Yugioh War of the Roses

Chapter Eleven: Four Secrets and a Funeral

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, the Matrix, Shanghai Knights, or Four
Weddings and a Funeral. (Hence the title.)

Everyone got up late the next day. Bakura, Yuugi, Jounouchi, and Jason were riding the tram that would take them to the stadium. When the group got there, the found Artemis staring daggers at someone sitting in the balcony on the opposite side of the stadium.

"Artemis," said Bakura, thrusting a soda in his cousin's hands. "You have got to stop this unintentional staring contest. It's been at least a day."

"Don't care." Said Artemis brutishly, much unlike his normal self. "Must prove that I'm better than her."

"Better than who?" asked Jounouchi.

"This girl." Said Bakura, rolling his eyes and sighing. "Why don't you explain it Arty."

"NEVER call me ARTY!!!" yelled Artemis, accidentally punching his albino cousin.

"Oh my gosh," said Yuugi. "Bakura, are you okay!"

"FIN-LAND!!!" yelled Bakura.

Suddenly, Artemis seemed to calm down. He glanced around, and, at the sight of Bakura, screamed.

"What happened!?" yelled Artemis to Yuugi.

"Well," said Yuugi. "Your arm came up, accidentally, and sort of "snapped," hitting Bakura in the nose."

"And," said Artemis. "It looks like my "snap" is all over the place!"

Bakura slowly managed to stand up. When Jounouchi touched his face and asked him if anything hurt, he fainted.

"So anyway," began Yuugi. "What's this problem of yours?"

"Robin," said Artemis with loathing. "Robin Hunter."

"By any chance is that a pun?" asked Jounouchi.

"Oh shut up." Said Jason. "I love listening to other peoples problems!"

"Then maybe you should be on Opra." Muttered Artemis under his breath.

"Quiet!" yelled Yuugi. "I want to hear what's going on!" At this both Jounouchi and Jason fell silent, while Bakura giggled excitedly, humming the music to "All that Jazz." From Chicago.

"Well," said Artemis. "It all started when I was in the sixth grade. Robin and I were in one of those Pentathlon teams, you know, for really smart kids. Anyway, the teams from our different schools, met at the championship. At first it was all fun and games. But then we both started doing so well that our teammates let us do all the work. It was like there was something driving us to beat the other, and we'd known each other for two hours! Well, in the end, because they ran out of questions, they declared it a tie, and we never found out which one of us was the smarter genius."

"That's it!?" yelled Jounouchi. "You hate each others guts because of some stupid contest!!!!!!"

"Uhhh yeah." Said Artemis.

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!" said Jounouchi.

"Hey," said Artemis, pointing his index finger. "Those competitions inspire more brutality and rivalry than you think!"

Random room:

Saiyuri approached a small altar. There was a man, his face hidden, chanting. Sensing her presence, the man stood up.

"What is it Kaoru?(Viewing audience: GASP!)" asked the man in tranquil voice.

"Master," said Saiyuri. "Slyfaen has asked me to kill my brother. I also wish to, for he is a traitor. He has besmirched my family's name and cannot be allowed to live. Do I have your permission?"

"Did you just say besmirched?" asked her master.

"Yes." said Saiyuri. "But it doesn't matter. Can I kill my brother or not?"

"Yes." said the man. Saiyuri tried to hide her half confused, half surprised face. She had never seen her master make decisions so quickly. Was it possible that he knew about this?

"Very well Master." She said. "But, what about Yuugi Muto and Bakura Ryou? Slyfaen does not want me to deal with them."

"Follow his orders for now my child." Said the man.

"Yes sir." Said Saiyuri. With a puff of smoke, she vanished.

Duelist Isle:

It was about 12:15 am. Everyone was watching an exciting match between Sakira and Saiyuri Ichiro herself, which was about to end. The score stood, Sakira: 4300 Saiyuri: 1200. Sakira had just summoned her ultimate monster, the Skull Knight (2650/2250). Sakira had a deck similar to Yami Bakura. It was full of dark and fiend type monsters. Saiyuri, on the other hand, had a ninja deck much like Tsurgi.

"Go," said Sakira. "Skull Knight, attack her directly!"

The Skull Knight drew its huge blade, and slashed at Saiyuri, causing her life points to drop to zero.

"Sakira is the victor!" yelled Slyfaen. Saiyuri, picked up her deck, and walked off the platform. Several minutes later, she appeared next to Slyfaen. And tapped him on the shoulder.

"Ah!'" yelled Ishtar, turning around. "Saiyuri.stop doing that!"

"Stop doing what?" asked Saiyuri.

"Stop sneaking up on me like that!" whispered Slyfaen harshly.

"I wasn't sneaking!" said Saiyuri, sounding as though she had been accused of murder.

