[On Track]

Disclaimer: ...Do you seriously not know the copyright information by now? Must I spoon feed you every time?

Narrator's Note: I could tell you why this chapter took so long to update, but that's a story for another time. Three stories to be exact. What matters now is it's here and you [4filter]s finally get to see who Amy's opponent will be. The first part of her first duel. Was it worth the wait? Phsssed. Like I know the answer to that.


Chapter Eleven – Panic Attack: "'I feel...I feel so alone.'"

Alternate Titles: The Chapter that took Three Months to Write, Unexpected Enemy, Amy Understands the Weird [4filter] Duelists Do


Well poised, Croquet was the first to speak up. "Due to Miss Amy's lack of Star Chips, the rules state that she should be placed on the first boat leaving the island immediately."

Amy didn't bother to think of a come back to that. No matter what quick witted retort she thought of it wouldn't change the fact that she was stranded on a Duel Ring. No matter how much she eyed the ring, she couldn't figure out how to get down. So Amy kept her lips closed and settled for starring at Croquet and the oversize screen of his boss.

The inevitable "However" was next. "Master Pegasus has kindly offered to give Miss Amy a second chance, should she duel and win against her opponent."

"So that's all I have to do, duel and leave?" Her eyes narrowed down to the card bag on her hip. "What if I said no?"

"Should you refuse the offer, you will be escorted from Mr. Pegasus's property promptly."

Unzipping her pouch, Amy let out an annoyed groan. "Fine. Where's my opponent?" It was the first time in a while she had even taken out her cards. Where so many cards looked crisp and clean, hers were raggedy, with edges damaged by the elements. She couldn't count how many times they had to be peeled apart wet. "Who's the poor sucker."

Pegasus regained his composure, promptly straightening himself in his chair. While there was a distinct pass of exhaustion in his features, he otherwise looked like the CEO Amy knew him to be. "Now, now, don't get ahead of yourself my dear. I swear one minute you're wallowing in your own fear and the next you're incredibly violent."

"Hypocrite." she muttered back.

"It's simply not that simple! I can't you just let you back into the tournament you see, there's just no way I can add a new contestant once it's already begun."

Normally, in this situation, the protagonist would say something stupid like "What?!" or "But you just said...?", rather than let his counterpart finish the riveting speech. But Amy knew better, speculating that Croquet's well rehearsed lead in wasn't for nothing. 'But man, do these guys sure strive for drama. It's almost as if I'm in a show that needed to keep the audience's attention, so everything sounds overly wordy like a sales pitch.' thought the gir-.

...Oh [4filter]. She knows my secret. I guess I'll just have to kill her character before she discovers the fourth wall and breaks the boundaries of the multiverse. Or worse. Turns this into a reverse insert fic.

'But that'd be just silly.' she finished, wrapping up her thought.

Well drat, I suppose I don't have to kill her then. I was quite looking forward to it too.

"You'll be dueling for a different position!~" Pegasus chirped, in his own fabulous 4kids way. "If you win this, you'll be dueling for me. As an eliminator."

Amy broke inside, her previously distracted thought now snapped back to attention. Her? An Eliminator? That was not part of the plan. "Oh, hey no! I'm not doing that Marshmallow Head!" she growled, replacing hell with hey in some futile attempt to watch her language.

Pegasus shrugged. "That's fine, decline then. I'll just have you shipped off the island and entertain my eliminator elsewhere. Like say," the screen that had previously displayed Pegasus's ugly mug now showed the map of the island. It began to zoom in to a heavily forested area, and like a pop up, another screen appeared. This one had stats on it, displaying Yugi and Weevil's current battle information. A trap card appeared on the field under Yugi's picture, and Weevil's life points began dropping rapidly. "the Forest Arena? I think it would be a nice twist to an otherwise boring outcome." Pegasus's voice got deeper, more menacing, the tactful CEO momentarily erased by the lonely lovesick plotter. "Don't you?"

Her eyes only widened in horrible realization. The words "You wouldn't." stupidly slipped out of her mouth in disbelief, when we all know he would.

