Not So Distressed
"Honda, stop staring at the screen."
It was about the fifth time the teen had been told that as the two held firm against the constant battering against the door. It was getting tiring to say the least; despite the wall of 'junk' they'd put there, it was more than clear that one wrong move and the pile would fall... And when it did, it would not be pretty. Pancakes would be putting it lightly to say the least... Not to mention it would look far prettier than what the actual end result would likely be. Honda turned away from the 'coliseum' scene, coughing before giving Anzu a nod. "Ah... Right..." Despite the fact that the screen was all sprites, it did not change the size of the small sprite woman's breasts... Not to mention what wasn't on her breasts. "Hey... Does Jonouchi's opponent seem familiar to you," he asked, narrowing his eyes at the busty blond sprite as the woman on screen summoned a monster.
Anzu raised her eyebrows, not even batting an eye at the question. "Besides the fact that she's probably modeled off Mai? No," she said with a frown. Though she'd definitely hit the nail on the head with that one...
The teen shrugged, staring at the screen again as a small battle started. How long would they be there, in the game..? If this kept up, he thought with a wince as the seemingly endless pounding continued, then by the time Yugi and the others made it to Kaiba, the door would be broken down and the plug would be... Well.
Beside him, Anzu swallowed, similar thoughts having come to mind after the conversation came to an end. According to the book, if the plug was pulled during the game, it would cause enough shock to the body that brain-death would be imminent... There would no longer be anything to support the slight connection between the thoughts and the body itself, no connection to keep what made the person 'human' from simply being lost in the machine... There would be no return, no come back after that. Perhaps the 'Other Yugi' would still be there, depending on how things worked out, but for everyone else to be gone in his stead... It would be more than 'bad', to say the least.
It would be horrifying. An occurrence that would haunt everyone more than anything else could possibly succeed at... And possibly screw them all over while they were at it too. Honda continued to stare at the screen, deciding to lighten the topic rather than sit in the awkward silence that had come into place in the meantime. "So," he said somewhat offhandedly, Anzu not even looking up from where she was pushing at the barricade. "What's with the mask Jonouchi's wearing?"
There was a slight grunt as a particularly sound thump hammered against the door, Anzu looking up with narrowed eyes after being thrown back somewhat. "Gh... Now isn't the time," she muttered, leaning against the barrier. "Less talking, more pushing Honda..."
He nodded, turning from the screen to push against the barricade again. "R-Right..."
Back in the virtual coliseum of the game, Katsuya swallowed and took another step back from his opponent. The sun was high above the two, and in the glaring light his opponent was almost completely shadowed... Through the wings however, he ended up with a blinding rainbow. He wasn't sure which was worse about that really; the 'rainbow' or the 'shadows'. Katsuya didn't have much time to think of this however, his opponent quickly deciding that silence was not as golden as it seemed. "Are you ready," the woman across from him asked in an almost sultry tone, the card she created falling into her free hand's grip. A deck holder sat on the side, and yet it seemed more than obvious that she was not using it for the cards... As to how she was getting them then... Who the hell knew. "Do you think you can challenge the 'Champion'," she continued, her opponent drawing a card only to curse under his breath; Dragon Nails. Damn his luck, damn it to hell... Not helpful without a dragon to equip it to, and he wasn't pulling out Red-Eyes in the coliseum battle. He needed to save that card, for a time where Red-Eyes would really be needed. Besides, he told himself with a grim sense of reassurance, he couldn't even play spells... And given that this battle was 'one on one', attempting to use it against this woman would be pointless. Shouts continued from the side, Katsuya's opponent literally carving cracks into the ground with her whip as she walked forward. "It's a hundred years too early to be challenging me, boy! Prepare yourself!"
Katsuya watched the card vanish into his 'hand' before taking a somewhat defensive stance with the spear. No cards. Traditional way to fight then... Seemed like that was happening a lot in this game. "Tch..." '100 years'? Hah! "Say that when y' actually beat me," he shouted, voice muffled and distorted by the fabric. He paced around the wall of the arena, watching as the woman across him merely tossed the card in the air with a grin. The air..? He narrowed his eyes, swallowing. That wasn't how summoning worked in the game though... So then what...
"Hnhnhnhnhn..." The woman gave an oddly familiar chuckle, holding her hand up as the card glowed above her. "In that case, I'll show you just why I'm the champion," she shouted, whip cracking on the ground as the card above her began to vanish into a sparkling mist rather than the standard dust. "I summon the Harpy Lady," the woman continued, the mist dispersing into a shower of feathers the swirled in a single large sphere above the field. With in an instant the sphere burst, the summoned monster appearing in a flurry of feathers to screech loudly and eagerly above the woman. Damn. Wasn't that a familiar sight. "Now," she said calmly, pulling her whip taut before pulling it through the air. "Fight," she roared, charging forward with the whip as Katsuya paled.
Shit... Harpy Lady and a woman coming after him with a bladed whip. Damn it. He threw up his spear, blocking the claws of the bird and throwing her back as his opponent laughed. "Gh..!" The harpy returned, Katsuya rolling as the claws scraped against the stone behind him, whip slicing against his shoulder as he pulled his spear up again. Where... Where had he heard this laugh before..? The blond's eyes widened as the Harpy Lady landed at its mistress' side, quickly connecting the laugh to a name as the woman stared down at him. Blond hair, purple eyes... And damn huge melons that was for sure. No way... No damn way, didn't she live in Kyoto? Why the hell- The whip came shooting his way, Katsuya catching the tip and allowing it to wrap around the center of his blade before pulling it taut. Heh... Only one way to find out, he thought with a smirk, his opponent pulling back on the whip in annoyance. "Hn! Intr'sting seein' yah here Mai," he said with a shout, pulling off his mask allowing it to hang on the back of his cloak. "But what're yeh doin' here, in Tokyo," he continued, the woman across from him staring with wide eyes.
Mai blinked, standing up and waving her hand to hold her monster in place for the moment. "Jonouchi," she said with wide eyes, before shaking her head as she continued to hold the whip taut. "Well this is interesting to say the least," she said with a slight smirk. "But unfortunately," she continued, pulling the whip again in what looked to be a developing 'tug-of-war', "I was hired to fight against who ever came my way here... That's the point of a beta-test dear," she said with a slight shrug, before frowning. "You make sure everything works out, including the PvP servers; no hard feelings," she continued, pointing her Harpy Lady forward with a slight frown as the bird nodded. "Now! Go, Airo!"
Katsuya tensed, turning the staff in a somewhat effective defense against the bird as it struck the whip he held in place to cause the weapon to give a loud twang. "Tch... No hard feelin's then," he said with a frown, giving a particularly hard tug only to find his opponent not budging from the other end, "But I ain't backin' down either... There's a life on th' line," he continued seriously, charging forward with the spear and ducking under the Harpy Lady as she attempted to slice through him yet again. "And I ain't lettin' anything get in th' way of that!"
"...A life," Mai asked somewhat incredulously, pulling her whip free in the slack caused by Katsuya's charge before flipping away from him with ease. She narrowed her eyes, before pulling her mask off with a nod and tossing it to the side. "Hnn... Airo," she shouted, the bird turning to her from the air. Airo? It had a name? "This fight is over," she continued, the monster vanishing in a flurry of feathers not unlike its summoning.
Katsuya stared in silence, Mai simply staring back as the blond straightened and held put his spear back in its holster. In just a few moments shouts followed from the side, Yugi and Mokuba both hopping over the coliseum wall to run over to the two. "Ah... Mai-san," Yugi shouted, stopping alongside Katsuya and Mokuba both to look at the woman. Mai turned, blinking as Yugi went slightly red before speaking. "Y... You're here too?"
The woman nodded, hands on her hips as she looked the boys over. "That's right," she said with a slight frown, evidently rethinking the reason for being there herself. "Now... What's this about a 'life on the line'?"
There wasn't even a pause before the woman received an answer. "It's my brother," Mokuba said with a swallow, the four ignoring the slowly souring crowd around them; who cared if they wanted a fight, what would they do, throw rocks? "He was testing this game," the boy continued, "When he became trapped in it..." He looked down for a moment with those words, before continuing with grit teeth. "If we don't beat the game," Mokuba said with a slight growl, "If we don't find him, we can't get him back!"
"We need the Koke card," Yugi continued, looking to the side where the card sat on display. It was all rather... Obviously placed to say the least. "Kaiba-san is apparently somewhere across the desert, and we need a Koke to get across it... We shouldn't be fighting though," he continued seriously, frowning somewhat as he looked from Mai to Katsuya. "We're friends; there should be another way to deal with this..."
Mai stared with those words, before smirking and turning to follow his gaze to the side. "I see... In that case," she said with a wink, card appearing in her hand as she drew the whip back behind her, "Grab on! Harpie's Pet Dragon," she shouted, the card flying through the air to explode in a shower of sparks. A sphere of flames hovered through the air, bursting to reveal the massive red-scaled dragon as the monster filled half of the arena. Mai's whip flew toward the card on the side with the summon, snatching it from beside the shocked and quickly angered manager before it's owner flipped back onto her dragon's shoulders. "Now then... Let's go," she shouted, the boys hurriedly grabbing onto the dragon's feet as it prepared to take off, Katsuya ripping the cloak from around his neck and throwing it at the manager with a grin. He turned back as the coliseum disappeared below, the enormous dragon soon passing through the clouds and out of sight from those below. "You said the desert right," Mai asked, looking over the dragon's wings.
The three nodded, Katsuya looking up as the wind howled past their faces. It was interesting; despite the force against them, holding onto the dragon's feet was... Well, easy to say the least. Speaking of the dragon... "Hey... How did you summon the monsters without drawing the cards," he called out, the other two following his gaze with equal curiosity.
