Broken Promises
It was 'Duel Start'. Seto took a seat at the table, narrowing her eyes as Pegasus set his own at the side and took a seat as well. "The game will be played using standard duel monster's rules," he stated calmly, the guards standing behind him with Mokuba. The boy was merely staring blankly at her, eyes dull and faded and forcing her to turn back to look at her opponent with an only slightly hidden scowl. "Do you agree," he 'asked', the woman across from him narrowing her eyes as the 'request'. As if she could refuse..! Just get on with it! Pegasus merely smiled, crossing his arms. "Wonderful~! Now then," he continued, still smiling. "Prepare your deck..."
As he said those words, Yugi's voice sounded over the air again, the boy leaning far over the edge of the balcony as he shouted. "Kaiba-san," he called, the woman turning with a slight frown in response. What was it... The duel was about to start, what could possibly be more important at the moment? She had to prepare herself... She was about to duel someone who could apparently read minds... And steal souls... Who knew what the hell else, regardless of common sense and the laws of reality! She grit her teeth, before tensing at the boy's next few words. "Pegasus has a Dragon Capture Jar," he shouted, eyes wide with worry as a few on the balcony turned to him in confusion. Some of them were gone... Where was the blond..?
Seto shook it off, steeling herself yet again. Back to the matter at hand... She turned back to her deck, closing her eyes briefly in an attempt to gather herself. Dragon Capture Jar... With that in Pegasus' deck, she had a feeling that even her Blue Eyes would be struck down... And knowing Pegasus herself, she was almost certain, particularly with the look the man was now giving her. An overconfident smirk that put a scowl on her own face, and likely said clearly 'I know what you're thinking'.
Tch... No matter what the strategy, she was fighting with Blue Eyes either way; they were her cards, her prized possession... And with those dragons, she would defeat Pegasus! Listening as a faint 'Be careful, Kaiba-san,' came from the top balcony she gave a mental snort. Hn! She was always cautious with her dueling. And this wasn't like last time... This time she would win with the advantage. Now then...
"Duel start," she muttered, watching as Pegasus drew his hand while she herself drew her own. Now then... She looked across the board, Pegasus smiling. She hadn't looked at her cards just yet... Better to see what her opponent would do first...
"Well then," the man began, taking a card from his hand. He'd probably 'heard' that... "I'll go first! Hnnn..." He placed a card on the field, smiling oddly. "I'll play Toon Alligator in defense mode," he stated, the growling and oddly proportioned lizard appearing from the card. 'Toons'... Obviously not cards that he'd released anytime recently... "In addition," he stated, Seto mentally wondering how the hell this moron had programmed these cards into the devices without her knowledge to begin with, "I will play one card face down... That's it for me," he finished with a cheery grin, waving his hand before leaning back.
Hnn... Low level monster in defense, face down card... Trap, she wondered with a frown. Or was it a spell... Either way, it was almost putting a sign up and saying 'I have nothing!' Though this was Pegasus... "It's my turn," she stated, drawing her card. Staring at it she blinked, forcing herself not to look at Pegasus as a loose strategy formed. She didn't know how this mind thing worked... But her best guess was that it was by looking her in the eye, and provided that was all it was she had a chance... After all, she reminded herself, strengthening the theory. The time Pegasus had spoken to her at the duel, and before when she had Crocketts hostage, that was what she'd been doing, wasn't it? There was a chance...
She started at the card a few moments more, before deciding on her move. Blue Eyes... Her first draw was the dragon itself, and somehow she could hardly say that was a coincidence! She could open with an all out attack, but at the same time, Yugi's warning needed to be heeded... For all she knew, that trap in front of her was the Dragon Capture Jar... Or, it was in Pegasus' hand? Hell, she didn't even know if it was a trap, it was just her best guess! "Hnn... I'll play a face down card too," she decided in the end, not looking up from the board as she did just that. "And then," she continued, placing another on the board, "I play Rude Kaiser!" The armed and menacing lizard appeared in a flash, sharpening the blades on his wrists against each other with a grin. "Attack the Alligator," she ordered, the monster rushing toward a now panicking cartoon lizard with a snarl.
The Kaiser's blades tore through his opponent, Pegasus giving a mock groan as he held his head in one hand. "Oh nooooo~" he cried, the monster below misting out of existence whilst the Rude Kaiser returned to its side of the field. Pegasus continued to sigh, Seto twitching slightly in annoyance. Oh shut up...
"My turn's over," she growled, the man before her continuing to 'fret'. Across from her, Pegasus was now looking over his hand. 'Hnn... So your card has 1800 attack,' he was muttering, opponent growling in response. 'What do I do...'
Pegasus drew his card, before grinning. "Ohh~ I've got it," he cried, taking the card and placing it on the table. "Here's a card that can beat you! Parrot Dragon," he shouted, the bird-headed dragon appearing on the field with an obnoxious squawk. Parrot Dragon..? What the hell was that thing... "Do your best~! Attack!"
She flipped a card over, still not looking up from the board as Parrot Dragon rushed forward. Well, she wasn't about to take the first strike. "Before that," she stated, a small pendulum appearing above the card, "I activate my spell." Ignoring the sound of shock (She was almost certain it was fake...), she explained. "Mesmeric control," she continued, the Parrot Dragon spinning on his feet. "It'll reduce your monster's attack by 800 points!" As the Parrot Dragon collapsed to the ground in a daze, she looked down upon her own monster. "Now, Rude Kaiser!" With a growl and a nod the lizard charged, slicing Parrot Dragon's head clean from its body with a single swift strike. The monster misted away into nothingness, Rude Kaiser again returning to her side of the field. "Take that!"
"Oh nooooo..." She'd made the first hit... Pegasus would have 1400 points left... She risked a look up, her opponent 'apparently' facing the table himself. Tch... She grit her teeth, knowing full well that the man before her was not grieving in anyway. Bastard... Was he even taking this fight seriously! He was better than this... He'd created the game, he had to be...
She narrowed her eyes, fixing her gaze on the table again. Alright... Serious or no, she needed to win... If Pegasus' actions led to his downfall, then it would mean Mokuba would be freed... "It's my turn again," she stated, drawing a card and glancing at it. And though it was just a hunch, she was fairly certain that Pegasus did not have the Dragon Capture Jar in his hand for the moment. With that being the case, it would be safe to play her dragon... Grabbing the card however, Pegasus' voice suddenly came over the board.
"Stop," he ordered, Seto tensing slightly. Tch... What was it..? She refused to look up from the board, eyes cast down to her side of the field even as the man before her began to speak. "Don't move," he stated calmly, grabbing the card he had on the table. "Don't show me your card... I'm activating this trap for the moment..." A trap..! She swallowed, listening as Pegasus flipped the card over and continued. "The card I played was 'Prophecy," he stated, the woman again swallowing in response. Shit... She didn't know what that card did either... It figured she would be against cards she'd never heard of... This wasn't good at all... "Using this card," Pegasus was explaining, expression unseen to his opponent, "I can predict the attack points of the card you were about to play... I'm going to guess if it's more, less, or equal to 2000... And," he continued, Seto barely hiding the tenseness she felt under her opponent's gaze with those words, "If I guess correctly... That card is mine..." Shit... Shit... "I not only predict that your card has more than 2000 attack points," Pegasus stated, the woman across from him gritting her teeth. Shit... Shit! She'd averted her gaze the entire time, if he somehow knew what her cards were... "I predict you're about to play the Blue Eyes White Dragon, with 3000 attack..." Gh... She tensed, growling before taking the card from her hand. Her dragon... How dare he take her... Gh... She continued to growl, placing the card on the table and watching as Pegasus took the card to the other side. "Hnhnhnhnhn!~ My my my Kaiba-dear~," the man said with his usual exaggerated optimism. "I never thought I'd get your Blue Eyes White Dragon~"
"Tch..." She bit back a growl, instead gripping her cards tightly. And she would have never imagined that there was a card that could actually steal the card as opposed to taking it! Damn it... Her eyes drifted toward Mokuba, the woman swallowng before steeling her resolve. Damn it... A promise... She'd promised to take care of Mokuba... And she would do just that! She promised... She would beat Pegasus and get him back! Before this man got the chance to play the Blue-Eyes!
Across from her, Pegasus was still chuckling, one hand at his face in a mock attempt to silence the sound. "Well then," he decided, opponent still refusing to look the man in the eye. There was still a chance... Despite the uncanny guess, even she knew that Blue-Eyes was her 'obvious' card so to speak... Pegasus could have acted on a guess, rather than his 'mind reading' scheme... All the same though... The fact that he'd guessed... "I'll just draw my card and end my turn," he finished, the move-set coming to Seto once more.
Calm down... She had to calm down... Even if he used her dragon, she had a card in her hand that would make him regret ever doing just that! Drawing her card, she continued to hold her stare at the table with a frown. "I put Rude Kaiser in defense mode," she stated, shifting the card sideways. She didn't have the second half of the 'combo' just yet... She had to wait... "I end my turn.."
"My turn then~!" The sound of cards being shifted could be heard, her opponent drawing his next card. Pegasus had her dragon... But would he play it? There was no reason for him not to right now, yet all the same... She continued to stare at the table in thought, eyes narrowed. If he didn't, he would probably be preparing another trap... Nonetheless... Keeping her thoughts cleared in case the man did read minds without eye contact, she continued to attempt at calming herself down. Her strategy was set... That was all she would tell herself, and all that Pegasus would know. Her strategy was more than enough for this...
Across from her, Pegasus had grown silent for a moment. Merely staring forward, hands folded in front of him after placing the card back in his hand. Finally he spoke, opponent's eyes trained on the board in wait. "I'll play one card face down," the man stated, before placing another on the table. "And I play this in defense mode! Dark Rabbit!"
A wickedly grinning monster appeared on the board, the Dark Rabbit standing in a hunched position as Seto raised her eyebrows in response. 'My turn is over,' Pegasus had stated, the woman across from him narrowing her eyes. He didn't play the dragon... Instead he'd used another of his toons... Well then! "Alright," she called out, drawing her next card and mentally nodding. Time to move! "It's my turn!" Placing the two cards on the table, she continued to fix her glare at the board as opposed to Pegasus himself. The card behind Dark Rabbit was a bit worrisome but she had no time to think about that..! "I'll sacrifice Saggi the Dark Clown, activating the trap Crush Card Virus! And that'll destroy your entire deck," she continued, flipping over the cards as Saggi began to turn a poisonous shade of violet in reaction to the trap.
Pegasus, however, had another idea it seemed. Shit... Trap..? "I activate my face down spell card~," he stated cheerily, Seto tensing in response. Gh... What! Spell card..! "And the card is," he stated darkly, "Negative Energy! This card," he continued, a large black orb appearing on the center of the field from still another card unfamiliar to her, "Doubles the attack of all 'Dark Monster's including yours, 'Kaiba-dear~' In other words," he said with a wicked grin, "Your clown's attack value becomes 1200..." The woman swallowed, watching as Saggi suddenly cleared of his poisons effect and shook himself off. No... Saggi needed to have less than 1000 for the trap to take effect, this meant..! "And that's not all," Pegasus added darkly, Seto still refusing to look up from the board. Shit... That meant- "My Dark Rabbit is also a dark monster after all! It's attack doubles too~ Now rabbit," he ordered, the man's opponent growing pale as she calculated the damage. 2200 against 1200... 1000 damage right off the bat, damn it... "Murder the Dark Clown!"
