(A/N: So if you were wondering whether or not to subscribe to my Patr eon or not, here's an incentive: I put out an alternate ending to the previous chapter as well as the first, of what I hope will be many, chapters with author's commentary. Right, that said, let's just jump right into this).
Covered in bandages, blood seeping out from open, sutured wounds, lay Sonia in the KaibaCorp Aircraft 3 Medical Bay. She was indefinitely comatose thanks to Marik and had an oxygen mask over her face to help her breathe better. Her lost soul was, but one of her problems. Without all this medical equipment, she could surely die due to her injuries.
Standing around her bed were all of her classmates, and even Yugi and all of his friends.
"Sonia," Ibuki sniffed. "BWAAAAAAAH!" She cried, turning, grabbing Joey and sobbing into his shoulder. Joey pat her back reassuringly.
"Marik will pay for this," Mai said sternly.
"I still don't understand how this all happened," Mikan sobbed, looking panicked. "It's like she really did get hit by that attack from that giant monster, but that's can't be, right? Isn't that supposed to just be a hologram? I don't understand how she's so badly injured!" The Ultimate Nurse exclaimed, clenching her eyes shut. "And even then, I'm not getting a lot of brain activity either. It's like most of her brain functions, including those regulating speech, aren't responding to any given stimuli."
"It's because her soul was taken to the shadow realm," Yami, in control of Yugi's body, said solemnly.
"Her soul?" Mikan questioned. "But that's...I can't do anything about that!" Soul retrieval kind of went beyond the expertise of medicine after all. Were it even possible, Mikan started to panic even worse. "I can't fail my classmate when she needs me! Sonia, I'm sorry! If it's my fault, please come back so I can apologize!" Mikan then devolved into a mess of tears and began rubbing her eyes fiercely with the back of her hands. Mahiru put her arms around her and rubbed Mikan's back, patting her a few times reassuringly.
"Sonia," Chiaki said in concern, looking at the blonde from the next bed over.
"I've made a horrible mistake," Nagito said, staring at the ground. "Marik...this new Marik, he doesn't have any hope within him at all. For what else could this be other than despair?" He sighed and then looked Yami straight in the eye. "Yugi, sorry, but I'm going to hold onto Exodia for a while," he said sternly. "I won't let Marik have them. Inflicting despair...that's not something I can forgive!" Nagito exclaimed.
"Nagito was going to give you his Exodia cards?" Téa questioned.
"I'll explain later," Yami said. "We need to prepare for the rest of the finals. Marik must be taken down and I...need to strategize." Yami left the room, Téa following suit along with Tristan, Duke and Bakura.
As Mikan calmed down, Mahiru noticed Gundham standing off to the side, eyes hidden by the way the light was hitting his face. His arms were folded, scarf pulled up over his nostrils.
"Gundham? Are you okay?" Mahiru asked, reaching towards him. "You've been awfully quiet."
It was as if a landmine had just been set off. No, more accurately, with all the shaking caused by the fury of Gundham's rage, it was as if Mahiru removed a giant cork on a volcano trying to erupt.
Bending over Sonia's bed, hands on the mattress, tears fell from Gundham's face. It was the first time anyone in his class had ever seen him, or know him to be capable of such emotion. And then followed by his tears was an angry scream. Then tears, still in his eyes, eyes red and puffy, Gundham shouted one name at the top of his lungs, "MARIIIIIIIIIIIIK!" With continued anger, Gundham raged, "YOU WILL RUE THE DAY YOU EVER HEARD THE NAME GUNDHAM TANAKA! IN THE NAME OF ALL THE PHANTASMS KNOWN TO RAVIEL, I WILL PERSONALLY SEE YOU TO YOUR GRAVE SO I CAN SEE YOU BURN IN HELL FOR ALL ETERNITY!"
At this, Nagito seemed to smile, "Yes, Gundham, use the despair of Sonia's defeat to make your hope shine even brighter."
This only seemed to tick Gundham off however. "Hope?" Gundham grabbed Nagito by his shirt and lifted him off his feet. "You think what I'm feeling is hope, Jester?" Gundham's stare was cold and hateful through his angry, tear-filled eyes, "Is this some sort of joke to you? Nay, what I am feeling, what Marik will feel is my UNCONTROLLED RAGE!" With a show of strength, Gundham pushed Nagito down and away, causing the Ultimate Lucky Student to stumble back into the medical cart, knocking a scalpel off the edge of the cart due to the impact. Gundham then stormed out of the room and briskly turned the corner, disappearing from sight.
However, as if to replace his presence, both Komaru and Makoto entered the room, having passed Gundham by in the hallway. "Makoto? Komaru?" Mahiru questioned. "What are you two doing here?"
"We thought we should pay our respects to Sonia," Makoto said.
"We didn't know her that well," Komaru said sadly, "But…when we thought about how well you guys are probably hurting…it just seemed the right thing to do."
"Thank you for coming," Chiaki said. "I'm sure Sonia would appreciate it."
"I agree. You're good kids," Mai said. "Your parents definitely raised you right."
"Ah, thank you," Komaru said, embarrassed.
Joey clenched his fist tightly. He scowled fiercely. "Marik ain't gonna get away with this. There's still plenty of us and only one a him." He punched his fist into his palm. "He's going down!"
"I concur," Celeste agreed. "Joey, perhaps you might consider taking me up on my offer now? You may need it for the next round."
Joey nodded. "Yeah, okay." If Celeste could teach him new stuff, he'd need all the tricks he needed if he wanted to show Marik what for.
As the two left the room, Mai chased after them, "Hey, hold on now, if it's dueling advice you need, I'm coming too ya big doofus."
Serenity looked around the room and, feeling a bit out of place, quietly excused herself.
Now with only so few people in here, Chiaki said, "Do you all mind just leaving us for now? I still need to rest and I'll be here with Sonia until my duel. I promise I'll let you guys know if she somehow gets better." It was the only thing Chiaki could say to keep everyone from losing hope.
Ibuki sniffed and wiped her nose, "Yeah, thanks Chiaki. Come on, guys."
Everyone left, Hajime being the last one to leave, taking one last look at Chiaki before exiting. The two exchanged calm, ready gazes, knowing that, for Sonia's sake, they would have to give it their all. To Chiaki, Sonia was her precious classmate. To Hajime, Sonia was a kind, gentle Ultimate that had graciously accepted him as an equal without looking down on him. He wasn't going to leave a person as kind and accepting as that to her fate while there was still something he could to about it.
After making eye contact with Chiaki, he left the room, fist clenched, teeth biting the bottom of his lip in anguish. He walked down the hall like someone that'd just come home from a funeral procession. And, at that moment, Hajime made a solemn vow to himself. No matter what happened, no matter who he had to duel, he would take Marik down. He refused to lose in this tournament until that dark, twisted bastard was taken out of the picture. He'd show everyone just what this reserve course student with a poor financial background was made of.
While things were about as gloomy as a funeral for Yugi and his friends, for Kaiba, alone in his office, the situation was best described as a child's temper tantrum. Alone in his office with only the lights of his main computer on, the head of KaibaCorp was seething with rage and frustration.
What the hell happened up there? Kaiba thought, eyes bugging out. There's no way this has any connection to the KaibaCorp hologram technology! He paused for a moment, eyes softening, And yet…
Kaiba closed his eyes, mind flashing back to Odion's duel disk breaking. He then flashed to Sonia's injury as she was run to medical on a gurney, Mikan applying emergency first aid and everybody in the general vicinity panicking. Kaiba remembered his own little episode too, how Yugi had kept screaming at him to call for medical and he'd been so entranced on what happened, that he's completely blocked out the screaming voice of his rival.
This is absurd! Kaiba now thought. There's no such thing as Ancient Egyptian Magic! That kind of thing only exists in fairy tales and kid's TV shows! There has to be some sort of rational explanation! And the only person I could get a straight answer out of is currently in a coma! Kaiba, of course, meant Sonia. Ishizu, Yugi, Marik, they'd all tell me about some ancient fairy tale nonsense! Kaiba with an angry yell, smacked Odion's broken duel disk off the table, both pieces hitting the ground. He then clenched the table, hunched over it, eyes crazed. This could not be happening. What could he possibly do in a situation like this?
Fortunately, a distraction came in the form of his cell phone ringing. With a deep sigh, Kaiba pulled himself together. Business was a distraction from the current chain of events.
Without even bothering to look at the callerID, Kaiba picked it up. "Hello?"
"Kaiba?"
Kaiba recognized the mature, womanly voice on the other end, but was also confused by it. "Chisa? How did you get my private cell phone number?"
"Student records," she said.
"Of course," Kaiba said. "I take it you have an update on Hajime Hinata?"
"Is that really what you should be concerned about right now?" Yukizome snapped.
