RN: Hey, look at that! Téa's got a little accent above the e! That does help things a smidge…

Téa: Duh I've got an accent over the e! If you owned Yu-Gi-Oh, you'd know that!

RN: Well, I don't, so I didn't. I only hope everybody hasn't been calling you

Marik: TEA GARDNER!

RN: because that'd just be hilarious. Like LittleKuriboh's stuff! Go watch it!

Special thanks to ultimatedragonballzfan for giving me a review for every chapter. I honestly didn't expect such devotion to my writing, so as a writer I especially appreciate it.

Ch. 9 The Clone

Seto Kaiba was in a bad mood.

He had a schedule for everything: which projects were happening, who he was meeting, when he was getting up, how he got ready for bed, where he would visit and when, even how long it took for him to eat.

So when he received a call in the middle of the night, just as he was finishing the final report of the day, telling him that several new imports were missing from the latest shipment, he was not happy. Not in the slightest.

He swore to himself to fire the manager of the imports the first chance he got as he drove down to the bay per the request of the agent already there. Normally, he would have sent someone else down in his place. But the agent had insisted, and Kaiba had specifically informed them never to insist unless it was absolutely important.

The agent hurried to greet the teenage CEO as soon as he stepped out of the car. Kaiba headed straight for the mound of crates stacked besides a large, dark ship, his pace unconcerned. Despite this, his stride was great, and the agent struggled to keep up. "We counted 352 crates upon departure, but when during unloading we counted only 348," he said quickly.

"What's missing?" Kaiba muttered.

"That's the strange part, sir—nothing is."

Kaiba stopped short and whirled around to face the agent. His eyes narrowed. "What?"

Not for the first time, Yugi was struck speechless with what lay before him. He couldn't tell whether to be awed…or horrified.

He did it, he thought to the Pharaoh. He actually did it.

Before him lay an enormous cylindrical tank that reached to the ceiling. Giant pipes and wires littered the floor, and all connected to the pod. Countless machines crowded the small corner, all running and beeping and blinking lights. Yet in full, unobstructed view, floating in a strange, green liquid, lay Yugi's clone.

Yugi barely heard the voices of his friend's reactions, or that of the professor trying to explain what he had done. He was aware of only the Pharaoh besides him, as equally raptured and dumbstruck. Slowly he took a step forward, then another step, and another step, until he was right next to the tank. Then, even more slowly, even as the Pharaoh mimicked his motion, he raised a hand and rested his palm against the cool, clear glass.

The likeness was so striking, if the clone's eyes were not closed Yugi would have sworn he was staring at a reflection. His clone was larger than he expected, and entirely (he noticed with a blush) naked. Wires were patched everywhere all along the body, however, and a great deal hid his (Yugi supposed he should call it a he) more private areas, to his relief. There was no mask to shield the fluid flowing into his lungs, yet his chest moved in and out, as if breathing. His hair drifted around his head yet, amazingly enough, still formed the characteristic spikes of black and red.

This is your body, Pharaoh, Yugi whispered in his mind. By the Puzzle, this is your body.

I would swear my eyes were deceiving me, if I did not know you were also gazing upon it, the Pharaoh murmured back. So this is what science can achieve these days?

The Pharaoh stepped closer, until his nose would be pressing against the glass. Somehow, he said slowly, it looks incomplete.

Yugi stole a confused glance at the Pharaoh before studying the clone a little more closely. After a few moments, he began to see the reason behind the Pharaoh's claim. Certain features of the face seemed softened, as if they were not full developed, and the fingernails seemed fused to the skin.

"Fascinating, isn't it?"

Yugi jumped when Keichi spoke, almost right next to him. Yugi gave a quick smile, but exhaled slowly to calm his rapidly beating heart. "I can't believe you actually did it, Professor. I mean…talking about it, it just seemed so…normal. But actually seeing it here…"

"I know." Keichi's face was an expression of giddy, contagious delight, and Yugi had to grin as well. "You see, the clone began as an embryo in a surrogate mother, a cow or sheep and such. When it was about infant size, I removed it and placed it in the container, and it's been growing here for the last five months."

"Five months?" Yugi repeated incredulously.

"I admit, I've been in a bit of a hurry as of late," Keichi said, putting an embarrassed hand to his head. He pointed to a clear tube embedded in the left arm vein of the clone. "But I've been feeding it an intravenous growth solution to speed the process, and it seems to have been working well, though I seem to have let it get a bit too far," he added, glancing apologetically at Yugi's lesser height. "I admit I couldn't find a specific reason to do so other than the fact that modifying your proportions is more efficient for the entire process…"

Though dry-mouthed, Yugi managed to give a soft chuckle of laughter. "Believe me, Professor, it works out better than you realize."

His throat caught at the end of the sentence, and he swallowed. "It's not…ready, is it?"

"Not quite. But give it two weeks, three, and the growth process will be complete, and the Pharaoh will be able to have his own body at last."

Yugi fell silent as he allowed this information to settle in. Even if it's three weeks, that seems so soon…

Professor Keichi sighed, then took off his glasses and wiped them. "Listen, Yugi," he said quietly, returning them to his face. "I can understand if this makes you nervous. I certainly hope you don't, but I will of course understand if you have doubts even now."

Yugi could feel Keichi's glance on him, but though he wanted to reassure the professor, he didn't want to say anything yet. Instead, he glanced sidelong to see the Pharaoh's reaction. The spirit was still gazing at his to-be body. A heavy look had come over his expression, one that could almost be called worry. In concern, Yugi expressed a small questioning ripple through their link, and was surprised to feel the Pharaoh jump in response, as if startled. The dead king looked back at Yugi, inquiry at the disturbance following through.