The rabbit bounded across the table with its wicked grin, socking the other monster in the face. Saggi's form misted out of existance, its master's lifepoints splitting clean in two as Dark Rabbit returned to the opposite field. Shit... This was bad... A bead of sweat ran down her face as she stared numbly at the board, attempting to swallow back her fear to focus on the duel. She was half dead in one attack... And Pegasus still had her Blue Eyes in his hand! This man... She narrowed her eyes, finally looking up and fixing a glare on him. Obviously he didn't rely on 'eye contact' at all! Which meant that she was literally stuck between a rock and a hard place... Yet if Mokuba was to ever get out of this alive, she had to...
She grit her teeth, staring across at Pegasus' 'Dark Rabbit'. Tch... Probably reading her mind right now... But at the same time, she couldn't let this stop her! She would win, even with the disadvantage she was now at! Even when her thoughts were no longer private! "Hn!" She drew her card, adding it to her hand with a growl. "I'm not through yet, Pegasus," she spat with a glare. Looking across at the monster she was against however, she knew that nothing in her hand would hold out against it... Time to gather the shield, she decided with a wince."I play another card in defense mode," she stated, placing the Battle Ox on the field. The monster appeared in a crouched position, seated directly beside the Rude Kaiser. "It's your move..."
"My turn?" Pegasus chuckled darkly, drawing his card with a smile. "Well then! How about we chat... The duel will be just boring otherwise~" And how about she ram his entire deck down his throat instead, she thought with narrowed eyes. She didn't enjoy 'idly chatter' when she was in a good mood let alone moments like this. Make the play... Just make the play... "Tsk tsk tsk... So impatient! Really Kaiba-dear," the man said with a sigh, shaking his head. "Speak up! You're no good at this at all~ How about I go first," he continued with a smile, apparently ignoring the copious amounts of curses to his name running through the mind of his opponent. "Do you like cartoons at all?" She didn't answer, merely narrowing her eyes. If he said. One more word. About the damn toons he was playing... "Hnhnhnhnhnhn... I'll take that as a 'no'," Pegasus decided, merely waving off his opponent's anger as he continued. Shut up... "Well, not so for me!~ I love them," he said with a grin, eye closing with the apparent memory. "I remember growing up as a boy, watching 'Funny Rabbit' every Saturday morning~ All those characters running around on the T.V.," he stated with a sigh. "They were my best friends back then!"
The woman merely stared in response to that, brow twitching. Well, at least that explained one thing about Pegasus'... Eccentricies. "To this day," Pegasus was continuing, nostalgic smile becoming a fox's smirk that had his opponent frowning, "They run around in the little garden of my heart... They never betray me, and they never die... And now my dear Kaiba," the man continued, smirk growing into a grin, "I'm going to invite you to that world..." Oh fuck that didn't sound good. This was going to be completely- "I'm going to play this... Toon World!"
Seto's eyes instantly flicked down to the bottom of the card, reading it with a frown. 'All player's cards become Toon cards, this is a continuous effect'... Great. Which probably meant he built the entire damn thing around supporting that... There was probably a catch too... Actually, a number of catches, given who this was really. The woman tensed as the thought came to mind however, eyes widening when the large book above the Toon World card appeared. Black Rabbit... It was gone...
"Gh..." She stared, free hand clenching into a fist as she scanned the board. "Where..."
Pegasus chuckled, giving a mock shrug as the illusionary book that appeared on the field slammed shut. "Well," he stated calmly, "All my cards are Toons after all... They live in the Toon World! If you don't see them," he continued, tone darkening considerably, "They must be hiding inside..." The man's smirk became a frightening grin, opponent tensing more so as he looked toward the book. "I'm sure you'll see them soon enough though... Dark Rabbit," he 'called', the book opening to a new page. "Are you there? ATTACK!"
From within the pages of the book the rabbit's twisted form charged appeared, coming out from the pop-up forest on the open page. Dark Rabbit's hands were formed into fists, and with one single strike he had the Battle Ox knocked out of his defensive crouch. Tch... It jumped from the book..! "The battle Ox goes down," Pegasus was shouting with a cheer, Seto watching rigidly as the rabbit disappeared back into the book. She couldn't attack the spell card using the standard system..! Shit... "My my," her opponent said with a drawling tone, voice far betraying the sinister grin on his face. "My shy little rabbit went back in the book again... And now that the book is closed up, he's completely out of harm's way!"
Damn it... She couldn't attack him even if she drew a card to overpower the damn rabbit! "Tch..." She drew her next card, eyes narrowing once again. "For my turn," she stated with a growl, placing the card she'd drawn on the board, "I'll place a card face down. With that, I'm done," she continued, biting her tongue. Shit... She had nothing at the moment... What the hell would get around that book...
"Hnhnhnhnhn... Ahh yes... Well," he began, drawing his next card. Given his expression he was more than enjoying the clear advantage he now had... Bastard... "It's my turn isn't it? How about I show you something interesting Kaiba-dear..." Seto frowned, watching as Pegasus pulled a card from his hand and flipped it around with a wicked smirk. "This," he stated, the woman across from him narrowing her eyes as the card gave a dull shine in the light. "Is the Blue-Eyes White Dragon I got from you..." No... Nooooo... Don't do it... She read that card's description, and if that meant what she thought... "See what happens when I play it," Pegasus continued, placing the card on the table. No no no no no, not when the field spell was in- The book slammed open, a ridiculously 'rubbery' and mis-proportioned version of her dragon popping out with a 'grin'. "It's a Blue-Eye's Toon Dragon! AHAHAHH~!"
WHAAAAAT NO. NO! She bit back a growl, staring with wide eyes at the... Thing her opponent turned the dragon into. What... What did he do to it! It looked ridiculous! Did it actually have a pupil in its eye? How the hell was it supposed to fight with those teeth, it couldn't even close it's mouth it- "Hnhnhnhnhn..." And of course he was having plenty of fun doing this to her..! Goddamned piece of scum..! "All my monsters become residents of Toon World," he stated with a smile, folding his hands over. "I'm just that accepting! What do you think Kaiba-dear? So much more loveable than before isn't it?" No it damn well wasn't! Turn it back! "NOW," he cried, the dragon rearing it's head back to charge a ridiculously large blast of energy. "Toon Attack!" A miniature explosion occurred on the field, Seto's second defence monster biting the dust. "Rude Kaiser is blown to pieces!~" Gh..!
Seto's eyes narrowed dangerously, fists clenching as the 'toon dragon' skipped back around the book, seeing no point in bothering with its closed pages. 'Toon' dragon had all the power of her Blue-Eyes... But to take an already perfect card and do that! Bastard... Daring to take her dragon... And do... That to it! "Hmmm..." Pegasus was looking at her with an overly smug stare, eye narrowed in what was likely cruel mirth for the moment. "So angry Kaiba-dear! You must fix that temper..." Shut up..! And get the hell out of her head!
Damn it! She folded her hand, closing her eyes. Alright. That was it... Screw strategy. That obviously wasn't working, and quite honestly she'd rather put her faith in chance than deal with this. "Pegasus," she stated, forcing her tone to remain neutral as she calmed herself down. Breath in and out... In and out... Damn it she was tired... "You obviously know what cards I have already... So I'm going to discard my entire hand," she continued, evening the small pile she held before dropping it beside her deck. Pegasus' eye widened just slightly more in curiosity, the woman across from him merely fixing a narrowed stare back at him in response. "I'm not just going to sit here while you make a joke out of my deck, and tell me what I'm going to play... Instead," she stated, vision blurring slightly as exhaustion began to slowly creep in again before being pushed back by grit determination alone, "I'm going to draw one card from the top of my deck... One completely unknown card that I don't know..." A card that Pegasus wouldn't know either, not that it seemed to disturb the man in any way... "And I'll play it in attack mode," she shouted, drawing her card.
Don't fail her now... Eyes stared across at the board, and in one swift motion she placed it on the field. "Watch," she shouted, the table reacting to the card's presence and allowing the monster to materialize in that instant. Don't fail her... "This card that I place my faith in..." A mere glance told her she had succeeded, but despite the draw her expression remained unchanged. "THE BLUE EYES WHITE DRAGON!" A fearsome roar echoed around the arena as the dragon appeared, white scales shimmering into existance. Rather than remaining 'table sized' oddly enough however, it instead held the size of a large dog, hovering behind her almost protectively as it gave a low growl toward the opponent. Hnn... Interesting... 'Oooooh,' Pegasus was saying in the background, voice seeming rather distant for the moment. 'Wonderful job Kaiba-dear~ Wonderful! Drawing another blue-eyes... How lucky~' Whatever, she mentally muttered, ignoring the man to look at her dragon. Just shut up and let her think... Privately.
Blue-Eyes turned its head, giving a quiet croon and rubbing its head against her side for a moment. Just a hologram of course... She didn't feel anything, just watched as the dragon moved. This was just a hologram, a solid creation made entirely of light. But even so... She hadn't programmed that... Briefly, her gaze softened, the woman still staring at her monster. The dragon, while a mere collection of light, seemed a little less... 'Computerized'... For the moment... Abruptly she turned to look forward, eyes narrowed as a scowl reappeared on her face. She'd summoned the dragon for a reason after all... Only one thing to do! "You say you feel my anger Pegasus," she asked, snorting as the dragon beside her leered at Pegasus' own sad excuse. Feeling and reading thoughts... Disgusting. "Hah! I'll show you what true anger is! Changing my proud dragon into THAT pathetic joke," she sneered, Pegasus' own dragon still hovering behind the Toon World book with a grin. "I'll never forgive you!" As Pegasus merely smirked on response, she pointed her dragon forward. The only way, unfortunately... "Here goes," Seto called out, the dragon giving a vicious roar in response. "It's my turn! BLUE-EYES, ATTACK!" Forgive her Blue-Eyes... But she wanted the sorry excuse on her opponent's side of the field to be gone as soon as possible! "BURST STREAM!"
The attack was charged. Blue-Eyes reared on its hind legs, standing on the ground beside Seto's chair as it prepared to attack. White light crackled into view, gathering in the beast's maw as the dragon took aim. With a thundering roar the attack was fired, the toon counterpart watching and panicking as it came closer... And closer... Closer...
And missed. The toon dragon bent itself into an impossibly stretched tube, bending over and around the stream of white lightening with ease as it came within range. The beam crackled out of existence, the dragon beside her closing its mouth with a snap. "What..." It evaded... It damn well... She clenched her fists, looking across the field with wide eyes she growled. Beside her, the dragon doing the same as their opponent's monster stretched back into place and gave a silent grin. What the hell was with this! She couldn't attack... Even if she could it would dodge..! What kind of spell was this..!
