A/N- WOW! Do you guys realize how long it's been? 5 months! Wow. I sure got caught up in life. But now I'm back to pollute fanfic with my awful writing. I wonder if anyone even remembers this...
Disclaimor- I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! But neither do you!
I stared disdainfully at my ring and sighed as I saw Anzu also give up and walk away.
Jounochi, Yuugi and Honda continued to try to move the boulder to no avail, but they were stubborn.
Going back the way we came was an impossibility considering how dark the path had become and I was wary of using the ring again. I did not trust the power surge it gave me or the one who had recommended its use. The arrogance, the feeling of control, those were traits of Spirit. Acting out those traits was one thing, but when I started to feel those things myself...it was wrong. I could not become Spirit himself now that I was free.
Then there was Zorc. I could not take his disappearance for granted; I was not completely sure what had happened to him after last night. He said nothing could be taken without giving something in return, and I did not want to sacrifice my heart to the darkness for this power. Could that have been his real plan? To have me use the Shadow Powers until I was so far in debt that I had no choice but to bind myself to him? To let myself be bound and gagged in the back of my own mind and have control over my life lost again? I couldn't let it happen.
I watched as everyone, even little Yuugi, tried his hardest to free us, while I just stood here. But I knew my small strength would do nothing, we had no hope using brute strength against the rock, and the only thing I could do might end my life.
So I would let my friends die in here with me because of my cowardliness? If only I had not messed with the ring, then the spiritual pressure left behind by Spirit would show a way out and to Pegasus's castle, now it only led to Jounochi.
A sudden realization hit me. Perhaps I could simply remove my will from the ring and it would take over where Spirit left off. I closed my eyes and concentrated on letting go and letting Spirit's will take over.
NO!
I stopped suddenly, my heart pounding in my chest. I felt sweat run down my face and my breath come out in gasps. No. I couldn't. I can't do it. I'm free dammit. And Him. I could feel him in there. Strong, fierce, overbearing and waiting to swallow me. How could I just give up to him when I finally have my chance? I WON'T!
I tried to calm myself, but my heart continued to race. Was I shaking? No, that would be ridiculous and of course that was just more sweat on my cheek. The mere memory of Spirit's old dominating presence wasn't enough to bring me to tears. I was not that pathetic...
I was being irrational. He wasn't there; he was in the Shadow Realm. Plus, it was not really giving into him, just not taking control of the situation myself. Besides, I had done the real thing before: let Spirit take over to do something I couldn't. Why not now, when there would be zero consequences? Because...back then I didn't see any hope. I would always be at the mercy of Spirit, he would always be there doing as he pleased, so why not use it to my advantage? Why not ask for favors and let the consequences come, if they would most likely come anyway?
Now it was different. Now only I controlled my life. To give into anything, even something so small, when I didn't have to, when I had that hope, to be only and completely me...It would...I would...
"Shit! It just won't move! We're just going to have to find a different way out!"
"How can we possibly find another way out!? The cave is pitch-black and booby-trapped by Pegasus?"
I would be a gutless coward if I did anything less.
This time I closed my eyes and let go of everything. I could feel Spirit's will still living strong within the ring, barely muffled by mine and nowhere near being completely suppressed. It was like sharks' teeth, a thousand of them below me, gnashing and biting and waiting to tear me apart. The worst part of it was that it felt so smug, just like he was. He always knew I would come crawling back to him. That I would let myself be used, if it meant I did not have to take control of the situation myself. That damn self-assurance, he knew I couldn't do it...and I accepted that. I gave up any control I had tried to establish in the ring and let what was left of him resume his position of dominance. I was no more.
The ring levitated and gave forth a golden light. All the spikes rose and began to pull down a path and I began to follow.
"It is this way to Pegasus's castle," I told them, not stopping to explain what was going on. If they were smart, they would follow. They hesitated and started to ask questions but I cut them off with a quick, "Let's go!" and continued my stride, not missing a beat.