Kaiba blinked a moment. Oh dear gods, no. She wasn't actually calling about…
"What happened to Sonia?"
Yup. That figured.
Starting evasively, Kaiba said, "How long have you been following the tournament?"
"Only sine her match, but Fuyuhiko and Chiaki clued me in on what's been going on up until now. Kaiba, you just showed a foreign princess getting badly injured on live TV."
Kaiba froze. He did what?
"What happened to Sonia? The internet's fired up and your HR department is experiencing high call volume."
Kaiba took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. Great, a PR nightmare. Just what he needed right about now. "Tell me, Chisa, do you believe in fairy tales?"
"Don't change the subject!"
"I'm not. But I know that a few of my participants seem to believe that Sonia's injuries were caused by some ancient fairy tale nonsense and I know my hologram system was not responsible for her injuries in any way, shape or form. I'd hate to say, "I don't know what's going on", but I presently do not have a suitable explanation for the situation. Sonia Nevermind is currently in my medical bay and I can assure that once her opponent is defeated, by me or someone else, she'll be absolutely fine."
Yukizome was quiet for a moment before asking, "You can guarantee this?"
"Nanami has a theory that that'll happen. If there's one thing I know about that girl, she has good judgment. If she says defeating Marik will save Sonia, then I believe her. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a tournament to run and a mystery to solve…unless you have more details about Hinata."
Yukizome sighed. "Yes, I managed to get quite a bit of info. The Steering Committee wants him for something they're calling the Kamukura Project. I don't know the details yet, but I was going to call Kyosuke in the morning to get some help. All I know is that they were planning to take Hajime out of school for some sort of…talent experiment and, beyond that, he's the only test subject."
"Interesting," Kaiba said. "Did they offer him and his family financial security in exchange?"
"Nothing concrete, but that seems likely," Yukizome said.
"Got it," Kaiba said. "He's here in the tournament finals so I'm perfectly capable of keeping an eye on him. He already seemed evasive about that rare card I told you about when I spoke to him earlier. Whatever's going on with the Steering Committee, he can't talk about it. When this tournament is over, why don't you, Munakata and I all pay them a visit. If they've potentially planted Hinata into my tournament, then this is my problem now too. Plus, given I own 30% of the school's current income, my word would help with any sway you need for leverage."
"Kaiba, you are a true gentleman."
"Don't thank me," Kaiba said. "I'm not very fond of the Steering Committee lately, so I'm just taking advantage of any chance I have to take them down a peg or two, that and when you mess with my company, I personally see to it that you pay for your crimes."
"Heh, you haven't changed a bit since last year," Yukizome laughed. "Yukizome out." The Ultimate Housekeeper then hung up.
Kaiba sighed, took a deep breath, massaged the area around his eyes with the side of his hand and then pressed the button on his collar, "Chihiro."
"Yes, Mr. Kaiba?"
"Come to my office," Kaiba said.
"Y-yes sir," Chihiro stuttered, "Right away."
Kaiba took a deep breath and sat down at his desk, clasping his fingers together horizontally as he leaned forward in his chair, lips and nose pressed to the sides of his hands. My top programmer should be able to offer up a simple, rational explanation to this, even if she is an intern.
By the time Chihiro managed to get to Kaiba's office, his boss was now standing in front of the monitor and replaying the footage from Sonia and Marik's duel, watching Sonia be attacked by Ra and watching her fall to the ground, actually injured, on a loop. He'd watched it so many times now that it didn't seem to bother him anymore.
When Chihiro saw this, his brisk pace slowed to a crawl. Kaiba's intimidating disposition, standing with his hands behind his back as he gazed up at the monitor, coupled with the low lighting, bothered Chihiro. The young boy wanted to cry out in fear, which certainly fit with his guise as a girl, but to become manlier, he had to swallow his fears and try and speak with his cross boss. "You wanted to see me, sir?"
"Tell me, Chihiro," Kaiba said in his usual calm, slightly annoyed sounding tone, "How do you explain what happened to Princess Nevermind?
"You mean her injuries?" Chihiro asked.
"Well I'm certainly not referring to her clever maneuver to command Ra's power before it blew up in her face quite literally," Kaiba responded.
Chihiro swallowed. Kaiba was asking him an important question. Even to Chihiro, the situation seemed rather strange. He'd heard what the others were saying about dark magic and Ancient Egyptian powers, but as a man of science, and especially since Kaiba made his stance on such matters clear, Chihiro wanted to provide a reasonable explanation. "Um, well, I'm not really sure," he began trying to think of something on the spot. "KaibaCorp holograms, especially the way you designed them, Mr. Kaiba, should be able to damper physical damage like that, even for state of the art hard light holograms."
Kaiba's face grew ecstatic, but there was something creepy in his smile. It was as if Chihiro's words were a reinforcement of Kaiba's weak, fragile sanity in the face of an otherworldly, supernatural power. If Chihiro was actually as young as he looked, he would've run away screaming and crying for his mommy. "Exactly! That's exactly what I thought!" Oh there was nothing more sweet sounding to Kaiba than the voice of someone who agreed with him right now.
"Er, however..." Chihiro began
And there went Kaiba's smile, "Hmm?"
"Um, maybe the god cards in particular are so powerful that their data interferes with the safety regulations in the KaibaCorp duel disk." To Chihiro, this sounded like the best possible explanation based on what he'd seen. "We saw an example of this when you tested Obelisk out on your duel computer. It went up in flames. Erm, I could run a safety subroutine and ask for all participants' duel disks for emergency maintenance, but to do so I would also need direct access to the god cards themselves. And even with that said, it could severely dampen gameplay mechanics for all the cards involved."
"How badly would the cards be affected?" Kaiba wanted to know.
"Um, they likely wouldn't be able to exceed 6000 attack points," Chihiro said.
Kaiba thought about this a moment. For Osiris and Ra this kind of limitation would keep their powers dampened and interfere with their tremendous power. But for Obelisk it would be even worse. Sure, Obelisk had 4000 attack points flat, but when its special ability was activated, it approached infinity. Limiting that to 6000 might not be the wisest of ideas.
No, he had everyone's safety to consider. He could not let another Sonia happen in this tournament. He'd be hit with so many litigations it wouldn't even be funny. Still…
"How sure are you that this will even work?" Kaiba wanted to know.
"Well, I mean, it would be better than nothing," Chihiro told him politely.
"How certain?" Kaiba emphasized.
Chihiro shuddered in fright. "U-um, about 33.33, repeating of course, percent chance of success. In a worst-case scenario it could cause a glitch in the system and make the card unplayable for the whole duel. And that's only because I don't fully quite understand the capabilities of the god cards." Chihiro looked disappointed in himself. "I would need more information to get a higher estimate and make a better safety procedure. I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize," Kaiba said, reaching for his deck, "At least you're trying and you're not telling me this is due to some ancient Egyptian fairy tale." Kaiba then plucked a card from it and, with two fingers clamped around it, handed it off to Chihiro. "Here," he said.
Chihiro graciously accepted the card and flipped it around. He gasped. "B-but this is…" Chihiro couldn't believe his eyes. He was holding Obelisk the Tormentor. Even Kaiba's little brother Mokuba wasn't allowed to hold this.
"We have twenty minutes before the next duel," Kaiba said, arms folded, still staring at the monitor. "And if that's not enough time, no one needs to know that I can take myself out of the random selection to ensure everyone's safety. Besides, there's only prospective competitor for me left this round and she's not dueling yet due to an injury." Kaiba's eyes narrowed. "However," he said as he turned his head to fix his gaze upon Chihiro. "You're under strict gag order not to tell a soul about this, understood? If anyone finds out I let you borrow Obelisk or why, you're fired immediately." Kaiba turned his whole body to face Chihiro. "But as long as you don't let me down, run all the tests you need and report back to me. Is that understood?"
Chihiro ended up actually saluting to Kaiba. "Y-yes, sir!"
"Good, then head to the lab on deck three. I expect great things from you Chihiro."
"I-I won't let you down, Mr. Kaiba," Chihiro said and darted from the room.
Kaiba then sat back down in his chair and switched the monitor from replay stream to the roster display. Mai Valentine, Gundham Tanaka, Espa Roba, Hajime Hinata, Makoto Naegi, Ishizu Ishtar and Chiaki Nanami. Those were the remaining finalists yet to duel in this round besides himself.
"Computer," Kaiba said as he pressed a button on the keypad.
"Yes, sir?" The automated voice system responded.
"Project a list of prospective matches and victories for the remainder of the round using knowledge of previous duels for all competitors."
"Of course, sir."
Kaiba watched the computer run through dozens of simulations in the span of a few quick seconds. By the time it was done, Kaiba had some results in front of him. A few things stood out to him.