Pegasus appeared back on the screen, face exaggerated as if he had just been struck with a good idea. His voice had functioned back to it's playful CEO tone, while he continued mocking the girl. "There's no need to wait for the dark of the night to send my Eliminators after Yugi, and that blond boy. The one with the sister?" Now he had switched his target to Joey, another necessary piece in the game. And, right now, a more vulnerable one.

A laugh, a violent laugh, arose from the other side of the ring. A deep voice echoing through the cave sounding like David Moo. The platform shook at first, then began to grind emitting some eerie mechanical noise. "This is it? This is my first victim?" Amy knew she felt her eyes flicker, a sweat break across her face. Somewhere in her memories, she knew that sadistic voice. Or, at least she would. It was suppose to be a few more hours before she first came face to face with it.

The man, dressed from his grimy head to toe in the darkest colors, made eye contact with his victim the moment his head slid into view, a slimy look in his eyes. Each eye had a line – whether it was a scar or not, Amy couldn't tell – crossing down to his sicking grin. In a way, he kind of a twisted clown. PaniK.

The dark player killer.

"So which is it? Are you going to duel me? Or do I need to find another victim to play with." PaniK smirk, the disgusting smile maintaining on his face.

"It's all up to you Amy, dear." Pegasus interrupted, which PaniK didn't seem to take kindly too. Regardless, seeing as he was the boss, the sliver haired billionaire continued without seeming to notice. He turned the side slightly and put his finger on his chin. It would look to anyone like he was thinking, and playing koi about it. "I guess I forgot to mention how big a price there is on Yugi-boy's head. An extra bonus in their paychecks you could say. But..." he shrugged his shoulders. "If you don't want to duel I'm sure..."

"Oh shut up!" she howled back. He knew perfectly well she could refuse with those kinds of threats. The Duel Ring registered her deck as she shuffled and placed it on the surface. 'I don't like this one bit. I never thought out of all the people, Pegasus would be the one to back me in a corner. I thought he'd be so focused on Yugi and Cecelia he'd forget about us.'

PaniK also placed his deck on the Ring. "Oh you will? Wonderful!" Pegasus meanwhile show exaggerated shock and excitement. "I just knew you'd see it my way." He clapped his hands with a tried smirk. "Let the games begin."

"Are you ready, girl? You'll be the start to my reign of terror." PaniK drew his cards slow, savoring every moment he thought would endue fear into her. "There's no better feeling then watching a duelist squirm beneath my gloves."

'And I never dreamed he'd sick this sicko on us.'

She didn't say anything at first. Thinking about dueling PaniK threw a wave of uneasiness over Amy. Perhaps it was the difference between watching from a far, and seeing right in front of her eyes, just like with the life sized monsters in the duel ring, that was overwhelming. In person, PaniK leaked a heaviness of malevolence, violence, and the worst part, uncaring. Even if she hadn't witnessed his duel with Yugi in her vision, the sheer tremor of carelessness could be sensed from even this far away. And if it person doesn't care, they lack a conscience. Without a conscience, there was nothing standing in the way. But Amy's eyes hardened.

That very feeling that bestowed this natural fear that left another mark behind. A feeling that she would never loose to someone like this. A surge of anger, mixed with determination clashed with her fear. And there was a gut feeling left behind, one that made it clear that Amy wasn't allowed to give him any satisfaction. She would achieve complete and total victory. She wouldn't dare show PaniK any fear.

For the first time, Amy understood why duelists pointed to their opponents. Her arms raised as she lifted her hand towards PaniK, singling him out from the rest of the world. A direct decoration from her to him. "Listen good you psychotic frig. Don't try to believe for a second that you're anything but a coward, and if you want to use your sick tricks, then do it. Because I won't loose to you, not now not ever."

As she spoke, PaniK's grin started to fall, in awe of the strong words being emitted his way. But that didn't last long, soon regressing back to its original state. "That's a lot of big talk for such a small prey. Clearly you don't know what you're up against when you duel me." She saw his hand move along the Ring. In mere moments, her legs were trapped by metal anklets, grasping tightly around her ankles. 'Its the same thing he did to Yugi. And Mai. That means...' On the other side of the field, PaniK pushed a button saying, "When you play with me, watching weak duelists struggle is more than just dueling – there also the thrill of the hunt. And I just love to watch my prey squirm."

