Happy Sunday evening all! I know it's been a month, but here we are with chapter 13! We finally get to see what kind of Game Yami has in store for the people who dared to attack and threaten their friends. Hopefully it reads well, I've tried to work out most of the kinks over the past couple of weeks.
Enjoy!
No sooner had Yugi said the words than the entire room was covered in the Shadows. The three men looked uncomfortable in their new surroundings, while Kaiba looked at his rival with slight concern. Yugi quickly separated from Yami and moved to the side, clearing the field for Yami's Game. His mind retreated from Yami's, to allow him full focus on the Game he was about to play.
"Kaiba," Yami growled, "Go stand with Yugi. I will take care of these criminals."
"If you think I'm going to leave my brother's fate entirely in your hands, then you are sorely mis-"
"Do it!" Yami barked in Egyptian. He was not in the mood for Kaiba's pride. Kaiba stood shocked for a moment before following the order, though not without a glance that told Yami not to screw up. Once he was out of the way, the Shadows moved them to a higher elevation so they could watch the Game from above.
Finally Yugi seemed to be noticed by the men. "There-there are two of them!" one of the men - Stevens, the Shadows provided - stuttered. It felt strange to Yami to suddenly know the information, but he shrugged it off. All that matter right now was that they pay for hurting his friends and trying to shift the blame to him and his hikari.
The other henchman, Persky, was just as frightened, but he seemed to think clearer under pressure, even if the decisions were poor, and fired his gun at Yugi, unsure of what else to do. The bullet was caught by the Shadows before it reached him, however, and Yugi didn't even flinch. Instead, the hikari just regarded the man coolly. The expression looked unnatural on his face to Yami; hopefully everything would be rectified in the next few minutes.
"Try something like that again, and you might end up bargaining much more than you are willing," Yami called over, tension rolling off with every word. The Shadows danced around him, approving his actions and ready to create the Game Yami had formulated.
A tall obelisk rose from out of the Shadows covered in carved hieroglyphics. At first glance it seemed like the ones found in Egypt, but upon further inspection, this one was far more deadly. Besides the numerous hand and foot holds that littered the sides, there also seemed to be booby traps set over the entire thing.
"What kind of crazy gas did Kaiba dump into that room?" the Persky asked, staring at the tower with wide eyes.
"Is that what I sound like?" Kaiba quietly asked rhetorically, irony not passing him by, "I sound ridiculous."
"You did," Yugi answered him, eyes fixed on Yami.
"You will soon find that this is more than any hallucination," Yami said, ignoring the two of them, "This tower the center point of our Game."
"Game?" the boss asked warily.
"You requested the 'King of Games', did you not?" Yami cocked an eyebrow at him, "Did you expect a friendly debate?" The man scowled and Yami took that as permission to continue. "This obelisk represents our hopes, fears, and aspirations," he explained, "The goal of the Game is simple: be the first to climb to the top. The climb is not as easy as it looks though. Every dark ambition that passes through your mind, every selfish thought, and you will find that the climb becomes...difficult."
"Difficult?" Stevens asked an octave higher than usual.
"You'll soon find out," Yami assured, "The odds are in your favor, however. If you or any of your men make it to the top before I do, then you win and you will get what you were after. But be warned, if you choose to cheat, you will lose. If you manage to win, both Kaiba and I will comply with your...request."
"He can't be serious," Kaiba muttered.
"When have you known him to lose a game?" Yugi countered. Kaiba didn't bother to respond. They both knew Yami had lost only two games since they knew him and each one had extenuating circumstances.
The boss eyed the tower thoughtfully, not hearing Kaiba and Yugi's exchange. Those were certainly good odds. "On the off chance we lose," he asked, "What do you get?"
A dark chuckle rolled through the Shadows without an origin. "If I win," Yami's expression grew dark, "Your soul will be cast to the Shadows for the transgressions you have brought against me, my hikari, and my friends. You will stay there until the last shred of evil in your soul is vanquished."