"What are you insinuating with my chances of success? Why is it 97%? It should be 100."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Kaiba. You programmed me for accuracy, not egocentricity. I believe," the computer beeped as Chiaki's profile was enlarged, "That if you were to lose, it would be against Duelist Number 11, Chiaki Nanami."
"You can't be serious."
"I am a computer. I am not programmed to lie, sir."
So, I need to be careful about Nanami after all. 3% chance of victory, huh? That's 3% too many. The chances were, of course, much larger than that, and Kaiba knew it given all of his computers were programmed with bias in his favor by default.
"Computer, simulate battle data of 1000 duels between myself and Chiaki Nanami. Remove all X-factors from the equation."
"Yes, sir," the computer responded. "Results concluded."
Kaiba gazed in absolute wide-eyed shock at the results. "Computer, run same test, but replace Chiaki with Yugi Mutoh."
"Understood."
The test only put Kaiba more on edge. His chances of beating Yugi were ruled as the same chances of him beating Chiaki: 50/50. Does this mean Chiaki is on the same level as Yugi? Ultimate Gamer, sure, but she doesn't even have a god card. While Kaiba's computer data had full access to Chiaki's deck, Kaiba did not and he had had Scott program a security block on participant deck usage unless a powerful rare card had been used in a duel. That way, Kaiba couldn't cheat even if he wanted to gain an unfair advantage. That then begged the question: what the hell did Chiaki have in her deck that put his chances of success against her on par with Yugi Mutoh?
"Computer, run simulation test: Yugi Mutoh Vs Chiaki Nanami."
"Understood."
And this was the true eye opener for Kaiba. Yugi was slanted at beating Chiaki by a 55/45 margin, but also a 70/30 margin when X-factors were included. Why does Yugi have a greater chance at beating her? Sure, every duelist is different, like how a pyro-type deck fares poorly against a player with Umi or Legendary Ocean as the crux of their strategy, but why am I…? Kaiba trailed off. The X-factor to this matchup was him. He posed a greater threat to Yugi, but both Yugi and Chiaki posed an equal threat to him. That did not it well with the tournament host. "Computer, return to original test."
"Yes, sir."
Kaiba looked at the progress bars of the other duelists. What caught his eyes was that while Mai, Ishizu, Espa, Makoto and Gundham all ran at about the same advancement frequency, Hajime didn't trail far behind Chiaki at all.
"Computer, run simulation test," Kaiba said. He typed away at the keys. "Run the following test as programmed."
"Running…" the computer said and, after a few seconds, finished, "Test complete."
Kaiba grinned and then laughed. "Ha…HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Interesting!" Kaiba grinned in manic ecstasy. "How very interesting. So there's far more to you than meets the eye after all, isn't that right, Hajime Hinata?"
Elsewhere on the blimp, Hajime sneezed and had no idea why.
As Chihiro ran tests and Kaiba ran battle simulators to take his mind off the incoming PR nightmare, Joey was in for a nightmare of his own. Celeste was doing her best to "help" all right…by quizzing him. 14 times in a row now, she'd set up a field for Joey to "solve" taking away the deck and her hand from the equation, setting fixed life points and telling Joey to "win in this turn". And 14 times in a row now, Mai had almost had to spoon feed him the answer.
Right now, the cards on Celeste's field were Phoenix Beast Gairuda with Yellow Luster Shield and Sorcerous Spell Ward on the field. In his hand, Joey had Block Attack, Grandmaster Ninja Sasuke and Legendary Sword, and on the field sat Rocket Warrior. Celeste said she had 1800 life points left.
"Come now, Joey," Celeste said, standing behind her side of the table as Joey sat in the chair on the other side. "Is it really so difficult? I won Phoenix Beast Gairuda during an underground duel using similar tactics. I wagered that I could "win in this turn" and my opponent graciously parted with their prize.
Joey scratched his head again and again, looking at his hand and then back at the field. "Nnnnnn," he grunted and then scratched his head fiercer, "Nnnnnnnnnnngh."
Eventually he just sighed and hung his head. "This is impossible. My brain ain't cut out for dis! And what's all this quiz stuff got to do with being a better duelist anyway?" He snapped.
Celeste answered him calmly. "A good duelist must be prepared for the unwinnable, to close the match when victory seems unreachable. There's no denying your draw power is extraordinary, but you need to be prepared for a situation where you have to solely rely with what's in your hand and what's on the field. Your strategies are too simple. You need to think harder," Celeste told him.
"I'm thinkin and I'm thinkin and my brain hurts. Can't you just give me better cards?" He complained.
"You have to earn them, Joey," Celeste said. "You can't just rely on your usual gimmicks every time. But if you need some brain food, I suppose the main hall is still open."
"Aw, yeah! Pizza and chicken wings here I come!" Joey zoomed out of the room.
"Ugh, he is insufferable," Celeste grumbled.
"Preach it sister," Mai said, sitting down and taking Joey's place. "Oh and speaking of your puzzle," she said and put Sasuke in attack position, followed by Block Attack, switching Gairuda to defense position. "Then, you equip Legendary Sword to Rocket Warrior," Mai said. "With Grandmaster Ninja Sasuke's ability, Phoenix Beast Gairuda is instantly destroyed and I'm free to take out the rest of your life points."
"Heh, poor Joey. He's good with instincts, but his brain doesn't seem to connect its synapses when it comes to critical thinking," Celeste said as Mai picked up the cards she'd placed on the field and then stood up so Joey could resume when he came back from the main hall.
"I think it's adorable really how flustered he gets," Mai chuckled, "Don't you agree?"
Celeste chuckled, "Watching anyone struggle is a gem, to be perfectly honest, but yes, Joey seems to make an art form out of it." She then became serious. "One thing bothers me though."
"And what's that?" Mai asked.
"Why did you insist on helping? You haven't dueled yet. Joey is still your competition. I'm already knocked out of the tournament so there's no problem if I assist him a little," Celeste said with a sweet smile.
Thunderstruck and caught off guard, Mai stuttered, "Well, I, um..."
Celeste looked surprised, though it was feigned, and said, with her fingers placed over her lip, "Oh my, could it be? I never thought your tastes, Mai, would be in younger men."
Mai turned bright red, shouting, "No! No! We are not having this conversation!"
Celeste chuckled. She just hit the jackpot. "Awww, that's adorable, you're sweet on him."
"Oh yeah, and what about you?" Mai snapped. "You're awfully chummy with him for someone that let him get kidnapped." Mai swat the table and leaned over it, jamming her index finger rudely in Celeste's general direction. "If you think I'm gonna let you wrap your sneaky little arms around a guy like him, you've got another thing coming, pigtails!
Celeste turned her head away. She had the utmost bored look on her face. "I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about. I just don't want to end up in the shadow realm and Yugi hardly needs my help."
"Well keep it that way because Joey is mine," Mai snapped. She then realized exactly what she said. "Huh?" She turned bright red. "Er, I mean, what I meant was..." She began to backpedal.
Unfortunately, Celeste would have none of that. "Aren't you nearing your expiration date, Miss Valentine? You wouldn't want Joey to go around with people saying he's hitched to an old lady, would you?"
Oh, that was it. The claws came out now. "Hey, I look plenty good for my age! You keep your mouth shut!" Mai shouted.
"Tell that to the internet," Celeste said with a completely sweet smile.
"Uh, did I miss somethin'?" Joey asked, now returning with a plate full of food and only on Celeste's comment.
In order to hide their catfight, Mai and Celeste sported big grins. Neither one of them wanted Joey to know the truth. "Of course not, Joey," Mai said, "Come on in and sit down," she said, patting the chair with only her fingers, "I'll give you a niiiiice shoulder massage."
Celeste's smile was just as sweet, fingers intertwined, head cocked to the side, "Yes, Joey. Sit down. We're not done here yet."
Despite their smiles, Joey could feel the intense aura coming off of both women, as if a malicious demon had risen up from the underworld and possessed them both, looking to inflict pain and suffering on the poor teen.
"Uhhhh, I think I'm gonna go see what Tristan's up to!" Joey exclaimed and ran away with his food, careful not to spill any of it.
"Well great, you scared him off," Celeste said with a huff.
"Me?" Mai shouted, offended, "He's scared of you!"
Mai and Celeste then began growling at each other, lips sneered, tensions rising. In fact, the tension was so thick, a knife the size of a pregnant bus would be needed to cut through it.
However, it seemed the intercom would have to settle for a close second.
"All duelists please report to the main hall for the announcement of the next duel!" Roland's voice echoed.
Mai and Celeste looked at each other, the latter swiping up her cards and walking briskly out of the room, head held high, carrying her deck like it was a gourmet dish. She then leaned back into the room and said to Mai, "Oh by the way, corsets make you look fat. You should try a different look."
"Yeah, well French Maid outfits are so last century!" Mai shouted and then growled fiercely, fingers clutching erratically. However, Mai then let go of her anger and looked at her outfit. "It really doesn't make me look fat, does it?"