That was when Amy felt the heat of the flames shoot across her sides. The devices that shot those flames came from the Duel Ring, adjusting their target at the girl. 'I knew it!' Heat to her left, right, heat all around her Amy tried to defend her face from the fire by crossing her arms protectively above her head – and feeling the flames barely lick the side of her arms.

Though Amy had used pretty words, the truth was she felt her heart in her throat. Although she did everything possible to withhold the expression, terror was bubbling up inside her. The last time the girl had been this close to fire, it was wild and unbiased, destroying everything in its path. It wasn't there with intention to destroy things, it was just doing what it was born to do - keep burning. But this fire was different, it was aimed with the only intention to injure. Or worse. She closed her eyes, knowing that looking would only feed her fear, and hopped the situation would pass. When she tried to shift her body and move her legs, the ankle traps was just the reminder she needed. If he wanted too, he could kill her.

Finally, the danger passed, the heat of the flames receding. Amy opened one eye reluctantly, only to see PaniK laughing. "Where's all that big talk now? Or are you too scared to even comprehend what I'm saying?"

She tried to compose herself, "Sorry PaniK, your game doesn't scare me. Horror games have never scared me. I hate games that cram pantie shots and displaying organs on the wall in the same five minutes, but more than that I hate intimation horror." Amy straightened, crossing her arms. "After a few minutes it just becomes boring." Her heart pounded with every word.

His face lacked amusement. "We'll see how boring it becomes when you're begging me for your life." PaniK picked a card out of his hand, and laid it horizontal on the table. "My 'Castle of Dark Illusions' will do just that." the Castle floated above their heads, still at first, then a dark cloud began to leak from it. "Prepare for a darkness, thick and dangerous like you've never seen before."

"I can't see his monsters." Amy squinted at the opponent's screen now covered in a thick coating of black. And on the field, the darkness spread across both corners until there was a wall of thick black fog. 'Yugi defeated PaniK with the 'Swords of Revealing Light'. I have one of those but...' she glanced over to her deck laying helpless on the table top, 'I don't know where it is. I've got to find another way around his 'Castle'. What do I have that can stand up to his monsters.' Amy hoped her hand had the answer.

'Ancient Brain' (1000/700), 'Fairywitch' (800/1000), 'Driving Snow', 'Fiends Hand Mirror', 'Armored Lizard' (1500/1200)

She bit her lip. There was nothing here that could destroy the 'Castle' and even more so, nothing that could reach it. It floated high up to the top of the cave, hovering there in all its glory. 'At least the field power bonus from the cave should be able to help me keep afloat.' Amy picked up her 'Armored Lizard' and placed in on the field. "I'm not afraid of the dark PaniK! I play my 'Armored Lizard' in defense mode."

"If you're not afraid of the dark, then why are you cowering from it?" Only the gleam from PaniK's eye, fulled with ill intent could be seen through the shadows. The sound of a monster being placed on the field echoed though the cave – and Amy instinctive squinted, trying to seen what it was. The white of his grin could be seen for a brief second, before 'Armored Lizard' was swallowed by a dark cloud that shout out from his side of the field, engulfing the reptile and dragging it back. Sicking noises of cracking and crunching rose from the cloud. Amiee brought her hand to her mouth in horror, while Amy only flinched.

"And thus ends the life of my first victim."

This sicko. "H-Hey!" A stutter escaped her. She was almost too afraid to make the words. It seemed like, just like in the duel with Weevil, the monsters were real. Life like. And that was all the more terrifying. They would be coming for her next. Amy couldn't help but hesitate.

But hesitation was a sign of fear! And she had vowed not to show any fear to this psycho, as it would only indulged his sadistic hopes.

Amy pinched herself under the table, digging her nail into her flesh – hoping that she would be able to shake this horror though some other stimulus of pain. "What about my field power bonus? Caves should give to reptiles and rock monsters!"

"You didn't know? The darkness from my castle eliminates all other field power bonuses, leaving my prey to struggle and fight all on its own. So no matter how much you fight the darkness, it can still reach you, isolate you from the light."

