Welcome back! Good to see you! Today is a bit of a long one, but we're diving into the meat and potatoes of Celine's past. Enjoy!

I don't own YGO

Celine wasn't sure how this brainscan technology was supposed to work, but for her she always focused on how it felt to play that character at the table. The problem was she'd never played a Tarrasque as a player.

But she had as a Dungeon Master. In a max level encounter one off for Halloween.

She almost felt high as she realized it. She'd ran a dozen campaigns over the years. Each different. Each as every NPC and Villian.

Kaiba said their only boundaries were the ones they made. Looks like she was slowly figuring out what that meant.

With a rush and a haze of gray over her eyes, her form slowly began to grow and shift. Heavy horns sprouted over each eye and down her back in twin sharp rows. Her jaws stretched and grew teeth, long, sharp teeth. Arms and legs grew long and heavy, with sharp claws and heavy armor to fill in over her back and tail.

A deep, screaming roar left her, filling the air.

The trick about the Tarrasque wasn't in it's heavy armor, or outrageous hitpoints. It laid in the damage immunities. Tarrasque were immune to Fire, Poison, and non magical attacks like bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing. It also couldn't be charmed, frightened, or paralyzed. Nothing less than a magical torrent would even scratch it.

That tin can didn't stand a chance.

Even though it tried to run. She watched everything try to run. The great white dragon above shot upwards and the robot scrambled back.

There were people in there. Hiding in the machine.

Machines aren't scared. People were scared.

Not her people. Ted was firing again, the light sparking off the aluminum sides in deep gauges. He was brave.

A howling scream left her, and she charged for the robot.

The torso bent between her jaws and she shook it like a rabid dog. Parts flung everywhere, earth and metal went flying. Ted stopped firing, instead looking for cover.

Bite.

Tear.

SHRED.

Pounding the pieces to the dirt, she ripped it apart to find the meat inside.

She actually found the Korean first. He must have teamed up with them. No matter. They all taste the same going down. She swallowed him whole.

Delightful.

She rooted around the mechanical carcass, sniffing. Where were the others?

One ran out of a pile and she slammed a foot down on it, leaving only a smear.

Haha.

A roar filled the air, and Celine whipped around to look. A large arcane black dragon was swooping in, alongside a familiar purple magician.

The dragon roared again and a raging inferno of red hot flames poured out and licked at her plates.

Haha.

Celine dove for the dragon, never minding the mage or the people that dove out of her way.

Hard heavy bites that tore in and snapped the dragon's frame in deep rattling cracks that filled the air. The creature attempted to pull itself free, fire once more blowing from between it's teeth in a desperate attempt to shake her off.

The mage brought pain.

With a roar she turned to face him, and she saw the way he shrank back. But Wizards were smart. Too smart.

Eat him.

Magical Hats appeared, covering his form along with three others.

No matter.

A heavy sweep of her arm and she had him in her claws.

But the second her mouth opened a hard electric blast slammed into her side.

More pain.

Her eyes looked up. The white dragon.

She threw the mage away and fell in pursuit.

It was an easy target. Easy to watch through the trees. She slammed through to a clearing just as he landed.

Suddenly it vanished and she stopped short. Where did it go?

No.. not vanished… shrank. Kaiba stood in it's place now.

Kaiba.

"That's enough Celine… change back." He said firmly.

Change back? Her mind seemed to clear.

Change back. Right.

Celine shrank and found herself looking up to the blue eyed man.

Had she done something wrong? She couldn't read his face.

She turned as tearing through the path in the trees showed they were followed.

The purple magician was joined by Joey, Ted as the Master Chief and Roger jogging along beside.

"Kaiba! You need to do somethin' about her!" Said Joey.

"Why should I nerf someone just for beating you, Wheeler?" Said Kaiba coolly.

"She almost tore me in half! And ate Yugi!" Said Joey.

"Hell, she did eat that one guy." Said Roger with a grin to Ted, who nodded eagerly.

"She squished the other one, eh?"

"It's called player versus player for a reason you wimp." Said Celine.

