(A/N: As I may or may not have mentioned before. There is no duel in this chapter. It's all character interactions. Enjoy. Be forewarned that this is the last break we're going to get from Junko for the rest of the arc. There will be breaks from her in other arcs, but…yeah. She's unfortunately here to stay).
That following Sunday, hours before Gundham would coordinate with Nagito and Rafael to unleash chaotic calamity upon the world once more, Chihiro Fujisaki was out shopping. Despite the insanity of a few days ago, Chihiro, unaware of the truth, felt safe enough to go and do his health and beauty shopping. Granted, he was dressed like a girl, looking for men's shampoo and body wash, but if anyone asked, he could always put on a charming smile and say he was shopping for his dad.
As Chihiro rounded the corner of an aisle, he kept his head up, muttering to himself. "Let's see…where is it?" The shelves seemed to have been moved around since he was last here. "Oh. There we are." He said, gazing upon a blue bottle on a reachable shelf for his height. "Blueberry anti-perspirant." Chihiro reached forward to get the bottle, only for a gloved hand to reach up and bump into his. Both hands pulled away from the bottle. Chihiro looked to the side to see who he had come in contact with.
Standing not too far away from him was a young woman about his age dressed in a purple overcoat and matching skirt and boots. She had long, grayish, almost purplish hair and eyes so violet they could double as amethysts. Her hair was long and a bit wavy, except for one long lock that was tied into a braid. Her expression was emotionless and her posture rather rigid. Despite her being a girl, Chihiro felt a bit intimidated by her. After all, not only did her stare feel like ice, but she was also taller than him.
The girl spotted the gold-plated KC badge Chihiro had pinned to his blouse. "KC…you work for Kaiba Corp?" Her voice was calm and controlled. And a bit cuter in pitch than Chihiro expected.
"Ah! Yes! I'm a junior programmer. My name is Chihiro Fujisaki," Chihiro said, startled.
"Fujisaki…the same Fujisaki that made multiple breakthroughs in AI functionality?" the girl pondered a finger against her chin.
"Y-yes, th-that's me. U-um, who are you?"
The girl seemed to smile as she placed the back of her hand under her chin. "Ah, how rude of me." She stared blankly at Chihiro, bowing slightly. "My name is Kyoko Kirigiri."
"Oh. I…I see." The conversation seemed to die just then until Chihiro stated, "It's rare to see a girl looking at this product since men hate the smell."
"I…need it for an investigation," Kyoko said, putting a hand behind her head. She cleared her throat. "Although…you're a girl too, aren't you?"
"Er, yes. That's me. I'm a girly girl!" Chihiro smiled, showing off those rosy cheeks. "Er, um, I just…it's rare to see another girl, um…"
"Getting off the subject," Kyoko said sternly.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Ma'am?" Kyoko glared.
"Er, I mean…s-so um, an investigation. Are you some kind of private…wait! You said Kirigiri, right? Like the famous legendary detectives?"
"That's correct. I'm the youngest in the bloodline."
Chihiro's eyes shined. "I never thought I'd meet a famous detective. So, what kind of investigation brings you to domino, Miss Kirigiri?"
"I'm afraid I can't talk about ongoing investigations," Kyoko said stoically.
"R-right, o-of course. Um, say, if your current investigation isn't a high priority then…maybe…"
"Speak up, or I can't help you," Kyoko stated, folding her arms.
"Ah! Sorry!" Chihiro exclaimed. "Um, could you please help Mr. Kaiba. He's under a lot of public pressure from the monster attacks." Chihiro looked sad. "I want to help…but I don't know the first thing about investigating."
Kyoko smirked. "It's fine. I'd be more than happy to lend the Kaiba Corporation a helping hand." Kyoko put a finger on her cheek. "Unfortunately, Seto Kaiba turned down my help. He sounded far too prideful to outsource the investigation, stating that he wanted to do things his way. Normally, I'd write this off as someone hiding their true intentions, but Seto Kaiba doesn't strike me as the type. He seems just to be that prideful and arrogant according to everything I've read about him."
Chihiro laughed. "That's Mr. Kaiba all right. He's such a controlling, dominating type of guy, don't you think?"
"Controlling and dominating is certainly one way to put it."
"Um, if Mr. Kaiba turned you down, I'll hire you myself."