There was a short chuckle, the woman turning back to focus on 'steering'. "One of the basic skills of the 'Summoner' class," Mai responded, steering her dragon with the chain leash tight in her hands. "Any monster I've summoned," she explained, "I can summon again for a small amount of lifepoints!" The clouds parted as their ride abruptly began to dive down toward the ground. The sight of the desert boundaries came into view as the dragon landed to a fairly graceful stop, Mai sliding off the back of the monster before it vanished into dust and allowed the boys to come to the ground as well. "Hnhnhnhnhn... That's not all," she added with a smirk, pulling the 'Koke' card from the tip of her whip's blade. Despite the small hole it now held in the side, it seemed in relatively good condition... Hopefully that was good for the monsters too. "Watch," she said with a small grin, before tossing the card forward into the desert. "Tetra-summoning," she shouted, the card she threw glowing briefly with a golden light. "Koke!"
The boys blinked, before watching as the card divided into four separate clouds of smoke before swirling into equally smoking spheres. Each one dispersed at the same time, revealing a series of large, dull feathered chickens that somehow reminded Katsuya of some other game he'd played before. Probably nothing though, he decided with a mental shrug, instead turning as Mai gave them a somewhat smug smirk. "Ah... You can summon multiple monsters," Yugi asked, following behind Mai and the others as they walked toward the Koke.
She merely nodded, moving over to one of the birds and stroking the side of it's head as it lightly crowed in response. "That's right... However," she added with a frown, looking at the others with a fairly severe stare, "Don't expect me to do something this large scale again..." The woman turned, hands moving to her hips as she continued. "It takes a lot of lifepoints to do multiple summons from one card, even a weak one! It may only be a fraction of the original summon, but I still have to multiply that four times!" The three nodded, swallowing somewhat nervously as the woman pulled herself onto the Koke she was standing beside. "Now," she said with a renewed smirk, her koke clawing at the ground somewhat. "How about we get going before the welcoming party comes over from the other side of the town?"
Welcoming party? Katsuya turned, Yugi and Mokuba following his gaze as a small crowd began to develop in the distance. Oh. The coliseum audience. Riiiiiight... They probably wanted their money back, huh... "Ah... Good idea," he said with a nervous laugh, hopping onto the nearest Koke and adjusting his seat on the bird as it shook itself roughly. "So," he asked with a cough, wobbling somewhat as the bird took a step forward to flap it's small wings for a moment. "...Any idea how we ride these things?"
"Well," Mokuba began, grabbing a few oddly long strands of feathers that hung from the side of the birds' head and turning to the others with a blank expression, "If it's anything like horseback riding..." He shook the strings slightly, the Koke giving a loud crow before taking off at a high speed 'gallop'. "Ha-Haaaah!" He turned back, laughing nervously as the bird continued running. "I was right! W-Woaaah!"
"A- Mokuba!" Katsuya looked down at the feathers, grabbing the same ones Mokuba had taken while the others did the same. Okay, okay... These were the 'reins' and... "Alright..." He gave them a shake, lightly tapping the sides of the bird he was on with a nod. "Hya!" The Koke gave a loud crowing call, rushing off along with the others behind it and leaving a trail of dust in its wake. Within moments the birds came to a steady pace alongside each other, sand quickly brewing into a storm around them. The four quickly ducked behind the Koke's heads, Yugi pulling his headband down while Mai and Katsuya attempted to block the sand with their arms. "Gh... F'rgot about this," he shouted, laughing nervously as they went against the sand without a change in the pace.
"You forgot," Mai asked incredulously, looking at the boy as she held the wing of her still present butterfly cape over her face. "Are you serious?"
He shrugged, shaking his head as the wind howled through his ears. "Eh... Kinda," he shouted, laughing despite the situation. "Hey that r'minds me," he continued, turning to the woman as the Koke continued on their trek through the storm. "If you're here t' test this thing," he asked, the others as well turning with the question, "How come we didn' know abou' that?"
Mai gave a shrug, Mokuba pulling his koke back somewhat to sit between the two as Yugi took a position on Katsuya's other side. "That's because we weren't given a name for the other Beta-Tester," he yelled, voice somewhat drowned out by the howl of sand as the boy looked to Katsuya and Yugi. "Nii-sama found out that the Big 5 hired a tester," he continued with a shout, "But he never found out who it was!" The boy turned to Mai, biting his lip before laughing nervously. "I don't think nii-sama will be too happy to find out that they went out of town for the hire in addition to already hiring behind his back though... Especially since you stowed away on our helicopter..."
The woman smiled, shaking her head as she waved the statement off. "I'm sure your sister will be fine with it," she said with a small laugh, ignoring the boy's jump at her reference to the woman. "After all, it's these 'Big 5' people she needs to deal with, neh?"
Mokuba blinked, before turning on Katsuya almost accusingly with an incredulous glare. "K-Katsuya-nii," he said with a shout, Mai blinking with slight surprise as Katsuya in question tensed. "I know that Yugi found out on his own, but that doesn't mean you can just tell-"
"Ahhh, it's alright 'Mokuba-kun'..." Mokuba turned again, Katsuya merely laughing nervously at the near death sentence he'd received from the boy. Mai smirked lightly, tightly gripping the feather 'reins' of the Koke. "I found out on my own, Jonouchi has nothing to do with this..." she continued to smile, bowing her head. "It's not his fault, alright? And you can trust me on this," she added reassuringly, "Your nee-san's secret is safe, alright?"
He stared, before nodding somewhat. At least this meant everyone on the 'party' was in the know? "Hn... Alright," he said with a frown, before turning away to face the desert storm. "But you three are the only ones who know about nee-sama then right," he asked, looking at the others from the corner of his eye. "There's no one else," he continued, voice laced with evident worry.
They nodded, Katsuya in particular adamant about the statement. "'F 'course," he shouted, eyes somewhat wide despite the sand. "I haven' said a thing t' anyone, honest!" If anyone else knew... Well they'd have probably found out a long time ago to say the least. Ehehe...
"We wouldn't reveal Kaiba-san's secret Mokuba," Yugi said with a nod, a determined smile on his face. "Trust me," he continued, grinning somewhat despite the sand in his face, "The secret is safe with us!"
Again Mokuba nodded, moving to speak again before Mai's voice interrupted him. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news," she said, pulling the 'reins' on her Koke as the bird came to an abrupt stop. "But what is that?"
The boys turned, their own birds stopping as a series of vine-like tentacles burst from the ground as it cracked and crumbled into an immense and impassable fissure. Enormous blocks of stone and rock came from the ground, shifting and merging before they rose up to form a twisted, two headed creature with a single clawed arm. "Gh... That..."
"It's 'Sandstone'," Yugi cried, the koke he was on pulling back with a frightened screech, the birds all pulling back as a chasm continued to form between them and the monster. "A rock golem..!"
Katsuya swallowed, looking at his deck holder for a moment. "I'm gonna take a wild guess an' say that tryin' t' use normal weapons against this thing would be pretty much pointless," he shouted, drawing a card only to groan. 'Giant Trunade'. Damn it. "Hnn... Cross yer fingers guys," he shouted to the others, watching as they drew their own cards. It was either that or... 'Sliced into fleshy little ribbons', as the creepy dog said.
"Hnn... Polymerization," Yugi said with a frown, shaking his head as his card vanished. Mai as well drew a card, before allowing it to evaporate into nothingness before turning away from the others.
The woman let go of the 'reins', standing on the back of her Koke to stare down the monster before them. "You boys just sit tight," she said with a nod, a card misting into existence again. "I have just enough lifepoints to summon the pet dragon again, this will-"
"Battle Ox," Mokuba shouted from behind them, the others turning as he tossed the card forward. A small 'explosion' of sand occurred as the monster took form, the armored minotaur appearing to swing its axe and snort at the enormous stone beast before it. It was fairly small compared to the monster... But while the others stared, Mokuba merely pointed the beast forward with a confident nod. "For the duel monsters," he shouted through the sand, "It's only a matter of point calculation!" A bellowing cry came through the air with that, the Battle Ox charging toward the immense Sandstone to cut down the numerous green tentacles it sent his way. "This will be easy for him," he continued, watching as the monster charged along the craggy monster's body with ease whilst dodging the creature's three sharp claws. "Attack!"
A feral shout came through the air, stone and rock crumbling to the ground as the Battle Ox cut through Sandstone's main head. Rocks crumbled into dust, filling the chasm as the monster collapsed into nothing but a few steel claws. Sand began to clear from the air, the others lowering their arms as the sky once again became blue and sunny in the monster's wake. "Ah..." They four watched as Battle Ox returned to Mokuba's side, carrying with it the three bladed claws the monster held. As Mokuba took the claws in confusion, the Ox vanished, becoming nothing but dust like the monster behind it... The desert was clear... The sun was out... "The sand storm is gone," Katsuya muttered, eyes wide as he shook sand from the furred gloves he was still wearing. He turned to the others, Mokuba currently watching as the claws fit themselves around his hand with wide eyes. Huh... Talk about 'weapon upgrade'...
"Sandstone must have been creating the storm," Yugi said with equally wide eyes, looking in the distance at where a large series of mountains and cliffs sat as the others turned to him. The stone in the distance created an immense and unending wall of sorts from what the four could see, but despite the distance, looking back proved it much closer than the town was. "That must be the cave over there," he continued, the others following his gaze to a distant 'building' of sorts.
