I am sooo sorry for the HSM reference but seriously once you get to the 50s you start running out of chapter names :P Also my step sister just came in showing me stuff for her musical with is HSM so bam there was the idea! Enjoy the chapter~
"You know, I find it funny-" McGregor was saying, as he paused before his turn, "That we are in the best possible environment for your deck of spell casters, and yet you still can't get more than one pathetic monster onto the field."
Rose clenched her teeth, as much as she hated agreeing with her opponent, he was right. Their duel had not been all that interesting thus far, as Rose had been stuck against a wall from the very beginning. Every monster she pulled out was soon sent to the graveyard one way or another. It seemed that McGregor's deck was focused around destroying the opponent's monsters before they got a chance to attack, and that had happened every time. Rose's life points had been reduced to 1500, while McGregor's still sat high at 3200, and the girl was running out of ideas. Not only that, but Rose's mind was still on Joey, and he hadn't made an appearance since he stormed off before her duel. The last thing she wanted was one of her best friends to be annoyed at her, because she needed them all for support, especially in a tournament as tough as this one. She'd known that the Grand Championship was far above anything she'd done before, but she still got in fair and square, so she had hoped to at least win one round.
It appeared not.
Rose just glared across the field at him, "Just make your move."
Seems the duel was being held on the stage of the 'Magician's Mayhem' show, the spectators were sitting in the audience area, though there was only a small amount of people there. Most of the duel fans were still in the stadium, getting the run down of the two duels currently happening via the large screens, and Rose could see the cameras hovering nearby. She wasn't used to being filmed while duelling, but she tried not to get distracted by it, and kept her eyes on her opponent.
Sitting in the audience, Yugi was biting his lip. He could tell that Rose was off her game, and he too worried that it was because the girl had Joey on her mind. He'd said to her before the duel that the guy would calm down and then come to cheer her on, but he hadn't seen him yet. The spirit beside the boy was just as concerned, as his mind started to wander to the times when he had witnessed her duel previously. The last he had seen was her duel against Joey in order to get into the tournament, now that had been a stunner. She had shown so much passion and determination back then, just as Joey had; it had definitely brought out the best in both of them. Comparing that to the current duel, you'd almost think it wasn't the same person.
Before her duel against Joey, there had been a few just-for-fun duels at Yugi's house, but they had been light hearted and half-assed. The last serious duel that Rose would have had was...
Her duel against Mai.
An unwanted feeling of dread had suddenly pushed its way into the Pharaoh's chest, as he remembered the events of that week. He had not witnessed Rose's duel against Mai, but he knew she still had severe feelings of regret over it. After he had lost Yugi, Rose had promised him that they would get him back together, but then the Pharaoh had lost her as well. It wasn't something he wanted to think about, but the reminder sent his mind back to the time when he had felt more alone than ever. He had not been at all prepared for the consequences of activating that god forsaken card, and he could still feel the guilt that threatened to seep back into his senses, all for the boy that sat beside him at that very moment.
Yami had been a completely different person after that duel, outwardly hating himself and shutting out the gang when they tried to help. He knew now that he had only been making things worse for himself, but at the time, all he knew was emptiness, as the puzzle around his neck no longer tied him to his other half.
And then there was Rose.
She had been the first person to come over after he lost that duel, and though he couldn't stand for everyone to see him in such a state, she had managed to calm him down enough to get him to his feet. Rose seemed to have a natural gift for dealing with people, for she always knew the perfect things to say, and always made sure that everyone was content. He still remembered the relief that swelled within him when she finally woke up after all their friends' souls were returned, just as when Yugi had been returned to him. It was odd, he thought, how close they had gotten when he was just a simple spirit, sharing a body with a seventeen year old boy. Though, Rose being able to see him certainly helped, and he assumed that their connection to the past had just drawn them together.
But there was something else. Something that the Pharaoh had been suppressing, so much so that Yugi wasn't even aware of it. It made him think of the chaos they had gone through a matter of weeks ago. Their battle against Dartz's Laviathon had certainly been a tough one, and despite the fact that Rose did not have a Legendary Knight of her own, she had fought bravely beside them, and helped out whenever she could.
"I won't-" Rose grunted as she pulled on his arm, "let you...get consumed-" she was then able to grab hold of his waist, "by the beast!"
The pharaoh had been so distracted by the Laviathon, that he hadn't even stopped to think of the reality of what they were doing.