"That…might work. Truth be told, I've been investigating the monster attacks on my own, but without access to the Kaiba Corporation's network, my investigation's come to a crawl."
"And how does the perfume come into play?"
"That's for a different investigation!" Kyoko exclaimed, index finger extended.
"R-right," Chihiro sweated in fear.
Kyoko folded her arms and spoke normally again. "What's your security clearance with the Kaiba Corporation."
"U-um, level two," Chihiro replied. "I know it's not top level access, but—"
"Good enough," Kyoko answered. She smiled. "Oh, and don't worry about payment. Once Seto Kaiba realizes how thick headed he's been, I'm sure I can bill him instead."
"Well if he doesn't, I'll foot the bill. Mr. Kaiba is an inspiration to me. I want to do all I can to help him. I want to be just like him in a few years."
Kyoko studied Chihiro's face a moment. To some degree, Chihiro Fujisaki was an enigma. Certainly Kyoko knew that Chihiro wore their heart on their sleeve, but his mannerisms were all over the place. It made it difficult for Kyoko to tell if Chihiro was in love with Kaiba, or a crossdresser with a healthy dose of hero worship. Either way, Kyoko supposed it didn't matter. For now, this was convenient. Now she had an in into the Kaiba Corporation.
"I suggest we finish our shopping and head for Kaiba Corp. Let's meet outside under the awning."
"Y-yes! Of course! Oh, and Miss Kirigiri."
"Hmm?"
Chihiro smiled. "Thank you again."
Kyoko smiled back at Chihiro. "It's really no trouble, honestly."
While Kyoko and Chihiro were walking to Kaiba Corp, the members of Doma unleashed their next move. Monsters of all sorts began bombarding the city. Whiptail crows flew through the sky, Trakadons stampeded through the city, scaring all sorts of civilians. Other types of monsters also seemed to be terrorizing the locals, only interested in causing fear and terror, never once maiming innocent civilians. It was like the zombie apocalypse had come, but with Duel Monsters and a lot less corpses.
That was the final straw for Seto Kaiba. Someone slowly buying company shares? Fine. Bad PR? Fine. He could put out the flames. Pulling a second stunt almost immediately after a private investigator had come knocking at his door and he'd turned her down? Now this was going too far. Whoever was behind this was about to get a personal greeting of Kaiba's boot to the backside of their fine suit pants and Kaiba had a pretty good idea whose pants needed kicking. Loading up his custom-built Blue-Eyes White Dragon jet, Kaiba and Mokuba sailed off into the sky for Duelist Kingdom Island.
"Hey, Seto, are you sure we'll be safe?" Mokuba asked.
Kaiba pressed a button on the console as the lower jaw of Kaiba's jet lowered and a cannon shot from the mouth. The whole jet seemed to warm up, and slow down as suddenly a blast of concentrated electromagnetic energy shot out of the mouth like a bolt of lightning, blowing up one of the monsters.
"I thought we stopped making weapons!" Mokuba gasped.
"This is for self-defense purposes only," Kaiba said as he sent the Blue-Eyes White Dragon Jet into a barrel roll. "Besides, I'm the only one that has a jet like this and the weapon is very experimental and impractical given it has to use the jet's own engine and fuel cells to fire. But for clearing mid-air debris, it gets the job done." Kaiba then set the engines to max power, punctured the sound barrier and flew towards California.
Meanwhile, on the ground, Yugi and company were gathered together to investigate the situation, with Mai tagging along given she had nothing better to do on a Sunday.
"What do we do, Yugi?" Téa asked as the group stood out in the middle of the city by the large clock planted inside the waterfall.
Yugi took out his dueling deck and held Timaeus to the sky. "Eye of Timaeus!" he shouted. The card gave a bright glow, only to fade seconds later.
"Was that supposed to do something?" Mai asked.
"I mean…it worked last time," Yugi said, looking down at the card. "You try, Pharaoh." Yugi switched with his alter ego.
"EYE OF TIMAEUS!" Yami thundered, his booming baritone echoing through the area. Once more the card glowed for only a few seconds, but it faded soon enough, Timaeus never emerging.
Miho looked sad, "I bet if Ibuki were here she would crack a really funny joke about performance issues."
Tristan pat her on the shoulder reassuringly.