"Ninjas make more noise than you, Saiyuri!" said Slyfaen, scowling.

"Well excuse me!" said Saiyuri. "How am I to know what you consider sneaking!?"

"Look, I'm sorry." Said Slyfaen. "But what did your master say? Is it alright?"

"He agrees with what you told me. My brother will dead by 5:30, I promise." Said Saiyuri with an ironic smile.

"Saiyuri," said Slyfaen. "I would like to take this." From his pocket he produced a very unique dagger. It had an ordinary handle but the blade was what stood out. It curved, and had been chiseled so it looked like a serpent.

"What do you want me to do with it?" asked Saiyuri, clueless.

"I want you to kill you brother with it. When you're done, bring it to me, and don't wipe the bloodstains from it. I want to keep that dagger as a memoir." Said Slyfaen.

"With pleasure sir." Said Saiyuri. She then bowed her head, and vanished.

Unfortunately for our merry little villains, Bakura and Co., were still on the opposite balcony, and heard almost everything. It was also unfortunate, for our heroes, that they did not hear the time of Tsurgi's planned murder. They were left dumbfounded.

"We can't just sit here!" said Bakura to his friends. "Even though we don't know when he supposed to murdered, we have to protect him..Oh Ra that sounded stupid. Eeesh. Can I have a better script please?"

Me: Sorry! I've was a little tired when I wrote this!

B: Oh.okay then!

"Well," said Artemis. "I do know where Tsurgi's room is. But, we'll have to pass Slyfaen's room on the way."

"It's worth the risk." Said Bakura. "And besides, there are more of us, plus, we have two Millennium Items."

"Make that three." Said Jounouchi, pulling out the Millennium Necklace.

"Make that five." Said Artemis, pulling out both the Scale and the Key.

"Actually, we can make it six, if we get dark Bakura's Eye." Said Yuugi.

"We can't." said Bakura. "Slyfaen probably has it. Which means he has one. Artemis smiled darkly.

"Oh we can still make it six." Said Artemis. "We'll just have to convince the person to help."

"Who is it?" asked Yuugi.

Robin Hunter sat at a table at the hotel restaurant with her two Yamis. She was enjoying a hamburger, along with a strawberry smoothie. Suddennly she was approached by a large group of people. She recognized all of them. Yuugi Muto, Jounouchi Wheeler, Bakura Ryou, Jason Fujiwara, and Artemis Entrari. Why was he here? He didn't seem angry with her. For once.

"What is it that you want this time Entrari?" said Robin casually.

"We need your Millennium Item." Said Artemis flatly. These words caused Robin to spray some of her smoothie on her Yamis.

"Smooth." Said Sakira and Kaona in unison.

"Smooth-ie." Said Jason. The two Yamis, along with everyone else, glared.

"I'll just be quiet now." Said Jason.

"You do that." Said Bakura.

"You said you needed my Millennium Item." Said Robin, turning her head towards Artemis. She then produced a small blade from her pocket. (Can you guess what it's called? DUH! The Millennium Blade. Just to let ya know, it can turn the user into the form of another only if they have seen that person.)

"Yes." said Artemis. "Bakura, Yuugi, would you care to explain."

"Sure." said Yuugi. They both told Robin the entire story. When they finished, she was staring, jaw dropped.

"So," said Robin. "You want me to help you spy on our host?"

"Exactly." Said Bakura.

"I'll help," said Robin. "As long as he doesn't annoy me." She said, pointing at Artemis.

"Agreed." Said Yuugi. About five minutes later, the group was creeping down the dark hallway to Hyo San's room. They came upon Slyfaen's room. The door was slightly ajar, so they peeked inside.

Slyfaen was sitting on his bedside. He was talking to himself.

"Alas," he said. "Why must I be cursed with the spirit wraith of this wretched Millennium Armor?" He rolled up his sleeve. The group: O_O

"So that's the magical flicker of energy we felt." Whispered Yuugi.

"And it appears that Slyfaen, has two Millennium Items, not one." Said Bakura. "Awww maaan. I thought this would be easy!"

"It would be easy," said Yuugi. "If some people would stop talking so loud!"

"If anyone were to discover my secret," continued Slyfaen, sadly. "There would be an uproar. And if anyone were to discover my deck," he pulled out his dueling deck, and spread the cards out on the floor. Every single one was blank. (You're probably wondering why Slyfaen wouldn't just summon the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon right? It would ruin the story line!!!)

"Ooooo." Said Artemis. "Drama theatre! Let's go find a box seat."

"Shut up!" whispered Bakura.

"I just want to deliver the Puzzle and Ring to this..well..master guy.thing...whatever so I can get my.my.(Artemis: Go on..) family back." Said Slyfaen, his eyes watering.