I did not want to think, I did not want to exist, all I wanted to do was to keep moving forward, even my reasons best left unremembered. I concentrated only on taking the next the step. No thoughts, no emotions, just. Step, step, step. The sound of my footfalls echoing in rhythm with my heartbeat. Step, step, step. Everything closed out around me and the steps became my existence. I began walking faster and the increased footfalls sped up with my heart. I continued running, more steps, more existence, faster and faster until I ran into a prism of light that woke me from my haze.
I began blinking rapidly at this new light. The thought, 'Is this the exit' passed quickly through my mind. The exit? Had that been what I was looking for? I was still staring dazed, as the others caught up and surrounded me. They looked into the light and shocked gasps filled the cave.
I calmed the ring until it rested gently on my chest and stared in amazement. We had not found the exit, or at least the one that led to the outside, but the way to a human-made room. A bright teal staircase with golden banisters led us down into the strange room. Instead of the jagged, natural cave walls we had been walking through, the room was made of smooth stone painted a bright red. The ceiling was a sparkling gold covered with large ceiling lights and the floor was a fluorescent green. At the far side of the room stood two doors, one with the kanji symbol 'Mei' and the other with the kanji symbol 'Kyuu'. The room seemed so bright and colorful after an hour spent in the gloomy cave; it almost hurt my eyes.
We stared dumbfounded at this room, which seemed too unreal to be true, when suddenly two men appeared. They used an elaborate display of flips and cartwheels until they reached the center of the room. They did not stop there however, mid-flip they began to kick and strike at each other, blocking and moving while still in the air, until they finally landed in front of us.
The two men were tall and seemed to be Chinese; on top of that, they appeared to be twins. They looked exactly alike, including the same shaven haircut and the same dark narrow eyes. Both stood side by side, arms crossed and glaring. There were only two ways to tell them apart. One wore orange traditional Chinese clothing, while the other wore the same outfit in green, the one wearing orange had the kanji symbol 'Mei' painted on his head in bold black, while the one in green had a similar tattoo that instead had the symbol 'Kyuu'.
"We are the Labyrinth Brothers: defenders of the Labyrinth!" they announced in union.
"Labyrinth Brothers!" Jounochi laughed. "What the hell is this, some kind of Hong-Kong movie?" he said, still laughing at how ridiculous the situation seemed.
"Lost ones, would you like to know-" The Mei brother began, "which is the right path?"
Kyuu finished in perfect rhythm with his brother. They did not wait for us to answer before beginning again. "In that case," Mei started once more. "For the answer," Kyuu continued. "You must defeat us in a duel," they said in perfect unison. As they spoke their final line, they jumped and did mid-air summersaults to the opposite side of the room.
The duo stood a few feet away from each other, a little away from the wall and appeared to be waiting for something. Suddenly, the middle section of the floor began to rise, including the part where the brothers were standing.
When the rubble and dust cleared, it revealed a giant duel arena. However, instead of the usual one-on-one stands, this arena had a spot for four duelists, one side with two places for the twins, and another for their opponents.
"Two duelists-" Mei began in his rehearsed tone. "Step forward!" Kyuu ended dramaticly.
Jounochi grinned at Yuugi confidently. "Guess that's us," he said, ready to take on the challenge.
Yuugi smiled back at his friend for a moment, and then touched the puzzle around his neck tentatively. A small glow appeared around it, almost unnoticeable, especially considering how my own special item reacted when in use. The glow lasted a moment, Yuugi inhaled what appeared to be the beginning of a sigh, and then it was his other half that exhaled. Yuugi's friendly smile was now an arrogant smirk.
"Alright Jounochi, beating these guys is all it takes to get to Pegasus, lets do this."
Yuugi's body-mate said without a trace of doubt in his abilities.