"There was no need for that! We were coming to help!" Argued Joey.

"YOU ATTACKED ME." She snarled, taking a step forward and causing all of them to take a step back.

"You came for me and didn't stop to ask questions. Neither did I. I was defending the base of my ally, then I was defending myself. Don't get mad because you almost turned into an entree."

"She's right." Said Ted, voice coming through his helmet. "I tried to tell you she was on our side. You lot didn't listen."

"She still ate a guy." Said Yugi.

"Casualty of war." Said Celine. "He'll spawn back with his team no worse for it. Don't raid a base if you're not ready to get killed."

"She's right, eh?" Said Roger with a grin. "C'mon Celine! I think we could split that aluminum with you! Least we could do! They left a ton of it behind."

Celine smiled and jogged to fall in beside the pair as they headed for the base, leaving Yugi, Joey, and Kaiba.

"If it's player versus player, why did you step in, Kaiba?" Asked Yugi.

"Call it a favor." Said the blue eyed man with a smirk before looking at Joey. "I was willing to let her snap your monster in half."

Joey scowled and Kaiba chuckled as his form shifted and took off in a flash of white.

[~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~]

Celine was able to do a lot with the aluminum the boys gave her. Batteries allowed her to test run her wiring, and the metal fragments could be used in repairs. Plates could be used for vents for the air.

By the end of the week she had a fully working ventilation system, plumbing, and a small green house.

The halls had been upgraded from packed dirt to stone then covered by aluminum sheeting, giving it a sleek look. The rooms were decorated, and a whole new room had been set up for crafting and supplies.

"Better." Said Kaiba, studying the hall after the tour.

"But I still haven't seen your spawn point."

"I don't want you to see it." She replied plainly.

"I could find it. I am a moderator." He said back, cocking his head.

"Well that's not a good game, now is it?" Asked Celine.

He gave her another blank look and she led him back towards the entrance.

"Have you seen the Canadians? They completely demolished their old base." She commented.

"Their new one is much more modest. I must admit it is an improvement. I noticed they moved some of their collection underground."

"Yes, I offered some assistance digging out rooms in exchange for some glass they had. I made them an ice rink like my deep freeze, did you see it?" She asked with a smile his way.

The man snorted. "I did. I asked them if it was absolutely required and they insisted it was."

"They like their hockey. Nothing wrong with that I suppose."

"And you? What do you like?"

Celine raised a brow and cocked her head at him. What sort of question was that?

"It seems curious to me that many of your peers have taken to a hobby in their time here. Carson has learned now to fish. The Canadians have their hockey. Yugi and Wheeler managed to throw together a dueling arena… What do you have Celine?"

"Who says I need anything? I grind. I farm. I build." She replied simply.

"You have nothing you would rather do? A week in here is 8 hours in reality, Celine. We will be here a lot. Surely there's something, anything-"

"I can't have it!" She snapped, irritated at his pushing. "What I want, is gone! I can't have it. Everything else is… empty. Pointless. I'm here to test the game." She looked away from him then, instead she studied a dark hall off to the side. Dodging.

"So test it. What do you want?"

"No-thing." She growled through her teeth.

"Celine."

"My son! My family!" She snapped harshly. "My very real, very dead family. Pretending they aren't by making some sick copy won't change anything. So why pretend?!" Her voice echoed in the halls.

Kaiba's schooled face broke then. His shoulders eased and his posture softened. Pity. She'd seen it plenty.

"I… apologize Celine. That was… unkind." He said slowly. "...but… you thought about it."

Celine nodded. She had.

"It's not… healthy. To do that, Kaiba… I think you know that."

He nodded that time and for a moment the hall rang quiet.

"You're…. you're alone too, right? You and your brother." She asked, softly.

"Yes. Though my brother is out of the country at the moment. Doing groundwork in China."

"That's good… not that you're alone, I mean, like you're not. You have each other." She motioned to follow and they fell in step down the corridor.

She took him back to her kitchen, which had upgraded to a semi modern set up, with a fireplace oven and simple table and chairs.