"Ibuki…" Joey said, fist clenched, staring at it in anguish. "Natsumi's gotta have something to do with this. And when I get my hands on her, she's gonna be sorry!"
"Let's split up and look for her then. Téa, you go with Yugi. I'll go with Miho."
"Guess that means I'm stuck with Mai," Joey said, shrugging and sighing.
"What do you mean stuck with me?" Mai snapped.
"Er…"
"Bye, Joey," Téa and Tristan said at the same time, leaving with their investigation buddies.
One Black Eye Later…
"Anyone ever tell you that you hit like a rogue boxer?" Joey asked, covering his swollen eye.
"Anyone ever tell you that you're an oblivious idiot?"
"Hey! I said I was sorry," Joey said. "Jeez!"
Mai calmed down, her sigh a symbol of her gentler mood. "Hey, Joey, do I seem…out of place with the rest of you?"
"Out of place? What do you mean?" Joey asked.
"I just…I'm 24 and you're all still in high school. You don't think that's…weird, or anything?"
"Course not," Joey said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Friendship is friendship. It's okay to be friends with anyone you wanna be friends with. Why? Do you think it's weird?"
"No. Not at all."
"Mai?" If he hadn't been looking right at her. Joey wouldn't have thought Mai was speaking. It was like she dropped from her usual soprano down to a much lower alto.
"What? What's the matter?"
"Your voice."
"Hmm? Oh. It gets tiring to keep using that peppy voice all the time. I took it on when I started my dueling career, never really let it slip. Why? Does my natural voice bother you?"
"It's uh…bit jarring compared to what I'm used to."
Mai only smirked. "Oh so you prefer the peppy party girl act, huh?" she asked, adopting her previous voice on a dime.
"I didn't say that."
"Then what are saying?" Mai asked, keeping her adopted accent.
Joey sighed. "Look Mai, do what you want to do. I ain't gonna judge, but," he smirked, patting her on the shoulder. "I'd be happy if you'd just be you."
"Joey…" Mai balled her fists and swallowed. "Well then, the classy, natural me is here to stay, tough guy. Hope you're happy."
"Like I said, it'll take some gettin' used to, but I'm all right with it. It's you, Mai. I mean, at least now you're not trying to sound like a teenager."
"Well, I admit I was trying to escape age catching up with me," Mai chuckled. "I'll be 25 come February. Or as Japan calls it: my expiration date."
"Oh please, with looks and attitude like yours, you'll be fine."
"I hope you're right," Mai said. "Thanks, Joey."
"No problem. Now then," Joey balled a fist and glared at the nearest cloud. "Once I found Natsumi, I'm gonna kick her butt down da street! Nobody steals the souls of my friends and gets away with it!"
"Violence won't solve anything, Joey. Calm down."
Joey took a deep breath. "Sorry, I just…" Joey sighed. Mai had just been honest with him. Now, he felt, it should be his turn. "My dad's an aggressive alcoholic. It's why he and my ma don't see each otha no more. Thanks to him always bein' violent and aggressive, I started ta imitate him when I was a kid. I started usin' violence ta solve my problems. It's kinda how I ended up in a street gang ta start with, needed some boys ta watch my back, you know."
Mai nodded. "I grew up alone and rich. I didn't have any friends so I just put walls around me, but I can see merit in your survival strategy."
"When I first met Tristan, I thought he was a complete tool. I was goin' through some bad times. If you could believe it, I used to roller blade my way to deliver drugs."
Mai's eyes shrunk in. She couldn't honestly picture Joey of all people doing that.
"Course, I guess there's somethin' ta be said about the good in ya gettin' the better of ya. One time the gang I was in was beatin' up on this little kid. Course I beat the snot out of 'em and started gettin' my ass handed to me. That's when Tristan showed up ta lend me a hand. I told him to pound sand and get off my back when all was said and done."
"But you're friends now, right?" Mai questioned.
"Yup, thicker than syrup on a plate of pancakes," Joey answered. "That's just cause I got wiser as I got older. Tristan wasn't lookin' down on me. He was lookin' out for me. He had Miho and, well…"
"You had Natsumi, right?" Mai asked.
"Sorta. We weren't really like mushy lovey dovey close like Tristan and Miho were. I'll explain…"
Three Years Ago…
In an abandoned warehouse, Joey Wheeler and a few other thugs were sitting around arm wrestling. This warehouse, loaded with crates full of canned meat and soups, was their hideout. Since he was the youngest of the group, Joey constantly had to be the one serving drinks and running errands.
