well. As a side note, in addition to my earlier (unanswered) challenge of 'Seto's Real Girl Voice' (In which I challenge you to find a song that you could picture the fem-Kaiba of this story singing. Not by lyrics, because really, Kaiba singing ANYTHING is OOC. But just the voice pitch.), I have a second question. After the last chapter, I wondered if I should have written out the scenes I skipped over in full. So now, I ask you guys this question:

'Should I write out those scenes and post them in a separate place just for scenes I should have written the first time around, but for some reason never did?'

This wouldn't just go for any scene either; it'd be the scene you wanted me to type, or the scene you were looking forward to that just... 'Never happened'.

EDIT: Hey guys; it's Usagi here for the Re-Edit! This contest is all closed up. Obviously the notes won't be changed from here on though, so you get to see how the process went with the fanfic... BUT...

For those wondering, the voice was decided on all the way ahead around chapter 70. It's the voice of Nana Osaki from the anime 'Nana'. Keep in mind that 'Nana' has two characters by the name 'nana' though; the one you're listening for has black hair.

And now...

Anonymous Review Response

From Iona again! (Between you and Jadej, I have some very very faithful readers... And it makes me so happy... ;;w;; ) Between you and me Iona, that amazing roller-coaster scene had the best way to win a game out of anything in terms of 'funny'. Ohhhh Hobson... There are times I wonder why you were hired...

I... I invoke emotions? (Yes! YES! I succeeded!) Poor Mokuba indeed. He get's better though... (Sadly his sister will miss just about everything that does it. Oh well...) ...Mostly. In my experience, Mokuba's behavior is actually not that unbelievable; snotty yes, but the fact that I can take it and make it believable to other people... It makes me feel really good about my writing, it really does. (But yea... Mokuba's behavior = Any 12 year old in his situation with cash. Seriously... O_O )

Thank you again for the incredible review Iona!


Usagi's Manga Guide/Corner

The section so incredible, that when Usagi couldn't think of a decent line last chapter it had Taffy saying 'WHAT HAPPENED'? To the point where in the Re-Edit, USAGI EDITED IT OUT! (Horrors of horrors!)


Holy inspiration batman! As stated above, all of the holographic technologies that Kaiba built were inspired by the first loss he genuinely had against Yugi; his punishment was being sealed in the realm of the cards for an unknown amount of time, during which they effectively tore the guy to bits. Yikes... If this is what happens when you steal, I'm becoming a nun.


When Yugi does his 'switch' in front of the others for the first time, his friends freeze up momentarily, but otherwise don't seem to really notice much difference; this is lampshaded a few times however... First one comes after the end of the last Death-T match, so I won't reveal that one. The second one however is far more apparent, taking place in Duelist Kingdom; after 'Yami' spends a good amount of time in control, he switches back to Yugi, with Jonouchi in particular finding himself a little unnerved by the extreme difference between the two. The 'lack of real notice' could be attributed to the situation though... At this point in Death-T, nothing really seems surprising anymore. You say holograms do real things? AMAZING. (Oddly enough, though I have to check again, I'm pretty sure that when the brain is that convinced someone is under attack, the body actually takes the injuries resulting... Hence Jonouchi bleeding. If not then... I'm wrong. Shoot.)


To be specific about the phone scene, Hanasaki states that Yugi's grandpa has 'gone into surgery', but they aren't sure if he'll live, as not only is he under enough pressure as it is, but the surgery itself is a highly risky process. Ahhh heart surgery...

Until next time guys!