He sat down and watched her put on a kettle for tea.

"My mother was English." She said as she sat down across from him, watching the flames flick to touch the kettle before dropping.

"My father was on a trip to Europe when they met. Spoiled rich kid, the McFalls are old oil money. Or we used to be. Sold off most of it over the years. But we lived in the this big old house… built by the first McFall. We all lived there. Dad had just retired… My brother Vick was taking over. My parents wanted more time with Jason… my son. They were good grandparents. Parents? Well, it's a curve."

She made a dismissive motion as she leaned back and crossed her legs at the knee. "I was in school. I thought I wanted to be an Author… I was taking some schmuck creative writing classes online… Jason was 8. In 3rd grade."

The kettle whistled and she shifted to get up and tend to it, wrapping the handle in a motion that spoke of years doing the same. "We were doing Christmas… and Dad had sent Vick and I out on a last minute shopping run…"

She offered a mug to him and sat back down with her own.

"It seems strange. I don't even remember what we were getting anymore… it didn't matter. We came back to the fire department… everything was… lit up." That caused a hard squeeze in her throat, that she instantly soothed with the tea.

"That old fucking house went up like a tinderbox… with everyone inside. Generations up in smoke."

She finally looked at him and found him studying her.

"You're serious."

"As you are, Kaiba." She offered dryly.

He soaked that in for a long moment.

"That's why you're here."

"Excuse me?"

"You said you thought about it. I think that's why you're here."

She frowned.

"You were the only one that didn't fit, Celine. You are the odd one out. You don't play like the others, you don't team with the others, you're here for something. I think that was it."

Celine had never felt more called out.

Point blank black and white, called out for her bullshit.

She had. She'd come here knowing what the VR was supposed to do. Read minds, fabricate reality.

"I changed my mind." She replied dully.

"You made that very clear… You also made it very clear that you thought it unhealthy… leading me to believe in the time since this tragedy you've found yourself in some kind of counselling."

Celine nodded and sagged back against the back of the chair once more.

"I hear him in my head a lot… . 'You've served your grief, why suffer that pain when you have to leave?' We won't be here forever… Even if in this one selfish moment I'm happy what difference does it make? Out there? They're all dead. Why willingly suffer that pain again?"

"It doesn't have to be that way." He assured her. "There are ways to… honor those people." He shifted and finally picked up his mug and sagged back, eyes on the warm fireplace.

My mother liked roses… you'll find many of them hiding in the woods around here."

Well that's rather sweet, isn't it?

"The characters I play are very similar…" She replied. "I used to play endless campaigns with my family… Jason liked to sit in my lap and watch. He was my lucky dice roller… Grumish was his favorite."

She sipped her tea and felt herself ease. As uncomfortable as the room felt, Celine almost believed that it was...necessary. Discussing trauma shouldn't be comfortable.

"Have any kids, Kaiba?" She asked, drawing a shake of his head.

"I will admit, I've gone to extensive lengths not too. The fear of being taken advantage of by… whomever I choose to bear it. There's too much at stake."

Celine gave a nod of agreement. "That's fair, I suppose. Big guy like you has plenty of people after your money I'm sure… Vick is much the same way."

"Your brother's still alive?"

"Yes… he and I were the only ones that made it… we don't talk much…. at all really. He gave me my money, moved to New York… I moved to Cali. Neither of us goes to Texas, and we both take turns sending late birthday presents from Amazon."

She sipped her tea and swallowed heavily.

"The Fire Marshal told us it was the tree…. Dad always insisted on a real tree, but… if you don't do them right, they can dry out and with the fireplace right there… it was… an unfortunate accident… the house was up in smoke before any of them could have known… it wasn't anyone's fault." She looked at him.

"The problem with unfortunate accidents is when there's nobody to blame, the people left behind find someone to blame. We… did that awhile. I think he still does. I… had to grieve."

Before them, ghostly images scattered and started to shape in the hearth. Dark shapes took hold in the flames, while the smoke curled and solidified to show cars.