"Yo, runt!" The eldest member of the gang said. "Where's my grape soda?"
With attitude written all over his face, Joey cracked open a can and handed it to his "boss". Of course, Joey knew who was really in charge…
"Here you idiots are just wasting away in boredom!" A snippy, female voice echoed from the entrance to the warehouse.
"Hey, Natsumi," Joey waved.
Natsumi turned her nose up.
"Look, I've got a job for you boys. We've got apartment owners in the Red Light District stiffing us on the rent again. Shake them down for the money and anything extra you can demand, you can split."
"Cracking skulls and takin' names, sounds like a good time," the then blood hungry Joey Wheeler said, tapping his knuckles together.
Present Day
"So she was your boss," Mai said.
"More like our contractor. Scary too. Our gang's leader was twice her size, scruffy like Bandit Keith. He tried to crack her once and she flipped him on his back with one arm. She might look scrawny, but that chick ain't no joke. She stuck a gun in his face too. Nearly peed myself from that. Say your sorry. That was the only thing she demanded out of him."
"That's more creepy than it is cute to imagine a pre-teen girl holding a loaded gun to the face of a man twice her size. But how does that explain you two being a thing?"
Three Years Ago…
"Joey! Hold your thick skull together for two seconds before I break it!" Natsumi exclaimed, trying to administer a head bandage where Joey was bleeding from his forehead after he got punched in the face during the last fight. The two were just outside the hideout, around the corner in the nearby alleyway. Joey was sitting on a crate while Natsumi stood behind him with a first aid kit sprawled out on the floor.
"I'm holding it as steady as I can. I'm feeling woozy from the blood loss! Bite me!"
"Then stop picking fights you can't win, you idiot!"
"But I won though, didn't you see? That guy was on the ground."
"Cause you caught him off guard simply cause you had to be the hero! You had to be the big strong tough guy even though you haven't finished going through puberty yet. Your haircut's more pronounced than your dignity or muscles."
"One. Rude. Second, I had to. He hit you!"
"And I could've shot him. He had brass knuckles, Joey! You could've died! Dumbass!"
"But I didn't. Look on the bright side."
"What bright side? You're bleeding and bruised all over like a battered pinata!" Natsumi exclaimed.
Joey turned and saw Natsumi blushing and pouty faced with tears in her eyes. "Natsumi…"
"I know you don't have a whole lot to live for, but what about your sister? What about…me?"
Joey then put an arm around Natsumi's shoulder and pulled her down into his shoulder. She grabbed at his shirt and buried her head in his chest, tears dripping.
"Hey, come on. I ain't goin' down that easy. Now quit cryin'. I feel like a real jerk."
"You are a jerk. Jerk."
Joey sighed.
Present Day
"So, what happened?" Mai asked, now more curious than ever.
"She acted like nothing happened the following day. I mean, we kinda knew we were close and we hung out together a lot. Hell, she even bought me clothes once, but it's not like we kissed or I met her family or anything. We were just…I guess you could call it, content in our feelings of loneliness and despair. Of course, once I realized Tristan was a true pal…"
Two Years Ago…
"So that's in then? You're leaving the gang?" Natsumi asked Joey as he finished walking out of the warehouse.
"I want to be better than the person my dad is. I want to be something…awesome."
Natsumi let out a grunt of stifled laughter, but couldn't help but snicker.
"Hey! I'm serious!"
"No. No. It just…that sounds like you Joey. Go out there and be Gearfried the Swordmaster or whatever animated hero suits your fancy."
"Aren'tcha gonna come with me?" Joey asked.
Natsumi shook her head. "I'm married to the underground, Joey. If that's not the life you want, then that's your choice. It's a new beginning or me."
Present Day
"And that was it. Never spoke to her again after that. She went her way and I went mine."
"Wow. Most guys would stick with the girl in that situation."
"I told you, we weren't like that. And I didn't really see it like that. Course…maybe if I had…then maybe Ibuki…" Joey looked at his hand in dismay.
Mai flicked him in the forehead. "What happened to Ibuki isn't your fault. And who knows where you or I would be if you didn't stick to your morals. If you want to make Ibuki happy, then pull up your big boy pants and let's go teach your Ex a lesson in humility."