Soon after starting, the duel became another example of things that would not work in the original trading card game. The brothers beginning strategy was to turn the playing field into a labyrinth. How would that even work in a card game? Then Yuugi's dueler half's and Jounochi's monsters were forced to go through the maze in paces based on strength, while the twins were able to summon a monster that was able to skate across the labyrinth walls and go any where they commanded. How would that special ability even be useful without the holograms? Jounochi's Red Eyes Black Dragon was rendered useless, because a flying monster could not enter the labyrinth. There was even a card that re-arranged the structure of the labyrinth. The icing of the cake was at the end of the duel when Mei and Kyuu were able to summon the Gate Guardian that blocked the exit of the field labyrinth in an attempt to prevent our team from winning. What happened to life points? It was the same as it had been with the duel with the POD, when he used darkness to shroud his cards, it did not seem to make sense for a real card game. The more I watched, the more it seemed Pegasus created special cards for the sole purpose of giving him an advantage in the new holographic games. Was he cheating? Giving his Player Killers special cards to ensure Yuugi's loss? Would Pegasus really defile his creation in such a way?
Whether my theories were true or not, Yuugi's other self -with the combined efforts of Jounochi, was able to defeat the MeiKyuu brothers. He even used their methods against him, empowering a lightning attack by the water left behind from one of their attacks and using a card that traded the position of two monster cards, using it to have Yami's Black Magician and Jounochi's Red Eyes Black Dragon switch places. Now they finally had 10 star chips, and could challenge Pegasus.
Unfortunately, the twins interrupted our celebrations.
"I'm afraid the games aren't over quite yet." Mei said with malice. "You can have all the star chips you want, but that means nothing if you don't know the way out," Kyuu elaborated with a sneer. Our attention was brought to the two doors I had noticed earlier. They were both gold, but the one on the right had the symbol Mei painted in blue across it, while the one on the left had the Kyuu symbol painted on it in green.
"I suppose you guys aren't planning on telling us which door leads us out," said Yuugi's other half, who had remained in control. He was not even paying attention to the brothers, but already analyzing the doors.
"Finding the true door is part of the game that leads to the prize of escape," Mei answered.
"You guys are nuts!" Anzu yelled. The duo was beginning to get on everyone's nerves.
"You lost the game, so suck it up and tell us how to get out already!" From what I've seen of her, Anzu has proven to have a bit of a temper.
"So which door will it be?" They asked, completely ignoring her.
"I thought it might come down to this," the other Yuugi said with a sigh. "So we'll use these to decide" he said reaching into his pockets and pulling out two coins. One had Mei on it, the other Kyuu, just like the doors. He then put one coin in each hand and closed his fist around them. "I'm going to pick one of my hands and open it, the symbol on the coin in the hand still closed, will be the door I choose." It seemed like an odd strategy to use. Flipping a coin I would understand, it was a 50-50 chance, but this seemed so elaborate, and it's not as if he didn't know which coin was in which hand.
Tension filled the room as he debated which hand to open, our ability to leave this place rested on a coin. Finally, he opened his left hand.
"That's the Kyuu symbol!" The Kyuu brother shouted. "So you have chosen the mei door?" Yuugi's other half didn't answer; he just continued to smirk at the brothers, waiting for them to continue.
"The exit is in..." the Mei brother began. "The Kyuu door!!" The Kyuu brother finished as they broke into evil chuckles.
The smirk never left the other Yuugi's face. "I thought as much." he said. "There is no one real exit to this place. If I chose Mei, the exit would be kyuu, if I chose kyuu the exit would be Mei." He said sounding satisfied. I didn't understand why he was so happy.
Whether he discovered their plan or not it was too late. We were trapped.
"You rats did that!?" Jounochi yelled angrily. "God damn it! Give us a break already."
"It does not matter." The brothers said, speaking in unison again. "The fact is you have chosen wrong. We win the game."
Yuugi's body-mate let out a dark chuckle. "Sucks to be you," he said with a prideful grin stretched across his face. "I chose Kyuu" he said opening his hand. "This coin only had Kyuu on it, but the other coin had Mei and Kyuu on it," he said, pleased with himself.
"So I guess we just won the game," he said as strutted past the brothers to the Kyuu door and pushed it open as we followed.
A/N-So I'm back. Review and tell me if I should stay here.