As the duelists piled into the main hall, Mai gathering up a small salad to quickly devour, she noticed Tristan and Joey walk in, sharing a Joey and bumping fists. Ibuki then asked to hear the joke and Joey repeated it, then snatching a chicken wing off Joey's plate and running around the room in a circle with Joey chasing her. Eventually he did and got her in a friendly headlock, knuckling her scalp between her horns.
Her too, huh? Mai thought. I wish he treated me that way, so casually. I mean, what am I saying? She thought as she sipped water. Like I want to be caught between his armpit and treated that roughly. And yet… Mai's mind drifted off elsewhere, picturing herself as a regular part of Joey's life. Ever since she met Ibuki and Celeste she felt…left behind and was she really that old? Okay, sure she was 24 and he was, what? 16? That wasn't too bad, right? He was certainly the first person to treat her like a human being instead of arm candy. And he was such a goofball that Mai just felt like her natural self around him.
"Joey! Yoohoo!" Mai's imagined self was pulling up to Joey's high school in style. "Seat's warmed up and the tank's full of gas. Let's you and me tear up this town. Whatdya say?" Mai paused her imagination since that's how casually she wanted to be able to approach Joey. But…could she? Would he shy away if she tried? What is there between us, Joey Wheeler?
"Mai!"
"Gah!" Mai nearly jumped out of her skin, not realizing that someone was calling her name. It turned out to be Téa. "O-oh, h-hey Téa, don't scare me like that."
"Well you seemed like you were staring out into space, you all right? You've been staring at Joey for a little while."
"O-oh, um, have I?" Mai asked, playing dumb.
"Mai, you can talk to me, right? Girl to girl, or woman to woman, maybe?"
"I could, but not here," Mai said, folding one arm over the other as she used the other hand to hold her plate. "The harpies might be listening, and I don't mean the ones in my deck."
Tea took a moment to examine the situation. "Wait a sec. Are you saying you…?"
"We can talk about it later, maybe, Téa," Mai said. "Just…not right now."
By this point, most of the finalists had filed into the room. "The next duel of the battle city finals shall now commence," Roland stated. "The first finalist shall now be selected." Everyone watched and waited as one of the spheres finally rolled out of the machine and Roland held it up. "The first duelist selected shall be Duelist Number 7, Gundham Tanaka!"
Mai noticed it then, Gundham began growling, sizing up his competition with murderous intent, letting them know that he was going to bring the pain. She knew why of course: Marik.
Finally the second duelist was being selected. "The next duel has been decided: Duelist Number 7, Gundham Tanaka and Duelist number 6, Mai Valentine!"
It was like a bomb went off as Mai could actually feel Gundham's killing intent directly aimed at her. And, it seemed through sheer willpower alone, his scarf was whipping up and down like a breeze was right underneath it.
"Good luck," Celeste told her.
Mai growled, glancing back at Celeste, knowing she was teasing her. Quickly, but elegantly, she ate what was on her plate and then followed Roland and Gundham to the elevator. On the way up, Gundham spoke out to her, his murderous intent momentarily calmed.
"Mai," he said, "I have nothing personal against you, but if wish to be spared from being trampled underfoot by my awesome and mighty power," Gundham turned his head to look her in the eye, "You should give up now."
"In your dreams," Mai retorted. "Look, I don't like what happened to Sonia either, but this is a duel tournament and only the strong survive here. You want to rescue your girlfriend? Then you're going to have to beat me because Marik is only going to get beaten by a powerful duelist. Besides, I beat Sonia and you tied with her so that should theoretically make me your superior. The way I see it, you should back down before you get hurt, buster," Mai said pointing at him.
"Then you leave me no choice," Gundham said sternly as his dark powers began to rise again. "Consider yourself properly warned, She-cat. You have made your choice and now you will burn in the fires of pandemonium for choosing wrongly."
"Whatever," Mai responded, "A duel's a duel, even if you're fired up. But a challenge is exactly what I'm looking forward to so give it your all."
"Do not goad me, she-demon. You will sorely regret it."
"Please, if you think I'm a pushover, you're in for a surprise and a pair of scratched out eyes."
"I will take anything you can throw at me and give back twice as much!" Gundham declared.
"Bring it on." That was the last thing Mai said as the two took opposite sides on the arena and their spectators lined up along the outside to watch.
"Good luck, Mai!" Joey exclaimed.
Mai blushed a little. Good thing the lights up here made that difficult for Joey to make out.
"Oh man, Ibuki totally doesn't know who to root for. On the one hand, Gundham's her classmate, but on the other, she totally thinks Mai's awesome and she's her lead singer."
"Then don't pick sides," Mahiru told her. "Just enjoy the duel for what it is." She held up her camera. "I know I am."
"You are going to have quite the photo album when this is all over," Celeste chuckled.
"My best one yet, I feel," Mahiru said. "Heck, depending on how some of these come out, I might have all the material I need for my practical exam." She looked a bit docile as she said, "Suppose I'll have to thank Kaiba for throwing this tournament if I ace it."
"Forget the practical, what about Sonia?" Ibuki asked.
"I'm trying not to think about that, okay?" Mahiru exclaimed in a panic.
"Ohhhhh, you were ohhh, s-sorry, Mahiru," Ibuki apologized. "Ibuki wasn't thinking."
"It's okay," Mahiru said, "I know you didn't mean it, Ibuki."
On the arena, Mai and Gundham stared each other down, eager to get things underway. "Ready?" Mai asked.
"Only if you are," Gundham said.
"Then let's do this," Mai said.
"Let's Duel!" They declared simultaneously.
"I shall make the first move," Gundham said, standing on one leg like a ninja and held up his duel disk, placing two fingers on top of his deck and then pinched the underside of the top card with this thumb. "Draw!" Practically slamming the card onto the reader, Gundham declared, "I shall summon Berserk Gorilla, in attack mode!"
Out came the angry red beast with 2000 attack points.
"My turn is over! Make yours quickly!" Gundham shouted.
"Don't regret that," Mai said and drew the top card of her deck. "I summon Cyber Harpie in attack mode!" She declared. "And then I multiply her with Elegant Egotist, bringing out Harpie Lady Sisters!" Three more harpies appeared, gathered together as a single group. "Next, I equip Harpie Lady Sisters with Rose Whip, enhancing their almighty power."
The harpies let out an amused screech as each sister gained a Rose Whip in her hand.
"Harpie Lady Sisters, attack!" Mai shouted. "Triple Rose Whip Lash!"
The harpies let out a synergized screech and their lashes sent Berserk Gorilla straight to the graveyard. Gundham's life points fell to 3750 as he braced for impact with his arm in front of his body, body crouched, scarf over his mouth. The shards of light that had previously made Berserk Gorilla's hologram blew past him.
"And next, Cyber Harpie attacks directly!" Mai shouted. "Scratch Slash!"
With a battle cry, Cyber Harpie darted towards Gundham and swung down at his raised arm, sinking his life points all the way down to 1950.
"Yeah, she's got 'em on the run!" Joey cheered. "And with Harpie Lady Sisters' power enhanced, Gundham's gonna have a hard time fighting back."
Celeste sighed. Joey could be so foolish.
Gundham looked positively pissed. "It seems using only 20% of my power will not be enough. To defeat you, nay to utterly destroy you, I must remove my every limiter. COME TO ME MY FOUR DARK DEVAS OF DESTRUCTION!"
Gundham's hamsters appeared around his body as dark, foreboding energy appeared around him.
Hamsters! Kaiba exclaimed, looking positively enraged.
"Hamsters?!" Joey exclaimed aloud, confused.
"Such filthy rodents," Celeste and Byakuya said, almost in unison, only to glance at each other at the awkwardness of their timing.
"Aww, come on. Hamsters aren't that bad," Téa said.
"Awwwww, they're cute!" Komaru exclaimed.
"Yeah, but they're owner looks like he's just about ready to trample Mai," Makoto gulped.
Komaru frowned, "No, yeah, sure, Gundham looks like he's a dark ninja sorcerer from Demon Ninja Raikaze," she said and then smiled brightly again, "but the hamsters are so cute!"
"Tanaka!" Kaiba shouted. "When and how did you smuggle hamsters onto my airship?"
"Smuggle? How crude. These are my loyal servants. I take them wherever I go, for without my guidance, my demonic deities could wreak havoc upon the land!"
"But…they're ham—"
"Don't finish that sentence," Mahiru told Tristan, knowing what would result.
"Rodents can spread disease and worst of all they shed, that's why I don't allow animals on board KaibaCorp."
"I can assure you that these creatures of the netherworld have no interest in your advanced technology," Gundham said. "They obey me unquestionably."
"They're hamsters!" Kaiba shouted.
