"So, Mahad," Kyo asked as the four of them –she, Kisara, Mahad, and Blue-Eyes– walked home from school. "What do you do for fun?"
He gave her a blank look.
"You're not here all the time. What do you do when you're off?"
He shrugged. "To tell you the truth, I experience very little. Since joining with my ka, time has ceased to flow for me."
Kyo twitched.
He looked over at her. "I suppose I enjoy Duel Monsters," He said after a moment. "In my time, the Shadow Games were a terrible thing, and with them, powerful sorcerers reigned supreme; no one could challenge them." He glanced at the hourglass around her neck, then back to her eyes. "In Egypt, we were fortunate that our champions were benevolent rulers."
Kyo and Kisara exchanged looks.
"But now, you play those games as a form of entertainment." He continued. "It was… difficult… to get used to at first," He admitted. "But when the stakes do not include one's mind or soul, it can be satisfying to test one's powers." He paused. "Of course, the Pharaoh still had Shadow Games to play, but the game itself is… fun." He looked up. "Especially when I am able to land the finishing blow."
Kyo grinned back. "Then I'll do my best to make sure that happens."
"Kyo!"
"She lost! I win!"
"Lady Kyo!"
"She hasn't lost yet! She's still got five hundred life points!"
"She can't play, therefore she forfeits! I win!"
"Not yet you don't, punk. She still has thirty seconds to make a move."
She stirred. People were shouting, and there was a waterfall in the background. There was something she was supposed to do, but she couldn't seem to move.
"Lady Kyo?"
Mahad's face was floating transparently overhead, his expression filled with worry and remorse. "Milady, please, rise! You must fight, or he will tear your soul to shreds!"
She blinked at him. He was kneeling next to her, but she was also pretty sure he was on the field. Why are there two of you? She wondered dazedly.
"Please, Milady!" He begged desperately. "If you do not rise, you will be destroyed!"
Okay, okay, She groaned and rolled onto her side. Pushing herself up was a lot harder than she had been expecting; her whole body was trembling, and it took everything she had just to sit up.
"Yes! Come on, Kyo! Get up!" Kisara shouted. "Come on, you can do it, get up! Get up!"
She blinked. She's so noisy. She thought. That wasn't like Kisara at all. Though that seemed to be the trend, actually; she had gotten a lot more assertive recently. Why is that?
"Please, Milady!" Mahad begged, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Worry about that later! Just rise!"
Everyone's noisy. She realized. Mahad wasn't normally so pushy either.
Then she saw Sirius and remembered why.
Right. Fate of the world. She huffed and steeled herself, forcing her way up off the ground. She wobbled dangerously, but made it to her feet at last. "I'm… not… done." She gritted, clutching her side and taking a couple unsteady steps forward. "I won't lose to you, Uria." She clenched her fist. "Hear me? I'll destroy you!"
He shifted, his expression foul and a little worried.
"I set… one card," She added, remembering the cards in her hand. "And end my turn."
Uria bristled. "I'll rip you apart one way or another, little fly." He hissed. "I set one card facedown."
She drew.
"I activate Metal Reflect Slime!" Uria hissed, and the giant glob shot up. "You can't attack me. You don't have enough counters, and your little fly is too weak."
"I can't attack you, no," Kyo said slowly, "But you're not the only one in there." She lifted the card. "And I think it's high time you gave him back." She swayed a little. "I activate Owner's Seal!"
Like DNA Transplant, this card didn't really do much to affect the outcome of the duel. And technically, it could only affect monsters on the field.
"Mahad," She called, and he took the spell, spinning it around. "Use it… on Sirius!"
Uria stiffened. "You can't free him. He's mine."
"He doesn't belong to you." Kyo said. "Go, Mahad! Free Sirius's mind!"
The magician activated the seal, and it appeared around Sirius. There was a startled exclamation from the onlookers, which turned quickly to alarm as Uria appeared, transparent, over him. But the seal sifted the dragon out, and his furious roar was rendered impotent.
Sirius blinked, looking rather confused. "Hey, wait…" His accent was back, and he looked much more like his old self. "What? What's goin' on?"
Kyo let out a breath of relief. "You're back. That's what's going on." Her head drooped.
"Lady Kyo!"
She blinked and looked up.
"You can't give up now." Mahad implored. "You can't lose. Even if Uria is no longer your opponent, if you lose, he might still use it as an excuse to tear you apart."
She twitched.
"You're almost there." He continued. "Please, stay with us just a little longer."