"Hnhnhnhn..." Pegasus gained the same nostalgic smile from before as he spoke, hands once more held out to recount some story that she wanted nothing to do with. "Did you know," the man was asking, opponent merely gritting her teeth in response. "There were five hundred and eighty three episodes of Funny Rabbit... And in the entire series," he stated, Seto wanting him to just stop talking for ten seconds at least, "According to someone who countered, Funny Rabbit's rivals the 'Bulldog Police' fired over 26,000 bullets at our hero~" She did not have a hero in some stupid looking rubber rabbit! Just shut up! The growl continued as Pegasus spoke on, turning back to Seto with a narrowed and almost villainous smile. "But you know Kaiba-dear... Not a single one ever hit him! A miracle!" On the board the Toon World book continued to hover in place, as did the 'Toon Dragon'. Given this monologue... She had a feeling she knew what Pegasus was going to say. "As long as Toon World is on the board," Pegasus stated with a smile, the expression continuing to darken further while Seto's own grew pale, "Everything I play becomes a cartoon! And nothing can hurt... Or kill... A toon," the man continued, a dangerous tone entering his voice. "They are the perfect lifeforms..!"
G...Ghng... "Rnnnnnn..." Seto seethed on the spot as she stared across at the board. Perfect? Pah! A cheap shield behind a single spell card wasn't perfect... No... This was a stalemate... The bastard had her in a stalemate using cheap tricks that involved dodging every hit that came from the other way! She crossed her arms, scowling as it moved back to Pegasus' turn. The man was drawing his card now, simply looking over it with the same dark smirk in place. Damn it... All the same, a stalemate held one advantage; her opponent couldn't do anything either... The Blue-Eyes and the Toon Dragon were equal in power to each other... If the toon attacked, then it would be taken out as well. A grim, but otherwise helpful move...
But Pegasus wasn't about to do that... She was pretty sure of that anyways, given that he seemed to be finding every loophole possible using that damn spell card.. Across from her, Pegasus was silent for a few moments longer than normal. The man's eye was narrowed with some unseen emotion, staring toward her and eliciting a deeper scowl from her. Stop flipping through her head like a book... That or staring blankly, though she had a feeling it was the former. Finally, Pegasus made his move, averting his gaze from Seto and moving one of the cards from his hand. "I'll play this card," he stated, placing a spell on the board as the 'Toon World' book flipped sideways. "Toon World," Pegasus cheered, the book opening up and flipping through the pages rapidly. "Let's tell a new story~! How about... SHINE PALACE!"
The book's pages stopped, a blinding gold castle rising from the covers. Definitely not the forest she saw before... What the hell was this about, she thought with a glare, watching as as Pegasus' Black Rabbit fizzled from existence in the golden light. Turning to a new page..? What was the point in-
Across from her, Pegasus merely chuckled. "But of course Kaiba-dear," he told her, Seto giving a mental twitch at being called 'dear' yet again for the umpteenth time. "Toon World is infinite! This book is merely a gateway to that plane of existence! And now," he continued, opponent gritting her teeth as Pegasus' dragon moved to sit in the light of the castle. "Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon, a monster of the light, receives the shining energy from Shine Palace and powers up!"
Shit. Her eyes widened, the woman tensing as 'Toon Dragon' charged up a blast of it's own. Shit, he'd increased the difference in... "Blue Eyes Toon Dragon," Pegasus shouted loudly, the dragon on her own side climbing onto the table with a growl. "ATTACK! Burst Stream~!"
The woman growled, fists tightening. That was not an attack he had the right to make..! She narrowed her eyes, flipping over the card she'd set long ago with a scowl. "I activate the card I placed face down," she called out, the aperture portal appearing in front of Blue-Eyes just as the toon's duplicate attack came close. "Negate Attack!" The toon's blast faded from existence, aperture closing and fading from view as well. The toon dragon returned to it's base 'stance', her own Blue-Eyes growling lowly and moving to give its master a clear view of the field.
Damn it... Pegasus likely knew that she had that card... In fact she was almost certain! Now that she'd used it she only had one chance at getting rid off the toon mock-up... If she put Blue-Eyes in defense mode she'd lose her best monster to a cheap imitation... And if that dragon attacked her again following that... She swallowed, reaching for her deck. If it attacked her, it was all over. Not just for her... But for him as well.
Mokuba... She narrowed her eyes, taking the card from the deck in silence. Everything... Everything relied on this next card! And she had no doubts that it would be the one she needed! Throwing it on the board instantly, her expression didn't change, reading the name and activating it. "SHADOW SPELL," she cried, the chains appearing to wrap around her opponent's monster in an instant. Across from her Pegasus had a calm if not scheming smile in place, obviously knowing full well just how lucky this draw was. One card...
This was the only card that could have possibly saved her, in the entire deck. And only this one... 'Lucky draw' indeed. The Toon Dragon's attack was now not only lower than Blue-Eye's by two hundred points, but in addition... Her eyes narrowed, and although this now placed her at a slight advantage her expression was nowhere near elation. Her Blue-Eyes... "Even your pathetic rubbery copy can't squirm out of those chains," she spat, the Blue-Eyes beside her roaring in agreement. "Prepare yourself," the woman continued, her dragon charging an attack at those words. Mouth hung open it took aim, this time more than certain it would not miss. "BURST STREAM!"
In a blast of white flames the imposter dragon was destroyed, chains vanishing from sight with nothing to hold. The toon dragon was long gone... No longer was her Blue-Eyes condemned to a life as a pathetic toon. She'd put it out of its misery, and now it was Pegasus' turn!
Pegasus, however, merely chuckled at the minor scratch received from the attack. "You have a good mind my dear," he said with a low chuckle, Seto merely glaring back. "Just now... I felt your love for the Blue Eyes card in your heart," he continued, opponent's expression falling considerably at those words. He'd felt... What? Felt? She grit her teeth, fists clenched. Get out of her head damn it... Out..! Her thoughts and feelings both were private damn it..! "As a game designer," Pegasus was saying with that same smile, ignoring the woman's growls and thoughts, "That is the greatest compliment you know... I must thank-you, 'Kaiba-dear'... It's my turn however," he stated, drawing a card with a dark smile. "And this is my next move... The Dragon Capture Jar!"
Shit! The woman paled, the jar appearing on the field in a small swirl. A monster card... Damn it! The jar trembled slightly, winds appearing to pull her dragon in immediately. Blue-Eyes gave an enraged growl as it was pulled forward for imprisonment, and as it finally became engulfed completely the jar glowed. Looking toward Pegasus with a snarl, Seto watched as her opponent merely chuckled. "I should tell you," he added, hands folded once more. "The jar gains the defense points of the dragon it absorbs... That makes it '2700' I believe..."
"Rggghhh!" That bastard..! Was he planning on using her dragon as his pawn yet again! She didn't know how this jar worked completely... But if Yugi had even seen fit to give her fair warning... "It's my turn," she bit out, gritting her teeth as she looked over the card. Tch... She had to destroy the jar before Pegasus could use it completely, but with such a high defense only her third Blue-Eyes could possibly face it... And all that would do was get the dragon captured again most likely... She placed the card on the field, narrowing her eyes. "I play Swordstalker in defense mode," she stated, before crossing her arms once more to lean back on her chair. Damn it...
Across from her, Pegasus held a seemingly blank expression, staring yet again. Get out... Get out..! "My turn again," he stated quietly, voice devoid of the cheer he'd had earlier while taunting her. Instead it was grave and severe, more closely matching the expression he held. "I'll play this card face down on the board," he stated, before removing the last card in his hand to put it on the field. "And on top of that... I play this monster!" Appearing on the field was an odd one-eyed monster, a flute gripped firmly in its hands. "The Dragon Piper, in defense mode!"
Dragon Piper..? She frowned, staring at the monsters as it came to her turn once again. With a name like that she was almost certain Pegasus had a plan that concerned her captured Blue-Eyes... Pipers controlled, they manipulated... A 'dragon piper' combined with the jar itself... Seto's scowl deepened, thoughts running through her head without a care to hide them anymore. Would he dare... Could he possibly release her dragon, using the piper to turn it on her..?
"Exactly," Pegasus stated with a dark grin, eye narrowing in mirth as Seto's thoughts were once more taken from her mind. "On my next turn," he continued loudly, arms crossed for the moment, "The Dragon Piper's 'Flute of Rebirth' will bring back your dragon as my monster... And it will once again become, as you put it," he said with a dark chuckle, "A 'Pathetic' toon..."
Gh... She growled, fists clenched tightly as she looked across the board. A toon? Fat chance! "Over my dead body," she snarled, switching her monster to attack mode in that instant. Swordstalker rose up to its feet, blade gripped tightly in its hands as its master continued. "I'll crush your measly Dragon Piper before you get the chance! SWORDSTALKER," she roared, watching as the piper already moved toward the Dragon jar to prepare for the next move. "ATTACK!" The monster charged, blade raised and ready...
She should have known.
The moment her monster turned his blade on the Piper, the sword mere centimetres away from the beast, Pegasus' smirk grew even darker than previously seen. Trap. He'd goaded her into a trap and she'd run into it without a care at all..! She was- "I activate the spell Doppleganger," he cried, Seto tensing in response. She knew what that card was... Knew exactly what it was. Staring across the board in horror, she watched as Pegasus continued to chuckle, the card he played shifting into one of her own. "That's right," he stated with a grin, his card continuing to shift. "The copycat card... And it can change into any card you played in the entire game," he continued, the woman before him growing paler and paler with each second. The image was appearing on 'Doppleganger's apparent 'card face', as was the description. But she already knew... "And the card it's going to copy... Is your Crush Card Virus!" The card appeared on the board with those words, but Pegasus was still not finished. "In addition my dear," he said with a menacing smirk, Seto swallowing as the card was shifted to sit beneath the Dragon Piper. No... No..."I'm infecting the Piper with the virus..."
"Gngk..." 'And so it begins,' Pegasus stated with a grin, the Swordstalker on the board cutting cleanly through Pegasus' monster with ease. She'd given the command, she couldn't take it back... Foolish... So moronic, how did she not..! 'Prepare to die by your own card...'
Crush Card Virus... Swordstalker vanished from sight as the virus took effect, its owner staring at the board in horror. All monsters with 1500 or more attack points... All of them... Were now useless... Her deck was almost completely made of monsters with high attack power, and if she couldn't use monsters...
She stared at the deck, eyes wide as she drew her card. The only other one she could play... The only card she had left..! All other spells would be useless if she couldn't defend, and even with half her lifepoints remaining she was dead..! She placed the card softly on the table, breathing un-even as all her hours of wakefulness and dueling caught up to her. "I.." She chocked, steeling herself for at least that last moment. "I bring back Saggi the Dark Clown with Monster Reborn, in defense mode..." The off green ankh appeared on the field, shining its light downward as the clown appeared beneath it in a crouched position.