Joey smiled. "Thanks Mai."
"Though, I gotta admit, you're better off than I've ever been."
"What do you mean?" Joey asked.
"I told you. I grew up rich and alone after my parents were caught in a tragic accident. I put up walls around me to protect myself from others. I had to learn to lie, cheat and manipulate people to stay out of dark places. When you're a pre-pubescent girl living alone in a mansion, even your butler can have a bit of…ill intent."
"I don't get it," Joey said.
Mai rolled her eyes. "The point is I had to use my own intellect to stay alive and survive. You had your gang. I had my wits. I stated as a magician's aide on stage, then as a street side card trick expert. My family's inheritance wouldn't last forever. I had to get a job of some variety.
"As I got older, the game changed, but the rules never did. You think my perfume aroma scam was my only sleight of hand trick?" Mai took out her deck and spread her arms out, performing a 20-inch wide dribble shuffle at an angle. She then presented the deck to Joey. "Pick up the card from the top of the deck. Don't tell me what it is and put the card back where you got it."
Joey lifted it up. It was one of Mai's Harpies. He then put it back on top of the deck.
Mai held her fingers near her deck and then snapped her fingers. "Pick it up again. It's a completely different card now."
Joey picked up the card and his eyes bugged out. Sure enough, the card was now a trap card: Shadow of Eyes. "How did you do that?"
Mai laughed and put her deck away. "A good magician never reveals her secrets," she winked. "My card tricks landed me a job at a casino, where I later won my first duel monsters tournament using only a pickup deck as per the rules. After that, I quit the casino business to be a duelist." She smiled. "And, well, you all know the rest."
"Yeah. Now you're our friend."
"And I wouldn't trade that for the world," Mai said.
"Well, come on then, let's go find Natsumi and show her what for," Joey said.
Mai smiled. "Right behind you."
As Téa and Yugi looked around for any sign of Natsumi, Yami stopped in his tracks to look at Timaeus.
"What's wrong, Pharaoh?" Téa asked.
"I just…I'm trying to figure out why Timaeus isn't working."
"Don't ask me. I'm not the one with the age old golden pyramid hanging from my neck," Téa said.
"There were more dragons frozen in the same temple where I obtained Timaeus. Perhaps this attack will need to be quelled by more than one dragon," Yami stated.
"Should we go looking for other dragon wielders then?" Téa suggested.
"I wouldn't know where to even started looking," Yugi replied.
A woman ran screaming past as she was chased by a gaggle of Feral Imps. "That poor woman!" Téa exclaimed.
Millennium Puzzle shining, even if he wasn't in a duel, Yami wasn't going to stand there and do nothing. "I call upon Dark Magician!"
As if he somehow knew he could summon monsters in this situation, Yami brought forth his ever-faithful companion who emerged in an instant.
"Go! Dark Magic Attack!" Yami declared.
With a wave of his hand. The area around the Feral Imps became photo negative and they were destroyed.
"This isn't like last time," Yami said. "The monsters weren't coordinated or chasing civilians. They were just wandering about aimlessly. What in the world is going on?"
"I don't know, but I get the feeling we'll have to find out," Téa said.
"Stick close to me, Téa," Yami said. "I would have for you to be hurt."
"You don't have to worry about me, Yugi," Téa said, reaching into her shoulder bag and pulling out a duel disk of her own. She activated it immediately. "Come to me! Fire Princess!" A red garbed, long haired sorceress—and yet she was considered a Pyro type monster—appeared from Téa's duel disk. She used it to incinerate a quickly approaching Nightmare Scorpion. "Come on, let me fight with you."
"Very well," Yami declared as he placed Curse of Dragon on the duel disk. "Watch my back!"
While Yami and Téa fought side by side, Miho, it seemed, distinctively lacked Téa's steel nerves in situations like these.
"Miho's scared, Tristan," she said, hanging off his arm.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you, Miho," Tristan said, clenching a fist and looking at the monsters defiantly. A bunch of Dark Bats swooped down to harass the two, but Tristan beat his fist angrily at them. "Hey! Get lost! Do I look like a tree! There's no free blood samples here! Beat it!"
The bats, sensing conflict, flew up and away, leaving Tristan and Miho alone.