She nodded. "I activate… Eternal Soul!" She declared, and a stone tablet lifted up out of the ground, carved with an image of the Dark Magician. "This lets me move… Dark Magic Attack… or a Thousand Knives… to my hand." She sorted through her deck. "I activate a Thousand Knives: this lets me destroy… your Metal Reflect Slime." She pointed.
Daggers appeared around Mahad, then shot across to impale the slime. It burst sloppily across the field and vanished.
"Now, Mahad…" She blinked dizzily. "Attack him directly!"
If anything else happened, she missed it.
Mahad could feel the power fading rapidly even as he shot across the field. Hurriedly, he cast his attack, praying it would reach its mark before she passed out completely.
It completed, and he spun back around, intending to fly back to her, even if it meant forcing himself to stay. But someone had already caught her.
"You did it, Kyo!" Kisara gasped as she held her unconscious sister. "You made it."
Mahad hesitated, staring at the huddled form, but soon, Jesse had joined her, and Seto wasn't far behind.
He wanted to stay. But it looked like she was safe for the moment. She was surrounded by friends and family, and honestly, staying would probably be unwise at this point.
So, reluctantly, he let the threads tug him back home.
Kisara saw her sister falling as if in slow motion, and ran forward quickly to catch her. They both dropped, but she managed to catch Kyo before they hit the ground. And a quick glance up, seeing Sirius's life points drop to zero, told her that the attack had completed.
"You did it, Kyo!" She gasped in relief, but Kyo was unconscious. She smiled. "You made it."
"Is she awright?" Jesse asked as he came over.
"Yeah, I think so." Kisara nodded as she checked her sister again. "Just passed out."
"Good thing the attack went through." Jesse noted. "Least she's the winner."
"Hey,"
They both looked up to see Sirius coming over.
"What do you want?" Kisara bristled. "She won, so leave her alone!"
"'Bout dat." Sirius stopped, looking uncomfortable. "I'm sorry. I don't know… I don't know what happened. Did we… were we dueling?"
Kisara hesitated, but he had been possessed. "You were possessed by Uria, a phantom. He took over you through Slifer the Sky Dragon."
Sirius blinked. "You mean dat weird Slifer?" He asked, then looked down at his dueldisk. "Did I play it?"
"Yeah. It should be in your graveyard." Kisara said.
He sifted through.
"Where did a punk like you get it, anyway?" Seto demanded. "Who gave it to you?"
"No one." Sirius said as he pulled it out. He grimaced and held it away from himself. "I found it, jus' lyin' on the ground. Couldn' believe my luck. Guess I should'a known it was too good t' be true."
"Give it to me." Seto held his hand out. "It's obvious you don't deserve to hold a card this powerful."
Kisara hesitated, but Sirius didn't seem like he was interested in arguing.
"Take it. Dat thing's way too freaky." He said. But as he held it out, it vanished, and they all started in surprise. "Hey wait, where'd it go?"
Seto seized the front of his shirt, lifting him. "I should be asking you that."
"Father!" Kisara called. Much as she wanted to beat the tar out of Sirius for being such a blockhead, they did have something more pressing. "What about Kyo?" She asked.
Seto turned, releasing Sirius, then tapped the KC pin on his collar. "Medical emergency to tram six. We've gone off the rails and we have numerous casualties."
[We're already on our way, Mr. Kaiba.] Someone replied.
"Make sure you send a chopper." He added.
[Yes, sir.]
He turned. "Someone sabotaged my tram system. Shut it down until further notice." He released the pin. "That's not something a kid like you could have pulled off." He added, turning back to Sirius. "So who put you up to this? Who else has it out for my family?"
"I dunno, sir," Sirius said in a small voice. He looked over at Kyo, then bowed his head. "I have no idea."
"Hmph." Seto towered over him for a moment, but seemed to decide he was telling the truth. "Then you'd better clear off, before I decide to take it out of your hide."
Sirius hesitated, but in the face of everything, he decided to bail. "I'm sorry." He repeated. "I hope she's okay." He started to hop down, but a helicopter appeared, coming to rest beside the tram.
That was fast, Kisara thought, but Blue-Eyes didn't seem to think this was the one Seto had called.
"Oh great. Dartz." Seto growled, marching to the edge of the tram and setting one foot on the lip. "You'd better have a damn good reason for showing your face, Dartz, or I might just smash it in myself."
"Well, you're as charming as ever I see," Dartz said wryly as he emerged from the helicopter. "Do you think you could set your magnificently obtuse temper aside just this once?"