Pharaoh?

The Pharaoh cast his eyes downwards, then gazed back at his clone. Yugi… he said slowly, and Yugi was startled to hear his tone, soft and wavering. Are you certain we are right to do this?

Pharaoh, we can't back out now.

Can't we? Perhaps we were fools to accept in the first place.

Pharaoh, we've been over this, many times. We decided we would go through with it. At the very least, it'd be rude to Keichi-san to decline now.

The Pharaoh laughed bitterly. Rude…yes. Never mind the danger to ourselves, at least we'll risk our souls politely.

A flicker of offense shot briefly through Yugi. That's uncalled for, Pharaoh, he responded quietly.

The Pharaoh sighed. Silence stretched on for a few seconds, during which Yugi felt a slight apology through their link. When I first heard of the idea, it was so preposterous it felt easy to accept. But seeing the clone here, now, undeniably right in front of me, and only in the matter of a few months…Not only that, but knowing that in two, three weeks, my soul, my soul, will be transferred from you to within that body and animate its flesh…

The Pharaoh turned his head to the side, away from Yugi, and said, very, very quietly, I do not deny that it frightens me.

At that, Yugi took a moment before murmuring, Me too.

Joey watched Yugi converse with the Pharaoh, invisible to him, yet undoubtedly there. He saw the range of emotions flickering across Yugi's face as their silent talk went on, and with the way the teen's brow creased Joey could guess at the nature of a few expressions. Clearly the Pharaoh was having a couple second thoughts at this whole clone business.

Good, Joey thought. Maybe he can talk a little sense into m'man Yug. Yugi could go ahead and clone himself; he learned a long time ago that Yugi was starting to make his own decisions, and it was his responsibility as his best friend to support him.

But never for one second did that mean he had to like it. And besides, the Pharaoh wasn't in that clone yet.

When he first laid eyes on the clone, Joey couldn't tell what to think. He was shocked. Yes, he was shocked that the clone even existed. But that wasn't what disturbed him. It wasn't the scientist's smile of pride as he looked over his creation, like those mad scientists in the movies. It wasn't even that the clone was a spitting image of his dearest friend, so that if the spiky-haired teen hadn't been in the room right then Joey would have sworn it was Yugi himself floating in the tank.

No, what disturbed Joey was that he was actually impressed…of all things, impressed…with what the scientist had done. It had taken him a few minutes to put his finger on the odd feeling, but when he realized what it was, his disgust for the blue-haired Dartz look-alike deepened further.

He had seen Tristan and Téa's reactions from the sidelong view. Tristan had been less concealing of his amazement (rather than dislike, which was what Joey had been hoping for) and had even started to take a few steps forward to get a closer look before stopping, as if to give Yugi time alone, so to speak, with the clone. He was more satisfied with Téa, who had slowly begun to edge away from the tank, a look of uncertainty in her expression. He doubted she even realized she was doing it. But then he saw her fighting her reservation, replacing it with that faithful strength she always managed to find.

Joey resisted the urge to kick something. Fer Chrissakes, am I the only rational being around here? Can't they see this Keichi guy's luring them in? He's a frickin' angler fish, that's what he is!

He needed to blow off some steam. He needed to move away, at least to a spot where he couldn't see the clone anymore. It was sending chills down his spine. He stormed off to the side, ignoring the concerned whisper of "Joey!" from Téa. As he moved away from them, he heard Tristan murmuring to the others, probably giving some sort of excuse for what he was doing, maybe a suggestion to leave him alone.

Fine. He wasn't sure he could talk to anyone without yelling, anyways.

He wandered through the cabinets, not caring where he was heading, as long as it was in the other direction of the greenish glow. Too many bad memories, too many bad feelings. The winding, baffling maze of papers and files weren't helping either. Everywhere he turned there were more files, more cabinets. God, he felt like he was suffocating! Couldn't they have rented bigger space?

Maybe he could head back to the elevator…Joy turned in what he figured was the direction they had come, and tried to ignore the glow creeping in from the corner of his eye. He quickened his pace, seeing that the file cabinets were thinning out. Finally…He passed through the last row.

He sighed in relief at the sight of the elevator doors just ahead. Striding forward, he reached out a hand to push the elevator button, when he caught something in the other corner of his eye and hesitated. Looking to his right, he saw another door, beyond which laid what looked like another room. The door was slightly open, though the lights were turned off inside.

Joey checked behind him to see if any of the group had followed, and seeing no one, tiptoed to the door. He slowly edged it open and slipped inside, feeling the walls for a light switch. When his fingers brushed against one, he flipped it, and screwed his eyes shut as the lights, brighter than he expected, immediately illuminated the room.

When his eyes finally adjusted, he let out a low gasp. The room was filled with desks and computers. Extra file cabinets were there, yes, but not nearly as many as in the other room. Each desk looked like its own privatized workspace.

There are more people here, Joey realized. But where could they all be?

Joey froze as behind him, quite suddenly, a voice said dangerously, "It's rude to snoop, you know."

Joey whipped around, his heart catching at the sight of Professor Keichi standing in the doorway.

He'd been caught. And from the angry expression on Keichi's face, it didn't look like the professor was in a forgiving mood.

RN: *sniff* I've got only 34 reviews…I don't know if that's enough to keep me going…I can feel my imagination failing…No…motivation…Losing…confidence…Save me…by…reviewing…so that I can get you a new chapter! *loses consciousness*