"You have the courage to play out the game to the very end," Pegasus stated with a smile, nodding proudly. Tch... "Right to the very end... I applaud you my dear," he stated with a smile, only serving to elicit a weak growl from the woman. Applause... She wanted nothing of his pride or applause... "But with the next turn," he continued, "When I destroy that monster you will have no others in your deck... And I will win..." Somehow, she couldn't bring herself to care how Pegasus knew what the cards in her deck were. She couldn't care...
Seto stared past the man, looking toward Mokuba's unmoving body behind him. The guards flanked him on either side, not that the boy needed to be watched. He couldn't run... He couldn't speak, he couldn't move... Mokuba... She looked toward him sadly, hands shaking as she brought them to her side. Mokuba... She thought she saw tears running down the side of his cheek, but that was an illusion right..? Her own eyes were dry, completely dry, she hadn't had anything to drink since noon really... 'Forgive me,' she cried mentally, no longer caring that her thoughts were as loud as a clear shout to her opponent. 'I couldn't save you... Please forgive me...'
"And now," Pegasus began darkly, placing a card on the board. "I strike. This is the end of the game my dear! I summon Bikuribox!" The jack in the box appeared from Pegasus' book, Seto staring it down with narrowed eyes. Wicked and wide eyes were turned her way from the monster, the dark-clothed jester appearing to cackle madly. "ATTACK," the man called, the monster charging up a blast of sparking and clouded energy before eradicating her clown in an instant. The light was intense, despite the dark origin... The attack went fairly quick as well... With just that, it was all over... The field cleared, and though she held an apparently stoic stare she inwardly winced from the strike.
Dead. She was good as dead... Felt dead too... All her work, only to fail now... Briefly her eyes were turned on the balcony, only dimly seeing the blurs that were her audience and turning her eyes back to the table. 'Good-bye Yugi,' she thought, before closing her eyes. So tired... Mokuba... Forgive her... She needed to rest... So badly...
Her eyes slowly opened up again as Pegasus drew a card from his pocket, voice almost inaudible to her. He was standing up, leaning over the table to hand her something... A card... It was placed on the table before her, and though her vision was doubling she could still make out its image. Why... Why did she feel so... So... 'You're a smart girl,' he whispered, to quiet for any around the room to possibly hear. This card placed before her, this card she'd seen only once before... Her eyes were drawn to it, the woman's resolve crumbling before her as she stared at her brother's screaming image. Mokuba... Forgive her... Please... Please... 'Very smart, possibly too much so... After all,' Pegasus was saying, voice low. 'You know what sorts of stakes I play for though, don't you my dear..?' Weak... Why did she feel so weak... She was fine moments before wasn't she? Wasn't...
She could hear shouts... Far off in the distance and barely identifiable... Yet somehow she knew where they were coming from, off to the side, above...
'KAIBA-SAN,' Yugi was shouting, voice raised and panicked beyond anything she'd heard. 'NO!'
Another person... 'KAIBA!' Who were those people... Why were they screaming for her... 'KAIBAAAA!!'
Pegasus was still there... She wasn't looking at him, unable to even muster the energy for anger by this point. Was she... Dying somehow..? "In this game my dear, the loser loses everything... That which is most precious to them, beyond anything in the world... More than just material gain," he whispered, regaining his seat and folding his hands. But he'd already taken all he could... Already... "They lose even their souls..."
"I was saving this for you," he whispered, tossing a second card on the table. What was he doing... What... The card landed beside the first, Mokuba's screaming face staring up at her as her eyes watered. What was he...
She took a shuddering breath, and as she continued to stare at Mokuba's card, ignorant to the one beside it her eyes momentarily widened. "Gh.." A small surge of energy, something that lasted only an instant... Only an instant, and in that moment...
Just that moment... She could hear...
'N...Nee-sama?'
"...Mokuba..?"
And all she saw was darkness...
When the card's image had finally appeared, Seto's head was merely tilted forward in 'defeat'. The woman's body was slumped over in the same weakened pose she had while her soul was being sapped, and there was only one real difference to tell the truth, between the image of her soulless being and her weakened form... The moment the soul had been taken, her hand fell from it's grip on the locket around her neck. He didn't even think she was aware that she grabbed it... Aside from that on thing however, the woman was still staring off with the same, momentarily hopeful glimpse that had come with the sound of her brother's voice. Though her eyes were blank, the expression remained frozen. Questioning, confused eyes on an otherwise defeated face.
Pegasus leaned forward, smiling darkly as he grabbed the two cards that sat on the table. Mokuba's was the same of course, remaining as unchanged as ever. Now what of his sister though... The image of Seto Kaiba on the card was not at all fearful like her brother, there was no panicked expression, no wild last attempt to pull on the 'cell bars'. Looking over the card, he was almost surprised really. The expression was neither hopeless nor depressed, not even angered... She was merely accepting of fate, as though it was forever expected to occur. The woman wasn't even staring out with eternally open eyes like all others who had ever been sealed in a card. Instead, they were closed over, her head head bowed forward as though waiting. No frown, no grimace or scowl... Just a blank expression betraying all emotion. Waiting...
It would be a long wait, he mentally told himself with a sigh... Walking in the darkness of the monster's realm for all eternity, the fate of both the siblings... Pity, he thought, placing the cards in his pocket before gathering his deck. Though the cards were so close, the distance between the two mind as well have been infinite now... If only she really had died back then, he thought with a smile, shaking his head sadly. Perhaps they could have eventually been reunited in the afterlife. Ahh well... He gave a nod to the two guards, who both made to take Mokuba back to where he was being kept in silence. Mokuba would be well kept... Wonderfully kept, he would do that much for now- Kaiba Corp needed a Kaiba, and even if he would soon be buying the company out it was the... 'Right thing' so to speak.
As for Seto herself... Crocketts came in, and with a stern nod the CEO turned his way. "Remove the corpse," he said coldly, the assistant staring blankly and out of his 'range' of thought. "You know where to put him."
Crocketts merely nodded, roughly grabbing the woman's limp body and slinging her arm around his shoulder before dragging her off to an unknown area. An area where she would remain for the rest of eternity... And now that this was all over... 'Well done Pegasus', came the voice of Daimon, coming out as a low 'whisper' from the speaker at the table. 'Seto is taken care of,' muttered Oota, who was nodding in agreement with the rest of the 'Big Five'. 'Deal with Yugi as well, and you'll get Kaiba Corp. as planned Pegasus...'
Good... He smiled, eyes briefly turning over to where the hidden board room above the arena sat. With his eye he could see the shadows of the men as they moved to leave, likely for the rooms he had prepared for them during their swift arrival the night before. Defeat Yugi, the only condition... Which meant the company was as good as his; no one ever beat him at his own game after all... And even if the power of the millennium puzzle resided within the boy, it was powerless against his eye- He froze, a sudden chill passing through him. A wave of energy had shuddered through the room, an almost 'rumbling' sound arising. This power...
This was... He turned, eye wide as he looked toward the balcony where Yugi himself was standing. A confident air now hung around him... A confident and enraged air. This was... "PEGASUS," he roared, eyes wide with an unbridled fury. "I won't forgive you for this," he shouted, those beside him turning with slight shock. The other Yugi... Pegasus' eye narrowed as the boy continued, the anger effectively radiating from his being in waves. Interesting how quickly the defeat of the boy's rival had sparked anger... "I swear it," Yugi was continuing with a shout. "I will defeat you!"
The man merely smirked in response, hands held at his sides as he addressed his eventual opponent. "Oh Yugi-boy~! I'm so glad you care," he said with a smile, before it narrowed into a wicked smirk. "But please remember... You have to win the championship tournament to earn the right to fight me!" And if he lost any other duels, he would fail completely... Hnhnhnhn...
Above on the balcony, Yugi merely nodded, scowl increasing. "I know that," he stated with a cold glare, hands gripping the railing tightly. "But you had better prepare yourself Pegasus... Because I won't be satisfied until I destroy you completely!" Was that so..?
Well, wasn't that exciting? He continued to stare up at the balcony, chuckling at the words. 'Destroy completely', now how likely was that? Idly, Pegasus noted that the blond was missing, along with another of his 'friends'... Hmmm... Such a pity he couldn't have been there to see his dear friend's older sister be defeated. He wondered... Did the boy know that Seto was in fact a she..? Did he feel close at all..? He hadn't been within range long enough to glean those thoughts, but soon enough he supposed... "Hnhnhnhnhnhn... Well," he muttered, before raising his voice to a shout. Back to business after now! "The Champion Ship Tournament is Tomorrow Morning," he stated, expression becoming relatively neutral as he spoke. "It will be held here, in this arena on the main floor! Out of the four duelists," Pegasus continued, eye narrowing as he recalled the event's details, "Only one of you will have the glory of facing me in battle!" And in a way, that would mean only one 'real' loser... As he said this, his eye caught glimpse of a shock of blond among the small crowd on the balcony, accompanied by a second teen. Ah... So he had returned. Just in time...
The smirk grew and he stepped back, allowing one of the guards at the side to take over. "Duelists," the man beside him shouted, holding up two cards for them to see. "To enter the finals and face Pegasus-sama, you will need the cards that were sent with your original invitation! Even if you are the winner," he stated, tone held to a dead serious extent as he continued, "Should it be found that you lack both of these cards, you will be disqualified immediately! Is that clear," he finished, Pegasus gauging the reactions of the crowd above. Crystal clear...
As though to act on those very words, Yugi and Jonouchi both pulled something out of their pockets. Ere both staring at the surface of a single card, and spotting this he smiled. Ahhhh... Wonderful, wonderful... So the two had both split that as well... Kujaku Mai seemed confident enough, understandably so given that she as well had those cards... As for Keith... He smirked, watching as the American turned to eye both Yugi and Jonouchi with clear distaste, obviously lacking a card of his own as well. Well... After all, he had hardly invited the American to his 'kingdom'...
"Hnhnhnhnhn..." Chuckling, he turned to leave the hall, giving a last wave. This was enough for now... "Well then my fair duelists," he called out, the bridges from the arena beginning to retract as the guards and hired hands left through to the halls. "I'll see you all in the morning~" Not even turning back he moved into the hallway, the bridge continuing to pull back behind him. With a thundering slam the bridges locked beneath the floor, door shutting behind him and locking into place. Now then...
Time to prepare for dinner...
"PEGASUS!" As Katsuya left the hall with Honda, that was the first thing he heard really. That and something that could have passed for a small earthquake but... He had the feeling the last one was just him. Nonetheless, hearing Yugi shout that loudly, with that much blatantly obvious rage...
It was almost scary really. Hell, it was kind of scary. The boy was staring down Pegasus from his position on the balcony, eyes wide and body tense and stiff. The air around him was almost thick with energy from the shout, and looking forward he had to stare. "Woah..." He swallowed as his friend continued, shouting his vow and threats to the man below with a snarl. It was fairly obvious that Yugi had switched out to the 'Other Yugi' once more. For that to happen though, after all that had gone on outside... "Yugi.."