"Grab me!" she suddenly demanded, wrapping her arms around his waist in a constricting hug. Yami was caught by surprise, but upon looking over his shoulder and seeing the oncoming threat, he complied, holding her as tight as he could manage, and hoping that the Millennium Heart would know what to do. For a moment it seemed like it was working, until the Pharaoh felt a tendril grab onto him, and he let out a startled gasp. Rose's eyes flew open and she noticed that the Heart shield was only surrounding her, and the several tendrils were now on them, prying Yami from her arms.
"No!" she grabbed onto him tighter, "Why isn't the heart protecting you?!"
The Pharaoh could still remember the panic that had flooded through him as he grasped onto the back of her shirt, the Laviathon prying them apart.
"I don't know," he rasped in her ear, as the tendrils wrapped around his body, "But you're our only hope."
"Wait!" Rose shrieked, but Yami was torn from her arms, "Pharaoh!"
He could almost feel his heart pounding rapidly as it had been back then, as the memory resurfaced. Now that he was thinking into it, had it been from fear, or something else?
McGregor then let out a very loud and obnoxious laugh, and the Pharaoh's eyes focused on the stage once more, feeling slightly guilty; he really should be paying attention to the duel. Rose had just summoned another monster to the field, which McGregor was currently laughing at. Come on Rose, he thought. This isn't like you.
"ROSE HENDERSON!"
The handful of people in the audience suddenly turned their heads at the outburst, as murmurs swept through the crowd. Even McGregor had stopped to gape at the man stalking down the aisle of seats towards the stage. Yugi had only just turned around when he saw Joey walk past him, a determined yet annoyed look on his face. The girl in question was blinking at him in confusion.
"I leave you for twenty minutes and you start duelling like some empty shell?!" he demanded. Rose took a step back as each word hit her, she had never seen that look that Joey was giving her now. "You entered this tournament to see how far you could go, and you defeated me to do it, now get your ass into gear already! I won my duel, so if you start playing with some heart, you'll win yours, too!"
Rose looked almost shocked at first, as she stared at her friend in the audience, before something seemed to click. She set her jaw, and nodded, before turning back to her opponent, and drawing her next card.
...
"Don't you dare scare me like that again," Joey was saying as they left the 'Magician's Mayhem' arena. Rose had managed to win her duel, but it was by the skin of her teeth. Almost as close as her and Joey's duel, only not quite as exciting. Brad had shown up to cheer her on as well, but decided to stand a fair distance away from the gang, so as not to cause any trouble. Of course the guy knew that Rose's friends weren't fond of him, but Rose only hoped they would come around when they realised they were being silly.
As they were walking back into the stadium, the next round of duels were being announced, none of which involved anybody they knew. As Rose and Joey would not have to duel again until tomorrow, the gang decided to sit in the stadium until it was time for Rebecca to duel.
Just as they were sitting down though, Rose was informed she was needed back up in the tower. After telling Seto she would head up, she apologised to the group, and promised to be as quick as possible.
The walk over to the tower wasn't all that long, and Rose was thankful for the time to wind down after such a frustrating duel. She knew that she did not perform her best when her mind was elsewhere, but what happened with Joey really bothered her. After everything that had happened since she woke up in that hospital, coming here and making friends was beyond incredible, and in the time that she had known the group she had grown very close to all of them-especially Joey and Yugi.
Joey - the guy was practically like a brother to her. It wasn't long ago when he had held onto her as tears soaked the shoulder of her jacket; the day that they had lost Yugi to the Orichalcos.
She would hate for her relationship with Joey to be ruined by something as silly as missing his duel, which is why it had bugged her so much during her own duel. Hopefully now though, she could put everything aside and focus on getting as far as she could.
"Your friends aren't very fond of me, are they?"
Rose stopped. Turning to her right, she saw Brad leaning against the outer wall of the stadium, giving her an unsure smile. He seemed to have a sort of goofy boyish charm to him that amused her, and she couldn't help but let out a small laugh. As he pushed off the wall and walked over to her, Rose tried to word her sentence carefully. "They're just...unsure of you, because they don't know anything about you. That always unsettles people."
"And what about you?" he asked lightly, looking down at her. "What do you know?"
Rose thought for a moment, "I know that you're a journalist, you're interested in duel monsters..." as her sentence ended, she bit her lip, realising she had nothing else to say.
Brad folded his arms, "So not very much." He then let out a laugh, "How about we change that?"
Rose cast a quick glance behind her, "I can't now, I need to head up to the tower. I am still working, technically." She gave him an apologetic smile.