"Isn't that what you told the other lunatics off for during Battle City?" Kaiba muttered to Yugi.
"Circumstances changed," Yugi muttered back, eyes fixed below.
"Everybody will start on a different side of the obelisk," Yami continued his instructions to the men, "During this Game, you will only be allowed to use your hand and feet to climb the tower. No weapons are allowed. If you fall off and hit the bottom, you lose."
"Fine," the boss agreed, ignoring the protests of the men behind him and moved to claim his side of the obelisk, "Just say when."
A giant "3" appeared on each side of the obelisk. "When we are all in position, the numbers will countdown. When they reach zero is when the Game starts."
All eyes were on the obelisk now as it counted down…
3...2...1...
"Is it just me, or is it getting hot in here?" Tristen asked from where he sat.
"That's what happens when there's a lack of air," Tea said quietly.
Joey still sat near the door, trying to get a clue of what was happening outside, but he still couldn't hear anything. He wondered if they had been forced outside of the room. Surely nothing bad had happened to them, right?
His ribs were really starting to ache as the last bits of adrenaline wore off. Or maybe it was the fact that breathing seemed harder than it should have been. A little voice in the back of his head told him that his ribs were probably at least fractured, but his brain seemed to be working slower than usual and he couldn't figure out why that was important.
Suddenly somebody bumped into him and did not move. Looking down, he saw Mokuba had fallen asleep and slumped over. Joey quickly shook him awake.
"Don't fall asleep," Joey whispered. Even as he said it, he found himself fighting to keep his own eyes open. "I'm sure your brother and Yugi will get us out of here any minute now."
"I can't help it," Mokuba muttered.
"Try," Joey urged, "You want to see him when he busts through that door, right? If you're asleep, you might just give him a heart attack."
Mokuba said nothing, but nodded slowly, trying to fight sleep. Joey caught Tristen's eye who gave him stern, silent warning to stop talking. Talking used oxygen, and he had probably used more than he should have with those statements.
Silence reigned once again, only filled with the quiet sound of the generator: a constant reminder that their time was limited. There was still no noise from outside, and was that smoke somehow leaking in? That didn't make any sense. Mokuba assured them the room as airtight, so was it just his eyes playing tricks on him? It looked somewhat familiar to Joey, but no matter how hard he tried, he could place it for the life of him.
Tea was the first to finally lose the fight with consciousness, followed shortly by Tristen and Mokuba. Joey wanted to rouse them, but his arms felt like lead. He knew he would not be long in following; time was running out quickly. Yugi would needed to open that door soon or else they would all be goners.
Only one thought ran through his mind on loop as darkness creeped in: Hurry...Yugi...
Yami watched as Persky fell past him. In only a few seconds he hit the ground and was swallowed by the Shadows less than a moment later. He shook the screams from the man and the satisfaction from the Shadows from his mind. It was down to him and the boss, and right now they were tied.
"Useless," the boss muttered before continuing his climb, uninhibited for the most part.
Yami grit his teeth, disgusted at the man's behavior but also continued his ascent; his time would come soon, he hoped. He had thought the Game to be relatively simple, but he had encountered trap after trap, making the Game last much longer than he had anticipated. What was going on? And how had the boss lasted longer than his associates?
He reached up, intent on grabbing a hand hold just to his right, but just as his fingers curled around it, flames shot out, nearly burning his skin. He pulled his hand back quickly, but the motion sent him off balance, causing him to swing precariously for a moment.
"Yami!" Yugi's worried voice cried from above.
Yami's eyes widened. How had he'd forgotten that Yugi was watching?! His eyes drifted up to where his hikari was watching wide eyed next to Kaiba who was doing his best to not mirror Yugi's expression, and then to the vault door that had been swallowed by the Shadows: the ultimate prize and the reason for this Game. Had he really allowed himself to get so wrapped up in the Game and fixate on punishing all of the men, that he had lost focus of his purpose? That his friends' lives were at stake?