The boy turned, but before he could say anything more, a shout from an announcer below caught their attention. The man held two cards in his hand, and even from the distance they were at he could tell what they said. 'The Honor of the King's Left'... 'The Honor of the King's Right'. He swallowed, pulling a single card from his back pocket as Yugi did the same. The card that Yugi had given him before... Telling him that he had no use for prize money, and that it would be better off put to use for Shizuka's surgery... "Th' Honor of th' King's Right.." 'Ultimate Riches', it said at the bottom. And as for Yugi's card...
The boy was staring at it intensely, saying nothing in response, and in the end it was easy to be distracted as Mai spoke up from behind them. "Alright," she said with a stretch, taking the bag she had left Anzu and waving. Looking toward her she seemed slightly flustered... A little pale, as were most of the others save Keith, Honda and himself really. Granted, he and Honda were a little clueless as to why that was but... Now that he thought... "From now on, we're enemies again understand?" The woman apparently steeled herself, slight nervousness hidden completely. She gave a wink, before turning to walk away from them. "The time for friends is over! Yugi, Jonouchi," she continued, disappearing down the hall. "Good luck, alright?" Good luck..?
"Y-Yea," he said with a nod, slowly turning back to Yugi. "You too..." Looking back at his friend, he frowned, watching as the others turned to him somewhat nervously. Down on the stage there'd been nothing but scattered cards on the table... If the others were this pale... "...Se... Kaiba... Kaiba lost didn't..."
Anzu nodded, looking rather pale as she turned away. So then what happened to her..? "Jonouchi," Yugi stated quietly, the blond turning to him with a slight frown. A slight nod and a bowed head was all it took really... All it took to send another cold shiver down his spine. What happened... "No matter what," Yugi was saying curtly, usual stern frown in place, "We must make it to the final round!"
Katsuya stared, piecing that statement to his own question with worry. Seto-chan lost... They had to win no matter what, he knew that part but... Damn it, what was going on! "Guys," Honda said with a frown, the others turning to him. The teen was looking over the railing, having apparently figured out fairly quickly what the abandoned cards meant. "What did they do with Kaiba..?"
"He said..." Again heads turned, this time toward Anzu as the woman turned from her position on the railing. They were the only ones in the room now... Keith had long since vanished, probably for the better... But the look that Anzu had... Why did it... "'Remove the corpse'... Before he had his soul taken, he said... I heard him say..." She stopped, taking a deep breath before continuing under her breath. "How could he do that," she muttered with wide eyes, shaking her head and holding it in one of her hands. "How could he just jerk someone's chain like that, even Kaiba didn't deserve that...I mean-" Anzu's voice faded into nothingness as the blond stood there, her first sentence still pounding in his ears. Remove...
The corpse..?
Numb... He felt numb... He couldn't move... Suddenly it felt as though a heavy weight was slamming into his legs, pushing down on him and making it hard to breathe. "Corpse," he finally croaked out, blood draining from his face. But... Pegasus only took souls right? He... He wouldn't kill... He wouldn't...
"Jonouchi," Yugi said with a frown, turning to him. Something in his eyes... Was that guilt? From the other Yugi? But why would... "...He's still alive, just as last time. Pegasus has sealed his soul in a card... And we will get him back," he continued, eyes narrowing. "And everyone else as well." As the blond continued to stare in silence, Yugi held up his card to him. Honor of the King's left... The empty, clear card with only a title. Was it just him, he wondered, or was the fact that it was an empty 'face' and 'description' just making him feel even worse. Completely blank... What did the cards that Pegasus held look like before he used them..? "No matter what," he stated again, clutching the card tightly. "You take your card... And I'll take mine... For everyone!"
He looked at the boy, swallowing. "But Yugi... What if we're matched up in the first round..." Cold... He felt cold, but he couldn't give in damn it... What happened if it did come to that match up though?
The boy didn't even pause to answer, his arms crossed as he looked up at the blond. "Then we'll just have to fight," he stated, expression unchanged.
Just fight... "E-Er... O... Ok..?" That was fast... Not a single bit of hesitation... (Would he even stand a chance against Yugi, seriously...)
He shook it off, taking an unsteady breath to calm down and listening as the others continued to talk about what had happened. "Yugi," Bakura was asking, arms wrapped around his middle yet again. Now why was he doing that lately..? Cold..? Indigestion or hunger maybe..? "Do you have a plan to counteract Pegasus' mind scan at all..?"
The answer was so blunt it almost cheered him up right there. "Nope," Yugi said, smiling as he shrugged. Oh god... If this had been anyone else they would be so fucked... (Course his answer wasn't much better... So really, no excuse...) "His Millennium Eye is troublesome," Yugi 'admitted', crossing his arms in thought. Yea... Yea that was one way to put it... "I don't have a perfect solution." No one did... "But all the same," he continued, smile vanishing rather abruptly. "I will CRUSH Pegasus!"
With that shout, Katsuya stared, again shaking himself off. Right... That was right, if they beat Pegasus... It was just like with the 'Monster World' wasn't it? Win the game, win back the lost souls! He snapped himself out of the cold, dead feeling he had for the moment, steeling himself. "Right," he shouted, nodding. He'd known this would happen damn it... It hurt like hell but he still knew! He had to fix it... And like Honda had said... Bodies in one place, soul's in another, and everything else in between... They had to do what they could, and win! "Let's do this," he decided, giving himself a reassuring nod. Alright... Alright... One day to fix things, one day to find Seto-chan and bust out of here... Finals couldn't possibly take all day, there had to be some point of free time he would get...
"Excuse me," came a familiar voice from the side, the group turning as the bandaged suit from before came over. Oh... This guy again..."If you could all follow me," he asked somewhat casually, "A dinner party has been arranged... Please," the man continued, Katsuya's stomach gurgling at the mention of food. "Step this way..."
Eager nods abounded as they followed after the man, Katsuya rubbing his stomach in question before coughing. "Hah... Man, forgot how starved I was..." Damn... Good thing they'd been eating snacks all through the labyrinth before coming to the castle.
Honda smirked, arms crossed as he overheard the muttering. "You forgot," he asked with a raised eyebrow, attempting to lift the spirits again. It was a little bit of an awkward conversation start... But really, he ended up listening anyways. "That's new! I didn't think there would be anything that could do that..."
He snorted, hands in his pockets as they continued down a flight of stairs. "Psh! Don't tell me you were thinking of dinner through all that," the blond said with a smirk, the group turning a corner. "Admit it, no one can think of food with that kind of duel!" Not to mention, he was still feeling queasy from Seto's last du-
...
Don't think about her...
Ignoring Honda's muttering of 'Yea, but I'm not you,' the blond watched as they entered a large and lavishly prepared dining hall. Vases filled to the brim with flowers of all sorts lined the sides, coming up to an enormous landscape portrait at the back end. The table was long, but it looked as though only half the chairs would be filled and only because of the others who were there. 'Please,' the man from before was saying from the side, hands motioning toward the table. 'Take a seat.'
Huh... Lots of food... Aside from bowls of soup he could see a number of bread and cheese platters, elaborate looking pitchers of water, salads, meat... Somehow he couldn't feel that hungry though. Standing just inside the doorway as the others filed in, he watched as Mai waved them over with a smile. Hah... Looked like she had been waiting a while... 'Honestly,' Anzu was muttering hands on her hips as she moved into the room, 'First time they've even bothered to feed us properly...' Yea... First time they bother and no one's feeling hungry...
Well, he decided with a sigh, walking forward. Food time he supposed... Mind as well eat so that he could focus on tomorrow's- "...Nh..." The blond frowned, stopping in place. Yugi stopped as well... Was... Someone watching them..? He had this weird feeling, like there was someone behind him, and yet there was technically no one there... He slowly turned, gaze moving upward as Yugi did the same. Something there... He jumped, eyes coming to the top of the doorway and freezing. "H-HIHHH!"
"T-That portrait," Anzu shouted, the group following their gaze upward. Framed in an elaborate border were two portraits above the door, each one painted so realistically that for a brief moment, Katsuya had to wonder if they were moving. On one side a young woman, dressed in an elaborate gown and smiling serenely at the room. The woman's eyes were half closed, long blond hair falling around her face and shoulders to frame them rather nicely.
The portrait of the woman however, was far from what caught his attention though. "It's him," he muttered, the image of the simply robed Egyptian man sending a shiver down his spine. The Millennium Ankh, key, whatever the hell it was, was hanging around his neck, and the man's seemingly soulless eyes stared outward at them.
...Don't think about soullessness...
He swallowed, eyes narrowing as he recalled the night all those months ago, long before he had even been staying with Mokuba and Seto. That guy... "What the hell is a painting of Shaadi doing here," he muttered with a growl, Bakura looking at the others with a frown.
"...Shaadi," the teen asked, blinking slightly. Right... He wouldn't know, he'd transferred in September after all... "Who is that..? He looks Egyptian almost..." Almost? Hahaha... Yea, that was one way of guessing he supposed.
Beside them Yugi nodded, staring at the portrait in silence before answering the albino. "That's because he is Egyptian," he stated, Bakura blinking as the boy continued. "Not only that, but he possesses a Millennium item too... See that ankh around his neck," he asked, Bakura turning to look upward at the question, "It's a key... The 'Millennium Key'! Using it, he was able to go inside a person's mind and control them..."
Hihhh... It was zombie night all over again... "Just thinking about that night gives me the chills," Anzu was muttering, shaking her head and moving toward the table. "I almost died because of that guy!" Hell, everyone almost died because of that guy!
"Yea," Katsuya said, frowning, mentally recalling just how much more danger she had been in compared to the others at the time. "That guy took over Anzu's mind and had her just about jump off a building!" He'd barely gotten there too... If he hadn't been able to escape from the poorly controlled professor that chased himself and Honda around that night, if he hadn't made it out the window to hold that platform up... He shuddered, before turning to Bakura. "Reminds me..." The blond frowned, recalling the reason why Shaadi had done all those things in the first place. "The guy wanted to know about Yugi's puzzle too... Like the guy in your ring, if you don't mind me saying Bakura..."
Bakura's reaction to that was... Odd... To say the least. At the mention of the ring he had merely given them all a rather odd smile, adjusting his bag. "Oh," he said, as though having somehow forgotten about the 'golden ring from hell' as Katsuya was 'affectionately' calling it. He shook his head, turning to look back up at the portraits. "You don't have to worry about that... I won't let it take over my mind anymore!" Won't let it? He frowned, eyeing the albino oddly a moment. That sounded almost like he was wearing the damn thing again but.. Hah... Hahah... He... He wouldn't do that right?
...Right?
He swallowed, turning away to take a seat at the table as the others continued to talk. Alright... Let... Let's just eat and get through the night... There was no way that would have happened after all, just no way... Not after the whole RPG fiasco and the impaled hand... No damn way he would do that... Katsuya pulled out one of the chairs, collapsing on it with a sigh and idly watching as the suit from before spoke to the others. "Man," he muttered, holding his head with a groan. Seto had finally woken up again only to lose her soul... So had Mokuba, and not only did they have to beat Pegasus to get them back but it looked like even Shaadi was in on things. "This is insane..."