"Thank you, Tristan!" Miho exclaimed, hugging him, her breasts pushing into the side of his ribs.
Tristan blushed and pat her back. "It's okay, Miho. I'm right here. Come on, let's go find Natsumi and give her a piece of our mind."
This, it seemed, sparked bravery in Miho. "Yes!" She exclaimed. "Natsumi-chan won't get away with hurting Miho's friend Ibuki!"
Suddenly there was a gust of wind as a Kurama swooped down and over Miho's head. She crouched and shrieked, hands on her head. "Is it gone?"
"Yeah, flew right over you," Tristan said. He reached out and grabbed her hand. "Come on, stay close to me. I won't let anything happen to you."
"Miho's sorry she's not braver."
Tristan kissed the top of her head. "It's fine, Miho. Come on."
The two headed off together then, hand in hand.
Yugi and friends were, of course, not the only ones looking out for Doma's employees. The minute the monster attack happened, Yukizome led the charge with her students to essentially search and destroy. Hajime, through intuition alone, figured out that the monsters could be destroyed with their duel monster cards. And so, most of the remaining students had shuffled off and split up using a single monster that they were coordinating with to fight.
Mikan's monster of choice was Injection Fairy Lily. Ryota's was Sword Hunter. Akane's battle partner was Amazon Queen. Kazuichi's had chosen Launcher Spider. Hajime had selected his most powerful non-fusion monster: Infernal Flame Emperor and Yukizome was toting around her newest member of her deck: The Wicked Eraser, reemployed and repurposed under the crack of her mighty whip. Since there were so many monsters about, its attack power may as well be unlimited with how many monsters it was just utterly crushing.
Teruteru was a complete coward and following Akane "for his own protection". Of course, this translated to, trying to perv under Akane's skirt under the excuse of "staying as close to her as possible". Why? Because Teruteru was simply the worst. The darkest parts of Hajime and Yukizome wish it had been him fed to the Leviathan instead. It would be equal parts stress relieving and ironic.
Sonia was also without a monster. She was too scared to wear her duel disk, in spite of Gundham's actions. Lord knows she had tried. However, simply activating the device had caused her to freak out and so now here she was shuffling behind her teacher.
"I'm dreadfully sorry, Miss Yukizome," Sonia said as Wicked Eraser destroyed every offensive monster in sight.
"Don't worry," Yukizome said. "It's my job to protect you. Trauma isn't something so easily overcome. You fight again when you're ready to, Sonia." Yukizome gently caressed Sonia's head affectionately.
As Wicked Eraser attacked, it then paused to a Blackland Fire Dragon.
"Hey. What gives? It's just a…oh." Yukizome had an inkling what the issue was. She pat her monster on its tail. "Good boy. No friendly fire on our watch."
Hajime then turned a corner to where his Blackland was squatted. "Oh. Miss Yukizome. Sonia."
"Any luck?" Yukizome asked Hajime.
"No. I haven't seen Nagito, Gundham, or Hiyoko."
Yukizome clenched at her apron. "I hate this. I can't believe my class isn't just fighting each other, but also that members of my class are helping to actively destroy the world."
"It is not your fault, Miss Yukizome," Sonia told her.
"That's right. It's the fault of whoever started this stupid monster war," Hajime said, putting on a tough look. "And I'm going to make him regret hurting Chiaki."
An explosion in the distance alerted the trio. "Is that one of ours?" Hajime wondered.
"I don't know," Yukizome said. "I'm going to check it out. Hajime. Stick with Sonia. If it's dangerous, she could become a liability."
"I'm so sorry," Sonia whimpered.
Hajime grabbed her wrist. "We'll be fine. Take care of yourself, sensei."
Yukizome and Wicked Eraser then headed off together in the direction of the attack on foot and through the air.
Hajime massaged Sonia's wrist. "Sonia, no one is blaming you for not acting."
"It's just upsetting. I'm the Ultimate Princess and I cannot even make these monsters kowtow towards my will. I feel useless."
"Complaining about it won't change anything. You need to draw power deep inside yourself."
"You mean like your power?" Sonia asked.
"Huh? My…power?" Hajime questioned.
"I watched a replay of your duel with Marik once when you sparkled and glowed all gold. You looked just like the protagonist of some anime!" Sonia exclaimed, eyes shining.