'He... he's right. Shoot! I completely forgot! I was so busy worrying about PaniK, I let something I knew already slip by me.' Amy drew her next card reluctantly. 'I don't know why I'm so scared... I've never been attacked like this before. And I feel... I feel so alone, being scarred and not having any of the others here.'

'But Amy, I'm here.' Amiee cut in.

'We share the same body Amiee, so there's nothing we can do to help each other. Whatever happens to me happens to you. I know you're there Amiee, and I know I'm not really alone, but not having anyone on the sidelines means there's no one to help us if we need it. I wish – I wish Yugi was here.' Amy felt herself tearing up. Thinking about it – being all alone in this dark place, if PaniK chose to really eliminate her, no one would know. If he set her on fire no one would be there to put it out. There was no one else.

All those times she thought how pointless it was to have people cheering on the sidelines, now she was starting to understand why. Amy wished she had that right now. It was such a small detail that while watching Yugi's story played by, she always thought was meaningless. All those unnecessary speeches about having friends by his side that Yugi and Téa spat out constantly – they did nothing. But watching it was different than feeling it. More than ever, Amy wished she had a friendship speech to fall back on.

.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Weevil gasped. So did Mai, wide eyed and colored mouth agape. They couldn't believe the look on Yugi's face, widely confident and undoubtedly cunning. And for good reason too. Mist covered the field, a golden square lighting up. It flashed, color thick through the mist. Weevil's showed the fear it deserved. A drop of water dripped into the square. "Everything's wet." his eyes drifted up to his enormous virtual bug spreading its wings out on the field. "My 'Great Moth' is totally soaked."

Dripping wet, the moth flapped it's wings in slow motion. Compared to the creature standing in front of it, the month might have well been a saggy puppy. "And my 'Summoned Skull' attacks with electricity. Making your waterlogged bug a giant sized lighting rod." Yugi was so kind to point out, as if no one else understood the laws of nature. (What he should be pointing out is something no one actually understood – that those laws applied to card games.) "I hope you're in the mood for fireworks Weevil, because all this water boosts my monster's electrical attack by..." get this tomfoolery, "1000 points."

'Summoned Skull''s points rose to 3500. Dan Green called to the monster from the deepest depths he could muster from his early Yami voice, blowing up the recording booth in the process."'Summoned Skull', Lightning Strike!" the creature growled in it's small background noise of a voice, and lit up as if the heavens above had struck down on him with deliverance. And Weevil could only cry in distress as the creature delivered it's own deliverance upon 'Ultimate Great Moth', who was suddenly surrounded by lightning bolts. The creature groaned painfully while the bolts danced around it's wet body.

And then in a blink, it exploded. A puff of smoke surrounded the creature, causing the entire audience to let out a breath in aw. That could soon turned to a roaring flame, violently spreading out across the field. And with, Weevil's victory was also smoldering away.

"It's over."

Weevil could speak, the shock not even digested yet.

"I've won."

"No!" was the one of two words Jimmy Zoppi found himself able to release. "Impossible!"

It's true, Yugi's come back had seemed quite impossible. Only a few turns ago, it seemed, that 'Gaia the Fierce Knight' had stopped the cocoon in its hatching phase, and given birth to this monstrosity. That Mai Valentine had found the duel, not too long after Amy stumbled out. (In fact the two passed each, Mai giving a questioning look at the distantly tiered individual.)

Flash backing, for example, to when the blonde told the group the pointlessness of cheering for Yugi after 'Mirror Force' destroyed Weevil's army of bugs, Bakura politely pointed out, "But Yugi did make a comeback. I bet he's just a good as Weevil." as Mother Goose was about to explode – metaphorically, not like 'Ultimate Great Moth' – all over the blonde.

"One lucky move doesn't mean he can beat a champion. Once Weevil gets serious, your little friend will be kissing this island goodbye." She flipped the tip of her hair and refolded her arms in front of her chest.

Téa couldn't help but blow up now, despite the 4Brit's buffering. "Nobody asked you! So why don't you just take a hike?!"