Mahiru sighed. Oh boy, here we go.
"Hamsters?" Gundham roared and posed excitedly. "Nay, heretic! This is but their sleeping form! They are, in fact, powerful demonic entities the likes of which even the mighty Summoned Skull himself trembles in fear before!" Gundham then folded his arms and glanced to the side. "This is but their sleeping form."
Kaiba blinked dumbfounded. What in the glorious name of the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon was Gundham on about.
"Come on, Seto. What's wrong with him having pets? It makes for great TV, won't it?" Mokuba asked, looking at the brighter side of things.
Kaiba sighed. "Tanaka, if I find any droppings on board my aircraft, you will be fined and hearing from KaibaCorp litigation!"
"Then I shall be sure to wash my coat when this is over," Gundham said. "You have absolutely nothing to worry about. Now then, where was I?" Gundham looked directly at Mai. "Ah yes," His dark power once again intensified, "Honoring my pact with the Dark Queen, BY DESTROYING YOU!"
"Holy crap! Has Gundham secretly been a Millennium Item user all this time?" Ibuki shouted. "He's exuding a lot of sinister energy."
"Preeeetty sure that's just his usual antics," Mahiru said.
"Do you think I am impressed by your flying wind demons? Nay, I say! NAY! Your pathetic creatures do not hold a candle to the true power I possess! I may have one foot in the grave, but it is you that shall find themselves buried alive! Behold my dark and mighty power and tremble before it! This battle is to the strong and the strong alone! And I will not be beaten BY THE LIKES OF YOU!"
Gundham's body trembled with fearsome power as he put great pressure down on his deck. "I draw!" Gundham's elbow made a soft cracking noise as he whipped his arm out fast and up to the side before curving his arm down to look at the card he'd drawn, eyeing it like it was a child that had come home with a failed test grade.
"That however…" Mahiru said, a little put off.
"Should we tell him to calm down?" Serenity suggested. "I know he's upset about Sonia, but..."
Mahiru shook her head. "There's no reasoning with Gundham when he's like this," she said, scratching her head, closing one eye. "Gods, he's such a boy. Worst he'll do besides not listen is also bark at us for interfering. I know how to pick my battles. I won't waste my breath. Besides," she said, holding a fist by her chest and staring at the ground. "I understand his pain. If Sonia's going through any of what I went through…she can't be doing very well, plus all those injuries." Mahiru then just looked forlorn and worried, staring at the ground, but also staring off into space.
Joey pat her on the side of the shoulder. "It'll be all right. We got Yugi's grandpa back from the Shadow Realm and he's still the same old geezer he always was. Sonia's gonna be just fine."
"Yeah, you're right, I've gotta stop thinking about it," Mahiru said, trying her best to smile. "Thanks, Joey."
On the arena, Mai was practically glaring down at Mahiru, but then refocused her attention on Gundham. It was his turn after all and she couldn't afford not to pay attention.
On the sidelines, Espa just uttered, "Gundham…" worried about the young man that had jumpstarted his new path as a duelist. He could tell just from looking. Gundham was dueling Mai, but he was already looking past her, likely considering his next round against Marik a foregone conclusion. Espa wasn't really sure what to say though. So, he silently just hoped that Gundham would somehow be able to make it through this.
"It's time I bared my fangs," Gundham said, "Quite literally actually. I activate my Poison Fangs continuous spell card. Now, every time a beast type monster deals battle damage, you take 500 more life points of damage. I then summon to the field, Voltic Kong!" Gundham slapped another wild ape on the table, its power an electrifying 1800 attack points. It howled as lightning surged around it. "And next I set a card face-down before activating my quick-play spell Wild Nature's Release! This increases Voltic Kong's attack power equal to its defense, in this case 1000.
Voltic Kong beat its chest and its attack power surged all the way to 2800, along with the voltage around it growing in intensity.
"Now, Voltic Kong, destroy Harpie Lady Sisters. Wild Electric Rampage of Destruction!"
Voltic Kong leapt at Mai's monsters, slamming and destroying each of the harpies with its fists and lightning. As a result from the assault, Mai got zapped slightly, hunching over and grunting slightly in pain as her life points fell to 3450.
"Voltic Kong's special ability activates, when it inflicts battle damage, you immediately send 1 card from the top of your deck straight to the graveyard for each light monster on my side of the field including itself. Oh and Poison Fangs activates, so you take more damage!"
Mai sent the top card of her deck to the graveyard as her life points fell further to 2950.
"Also, as I end my turn, Wild Nature's Release's effect ends and Voltic Kong is sadly destroyed."
"What? But by doing that Gundham has no monsters on the field!" Hajime exclaimed.
"He must be counting on that face-down," Makoto said. "He wouldn't have taken such a big risk otherwise. Not to mention, if Mai doesn't play a monster, she can't defeat Gundham this turn without an equip-type spell card. It's risky," Makoto said, putting a hand on his chest and looking concerned, "But you don't make it to pro-dueling status by not taking a few risks."
"Couldn't agree more," Celeste said.
"It's my turn now," Mai said. "I draw." She placed the new card in her head. "Sorry, Gundham, but you're going to lose this duel. I activate the spell card Harpie's Feather Duster, which will destroy all of your spell and trap cards.
"Then I shall activate my face-down card, Threatening Roar, preventing you from declaring an attack this turn!"
"Very well," Mai said as she watched Gundham's Poison Fangs shatter like glass, "But Poison Fangs is still destroyed."
"It served its purpose," Gundham said coldly.
"He's going to lose at this rate," Byakuya stated.
"What makes you say that?" Téa asked.
"Yeah, duel's not over yet," Duke stated.
"Gundham is tossing away his monsters and cards like cheap garbage, disrespecting his deck and relying solely on raw power to get the job. This is the exact kind of strategy that caused my downfall before I learned about the Heart of the Cards. And Mai is one of your comrades, is she not?"
"So?" Joey asked.
"So, it stands to reason, unless you want to tell me I wasted my time battling a nobody with pointing hair for two hours, that if Gundham keeps going like this, he's going to lose."
"Hey!" Tristan shouted, not taking kindly to the insult.
"Insults aside, Byakuya is absolutely right," Yami said. "Gundham's heart is ruled by hatred." He closed his eyes. "At this rate, all he will do is self-destruct."
"See," Byakuya said, looking down on the others, "Even the King of Games agrees with me."
Yugi's friends had to admit, they couldn't refute the statement if Yugi was agreeing with it.
Please, if those dorks know what I know, Kaiba thought. They'd know that Gundham is far from being beaten. My computers aren't wrong and Gundham's chances against Mai Valentine are better than they think.
"Since I can't attack, I'll just add Harpie Harpist to the field," Mai said. A harpie with red hair and playing a harp appeared. She had 1700 attack points.
"My turn," Gundham said and drew the top card of his deck. "I summon to the field Dark Zebra in attack mode!" A horned, scowling Zebra with 1800 attack points and 400 defense points appeared. It brayed as it slid its hoof along the ground. "And I equip it with the magical Horn of the Unicorn!" The zebra's eyes contorted and glowed an eerie yellow as its horn grew and sparked with lightning. Its attack power then surged from 1800 to 2500 and its defense went up to 1100. Saliva dripped from the ravenous monster's mouth.
Mahiru snapped a photograph.
"And now, Dark Zebra attacks your Harpie Harpist! Thunderous Charge!"
With a hissing braying Dark Zebra charged and impaled Harpie Harpist with its horn, electrifying it and dealing life point damage to Mai, bringing her total life points to 2150, almost equal to Gundham's.
"Harpie Harpist's special ability activates," Mai said. "When its placed in the graveyard, I can add a Winged-Beast type monster with 1500 attack points or less from my deck to my hand."
"Use whatever monsters you'd like!" Gundham shouted, "They will all fall to the awesome and mighty power of my summoned beasts!"
"We'll see about that," Mai said and drew the top card of her deck. Gundham's rage is out of control. At this rate, he's going to lose the duel if he keeps this up. He's dueling like a complete amateur, barely recognizing the threat I possess to him. Mai held up a card in her hand, but if that's how he's going to play it, I'll show him just how competent I really am. "I summon to the field Amazoness Sword Master in attack mode! And then I switch Cyber Harpie to defense mode, ending my turn."
"What are you up to, she-cat?" Gundham asked. "Your swordmaster is much weaker compared to my Zebra. What are you plotting?"
Mai smirked. "Why don't you come get me and find out?"
"Do not mock me, she-demon! You will pay for ignoring the warning signs of your demise! I draw!"
That's it, Gundham, get angry. Attack me with everything you've got.