Taking a deep breath to center himself again and set his mind back on the right track, he swung back up. This time when he reached for the handhold, it held fast with no trap. Yami smiled. With his purpose set he made two more moves rapidly without consequence.
Before long, he had caught up to the boss and began to pass him. Now so focused on saving his friends, he failed to notice the malicious, calculating look on the other man's face. He was almost to the top when he heard a click from below him.
"If you think I'm going to go down without a fight, you have another thing coming!" The boss had pulled out his gun and aimed it squarely at Yami. "You can't win when you're dead!"
The man fired and the bullet clipped Yami's upper arm. The shock of impact made him lose his grip and start falling, but the Game was over; the other player had broken the rules. Adrenaline blocked most of the pain he would otherwise be no doubt feeling, allowing Yami to compose himself and look back up at the nameless boss, third eye glowing ominously on his forehead.
"Penalty Game!"
The Shadows swarmed the boss and the obelisk dissolved. Yami was caught by the Shadows before he could hit the ground and gently set him on his feet. His hand went to his arm and came away with blood. He thought back to the other Games he had played. Why had the Shadows allowed him to be hit? This wasn't his first Yami no Game that involved a gun. The Game should have ended just as the trigger was pulled. The bullet should not have made it to him. Even if it had, it was damage done during the Game and should have been reversed, so why wasn't it?
"Yami!" Yugi hurried over. The fear and worry his hikari felt flowed freely across the bond now. He stopped just short of running into Yami, gazing up at him with wide eyes. Yami grit his teeth. He had been using Yugi's body when the Game started and the one Yugi was in right now was a construct of Shadows.
"Sorry," Yami apologized, "You may have to deal with this when we leave here."
Yugi shook his head, "I'll deal with it later. We need to save our friends!"
"Get rid of these Shadows, Yami," Kaiba growled, "My brother is still in there."
Yami nodded, dispelling the Shadows quickly. The minute the Shadows cleared, Kaiba ran to the control panel, punching in the override code. The heavy door hissed as it unlocked. Yugi and Yami worked together to pull it open quickly as air rushed past them to meet the oxygen deficient room. Nobody was awake, and Yami prayed that that was all that was wrong. Surely the Game hadn't taken long enough for anybody to have actually…
'Don't,' Yugi begged quietly, taking in the sight. Their friends were seated on the floor, leaning against the walls of the vault. Yami was the first one to walk in, kneeling in front of Joey. He gave a sigh of relief when he noticed his chest slowly moving up and down. Looking around, he noticed the same with the others.
"They're okay," he breathed.
"Come on," Kaiba muttered, brushing past him, "We'll take them to the next room over. There's chairs and couches."
Yugi followed Kaiba in and for a moment, fear jolted through him: what if they got locked in too? It cleared in a moment when he remembered that they could Shadow Travel through the vault door if needed, but it didn't stop Yami from sending a wave of reassurance towards his hikari.
Kaiba quickly scooped up his brother and carried him briskly out without a word. Yami moved to Tea, "I can carry her," he said to Yugi, "I'll come back and help you with Joey and Tristen."
"Are you sure?" Yugi asked, glancing at Yami's arm.
"I'm alright," Yami assured.
Yugi frowned, not believe it, but nodded anyway. "If you're sure," he said, "I can at least drag them out of here."
Yami picked up Tea and followed the path Kaiba took out of the room. As Kaiba had promised, there were several couches to choose from. Kaiba was already on the phone with somebody, but Yami didn't pay too much carefully laid his friend on one of the couches, accepting the silent offer of a blanket from Kaiba.
Shooting the CEO a glance and deciding that he wasn't going to be available to help any time soon, Yami left to help his hikari carry their heavier friends. Yugi had managed to get Joey and Tristen fully out of the vault and had laid them out next to each other. He looked up as Yami entered, eyes flicking to the door to see if anyone else came in with him.