Hajime looked at his hand. "According to Yukizome, that was a leftover side effect from being merged with Izuru Kamukura. But…" He made a fist. "My power is my own. Even if this Izuru kickstarted what I have now," Hajime put a hand on his chest. "It's now a part of me. And I'm not asking you to be Supergirl, Wonder Woman, or even Sailor Moon. I'm asking you to be you, Sonia."
Sonia looked forlorn at the ground. "P-perhaps I…"
"Hmm?"
Sonia swallowed, cold sweat dripping down her face, throat drying up like it was collecting tufts of cotton. Although she wasn't wearing it, Sonia had been carrying her duel disk on her back using a shoulder strap she'd connected to it.
"Sonia, don't force yourself!" Hajime exclaimed.
"No. I must face my fears. I wish I could ask you to challenge me to a duel, Hajime, but I cannot simply stand by while others fight in my place. I am a princess! It is my duty to fight on the behalf of others! Not have others throw their lives away for me!"
Hajime could sense it. Sonia was getting into it. Her old self was resurfacing.
Nervously, Sonia secured her duel disk to her arm and held it aloft above her head. "I have the Power!"
And then nothing happened.
"Huh? I was strangely expecting to glow and change clothes. How odd." Sonia laughed. "I guess I'm not a magical girl."
"Feel better?" Hajime asked.
"No. Truthfully, I'm terrified," Sonia said. "But I cannot watch this go on for any longer!" Sonia was sweating profusely as she activated her duel disk. "Hajime, thank you for being a good friend. I will be all right by myself." She summoned none other than Archlord Kristya to her side. "Besides, I'm sure Gundham has not completely changed. If I yell for help, perhaps our relationship could be that of dark vigilante and damsel in distress or like Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle."
Hajime thought to argue, but sometimes Sonia was as hard to follow in terms of logic as Gundham. "Well, if that's how you feel, who am I to stop you?" Hajime whistled and his Blackland Fire Dragon scooped him up from behind as he hovered into the air. "I'm going to get a look from above and scope out where my Infernal Flame Emperor is! Stay safe!"
Sonia waved to Hajime as he took off into the air.
Hajime felt better knowing that Sonia could put on an even braver front than before. That girl had quite the nerves of steel. It was only a matter of rebuilding them from wounded state.
As he flew overhead with his dragon, Hajime did not spot his Flame Emperor, but he did take notice of two familiar faces standing on a rooftop. "There you are!"
Hajime landed to find Gundham and Nagito standing side by side. He removed both his monsters from his duel disk and deactivated it, shuffling his deck. He began walking menacingly towards his classmates.
"Well, well, look who spotted us first. Guess that's my cue," Nagito smiled.
"Nay! With our powers combined, we could easily defeat The Singularity with ease!" Gundham shouted.
"Don't you have demon beasts to control?" Nagito inquired. "Dartz might yell at you if our attack commander was distracted and caused a total collapse of the plan.
Gundham gasped and then smirked and laughed. "You are quite an enigma sometimes, Jester. I underestimated your wisdom. It shan't happen again! Spear Dragon! To me!"
A Spear Dragon swooped through the skies and grabbed Gundham, leading him off the rooftop to parts unknown in the city.
Nagito then circled around Hajime until he was at the other end of the roof.
"Now, it's just you and me," Nagito said with a smile. "By now Yugi and the others have joined the battle as well. The battle between the hope of all of you and the hope of Dartz. I want to witness it firsthand which is stronger!"
"Nagito, what the hell is wrong with you? You talk about hope? But how is stealing Chiaki's soul any kind of hope at all?"
Nagito frowned and gave Hajime a condescending stare. "You don't get it, do you? Someone like me is just trash to be disposed of. I could never stand on the same stage as someone like Chiaki Nanami."
"So for that reason you—"
"Why don't you wait until I'm finished speaking before you make judgments, okay?" Nagito asked and paused to make sure Hajime kept his mouth shut. "That's better. Now as I was saying. Of course I couldn't stand on the same stage as Chiaki. That's why I wanted to be a stepping stone towards her hope. But someone like me could never do that while standing on the same side as her. I'm just a bit player in an endless maze of plots. I'm no hero, Hajime. I barely qualify as a villain, and I'm certainly no evil mastermind. I'm just…a guy."