Gundham drew the top card of his deck. "Since Dark Zebra is the only monster in play, it switches to defense mode, but I shall replace it with a new horrifying monstrosity, Beast of Talwar!" A fiendish blue-winged, green-skinned devil appeared with 2400 attack points. "By sacrificing Dark Zebra, since Horn of the Unicorn went to the graveyard from the field, it now goes back on top of my deck. But that will not be a problem, for I play the only other card in my hand, Card of Demise, this lets me draw until I am holding five cards, provided I discard my entire hand five turns later."
"Whoa," Hajime uttered. He was impressed with Gundham's ability to work around the negative effects of Horn of the Unicorn.
"Next, I equip Horn of the Unicorn onto Beast of Talwar and use it to destroy your Amazoness Sword Master! Attack my great fiend: Lightning Twin Blade Assault!" Beast of Talwar slammed into Amazoness Sword Master, slicing her to ribbons and smiting her with a bolt of lightning. However, he watched as Amazoness Sword Master's spirit rose up from the defeated Amazon. "What is this?"
"You've activated Amazoness Sword Master's special ability. When she's destroyed by battle all of the battle damage I would've taken from a battle involving her, gets redirected at you."
"What?" Gundham gasped as the vengeful spirit of Amazoness Sword Master dove into him, giving him a heavy dose of ectoplasmic energies and cutting his life points all the way down to a mere 350.
"You walked right into my trap, Gundham Tanaka," Mai said, deliberately using his full name, "And do you know why? You're so focused on and angry at Marik that you're treating me like a speed bump on an unimpeded road and I don't much appreciate it. I may not be as close to Sonia as you are, but I want to help her to, which is why I'm taking you seriously as an opponent. You aren't doing the same for me and that's why you're losing. You see your victory as a foregone conclusion."
"Aptly put, Mai," Yami said with a smile, remembering his duel with Mai back in Duelist Kingdom. He had been so focused on his duel with Pegasus that he'd forgotten that Mai was a competent foe laid out before him. He then barked at the Ultimate Breeder. "Gundham! Listen to me! You will never win this duel so long as you give into hatred!"
Gundham turned his posture slightly, gazing down at the stern card game master. "We all understand that you're angry about Sonia. None of us want to let Marik get away with it, but you cannot do this alone."
Seeing that it was possible to get Gundham to listen to reason, Mahiru now chose to speak up. "Yugi's right, Gundham. We understand that your rage is boiling over, but don't let it consume you. Would Sonia want to see you like this? You're rampaging against someone she considers a friend, right?" she snapped. "Save all that bottled up hatred and anger for Marik. That's your real enemy!"
Gundham heard their words and then were like lances in his chest, causing him to take a step back, ready to force him to his knees. But, instead, he just looked down as his hamsters gathered in front of him on his duel disk. Maga-Z then raised one paw to the air and gave Gundham an earful only he could understand.
He smirked. "You are right, Maga-Z," Gundham chuckled, smiking. He then folded his arms, gazing to the side out along the open night sky. "I have been consumed by the flames of hatred. My blood has boiled over and I need to calm down. Thank you for showing me the path of reason."
San-D then squeaked her little head off, giving what Gundham understood as sound advice. "Indeed, San-D, if I am to win this battle, I must sheathe my blade. I have been pressing the attack and where has it gotten me, barely a chunk of my life points and no closer to Marik. Now then, to your territories, my servants." Gundham's hamsters scattered to their appropriate spots on his scarf and coat. "I place one card face-down and end my turn." Gundham folded his arms, glancing away, but certain to keep his eye on Mai. "Your move, She-cat. My monster still has an almighty advantage of 3100 attack points. Unless you happen to have another one of those sword masters, consider the field advantage to belong to me."
"I'm well aware of that and I plan to take it down. My draw," Mai said.
As Mai drew her card, Kaiba's collar beeped and he took out his business phone. He was getting an automatic alert from the lab deck. The sprinklers had gone off. "Mokuba, I'll be back. I need to check on Chihiro."
"Uh, sure, bro," Mokuba said, watching Kaiba walk away.
Kaiba headed down the elevator and then marched to the lab where he found Chihiro exiting out into the hallway, smoke flooding out into the halls and dispersing. Chihiro coughed hard on the soot.
Kaiba sighed, pressing a button on the wall that dispensed a towel from the ceiling and then promptly dropped it on Chihiro so that it covered the intern's head. "Go wash up," he told him, "I'll take it from here."
"Ah, y-yes, of course Mr. Kaiba, sir," Chihiro said and darted away from Kaiba's sight.
Kaiba then entered his lab and found one disturbing scene. Big huge error messages plastered the monitor for the terminal Chihiro was working with and the duel disk connected to the terminal was sparking lightning with Obelisk on the duel disk. Kaiba grabbed the fire extinguisher and hosed down the duel disk, disrupting the electrical impulse, but not without causing a loud POP that completely shut down the circuts and disconnected the duel disk permanently from the Kaiba Corp systems, better that than a fire though.
Kaiba pulled the cord connecting the duel disk to the terminal and took back Obelisk, brushing a bit of dust off the card before putting it back in his deck. He then sat down at the terminal and checked the error logs. It didn't take Kaiba long before he was exclaiming, "What?!"
These readings can't be right! Going by this, it's as if the card data itself is rejecting Chihiro's subroutine. Kaiba quickly tapped and clicked to bring up the error log in a step by step process. This is ridiculous, according to these lines of code, it's as if Obelisk's own card data is responsible, not Chihiro's program. But that's impossible! The only way for that to happen is if the programmed object of Obelisk the Tormentor is capable of rejecting the program like a self-functioning AI rejecting a virus, which is blatantly ridiculous because it's a TRADING CARD!
Kaiba wiped his face with his hands, making circles around his eyes before placing his elbows on the terminal just below the keyboard. Obelisk can't be sentient. It's just a trading card. Just a…
Kaiba remembered all of his talks with Ishizu and Yugi about Ancient Egypt, getting up, head throbbing and swatting the hosed duel disk off the table. "NO! I refuse! It's a card, not a program! It can't make decisions!" Kaiba held up Obelisk with one hand, palm over his eye with the other, face contorted in rage, saliva starting to form along his teeth. "It's a piece of paper created by Maximillian Pegasus!"
Then, suddenly, Obelisk flashed with deep blue light and Kaiba's mind seemed to travel elsewhere. Below him, he saw Ancient Egypt and an active Obelisk the Tormentor trudging through the streets, rampaging about as if it were nothing. And, far away and behind him, a priest dressed in purple and gold and holding up Marik's Millennium Rod was laughing and he sounded an awful lot like Kaiba himself.
"Yes, my minion, destroy it! Destroy it all! The Pharaoh is sure to recognize my mighty and awesome power if you do my bidding!"
The vision ended, Kaiba now standing once more holding Obelisk as his arm fell at his side.
What the hell was that? Kaiba thought. He rubbed his eyes furiously. Ugh, I need to sleep soon. I should probably use the next break for a power nap and leave the intervening necessities to Mokuba. He put Obelisk away, returning the card to his deck. I still don't believe in any of this Ancient Egyptian Nonsense, but it's clear to me that something is deeply wrong with these cards. Kaiba glared at Chihiro's failed program. I don't know what's causing it, but I don't need to know. All I know is that these cards are too powerful to be allowed to be used in any format that involves my company's hologram system. After the damage to Sonia and what happened to Odion's duel disk, Kaiba could come to no other conclusion. These cards interfered with his technology, plain and simple. I'm still going to collect all three, but once I do, I'm going to lock them away forever for the safety of duelists everywhere. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. It's quite a shame, I really did want the best deck in human history, but even I don't want to use a power that could cause physical harm to others. Kaiba's mind gazed back at his past, and the things he used to do to get ahead in life, the deadly games he used to make. That's just not who I am anymore.
Back on the arena, it was Mai's turn as she drew the top card of her deck and placed it in her hand. "I summon to the field, Harpie Dancer! And with its special ability, I can return it to my hand to special summon Harpie's Pet Dragon!" The mighty dragon roared, sitting on the field with 2000 attack points and 2500 defense. "And this fearsome monster gets 300 attack points just for sitting near its master."
Harpie's Pet Dragon's attack power increased to 2300.
"Interesting, it would seem I am not the only one that understands the value of a powerful, domesticated beast," Gundham said.
"Indeed, but a good master also takes care of her pets. So, to that end, I place a card face-down, switch Cyber Harpie to back to attack mode and end my turn."
Gundham drew the top card of his deck and examined the field. Examining the field as it looks, Miss Valentine clearly is baiting me to attack, but I shall not fall for her taunts a second time and with so few life points left, I must proceed with caution.
Mai practically guessed what Gundham was thinking. Play cautious all you like, hun, she thought as she gazed at her face-down, Because once I draw the trap card to combine with this one, this duel is mine.
"I set two cards on the field," Gundham said, placing the cards in the spell/trap zone. "I also switch Beast of Talwar to defense mode and end my turn." Gundham's monster crouched and used its wings and swords to defend itself.