"Kaiba's on the phone with someone," Yami answered the unspoken question, "I think the two of us can handle them if we carry them one at a time."
"Shouldn't Bakura be around here somewhere?" Yugi looked around.
"He was only going to stick around to see if he needed to modify anybody's memory," Yami answered, "He's probably already left."
Yugi let out a heavy sigh. "So we're on our own," he concluded, "Do you want the feet or the head?"
Joey knew before he opened his eyes that he wasn't where he passed out. The soft cushions on his back let him know that much, nevermind the fact that he could breathe much better than he could before, despite how painful it was; the air was lighter and cooler. The last thought he remembered was hoping Yugi and Kaiba would get them out before it was too late.
That seemed to be the case, but how? Surely they hadn't given in to the outrageous demands those thugs were making?
"Mr. Mutou, please stop pulling away from me!"
"Don't make me sit on you, Yug'," Tristen's voice threatened.
Joey shifted, trying to picture the scene. He didn't recognize the first voice, but from Tristen's comment, they must be friend and not foe. What were they talking about?
"Joey?" Tea's voice broke through his thoughts, "Are you awake?"
"Probably," Tristen's voice answered for him, "He's just being lazy."
"Shut up," Joey told him, finally opening his eyes.
"You're awake," the Pharaoh's voice floated over, sounding very relieved. It was about the happiest he'd ever heard him with maybe one or two exceptions.
Joey sat up gingerly, his ribs protesting the action, and looked around. It seemed he was the last one to wake up. They were definitely not in the room with the vault, but were somehow back in the hospitality room. Tea and Tristen were up and about and Mokuba was sitting next to his brother on the other side of the room.
He let out a relieved breath. Everyone was all right.
Then he noticed Yami perched on a table with somebody hovering over his arm. Though the Pharaoh was clearly relieved, he looked like hell. He was missing his jacket, his face was pale, and it looked like there was blood smeared on the parts of his arm that Joey could see. The mystery man must be a doctor.
Yami noticed the scrutiny and the scowl and smiled reassuringly. "I'm fine," he said.
"What happened?" Joey demanded.
"We beat them," Yami answered evasively, "Kaiba opened the door."
"I figured that much. I meant to you. You look like hell."
"You're one to talk," Tristen replied for Yami, "Have you seen your face?"
Joey looked around for a mirror. There wasn't one, but he caught his reflection in the glass door. There was no blood on it like he expected, but it his nose looked swollen and felt a bit tender, not to mention he had some ugly bruises.
"I've had worse," Joey brushed it off, "Answer the question so I know who it is I have to have words with about hurting my friend."
"Speaking of words," Kaiba interjected, "You need to learn to watch your language around my brother."
Joey turned to glare at him, "What? You would have preferred if I asked them nicely to let us go? I'm sure that would have worked great. Besides, Tristen said worse stuff than I did."
"Don't go blaming me for your mouth," Tristen denied.
Joey glared at him. There was no way he was taking all the blame for this. "Oi!" he protested, "I oughta -" he tried to stand up to knock some responsibility into Tristen, but he found his ribs protested that action a lot more than just sitting up. "Ow," moaned, falling back onto the couch.
"Joey!" the Pharaoh cried, concerned.
Joey looked over to see Yami trying to get off the table, likely to come check on him, but was restrained by the doctor holding his arm. He shot him a reassuring smile. It had just surprised him is all.
"Sit still," the doctor ordered.
"It's not like he taught me anything new," Mokuba rolled his eyes, distracting Joey and Tristen's feud, "I've heard worse from you, Seto."
"Rich Boy cursing?" Joey asked amused, "I would pay money to hear that."
"Like you have money," Kaiba scoffed.
"Guys, you're getting off track," Tea said, and turned to the Pharaoh, "You still haven't told us what happened."
"They took a shot and they missed," Kaiba answered for Yami, "It gave us the opportunity to overpower them."