That was the cave? The Koke took off with a start, Katsuya shouting with surprise before leaning back into the ride. Even from there, the building looked large. Tall pillars rose from the ground, huge wide staircases leading from the desert sands and up into an incredible arching door... "If that's th' cave," he asked, volume far lower than it had been while running through the sand storm, "Then whats with th' building around it?"
"Most likely the cave itself was meant for other purposes," Mai said with a small frown, dust flying behind them as the Koke ran. The boys turned, listening as the woman continued. "While in the town, the NPC's all spoke of a 'God' of sorts that reigned on the other side of these mountains," she explained, eyes not moving from the structure. "I wouldn't be surprised if this building was meant to reveal an entrance of sorts to that..."
Yugi nodded, the Koke coming to a stop a few meters from the stone steps. "That makes sense," he said, looking at the immense structure before sliding off the side of the bird. "If the tunnel was originally meant to herald a deity, then the building would have to be fairly elaborate... It also helps to find the cave," he added with a small laugh, turning to the others with a grin.
Mokuba merely stared at the building in silence, before hopping off of the Koke and charging for the steps. "Hn... Lets go then," he shouted, the others shaking their heads and watching as the boy rushed for the arched entrance. "There's no time to lose!"
"Gh! Mokuba," Katsuya shouted, before scratching his head with a sigh. "Ahhhh... Man... He keeps runnin' off like that, we're gonna end up in trouble..." Not that he really blamed him he guessed; Seto right? He hopped off his bird, the others following behind only to watch as the Koke turned and fled back into the desert with a loud squawk. "E-Eh..!" Within moments the birds had vanished into the haze caused by the heat, leaving the trio to stare while Mokuba stopped on the steps. "What!"
Mai shrugged, crossing her arms. "I guess it was a one time summon," she said with a frown, looking to the others with a somewhat plain expression. "Normally we'd get the cards back otherwise..." Really? Huh...
The blond sighed, shaking his head and watching the small 'dust cloud' that was the Koke's trail as it vanished in the far distance. "Man... There goes our ride," he muttered, before looking up the stairs as Mokuba turned down to them from the top.
"Come on," he shouted down, the other three running up the stairs as Mokuba stood there. "Lets go!" Well just hang on a second, there were lots of stairs here!
"Alright, alright..." Katsuya followed the boy up the stairs, before they walked off into a large tunnel that was open from the door. The archway they entered through was enormous to say the least... And as Yugi had said, incredibly elaborate. Through windows on the side they could see the murals painted around them, wonderfully painted across the ceilings and the windows themselves. "Man," the blond muttered to himself, staring at the large image of a snow white 'bird' of sorts facing off against a five-headed dragon. "F'r a death trap, they put a hell of a lot of detail int' this..."
Mokuba followed his gaze, the others looking around the enormous hall as well. "They were planning on selling it in the end," he said somewhat quietly, eyes drifting over the image of five 'faceless' beings on the back of the white 'bird'. The others fell silent, staring up at the ceiling and slowly walking forward to simply observe the room. It wasn't hard to tell that each one of the 'faceless beings' represented some sort of counterpart to the dragon really; on the far side, facing mechanized 'wind' head was its polar opposite, a small 'child' wielding a chakram of sorts. Against the next head, simple muddy scaled and serpent-like maw wide with apparent rage stood a cloaked woman in gold, a staff in her hands. The blue skinned and gilled head on the far opposite end faced another small 'child', form covered completely with a cloak and scarf. The flaming head beside it was faced with a plainly robed warrior wielding naught but an axe, draconic helm hiding his face. Five heads, Katsuya thought, eyes drifting over the final, red-robed figure facing the shadowed and monstrous head in the center. So then... Five 'heroes'? But there were four of them, weren't there? Then again, this was probably pre-programmed; and Mokuba had said that there were five pods.
He shook it from mind, a sudden chill passing over them as they moved from the warmth of the sunlit room behind them and into the dark tunnels of the 'cave of death'. The difference between the glaring sun outside and the wet, dark cavern inside was quite shocking to say the least. Only a few steps in and the blond was shivering, holding his arms and looking around with nervous swallows. Where there had been stained-glass windows depicting unknown 'heroes' of sorts there was nothing but cold stone surrounding them at all sides save behind them. Water dripped from the wet rocks above, uneven ground beneath his feet causing him to almost stumble as they moved through what was already almost complete darkness. "Hihhh... Why th' hell does th' 'Cave of Death' have to look like this," he muttered, tensing as distant sounds moved in and out of his ears. Voices... Did he hear?
Yugi looked up at the blond somewhat sympathetically, an odd expression on his face. "Well," he said with a frown, "It wouldn't be a cave of death if it wasn't scary I guess..."
"Hihhhh..." The blond continued to shudder, shaking his head. "Doesn' change my opinion on this crap..." He shook himself, listening as a sound almost similar to wind passed his ears before turning around the corner to spot an enormous set of wooden doors. "Hn... Tha's new..."
The others stared, blinking. Not locked... Just a set of hinges on each side that told them they'd be pushing the doors in to enter the room really. "Well," Mai began with a smile, "You know... The only reason why anyone would build something like that in a place like this, is if it's important to the game..." She crossed her arms, before moving forward and turning to the others with a wink. "Looks like we're on the right track boys," she said, pushing against the door with a slight grunt. "What do you say we see what's on the other side?"
Katsuya laughed somewhat, moving to help with the door as the others followed behind. "Heh... Jus' what I was abou' t' say," he said with a grin, pushing the doors open and walking out into the room with the others. Wide eyes took in the room before them, the sound of the others footsteps coming up beside him as they followed his gaze. The ceiling stood only a few meters above them... The tops of the walls a few feet. There was still no doubt however, as to where they were. "Aaaah hell," he muttered, the doors swinging shut behind them with a resounding 'slam' as they moved further inward.
"No way," Mokuba said with disbelief, shaking his head. "We're in a maze," he asked, looking at the others.
"Well," Yugi said with a frown, "If this game was made alongside or after the Duelist Kingdom... It would make sense that they'd include this as well..."
Mokuba turned, frowning at that. "Duelist Kingdom..?" Right... They didn't really say much about the Duelist Kingdom after it happened... ...For obvious reasons. "They had a maze board on that island," he asked, blinking with slight surprise as Mai as well turned to stare questioningly.
The two boys nodded, turning to the younger. "Jonouchi-kun and I fought a tag-team duel using a maze-type board," Yugi explained, turning to the maze itself and looking at the single brick walls that stood between themselves and their goal. "It looks like this room is built based on that..."
Completely in fact. "Lets jus' hope th' walls don' move th' same way," Katsuya muttered, recalling the shifting walls of the last maze before freezing.
"KYAAAAAAAA!" Gh- A scream? Katsuya turned, bolting after only a moment's thought. Not just a scream either... That was a kid's scream!
He barreled down the first path, turning a corner as the others shouted behind him. "O-Oi," Mai called, the others yelling after the blond as he disappeared into the maze. "Jonouchi," she continued, Katsuya paying the fading shouts no mind as he ran. "...Sheesh," she muttered with a frown, crossing her arms as she shook her head. "He complains about people running without thinking and then does it himself..."
Loud cracking sounds came from behind the three, the boys and Mai all turning as wood began to splinter from the door behind them. It was small to start... Mere splinters flaking off the sides of the wood was it creaked and pushed forward, small shavings gathering at the ground. As a large crack developed through one of the sides however, it quickly became apparent that the noise was no one's imagination. "E-Err... Yugi," Mokuba muttered, stepping back as the wood continued to split and crack through the air. "What sorts of monsters did you see in the labyrinth board?"
Yugi swallowed, stepping back as an enormous red-coloured drill began to pierce through the wood. Just the tip for the moment, a single gyrating tip that was followed by many other small drills attached to it and... "That's the Labyrinth Tank," he said with a shout, turning to the others with wide eyes. "We won't be able to fight that with our weapons," he continued with a nervous swallow, stepping back as wood began to fly off in chunks. "If there's one here, Jonouchi-kun might..."
Mai paled, turning toward the path with a serious nod. "Well what are we waiting for then," she said with a shout, before the three bolted down the hall. "Lets run!"
The boys nodded, following her as the tank continued to break through the door before coming after them with regained speed. The sounds of whirring gears and cracking stone came from behind, mere splinters remaining from the door now that the tank was freed "Katsuya-nii," Mokuba shouted, the blond in question standing at a fork in the road ahead with a frown. "Katsuya-nii, run," he continued loudly, the blond turning to spot the tank behind the three before nodding furiously.
Ohhhh fuck that was not something he wanted to fight right now! "Right ahead 'f yah," he shouted, tripping in his run and charging away down the left path. Sounds of spinning gears continued behind them, the other three quickly joining him as they fled. "We better hope this ain't a dead end," the blond continued, before skidding to a stop as a second tank turned the corner. Despite the distance between them, the red headlights seemed to gleam with anticipation, the tank's targets already in sight. "Ahhhh shit," he muttered, turning as he and the others broke into a run for the opposite direction only to spot a third tank come down the opposite path. "Gh..." He winced, watching as the three tanks slowly closed in on the three. He did not want to think of what it would feel like to get impaled by that thing... Not at all.. "This ain't good..."
The four turned to look around, backs pressed against each others as Mai bit her lip. "The ceiling in here is too low for me to summon the pet dragon," she said with a wince, Mokuba nodding in agreement as his 'Spirit Ryu' vanished to his hand. "I don't suppose you have anything Yugi," she continued as Katsuya's own card vanished as well.