"Nagito…"
"I said no talking."
Hajime growled. He really wanted to just punch Nagito one, but he did want an explanation.
"I can't stand next to you or the other ultimates. My measly hope couldn't possibly draw out your hope." Nagito held up his index finger. "Not while I'm still on your side anyway."
"What?" Hajime gasped, sweating. No. Nagito couldn't possibly be saying what Hajime thought he was saying.
"Only Dartz can give me the power to increase hope. By stealing the souls of others, I can raise Dartz's hope and by challenging all of you, I bring you despair. But I know you all. I know all of you, my precious classmates, I know one of you can defeat me where Chiaki failed. Will it be you, Hajime? Do you have what it takes to defeat me a second time, now that Master Dartz has increased my power to be even stronger than I was before? Do you have what it takes to save the world a second time? Well…answer me."
"I don't want to save the world! I just want Chiaki back, you insane bastard!"
Nagito sighed, holding his head. "Why do you have to be so annoying?"
"That's my line!" Hajime shouted. "Nagito! I don't care anymore what the hell your intentions are! I don't care about despair or hope or any of that! What I want is my girlfriend back and for you to SHUT THE HELL UP!"
"Well now, we're finally getting somewhere. All right, Hajime. If you want me to, as you so eloquently put it, "shut the hell up", then you know what you have to do."
Hajime reactivated his duel disk. "Bring it!"
"Of course," Nagito said and activated his new duel disk while flashing the creepiest smile Hajime had ever seen on him. "I'd gladly stain my soul black as pitch to see Hope rise."
As Nagito and Hajime prepared to throw down, Sonia was doing her best to clear out monsters. Despite her knees trembling with fear and her heart pounding a mile a minute, she did not hesitate to have Kristya cut down any monster foolish enough to get in her way.
Overcome fear through action! Utilize strength by force of will! Sonia exclaimed, repeating lines she heard in cult action genre animated film. Hesitation is the bane of power! Cower and you will vanish!
As a Neck Hunter darted towards Sonia at top speed, Sonia, feeling her old self channeling through her, swung down her arm and declared, "Bow down!"
Kristya then annihilated the oncoming fiend.
She then stood there, legs trembling, feeling out of breath. I do not believe I can keep this up for much longer. Perhaps I should retire to my room. Ah, but I should talk to Miss Yukizome first. Sonia began to pull out her cell phone. Guard dropping like a rock over a cliff, she became momentarily oblivious to the Dark Chimera approaching fast behind her.
Sonia turned, gasped and screamed, only for the creature to be cut in half and fade into particles. Standing in front of Sonia was a female monster carrying a holy sword and wearing a gryphon's headdress. It had two large white wings and flapped back on them before vanishing from sight, disappearing like mist.
Sonia gasped. "It cannot be! That was…Guardian Eatos?!" Sonia's heart pounded. "No. It cannot be. Rafael?" She gasped again only to sigh. "No." She said, holding her arm and staring at the ground in complete sorrow. "What am I saying? Rafael is gone."
Sonia then heard the slow roll of a motorcycle which alerted her to the buff man driving it. Sonia shook and trembled. The helmet on the man's face made her worry that she was about to be kidnapped. She was a princess. It was always a possibility.
However, as the man took off his helmet and revealed his face, blond hair with bluish eyes he stared at her, stunned. "Sonia?" he asked in disbelief, holding his helmet in his hands.
Sonia gasped in shock, hand over her mouth. Her complexion became pale, as if she'd just seen a ghost. And, given what she believed she was seeing, that did not seem far from the truth. "No!" she exclaimed, short of breath. "It…it cannot be! Big…Big brother?!"
(A/N: Oh you can practically hear the Dun dun DUNNNNNNNNNNNN. And yes, I am a total dick for cutting the chapter here. Next time on Dueling Trigger Finger, the truth about the Novoselic Royal Family and its long lost relative, Rafael.
Also next time, Nagito Vs Hajime the sequel that everyone asked for XD!
And…the bitch doth cometh! Fortunately, Junko's presence in this arc, while unsettling is FAR less vomit inducing than chapter 61. But that's going to be the fun of it. Until her plan starts to form, you're all going to sit there on the edge of your seats going "What the hell is this twisted little bitch up to?" And that's just the way I like it XD. So, until then, as always, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)