"So it is," came Yugi's voice from the side, Katsuya blinking as he looked his way. W-W-Wait... When did he sit down...? He looked around, blinking. Hell, when did everyone else sit down? Idly, he noted that Keith was missing... Eh. It figured really... He kind of preferred that... Looking back at Yugi, he watched as his friend merely stared at the table in silence. Looking around the table, a good number of people were like that... Bakura was talking to Anzu about something, but otherwise... "...Jonouchi," Yugi finally said, the blond again blinking at his voice.
Er.. "..Yea Yug'," he asked, eyes continuing to drift around the table. Most of them weren't eating... Bakura had tied the cloth napkin around his neck and slowly started picking away at some corn himself, but for the most part, even Mai for all her talk of waiting to eat wasn't doing anything. The room was completely silent, and the food otherwise untouched... He turned back to his friend, swallowing. Some dinner... Pegasus sure knew how to kill a mood... "What is it..?"
Silence. The entire table was filled with an eerie and cold silence as slowly others began to eat as well, people around the table drifting off into their own worlds as they simply went through the motions of eating their soup. Complete silence, and it was almost frightening how long it lasted for everyone. "...About earlier," the boy finally stated, arms crossed as he stared at his bowl of soup. Yugi's voice, the 'Other Yugi's voice, seemed almost 'quiet' compared to its usual confidence, the boy not looking up as he continued. "During my duel with Kaiba..."
Again, Katsuya swallowed, the memory of the event coming to mind. That duel... All he could remember thinking back to that duel now was the monstrosity that was Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon's melting and decaying corpse... And the wide eyed, blank stare he'd seen through the wall of kuriboh. What was it that Yugi was saying though..? He wasn't looking up or around, merely staring off in thought... As though he couldn't actually say anything. "Yugi, what are you..."
"I was out of line," he stated, the blond beside him staring in response. What..! Yugi's eyes had narrowed, his voice low as he spoke. "You care about Kaiba a lot," he continued, the teen beside him keeping silent in his disbelief. "To an extent that I myself can't likely hope to understand. I interfered with that..." The boy sighed, adjusting his crossed arms and still staring at the soup bowl. "Even when you asked me not too."
Even when- Katsuya tensed, swallowing still more as he logged the words in his head. "You..." He shook his head, staring. "You heard me..." He'd heard him and he... Eyes wide he continued to stare, unsure of what to say in response. What...
Yugi merely stared at his soup in silence, voice still held quiet so that those around the table couldn't hear. "Forgive me, Jonouchi," he said turning to him with a look that was quite different from the familiar stern and confident stare. A 'non-Yugi' stare... A look that didn't suit either half, or even a mix of the two in his opinion. Yet it was there... And he was... "Because of what I did..."
The blond tapped Yugi's shoulder lightly with a fist, friend blinking in confusion. "Hey," Katsuya said with a sad smile, sparing the boy of any more difficulty in what he was saying. "Don't sweat it... Won' happen again right?" As Yugi stared, the blond turned back to the table. What did he say... What did he say..? He'd never spoken to the 'Other Yugi' long enough to really end up in this kind of situation. And the normal Yugi apologized for things that weren't even his fault, so it was easy to just tell him that it wasn't and move on. But now... "It hurts y'know," he said quietly, slumping back in his chair. His voice was kept almost to a whisper, and with the sounds of silverware clinking in the background it was easy to keep his words private. "I Couldn't be there to cheer 'er on, and then I came back t' find out she's gone... But that ain't yer fault... And y'know Yug'," he continued, turning to the boy with a slight frown. "Th' fact is... I forgive yah for th' duel out there. Not just 'cause you're my friend," Katsuya said, watching as Yugi stared back with the same slight scowl he always seemed to have, "But because I know that in reality... You jus' wanted t' get here an' get at Pegasus too... 'S like Seto-chan said," he whispered, blinking slowly as he unconsciously fingered his 'key box'. "If th' roles were r'versed, she wouldn' 've hesitated... Cause that's how much Mokuba means t' her... An' it's how much Sugoroku-ojii means t' you..."
Silence was his only answer, and, after a few minutes of awkward silence he found himself grabbing the spoon to go after the soup in front of him. Gotta eat up for tomorrow he told himself, dunking the spoon in and taking a sip. Save up the energy for his duels and for finding Seto both. Had to-
-blnmp- "NYHHAAAAAAHH!" He jerked backward, face pale as an 'eyeball' surfaced to the top of his soup. "H-HAAAH! WHAT THE HELL!" What... What the hell was this doing in his soup bowl! ... What the hell was anything doing in his soup bowl!
Beside him, Yugi was well was staring, at his own dish, raising an eyebrow as he lifted the eyeball out with his spoon. "Ghmlm-ghk!" The boys looked across, Honda as well following their gaze as Mai began to choke on something. Bringing a hand to her throat, she hurriedly spat something onto the counter before taking a wheezing breath. "Gh... Hah... It was in my soup too!"
Alright what the hell was with the eyeballs! He picked the one in his soup out, going slightly green in the face. Seriously, this was disgusting... A click sound came from the far end of the room, and the large portrait of what had apparently been the coast of Okinawa shifted into a close up view of Pegasus' face. "Iiiiiiiiit's SHOW TIME~," he called out, the table's occupants tensing up in response. "Hello everybody," Pegasus shouted with a grin, a majority looking toward the man in distaste. "How do you like my favourite soup~?"
He growled, holding the eyeball up between his thumb and finger as he shook the soup off. "Tch... Yea thanks for the meal Pegasus, what is this poison? Tryin' t' kill us off so you don' have t' fight us?" Though he wouldn't exactly gain access to KaibaCorp if that happened... And since it was in Yugi's soup as well, he doubted that was the case. Still...
Pegasus merely brightened at the accusation, clapping his hands together. "Ohhhh~ That," he shouted, appearing far more 'cheerful' than he had during the duel with Seto. "That's part of tonight's special dish," he said with a grin, leaning into the camera slightly. Er... He didn't trust anything that this guy called 'special'... "The heart-pounding Tournament Entree Bingo Game!" What.
"Tournament Bingo," Mai shouted, grabbing her own 'eye' with a napkin and wiping it off before turning back. The eye was gripped firmly in the napkin, the woman occasionally looking at it with a somewhat disgusted stare. "And just what exactly is that?"
The man beamed even more if that was possible, as though having waited for that very question to be asked for hours. "Well," he began with a smile, eager to explain, "All participants in the Championship will receive a replica Millennium Eye! One of you isn't there of course," he muttered, while Katsuya merely swallowed a wave of nausea staring at the 'replica eye' in his hands, "But oh well... Now," he shouted, still grinning. "Time to start the game!~ Crack that eye open!"
Crack it open? The blond frowned, looking back at his eye. With what, a hammer? What the hell was going through this guy's he- Oh... He blinked, looking along the side and rubbing it as he found a small divet. "A line..." Twisting the eye, he pulled the sides apart with a small 'pop' noise, dropping both halves to save the falling slip of paper from landing in his soup. "Ack- ...What th'..." He frowned, unfolding the small paper before looking at Yugi. "'S jus' a paper with th' letter 'D' on it..."
As Yugi held his own up in question ('A'), Mai nodded from across the table. "Mine say's 'B'..."
"Now then," came Pegasus' voice again, the group watching as the screen shifted to a simple tournament line up. "To announce the order of play!" They stared, Katsuya's eyes widening briefly before the blond clenched his fist with a nod. 'A', 'B', 'C', 'D'... The first and the last two were matched up with each other for a semi-final knock out!
Mai was smirking, a few fingers placed on her lips. "Ohh," he stated, winking across the table at her soon to be opponent. "Looks like I'm facing you, Yugi~" The boy merely nodded, expression notably neutral in response. Well... Obviously someone had their eyes on the goal... (Not to mention, normal Yugi definitely had monopoly on the hormones... Or something.)
As for his own match up... Given that Keith was missing, that would make him 'C'. "Hah," he said with a dark grin, pumping his fist. "I'm against Bandit Keith! Guess I have th' chance t' get back at him f'r th' cave already!" Alright... He could do this easy..! Er... Well... Regardless of Keith's 'champion status' he guessed... And the fact that he knew what cards he had now... Honestly, he should probably just stop thinking, he wasn't doing well here.
The screen switched back to Pegasus, the man grinning as the others turned on him with either blank stares or frowns. "Aha~ That's all! The soup never lies," he stated with a grin, before giving an apparent 'wink' (Man had one eye, how did he pull that one off...). "I look forward to the tournament... See you tomorrow!" With those words the screen cracked back into the image of Okinawan shores, the suit from the end of the room stepping forward.
"Well," he stated, clapping his hands together, turning the group's attention back toward the entry way of the room. "It's time to call it a night," he continued, opening the doors. "We will now show you to your rooms, understand?"
Katsuya frowned, having moved to start his soup again. He only got like five spoonfuls though..! Hell, the only one who managed to get anything to eat was Bakura, and that was because he'd managed to start off right away! "Wait... We don' even get t' finish the soup!" As a few of the others grumbled in agreement, the blond's appetite quickly dropped- Bakura was leaning across the table to speak with Yugi at the moment, and listening in on the subject made him feel a little queasy honestly... 'Ah... Your replica eye,' he was asking, the boy turning to him and staring from where he was moving to throw the halves out. 'Can I have it?'
He swallowed, shaking his head. Ugh... Screw dinner, after everything going on he'd just end up blowing chunks in an hour...
And then of course, Yugi did give him the eye, which didn't help with the shivers at all... Katsuya swallowed, moving from his chair and rubbing his head. Damn that was... What the hell was Bakura going to do with that thing, seriously... Hihhh...
"Hey, Yugi," Mai said as they moved to leave, the woman shouldering her jacket as she turned to the boy. She was either oblivious to the stare that Honda was now giving her, having gotten over the shock of the eyes and things to notice that the jacket was gone or... Just plain used to it. Both were options really, with a shirt like that... (Stop staring, he told himself. Stop. Staring. Now.) "Let's have a fair fight tomorrow," Mai was saying, the group walking down one of the castle's many halls.
Yugi nodded, a small smirk coming into place with the request. "Of course," he stated clearly, the group watching as Mai turned to enter the room they'd come to. 'Later then', she was saying as the door shut behind her, the group being led further down the hall.
"Alright," Katsuya said with a yawn, scratching his head. "We oughta get to sleep too!" The others nodded, the still unnamed suit stopping in the middle of the hall to gesture to the side.
"Each of you may take any of the five rooms here," he stated calmly, the group nodding in agreement. Five doors, each with a vase between them... Man, this was like a hotel or something... "The tournament will commence tomorrow morning at 9 AM, so be sure to turn in as early as possible." More nods, and the man left the hall just seconds after.
Five rooms... Honda opened the door to one, giving a slight wave to the others. "Well... See yah in the morning then," he said, smiling slightly before the door shut behind him. Huh. That was fast...
"Good night guys," Bakura was saying with a yawn and a smile, opening the door beside it just as quickly. Well... Either they were all tired or they really... Really wanted to just forget about something. ...Not that he could really blame them in any case but still...