The boy clenched his jaw, looking at the deck in question before drawing a card. "Maybe," he said quietly, before looking at the card and brightening. The sounds of spinning drills were drawing close... The four were pressed completely against each other, and the drill's details were all to clear for comfort... "Ahh! Magical Hats," Yugi cried, the tanks closing in only for a shroud of darkness to surround the four. Everything vanished from sight completely... An odd sensation came over them, a dispersed, scattering feeling that was quickly replaced by simply being surrounded by darkness. As though they'd been taken apart piece by piece and reassembled in a new location. Opening his eyes however, Katsuya blinked, taking in the inside of the large black silk hat they were under with a grin.
"Th' hats... Heh, good call Yugi," Katsuya said with a slight laugh, the hat vanishing in a wave of mist as they looked around. There appeared to be far less walls here... Even so, looking back, it was obvious that the tanks wouldn't be catching them anytime soon. "Hah! We're on th' other side of the wall now!"
The others nodded, before a second scream came through the air. Loud and fear filled, and the others turned with wide eyes in the direction it came from. "That's a lot clearer than before," Mokuba said with a swallow, turning for a moment before he and the others took off in it's direction. "But who else could possibly be in here," he asked, confused frown somewhat marred by his worry for the situation.
The question remained somewhat unanswered however, as the sound of clashing weapons and shouts came from around the next corner. Slowing to a slight stop as they came around into the path, the four stared, watching as a tall man dressed in blue attempted to fend off what looked to be a wall ghoul. Behind the man a young girl sat, huddled with her face in her hands from fear as her defender struggled to hold off the monster with what looked to be a staff. Loud snarls came from the ghoul as it attempted to gnaw it's way through the weapon itself, its opponent almost buckling under the weight of the monster. There were no words for the situation it seemed. If anything, it was fairly obvious what needed to be done for the moment. A single long look was shared among the four, before Yugi drew a series of arrows and fired.
Each arrow was about as quick as a bullet, and just as invisible until it was far too late. The wall ghoul reared, screeching as the man it had been fighting turned to them in confusion. Mai quickly doubled on the attack however, ignoring the man and running first across the ground and then along the wall itself toward the ghoul. Distracted by the number of arrows piercing it's face, it barely realized that Mai had wrapped her whip around the monster... Until it was already sliced in two by the blade from the whip, Mai landing on the other side of the monster as Yugi stood beside her from where he'd continued to fire arrows. Even with the wall ghoul's defeat however, it was made fairly obvious that the the battle was not over. A low but otherwise human growl came through the air, the group looking down the path to watch as a 'Monster Tamer' appeared and began cracking his own whip across the ground. Despite his human appearance however, there was an inhuman glint in his eyes that told them he was not alone...
Rumbling filled the air, the walls beginning to quake as the tamer ceased his movements. The sound continued, becoming louder and louder... Cracks began to appear in the ground and Katsuya looked down with wide eyes, grabbing Mokuba and jumping from the spot. "Look out," he shouted, the call lost as slabs of rock flew through the air to land haphazardly at the sides. The boys crawled to their feet, looking back with wide eyes as the dust from the destroyed ground cleared away from the air. They shuffled back, hurriedly running from the spot as an enormous worm faced them. Large fang like spikes grated against the sides of the cavern maze, round mouth practically spinning with rows of razor sharp teeth as it turned blindly on them. "Tch..." Katsuya pulled himself to his feet, pulling his spear off his back with wide eyes. "Th' labyrinth worm..!"
And that wasn't all. There was a screeching sound above them, Mokuba and Katsuya turning as a second monster appeared. Beady black eyes faced them from above, scuttling sounds clearly audible as a shadow appeared between themselves and the others. The boys quickly jumped back as the Landmine Spider hopped to the ground before them, Yugi and Mai turning from where they stood with wide eyes. The path only had so much room after all, despite the fair amount of distance that the Monster Tamer continued to put between himself and the others. To say that he and Mokuba were now sandwiched between the worst replacement for 'bread' was an understatement to say the least. "Gh..." Mokuba drew a card from his deck, only to wince as Katsuya did the same and groaned. Mokuba's card? De-Spell. His? Time Wizard. And since neither of them could play spells... A normally kick-ass card was going into his hand. "'Traditional way'," Mokuba 'asked' with a worried frown, pulling out his dagger for his 'non-clawed' hand.
"Traditional," Katsuya said with grit teeth, pulling his spear as Mokuba charged beneath the spider. The monster instantly reared, Mokuba pulling back to avoid the arachnid's legs as Katsuya charged as well. "Righ'... I'll take th' top you take th' bottom," he shouted, the rest of the path unseen to them as they ran at the spider. The blond jumped onto the beast, preparing to ram his spear through it's head only to find himself holding on to it as his weapon was cut in two by its oddly solid head. Mokuba ducked and rolled beneath the spider, stabbing upward as the spider attempted to throw Katsuya off in annoyance. Katsuya yelped, spear ramming into the monster's abdomen as he attempted to hold on. "HaaaAahhh..! Y' havin' any luck there," he called, unable to pull the blade free to do more. There was no answer save three sharp blades puncturing the head of the monster he sat on, a loud moaning noise coming from the monster as it slowly stumbled forward. Ah... It was...
Katsuya rolled off the spider, pulling his spear out of the beast and watching as Mokuba crawled out from underneath it. "Hehehe... Does that answer your question," he asked with a grin, Katsuya shaking his head in response.
"Hah! I guess," he said, shaking his head, before paling as the spider's corpse vanished. Rumbling had come through the air again, and now that the spider was dead it was more than clear- though Mai had taken out the Monster Tamer, the blade of her whip slicing through the man's neck rather cleanly, the worm still had its last orders to act on. All they could hear and see was the crumbling rocks from the walls as their ground support vanished, Mokuba turning from where he'd been walking toward the others with a hesitant frown. And then horror, as the sounds vanished briefly. "Oh fu-"
"GRUEEEEEEEEEE!" Piles of rock flew through the air, Katsuya finding himself airborne as the worm burst through the stone beneath him. He could see the rocks as they landed to the side, the walls decimated by its attack. He could see the faces of his friends, their eyes wide as they looked up...
He could see the long, circular row of gleaming teeth, held wide and spread apart as the mouth opened up for its latest victim. Shit... Katsuya's eyes widened, body unable to move for reasons beyond him. Shit... He was falling... It seemed slower than it really was, far slower, like some re-play on a soccer game... And then it all sped up again, and he found himself looking into an opening worm's mouth. Shit! The worm's large mouth opened still wider than it already was, the blond barely holding onto his weapon as he fell toward the opening with a shout. Face first, and in he went... And then it was all dark.
"Katsuya-nii," Mokuba shouted loudly, calls drowned out by the worm's scream. "KATSUYA-NII!"
"Jonouchi-kun," Yugi shouted, he and Mai running forward and looking up with horror as the teeth from the mouth closed over.
Silence... Silence... Mai stared, shaking her head. This was a game... Just a game, so this shouldn't mean anything... Right? "Jonouchi!" Right?
With a sickening squelch the worm appeared to 'swallow', a lump appearing near the top and moving down to join the rest of its body. With one last writhing search for possible victims, the rest of the crowd drawing back in horror, the monster ducked back into its hole... Leaving horrified silence in its wake. "A-Ahhh..." Mokuba stared, eyes wide as the sounds of burrowing met their ears. "Ahhh... K..." Silence... Nothing but silence. No sign that he'd somehow survived, or re-started the game... Just... "K...Katsuya-"
"GUREEEEEE!" They jumped, an earsplitting screech tearing through the air from the tunnels below. "...REEEEEE!" The group stared as the worm abruptly tore back through the same hole it created, writhing uncontrollably as it screamed. The remaining walls crumbled as it slammed against them, flailing through the air from some unknown pain. "GUEEEEEE!" With a gurgling cry the middle of the beast poked forward, before being cut completely by a slime covered arm and blade. Still the screams continued, blood and bile pouring from the wound as the arm forced its way out and jammed the spear back in place. One slice was all it took, the arm pulling the blade around the side of the beast as the now severed top fell to the ground with a disgusting 'splat'. Wriggling on the ground for a few moments it slowly stopped moving, the source of its pain and end slowly stepping out from the corpse with rasping breaths.
"Guh... Ch... Hah... Hah..." Slowly Katsuya pulled himself from the corpse, spitting on the ground and shaking slime from his body. "Euuuughhh..." The others stared, the blond slowly looking forward and shaking the fluids off his body with a retching choke. "That," he said with another disgusted choke, greenish, white 'fluid' gummed in his hair and clothes, "Is way easier in th' movies... An'... Way less disgustin'," he added with a visible shudder, the corpse behind him vanishing with the gunk on his body as his lifepoints went up. "Next time I try tha'," he added, collapsing to his knees with a groan as his spear repaired itself as well, "Someone slap me... Alrigh'?"
He'd... Survived... There was silence, the two people that they'd just saved slowly looking at each other before the smaller walked over. Despite the slime and flesh and blood all being gone, it was a little hard for Katsuya to see for the moment... Despite 'raised stamina', that entire attack had been exhausting to say the least, given the smell he'd been stuck with inside the monster. The young girl came over to him, Katsuya watching with narrowed and confused eyes as he saw her face. "I must thank you," the girl was saying, her subject merely frowning as he looked over black hair and large blue eyes. "You, and your friends, you all saved our lives..."
Y-Yea... That was all great but... "...Mokuba," the blond muttered, the boy across from him blinking as he came over with the others. "...I think we got issues here," he muttered, shaking himself. Why..? Why was it...