"Missed?!" Tea exclaimed, "That doesn't look like a "miss" to me!"
The doctor shifted slightly to and allowed Joey a better look at his friend's arm. There was a large gash across it; deep enough to need stitches and probably prevent him from using the arm for at least a couple of days. Joey's scowl deepened, recognizing the damage as from a bullet. Kaiba's comment was more literal than he realized.
Yami did not see his expression and tried to pass it off, "Considering they were trying to kill me, I would say that they missed."
"Kill you?!" Tea gasped.
"They weren't exactly honorable men," Kaiba rolled his eyes.
"How did you guys manage to beat them off?" Tristen asked, "No offense, but you guys were outnumbered and they had guns."
"We hadn't noticed," Kaiba rolled his eyes, "If you think I only have a few security guards then you're dumber than you look. We managed to get them out of the room and my men were able to bring them down and capture them."
"That sounds like one hell of a fight," Tristen said, "Wish I could have helped you guys."
Yami winced, but Joey couldn't tell if it was from Tristen's statement or from the doctor probing his wound looking for any shrapnel.
"If you would allow me to take you to the hospital, this would be a lot easier on the two of us," the doctor scolded. Apparently he had brought this up before.
"I told you-"
"That you weren't going anywhere until your friends woke up," the doctor finished, "They are all awake now."
Joey rolled his eyes. That did sound like something the Pharaoh would say, and Yugi probably backed him up on that decision.
"I said I would not go anywhere until they were awake and well," Yami corrected with a glare, his red eyes looking harsher than usual.
Wait... since when were the Pharaoh's eyes red? Didn't he and Yugi have the same color? Joey shook his head. The light must be playing a trick on him. He looked again and the Pharaoh's eyes were back to their usual violet. Definitely a trick of the light then.
"Their wellness has yet to be determined by you since you seem to be fixated on me," Yami continued, "I will stay where I am."
"Yugi," Joey tried, "You don't need to play hero right now. We're all fine-"
"No, you aren't," Yami interrupted, "I helped carry you in here and I know you are worse off than Tristen and Tea."
There was no denying that at least since he had taken the brunt of the assault, but he had worse injuries in his life before he met Yugi. Joey would have tried to hold Yugi's health over the Pharaoh's head to get him to cooperate, but he didn't need the doctor thinking he had brain damage. Then again, Yugi never seemed to care about his own health and safety when it came to his friends.
"Be that as it may," the doctor said, "You are in worse shape. Now hold still, we need to stitch this up."
"Stop being a coward, Yugi," Kaiba scolded from across the room, "The sooner you get patched up, the sooner the doctor can check the mutt and you all can leave."
"Oi!" Joey protested.
Kaiba's words seemed to do the trick however. The Pharaoh turned to glare at him and the doctor used the distraction to get to work quickly. Though he flinched the moment he was stuck with the needle, Yami didn't pull away.
The wound was stitched quickly, leaving just a thin line in its wake. "You should use a sling for the next couple of days at least," the doctor said as he cut the last thread, "The last thing you need is to overexert your arm and end up pulling out the stitches. The muscle needs to recover anyway and the best way to do that is to rest it."
"That means no duels," Tristen added, "You can't wear a Duel Disk and wear a sling at the same time."
"I'm sure I can find other ways to occupy my time," Yami replied, carefully sliding down, "Besides, Duel Monsters can be played on the table."
Joey wasn't sure if by 'I' the Pharaoh meant himself, Yugi, or both of them. He'd have to ask later when the doctor left. Speaking of the doctor…
"Alright, Mr. Wheeler, welcome to my apparent chamber of torture. Let's see if you can behave better than your friend."
And there we go. I tried to do as much research as I could for this chapter, but there was only so much I could find.
Eventually we will get to the point where the Shadow Mages leave. When I started this story, I honestly thought we'd be there by now, but I'm enjoying where this is right now, hopefully you guys are too.
Let me know what you thought! Please review :)