"When we pulled up… the house was still standing, firemen and police were everywhere, and… I went... mad. I wasn't thinking, there wasn't a moment where I questioned what I had to do. I had to go in. I had too." A lone spark left one of the cars and took off for the fireplace, which was shifting to show her words as she spoke them.

"I hit the door, and… All I remember after that is pain… the build up had been caught by the front door… and I remember the second I opened it, the air just got sucked in. I couldn't breathe. It was so hot… I was pulled out by a firefighter. Just as the whole thing went up."

The spark was pulled back, dragged by smoke, flashing until it went out.

"I woke up in the ICU… in the burn ward. My hand…"

She looked to her palm and found it clean, unblemished. The second she noticed the scar missing it appeared. "The skin of my palm just… disintegrated from the handle. I went through countless hours trying to fix it… thousands of dollars in therapies… and I still can't use it like I used too. It's why I leaned into VR… when I found out KC was testing new equipment I… did… apply for selfish reasons." She admitted.

"But… finally here I… I lost it… I couldn't… I couldn't…" She sighed sharply. "I couldn't do that to Jason… To me. It's… not real."

"You don't have anything to say to your son? Something you wish you could have said?"

"Of course I do, Kaiba. Don't be foolish. What difference does it make? He's dead."

"Don't be rude." He replied sharply, before his tone eased. "That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying to pretend like he isn't… is wrong. Yes. To know he is, and speak to him like he is… that is different. That… could give you something."

Hard thoughts of temptation and understanding whirled in Celine's mind. Images of that night spun on a loop, turning and twisting. The smoke in front of her spiraled before slowly taking shape. A ghostly outline standing before them.

Celine felt very certain she didn't want to do this, but it almost felt too late. The figure's hair and face shifted and tightened into a set form… then his eyes opened and she knew there was no going back.

"My baby…" She murmured, pain and hurt thumped with joy in her chest. That was Jason.

"Mommy… it's hot."

She was moving, dropping her cup to drop to her knees before the small figure.

"No… no it's not, Jay… Not here." She forced herself to focus. Shift him to be here with them. Real as them. Real as any of them.

His face was still covered in soot, with dark hair hanging around his ears. The more she touched him, the more it vanished.

"Is that better?"

He nodded.

"Jay…" She pressed her face to the child's and smelled him in her nose. A smell, not of smoke, but of home and the house she grew up in. She felt him wrapped in her arms. Something shattered inside.

"Jay… Jay Mommy's so sorry." She whimpered.

"It's okay Mommy."

Tears burned. Everything felt broken. "No… no I should have got to you… died with you. Everything hurts, Jason. Every day without you is empty and meaningless. I just want you back."

"No Mommy." The child scolded. Tiny hands pulled her face up and she saw her son. Her gorgeous boy with her nose and eyes. His hands brushed her face clear of tears.

"I'm with Papa and Mamaw. They're watching me, okay? Don't cry. We'll wait… but you gotta be okay."

"I'm not okay, Jason."

"Where's your owies?" The child looked her over.

"Inside, baby. Right here." She took his hand and placed it on her chest.

"Do you feel how cold it is without you?"

The boy shook his head firmly, patting her chest in the rhythm to her shattered heart. "You're warm… you must be alive. Stay alive. Live and take me with you. In here Mommy."

She shuddered and clenched the tiny hand in hers.

"I can't. It's not enough."

"You can. It's okay, Mommy. I'm okay. No owies. No heat. No pain. I'm here. I'm always here."

"Jay…"

"Don't cry anymore, Mommy. I love you."

"I love you too." Celine whimpered.

"Say bye."

"I can't."

"Say bye." Said the boy firmly. "You always say bye, mommy. Say bye."

"Jason…" One look to the boy's face knew she'd lost. She could never deny him anything. Ever.

"Mommy loves you… be good for Papa and Mamaw."

He nodded. "I will."

"Goodbye Jay."

"Bye Mommy. Be good too, okay? I love you."

Celine hugged him tight, her vision black as she buried her face in his chest.