"How about this then," Brad wagered, "I'll walk you to the tower, and we can play a quick game of 20 questions along the way."
Rose thought about it for a moment, "Yeah, alright."
It was only a five minute walk over to the tower and up the stairs, but that gave them more than enough time to learn a few things. Rose now knew that Brad's favourite duel monster was the Five Headed Dragon, he'd been studying journalism while working at the grocery store back in Australia, and that though he wasn't all that good of a duelist, he could still be quite competitive.
They were walking up the stairs to the tower when Brad asked his next question. "Have a crush on anyone?"
Rose's eyebrows suddenly went up, and she looked to the side to try and hide whatever expression had just appeared on her face. There definitely was a person who came to mind, but that whole situation was bound to cause her trouble. Especially since he was just a mere spirit, and only a handful of people actually knew that he existed.
"Uh-no." She tried to give Brad a convincing smile when she looked back at him, but he raised an eyebrow.
"Somehow I doubt that," he said, almost smirking. Rose threw her arms wide, asking why he didn't believe her. "Why have you suddenly stopped then?" he asked, and Rose realised she had indeed stopped walking up the stairs upon being asked that question.
"Seto was talking to me," she responded lamely, pointing to her earpiece. She was then reminded of how for her duels she had to remove said earpiece, so that there was no possibility that anyone could be feeding her information while she was duelling. She'd remembered to take it out for her duel with McGregor, but she still feared she'd forget next time.
Brad simply shrugged, "Alright, you're a terrible liar though."
Rose blew a purposeful huff of air through her nose, before moving to continue her trek up the stairs. The minute she took a step though, her foot caught on the stair and she stumbled. Brad had quickly caught her by the arm, but as she was lifting herself back up, he noticed something. Her leather jacket had slipped off her left shoulder, and he could see something shiny and gold sitting against her chest.
...
With a grateful sigh, Rose closed the door between the game shop and the residence within. It had been a big day, and she couldn't wait to sit and relax with Yugi in the living room like they'd made a habit of in the past weeks. The last rays of the sun were disappearing over the horizon, sending pink and orange streaks through the clouds, which had made for a relaxing ride home. She placed her helmet in its spot by the door and kicked her shoes off, just as her always smiling housemate appeared. "Hey Yug," she greeted him as she drew off her jacket.
"Rose," he said, sounding somewhat surprised. "It's almost seven, we were wondering where you were."
She could see the crease in his forehead, showing that he had been worried, and she waved him off. "Don't worry I just got held back at the tower. Doesn't help that Seto was annoyed at my timing, either."
Yugi turned his head to the side slightly as Rose plopped down on the couch, and he followed, "What do you mean?" Rose then noticed the very feint image of the Pharaoh perched beside Yugi, and she smiled.
"Oh, Brad just walked me to the tower, but we...ended up playing a game of 20 questions. Took up a bit more time than I anticipated," she explained.
Yugi had noticed how the Pharaoh was only partly listening to the conversation, his mind obviously elsewhere, but the boy then noticed a wave of something surge through their link, just as the Pharaoh disappeared back into the puzzle. What was that? He then looked back over to Rose, who seemed to be fiddling with the jacket in her lap.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She looked up at him again as if just noticing that he was there, "Yeah, fine. I just...need a good rest before tomorrow I think. That hacker is back, and we're trying to figure out what the hell they're trying to do."
Yugi questioned her about her workload for a bit, until they decided to wind down and watch a movie. The whole time though, Yugi was getting worried. Not only because of whatever was up with Rose, but because a certain spirit had buried himself so far within the walls of the puzzle that Yugi feared he'd done something to upset him. Usually, all he had to do was think of the Pharaoh, and the man would be there to talk to Yugi. But now, he wasn't.
Yooo!
Forgive me for being a terrible person and coming up with 3892868745 new story ideas and thus not adding to my old ones BUT I CAN'T HELP IT OKAY I HAVE A REALLY BORING JOB SO I JUST THINK ABOUT SCENARIOS ALL DAY.
But as I say every time, this story being my baby, I'm always going to come back to it, fret not! While I'm back in the swing of things for this story I'll try and get a head start on the next chapter, but as I say this I have...*checks* six other documents open soooooo yeah xD Bare with me, but I'm getting there.
Thanks for all the reviews by the way, too. Usually it'll be when I see them pop up in my emails that I go ooh I should add to that xD
Hope you guys liked the chapter! xx