Yami suddenly looked tense.
"What's the matter, Yugi?" Téa asked.
"It's nothing," Yami lied.
"You must be thinking the same thing I am, pal," Yugi said to him.
"Indeed, this duel feels almost, nostalgic in a way," Yami replied.
"Huh? What do you mean nostalgic?" Téa asked.
"You'll see soon enough," Yami said. If I'm right about that trap card, Gundham had better be careful or his next attack against Mai could be his last.
"I draw," Mai said and drew the top card of her deck, smirking. "I set another card face-down and end my turn too."
Celeste was now intrigued. This was going to come down to a trap card war, she could already tell. But when the dust settled, who would be left standing, the delirious newcomer fighting for the woman he loved, or the expert duelist, fighting for a friend? Gundham had ceased his uncontrollable anger and was now using his head so it was now anyone's game. Looking for a second opinion, Celeste asked Byakuya, "What do you think?"
"Me?" he asked.
"I'm looking at you, aren't I?"
Byakuya folded his arms. "Frankly, I'm not sure anymore. Gundham's calmed down considerably and both his and Mai's fields are set. It's all dependent on whose is set better now."
"My turn," Gundham said. "I draw." He was disappointed with the card he drew. "I end my tu—"
"Sorry, but no you don't, I activate my face-down card, Shadow of Eyes. This allows me to switch one of your monsters to attack position from defense position and not only that, but your monster has to attack this turn!"
Mahiru, Ibuki, Hajime and Nagito were all surprised by this. Mai had just completely pulled a move that seemed dumb, but her other trap card was probably why she was making such a move.
They watched as Beast of Talwar was forced into attack position.
"Pick your poison, hon. My dragon or my harpie. Your choice."
"Clearly I shall attack your weakened feathered fiend!"
"I thought you'd say that," Mai smirked. "Too bad it doesn't matter. I activate the trap card, Mirror Wall."
Yami smirked, "Just as I expected."
"All right! That's usin' your noggin!"
Gundham's monster struck Mai's rising wall, its attack power getting cut in half to 1550, weaker than Mai's Cyber Harpie.
"This duel's over, Cyber Harpie, attack!"
"Not so fast!" Gundham shouted. "I activate my own face-down card: Bark of Dark Ruler! By giving up 300 life points, I can lower the attack power of your monster by 300 points."
"Three hundred life points?" Hajime gasped, watching Gundham's life points go down to a mere 50. However, it seemed to be worth it as Mai's Cyber Harpie was destroyed and Mai lost 50 life points. Her grand total was now 2900. Moreover, Harpie's Pet Dragon was now back to its original 2000 attack.
I did not expect Mai to be so resourceful. Gundham exhaled. Whatever fell power is listening, I pray that she does not summon a monster on her turn, Gundham thought, watching Mai draw a card. If she does, then even my final trap card cannot save me.
Mai looked at her hand, not a single new monster that she could summon. Guess I have no choice, Mai thought. That face-down worries me, but if Gundham didn't play a monster then he's in the same situation I am right now and with Harpie's Pet Dragon on the field, I have the strongest monster. I could attack and destroy it and wipe out the rest of his remaining life points, but the card he has face-down worries me. He would not have played that trap card if he didn't think he could still go, meaning I'll have to attack eventually, and I can't hold out on the chance that he won't be able to play something to destroy my dragon or my mirror wall. I could stall for another Harpie's Feather Duster, but do I have that opportunity. I don't know what's in Gundham's deck either and if he destroys Mirror Wall, I don't have a single monster in my deck that can take out a 3100 attack point powerhouse. Then it looks like I have no choice.
"I attack with Harpie's Pet Dragon!" Mai declared. "Take out Beast of Talwar and the rest of Gundham's remaining life points!"
Then it would appear this is my victory, Gundham thought. "I activate my face-down trap, Hate Buster!"
Mai gasped and now it was time for Yugi and his friends to look shocked the way Gundham's classmates, plus Hajime, had looked moments ago.
"By destroying both Beast of Talwar and Harpie's Pet Dragon, I am able to deal damage to your life points equal to the attack power of your monster."
Gundham's trap card activated, destroying both Beast of Talwar and Harpie's Pet Dragon, causing my to crouch and brace for impact as the wind rushed by her inflicting 2000 points of direct damage to her life points, bringing them down to 900.
However, Mai seemed to take the setback in stride. "Not bad Gundham," Mai said. "I wasn't expecting that at all. Still, I've got 900 life points left, which means you'll need a monster with 1800 attack points or more just to deal enough direct damage and on my turn, if I play a monster, your monster will be destroyed and with only 50 life points left, anything you play will be wiped out. And since Horn of the Unicorn was destroyed along with your monster, that means you have to draw it this turn and that means you don't have a monster you can play."
"Hahahahahahahaha," Gundham chuckled.
"What's so funny?" Mai asked.
"I must admit, your logic is sound, She-cat, but it operates on the assumption that I do not have a monster to play."
"What?" Mai gasped.
"Behold, my Feral Imp!" Gundham placed the 1300 attack and 1400 defense point normal monster onto the field.
"I don't understand, if you had a monster in your hand, why did you not play one last turn?" Mai asked.
"To confuse you," Gundham said.
"Huh?"
"Think about it, if I had played my Imp last turn, would you have attacked my Beast of Talwar? Likely not. You would've stayed your hand and waited to see my next play, hiding behind your Mirror Wall with a powerful dragon that I could not attack." Gundham grinned. "So I tricked you. Granted, my plan hinged on you not playing a monster on your turn, but would I have lost, I would only have myself to blame. Do you see now, She-cat?" Gundham asked, his power radiating a fierce aura, but it was nowhere near as malevolent as before. "This is what happens when my power is released! There is not a force on this earth, nor in the sky that can stop me now! After all, you only have 900 life points left and since I destroyed my own monster, I can combine my Feral Imp with this: Horn of the Unicorn!"
"Aw, no! Mai!" Joey exclaimed.
Mahiru quickly snapped a photo.
"I told you I would sheathe my sword, She-cat, but it's time for my blade to thirst for blood once more. I activate Horn of the Unicorn, empowering my Feral Imp!"
Gundham's imp surged in size, its growl growing more intense as its attack power surged upwards to 2000. "My fiendish friend will wipe out the rest of your remaining life points even as its attack becomes affected by Mirror Wall! This duel is over Mai Valentine! You lose! Feral Imp, go! Lightning Claw strike!"
Feral Imp charged forward, claw out and crashed into Mai knocking her back and bringing her life points down to 0.
"She lost," Joey said, sounding disappointed.
Gundham held his hand to his chest resolutely. Fear not, Dark Queen, he thought. I will rescue you. "Marik!" Gundham then shouted, extending his arm like a claw at the Egyptian. "Let this be a warning to you! For when we do battle, I shall take your head and leave your dead rotting carcass as food for my loyal minions!"
Marik merely grinned, finding Gundham's threats empty. He merely chuckled and walked away.
"What a slime ball," Joey sneered.
"Now Joey, that's just rude," Celeste said sophisticatedly. "Slime balls around the world will feel insulted by comparison."
Mai, however, ignored Marik and just seemed disappointed in herself. "I don't understand," she said aloud. "I beat Sonia and you tied with her. How did I lose?" She scowled at Gundham. "Especially when you were acting like a raging maniac at the start."
Strangely, it was Espa who answered. "It is because Gundham's dark power was unleashed to its full extent against you, Miss Valentine. Who could bare their fangs at a friend?"
"BAHAHAHAHA!" Gundham laughed. "Very good, Esper. It is true indeed, though the Dark Queen and I did battle, I held back against her, believing that it was unnecessary for us to unleash the full extent of our power against one another." Gundham folded his arms and stared to the side. "It would appear though, that the power I fought was all the power she had, while I still had plenty in reserve."
Why can't he admit he got luck this time like a normal person? Byakuya thought. Or perhaps… he trailed off, thinking on Gundham's bond to Sonia, There really is an importance to having something or someone worth fighting for. So what am I…fighting for then? Byakuya took a deep breath. It would appear the tournament in Canada will prove far more lucrative than I originally fathomed. He then walked away.
Meanwhile, below the surface, Kaiba entered the blimp's medical bay and, the moment he entered, Mikan grabbed the window curtain and hid behind it, having nothing else to use as a shield. However, she still peeked at Kaiba from behind it. Kaiba mostly ignored her. His focus was on Chiaki, who was predictably playing her game girl.
"Can you put that down for a moment?" Kaiba asked Chiaki sharply.
Chiaki only glanced at Kaiba and then went right back to her game, her fingers moving at superhuman speeds. "Oh, hello, Kaiba. Did you need something?"
"I wanted to apologize about something."
"You're apologizing…to me?" Chiaki asked, confused.