That there were suddenly two of Mokuba? The others came over, swallowing nervously as the small girl stepped back. Despite the dress and clearly well-kept hair, the resemblance was... Astonishing, to say the least. "She looks exactly like Mokuba," Mai was whispering, helping Katsuya up and staring with wide eyes as the blond struggled to his feet before opting to lean against his spear. Mokuba and Yugi as well looked at the girl, staring as she was once again accompanied by the taller man in the group.
"I must thank you," the man stated, bowing deeply with slightly ragged breaths and pulling the group's attention from the eerie resemblances for the moment. "As Meyari-sama said, you have saved us both... Gh!" He abruptly broke into a fit of coughs, the girl beside him looking up with worried eyes.
"Earu," the girl said, lightly grabbing the man's arm as he looked down. "Please, save your breath... You've done too much," she continued quietly, "You shouldn't exhaust yourself further..."
The group stared, watching as 'Earu' merely shook his head. "I know," he said with a small smile, his staff clattering to the ground only to vanish into a fine gold dust. "Please forgive me Meyari-sama, but I must abandon this disguise for the moment... Fear not," he added with a confident smile, looking over the group with an odd expression. "We can trust these people." A quiet sigh was given at that, the man abruptly collapsing into a ball of light identical in colour to the dust of his staff. The light however, quickly cleared... In its place, a small unconscious body was on the ground, a form that the boys had seen once before.
"A-Ah..." Katsuya blinked, shaking his head as his vision cleared up. He stepped forward, looking at the ground with wide eyes. "The fairy from before..!" It... Got bigger? ...Uh?
They watched as 'Meyari' picked up the fairy, smiling sadly as the little one gave a small cough. "Earu," she said saidly, before hiding the fairy behind her crown and turning to the others. The girl gave a steep bow, before again looking over them with wide eyes. "For you to have Earu's trust," the girl said, shaking her head. "You must truly be powerful..." There was evident awe in her voice as she said this, the others merely listening and watching in confusion as the Mokuba-look-alike continued on. "I am the Queen of the lands beyond this cave, 'Meyari' of 'Gorador'," she said with a slight bow, looking over the four. "May I ask who you are?"
They shared looks, Katsuya coughing and speaking first. "Er... Jonouchi Katsuya," he said somewhat hesitantly, the others speaking as well.
"Kujaku Mai," the woman beside him stated, bowing slightly with a little less hesitance.
"Ah... Mutou Yugi," their friend added, nodding his head and smiling. "It's nice to meet you..."
Mokuba nodded, though he appeared visibly unnerved by the 'look-alike' standing before them. "And I'm Kaiba Mokuba," he said with a swallow, before looking down the path. "...If you come from the area past the exit," he asked, "From... 'Gorador'... Does that mean you know the way out then?"
The girl shook her head, biting her lip. "Forgive me," she said with a small bow, folding her hands in front of her. "But I'm afraid not... I became lost after I entered this labyrinth to find Earu..."
Ahhh... That wasn't good... "Well, there's no helpin' that," Katsuya said with a shrug, putting his spear back on the holster on his back while idly noting that his 'dog gauntlets' had claws on them now. Huh... More weapon upgrades? Ah well. "Guess we jus' have t' keep movin' then," he continued, starting forward with a slight nod.
The others nodded in agreement, following close behind as they began to move. "We're probably near the exit," Yugi said quietly, looking around with somewhat narrowed eyes. "The ceiling is beginning to rise, and the path doesn't appear to have any forks in it..."
Katsuya nodded, looking around somewhat nervously. So they were almost out then... That was great, but something didn't feel right. In fact... It almost felt like he was being... Watched... "Hey... 'F this thing 's based on th' match in th' Duelist Kingdom," he began, the path ahead slowly beginning to widen along with the rising ceiling, "Do y' think that means-"
A low rumbling sound came from above and across from them, the crowd looking up and swallowing as Katsuya was cut off. Light began to come into the room, seemingly emanating from the monster that stormed into existence before them. Blue legs held a steady base, a gaping mouth hanging open from the being that was 'Suijin'... Bottom and top were held in place by a tiny green sphere, 'Kazejin's cheeks filled with air and ready to attack from it's position in the center. And above it all, with hulking golden arms sat the third of the trio, 'Sanga of the Thunder'... And together, creating the monster they would now have to fight...
They were the Gate Guardian. "Does that answer your question," Mokuba said with a swallow, looking up as the others reached for their decks.
"Pretty much," Katsuya said nervously, before looking toward Yugi as the guardian above them stood protectively in front of the exit. They knew the power this thing had... If they were going to nail this in one hit though... "...We got one shot at this," he said seriously, looking back at the metallic beast. "That thing's got too much d'fensive power f'r us t' blast through otherwise... An' I don' think our weapons are enough to deal too much serious damage to it..."
Yugi nodded, looking back at his deck himself. "I have Polymerization," he said with a slight frown, reaching for the cards. "And combining that with your Dragon Nails, if we make the next draw..."
There was a pause, before Mai stepped forward and pulled a card from her deck. Another moment of silence, and the woman smirked, appearing to nod to herself as she stepped forward. "You boys don't worry about a thing," she said calmly, flashing the card in her hands to them before looking at the monster before them. "Just get ready to move when I say so, understand?"
The boys looked over, before nodding and drawing their cards. If all went well, they wouldn't have to get help... But depending on what Mai did, their chances could shoot up to an impossible advantage. For a brief moment, there was silence, each of them looking over their draw and turning toward their opponent as the Queen stood behind them. Mokuba's card vanished from sight, the boy quickly drawing his dagger while the others kept their hold on the cards. Weapons were drawn and readied... And with narrowed eyes the four turned on the Gate Guardian, each one taking a stance against the beast. Given Yugi's look, he knew what his friend had drawn... And now it was time for his own card! "Red-Eyes Black Dragon," Katsuya shouted, holding the card forward and watching it vanish into ash. In a flurry of black red flames the beast appeared, large black scaled wings spreading across a majority of the room before the beast took position alongside its master with a loud roar.
"Skull Demon," Yugi cried, black thunder striking the ground as his own monster appeared, thick bone claws flexing as the beast stood alongside the people at double their height. "Mai," he called, the woman beside them gripping her whip tightly. She had a plan... So what was it?
Mai turned, giving a single nod as she held her own card forward. "When the trap activates," she called out, cracking the ground with her whip. "Until then, attack!"
With pleasure! The boys charged, monsters running along side them as they went. It seemed mostly pointless to attack a metal monster with nothing but swords and arrows the blond told himself, Mokuba and himself running up opposite sides of Suijin in an attempt to reach the more vulnerable joints of the monster. Indeed, the Gate Guardian didn't even bat an eye as the boys struck, at least until Katsuya's spear found it's way into Suijin's eye. While Yugi focused on impaling the face of Kazejin above, Mokuba managed to gouge the second eye that Suijin had with his three claws, the monster giving a pained roar in response. Odd, silver fluid began to drip from the injuries, the boys staring in slight shock before the sound of rushing water met their ears. Slowly the two looked into the monster's mouth, turning back to the others with pale faces. "Ahhhhh... ...Mai?"
The woman didn't move, attention not at all moving from the monster ahead of her. "Not yet," she shouted, holding the card directly toward the monster.
Water continued to sound through the air, a small mist exiting the beast's mouth as the boys slowly made their way back down the monster's 'legs'. Rumbling was beginning to sound through the monster, and after sharing a nervous glance he and Mokuba again looked back. "...Maaaai," Katsuya repeated, the others turning to the woman as she shook her head.
"Just a little longer," she called, still holding the card as it began to glow somewhat. "It won't work otherwise!"
They looked at Suijin, Skull Demon and Red-Eyes both sharing unnerved glances as the boys ran off the monster lest the rumbling throw them off. They looked back, stumbling to a stop as the sight of rushing water met their eyes. "MAI," the blond shouted, before water abruptly shot forward from the beast.
"NOW," she yelled, tossing the card forward as Yugi and Katsuya pulled their own from their 'hands'. Mokuba ducked as the card flew over his head, appearing to burn before repelling the mass of water heading toward them. "Mirror Wall," she called out, a wall of ice and glass quickly growing from the ground and sending the water right back at the monsters.
Katsuya handed Yugi his spell card, the boy holding them up with a nod as their opponent roared in evident pain. Suijin's attack might have been halved... But the Gate Guardian's complete power still stood! "Polymerization," he shouted, the spinning portal appearing behind Red-Eyes and Skull Demon to pull them inside. Dust and ash flew through the air, slowly misting out from the portal to form a single enormous dragon in the monsters places, and with a mighty roar the bone armored dragon faced its opponent. "And next," the boy continued, the second card in his hand vanishing from sight as he held it toward the beast. "Dragon Nails!" Thick black claws appeared on the dragon's claws as it gave a manic and feral grin, before Mokuba tossed a third card to the boy with a shout.
"Yugi," he called with a nod, his friend catching the card and looking over it as the boy spoke. "Lets finish this now!"
Yugi nodded, lifepoints ticking down yet again as he held the third card up with a determined frown. "Quick Attack," he called out, he and Katsuya all stepping away from the Gate Guardian as the card vanished. Black Skull Dragon moved forward, standing above them and charging a blast of dark flames in its throat as the magic took effect. Mokuba joined the two beneath the beast, the boys pointing the enormous dragon forward with a shout. "Go, Black Skull Dragon... METEOR FLARE!"