As the three others turned to face the doors across the hall, Katsuya blew out a tense breath of air. "Well," he said, shrugging slightly as he grabbed the doorknob. "Guess this is my room..." Opening it, he turned around to look at the others a moment. "Yugi..." He smirked, gaze hardening along with his resolve. No failing... That wasn't an option- he had to stay strong, if not for himself, than for Mokuba and Seto both! "Let's do this alright? Let's get those cards and kick some ass!"
The boy nodded, smirk becoming the familiar small smile he'd seen before. "Right," he stated with a nod, before turning to speak with Anzu.
"See yah," he shouted, giving a slight wave and shutting the door behind him. 'Night Jonouchi,' he heard Anzu shout, before the door blocked all other sound. Bed time... Alright... Tomorrow was the 'big day' so to speak... It was all on him and Yugi! Whether Seto kept her company... Her soul... Whether Mokuba stayed alive... ...Or Seto herself...
He stared at the door a few moments as those thoughts came to mind, the forced smile fading out. Walking over to the bed as the cold feeling from earlier returned, he pulled off the red glove around his hand with a frown. Well... No point in the starchips now right... The glove fell to the floor with his backpack, jacket thrown on the coat rack at the side as he looked around the room. Huh... Weird... If he'd still been living with his old man, he'd have probably gunned it for the bed and just sat on it all night. As it was, the room, though huge, just seemed... Empty. The blond turned to his bed, walking over and collapsing on it with a sigh.
He could remember the first few nights after 'moving in' to Seto and Mokuba's house... It was weird, meals were damn awkward when the woman even bothered to show, and he had to say that when Mokuba said 'lonely'... He wasn't kidding. The room he had there was about the same size as the one he was in now, and he'd refused once, twice, three times... In the end Mokuba had just tossed his things in there and effectively said 'deal with it', he remembered with a quiet laugh. Time had passed and the room stopped looking or feeling like a part of the 'mansion' and more like 'his' in the end... Clothes on the floor, any homework he bothered with lying around on the desk...
This room though... It was just cold. Dead. Katsuya stared at the ceiling, frowning as the feeling continued to seep into him completely. Damn it... It was one thing to tell himself constantly while out and about that he'd definitely win, that he'd definitely save the others... But damn it... That dream... That damn dream he'd had was bugging him so much... 'Try looking in your deck,' Pegasus had said, and he was sure that the dream was only that... But when he'd pulled out that card...
'Or are you too scared?'
Gh... " 'M not scared..." He shook his head slightly, trying and failing to deny the fact to himself. He wasn't scared... He wasn't... The blond forced his eyes closed, biting his lip. Snippits of conversation were flooding his head, scenes of the evening playing back before him. The rotting dragon, Seto's 'smile', the 'Other Yugi's shout of sheer rage...
Anzu's words...
'Remove the Corpse'...
And with those words in mind, he rolled over, looking at the box that as far as Pegasus knew held the key that had very well pulled them all into this mess. "I'm sorry," he whispered, clutching the box tight as he attempted to sleep. "I couldn't stop all this... But I swear," the blond continued, gritting his teeth. "I swear to you I'll fix it..."
Even if it killed him... He'd promise them at least that much.
AN: PEGASUSSSSSSSSS! Rawrawrawr~ It's a long one folks! Happy you made it!
And so we finish this chapter as well! Sorry if I haven't answered any reviews... The last two chapters were uploaded at 2 AM, so as to clear my mom's laptop for her... Which means I didn't get to my e-mail until tonight. In any case, the wheels of change are ROLLING. Big time! It only goes downhill from here guys... Trust me. It's a good downhill though, you know, the kind that come with ski lifts?
As a side note, all updates from this point on will be painfully slow. Might get one more chapter in by tomorrow, but between my online classes (I was kinda putting them off... Because I needed pictures.), this move, and whatever job I'll end up with, I won't be able to obviously just sit around at home and type. Which means that update time jumps from say... Three days to a week and a day or so. On the bright side, I can guarantee that Duelist Kingdom will be over by Christmas.
Know why? Because there's a Christmas chapter, it's only October (Middle of October grant you, but October nonetheless.), and we're at the 'tail end' of things here. After the next chapter, I would say... Ohhhhh... Four, maybe five more until this arc is over? It really depends on how the 'out of duel' scenes go, particularily since Jonouchi will obviously be present for both semi-final matches (Lest he be disqualified).
A sum up of events? Next chapter is a combination of the chapter 'Stealth in the Night', along with the kick off of the semi-finals. In addition, we'll be seeing a bit of Mai VS Yugi... The chapter afterward would also be Mai VS Yugi, along with some conversation between Anzu and Jonouchi, before we have the scene between Mai and Jonouchi concerning the 'Honour' cards.
Chapter after that will be Jonouchi VS Keith, with an ending conclusion of what Jonouchi and Yugi ended up doing with their finalist ranks... And the chapter after that concerns completely non-canon business, which depending on length will either last one or two chapters before Duelist Kingdom officially ends. So... In total, it's as I said. Four, maybe five chapters, and I hope you enjoy!
And the poll results are...
UN. CHANGED.
Crossdressing, Female Set - 9 (Two Anonymous Polls)
Obviously Female Set - 5 (Two Anonymous Polls. I got an e-mail...)
Male Set – 2
Also, I still can't figure out what the heck 'Ryuzaki x Shizuka' is called. Makes me kinda sad, since they have names for freaking six-way relationships between the main cast, but there's nothing for this one. Granted... It's pretty obscure but hey, wouldn't a six-way pairing be obscure too?
This is starting to bug me...
Anonymous Review Responses
Two again, but they're both from the same person! Whoo! Thanks for reviewing both chapters Iona! Sadly, therapist is at the top of the list of things that Kaiba will ignore, as it involves talking to someone else about many many things. But I think that after all this, even just having Mokuba will help her out... Heck, having anyone closer than ten feet even helps.
Despite the fact that she'll likely spend christmas throwing a nabe at Jonouchi as he starts cooking Oden... (I can see it now... Mokuba eating oden going 'How come we never try this?', as Kaiba sits at the side and seethes...)
And I don't know if I should feel bad or good about how far into describing Blue Eyes went... I had fun though, so I guess it's me channelling my inner Yami Marik or... Or Inner Yami Bakura or... Something. I dunno.
And the real twist is- ... *checks* Hoh, no twists for a while actually... I think...
Second review! Ohhh it's building and building and... I'm pretty sure it's gonna be one nasty 'Daruma Otoshi' by the end of it. *hands Jonouchi a mallet* (Have fun Jou.)
It's both difficult yet intensely fun to do Kaiba's point of view... Hard as heck to nail down but OH WOW is it worth it by the end! Especially with the friendship-snark scene. HAHAHAHA that was incredibly amusing...
See me next chapter? See you now! HERE IS YOUR CHAPTER. I may or may not update soon... Depends on how my typing tomorrow goes, as it's my last moving date... Pray that I do update though, because I can tell you this, it's an interesting one!
Usagi's Manga & Japan Guide/Corner
The section that feels as though it's been depriving you of well needed fanart... But there's not exactly a scanner on hand you know!
The title here? Feels kinda like a cop-out unless you think really hard. Many many promises were made after all- for one, Jonouchi was promising not to let anything get worse... Which happened. Kaiba promised to save Mokuba... Which also didn't happen. And then there's just the but-load of crap that was tossed on top.
Pegasus, stop breaking everyone's promises! IT'S MEAN.
And we return for the 'thrilling' duel... (Thrilling Usagi? Really?) This is probably the last time we'll have a bunch of crazy time-jumping for a while... After this, things become more 'streamlined' again, in that it's one point of view, and then maybe a few hours later another, but we don't go jumping back to cover the second person's point of view. LOTS OF JUMPING. Sorry about that. At least it's over...? (Eh, let me know if that was better or worse than streamline...)
For some reason, even though Pegasus specifically said he was using cards he either just released or never would, Kaiba knows what the Dragon Capture Jar is in the manga and anime both. Which is... Weird... Because that was a card that Yugi didn't recognise, as it was released around the time he dueled Pegasus VIA Tv...
Kaiba's been in a coma for a good year in the manga, let alone the six months in the fanfic, and kinda left without warning so really, while it's fairly obvious that Anime Kaiba would be able to access the info, this kind of knowledge wouldn't be available to him in the manga's case. Hence why Kaiba in the fanfic has... Only a slight guess as to what the card does. (It's right though.)
As for how she knew about Yugi's cards... Most of those are the same as the deck Yugi used against Kaiba last time, which would imply that most of them are a little older than six months old.
OHHHH Kaiba... For someone who built a device to specifically counter Pegasus' mind-scanning trick, he sure thought rather clearly through the battle in the manga. However, this was probably completely instinct; it's hard to not think about what you're doing, particularly in a strategy game. Basically, Kaiba can only go with what he/she has and pray to whatever is listening that Pegasus doesn't have anything to counter... (Oh hey, Pegasus has top-decking skills too! DANG IT.)
Because if Pegasus doesn't have the resources, all he can really do is see what's coming and mentally say 'This is gonna suck.' (Probably why he makes such a crappy play to start; he not only tick's Kaiba off, but he successfully stalls for the card that will screw Kaiba over completely.)
Pegasus' entire monologue... Dear lord... It took a bit to find a moment where Kaiba was willing to look away from the board because of the obvious fact that Pegasus didn't rely on eye-contact. (A fact that was, if you didn't guess, Fanfic Kaiba being just a tad more accepting/smart than her male counterpart.) Ended up deciding on it being after Kaiba's crush card strategy vanishes to NOTHING. In otherwords, right before Pegasus does his monologue.
Oooooh crappy luck there Kaiba...
(Anyone else find Toons cheap? Guess what. Now they're so easy to destroy it's not even funny.)
Boy... Won't Kaiba be pissed when she finds out that Pegasus was already dealt with while she was comatose/soulless... Again. (Kaiba's luck... It's crappy guys.)
Oh! A dialogue switch you say? You're right! Originally, Pegasus goes on about how lucky Kaiba is before the line 'Changing my proud dragon into that pathetic joke...'. Also... I'm purposely taking advantage of the fact that, for some reason, the holograms on the table are oddly lifelike when it comes to things like this. Heck, the entire time it's around (Though that isn't long) in the manga, Kaiba's Blue-Eyes is hovering right at the teen's side, like... Like a loyal pet.
I laughed so hard... And then had to say 'awwwwww', because honestly, it's actually kinda sweet... In a... Weird hologram way.
'A boy/girl and his/her holographic dragon'... I WILL SELL MILLIONS.
Fun fact... And it's a pity that Jou wasn't there to see it, but in the manga, the Toon dragon twists its tail to give Kaiba the finger. OHHHH Pegasus. (Actually, Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon flips Kaiba off a number of times... Huh.)
Pegasus' mindscan? Scarier than you think. Not only is he reading your mind, he's reading your sub conscious thoughts. Obviously he's got to do a good deal of focus to do that (Hence why Kaiba's secret lasted so long; he never got to talk to her more than two minutes before the woman left.)... But it still means that he knows every card in your deck... And everything else in there too. What, you think your subconscious is only for cards? (AHAHAHA I'll stop now.)