"And miss the chance to watch a champion like Weevil as he turns this around? No way." Mai stepped towards the Duel Ring, and the boys just couldn't help but notice Mai's expansive, yet with the help of 4Power nonexistent, chest she was wrapping arms in front of. They all grew slightly red.

Even Bakura, to reassure the fanbase he is as straight and phormonal as an arrow despite his polite nature, blushed and muttered, "Well, it's true that Weevil will probably make an even better comeback." succumbing to the evil that is sexuality.

"He's done it before after all." Joey coughed.

"He was pretty impressive during the regionals." Tristan looked to the side.

This time Téa blew up, specifically at Bakura, who happened to be closer and the first to have spoken. Her voice got rather shrill and sharp, like one would imagine an angry cat. Only Téa was a goose, so that analogy doesn't completely fit. "Who's side on are on!"

This caught Bakura by surprise, and he jumped back. His effeminate face was now completely red and he waved his hands around it to attempt to hide that fact. "Y-Yugi's of course!"

"Then start acting like it!"

Mai chuckled from the side.

Now (end of that flashback), it was as clear that Yugi had won. And his friends doubts, while not completely their fault in the face of such fine (but edited out) pressure, were proven to be misplaced. Mai on the other hand, her shock was on a different level.

But probably the most traumatized was Weevil. "But my moth's unbeatable." he shrunk away from his big size and back to the little insect he was, life points quickly dropping. The Duel Ring began its end of duel processes, letting the duelists down. Leaving Weevil and his star chips to grovel on the ground.

"But I'm the Regional Champion. The Regional Champion." But, but, but, the Bug kept throwing 'buts' out there to deny the fact that he ever could have lost. Regardless of all the 'buts' he could muster, Yami Yugi still stood in front of him, the victor of the duel.

Yami Yugi approached him, closing the gap. "You call yourself a champion Weevil, but you only won your duels by lying and cheating." (A your Narrator, I'd like to weigh in here. Yami has zero evidence to that claim. Just because Weevil lied and cheated his way though this duel doesn't mean he's done it in every duel. But hey, what do I know, I'm just omnipresent. Who am I to contradict the main character.) "But true champions," Yami tossed his new Star Chips up in the air, catching them in his palm. "they play with honor. They play fair."

Joey sneaked up on Weevil from the side, with the most thug-tastic look. "Ah, don't waste your breath on this sneaky slug. He's a dueling disgrace!" This caused the Bug to faint out of fear, and probably pee himself a little – which is gross but totally likely – "And I here by relieve him of his Dueling Gauntlet."

While Joey gained 10 exp. for looting an unconscious man, Yami put the stars into his own gauntlet. He was only seven Star Chips short now, seven little pieces of metal away from rescuing his grandpa.

"Guys, I think we have a problem." Bakura broke Yami's narration of confidence. He came running up to the group, having slipped out as soon as Weevil's life points dropped to nothing. "I just took a look around and I can't find Amy anywhere."

All attention turned Bakura's way. "Come to think of it," Joey finished adjusting his new Dueling Glove. "She hasn't come back yet."

"You don't think she could have run into trouble, do you?"

Yami receded back into his mind, and Yugi was fully conscious and in control again. Tristan was the next to speak up. "Honestly, knowing her, it wouldn't surprise me if she did." Everyone thought about how aggressive and agitated she was, and Amy in that state would have been willing to pounce on anyone.

"I'm a little worried," Bakura interjected, "she didn't look like she was doing so well when she left."

Silence followed. Yugi looked like he was thinking, until finally he nodded. Partly in agreement, and partly because he had made a decision. Of course he knew that Weevil was wrong, but he felt as if Weevil hadn't been completely wrong. There was things that Amy was hiding, but his gut told him that he could trust her. So finally, Yugi said, "I think we should split up and look for her."

"Huh?" Téa asked, "You really think that's a good idea Yugi?"

He nodded. "I believe in Amy, but I get the feeling there's things she isn't telling us. There must be a reason she can't say anything." Tristan agreed with him, having been the first to jump on this conspiracy train a week ago. "If she's in trouble we should find her as soon as possible." Yugi finished.