Heat filled the room as the attack was released, and in a blast of fire the monster clattered into scrap metal pieces. The flames burned away at the metal on the ground, ashes filling the air as the Gate Guardian was destroyed. Smoke filled the room completely, clouding their vision as their lifepoints quickly rose from the finished attack despite the difficulty in breathing they were now having. A few moments passed... The smoke blew away, and when the dust cleared, both monsters were gone... And in the distance, there was a large wide tunnel. Katsuya turned to Yugi, smirking somewhat as the exit cleared for them. "Heh... Whaddya know," he said with a laugh, spear replaced on his back as the others put their weapons away themselves. "Looks like I got t' save th' card y' gave me!"
Yugi smiled, nodding at the statement. "Hah... That's right," he said, looking up at his friend as he put his bow on his shoulder. "That was a good draw, Jonouchi-kun..." The group turned, shouts coming from the other end of the tunnel as the others stared. "Ah... Who is that," he asked, turning as the queen beside them brightened.
"Ahh..! I know that voice," she called, running forward as the others quickly followed behind. Meyari stumbled somewhat, running forward and into the tunnels with a large grin in place. "Eri-san," she called, coming to a stop in front of a large crowd with torches. "Ah... ...All of you," she continued, hands brought to he face in surprise. "Oh... You all came..."
The others paused, slowing to a stop as they looked over the crowd. Mostly, it was made of soldiers, each well armed despite their hands being occupied with torches. Helmets covered half of their faces, thick mail covering their bodies. At the front however, stood a young woman, long black hair hanging behind her as she bowed her head toward the queen in evident respect. "Meyari-sama," she said calmly, spectacled eyes filled with worry. "Are you alright," she asked, the queen standing in front of her as she spoke. "We attempted to come into the cavern earlier, to aid in your search for the chosen ones of the prophecy, but we were stopped by a strange force..." Chosen ones? Prophecy? ...Well this was a game he guessed...
Meyari nodded, smiling. "Of course," she said with a relieved sigh, before turning to gesture to the ones behind her. "Eri-san," the girl continued, "These people... These four heroes saved my life," she stated, looking back to the woman with wide eyes. "Do you think that perhaps, these people are..."
'Eri' as she was apparently called, blinked, before turning to the group with narrowed eyes, as though examining them for all apparent details possible. "...Perhaps," she said somewhat cryptically, the others sharing uneasy glances. "Perhaps... Great heroes," she asked, stepping forward with a polite nod. "I must thank you for your aid... What lands do you hail from," she continued, the queen standing in silence beside her.
"Ahhh..." The four swallowed, again sharing uneasy glances. Lands? ...What were they supposed to do, give their hometown, what... "Er... ...Tokyo," Katsuya said with a shrug, Mokuba smacking his forehead in response. "Gh- What," he muttered, looking down at the boy as his friend shook his head, "I ain't lyin'," he protested, crossing his arms.
The boy shook his head, muttering something about that not being the point before Meyari giggled somewhat. "Please... It's fine," she said calmly, the four turning to her as she smiled. "We needn't know... The world is vast after all, and not all lands are known to us..." Er. Yea. Yea he guessed that made sense. Um... "However, I must offer you at the very least, an invitation to my palace," she continued, bowing her head. As she did so, the crowd behind her did the same, bowing low and deep as the four shared awkward glances. The crowd stood again, Katsuya and the others looking at the girl before them as she continued to smile. "Will you come with us," she asked, staring at them with wide eyes. "Will you join us perhaps, for a dinner in your thanks?"
Come with them..? (And how would dinner work, now that he thought about it...) The four turned to each other, silent messages passed among the glances. They had a goal in mind already after all; save Seto, beat the game, get the hell out of there. Was there anything else to do, that would take them on that path though? This tunnel was their only lead... The tunnel that led to the country that these people apparently came from. Which meant that it was quite likely that this invitation to the palace in said country was also their only shot at getting to Seto... ...And if that was the case... "...Sure," Katsuya finally said with a nod, the others voicing their own responses as well. "Lead th' way."
A volcano's heat was often attributed as one of the hottest naturally occurring things on the surface of the earth. Next to lightning, it probably was... Depending on where you stood. Of course, who knew what sorts of strain the 'virtual' body could take. But given the fact that the heat was still present, it was quite likely that life was still present. Blinding heat filled the air of the 'dungeon' cell, a dry, smoking heat that threatened to blister her skin. It was as though the lava below had increased in volume... Coming closer, increasing the heat on what was apparently turning out to be a stone made slow-cooker. Seto wasn't the only one who could feel the heat; if anything, having been sitting and waiting as it slowly increased was better for her than for anyone coming into the room. But for the moment, the Witty Phantom could care far less about that. In fact, there was only one thing he really cared about, and she was currently hanging on a stone cross on a stone pillar in the center of a private volcano. "You're a real piece of work aren't you," he spat as he came into the room, slowly fading into appearance from the shadows to stop a few meters from his captive. There was no response from the woman however;she merely hung limp on the cross, head sinking forward to rest on her chest in an apparently exhausted slumber.
The phantom snarled, all 'class' abandoned in the duel monster's rage. "I can hardly believe the problems you've given us," he continued with narrowed eyes, still receiving no response as he paced around the room. "I send in one of the Sangan to restrain your legs, so as to prevent further issues," the monster spat, flames leaping from the lava pit behind him, "And you punt him into the lava pit!" He reeled on the still motionless woman, scowling as his prisoner merely continued to hang limp and motionless. "Sangan don't grow from the ground you know," he hissed, orange coloured skin reddening to a more crimson-gold shade as he growled. "I have half a mind to simply replace you with a separate sacrifice, deal with this problem some other way... I hear there's a nice young Queen from the northern lands, actually asking to be sacrificed..." 'Phantom' turned back, as though looking to see if he received a response from the words. There was only silence however... A fact that quickly proved to incense him even more.
He walked over, eyes narrowed as he slapped the still motionless woman across the face. Still no answer, and in fact, if not for the occasional movement from her chest he would say he was beating a corpse. "Are you listening," he snarled, shark-like teeth bared with rage as shadows appeared to physically radiate from his form. "I exist to torment my captives," the demon roared, the flames in the room leaping to intense proportions, "Not lul them into a sleep!" Another slap, and still no response as he finally leaned in to stare down at his captive's head. "Can you hear me," the demon bellowed, voice echoing around the room. "You little rat!"
Suddenly, there was a movement, an intensified heat in the air that had the phantom himself tense up, holding him frozen in place as silent muttering met his ears. Narrowed, ice cold eyes turned slowly upward, and with her own voice the woman spoke in a dangerously frightening tone that cut the monster's breath short. "Loud and clear," she muttered, eyes appearing to glow with an eerie light. "FIRE."
In a mere instant, all that the phantom could see was red. In the moments before, for a split second he watched as Seto pulled her head back, taking in as much air as possible before blasting it forward in a stream of flames that engulfed the monster completely. The Witty Phantom fell to the ground in seconds... During which a howling and pained scream reverberated about the room, bouncing off the stone walls and down the hall. And still the blast of flame continued to stream from her mouth, the woman turning her head to the ropes that held her right arm in place and setting them ablaze before the attack finished. It hurt... It hurt like hell, she knew that well. Even so, she allowed the last of the fire to catch onto her sleeve and arm, watching as the flames ate away at the ropes that held her in place. Charred and weakened ropes tore easily against the rough stone, and in an instant her sword arm was free to pull the blade from her side, burning pain or no. She'd felt worse... In her dreams, her nightmares, she'd felt worse. The sword was gripped tightly and as she hung by her second arm, flames continuing to work at her first, she easily sliced through the second series of ropes. With a soft thud the woman dropped to the ground and shaking her good arm somewhat before moving calmly toward the still wailing Witty Phantom on the ground.
"Pathetic," she muttered, fires still burning across her right arm as they angrily ate through the skin to the muscles beneath. She should be screaming... In all honestly, she wasn't sure why she wasn't. But the fact was, that wasn't something to worry about right now; this was a game. And whatever pain she felt now would all vanish in an instant with her next move. The woman stood, watching as the Phantom slowly looked up with wide and fear filled eyes. The rest of the monster was burning away, skin blackening and flaking away. Was her arm doing that now? It felt like it... "Another mistake," she growled, coming closer as the phantom gave unheard pleas of mercy. The woman held her blade tightly, bringing it forward with narrowed eyes despite the fires that had now likely destroyed the nerves on her arm. "Forgetting that I don't need cards to fight, Phantom." With a single light thud she brought her blade through the monster, the top half of the burning corpse remaining in place for a few moments as she passed... Before falling to the ground behind her as she left the room through the acid green stone arch that held a rope bridge in place. Fires dimmed down instantly, vanishing from sight as though having been submerged in ice cold water. She ignored the cheerful 'beeps' from the empty deck holder on her wrist however, her lifepoints increasing by a small amount as she held her blade ready and stormed down the hall. Her arm was numb... She could scarcely feel it, and though the damage to her armor had been repaired her arm in itself was not in any sort of condition. Still she moved however, eyes glowing with a dangerous light as she moved into more castle-like halls from the 'dungeon' she'd been inside. Hold her in this game would they..?
They would regret ever entertaining the thought. She moved through the castle's dark paths, shouts already filling the halls in her wake. Already aware of her escape were they? A clever program, she'd give the board that. But she was far superior to some pre-programmed machine. The woman quickly ducked down a particularly dark hall on the side as shouts drew nearer, soon watching as a small crowd of humanoid duel monsters passed her by. In a stampede of footsteps they ran, quickly disappearing into the next hall and leaving her in silence as she remained in the shadows. Hnnn... She looked around a large pillar she stood behind, eyes narrowed in thought. While it would be 'easy' to fool the program, there was still the matter of doing so. Not to mention, the matter of 'beating' the game so to speak. And if she was going to get anywhere near the exit to this place to do so, she would have to either somehow sneak through the halls undetected for what would possibly take hours, time that she most certainly did not have... Or simply find some other way to hide and escape.