"When Marik attacked Mahiru, you accused me of wanting to continue this tournament so that I could improve my deck. And I want you to know now that when I acquire all three Egyptian God Cards, I'm not going to use them after this tournament is over."
Chiaki's fingers continued to move along the game console, but Kaiba heard what sounded like the jingle of the action of saving the game and then Chiaki promptly shut the Game Girl off and turned her head to look at him, sitting upright. "Go on," she said calmly, giving him her undivided attention.
"These cards are clearly too dangerous to the point that they can somehow bypass the safety features of the KaibaCorp hologram system and I refuse to put anyone using my company's products in undo danger. Marik said he made counterfeits of Ra. Well what about counterfeits of Obelisk and Osiris? They could do just as much damage. So, I'm not going to let them be used and I'm banning them from all tournament formats."
Chiaki was surprised by all of this at first, but after a moment of silence, she smiled, "I believe that to be an excellent decision," she said.
"I'm still going to use Obelisk for this tournament though," Kaiba said. "If I want to have any chance of defeating Yugi's Osiris or Marik's Ra, I'll need it in my deck."
"Sure, go ahead," Chiaki said.
"Like I need your permission," Kaiba said. He then smirked smugly. "I just wanted you to know what I was doing so you didn't complain later when I use it to pummel you or your friend Hajime." He then spoke sternly. "Anyway, stay here and heal that leg of yours. You have two more duels before you're on."
"Don't worry, I can barely feel the pain by now," Chiaki told him. "Mikan's a good nurse."
Kaiba shifted his gaze from Chiaki to Mikan who only yelped and tried to hide even more behind the curtain, though she only backed away and crouched lower to the ground.
"Is that so?" Kaiba asked rhetorically. "I might just make good on that offer to have you join KaibaCorp medical then."
"I-I'll consider it. Th-thank you M-Mr. Kaiba," Mikan stuttered.
"Well then, ladies, if you'll excuse me," Kaiba said and walked out.
With the duel over, Mai was now in the company of Yugi and Joey, stretching and lamenting over her loss. "Really thought I had him for a second there. I was so close too." She sighed in frustration.
Joey slapped her shoulder reassuringly. He smiled at her. "Don't get so down, Mai."
Mai felt reassured by the gesture. It was the first time Joey and broken the touch barrier between the two of them, something he had no trouble doing to Ibuki. She quickly wiped the stupid grin off her face though. She went back to playing the "pity me" routine, by continuing to lament her loss.
"If I hadn't given Gundham a pep talk, I probably would've clobbered him."
"You did the right thing, Mai," Yami told her. "Winning by taking advantage of another, that's no different from how you used to be. You're better than that. And I'm sure Gundham appreciates your actions as well," he said with a smile.
Mai had to admit, Yugi was right about that. "Thank you, Yugi. You too, Joey," she said. She winked at both of them, holding up her arm, elbow bent in a V-shape with her index and middle fingers also made into a V. "I'll be rooting for the both of you from here on out."
Joey now took his hand off Mai's shoulder, as if it were the most natural action in the world, and then scratched his head as he said, "So what'd you end up giving Gundham, anyway?"
"He just wanted back the card I took from Sonia when I beat her. Big ol' softie that one despite his appearance."
Yami closed his eyes. "Gundham's heart is in the right place, but he stands no chance against Marik's Egyptian God Card. Sonia was lucky to be able to read Ancient Egyptian, but that beast will be impossible to defeat without a proper plan."
We have to take Marik down before it's too late. We can't afford to let someone else get sent to the Shadow Realm! Yugi thought vigorously.
"Anyway, I'm gonna head back to my room for a nap I think, or maybe not. I'm not sure. Still, I feel really relaxed getting kicked out, not that I'm happy about it," Mai said, stretching her arms up over her head, cracking her knuckles. "Again, good luck Yugi."
"Thank you, Mai," Yugi said.
Mai then leaned in close to Joey. "You too, Joey." She then, as if it was the most natural think in the world, pecked Joey on the cheek.
Joey turned bright red. "What the…what the hell was that?"
Mai walked away, turning around and pointing at Joey with her fingers extended like a handgun. She was also winking at him. "Consider it a good luck charm. You're gonna need it the way this competition is heating up."
"Yeah, well you can take your luck charm and shove it up your—" Joey was cut off by Yami actually tugging on his sleeve. Yami was shaking his head, eyes closed, indicating that it wasn't a good idea for Joey to finish that sentence and to just let it go.
"Hey, Yug, do I have a lipstick mark on me, anywhere?" Joey asked.
"No, Joey," Yami said, trying not to laugh.
As she walked out of eye and ear shot of Yugi and Joey, Mai ran through her head if her affectionate gesture was the right thing to do. Sure, Joey had snapped at her, but he was still a teenager. She'd probably been a bit forward with him. Still, even she couldn't help her feelings. I guess romance just sprouts up where you least expect it. You fall in love with the strangest of people, despite their flaws. But I think I'll have to easy up on Joey a little. In his heart, he's still a bit of a kid. But I'm not giving him up to anyone. Ibuki, Celeste, even you, Mahiru, you keep your hands off my man, Mai thought as she curved her fingers into a claw, Or you're gonna get scratched.
After Kaiba's departure, Chiaki and Mikan were less shocked when someone else entered the medical bay. However, they didn't expect that it would be Gundham. He walked in, ignoring both of them and focusing his attention only on Sonia. She lay in bed, unmoving, her body breathing through the oxygen mask. Her wounds were patched, but dried blood still coated the bandages.
"U-um, I have to dress her later," Mikan said, referring to Sonia's wounds and that they needed fresh bandages. Gundham ignored her, but Chiaki gave Mikan a shake of the head, indicating that it wasn't her fault. Mikan just stared at the ground. Even she could see how gravely emotionally wounded Gundham was by what happened to Sonia. In fact, she'd never seen Gundham so emotional. To that end, she pulled the dividing curtain around Chiaki's bed and then began organizing some tools so as to distract herself until Gundham left.
Though he said noting, Gundham appreciated the perceived privacy. He wasn't staying long however. After all, there was no point in a grandiose speech, if his intended recipient could not hear him. Instead, he did something that he was only doing because neither Mikan nor Chiaki could lay their eyes upon him. He unwrapped the bandages on his left arm, revealing sutured hamster bites and scars along his arm and hand from previous attacks from his furry comrades. He stared at his unclean, filthy hand before using it to caress Sonia's forehead, brushing it against her bangs and then down her cheek before quickly replacing the bandages.
He looked down at Sonia, withholding his tears for they would do him no good. With a sigh, he reached into his coat pocket, pulling out Darklord Morningstar, which he had won from Mai Valentine. Reaching for Sonia's wrist, he pulled on it with his hand, finding no resistance. Then, with his other hand, he placed Darklord Morningstar inside Sonia's open palm, then using both hands to clench her hand around her rarest card. He then placed Sonia's hand down on top of her stomach, hand still firmly clenched around the card. He then gave her hand a good, firm pat before simply standing over here, saying nothing.
He closed his eyes. She is beautiful, like Sleeping Beauty. He sighed. But true love's kiss will not wake this princess. His eyes opened, the sound of Sonia's vitals being the only sound he could hear given Chiaki had muted her game. This is a truly twisted fairy tale. But I intend to set you free, Dark Queen. He then left the room in silence. Marik will fall to my power, he thought as he walked back to his room, and he will sorely regret harming you or my name isn't Gundham Tanaka, the man that shall one day rule this world, a single tear fell from Gundham's face, with you.
(A/N: Say it with me now: AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! Let's be honest, that's more genuine emotion than Gundham's shown in even canon. Not sure if all of you will pick up on the significance of him caressing Sonia with his bitten, left hand, but that's an Easter egg for all you DGR veterans out there. And once you do know the significance, if you don't already, it only serves to make the scene more heartwarming.
But let's try to think on the positive side of things. A few of you have figured out the game plan for the rest of the duels already and with so few duels left, I don't feel like giving away the next duelist. I'll just say that, out of all 8 duels in this round, it's the one I'm 2nd most looking forward to only to Chiaki's duel and right on the coattails of Sonia's duel with Marik. [Yugi's duel with Celeste comes in 4th].
Regardless, it'll be a duel worthy of hype, even if the matchup seems kind of…strange.
However, since I'm no longer asking about matchups, I pose a new query: What ships are you sailing forth on this open ocean of a fanfic? While I have my own shipping preferences, I do enjoy hearing what people think. Name any and all characters, but keep your yaoi pairings to yourselves because no matter how much you like them, they're not happening here.
Er, anyway, as always, special shout out to my two generous patrons: Dark Jade and Goshinzilla. And you too can support me by going to Patr eon draconicherostudios if you'd like.
But, even if you don't want to, as always, until next time, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)