"Not really." Seto replied, folding his arms. "Now clear out, before I arrest you for sabotage."
"I think I'm insulted, Kaiba." Dartz called up as he reached the tram. "I once owned your company, and you think I'd trivialize myself with a tram in an amusement park?" He shook his head.
Owned KaibaCorp? When? Kisara wondered, startled.
"What do you want, Dartz?" Seto snapped.
"Where is Kyo?" Dartz asked. "She is still with us, I hope?"
"Why do you care?"
"Because I care, Kaiba. She was just in a duel with an extremely dangerous force, and to my great regret we did not arrive in time to help." Dartz said, spreading an arm. "But my hope is that she survived, and I can at least help her recover."
"She's fine. She won. And she'll recover without your 'help'." Seto growled. "She's a Kaiba."
"A 'Kaiba'?" Dartz queried with incredulity. "Is this sentiment I hear? I heard of your protectiveness from Rafael, but I confess I did not believe it. Have you adopted her as your own? Or was it that you recognized the pharaoh's spirit reborn?"
"If you're going to start spouting more hocus-pocus nonsense, I'd better just stop you there. I don't have time to deal with you." Seto growled. "Go find someone else to deceive."
Dartz frowned. "I swear, Kaiba, in ten thousand years, I have never met anyone who could watch their very soul get ripped out of them by a primordial beast fueled by evil and still not admit to the existence of magic. Is there no end to your unbelief?"
Seto smirked. "What, frustrated because I'm the only one on Earth you haven't fooled?"
"That's not something to be proud of." Dartz retorted, and Rafael snorted. "Look. Can I just have a quick look at her? I just want to make sure she's still breathing."
"She's still breathing. You can leave."
Dartz sighed.
"I've got it, Boss." Rafael said. Then a moment later, he appeared over the edge of the tram, carried by Eatos.
Kisara's eyes widened.
"Yep. That's definitely a Blue-Eyes." Rafael added, looking up at the dragon crouched low over Kisara, Kyo, and Jesse. "So, you can summon monsters too, huh?"
Kisara nodded.
"Mind if I have a look?"
"I thought I made it clear to your boss that you're not welcome." Seto growled, stepping between them.
"In case you hadn't noticed, Kaiba, we're on the same side here." Rafael growled back.
Eatos, though, flicked past the two as they argued and stepped up to the Blue-Eyes, lifting her hand in a peaceful gesture. After a moment, the dragon bent down, letting Eatos touch its snout in acceptance. Then it backed off, and Eatos stepped forward, kneeling beside them.
"Damn," Jesse said in quiet reverence, touching his heart.
She smiled at him, and he bowed his head. She looked over at Kisara with a questioning look, and Kisara understood without the need for words.
"Yes," She said in an undertone. While she respected her father, she could tell that he wasn't going to accept that there was a phantom beast trying to destroy the world. Since there was, and these people were fighting it, she was willing to compromise on her father's –and Kyo's– behalf.
Eatos reached down and touched Kyo's forehead, closing her eyes. After a moment, her hand slid down to Kyo's chest, and a small ripple of warmth passed over them. Her hand moved up to the scarab charm, and she tapped it, then looked up and gave Kisara a reassuring smile, as if to say, 'She'll be fine now.'
"Thank you," Kisara whispered, and Eatos got to her feet.
"Fine." Rafael said at the same moment, interrupting Seto's tirade. "Well, like you said, she's breathing, and I can see that." He stepped back. "So we're off."
"It's about time." Seto said, folding his arms.
"You really are a pain, you know that?" Rafael grunted back. "Come on, Eatos." He hopped down, and Eatos caught him, carrying him to ground and out of sight. A moment later, they got in the helicopter and took off, passing the incoming medical chopper Seto had requested.
He watched them go.
Kisara studied his back, thinking. I'm not sure he is ignoring magic. She mused. Maybe he thinks he is, but if he really was, wouldn't he have stopped the duel when we went off the tracks? Wouldn't he have kept Sirius around for questioning? Would he have bothered summoning Obelisk when Slifer showed up outside Kyo's window if he thought it was just a hologram?
But why bother pretending he can't see magic? She retaliated. Is he trying to protect us? Does he think that ignoring it will make it go away?
That doesn't make any sense. He'd never ignore something like that, and it wouldn't protect us anyway… because it hasn't.
He turned, and she thought she caught him glance at her Blue-Eyes, but he ignored it as he came over. "Come on. Let's get Kyo to the infirmary."