However that would be... Voices began to come from the other end of the hall, Seto tensing and drawing further behind the pillar. Tch- Well wasn't this great... She could always wait for them to pass she decided, listening as a single voice floated through the corridor. 'Ruddy sangan,' the voice muttered, footsteps coming down the hall from what was likely one being and only one. 'And that Sanwitch too,' it continued with evident annoyance, quickly proving to be alone. 'How did anything like him come into magic?' Hnn...
A constantly talking NPC? Perhaps placed for a specific purpose, interaction with the player? Though going and doing that would be incredibly moronic, so it was far more likely to be something else really... Seto peered around the pillar, watching as what looked to be a darker form of the 'Lady of Faith' walked around the hall and began to pace. The hat wasn't the right colour, she realized with narrowed eyes, attempting to place the card. Black... The Lady of faith however had azure robes, with a rose coloured helm... And it's counterparts had matching blue or white robes, with either a golden helm or a green one.
This was a different card... One of the newer ones, she recalled with a frown, the 'Shadow Priestess of Ohm'. The only one that didn't look as though it would keel over first chance it got to fight. Seto watched as the woman continued to pace in front of the pillar, gritting her teeth and holding back a growl. Regardless of who she was however, she was preventing her escape! With the pacing that was going on now she'd never get out of this place! ...Unless... "...Hn..." A small smirk came over the woman's face, Seto twirling the sword around her hand in silence to hold the handle forward as opposed to the blade. Quickly... She had to move quickly... Silently she walked over to the priestess, ignoring the woman's ramblings as she moved toward the monster's back. Closer... Closer...
"I can't believe the Phantom would hire such a- Aaa!" The priestess turned, abruptly struck in the brow by the hilt of Seto's blade. For a brief moment the monster's eyes widened, red eyes staring back at Seto's own blue before closing over with a groan. "Hnnn..." There was a soft thud as the woman collapsed, Seto sheathing her blade and looking around the hall before pulling the priestess off to the side with her one good arm. Hn. Easy... Pathetically so for something that was just as strong as her 'Battle Ox', though she supposed the element of surprise helped with that.
If she didn't move quickly though, the monster would probably wake up, she told herself, tossing the monster roughly against the back wall and getting to 'work'. But if she simply killed it, she was almost certain that the robes would disappear, and as much as she didn't like the idea of having to hide, she needed to get out of this place. Besides... Who knew what sort of advantages a 'disguise' would prove against the 'game' she was in. She pulled the helm off the woman's head, smirking at the thought before pulling it over and proving one of her silent theories. As she expected... Most of the hair was from a wig on the hat, meaning that almost her entire head would be covered by the large headdress. She took the robes and weapons off from the monster in silence, throwing them over herself as more voices came down the hall. Tch... Great, someone was coming already... She took the two urumi that the priestess had carried, hurriedly slicing through the now mostly cloth-less woman's throat in an instant and stepping back behind the pillar as the monster vanished into nothing. Monsters continued to pass her by, the woman watching as a trio of sangan followed by a child-sized version in white robes followed. Slowly they passed her by, leaving through the other end of the hall before Seto looked over herself in dull silence.
The clothes had remained intact... The monster was gone, but the weapons and armor were not. A dark smirk came on her face, Seto adjusting the large helm on her head before calmly stepping out from behind the pillar to re-enter the more lit hall. Her face was mostly hidden by the shadow of the helm, everything else hidden by the hair and robes. Hands gripped the urumi tightly, and in silence the woman walked through the castle. Holding the blades, she knew in the back of her mind that the weapons would not prove a foreign subject in battle, a fact that allowed the dark smirk to grow even further. The disguise was now in place, enough so that she could literally walk right out of the castle she bet... Provided of course, that a particularly 'intelligent' strain of AI wasn't in place on any of these monsters... So long as that wasn't happening, she would easily remain hidden in plain sight... Which left only one more thing for her to do really, she told herself as she regained her narrowed glare.
Get out of this hellhole and beat the ever loving crap out of the so called 'Board of Directors' sitting in her company building. Along with anything else in her way.
AN: Go for it Kaiba! Gooooo... ...Huh. Wonder what she'll do when she realizes that she's stuck on a floating castle. That's going to suck... Considering she has no cards and therefore cannot summon any monsters to escape. Ohhhh well... We'll see how things go anyways. By the way, never try writing something involving a flaming-arm escape right after watching Scott Pilgrim VS The World. The overflow of epic-crazy-awesome from the movie will constantly tempt you to do terrible things... Which I thankfully didn't do, as that would be horribly out of character. Expect to see some SP inspired insanity in the attack on the castle however, given that it's... Well. In the air. Hehehe.
Now then, there's a bit of art for you below; the designs for 'semi-upgrades' Mokuba and Jonouchi received, Seto in the priestess' robes, along with a few spoiler-ific/concept images... (They might be spoilery... If they make it past the concept stage.) ...We even have the maid that replaced the old woman who appeared in the anime. (Which occurs mostly for the rule of funny really. Because conversations in the next chapter... They'll center on it. A lot.)
Also, I have a grasp on how many chapters of this arc are left. Given that we are now 'half way' in terms of anime length (We're half way through the second episode, and since there are three of those...), I would say we have three chapters left, four at most. I say 'at most' because as much as I love typing combat scenes, it's also incredibly difficult to make it realistic and fun to read... Which is something I tend to get rather picky about. I will try though, just don't expect this arc to be more than three more chapters.
And in other news... Poll results are Still Unchanged. Go send in your votes people!
With that out of the way, it's time for the next section...
Anonymous Review Responses
Hello there MaggieMay! ...You know, I don't think being so cold that you can't think is safe, you should get that checked. Take it from a Canadian eh!
As for your impatience, you can definitely bet that if Jonouchi did that he would end up in a rather shallow grave that she made him dig himself. However, you should keep in mind that the 'breather chapter' after this arc (Unlike Christmas, I won't be stretching the next 'section' more than a chapter) is Valentines Day... And that works a little different in Japan. If you've watched enough anime however, you can probably guess what I'm implying though... Hope you enjoy the next few chapters!
And Iona! Hahaha! Well, technically about 80% of the fanfic is meant to be from his point of view really… It's just that the bare thoughts that make it obviously his point-of-view don't tend to come out on paper unless I'm completely confident that I'm 'IC'. (Ahehehe.) As for Anzu and Honda, what did I say? Forgetting people doesn't sit well with me, so I pull them in~. And I'll continue to! Glad it's proving interesting for you!
Hnn… Technically it's a one time appearance, that Noa cameo… But don't think that's the last cameo we'll see period; he's going to be testing his boundaries when possible, and trust me when I say that someone will notice. (Very tragic really, his situation… Poor guy.)
What would they do indeed… I always wondered why people did that; I mean, it's pretty obvious that Mokuba has a good deal of his own intellect and maturity… Not to mention he's just as protective of Kaiba as Kaiba himself (Herself?) is of Mokuba! Bahhhh… Oh well. (Granted, he was a pretty big little snot in his initial appearance...)
I guess you could argue that Mokuba grew up too fast as well in a way; he just has a fair shot at making up for it in comparison to Kaiba. Also, speaking of Epic!Mokuba moments... You'll be seeing a few next chapter if planning serves me right... If the above wasn't enough I mean.
Enjoy~
Usagi's Manga & Japan Guide/Corner
The section that's hiding behind you with a pair of urumi right now... Mehehehehehe...
Today's chapter title is brought to you by 'Distressed Damsels'; Kaiba ain't one of them. She will plot and conspire against you until you are so far into the fire that you're crispier than a burnt french fry. Speaking of crispy...
Oh hey, it's Honda and Anzu! Throughout the three Legendary Heroes episodes, we occasionally saw extremely short snippets of these two, as they attempted to hold the door back from the guards. Poor guys...
In the anime, this scene was obviously much shorter; Jonouchi found Mai out when she used 'Mirror Wall' against his Flame Swordsman, and Yugi and Mokuba jumped into the field to explain things before Mai used her Harpy's whip to steal the Koke card as they made their escape... However, since in the fanfic, Mai knows damn well she'll get no experience from the fight if she just lets her harpy do all the work, she's in the fray as well... Also, I found it fairly interesting that she simply stopped fighting against Jonouchi, despite the fact that she figured it was just a game (albeit a game she was stuck in) at that point. One of those things I guess...
Summoner claaaaass~ It's the one that Yugi was considering, before he realized that it's a little better to get the monsters your facing rather than routinely pulling out the one you drew last, over and over again. (Not to say that Mai doesn't make her draw, buuuuut...) Also, a note on the summoner; though it only takes half as much of the regular 'price' to make a repeated summon, it doesn't cost anything to pull out an 'allied' monster as the Archer. And the 'allied' monster stays with you until the very end... It's just that you can only have two, as opposed to the Summoner, who could have like... Fifty going at once (Though that would take a hell of a lot of lifepoints.)... Either way. The summoner could potentially swarm you, which is why it works with Mai's strategy (Summon the harpies, who draw strength from each other)... But the Archer gets his power from those few monsters that are on his side.
Interesting thing about the harpies, but they more closely resemble Furies; the Harpies are depicted as birds with women's heads. The furies on the other hand (Of which there are three) are women with claws and wings. Hurmmm... They represent the anger of the dead, which is kinda... Creepy. In any case, the names of the three are Alecto (Unceasing), Megaera (grudging) and Tisiphone (Avenging murder). Whoooo!