Stunned, Yuugi and Co. forgot about the other thing they were to be doing while Sakira made popcorn for the "show".

Tsurgi's room: Tsurgi's room was much bigger than Slyfaen's. It was very Oriental. It even had those ornate wooden decoration wall things. He was taking a sip of green tea when he felt a shiver in his spine. His sister, Saiyuri, had appeared in his window.

"Hello brother." Said Saiyuri. "Pleasant day, isn't it?"

"Yes it is." Said Murasaki. "I can't believe that both of us were defeated in our first match! Oh well, there's always next time." He smiled.

"There isn't going to be a next time for you, Tsurgi." Said Saiyuri coldly.

"What do you mean?" asked Tsurgi nervously.

"Our masters are not very pleased with your work. You betrayed us brother." Said Saiyuri, her eyes glinting malevolently.

"I-I don't understand.." Said Tsurgi, beginning to slowly reach for his sword at his bedside. "Just pretend I'm not here and leave me out of this."

"Your grave awaits, traitorous brother." Said Saiyuri acidly. Without warning she charged. Tsurgi, who didn't have enough time to grab his sword, began dodging his sister's fierce blows. Saiyuri tried to hit him with a high kick, but missed. Sensing that she was off kilter, Tsurgi swooped low, sweeping his leg, and hitting her ankle, causing her to fall.

Saiyuri recovered quickly, and once again took the offensive. Tsurgi finnaly managed to grab his sword. He unsheathed it and began attacking.

Saiyuri knew that her brother was physically stronger and faster than she was, so she knew that she'd have to end this quickly. She charged yet again.

Tsurgi continued to block gracefully, his sword deflecting every blow until Saiyuri tricked him, and caught him square in the chest. Tsurgi was thrown off his feet. She continued to hit him, and beat him until he was exhausted. She knocked him down with a simple slap and he slid up against one of the wooden "walls."

Using some sort of magic, Saiyuri conjured two ninja assistants, who held Tsurgi in a semi-sitting position. Saiyuri took out the dagger. She grabbed Tsurgi by the collar, and pulled him up to herself.

"Goodbye brother." Said Saiyuri with a grim smile. "It's time you return to our 'home'." She stabbed; the dagger plunged through Tsurgi's heart. Tsurgi's eyes widened in horror.

"You won't get away with this." Said Ichiro in his last breath.

The smile on Saiyuri's face vanished.

"Fool." She said. She released him. In the split seconds in which he began to fall, Saiyuri spun around once, bringing herself into a hovering kick position, for a brief second she stayed that way, frozen in time.(Heeeeellllo Matrix.) Then, with a fury, she released her foot.

She hit Tsurgi hard; her foot slammed into his chest, sending him flying through a wall, the twenty ft. space behind it, and the next wall. His body lay motionless on the floor. Bits and pieces of lacquered wood lay scattered all over the place.

Saiyuri, looked at her brother's limp body one last time, and vanished. On her way out of the room, (she's using an elevator so that she won't have to walk the hallway.) She examined the dagger.

'What a beautiful shade of red.' She thought. And then, while staring at the blood, she felt some sort of urge. Slowly her tongue started to reach out, just to.taste it.

'No!' she thought to herself. 'I must resist.'

Outside 's room:

The gang was still staring in awe. It was at this time that Bakura's memory clicked, and he felt dread wash over him.

"Guys!" he whispered loudly. Everyone turned his or her head. "We forgot about Tsurgi!" At this the group gasped and silently sprinted down the long hallway. When they entered the room, they saw wood scattered everywhere.

"It looks like there was a fight." Said Kaona.

"Hey," said Sakira. "Look over here there's something under-oh my Ra!"

"I-I'ts Murasaki." Said Bakura.

"I can't feel a pulse." Said Artemis.

"There's no heartbeat." Said Jounouchi.

"We failed." Said Bakura. His eyes, along with everyone else in the room, began to water. "He's dead."

That night, there was a small funeral. Both Murasaki and Lyn Vanderbilt were placed in coffins, topped with many red roses. Their decks were placed with them. Everyone said something about both of them. After the ceremony, the coffins were pushed into the ocean, to drift afloat for eternity.

A strong gust helped blow the coffins out to sea. Everyone, now crying their eyes out could only hope that no more dark events would befall them. Unfortunately for our friends on the side of light, this was just the beginning.

And little did they suspect, that there was a much greater evil, greater than Hyo San, or this master, waiting to be awakened.

Author's note: If that chapter even slightly moved you, then my work here is done. Rather dark, wasn't it? Oh well. Next up, Artemis Entrari vs. Bandit Keith! (I know it says differently on chapter three, but I'll try and fix it.)