...Pegasus is almost as obsessed with Toons as Kaiba is Blue-Eyes... I say 'almost' because HEYYY Kaiba-land.
Also, the only monster Kaiba will ever ever ever see 'for real', (And even then I'm not sure if it'll get as far as Jonouchi) is Blue-Eyes. For... Obvious reasons. And that's if I do it. I might not. (Let me know~)
Kaiba's drawing abilities. Are amazing. When he/she is not against Yugi.
OH CRUEL FATE.
By the way. That part with Pegasus commenting on Kaiba's love for Blue-Eyes? Canon. (You can take it as either obsession or true 'heart of the cards' amazing.)
You probably knew this, but in real life, Dragon Capture Jar is a trap card, not a monster.
Damn it Kaiba, stop making everything you say turn this fanfic into a love triangle. I didn't change that guilty line though; ('Good bye, Yugi') Because quite honestly, at the time, that's still the closest thing to a friend Kaiba can get, be it manga or anime. ... And as Kaiba can't remember diddly squat about Jonouchi at the moment... Yea.
'Bickuri Box' is also known as 'Devil's Jack in the Box' in the manga. 'Bikuri' by the way, is not a translation of that. If you didn't guess. (I actually don't know what Bikuri means... Looking, but not finding.)
Do you know. How sad I am right now. At the exact moment I started typing Seto's soul-snatching scene, the song Soundless Voice comes on. Confused? Go find it on Youtube (It's by Vocaloid Len.), and make sure you watch it with subs. You will know.
Any ways, if you didn't guess, Pegasus did the same thing to Seto as he did to Mokuba... Just that it works a hell of a lot faster on someone who's been up for almost 48 hours straight with no food. And is emotionally/mentally crushed, given the crap the Pegasus put her through. (Hey look~ Your brother's soul is in here. :D ) Anyways. Technically in the manga, Pegasus flat out called it a penalty game, holding the cardout and actually shouting 'PENALTY GAME! MIND CARD!'... But this is creepier and I've already kinda proven that he doesn't need to do that. (Thank you Mokuba~)
Creepy thing; when the 'penalty game' happens in said manga chapter, it looks more like Kaiba's being shot with a freaking grenade launcher through the chest. AAAACCCCCCK.
Yes, as a matter of fact, everyone was shouting up there... Save Keith, and Mai, as Keith is a douche and Mai doesn't have a clue what's going on, and isn't exactly the cheering type either. Given that the general negativity has decreased considerably, this is actually understandable. Not to mention Honda isn't up there right now, so it's just Bakura (Who doesn't really know Kaiba anyways, and therefore has little to detest), and Anzu... Who's just completely shocked at the 'yanking of the chain' that just occurred.
Originally, I was going to end this on a terribly upsetting note (The soul piece). But it was too short... As it is, can you imagine what Jonouchi's gonna say when he finds out what Pegasus did with Kaiba's body? He probably already guessed... (I predict a Roaring Rampage of REVENGE.)
Why did Yugi get away with his outburst when Jonouchi was dragged away after starting his own? Well, for one, and I'm pretty sure Honda guessed this, but Jonouchi was set to jump off the railing to get to Pegasus... Which wouldn't have worked well to say the least. (Yugi's smarter than that.)
For another, keep in mind what Honda says; Jonouchi doesn't have to be involved in a duel to lose that key, not like Yugi; the Big Five specifically told Pegasus to defeat Yugi in duel monsters, and simply disqualifying the boy will not work. (Not to mention it isn't Pegasus' style.) But Jonouchi is fair game, he's not tied by those rules. Hence why Honda pulled him out of there as fast as possible, whereas Yugi can shout all he wants.
In the manga, Yugi handed Jonouchi the 'Honor of the King's Right' before they left for the Duelist Kingdom. Yet later on, when the rules are stated that you need the cards to proceed, Jonouchi needs to be given the card... Again. In the end, I pulled a 'star-chip' dilemma; Jonouchi already had his single starchip and glove going on the ship, unlike the manga and anime... Same for the card!
Interesting fact here (That yet again... Conflicts with what happened later in the manga...), but the morning of the finals, Yugi is talking to his Grandfather... Who says this about his other half;
'A true duelist never loses their confidence and their honour. But sometimes, self-esteem becomes pride, and then a duelist digs his own grave. (...) You don't know this, but I think you balance your other self's heart; when the other you becomes overconfident in his abilities, and loses his true heart, his sense of justice, that is when you must help Yugi. That is when your heart is needed.'
It certainly explains Yami Yugi's asshole-ery against Kaiba... In any case. Good thing I don't have to write that scene (As it's Yugi's point of view), otherwise I'd be trying to figure out how the hell it was possible! Maybe I missed something in the Millennium world but... Yugi quite clearly slips up when mentioning the other self, and it's made out as though this is the first time that Sugoroku is made aware of this other presence. AND YET, I GIVE YOU THE ABOVE. (Maybe Sugoroku just thinks his grandson has D.I.D. right now..? I... I don't know anymore...)
Speaking of Sugoroku, AKA, 'Yugi's Grandpa', you probably noticed that from last chapter on, he was being referred to out loud by the others as 'Sugoroku-ojii'. The 'Ojii' is a slightly less formal version of the honorific 'Ojii-san'. Now, here's something to be very careful with. In Japan, 'Ji' is the honorific used for uncles, or uncle-type figures. Same with 'ba', from 'oba-san' in the case of 'aunt'. HOWEVER. By simply extending the 'a' or 'i' sounds in both those words, you make the phrase 'Obaa-san', or 'Grandmother' and 'Ojii-san', or 'Grandfather.' Both of these are used as honorifics for elderly people you know, or even to simply refer to them politely. (Though tone, of course, factors in considerably.)
In any case, though Jonouchi normally doesn't bother with honorifics, he and Honda are using them for Sugoroku out of a good deal of respect... After all, the old man's been through a lot, but he's still trucking along fine! They knocked off the 'san', which can be taken as the 'true honorific' here though. Really it's just their way of calling Sugoroku 'gramps'... Though keep in mind that the 'O' in all of the above are also part of an 'honorific', and are not from the main word itself. It's just a particle to add honor.
Major conversation changes... Major perspective changes... Major everything really, so where to start? First off, once things get rolling, I won't so much as detail all the differences as just mention off hand what scenes are added in or altered completely. Second off...
The changes for this one. Obviously Honda's big series of lines and Jonouchi's jerkness have been removed, as not only has Honda already made the agreement with Jonouchi that he would have with Yugi, but Jonouchi himself obviously wants nothing more than for the Kaiba siblings to be alive and well (As opposed to dead in a hole.).
First major change... Blink and you'll miss it, but hnnnn Mai might just be up to something... Particularly since she was already fairly hot on the trail to start. Remember guys, she actually did hear Jonouchi call someone 'Seto-chan' at one point, and that one outburst concerning Mokuba might have just set things in stone for her to put two and two together. Will she? ONLY I KNOW THAT. (Ahahah I'm a jerk.)
Second change obviously, which occurs before it, is the general reactions to Kaiba's soul-snatch. Hell, the soul snatch in general, as what basically happened at the end was akin to waving a piece of meat in front of a dying dog and snatching it right before their last breath. Meeeeeean.
Pegasus let Kaiba hear Mokuba, or more specifically, let Mokuba see Kaiba... And then promptly locked their souls up right after Kaiba noticed. ('Mokuba..?') That last part was actually heard by the 'audience'. Hence Anzu's semi-break down- that kind of stuff is... Chilling. Particularly since it's followed by the rather blunt and very much canon line of 'Remove the Corpse'.
Needless to say, not something you want to hear before eating... I think Bakura's the only one starting at his food this chapter, and that's likely because he's got a second person who's fairly desensitized telling him to eat up in there.
(Most likely demanding rare steaks... Yea, I went there.)
Obviously as a result of all this, appetites are decreased, and conversations change around considerably. Such as Yami Yugi's apology scene... That was hard to wrap around. After all... Since when did you see Yami Yugi apologize for anything?
Speaking of Yami Yugi... OHHHH BOY some of his lines... From the manga folks, in the depths of his mind... 'Kaiba... You might be my enemy forever... But... '
Enemy forever? Wow, someone's optimistic...
Also... I have to wonder, how the hell did Mai manage to get the eyeball in her mouth eating soup, without realizing it was an EYEBALL? HUHHHH. Personally, I was surprised that they managed to start eating after Pegasus says 'REMOVE THE CORPSE'. UHHHH. Yea. You all have stomachs of steel, guys... (Maybe that's part of it. DISTRACTION! Whooo...)
Anyways. That line with Bakura? Actually happens, you see it in the corner of one of the panels... I laughed so loud that people were staring when I spotted it actually. (You don't find out if Yugi says 'ok', but I can only guess that that would be the case.)
Then again, there's a creepier side to it... After all, Yami Bakura takes the Millennium Eye at the end of this arc, so who's to say he has the real one if Yugi gave him a replica just moments before? YIKES.
Mai's shirt? It's a corset that stops above her belly button... But it's only 'loosely' laced shut, putting about three centimeters between each side. Also, it barely covers her nipples. Mai has D-Cup breasts by the way... Enjoy boys...
(And they do, it seems; it's mostly cut off, but in the panel where Mai says 'later guys' and enters her room, you can see Jonouchi's face... And it looks rather 'Hehehe-boobs'-like in terms of emotion.)
As a side note for Mai's anatomy, manga Mai has no hips... Not sure about the anime but... Huh. Ended up giving her hips every time I drew her though so... She does now.
Gotta feel for the situation in this chapter guys... Really have to... Anyways. Had to put a fair number of sad songs on repeat to get this one done. After all; the mood in his chapter is really.. Really... Depressing. Jonouchi comes back after his 'flip out' to find that not only has Kaiba lost but that she's had her soul taken... And while it's one thing to figure that that will happen, the fact is, it was a heavy, heavy fear he had, and after seeing Mokuba's card... Yeaaaa... After his nightmare from the night before that's damn scary.
Then there's the dragon... And then there's the words that Anzu mentions, namely 'corpse' in general, which puts a kink in everyone's moods really. Dead bodies tend to do that, regardless of not actually being dead. Then of course, Yami Yugi actually apologizing really emphasizes the negativity of the situation... And then there's the few subtleties that he got from Kaiba regardless of being an 'unknown'; genuine smiles from before, anyone?
That's actually part of the reason why Yugi made the apology, aside from because of Jonouchi at least. Building on the intense rage of the situation that both Yugi's had, Kaiba really does give one last mental look at the guy... In the manga, aside from the moment where the soul is actually ripped out, it also looks a lot like... He's just ready. As in 'alright... Here I come death' ready. And that's just... Upsetting...
Well... That's all for this chapter! Also, I forgot to tell you about the title of the last one... 'Silent Conversations' obviously refers to the mind-scan-speak deal, sorry about forgetting that! (I was tired, what can I say?) At least you know now.
Until next time! See you!