The Harpies themselves actually do have names though; apparently they are Airo, Ocupete, and Keraino. They come from three actual names for a trio of fairly famous harpies in Greek myth; Aello (storm swift), Ocypete (the swift wing) and Celaeno (the dark). So really, you could argue that their names are romanized versions of the real ones. (No 'l's, things like 'cu' are actually 'Ku', etc.) The names were given in the game 'The Falsebound Kingdom'. (Which also gave names for the three Blue-Eyes oddly enough; Azrael (Who is the angel of Death), Ibris (From 'Iblis', which is pretty much the Islamic Devil/Lucifer), and Djibril (Gabriel... In Islam.)... Oddly enough, you could say you have the perfect trio of 'Good, Evil, Neutral' here...)
Though a more interesting point about that battle though, is that Jonouchi actually says he's willing to fight through Mai to save Kaiba. Ehehehehehe... (I'm shameless, I know.)
Originally, everyone had to flee the old fashioned way; through the door. This resulted in a fairly large crowd chasing after them, along with Jonouchi pulling 'Trap Hole' on said crowd to keep them from following. That was originally going to stay in actually... But I liked the idea of escaping on the back of the Pet Dragon instead.
So… Anyone else wonder how they got four Koke from one card? Because I swear it, it's like the program in the anime was designed to be ridiculously easy.
In any case, 'Tetra' is another prefix type word for 'four'. Like 'quad'!
Mokuba knows that Yugi knows about Kaiba, mostly because Yugi kind of told him in an unseen scene at duelist kingdom… A scene that basically involved Yami Yugi flat out telling the boy (Away from the others obviously) that he 'guessed'. Something that irked Mokuba to say the least, but not for too long given that he was also told that Kaiba was on the island. And in any case, it also means Mokuba knows that Katsuya didn't open his mouth, which is good for him. But when Mai mentioned being in the know, it was kinda one of those 'You told her!' moments, for fairly obvious reasons...
Just wait until this happens in front of Kaiba though, oh dear…
Obviously, monster summoning was quite different in the anime... Rather than Mokuba doing anything until he went to spring Kaiba out, Jonouchi or Yugi did everything. In any case, Jonouchi summoned Red-Eyes about... Four times throughout the Legendary Heroes, and given that he only has two shots at it the way I'm doing it, I opted to have Mokuba cut down Sandstone the easy way. Because personally, Red Eyes was a little overkill for something like Sandstone.
So here's a good question, why is there a giant temple-like structure built around the cave of death? Seriously, it was this huge building of sorts, holding the entrance to... A cave. My theory? Wasn't always a cave of death so much as a tunnel between the two lands… And then things happened, and now that building is a ruin. CURSES! (Makes sense to meeeee...)
Originally in the anime (both dub and not dub), Mai says something along the lines of Jonouchi not seeing that there was a woman right in front of him (In the dub, she specifically says he must have realized she was out of his league. HAH, what?)… But since fanfic Mai already considers Jou taken, and because I'm pretty sure that Polarshipping isn't canon despite the constant blatant signs of it, she instead references the conversation outside.
Now before anyone asks why, when Earu dying in the anime triggered a 'switch' between 'Yami' and 'Yugi', the same didn't happen for when Jonouchi almost died, allow me to tell you this. That scene happens a little differently... And it's going to be more than just the fairy dying that triggers it.
Hey look it's Iru the fairy! (Or rather, 'Earu', pronounced 'Eh-Ah-Ru'. Iru was his dub name.) But Usagi, why was Iru fighting too? (More importantly, why was Iru tall?) Because I can't really see that little tiny guy doing any fighting… Yet he technically did in the anime, and he got killed (mostly) for it. Whyyyyyy... Um. Anyways. (Also I was on a design streak, so sue me.) Annnnd hey! It's Queen Meyari! The dub called her 'Princess Edina'. What's wrong with child Queens, 4-kids! There will be more on her after this by the way; most of the conversation in the anime takes place in the carriages as it is, sooooo... Yea.
I think I got the country name right. It's mentioned in the Japanese version, I know that much. I just... Can't remember what it is exactly. It's either what's above, or at least close.
Is the Mirror Wall overkill? Probably, given that Black Skull dragon had enough power already. But the fact is, Mai doesn't know what kind of power either of these monsters have (As Gate Guardian was specifically created for the Duelist Kingdom and she never encountered it.), so she's not taking chances. (And personally, I would be quite surprised if the Gate Guardian was a well known monster given the reason it was created.) In addition, they don't know whether or not they're facing three monsters in a stack, or the actual Gate Guardian; because they could do that, and since a monster can only attack once… (In fact, it seemed like the Gate Guardian could actually work that way if you took out the one on the bottom or middle as opposed to all three at once.)
Lava (Which is what Magma is when it's above ground... Like in the case of the somehow still floating castle Kaiba is stuck in) is anywhere between 700 and 1200 degrees celsius (The latter of which is around 1500 fahrenheit last I checked.)... Lightning? Double that number and then some, coming in at 30,000 degrees celsius. The reason why people survive being shot in the face with that sucker rather than lava however is probably because lightning lasts a split second... Lava is always there, and sets you on fire. Whooooo...
'Rat' Usagi? Really? After all the other things that go flying around in this fanfic? Well... I had a fairly large list of things that the demon could call her... But unfortunately, I just found them too sketchy. Mostly because a lot of the insults that go flying a woman's way tend to be... Erm... Sex-centered, in my experience. It's probably just me, but everything else just doesn't fit. (At least not in a 'rolls right off the tongue' sort of way) In any case, being called a rat can be a bit of a sore point when it needs to be, not that Kaiba cares...
Speaking of fire, Kaiba's escape went a little like this; she punted the sangan into the lava pit (She was just trying to kick it actually.), which got her 300 lifepoints and enough experience to hit level three. This meant she could upgrade that shiny fire spell she has in her repertoire... Then, using 'Gift of the Holy Elf' from her 'hand', she gains another three hundred lifepoints. This ensures that she not only has enough to actually use the now triple-powered fire move (She bothered upgrading it because she knew that the demon would otherwise not even bat an eye at that attack), but also that she'll live through burning through her own arm in the process; the flames only last as long as the 'battle' is on... Once Witty Phantom was dealt with, so was the fire. (She still burned through her own arm though!)
Sanwitch is this adorable little fusion monster that can't actually exist unless you use a substitute for fusion, as the Witch of the Black Forest, one of the materials for it, is an illegal card now. It's made up of that witch and the card 'Sangan', who ironically have opposite effects; one searches for a monster with 1500 attack, while the other searches for a monster with 1500 defense. Sanwitch on the other hand, has no effect, likely because both the effects would activate the moment the fusion happened. (The monsters have to be sent to the graveyard for the effect to activate.) Also, don't think this is the last you've seen of it. Ehehehe...
'Shadow Priestess of Ohm' is effectively a darker, stronger counterpart to the Lady of Faith... Along with Dryad and Doriado. (And better looking too.) In any case, I picked it because A) It's got very flowy robes, which tend to make for a better way to hide body shape and identity, and B) It's a monster you'd likely see in an evil castle centred on Duel Monsters… Mostly because its effect is fairly handy; you can tribute dark monsters to inflict direct damage to the opponent. In any case, unlike the other counterparts to this card, which are all praying… This one isn't. This one is holding a pair of urumi, and looks very much prepared to slice someone's head off. Hehehehehe...
Urumi are pretty much the exceedingly deadly (To both the opponent and the wheedler) lovechild of a sword and a whip; the entire 'whip' is a long blade to say the least, and to make matters worse, most urumi have two blades on them… Similar to a cat o' nine tails. So very very deadly, to say the least... So much so that you're liable to take you your own hand with them.
What? Kaiba escaped? But what about the anime Usagi? What about that! Everything will be fine guys, don't worry…
Everything will be fine... (BWAHAHAHAHAAA!)
FanArt and My Art Section
Do I have to tell you to take the spaces out of the link to get your full link? ...Well, I said it at least.
See if you can figure out where I got the maid design from in the meantime...
SpoilerConcept: Tauk & Rod - http : / / i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ MoreEyeConcept. jpg - You can probably guess which one represents what, but one fact remains and that is that these designs are not final... So you're more than likely to be in for a surprise when these two really do appear. Though I do have to say I like the idea of setting Jonouchi on spiritual fire... Brings out my sadistic side I guess. OH WELL.
Jou & Mokuba's Upgrades... And a maid - http : / / i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ TwoWarriorsOneMaid. jpg - As to why the other two didn't get an upgrade? They technically did, in the form of paying less lifepoints for crap. Yugi played three spell cards at once up there; the cost? Far less than it would have been if he tried that stunt earlier on, trust me on that. In any case, we have Mokuba's awesome sandstone gauntlet, complete with three blades that threaten to rip off the X-Men... (Whooooops~) ...Jonouchi's remaining 'armor' from the coliseum battle, which actually does increase his defense and such; the gauntlets and greaves both upgraded as well, and have rather sharp claws tacked onto them... And he'll be keeping these in the next battle by the way. Lastly we have that maid, who replaced the old woman from the anime. First person to guess where her design came from (she has golden eyes by the way) gets a big cookie and a warning not to choke on it while they laugh.
The Perfect Disguise! - http : / / i5. photobucket. com/ albums/ y153/ natasha_unos_1/ YGO% 20Fanfic% 20-% 20Skin/ TheDisguise. jpg - It's flawless I tell you! Flawless! And it really is if you think about it; besides her eyes, there is nothing in there that tells you 'this is Kaiba in disguise'. I absolutely detest that hat though, oh my god...