"Why don't we meet back at the bottom of the stairs? As long as we don't go too far away, we should be able to find it." Tristan suggested. Yugi nodded again. As they were about to disperse, Bakura said something that made everyone pause. "Hold on a second, would you really go so far as to risk getting lost for someone who could end up being your enemy?"

He was met with blank stares. "`A course." Joey said.

"That's what friends do." Téa added, before the group nodded to each other and separated. (Or, "that's what you do for a friend" if you'd rather the Swan Princess sing along).

.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

From the other side of the field, her opponent was not blind to the pained expression on Amy's face. He could see her emotions break through the brave talk his prey had previously laid out. The way her mouth cringed downward and eyebrows dropped – Amy was becoming a mess of despair. She was playing right into his hands, like so many other duelists would. "Do you feel the shadows engulfing you? Do you feel all hope being sucked away and devoured by my monsters? No matter which way you turn, girl, you're all alone, so you might as well curl up and wait for the end, while my shadows rip your life points apart – until there's nothing left of you."

'He's right. Its only been a few turns and I'm already flustered.' Amy hung her head low. Her misery leaked from her aura, and it was all to clear how she was wallowing in it. It seemed that all hope was lost.

But at that moment, something clicked in the back of her mind. A single thought swept in and out of her short term memory. 'Hold on. I've heard those words before.' Thoughts diving into her long term memory, and image flashed by. One where Yami stood in the night, looked at his cards and on the field. Where Yami looked up at the 'Castle of Dark Illusions' that floated before him. As he faced the very same darkness.

Another Yugi. From another universe. The Yugi/Yami that Amy saw in her vision, the Yami/Yugi that you as the reader have watched so many times, when he was facing PaniK to save Mai's lost Star Chips. His 'Celtic Guardian' had just been brutally destroyed in the same way, held trapped and helpless by the monsters in the shadows. Yami thought the same words.

"That's right." Amy whispered, "Yugi's been through the same thing. I almost forgot, he battled PaniK, faced the monsters, and withstood the flames. He's done it too." The girl straightened herself once more, although this time she paid no attention to PaniK on the other end. "And Yugi won."

Her mind felt like it was clearing up – because it seemed as if she realized that someone else had shared her pain, that if someone else had strong armed through this situation all hope wasn't lost. That shared experience made it feel as if Yugi was here. Amy felt her heart skip a beat. Why did this make her feel better? Make her feel like she wasn't alone. Yugi wasn't physically here, just like how Amiee wasn't physically here. There was no one who could physically protect her, just like before. So why was this different? Where did the contradiction come from?

Another thought flashed through her mind. This one wasn't like the one before in the fact that this memory was a personal experience, rather than just something she had watched. Amy remembered, only a short week ago, when she was arguing with Grandpa Muto. It didn't seem like much at the time, just like friendship speeches and cheerleaders. '"The stress of playing Duel Monsters provides both a physical and mental strain to the body."' Grandpa said at the time.

A smile couldn't help but creep across her face. "That darn old man was right. I guess there's more to this game than just strategy." Duel Monsters is a game of psychology as well as counting numbers. And PaniK exploited that part. This duel was a battle of psychological warfare, and Amy had been loosing. But, the girl realized, it wasn't too late to launch a counter attack.

When Amy realized how ridiculous she had been acting, she could help but laugh about it. Laugh very loudly, might I add. Two minutes ago she had been a broken ball of drama, then was indulged with an epiphany, and now felt better. I mean, mood swings much? And all together it was actually quite funny. So she let her bellowing laughter echo through the cave.

PaniK didn't like that at all. "What? What do you think is so funny?" His victim was a wreck moments ago, she wasn't suppose to recover so suddenly.

"I was just thinking," Amy said in between chuckles, "that you really almost had me there with your freshmen level psych student act. Like you really almost had me. But there's something you didn't take into account when plotting out your insults. You didn't take into account my friends." Amy paused her laughter to take in a deep breath. "Geeze, I can't believe I actually said that. That's so cheesy. I'm going to turn this duel around PaniK, and I'll do it with one card."

The man's face began to twitch. "That's not possible."

"Oh really?" Amy finally took a look down at the card she drew this turn. And slowly, she began to turn the card around to face PaniK. "With this, it's a whole new game."

The spell card 'Reload'.